"Coff…" Bligh furled her brow, obviously oblivious to meaning in Sydney's foreign word, as if she would really care. "We are here to observe."
"Observe what?" Sydney narrowed spiteful eyes at her, but she said nothing. "My impending execution?"
Bligh averted her gaze, which irritated Sydney. It was a little bit late to feel any shame.
"Jand obstre uit revsar." Shardantin spoke again through the communicator, and Bligh looked up.
Sydney stared back, wondering what this could possibly be all about.
Tina, our woman…
Our lifemate….
Sydney's nostrils flared as she bucked up against the untimely intrusion by Calem and Arjim and the intense arousal they were causing to penetrate her body.
It is time to mate She'ami.
Not now! It was good she presently had some artificial help otherwise Sydney might find herself collapsed on the ground. That familiar haze was attempting to consume her.
Furling what appeared to be a concerned brow, Bligh pressed the communicator on her own belt. "C'zlih…nothing."
"Nothing, what?" Sydney narrowed her eyes. Bligh had spoken Tertian. Nothing what? She looked at Aurus ot Tijan who repeated the same into his communicator. "C'zlih."
Eremi pldeo enu? Shardantin spoke in return, words that were foreign to Sydney's ears.
"Daan," the other soldier answered.
Had he said nothing too?
Aurus shook his head and then removed a small apparatus hooked to his belt that resembled a palm-sized remote. He pressed it with his thumb and the laser bars streaming around the perimeter of Sydney's prison dropped downward, disappearing into the stone planks on the floor. She hesitated briefly before stepping out. Aurus gave her a sympathetic look as he stepped in front of her. He cuffed her hands with a device that snaked around her wrists of its own accord clamping on itself and pulling her hands tightly together. It was the same type of restraint they'd used when they brought her in, and Sydney, having wrestled with the shackle before, knew it was futile to try and escape it.
"Come with me," Bligh said to her, and turned, while Aurus and the other Tertani waited for Sydney to obey.
Dead woman walking…Sydney exhaled harshly, her heart now pounding with angst. She followed Bligh, her gaze falling to the woman's behind and watching the way it swayed. Sydney sneered wondering what kind of response she would provoke if she shoved her foot up the woman's ass.
Behave Sydney. You're already in enough of a predicament, she told herself. Besides, Aurus and the other guard, who were behind Sydney, might not take kindly to that, and she was in no mood to be struggling against another take down.
They led her down a short hallway, the hard clack of their boots on the shiny pristine floor striking an ominous beat that undermined her meager, barefooted shuffling. She felt like a nothing in this alien world, insignificant, a prison of war, puny. Would anyone care enough to help her?
Probably not.
Maybe she could make a run for it. Sydney glanced around the outdoor pen they were now crossing. The area, which was no bigger than a couple of basketball courts, was surrounded by a white stone wall, tall and smooth and impossible to climb. There was no sign of an entrance along the walls either, and no sign of their hover craft version of a paddy wagon they'd transported her in either. In front of them there was a large, red stone building, and that did have a door, but since they were heading in that direction, Sydney could only assume it wasn't the passage to freedom.
"Are we in Canyon City," She asked Bligh, referring to the charming borough where Alea described living with her mates, but Sydney couldn't be sure. Her only view as they travelled was through the front window of the vehicle and that was limited because she'd been cuffed to a bar in the back.
"We are," Bligh answered, but offered nothing more. She halted in front of the door to the building and then pressed her palm against a rectangular plate on the wall. The door slid open. "In here." Bligh told her.
Before Sydney stepped forward, she scrutinized her surroundings once more, and gave up all hope of returning to her fugitive status. There was nowhere to run to. Glancing toward the wall Sydney focused on the sky above it. She gulped and took one last look at what might be her final view of the outside world. The sun now low in the sky cast a dim glow of pink and purplish rays along the horizon, the buildings she saw beyond the walls shadows in its sinking glow. It was an ominous reflection of her now sinking hope and her darkening mood.
?
