“It’s the only thing that makes sense.” Keshara touched his hand in a tender caress. “You know it too.”
“Unless I’m the one with the tracker, or if both of us were tagged,” he reminded her. “You could be making a sacrifice for nothing.”
A moment later he swore and pushed her deeper into the dubious cover provided by the crevasse they’d entered. The flyer was hovering not far away, pinning them down. If they moved at all from the shelter of the rocks, the craft would be on them. His pulse rifle and her stunner weren’t going to be effective against an aircraft. Studying the enemy flyer as it bobbled in the air a bit, he assessed it to be an older model than the ones he was used to flying. There was an odd protrusion from the underside he didn’t recognize, and he feared it was a type of weapon unknown to him. Even as he recognized the threat, the air between their shelter and the flyer became distorted, shimmering as if the ground was hot like a desert. A wave of heat struck the rocks.
“Bastards are trying to burn us out.” He grabbed her and shielded her body with his own as much as possible behind the biggest boulder.
Peering around him to stare at the flyer, Keshara asked, “What do we do now?”
Frustrated at being cornered, he checked the rocks behind them. No safe path to escape presented itself.
As if echoing his thoughts, a loud voice hailed them from the flitter. “Might as well give up now. You’ve led us on a nice run, but it’s time to come back to the Retreat and stop delaying the Director’s research.”
“Blanggin,” Keshara whispered.
“I guess he did have a flyer after all. Unfortunately for us.” Gabe grinned, but there was no humor behind the façade. His mind spun at top speed, trying to come up with a way out of this trap that didn’t put his mate into Khagrish hands. There were no good options. No choices at all, in fact. He assumed Blanggin was prepared to wait them out.
“I’m sorry, I had no idea. We Daughters never saw a landing field, much less a flyer.” Her apology was matter of fact.
“Can you stand watch here, and I’ll reconnoiter how far this upthrust of rocks goes? Maybe we can get at least a little further away. Might be able to escape when it gets dark.” He had no real hope of his plan working, but it wasn’t his nature to lie tamely under cover and wait to be taken. “Take my pulse rifle.”
She accepted the lethal weapon without protest but then fisted her hand in the fabric of his jacket and tugged him close for a long kiss. “Be careful.”
Uneasy, Gabe searched her face. Her eyes were glowing a bit. He was afraid he knew what she had in mind, and the urgency of the kiss reinforced his worry. “Swear to me you won’t surrender yourself to them the minute my back is turned.”
Her response was delayed a fraction of a second but then she agreed. “We stick together. No surrender, I promise.”
Reassured, Gabe scouted through the rock formation stretching to the west. The area was immense; stretching for acres and shaped by millennia of fiercely rushing water in the ancient past, which had carved gullies and strange shapes into the landscape. Add to that the multicolored layers of the rock itself and Gabe found himself in a dizzying, fantastical environment. The further he worked his way westward, the more his hopes of escape rose. After exploring a few dead ends, he located a series of connected, narrow defiles leading away from the spot where the pilot of the Khagrish flyer assumed they were cornered. No matter where the trail led, pursuing it was a better bet than staying in one spot, so he hastened back to Keshara.
“Any change?” he asked, eyeing the hovering flyer. It would be typical of Branggin to want them to simply surrender and make his task easier. But the Khagrish officer could wait them out, since food and water would become an issue for the fugitives eventually.
“The flyer moved out of view briefly and I thought perhaps they were following you, but then the aircraft popped back into sight and has been there ever since. He periodically yells for us to give up our useless resistance.” Not taking her eyes off the aircraft, she asked, “Did you find a path?”
“Yeah, not sure it’ll take us all the way out of the rocks but we’ll go as far as we can and then make a break once we’ve lost them. Follow me.” Gabe slunk in the direction from which he’d come, keeping low to avoid being spotted.
Keshara stayed tight on his six as he worked his way through the convoluted formation, putting a reassuring amount of distance between themselves and their aerial pursuer.
