by L M Lacee
Finally, there came a single knock from the other side and the door slid open, revealing a small foyer that led to a short hallway with a door at the end.
Two females stood with blasters in hands that shook. Both were thin and looked unwell, one had short brown hair; the other long, which was badly in need of trimming. Their feet were bare, and both wore mismatched tops and pants which had seen better days. Their eyes were dull, but Netta could see a spark of something in the depths of their gray-blue wolf eyes. She felt a breath of air glide over her skin and swore she heard the Star Childs voice whisper.
Old souls of Earth.
Netta knew she was in the presence of two females who were not what they seemed. She would have to remember to mention them to Peyton. Not surprisingly Jarrod was having the same thoughts. As he looked the sisters over he decided with more weight and rest behind them, they would be beautiful females and dangerous. Netta let Sonia do the talking as the two females eyed her and the others with suspicion.
Sonia made the introductions, first the long haired female, then the other. ‘This is Echo and Relic Wallace, they are sisters. Guys, these are the Star Daughter’s people. We were right, they are human. Well mostly, and they are here to help.’
‘Where are Abby and Chris?’ The one named Relic asked in a voice that sounded like she had eaten steel it was that unforgiving. Her sister Echo’s face was expressionless, her eyes hard chips of ice and she did not speak.
Darby answered her question. ‘They have gone to the Maikonia Embassy for medical treatment.’
Sonia quickly added. ‘This is where these people are staying while they are here, Chris was ill.’
Reeve came into view and the sister’s eyes traveled up his body as their mouths fell open, and small whimpers escaped from frightened throats.
‘What the hell is going on?’ A female asked as she entered from the door at the end of the short hall. She was thin as well, with spiky brown hair and brown eyes, her mismatched clothes hung on her as well.
Sonia sighed as she told Netta. ‘This is Charlotte.’
Patty smiled and spoke, still using English. ‘We are from the Star Daughter and have come to take you away from here. This is Commander Reeve, he is married to the short female over there, whose name is Darby.’ She pointed to Darby, who stood just inside the door and waved. ‘I am a doctor, my name is Patty. This is Commander Netta. We are all from Earth. Except the ones who are obviously not, they are our friends.’ Pointing to Jarrod and Telfor, she said. ‘These gentlemen are mind-healers. They also have come to help take you from here.’
Netta looked the three females over and said. ‘These are my people, Sonia, Abby and Chris asked us to help you. We mean no harm and will not rush you, but we will not leave you in this place any longer.’
Reeve smiled and spoke in accented English, proving he was capable of more than a few words. Netta and Patty turned surprised eyes on him, they had never heard him speak more than three words in English before.
‘Of course we will not, now I am an Elite, you do not understand what that means yet, but I assure you it means you will be safe. So little females, we are here to take you from this shit hole.’ He smiled at Patty and Netta telling them. ‘I learned that word from my Darby.’
They looked at her and she shrugged. ‘I am sorry. He speaks and understands English very well, and sometimes I forget and when I am distracted, he learns the swear words. It is his fault.’ She growled as she pointed to the tall male who grinned and waggled his eyebrows up and down as he said. ‘She cannot resist my charms.’
‘Dear stars.’ Netta mumbled.
The silly nonsense lessened the tension in the room as it was meant to. Reeve quietly stated to the three females. ‘It is time to leave. Let us gather everyone so we can make that happen quickly.’
SIXTY-THREE:
Reeve moved further into the apartment and gently reached out and removed the forgotten blasters from the sister’s hands.
Echo rasped. ‘They are not charged.’
He nodded and said seriously. ‘I know, it was a good bluff, I was scared.’
Which made them smile at the ridiculousness of the statement.
Patty asked Echo. ‘Can I scan your throat?’
‘Sure.’
Patty passed the scanner over her throat and said. ‘Oh my, this is not good. Your larynx is almost destroyed, no more talking for you.’
Echo opened her mouth and her sister hit her arm. ‘Shut it, dear lord, can you just for once do as you are told.’