Chapter Eighteen
There were several people inside the building, but Sydney's eyes latch onto Calem and Arjim first, and a pained feeling compressed her chest. Standing nearer to the front, it was immediately clear they too had been detained. Hefty collars were clamped around their necks that had chains attached to cuffs that bound their wrists together. The chains continued downward attaching to shackles that secured their ankles. Tiny lights were centered on each of the cuffs that restrained them. Blinking in alternate glows of yellow and white, Sydney had the sense that they weren't just there for decorations. Four guards surrounded them, one each on the outside and two separating the space between them. Their expressions were strained, and there was an angry glaze in their eyes, but as soon as they focused directly on her, the harshness on their faces seemed to soften, though it was marginal. Still she saw it, and couldn't help but smile, the mere sight of them causing warmth to spread through her body and heart. She loved them, always she'd loved them, and she hated seeing them bound that way, like wild animals in need of control.
Sydney sighed and canvassed the area to see several Tertian soldiers talking quietly amongst themselves. Just behind Calem and Arjim she spotted Alea, and Sydney felt a small amount of comfort with the friendly, Earthly face. They exchanged worried looks, and all Sydney could hope for at this point was that Alea was still determined to help her escape. She didn't hold much hope in being exonerated. Turning her head forward, Sydney saw that Tren and Rjant, now in Tertian uniforms, stood more toward the front, but off to the side. Next to them, was the dreaded Shardantin, her expression looking serious, maybe even a bit cold. Sydney was led to the center of the room to stand facing her. Calem and Arjim directly behind, and despite her unpleasant predicament, she couldn't help but to be filled with intense desire for them. Would they ever be together now?
Sydney sucked in a shaky breath as sadness swept through her. At the moment her entire life seemed pointless. She gulped, tamping the tears that were threatening to surface.
"If only we could hold you, comfort you She'mana." Calem leaned forward and whispered in her ear.
Sydney's body relaxed a bit, the sound of his voice soothing her. She hadn't even realized until then that she'd been trembling. She took a deep breath, and when she did, Calem leaned in further, nuzzling his face against the crook of her neck. He too inhaled deeply.
"Your fragrance is enticing, woman," he whispered. "You are in heat."
"Ele sinc!" Shardantin bellowed, and Calem straightened.
Sydney sensed the woman was telling him to back away or possibly to shut up. Whatever it was she'd said, Arjim decided to defy the command. Just as Calem had done, he bent toward her. "Our lives for yours, our beautiful woman, we love you with a madness that none will put asunder. We will fight this to the death."
"Ele sinc!" Shardantin bellowed once again and glared in their direction. Her steely gaze lagged for a few second before she turned her attention to the small device on her belt and pressed a button. Behind her Calem and Arjim grunted harshly and when Sydney turned to look at them the lights on all the cuffs were beaming a bright white, and her Sh'em were clearly in pain. Sydney gasped and a sobbed escaped her at seeing them in pain. The lights turned yellow and they visibly relaxed.
Shardantin said something and Sydney turned her head forward again. She studied the alien woman from head to toe. The irises of her eyes were nearly white. She had a poker straight, thin nose that seemed longer than what Sydney would
consider normal. Her ears, though rounded were high up on the sides of her head, and she didn't have any eyebrows. The gray jumpsuit she wore did little to complement her purple hair and the bronze tone of her skin. In fact, it made her look like a fashion disaster that would make a blind man shopping in wallie mart cringe. Sydney gulped, reality pounding its way in, reminding her that she truly was in an alien world. What that meant was the rules of the game did not apply. At least in the way she'd learned them.
"Cabesca eda." A voice spoke through Shardantin's communicator. It sounded male, but who knew. Sydney didn't. Closing her eyes she concentrated on more pleasant things, like the fragrance of the two males who would be her lovers, now blended and sweeping the air and curling around her. She'd give anything to have them playing around inside of her head right now.
"Vas cicanes abietjn ore geroiu cu." Shardantin spoke and continued to ramble on.
