Flummoxed, Khalib's hand slid from the arm. He brushed at the front of his kassock and slipped the gem back inside. A finger rose to trace the side of Mika’s cheek.
Mika quivered, but remained calm.
A smile emerged on his lips. “Another time, perhaps?” He abruptly swung around and strode out the door.
Like magic, women reappeared from nowhere as Mika and Sousi collapsed against each other in relief.
“Are you okay?” Sousi whispered.
Mika answered through clenched teeth, “My knife’s all sharp now and aching to slice something personal off that man.”
“No!” Sousi grabbed her hand. “Be smart. Don’t.”
Mika stared at the closing door. “It may require great restraint.”
Chapter 6
Amanda
Merek slipped around a corner, listening for the sound of voices. While he mapped the twisting corridors, Bashar sat at breakfast. Studying his electronic tablet, the guard added additional details. The rough textured sandstone walls formed a confusing corridor that connected the rooms together. A whiff of a sweet fragrance alerted him to life in the form of either women or flowers. Turning another corner, Merek found both. A small open courtyard filled with women and bright flowers around a bubbling fountain appeared before him. Making a quick sketch on his electronic tablet, he frantically backed up and fled in the opposite direction.
The corridor’s serpentine path twisted and turned until Merek felt like a lost gebbit in a maze. “Damn!” burst forth when before him, a cluster of white-robed and veiled women emerged from a doorway. Shouts rang down the corridor as soon as they saw him.
“I’m lost.” Flapping his hands, he tried to put on a “lost” expression and appear confused. His Sunglast dialect was poor, and the proper words vanished from his thoughts.
“Trajan.” From the midst of a clutch of women, one veiled form pushed out. “Is it truly you?”
The women all began a senseless chattering as they grabbed at the advancing person.
Whirling on them, she shook them loose. “No! You’re trying to make me lose my mind,” she shrieked. “I’m hallucinating because of that wretched tea you served me. He’s not really there, and I’ll prove it.” She marched toward Merek. His hand slipped to a hidden knife as he faced the approaching crazy person.
He had no idea what the woman was ranting about, but she had yelled the name Trajan, and abruptly, he realized she was talking in ship-speak. His hand eased its grip.
The robed figure pointed at him. “I know Trajan’s dead. You can't trick me into believing he’s alive. You’re a ridiculous imposter. You women are trying to make me crazy so Allfyre will send me out into the desert to die.” Her hand slammed against his chest, hammering at him. “Trajan died. I’m sane enough to know that. You’re a ghost.” Her eyes brimmed with tears. The veil slipped, revealing a familiar face. She stared at her hand, realizing that it pounded solid flesh and stepped back, wide-eyed.
In shaky ship-speak, filled with disbelief, he said, “Amanda! What are you doing here?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Trajan?” she burst out in hysterics. “It can’t be you. You’re dead. You’re dead.”
“I know. I’m his clone. I’m Merek. You remember Merek, don’t you? Both you and Trajan sponsored me and Amanda series II on the ship.” He scanned the group to check if anyone spoke ship-speak. But all the faces appeared blank or merely agitated at his presence, not from any understanding of what they said. His secret was safe.
Amanda collapsed into his arms, sobbing. “Yes, Merek. I remember. You’re real. I’m not crazy then.”
The women’s agitation rose around them. Frantically, he raised his hands as a signal for them to calm down. He didn’t want to attract any further attention. He turned to her. “No, you’re not crazy. I’m real.”
Subsiding, Amanda pulled back. “Merek. Yes, his clone.” She sighed. “I remember now. You looked exactly like Trajan ... What are you doing here?”
The women shouted at her. A sharp word over her shoulder intimidated them into silence.
He continued in ship-speak. “We heard that a number of nomads abducted two Terran women who are being held hostage here.”
One of the women grabbed her arm and shook it, gabbling at her in heavily accented Unis. Amanda shook her off and answered back.
She turned to him, a worried expression on her face. “We have to get you out of here. Any male found in the women’s quarters gets his male parts dismembered.”
“Ouch. Let’s avoid that.” He surveyed the corridor to see if an alarm had been raised. So far, only their area had activity. The rest of the hallway appeared empty and silent.
