by L M Lacee
The drug was said to strengthen muscle as well as cognitive sharpness, it was rumored that when it was taken, it enhanced all the senses and stimulated brain activity. Bringing to light, abilities humans didn’t even know they possessed.
Darby was positive it was produced off world, she was also convinced it was distributed at the Jenersar Ambassadors insistence. Although there was no proof for her suppositions, she just said everything pointed to him.
The scarred soldier snarled. ‘No, I swear, her eyes had flames in ‘em.’
Peyton raised an eyebrow and quirked her lips at the other soldier, as much to say is she crazy. Annoyed the huge female soldier said to the scarred soldier.
‘You shut up.’ Then she pointed her rifle at Peyton and motioned her with it, barking. ‘Move!’
Peyton stepped from the shuttle only to enter a tunnel and climb into a small ground train that looked like a long submarine. The trains were electric and ran on one rail; they were fast, smooth, and noiseless.
The scarred soldier stood with her eyes glued to Peyton, who stood several feet from her. Straps dangled from a pipe that hung suspended from the ceiling, apparently the army decided their soldiers did not need seats.
Once settled in the tube, no one offered to take her restraints off, forcing her to stretched up to hold on to the strap as best as she could. Usually, they were adjustable, either they were not working in this section or no one knew how to make them work or maybe they enjoyed her discomfort. Regardless, no one other than her swayed as the train moved along the rail, obviously Peyton thought, the army did not bother to maintain their trains and rail, probably because they had shuttles now, it was a shame the shuttles didn’t go underground.
If the train was maintained as it should have been, there should have been little to no movement of passengers, no swaying or stumbling about like she was doing. Finally, annoyance got the better of her and the cuffs dropped from her wrists. Every person looked down at the melted restraints lying on the floor and then back to Peyton, who now stood flat footed with one hand holding the strap and the other braced on the half wall next to her. She raised her eyebrows at them and said. ‘It’s better this way!’
It seemed her voice spurred them into action as all hands left their straps and grabbed for weapons. The scarred soldier muttering to the huge soldier next to her. ‘Told you!’
Before the officer could issue orders to shoot or something else just as stupid. The train came to a jerking halt, sending all but Peyton who had remained holding her strap to the floor.
When the doors opened, she stepped over the officer and exited the train and was unsurprised to see that Thanikis Jenerika. Jenersar’s Ambassador to the Coalition of Planets and recently to Earth was waiting for her. He looked her over and smirked as he dismissed her with his eyes, causing Peyton to smother a laugh at his attitude. Waiting with him was a male who Peyton knew was the newly elected Earth Ambassador to the Coalition, Ian White.
Didn’t she feel special? She thought as she waited, while her captors sorted themselves out. That was not the case for the Ambassadors, they seemed to be unimpressed with the soldiers. Tight-lipped the Earth Ambassador motioned two of his guards, men of course to escort Peyton into the building.
She looked neither left nor right as they entered and started walking down the long underground corridor. Cement walls surrounded her causing an intense feeling of suffocation to overtake her, for a few seconds she was paralyzed with fear. Then she realized it was not her, but rather the essence of what made her the Star Daughter’s initial response to being underground.
The guards guided her toward the interrogation room. It was very hard to ignore the Ambassadors scathing orders to the officer and his soldiers behind them. She did not hear the soldier telling them about her eyes or how she had removed the restraints. She would have laughed if she had seen the looks they received and the curt orders for them all to report to medical by the embarrassed Earth Ambassador.
The guards showed her into a room that Peyton was sure in a previous life the room had been a large storage closet. There was no window, and the walls were reinforced cement block. It did have a table and four bolted down chairs, all made of iron, of course.
They looked cold and uncomfortable; she wondered if all interrogation rooms looked like this. Maybe it was just the army, she would have to ask Melody.
When told to sit she asked. ‘Any chance of coffee?’ The looks she received from both males said definitely no. ‘Shame.’
Sighing, she looked both males over as they stood either side of the door, they were not young or inexperienced. Both looked like they had seen enough of life to know what was right and wrong and yet they were here. She was puzzled as to why they were doing so, it seemed wrong for soldiers of their years to be doing this.
Taking a chance, she said casually as she looked at the opposite wall. ‘In case you were wondering, the reports of General James death is incorrect, she is alive and well. She is my friend and on behalf of her I ask, why, are you serving here? You have to know, our Government are selling women. Why are you turning a blind eye to what they are doing?’
She turned her head and stared at them both, the soldier on the left looked at the one on the right and received a small nod. In a soft voice, the first soldier replied. ‘We are glad the General is alive, we never believed the virus could get her and ma’am you assume we are doing nothing about it?’
Peyton’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, I apologize, it was a case of jumping to conclusions.’
He nodded and whispered. ‘Don’t worry about it; we understood that would be what people would think when we took this assignment. Miss St. Hill, don’t worry, we won’t let them hurt you.’
She smiled. ‘Thank you but I can take care of myself.’
They both looked at her doubtfully, but there was no more time to talk as the soldier who had not spoken, quietly said. ‘They are on their way.’