Sydney stared at the woman as she exchanged foreign words with whomever she was communicating with through her transmitter. Unable to interpret, Sydney's mind began to wander. She was on trial. Her stomach turned over. She at the least had the right to legal representation. Didn't she? God she hoped so! How else could she defend herself? Was she even allowed to defend herself, and by the way, where the snapping hell was her representation? Apparently in this alien world having a court appointed lawyer wasn't an entitlement. Maybe lawyers didn't even exist in this galaxy. Sydney thought about that for a moment. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing…except now…when she needed one…especially since… She furled her brows as she watched the woman continue her babble. "Wait! I don't understand!"
Tren held up his hand, catching Shardantin's eye, and she went silent as he spoke to her. She answered, the dialogue continuing in words that Sydney could not comprehend. She watched them both with confusion, until Tren finally turned toward her.
"The charges are being read in Allegiance proper," he explained. "Shardantin is acting as Chief Arbitrator and is in communication with the Allegiance legal council who is monitoring the proceedings from Angard. They do not speak the Tertian language or yours, but we have been given permission to interpret."
"Don't you have any devices to interpret for me?" Sydney asked. "It seems incredulous that an advanced galaxy with so many different aliens wouldn't have such a thing.
"Not in your language," Tren answered English. "We've attempted to keep all we know of your world a discreet thing. Aside from that Allegiance proper is fluently spoken amongst all of our allies."
"What about your enemies?"
Tren grinned at her. "You think like a soldier Tina, Sydney"
"I am a soldier."
"I am grateful you said that in your language," Tren chuckled. "Else the Allegiance council might view that as a confession, but in answer to your question we do have decoders, but as I said, none to decipher your language. Up until now it hasn't been necessary."
"Commander," Arjim commented. "Perhaps we can calibrate a decoder for Tertian. She speaks it quite well."
Sydney turned toward Arjim. He smiled at her warmly. Briefly her gaze shifted toward Calem to see his lifts turned upward into a soft smile as well. God, how she wanted to touch them, how she wanted their arms to wrap around her and tell her that this would be okay. Sydney closed her eyes, and tugged at the cuffs around her wrist, a keen reminder that she may never hug them again.
"Never mind," Sydney blew out a gust of air through her mouth. "Just interpret for me. I just want to get this over with."
"Very well, then Tina Sydney." Tren replied. He then nodded to Shardantin, and she turned to a large transparent screen hanging on the wall at the front of the room. She pushed the button on her device again and six faces appeared on the screen, all wearing uniforms similar to Shardantin's, though their features were relatively close to human with some minor variations. They didn't look friendly. Staring into the courtroom via transmission, their expressions were hard and unforgiving. They reminded Sydney of military men, hard and war-worn, all seeming to take their duty with the steepest of seriousness. Sydney gulped at the holograph images, the crispness of their three-dimensional appearance making it seem as if they were actually present in the room, present enough to reach out and grab her by the throat if they chose to do so.
Shardantin began to speak to them. When she was finished Tren began to interpret.
"Galactic violations are as follows, espionage, entering controlled galactic space without permission, failure to register your person and your craft with Angard, resisting seizure and detainment, absconding, unauthorized landing on an Allegiance protected planet, endangerment, neglect, assault…"
"Oh my god!" Sydney blurted. Sydney shook her head in disbelief. "What about treason? You forgot treason."
Tren translated and then grimaced at his own words as if wishing he hadn't spoken them. Shardantin paused momentarily and then lifted a purple brow. She spoke and Tren reluctantly interpreted. "Add treason."
Sydney tossed back her head and laughed contemptuously. "Why don't you just hang me now?"
After Tren translated, Shardantin snickered and then murmured something, her eyes lagging on Sydney before turning away. Sydney's attention shifted toward Tren. He winced and then repeated what Shardantin had said. "That may be our…" Tren paused. "…their final intention."
"Well aren't we a miss pissy pants," Sydney mumbled.
There were a few chuckles from those in the room who understood the Earth language. Shardantin, who did not, wrinkled her brow at Tren.
