“Walk forward, out of the entry, into the main room,” Nyddfalorr yelled.
Daegan did as ordered, pacing slowly.
Flo took in the room in a rapid scan. The remaining women were huddled at the rear, the lab tech guarding them, holding a pulse rifle awkwardly. He was no real threat. The security officer looked uneasy and she marked him as her first target. Nyddfalorr strutted from concealment behind a console, as arrogant as ever, stopping in front of Daegan.
“Despite the mess you animals have made of everything,” he said, “I count it as a victory to get away, taking you with me.”
The security officer shifted his stance. “Something’s not right here—”
Flo hit the button to free Daegan from the force cuffs and jumped to the side, shooting the soldier in the center of his forehead. He dropped with an expression of sheer astonishment on his face. She wheeled to deal with Nyddfalorr but Daegan had launched himself at the scientist, hitting him with fangs and talons deployed and the Khagrish was bleeding out from massive wounds as Daegan stepped away.
A bolt went by, nearly hitting Flo. The lab tech had more guts than she’d expected. He darted through another doorway and she took off after him, dropping her invisibility because it was too hard to maintain. “I’ve got him,” she shouted as she ran.
The tech had a good head start. He dropped the pulse rifle and pulled a smaller hand weapon, which he proceeded to shoot at her wildly, missing with every shot, but she had to take cover to return fire, winging him as he shoved the rear door open and fled outside.
Multiple shots from the waiting Badari soldiers sent him crashing to the ground in his death throes.
Thanks, guys. All clear. Flo spun on her heel and hastened back to the main room even as she was sending the message.
Mateer and his squad had rushed the building as soon as Daegan and Flo dealt with the Khagrish, reporting they’d found no booby-traps. Daegan was already dressed again, although he was barefoot. The women were huddled together, white faced, more than one in tears. Flo checked on Daegan first, relieved as he smiled at her. “I’m fine. You did a great job of watching my back.” He reached out to touch her face. “How’s your head?”
“Hurts. I’ll get a headclear inject from the medics shortly. We need to take care of the women first.”
“Mateer’s got the task well in hand.”
Flo was determined to see it through, however and walked to the part of the room where her fellow humans were. “Everyone all right? We’ll be getting you onto flyers and taking you to a safe place in a few minutes. Any injuries we need to know about?” She scanned the crowd for Renate and with a sinking feeling realized the self-appointed leader was missing.
Lacey came up to her. “Are Renate and Vanna—are they dead?”
Flo checked with Mateer. “Status?”
“One woman is dead. Medics are trying to save the other but she’s badly injured,” the enforcer said.
“This—this is why you were so calm the whole time, isn’t it?” Lacey asked. “You knew we were going to be rescued.”
Flo didn’t see any reason to deny it now. “Yeah, I knew. I was here to scout the situation out. We didn’t expect anyone to get hurt though.”
“I guess I can see why you never told any of us,” Lacey said.
“I couldn’t. I was under strict orders. Hey, where’s Shelli? I’ve got good news for her.”
Lacey took her to where Shelli sat, comforting another woman who was having trouble breathing. One of the northern Badari healers was trying to help her until a human medic could come.
“I’ve got great news for you,” Flo said. “Not only are you free of this place and the Khagrish, I asked the admin in charge of our base up north to check the roster of freed human prisoners.”
Shelli’s eyes opened wide and she trembled. “Is Ardem there? Is he safe?”
Nodding, Flo said, “According to Nicolle, we rescued him from a lab a few weeks ago. He’s uninjured—he’ll be waiting for you when you arrive at the valley.”
Shelli stood and embraced Flo, laughing and crying at the same time. “Thank you, thank you…”
“I didn’t do anything but ask for a name check,” Flo said, patting her on the back. “But I’m thrilled for you.”
Daegan tapped her on the shoulder. “We should go. Aydarr wants to talk to us.”
Shelli reached out for him. “You were so brave, thank you for coming to rescue us.”