“I think we’re coming to the end of the rocks,” he said after about an hour of this grueling forced march. Gabe took cover and studied the terrain beyond. There’d be a short run to get into the fringe of new forest growth and then hopefully they could escape in the denser concentration of trees beyond. Of course cover from tree branches and vines wouldn’t defeat high tech personnel scanners but if he and Keshara could get far enough away, traveling in zigzags, the flyer might not be able to locate them. It was the only course of action he could devise.
Keshara nodded as he finished explaining his logic. “I think your idea gives us a chance. Let me take point this time. With my enhanced Badari senses, I’ll be more likely to detect trouble ahead than you will, no offense.”
He choked off a protest. Point or rearguard—either was equally hazardous. He’d wanted a full partner and he’d gotten one. “All right. We’ll move as fast as we can, stay low to the ground, utilize what cover there is.”
“Got it.” She kissed him and moved out, pulse rifle at the ready.
Gabe took up his position guarding her back, all senses on high alert. In single file they worked their way through the challenges of the unique rock formation for over an hour.
There was one final ridge of the rocks to pass and as Keshara moved below an overhang, his soldier’s instincts were buzzing. “Wait a minute, there’s something—”
She turned to look over her shoulder and as she did so, Ashla rose from where she’d been lying in wait above, shooting Keshara with a well-placed stun charge and pivoting immediately to fire at him. Operating on pure instinct, he dropped to one knee and shot his own stunner at her, taking a savage satisfaction in hearing her cry out and grab at her shoulder. Winged her. Her shot apparently went wide. Partially paralyzed, screaming curses at him in Badari, Ashla fell onto the rocky balcony where’d she perched above the trail, nearly plummeting to the ground but catching her balance through sheer determination. Her weapon clattered onto the hard surface and bounced away.
Gabe sprinted forward, hoping to grab Keshara and make a run for it but even as he was lifting her, the Khagrish flyer hove into view above. Stun rays bombarded him and stubborn and desperate as he was, Gabe collapsed with Keshara partially underneath him.
The craft landed further down the slope, in a large glade. From the way he’d fallen, Gabe could see the flyer and watched Blanggin and Slibb emerge, both carrying weapons, and come running toward him. He heard rather than saw Ashla make a leap from the rocks, grunting as she landed. Using her good arm, the Badari yanked Keshara away from Gabe, rolling his mate onto her back next to him. The First Daughter wasted no time in putting force binders on Keshara’s wrists and ankles, saying softly as she yanked them tight, “You’re going to pay dearly for this stupidity, and I for one won’t shed a single tear over it. The Director is beside herself with worry about the delay in her research on the human. He’s a vital resource and you tried to keep him for yourself.”
The quiet menace in Ashla’s voice was more frightening than if she’d done violence to Keshara. Unable to utter a word, Gabe fought the paralysis, even though he knew the only remedy was the passage of time. Worried for his mate, he wanted to provide extenuating circumstances to encourage mercy for her, even if he had to make up total lies, anything, to persuade Ashla that Keshara wasn’t at fault. He’d gladly take all the blame and all the punishment on his shoulders, but his tongue and larynx were paralyzed like the rest of him and he couldn’t get one word out.
Ashla knelt next to Keshara
“Good work.” Branggin was approving as he stood puffing from the climb. “The Director will be pleased. Fortunate you’d explored this area before when she sent you out on scouting missions in the old days.”
“Only one way out of the rock jumble. Easy to ambush them.” Ashla rose and rubbed her useless arm with her good hand. “Bastard got in one good shot though. Lucky he didn’t have the pulse rifle.”
A tremor ran through the ground under Gabe, intensifying to the point where he rolled helplessly into Keshara and loose rocks fell from the rock formation above them. With mounting horror, he watched one good sized boulder roll and bounce past them. Near miss.
