by S. E. Smith
“Those damn insects are organized, suspicious bastards,” Tor said with a sigh. “They make sure there are no tools available that might work on removing these damn collars,” he added with a wince as he received another small shock when he ran his fingers around the edge of it.
“I’ve got burn marks almost all the way around my neck from the damn thing,” Lodar complained, touching his tender throat.
“Do you need some medicine for it?” Riley asked from where she was laying on the bed, reading on her iPad. “I’ve got all kinds of stuff.”
“You wouldn’t happen to have a tool kit available, would you?” Tor joked.
“Of course,” Riley said without looking up. “Pliers, scissors, flathead screwdrivers, Philips head, you name it I’ve probably got it. What do you need?”
She finally looked up when no one replied. All five men were looking at her in disbelief. She frowned, looking from one to the other puzzled. She didn’t know what the big deal was, lots of women carried basic tools with them. You never knew when you might need one and it wasn’t like she had a guy around with a tool bag fixing things for her.
“What?” She asked innocently.
Vox took a step toward the bed, looking down at her in disbelief. “You have tools with you and you didn’t tell us?”
Riley shrugged, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. “No one asked.”
“No one asked,” Vox muttered looking at Tor and Lodar in disbelief. “We have been looking for tools for the past week! Haven’t you heard us talking about it?” He asked her in aggravation.
“Well yes, now that you mentioned it but I figured when you said ‘she’s a female, why would she need tools’,” Riley said dropping her voice to a deeper tone to imitate Vox’s voice, “that it was like a guy asking for directions! I decided if you really needed them, you could ask me,” she said before turning her attention back to the story she was reading.
Vox bit back a curse. “Can we see the tools you have?” He asked through gritted teeth.
Riley rolled her eyes but shut off the iPad. She sat up and reached for her huge handbag at the end of the bed. After a few minutes of digging around in it, she began pulling out all the tools she had stashed in the different compartments. She pulled out her large Leatherman, then her small Leatherman micro, a folding set of Allen wrenches, a small plastic container with various sizes of screwdrivers and Philips head, a pair of scissors, her manicure set, and a pair of wire snips.
“Oh, I didn’t know I had those in there,” she murmured. “I think I have another pair of needle nose pliers somewhere in here,” her muffled voice said as she stuck her head further into the large bag.
“How in the names of all the Gods can she have so much in there?” Lodar asked amazed as she began pulling more and more things out and laying them on the bed next to her.
Chapter 5
“What about this wire? Do you think it connects to the explosive pack or to the detonation switch?” Vox was asking Tor.
All five men were gathered around a partially dismantled collar. Or should she say, four of the men were gathered around one of the partially dismantled collars on Fred. Poor Fred was a shivering nervous wreck as Vox, Tor, and Lodar examined the collar while Bob leaned over their shoulders watching from a distance. They had been at it ever since they had returned from the dining area.
“I’m not sure yet,” Tor murmured under his breath. “There are three sets of wires. If I cut the wrong one it could explode. I don’t know enough about the Antrox to know how they do their wiring configurations.”
“Please,” Fred’s right head said in a trembling voice. His left head was sitting perfectly still with his eyes tightly closed. “Please, c…. ca…. can’t you do this to someone else?”
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Riley muttered getting up from where she had been trying to read on the bed. “How difficult can this be?”
She tossed her iPad down to the side. It was impossible to concentrate on what she was reading anyway with everyone in the room. Besides, she was tired of listening to Fred’s soft whimpers. She walked over to where the group of men was kneeling around the small, trembling body of the Tiliqua and picked up the pair of wire snips. She studied the wires for a moment before reaching over Tor’s shoulder and snipping the reddish color wire. The moment she did, the glowing light showing it was active went out.
“Problem solved,” she said, dropping the pliers into Tor’s open hand and returning to the bed.
Both sets of Fred’s eyes rolled back in his head as he fainted. Lodar and Tor grabbed him and lowered him down to the hard floor before turning to stare at her in disbelief. Riley picked up her manicure kit, pulled out her nail file and began shaping the chipped edges; working in the mine had made a mess of them. She finally looked up when the silence stretched into several long minutes.
Four pairs of eyes, including one blazing set, were staring at her in disbelief. “What?” She asked, looking at them in exasperation. “You guys were taking too long to make up your minds. It’s not like it was that difficult of a choice and I was tired of listening to Fred whining.”
“How did you know which wire to clip?” Tor finally asked curiously.
Riley shrugged, looking at the nail she had been working on. “Everyone knows it’s the red wire you cut,” she replied, working on the next nail.
“But, how did you know?” Vox asked suspiciously.
He wanted to know if perhaps he had been mistaken this whole time about the female he knew to be his mate. Things were suddenly not as clear as he first thought. What better way to knock him and his men off guard than to find an unfamiliar female species they had no experience with? The fact that she was his mate turned out to be a bonus. He suddenly had questions he wanted answers to! Like why was she allowed to claim five mates when all other females only had one? Why did she have tools on her? How did she know which wire to cut? Was there more to her than what he originally thought?