Daegan retreated a step and Flo gave Shelli another hug, whispering in her ear, “Badari don’t like to be touched.”
“All part of the job,” Daegan said. He reached for Flo’s elbow and she allowed herself to be pulled away.
As she left the building, Flo paused at the lone remaining form, which the Badari had covered with a camouflage sheet. She twitched the covering aside and recognized the woman as one of those who’d been pretty reserved and quiet during the whole ordeal. “May the Lords of Space speed your journey,” she said quietly.
Daegan took her hand as they resumed walking. “We have no Badari casualties, although there were injuries, none life threatening for our kind. I regret the human women bore the brunt of the battle.”
“Do you know if Renate, the other woman Nyddfalorr shot, is going to make it?”
He shook his head. “I heard she was stable for now and being transported on the first flyer out of here. Your Dr. Garrison will operate as soon as she arrives, if she makes it.”
“It’s a long flight. But I know the Badari will do what they can for her.”
The northern pack was hard at work already, salvaging the higher priority items from the lab complex.
“They don’t waste any time, do they?” Daegan said as he walked with her to meet Aydarr.
“We’re—they’re good at what they do. We’ve had a lot of practice.” Frustrated at becoming tongue tied over the way she referenced her comrades in arms from Aydarr’s pack, Flo blew a raspberry.
He touched her gently on the arm. “It’s all right to count yourself as one of them still. It doesn’t hurt my feelings, you know. I did make the decision we’d join Aydarr as part of his military forces.”
“He may want me to fly one of the ships back to the valley,” she said. “We’re acquiring two cargo haulers and two more personal flyers here.”
“I’m working hard not to be resentful over the assumption all the resources here are considered to be Aydarr’s,” he said bluntly. “This is my territory.”
Shocked, Flo stopped walking. “I never thought about it—I’m sorry.”
He stopped as well. “We’re so newly mated, I’m sure we’ll both have to make many accommodations in thinking. I’m intensely grateful he and his pack liberated us. I’m not going to renege on my pledge to join in the war against the Khagrish. I’ll live in the north for the rest of my life if that’s what’s required to defeat the enemy but this is my home.” He held out his hand. “We’d better not keep him waiting. I can see we’re on a tight timetable here to clear out before more Khagrish arrive.”
“We have to destroy the complex too,” she said. “Causes confusion for the enemy and deprives them of whatever we have to leave behind.”
Aydarr and his mate and MARL were outside the admin building where they’d been gathering the data. “A very successful operation,” Aydarr said, grinning at Daegan and Flo. “Your pack should grab any personal possessions they may have and assemble at the air field. We’re ready to start sending them north, as we already sent the cubs and cadets. Our assistant Nicolle has a barracks cave set up for your pack in the valley, as well as an Alpha’s cave for the two of you. Going forward we’ll have to discuss how to integrate our forces seamlessly.”
“I’ve decided to implement the pack structure our DNA and ancestral memory have always pushed me toward,” Daegan said. “I’d like to conduct the blood oath ceremony before we leave our island here.”
“Do you have a shrine to the Great Mother?” Mateer asked. “We�
��ve built one in the valley.”
Flo could sense Daegan reining in his temper at the unspoken insinuation he might not have a proper place for the ritual. “We’re closest to her on the beach, beside the ocean. I want to conduct my ceremony there. We have to do things our way, for we don’t have the 800 years of traditions you’ve built up.”
Aydarr shook his head. “I’m sympathetic but there isn’t time to hold a ceremony and for you to take the oath from 90 or so men. Your cubs and cadets won’t be present to see how these things are done and to know they’re included. We’re on a timetable to get ourselves and whatever we can salvage the hell out of here before any Khagrish come to investigate.”
“I blocked several outgoing calls for help,” MARL said, his surface whirling with orange, purple and red blotches. “I responded to an incoming ping which appeared to be a routine status request from an automated system. I can’t predict how long this subterfuge will be effective. The system here is quite limited in intelligence so I can’t guarantee I’ve handled the inquiry as the AI on the other end might have expected.”