Peyton gave a nod then wiggled on the hard chair and closed her eyes. She spent a few minutes looking into the vast knowledge of information; she had been gifted with from the Star Child and found what she needed. Slowly and methodically she added to the shield which protected her mind and was again unsurprised that she seemed to have a thin barrier already. She wondered if every human had the same. The thought crossed her mind that maybe she created it when she was young or maybe it was because she had always been more than human.
Regardless of why or how, she added to her shield making it resilient against mind intruders, reasoning if she could mind speak, then it seemed more than likely the Warriors could and as they were supposedly modeled after the Jenersar people, then Ambassador Jenerika had to be able to. So she strengthened her shield while she hoped Melody was okay and had reached the others.
TWENTY:
Melody was pacing the lounge of their home when Heather and the others finally appeared, she told them without preamble. ‘They came and took her, Government soldiers. She said we have to implement Oh boy! Also, we have a traitor, is that even possible? Did you know she can talk to you in your mind and the Star Child talked to me and said she would be fine and not to worry? I am worried!’
They both hugged her as Heather assured her they were worried too. Darby walked into the kitchen saying as she went. ‘Yes, it is possible we have a traitor. We cannot check everyone’s credentials and intent when arriving here. Stop worrying, we will find whoever it is and we will find Peyton as well. Oh boy, will be up and running shortly.’
Heather announced. ‘Good, I am making tea.’
The Warriors had explained tea was the most common beverage in their universe, apart from alcohol. Which seemed to be as plentiful as it was on Earth, more so Kerol thought. He also told Melody that every world made tea and alcohol differently and all alcohol was made at different strengths. There were worlds where the citizens could become inebriated on the strength of what Earth referred to as soft drinks. On other worlds, Earth’s strongest alcohol was like wa
ter. It all depended on the people’s tolerances, to what they referred to as alcohol.
When queried by Darby as to what he meant, he had explained. They had sampled all of Earth’s alcoholic beverages and found them interesting but hardly strong enough to be worth drinking. When Heather had asked about wine, he had told them until coming to Earth, they had not tasted such a beverage, but they thought it was a nice refreshing drink.
Heather had nearly lost her composure as she ordered Peyton to make sure they took wine with them and then she pointed at Darby and demanded. ‘Who do I talk to about grape vines?’
Darby had also been unamused, she made Peyton promise to make sure she got enough whiskey for her and Melody. Peyton had promised and then mumbled it was not whiskey she was worried about, it was her beer.
Darby had stamped her foot and growled. ‘Whiskey, do not forget!’
Peyton instantly made the calls, then Kerol had said, that each world had its own form of fruit juice or favorite drink. Water was always in demand and not all planets had as much as Earth.
Lukkas told them that even if a planet did have an abundance of water, there was never a guarantee that it would be as clean as Earths. This was why the Warriors always carried a personal filtration unit.
Coffee they had explained was a totally new beverage, one they had only ever tasted on Earth. Kerol had said in passing, that he was doubtful it would ever be as well liked as tea, unlike hot chocolate or just chocolate milk. Which the Warriors had discovered and craved almost as much as the women. The three sisters had made the Warriors swear to never tell Peyton that coffee was not readily available in their universe.
From the day Melody had found out about there being no coffee on other planets, she had delegated some of her soldiers and women from all over the world to buy and load containers with every conceivable type of coffee they could find. Fear of Peyton without caffeine was a real living thing, so far no one who had met or been in contact with her, complained about time spent on computers or shopping for the product. Although an equal amount of time was spent obtaining chocolate for the women and Warriors, a world without either, did not bear thinking about or so Heather was heard to say often.
Darby once she had been made aware of this fact, had contacted a fellow scientist, a botanist, Nina Jones to insure she knew it was important to include in her collection of plants. Coffee, chocolate and grapevines.
She had assured her she had been contacted already by Heather about the vines as for the coffee plants. It seemed Peyton was not the only one to drink coffee. She told Darby she and several of her team were working with a few Warriors on a way to grow coffee and chocolate plants in another environment. Nina had also been working on a hybrid coffee plant. Which she was packing with her other experiments as well as every conceivable plant, tree, flower, grass they could lay their hands on. Everything and anything was being stored in stasis containments for the trip.
She assured Darby, it was not as much a daunting project as one may have thought. Her sister Fern, a biologist, organized scientists and Melody’s soldiers along with Warriors and together they raided the worlds’ universities and other institutions of plants and seeds. They also raided the farming compounds, that had been established when the world needed a simple automated way of growing crops without a large work force.
They had elected not to raid the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, it seemed grossly unfair to people remaining on Earth to do so.
TWENTY-ONE:
Melody, Hawk and Kerol as well as Willian and Lukkas walked in behind Darby as she entered the kitchen. ‘Lady Darby.’ Hawk asked. ‘What is oh boy and should I move our ships?’
The women laughed until they realized the Warriors were serious. ‘Oh sorry, we thought you were making a joke!’ Melody explained as they looked confused.
Darby allied their fears. ‘No... No. It is a location and listening program. As long as there is a computer anywhere in her vicinity, we can find her and listen to what is happening. I designed it before you came, we were worried they would take one of us and we would not know where. Melody suggested this program, so now I can find anyone.’