Vox stood up and stalked toward her menacingly. It would not make a difference that she was his mate. He would do what he had to do to protect his people, even if it meant…. Even if it meant killing the one woman he knew was meant for him.
“How did you know which wire to cut?” He growled out in a low, menacing voice.
Riley stopped filing her nails and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I know you are not talking to me in that tone of voice,” she said, staring at him through narrowed eyes.
He stopped in front of the bed and knelt down in front of her. Reaching out, he gripped her wrists in a firm but unbreakable hold. He stared deeply into her eyes, determined to know the truth even as his mind, body and cat rebelled against the idea that she could betray them.
“How did you know?” He asked again softly.
Riley frowned back at him in confusion. Why was he suddenly so intense? Everybody knew you were supposed to cut the red wire. She frowned again biting her lower lip.
Or was it the black one? She suddenly thought trying to remember which wire the guys in The Abyss and Speed always said they were supposed to cut.
“Damn it, now I can’t remember!” She said crossly. “I’m trying to remember if the guys in the movies said you always cut the red one or the black one,” she said looking at Vox with confused eyes. “I’ll have to watch The Abyss again.”
“Who is this Abyss?” He asked cautiously as Lodar and Tor came up behind him.
Riley looked up at the other two men then over to Bob before looking down where poor Fred was still out cold. Her eyes moved back until she was looking worriedly into Vox’s dark tawny ones.
“He’s going to be alright, isn’t he?” She asked hesitantly, glancing back at Fred before looking again at Vox. “I mean, I cut the right one, didn’t I? He isn’t hurt, is he?”
“Riley,” Vox said squeezing her wrists gently to get her attention as her eyes drifted to the Tiliqua again. “How did you know which wire to cut?”
“From all the mo
vies I’ve watched,” she said looking at the other men. “I mean, I’m pretty sure it was the red wire they always cut. You see, in the movie The Abyss the hero has to go to the bottom of the ocean because the bad guy was being a butthead about the aliens that came to visit them. He has to stop this bomb from blowing up the aliens that live there only he can’t really see what color the wire is and the good guys back on the underwater station are telling him to cut the red wire. Only I can’t remember now if they said the red wire. It could have been the black one. Anyway, he can’t really tell what color the wire is because he is using this green glow stick thingy like we used to play with on Halloween. That’s when we all dress up in costumes and pretend to be monsters and stuff so we can go get some free candy only I always dressed up as a ghost because Pearl couldn’t afford costumes for me and Tina so she used some old sheets,” she explained. “Does this make sense?”
“No,” all four men said before Vox growled at the others to be quiet.
“No,” Vox said, looking into Riley’s confused eyes.
Riley sighed in frustration before remembering she had been watching Galaxy Quest on her iPad earlier. She tugged on her wrist so she could grab it and show them what she was talking about. Vox held her firmly for a second before reluctantly releasing one wrist. He kept his eyes glued to her while she reached for the device she had been so focused on over the past couple of days. If she tried anything, he would make her death as quick and painless as he could. Pain sliced through him at the thought of hurting the delicate beauty in front of him. His cat hissed in revolt, clawing at his insides in rebellion.
He watched as she pressed a button on the device and it lit up. “This is a movie,” she was saying as she flicked her finger along the smooth surface. “I love Sci-fiction/fantasy type movies. Sometimes I’ll watch a good horror one but I always get nightmares from them so I have to be careful. I had nightmares for three days after watching Stephen King’s The Mist!” She explained as she pressed another button and a strange creature appeared on the screen.
Vox watched it for a minute before understanding dawned. She was referring to entertainment holovids. The human on the small screen was working on an obviously fake control panel before he and a human dressed in some type of costume disappeared behind the console. He listened as Riley giggled. Her eyes were glued to the screen, mesmerized.
“Gods blood,” Tor muttered over Vox’s shoulder before a chuckled escaped him. “She used something like this as a reference for knowing which wire to cut?” He said with a shake of his head. “It’s a miracle Fred’s head wasn’t blown off!”
“That’s okay,” Riley responded absently, still watching the movie. “He has a spare one,” she murmured distracted.
*.*.*
Fred glared at Riley again over the heads of the other men in their room. Titus, his brother, and two other men had appeared in their room a couple of hours after they had removed the other collar on Fred who finally came to in a very grouchy mood. Vox had also removed the ones on Lodar, Tor, and Bob. They had left the one on Vox but had disconnected it so it was no longer a threat. This allowed him the freedom to move around the prisoners living quarters without attracting attention.