“Let me propose a compromise here,” Flo said. “What if Daegan administers the oath to his two enforcers, the healer and the five pod team leaders in front of the assembled pack? Then he can do the rest later, in the valley at the stone circle, as soon as we can arrange the details.”
“I could accept that,” Daegan said.
Aydarr was plainly not happy but he acquiesced. “Make it happen fast, which isn’t something I’d ordinarily say about such a sacred event. I can give you an hour. Hopefully the Great Mother will understand the circumstances. If anything changes, if we see incoming flyers, then all remaining personnel embark on my word no matter how many oaths you’ve still got to accept.”
“Agreed.” Daegan held out his hand. “On behalf of my pack, I thank you again for bringing us to freedom.”
Aydarr clasped Daegan’s forearm. “It was my honor.”
Flo heard the two enforcers issuing rapid orders in her head, sending the southern pack members scrambling to the beach. Daegan pivoted to move in that direction, reaching for her hand again.
“I need to borrow your mate as a pilot,” Aydarr said, “Once the limited ceremony is concluded of course. The big cargo hauler with the red stripe, out on the pad, Flo. You’ll be taking most of your pack as passengers.”
“No problem.” Proof she was needed and still part of the team was a relief but she was glad she’d given Daegan a heads up earlier that she might be required to fly.
By the time she and Daegan reached the beach, the entire pack was assembled and the eight men who were to give their blood oaths stood in front of the group. Daegan and Flo took their positions and the murmuring in the ranks which had been going on died out.
“For the first time we stand here as free men, thanks to our brothers from the north, and to my brave mate,” Daegan said, raising his voice to be heard over the waves. “It’s an honor to be able to face you all now as your Alpha and give you my pledge to devote the rest of my life to our continued battle against the enemy. I pray to the Great Mother to provide a return to the islands someday with the war won, but for now we must join our brothers in a land far away and strange to us. Yet we’ll keep our identity as the Southern pack and a key aspect is taking on the pack structure which we’ve all felt called to do for so long, but weren’t allowed to by those who imprisoned and tortured us. I’d prefer to accept oaths from all who stand here today but we must be realistic and evacuate the island before the Khagrish send reinforcements. My mate has suggested I accept the oath from these eight men who have been good and faithful leaders in the ranks, to represent all of you for now. When we’re settled in the north, we’ll use the goddess’s shrine there and I will bond with each and every one of you, with our cubs and cadets on hand to watch and learn.”
With your permission, I’ve come to sing a chant to the goddess. Timtur the healer stood at the edge of the beach.
Daegan pivoted smoothly to face Timtur and gesture him closer. “I welcome the healer of the northern pack and thank him for his gift of song.”
Timtur sang a powerful paean to the Great Mother, a celebration of the gifts she’d given to the Badari, including the all-important pack bond which strengthened them, enabling their survival under the Khagrish. Flo found herself moved nearly to tears as he sang the last verse.
The healer bowed in the direction of the ocean. “I must attend to my patients now. I wish you well in your ceremony and will see all of you in the valley.”
The eight men chosen to swear their oaths today knelt in the sand. Daegan walked purposefully to the first enforcer, Ivokk, who tilted his head, baring his artery for the Alpha and displaying complete submission as the Alpha said, “I make my pledge to all of you, to put the welfare of the pack first and foremost in my decisions, to honor and obey the commandments of the Great Mother and to set a course for our people in accordance with her teachings.”
Moving with the speed only an Alpha could command, he grazed the kneeling enforcer with the tip of his fangs, enough to draw the blood necessary to seal the bond between them, but not enough to harm the warrior. Flo knew he’d bear a scar for the rest of his life, but the Badari considered the mark an honor.