As the shaking and the rumbling subsided, Branggin said, “We’d better be getting home to the Retreat.” He studied the distant volcanic peak. “The damn mountain could settle down anytime now and go back to sleep.” He pulled force binders from a pocket of his utilities and assisted Ashla in binding Gabe’s wrists and ankles, while Slibb ran to the flyer for an anti grav litter. First Keshara then Gabe was transported to the craft and installed in seats at the rear across the aisle from each other, strapped in securely. As the flyer rose into the air, Ashla balanced in the aisle, watching them closely. Unable to move his head, Gabe stared straight ahead, wishing he could at least make eye contact with his mate. Once the flyer reached the lab, he might never see her again, depending what actions the Director took to punish them and how successful he was in making another escape attempt.
“Thinking about your next move, human?” Ashla’s voice was full of contempt as she used one hand to rotate his head so he’d have her in his field of vision. “Don’t waste your time, you’re important to the Director so we’ll take excellent care of you. There’ll be no chance of further rebellion or unauthorized trips. In fact, I personally guarantee you’ll never see the outer world again. And as for her,” giving Keshara a shove in the shoulder, “Once she goes into a pod in the annex, she won’t have any problems either, not ever. Of course you won’t see each other, won’t be able to repeat whatever you got up to during your trip, but you won’t care.” Laughing, Ashla moved away toward the cockpit, presumably to confer with Branggin. She returned a few minutes later, munching on a ration bar and obviously nearly recovered from the stun attack, using her right arm almost normally. She raised her weapon and shot Keshara with her stunner at point blank range, then aimed at Gabe, saying in apologetic tone, “I have my orders. Blanggin doesn’t want to take any chances with you. Sleep tight.”
The bolt hit him like a blow to the solar plexus and he couldn’t breathe, desperately fighting to hang onto consciousness and giving vent to vicious curses in his head. Ashla and the others are going to pay for this.
CHAPTER SIX
Gabe emerged from the after effects of the multiple stunner blasts slowly to find himself lying on an examining table in what was apparently a medlab. He was tightly restrained but able to move his head. His mind raced and his gut churned with a toxic stew of emotions—worry for Keshara and fury at being so easily recaptured highest among the thoughts. Blanggin lounged on a stool off to the side. Searching for Keshara, hoping against hope he and his mate were here together, he was taking stock of the surroundings when Dr. Farahnnim and Slibb came from another part of the room, conferring quietly over data on a handheld the tech was lugging.
“He’s awake,” the security officer said.
Glancing at Gabe, Farahnnim bared her teeth in a feral smile. “Good, finally.” Giving her attention to the security officer again, she said, “I wish Ashla hadn’t shot him an extra time, but I understand her caution in the matter. Based on our one sample specimen so far, these humans are quite unpredictable.” The scientist walked in a leisurely fashion to the machines and monitors flanking Gabe’s table and checked the readouts. “No lasting effects from the paralysis. Good.”
Heart pounding, trying in vain to master his anger so he could come up with a plan or strategy for improving his situation, Gabe asked, “Where’s Keshara? What have you done with her?”
“None of your business,” Farahnnim said in a mild tone. She patted him on the shoulder. “My advice is to worry about yourself, not my other subjects. She’s not been harmed in any way and will take her place in a scientific undertaking, as previously planned before your little escapade. You won’t be seeing her again.”
“Keshara is my mate,” he said, desperately trying a tactic he knew had been a useful trump card for a few of his Badari friends caught in similar traps, trying to save the women they loved. “You need to keep us together.”
“I don’t care about this mate business or have any desire to grow my crop of specimens in an old fashioned, messy way,” Farahnnim said with contempt. “Unscientific nonsense.” She sniffed. “You’ll be cared for very well and will provide me what I need to sire babies when I need it, with the cells extracted in the proper clinical manner.”
“I’ll die first,” he said, reaching in his mind for the comfort of the so-called checkout code all Special Forces operators were given. He visualized the first piece of the code, relieved to find it sitting there in the back of his mind, after all these years out of the service, and then shut the train of thought down. As long as Keshara lived there was a chance of rescuing her, and abandoning his mate was unthinkable. “You can’t keep me in captivity against my will, and I’m not going to help you create children to be used as raw ingredients for your poisonous immortal elixir.”