Echo lifted her top lip in a silent snarl but did not speak, although it was easy to see she had lots to say. Relic’s voice had lost its hardness as she asked Patty. ‘Can you fix her?’
‘Yes, but she will not be able to talk for a few days.’
‘Good.’ Relic smiled at her sister and sighed loudly. ‘Finally, blissful peace for a while.’
Echo snarled again and promised retribution with her eyes.
Telfor asked. ‘My brother, don’t we know sisters like these two?’
‘We do, just like them. Perhaps it is a Terran thing after all.’
Netta and Darby both said together. ‘Shut it, you two.’
Laughing, Jarrod moved into the lounge and asked Sonia. ‘You are the leader here?’
She nodded. ‘Sort of.’
The female called Charlotte snorted and said. ‘She is.’
Jarrod nodded then said. ‘Lady Sonia, we can do this two ways, we can have everyone sleep and just move them or…’
At several of the female’s loud protests, he sent them a look. Whatever they read in his eyes made them quieten and their cheeks heat slightly. ‘Or we can just have the injured females sleep, the stress on them will be minimized.’
Sonia nodded as she said. ‘We apologize.’
He inclined his head, she looked toward Netta who wore a blank expression but Sonia got the feeling she was annoyed. She looked toward Charlotte and the Wallace sisters and got a nod from all three of them. A spurt of rebellion reared its ugly head as she thought. She was sorry, but these people had not gone through everything they had endured to keep their friends safe, they would have to just go slowly.
A minute later she felt bad as Netta gently said without a trace of annoyance in her tone.
‘Sonia, we do not know what these women can tolerate, so whatever you decide for your friends we will go with.’ She smiled and looked around at the females watching and listening to them.
‘I would like you all to understand what kind of people you are going to meet. Basically we are one big family, we care for and love each other, so if you need time, we will wait, it is what family does.’
Sonia sucked back a sob that wanted to escape and huskily addressed Jarrod. ‘I think sleep for the injured would be best. Some of them are quite traumatized.’
Jarrod touched her cheek as he said. ‘Lady Sonia, you are lovely and very kind.’
Waseo clenched his hands into fists, catching the movement from the corner of his eye. Jarrod smiled as he asked him. ‘Treasure?’
‘Yes.’
‘I apologize Waseo.’
‘It is what it is my friend.’
Jarrod inclined his head and with Telfor moved to the center of the room. Together they raised their hands and closed their eyes. Everyone felt the whisper of power that sighed like a soft wind moving gently through the apartment. And they all heard the quiet sighs from multiple females in the other rooms.
Jarrod opened his eyes and looked at Netta. ‘Commander, we have reduced the stress for all the ladies present and placed the most vulnerable in sleep.’
‘Thank you Kail.’
Netta signaled her Warriors to move deeper into the apartment, like ghosts they slipped around females and through doorways.
The rooms were clean and sparsely furnished. Several of the females smiled and calmly called out to Sonia as she led Netta and her team through the small square lounge.
‘What is going on?’
Sonia called back. ‘We are leaving, take whatever you need.’
‘Well, that is nothing.’ Charlotte said as she followed behind them.
Netta, looking around, and secretly agreed with her. There was nothing here to say, hey take me.
Sonia explained to Netta. ‘We have four rooms all larger than this, we sleep on mattresses wherever we can find a space. Mostly we shared the beds or the couches for warmth.’ She pointed to two long, wide yellow couches that took up most of the lounge. ‘We have two small cleansing rooms, no hot water, but we could heat it on the stove.’
She then took them to a bedroom where three large beds were pushed together in the middle of a room. Laying on them were pale thin females dressed in simple clean shifts.
Charlotte softly told them. ‘There are ten in here and ten in the other room.’
Netta made a sign and Warriors entered both rooms, she moved out of the way dragging Sonia and Charlotte with her. The Warriors carefully wrapped the females in thermal blankets they had brought with them and gently picked them up, carrying them from the apartment.