"I think I will censor your words from here on in, Tina Sydney." Tren said. Turning to look at Shardantin, he shrugged as if to say he didn't understand what Sydney had said, but there was a smirk on his lips that he couldn't hide hinting that he knew otherwise. Shardantin's eyes narrowed but she decided to let it go.
"The bioscan readouts confirm that the detainee is not only a virgin but free of Brit's Scorn. Quarantine on Tertia is lifted."
A collective sigh of relief from the small gathering who were witnessing filled the air as Tren repeated the news in English.
"Wow!" Sydney exclaimed. "Does that mean everybody gets a cookie?"
Rjant, who'd been quietly standing by, burst into laughter. Shardantin growled a reprimand at him, and then pivoted to glare at Calem and Arjim, who were chuckling as well. They sobered immediately.
As for Sydney, she didn't see what was so damned funny. She was beginning to become quite irritable at all of this, and oh snap, she was really starting to become extremely bloated! Behind her Arjim sniffed. Another was followed by Calem, and Sydney nearly wrenched her neck as she turned to glare at them.
"Do I smell!" she snarled.
Arjim's lips turned up into a seductive grin. "Pleasantly."
Sydney's gaze dropped to the crotch of the Tertian uniform pants he now wore. He had a hard-on. Her attention shifted to Calem's bulging groin. Uh-huh, he had a hard-on too.
"That's a little ill-timed, don't you think?" Sydney whispered. She gave them a sidelong glance, and was suddenly distracted by the aphrodisiac effects of their blending scents. A throb of yearning began prodding her insides. Talk about ill-timed. She was getting horny in the middle of her own trial.
Her eyes shifted upward to Calem's face, and then darted toward Arjim's and again back to Calem's face, each time passing over the two guards between her mates as if they weren't even there. Concern was clear in their expression, and yet, she could still see, still sense the passion and love and longing they held for her. Momentarily she forgot her whereabouts, desire burning in her soul, capturing her heart. As much as she loved and wanted them in the past, Sydney ached, yearned for them even more powerfully now than ever before, and she was terrified, so, so terrified that this might truly be the day that her link to them would be eternally terminated.
Be careful what you wish for…haunting words reflecting what she'd spend most of her life fighting to gain.
"Vige, ahe tcidin," Shardantin's foreign words jerked Sydney
backed to reality, and she turned away from her mates to face the woman. Sydney glared at her.
"Their longing for her and hers for them is apparent, Flomink," Tren addressed one of the Allegiance representatives rather than speaking to Shardantin.
"Desire is not the same as endearment, and still not proof," a burly man with corkscrew beard returned. Flomink, Sydney presumed, the spokesmen of the assembly. "Present the violations against Tertia," he said.
Rjant stepped closer to Sydney. This time he interpreted as Tren presented the Tertian charges originally place one her, before they were aware of who she was.
"Civil violations are as follows," Tren began. "Trespassing on ancient protected territory and debauching the protected customs and tribes of ancient habitats."
"Oh great," Sydney winced as she shook her head. "Now I'm corrupting the poor, innocent indigents. How can one person be so evil? I'm the spawn of the very devil himself."
"Fear not, She' mana." Calem leaned forward and whispered to her. "Our Commander will grant leniency."
"Your crimes are punishable," Tren continued. "With no less than a life sentence in a location determined by deliberation of the adjudicators present at this trial."
"What!" Alea started forward, but was held back by a Tertian warrior. "Tren!"
"Well, you were right on target with that assumption." Sydney glared at Calem.
Agitated, she slowly turned her head to face forward again, and found herself almost nose to nose with a very perturbed-looking Shardantin.
"Ty ista ehbu lediskr ahf arseglistn ae neust," the woman blathered.
Sydney blew out an exasperated breath directly into her face, uncaring if it was even rude or stinky. What part of I don't understand the language was this woman not getting? She blinked at Shardantin who blinked back. The room became eerily silent.
"We will kill before we allow the Allegiance to harm you, our heart." Arjim growled, his voice low and threatening.
Dominance Fury Page 20