“I’ve warned you time and again about talking too much. “The scientist whirled on Slibb, striking him across the face so hard he staggered. “What have you told him?”
“Nothing, I swear.” Cowering, the tech tried to retreat but Blanggin gripped him by the arms and held him in place.
Hands on her hips, Farahnnim eyed him with a scathing expression on her face. “You’re lying, there’s no other way he’d know such details of what we do, but I don’t think it matters. The human is powerless here.” She turned her attention to Gabe. “I’ve agreed to grant a rather unusual and special request for a private session with you before we begin the overarching fertility protocol.”
“What the seven hells does that mean? I’m not co-operating with you.” He pulled on the restraints, unable to remain quiet.
“You’ll see soon enough.” She gestured to Slibb. “You have the orders in your work queue so prepare him as indicated. Tomorrow we’ll move him to the lab annex and commence the larger experiment.”
She held out her hand to Blanggin. “Come, darling, we’ll be late for dinner.”
The security officer evaluated Gabe who did his best to project contempt and allow his rage to come to the surface. “I’m not sure Slibb can handle this alone,” Blanggin said, studying Gabe’s muscles.
“Well, Zammarqq is dead, the idiot, and I hope no one expects me to do the scut work. Those labors are quite beneath my status as senior scientist.” Farahnnim ‘s voice was icy cold and she sniffed in disdain. “The human is restrained. Slibb’s done this type of thing before.”
Farahnnim and Blanggin left the room. Gabe glared at the lab tech. “What’s she talking about? What are you supposed to do to me?”
“Give you a shot, a medication to relax you,” Slibb said, going to the side table and fumbling with a box full of injects. “Then relocate you to another room.”
Gabe knew shading of the truth when he heard it. Farahnnim’s talk of a private encounter with someone implied an ordeal ahead. So he pushed Slibb. “Yeah and then what?”
“I can’t tell you anything more. My advice is not to fight it.” The tech walked to the table and shook his head. “You can’t win against the Director.”
“Yeah, watch me.” Buoyed by hatred, Gabe was going to bring this place down if it was the last thing he ever did. “Where’s Keshara? Is she in that fucking annex pod yet?”
Mouth gaping, eyes wide, Slibb gasped. “How do you know about the annex? And the elixir?”
“You people seriously underestimate me. Now is she there or is she safe tonight?”
Squaring his shoulders, the lab tech stepped to the side of the table and punched the inject into Gabe’s arm, giving the device an extra twist, making it hurt. “She’s in a cell for tonight. There’s preparation required before one of the specimens goes into a pod, which takes a few hours. We’ll be doing the procedure tomorrow. And, apparently, dealing with you as well, to hear the doctor talk. Busy day ahead. Twice the work for me after Zammarqq shot himself in the head rather than take any more elixir.” He patted Gabe on the shoulder. “This will kick in shortly. You should worry about yourself tonight.”
He could already feel lethargy flowing from his arm and through his blood vessels and nervous system in a warm, alarming wave. “What the fuck did you give me?”
“A relaxant. It’s what we used in the original labs whenever a scientist wanted a male brought to their private chambers for a—a session.” Slibb tossed the inject into a disposer unit. “You’ll lose all ability to resist commands.”
“After all the shit she just spouted, Farahnnim wants me in her bed?” Gabe couldn’t believe his ears. His skin crawled and his adrenaline raced as he tried not to think about the trial ahead. He’d heard enough remarks from the Badari men in the pack to know any such encounter was another form of particularly demeaning torture, both mental and physical. His resistance and escape training hadn’t covered this specific scenario so he’d have to keep his wits about him, ready for any opportunity to manipulate the situation to his advantage.
“Not exactly,” Slibb answered with a sly grin, checking the monitors above the table. “Hmm, the dose may have been a bit too heavy for a human. I did reduce it from what the doctor ordered but…”
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