Kerol said. ‘You are truly amazing, Lady Darby, with how you make such primitive technology do as you wish. It will be most enlightening to see what you can do with our technology.’
She did not take offense, she had learned the Warriors were genuinely amazed at what they called primitive technology. They did not understand how most of Earth’s technology worked, to them it was as alien as theirs was to her.
She went pink which they all knew meant a blush, it was a good thing the Star Daughter had said. Healer Heather explained about blushes. It had been enlightening for males who knew very little about female anatomy.
She sighed as she said. ‘Just call me Darby.’ She then asked Hawk. ‘How would you find her?’
‘We would scan for her bio signature then hunt her.’
Melody asked. ‘What if she is underground?’
Hawk raised a dark eyebrow. ‘It makes no difference to our scanners. They are more than capable of penetrating your structures and terrain. You do not have scanners?’
Melody told him. ‘Once we did, they seem to have been shelved as unimportant. No one was in a hurry to update them or make more. Food and survival took precedence.’
‘Although weapons were made.’ Heather mumbled. Melody shrugged one shoulder. ‘Well yeah!’
Hawk stated ‘That is the nature of Governments, no matter what universe you are from, armee’s must be armed.’ He noticed the look in Darby’s eyes and said. ‘Lady Darby, I will ensure one is made available for you as well as the schematics.’
‘Thank you Commander.’
She brought the program up on her computer and they all sat down with tea to wait, ten minutes later, Heather asked. ‘Melody hon`, who talked in your head?’
Melody broke up her conversation with Hawk on Warriors regulations to answer her. After fifteen minutes of discussion about the Star Child and then practicing in sending and receiving mind speech. The women found they were very good at mind sending. Almost too good Hawk privately thought, he wondered how much the Star Child had influenced or tampered with these females. He also wondered what their reaction would be to the tampering when they found out, he did not know them well yet, but he was learning. These females were strong and independent, he was sure they were not going to like the fact they had been tampered with. He hoped the Star Daughter was prepared for that conversation.
Darby’s tablet pinged, she reached over and tapped the screen, instantly they could hear Peyton and two men speaking.
TWENTY-TWO:
The two Ambassadors walked into the windowless room, Ambassador Ian White nodded to the two soldiers who left without a glance toward Peyton. For a moment she felt alone and vulnerable, then she gave herself a mental slap upside her head. Remembering her contingency plans if things went sideways.
Firmly pushing those thoughts from her mind, she looked the two males over; it seemed the similarities between the men stopped at the title Ambassador.
Ian White was at least six feet tall, with broad shoulders and a flat stomach. He had a narrow face with small blue eyes, and his blond hair was artfully styled giving him a slightly roguish look. He carried himself as though he had been in the military and spoke with a European accent. When they had discovered who the Earth Ambassador was to be. Darby had done an intensive background check on him in the hopes they would have an official that could help them. What they found was a man of questionable character and uncertain loyalties. Melody had reached out to her military contacts to find out when and where he had served. Only to be told there were no military record found for the Ambassador. Her exact words Peyton recalled were.
‘He is an elitist ass!’
Hawk had briefed them on Thanikis and his family not long after making the decision to go to Maikonia. Thanikis was only a year or so younger than this brother the Emperor of Jenersar. Peyton gauged
his height to be about six foot, he had a long lean body with surprising defined muscles, it was easy to see he trained. Hawk said he had been told Thanikis had been introduced to the art of boxing since arriving on Earth. Peyton could believe that, he looked fit enough to box, she could not see him as the gym type. She thought he was slightly effeminate looking which denoted prettiness rather than being handsome. His skin tone was light gray and his eyes were shaped more oval than round and were black without the ring of color the Warriors had. They were fringed with thick black lashes that matched his eyebrows and shoulder length hair, which was tied back with an elaborate silver knot clasp.
Hawk had also told them the Jenersar royalty had what amounted to a caste system, which was based on precious metals. Bronze was given at entry level to the royal household or family, every child born within the family was given bronze status. Silver designated a medium level royalty, for example mates and extended family or those who found themselves in favor with the Emperor and Empress.
Gold was worn by immediate family, siblings, parents and grandparents to the Emperor and Empress. Apparently, if someone displeased the Emperor or Empress, they could find themselves reduced to a lower level. Then they would have the arduous task of having to work their way into favor again.
When Darby had asked Kerol, what happened to a person who wore bronze and fell out of favour?
He gently told her they were demoted in the usual Jenersar manner. Peyton thought Darby was the only one present that day, who did not realize he had meant killed.
Hawk informed them, the Emperor and Empress wore Luslian, which was the rarest and most valuable of precious metals found in the Indorino universe. Thanikis was brother to the Emperor but out of favor at the moment, hence the assignment to Earth, and the silver hair clasp. Hawk told her, with the disappearance of the Warriors, Thanikis would undoubtedly drop in rank to bronze. Regardless of his relationships to the Emperor and Empress, mistakes she was assured were treated harshly on the Jenersar.