She felt the pack bond anchoring itself in her heart and her mind as Daegan proceeded to accept fealty from each of the individuals. Her emotions were overflowing as their pride and determination flooded through the new bond. She was immensely proud to be a part of this group and to stand as Daegan’s mate. Her earlier misgivings and worries were gone, replaced by her newfound purpose as his partner in enabling the southern Badari to become a successful and thriving pack.
As he completed the eighth bond mark, Daegan turned to her, holding out his hand and she stepped to his side. “As you know, the goddess blessed me with a mate like no other and she and I have claimed each other as ancestral memory commands. Fealty and loyalty to me extends to her, as my second in command. May you all be so blessed in the coming days, to find your mates and partners.”
“I’m honored to belong to the Southern Pack,” she said in flawless Badari.
The crowd gave a rousing cheer, the soldiers in a wonderful, upbeat mood.
“Assemble at the landing field as per previously given orders,” Daegan said. “We’ll be leaving in a few minutes.”
The crowd streamed by, most stopping to say a word or two of congratulations or thanks to their now openly-acknowledged Alpha and his mate. The two enforcers stood slightly behind them and the pod leaders had gone ahead to the landing field to get things organized for boarding the flyers.
One soldier stopped hesitantly next to Flo. Keeping his voice low, he asked, “We heard two of the women were shot—is the rumor true?”
“I’m afraid so,” she said. “Vanna was killed but the northern pack flew Renate to the valley on the first flyer out of here and she might have a chance to pull through.”
“Not – not Sophine then?”
Shaking her head, Flo remembered being told Sophine was one of the women who’d met a Badari she was interested in during the first set of interviews. “No, she’s fine. I saw her myself after the humans were freed. You’ll be able to contact her once we get settled in at the valley. Remind me if there’s any problem and I’ll follow up on the request for you.”
“I’d be grateful,” he said. “I don’t wish to distress her though.”
“And I appreciate your concern,” she said, pleased at the sensitivity he was exhibiting. “And you are—?”
“Bentamin. I’ll check with you in a few days then.”
“Do,” she said, patting him on the arm and laughing at herself inside as he nodded and moved away. Mother of the pack, that’s me!
Finally only Daegan and Flo were left on the beach, although the enforcers had only gone a short distance along the trail.
The Alpha stared out to sea. “I’m going to miss this every day until we come to the islands again,
to stay.”
“I know,” she said. “It gives us even more to fight for, our own home.”
Regarding her with raised eyebrows, Daegan asked, “You feel the connection too?”
“Yes, it reminds me of the place I was happiest growing up. We only lived there for four years but I always wanted to go back. It’s my happy place in my dreams, although now I imagine this beach will take its place.” She went on tiptoe to kiss him. “When we can come back, we’ll wipe the slate completely clean of the enemy’s presence and build anew.”
Resolutely, he turned his back on the waves. “We’d better go before Aydarr sends his enforcer to find us.”
“As if you couldn’t take Mateer.”
“You noticed?” Daegan raised one eyebrow and grinned.
“Of course I did and so did everyone else, I’m sure. You Badari and your dominance rituals.” Playfully she punched his bicep, making no impression whatsoever, although he faked a wide eyed grimace for her. “Luckily we mates are outside the hierarchy—we show our powers in other ways.”
“Hmmm, I think a dominance challenge with you might be entertaining,” he said with a gleam in his eye.
Hand in hand they walked to the trail.
Sunlight glittering off an object buried in the sand caught Flo’s eye and she dropped Daegan’s hand to investigate, drawn to the small amount of color she saw in the dawn light. Digging the object free hastily, she discovered it was a vivid blue quartz stone, shot through with green, in a roughly triangular shape, about two inches long. The gem seemed to her to capture the colors of the ocean and she hastily slid it into her pocket.
“What is it?” Daegan asked as she rejoined him.
“A rock.” She was deliberately vague, hoping he wouldn’t pursue the subject.
When they got to the landing field, most of the flyers were already gone. Two were landing and northern Badari soldiers stood ready to load more equipment and supplies. Aydarr was waiting by the one Flo was to pilot.
Daegan Page 19