Tor was in the process of disconnecting the collars so the other men would not have to worry about being killed when they escaped. Riley sat curled up on the end of the bed watching everything with a wary eye. She knew she should be excited about the idea of getting off this rock but she was still pissed at Vox. It had taken several minutes for her to finally understand the big oaf thought she was some kind of spy or something when he kept grilling her about where she got her tools from, how she had been captured, and why was she allowed to choose five mates when all the other women only had one. He had barked out one question after another, holding her wrists tightly in his large hands the entire time until she finally had enough of it and struggled to pull away. When she confronted him, he admitted he thought she was some kind of spy brought in to trick him. He also admitted he had been prepared to kill her if she had been
She wasn’t so sure she wanted to go with him and his men when they made their escape. She was thinking she might have better luck with the next guy she chose. It didn’t help that Fred was still mad at her either. Both of his heads had ripped her up one side and down the other when he woke up. It had taken Bob’s calming voice and her swearing she never meant him any harm before he had sulked over to the corner where he sat shooting glares at her from both sets of eyes.
Riley decided she couldn’t stand the glares Fred was giving her any longer. She had grown attached to the little two-headed lizard and it hurt that he was shooting her such heated looks of displeasure. She scooted off the bed, trying to ignore the way Vox’s eyes followed her every movement as she edged around the crowded group and went over to where Bob and Fred were huddled in the corner. She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor next to them.
“Fred,” Riley said quietly, touching the Tiliqua who had turned a cold shoulder to her as soon as she came over to where he was sitting. “I’m sorry. I would never hurt you, you know that don’t you? I think of you as a very, very dear friend,” she said, running her fingers gently along the side of one of his faces.
Both heads turned to her with a scowl. “You could have killed me, Riley!” Fred bit out coolly.
“But she didn’t,” Bob muttered. “Be nice to her, Fred. She feels bad enough.”
Riley glanced up at Bob and gave him a grateful smile before looking back at her little friend. “Will you go home once you leave here?” She asked quietly, picking up a small rock lying next to her and playing with it.
“Maybe,” Fred said with a sigh. “I’d never been off the Spaceport before. I think I would like to see more before I return. It will give me time to figure out what to do should I decide to return to my father’s business,” he muttered.
Riley looked down at the rock. Hot tears burned her eyes at the idea of losing the small group of alien males. They were the only creatures she knew and she had grown attached to them. Her eyes flickered to Vox for a moment before she quickly looked back down when she saw him staring at her intently.
“I’ll miss you both,” she admitted quietly. “You’ve both become good friends. I just want you to know it has meant a lot to me.”
Bob moved his big body so he was in front of her. His huge, green arms folded over his gelatinous chest. He waited patiently until she looked up at him.
“What are you planning now?” He demanded.
Riley’s eyes grew large before she shielded them. She was used to losing friends. If her mouth didn’t drive them away, her moving on did. It was just; she wasn’t sure where to go. None of the locations she was likely to end up in where programmed into her phone.
Hell, she thought depressed. Even Google wasn’t going to be able to help me here!
“I figured I’d stick around here for a while longer,” she started to say before tears thickened her throat and she had to clear it. She forced a smile to her face before she continued. “I hope you both have a safe journey to wherever you decide to go.”
“We will not leave you behind, Lady Riley,” Bob said in his deep, melodious voice. “The warrior king will not leave you. You are his mate.”
Riley’s eyes flickered up but she couldn’t see Vox because of Bob’s huge body. “Yes well, it isn’t his decision. Besides, I think I’m allergic to cats so it wouldn’t work out anyway. I’ll just stick around here and see if I can’t find me a trader or someone heading back toward Earth. I’ve got some business there I need to finish, not to mention, my family is back there,” she said lightly.
Bob’s huge body shook as he chuckled. “Little female, you should not try to fight. It will do no good. If the Sarafin warrior king wants you, you are his. But, if you do not wish to stay with him, I will do what I can to help you. I owe you a life debt for choosing me as a mate when others would have let me die.”
“As do I. You know
that big Sarafin warrior will kill us both if we try to take Riley away from him,” the left head of Fred said with a scowl as he looked at Bob. “I don’t care. I will do what I can to help you if you want to leave him,” the right head added gruffly to Riley. “Let us hope if he kills us, it is quick.”
“You both are just so sweet! But neither of you owe me a thing. Don’t you boys go worrying about little ole me. I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for the past twenty-four years,” Riley said with a watery smile. “So, when is this elaborate plan of escape supposed to take place? I didn’t understand half of what they were saying. Do you need a distraction? I excel at creating distractions,” she added with a mischievous smile.
“No!” A deep voice growled as the door to their living quarters opened.
Riley rose from where she was sitting. Bob slithered to one side revealing Vox. Behind him, the other men were quietly exiting the room. Soon, it was just the three of them. Tor and Lodar had followed the men out.
“You will stay here with these two for now,” Vox growled out in a soft voice. “I will return before it is time to leave. You will be ready to go with us.”
Riley shrugged her shoulders and tossed a length of curly blond over her shoulder nonchalantly. “Yes well, I was telling the boys I think it would be best if I just caught the next ship out with a trader who was heading toward good old Earth. You know, it would just be easier for you guys to escape without having little ole me holding you back and getting in the way,” she said with a bright, fake smile.
Vox stared at Riley intently before he jerked his head at Fred and Bob. Both knew it was an order to leave. Riley watched nervously as her two friends moved reluctantly toward the exit. Fred’s right head turned and he gave her a look of apology before he stepped out of the room behind Bob.