Echo and her sister Relic moved over to where Sonia and Charlotte stood with Netta. Darby stood next to Reeve, her hand in his. Waseo leaned against the wall, watching the females forlornly look around themselves.
Once the last of the sleeping females were removed, Netta gently ordered. ‘Let’s get the others and leave.’
Sonia said. ‘Okay.’
She moved into the lounge, talking to the females as she went. Echo and Relic stood looking around themselves.
Netta touched Charlotte on the arm, startling her. ‘Sorry, it is just I know you.’
‘I don’t know you.’ Charlotte said, not quite hiding her hostile tone.
Netta took no offense as she demanded. ‘Darby look.’
Darby looked at the face of the young female and after a min she drew in a breath. ‘It can’t be, can it?’
Reeve said. ‘What can it not be?’
‘Look at her, Reeve.’
He did so and said in English, his deep rumbling voice rolling over Charlotte. ‘I know you.’
Netta said. ‘Yeah... yeah you do.’
Annoyed and suddenly tired, Charlotte could not cope right now with whatever this was. So she fell back on the one remaining emotion she had, anger. ‘Look, I have no idea what the fuck this is.’
Relic said to Netta. ‘Most people think, my sister and I are mean until they met Char.’
‘I am not mean, I am tired and just plain…’
Netta interrupted her. ‘We know your brother, he is looking for you.’
‘Liar!’ Charlotte’s angry denial was swift and sharp. She had wanted to find him for so long, that her brain would not allow hope to enter her heart. She begged them with her eyes to be telling the truth as she whispered words of disbelief. ‘You are lying.’
‘No, I swear I’m not.’ Netta assured her calmly with quiet sympathy as she tapped her link. ‘Jax.’
Commander Netta, are you well?
‘We are, thank you Jax. We need to talk to Mark Solar, screen please.’
Connecting Commander.
She heard a smothered sob from behind her as a screen appeared on the wall filled with Mark’s face. He looked enquiringly at Netta as they heard Relic say. ‘Oh wow, I didn’t know that could happen.’
When Charlotte saw her brother, she just collapsed against the couch and cried out.
‘Mark, oh Mark!’
He called out, ‘Char, Char… I’ve been looking for you.’
Every emotion Charlotte thought had been killed arrived back in full force, and she sobbed incoherently. Netta thought she heard her ask. ‘Where are you?’
Mark must have thought the same as he answered. ‘I am here at the Capital, at the Maikonian Embassy.’
Charlotte shook her head and hugged herself, tears running down her face. Unable to comprehend that her brother, the only reason she was still alive, was almost within touching distance after all this time.
Netta told Mark. ‘We are returning now.’
Reeve said. ‘Mark, we will bring her, be assured she is safe.’
He nodded, his eyes on his sister. ‘I love you, baby girl.’
She nodded too choked up for words. Reeve picked her up and she curled into him, sobbing hard into his enormous chest. Her hands holding tight to his jacket. Sadness filled his face as he looked at her brother. ‘We are on our way.’ The screen went blank, he nodded to Darby. ‘My heart, we leave.’
She whispered. ‘Okay.’
Gently she took the Wallace sisters by their hands and led them from the room, saying. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
They both nodded and followed behind Sonia and Waseo as they guided other females to the door. Telfor, Patty, and Jarrod gently escorted several despondent females from the room.
After that it only took moments for the other females to realize they had nothing to take with them and hurry from the apartment they had called home for the last few luneras. Fearing if they did not move quickly enough. They would be left behind.
SIXTY-FOUR:
Netta could have told the departing females there was no need to hurry, she would never leave anyone here. But as she looked around the depressing apartment, she understood their fear.
Once the last female left, she walked through each room checking under beds and in closets and the cleansing rooms. Making sure they did not accidently leave anyone behind.
Satisfied, she walked back into the dim hall and came face to face with Darby, who asked her tight-lipped sister. ‘Hey, you okay?’
Netta shook her head unable to speak, fearful the only sound that would escape, would be a scream of rage.
Darby said with a grimace. ‘It is not as terrible as I worried it would be.’
Netta swallowed and grimly replied. ‘No, I guess not, they kept it really clean.’
Darby stated softly, hoping she guessed correctly the emotion clouding her sister’s eyes.
‘You are sad.’
‘I am sad and very… very angry!’
With that statement Netta’s eyes turned gold as her Rie broke free, devouring her senses. Rage and gut wrenching sadness swallowed her as she slapped her hands against the crystal wall. Cracks snaked across the crystal and ran the length of the apartment. Hanging her head, she pulsed the emotions from her body into the crystal, which absorbed it like a sponge. Ominous sounds of crystal breaking sounded from outside the apartment as walls shattered and floors buckled throughout the building,
Darby’s mouth went dry when she felt the violence flow from her sister. She had no idea Netta could produce so much power. Tentatively, she reached out and wrapped her arms around her and begged. ‘Come back Netta… Come back, please!’
Then the sense of Peyton was there and phantom arms surrounded them both, soothing Netta’s hurt and anger away.
Turning around, Netta hugged Darby. ‘I am okay... we are okay.’
Peyton’s voice whispered through their minds. I feel your anger Netta, but remember these females are strong. Do not pity them, cherish their courage. Celebrate their survival. They stayed alive through everything they have endured and found their way to us. Now we can show them how we love and care for people in need…
Darby told Netta. ‘She is right and they are strong, to go through what they have and to survive.’
Grinning weakly, Netta whispered. ‘Yeah, okay.’
Suddenly there was no time for any more words as they heard crystal falling in the apartment. Netta said. ‘I think it is time for us to bug out.’
Darby grabbed her hand as another loud crash sounded. ‘Let’s go.’
They ran and quickly found themselves ushered into the car by Warriors looking apprehensively at the cracks in the walls.
Reeve with the now sleeping girl in his arms asked as they found seats. ‘Are you well?’
Darby answered for them both. ‘We are, we are just fine.’
N
etta winked at her. They looked at the girl in his arms. Sonia sitting just behind Waseo told them. ‘Patty made her sleep.’
Netta asked. ‘Where is Telfor?’
‘With the others.’ Jarrod replied. ‘He will keep them asleep.’
‘Okay, so we have everyone then?’
Waseo answered. ‘We do, are we away?’
‘Yes, take us to the Embassy please.’
Darby muttered as a slab of wall slid into the parking level behind them. ‘And make it quick.’
Several of the females and Sonia stared at the broken wall as she murmured. ‘I wonder what caused that.’
No one answered her, Reeve stared at Netta. She shrugged and mind-sent. Sorry.
He raised an eyebrow and returned. Report to Kardan.
She nodded, knowing he could see she had lost control and looked straight into Jarrod’s knowing eyes. ‘I expect to see you in my rooms tomorrow.’
Netta hung her head in surrender. If she did not see him, he would just get Peyton or stars forbid Bendrix to nag her. ‘Yes Kail.’
Sonia ignored the conversation as she continued to stare at the building, watching large hunks of crystal fall as they left the parking level, she said almost to herself. ‘I prayed for this day, we all did. But I never thought it could ever be like this.’ She looked at the Warriors and Waseo. Then at Netta and the giant male tenderly holding the sleeping Charlotte, and then finally Darby. ‘Thank you so much, for making this happen.’
Darby nodded. ‘Yeah well, as Netta said whether or not we all know it, out here we are family and family helps family or they should.’
Reeve sighed softly. ‘Sometimes we just do not know that family is out here looking for us.’
Netta said. ‘We will find them brother, I know it.’
He nodded, saying. ‘They will come home just like these delightful ladies have found their way home.’
No one disagreed with him and a few mins later they were pulling into the parking level of the Embassy. Netta guided the females into the foyer where they were met by Marlo and Brenda.
Everyone stopped automatically when they saw the couple waiting. Netta, Patty and Darby slid between the females and stood next to the couple who hugged each of them.