“Who’s the other Terran?” he whispered.
A weak smile appeared. “The other Terran is Lexi. She’s not a woman yet, just a girl, but Allfyre likes girls as much, or even more, than mature woman. So far, she hasn’t been molested, but with him, it’s only a matter of time.
Thankfully, he’s been busy with other matters.”
A woman tugged on his arm and began yanking him down the corridor.
“I got lost,” he explained to her in Unis.
She chattered back at him, flapping with one hand and tugging with another.
He glanced back over his shoulder at Amanda. “What about you? Have you been treated well?”
She waved a languid hand. “Khalib dresses and feeds me. I have plenty of company, but the women can be bossy and mean sometimes… but some are kind. To be truthful, a few are quite nice. It’s not a bad life, but it’s hard. And I’ve heard those who disobey are flogged.”
They came to a door in the corridor. The woman leading him opened it and peered in, muttering to herself.
“How can I get a message to you?” He slipped her an electronic tracker that she pocketed with one hand while her other thumped his arm as a diversion.
“They say a visiting Terran is currently staying in the guest quarters. Give her any messages. I’ll check in every morning and night until you leave.”
“Amanda, it’s Mika.”
“Mika? She was one of Captain Fujeint’s guards.”
He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Yes. If I can manage it, would you want to escape this place?”
She stared off into the middle distance. “I’m afraid leaving here would start a war in the Ching T’Karre, and many innocent people might get killed. Even so, getting Lexi out would be worth it. As for me... I have very little to live for. At least, here is a place where I can continue to stay on Alysia. For me, there are few alternatives. The ships have left.”
Merek grabbed her arm. “Your daughter is pregnant. Amanda Series II is pregnant naturally by me,” he emphasized to her, as he led them into a different corridor. “Come live with us. We are your clones. Help us raise what would be the same as Trajan’s and your natural child.”
“But that’s impossible,” she shouted and leaned toward him as the women pushed him through but held her back. The door slammed shut between them before he could explain. He scanned up and down this branch of the compound and added it into the data base. Luckily, he was familiar with this area. He checked the developing map. Yes, he was confident he could find his way out now.
If he ever wanted to sire any more children, he’d better leave now. He smiled at the thought of his wife and their coming child, then activated his step-up mode. That argument would convince Amanda to come. Walls blurred past as he made his way back to the main courtyard where Deuce waited. He had found the Terrans. He knew them.
***
As Merek entered the courtyard, Deuce edged his chair deeper into the shade of a large waving palm and took a gulp of sparkling water from a glass. Merek wiped his sweating brow with an ever-present handkerchief and joined him. They sat before a small round table next to the bubbling fountain in an effort to ease the oppressive heat.
Deuce shook his head. “For an unsophisticated nomad, this Khalib sure has a lot of electronic equipment em
bedded throughout his house. I’m glad you passed the tracker to Amanda. I have her on screen now.” Deuce swiveled his tablet around to show a pulsing dot within his developing layout of the compound.
“That’s her?” Merek peered at the tablet.
“Here’s a tracker for the other.” Deuce handed him a small electronic device. “Tell Mika to get it to her. I already have Sousi and Mika tagged. Two pulsing dots revealed the two women strolling in a nearby garden.
Merek nodded. “I’ll see Sousi soon. She can give it to her.” He slipped the device into a pocket.
Deuce put away the tablet. “You need to finish your mapping before we leave tomorrow. Sousi has completed the women’s courtyard and residence. She has gathered the names and positions of almost everyone.” Deuce rubbed his forehead in amazement. “That girl is a natural spy.”
“I’ve noticed,” Merek grumbled. “Very talented.”
A light breeze fluttered Deuce’s linen shirt. A heavy, metallic necklace that was draped over his chest vibrated. Deuce was communications central, and the vibration signaled information being transmitted to or from Trace.
Merek leaned forward. “How can we get past the cameras and electronics, much less unlock the door to the suite where Khalib keeps the Terran women secured?”
Deuce sipped more water, finishing with a smile. “Leave that part to me. Trace is receiving the data and running programs.” He tapped his necklace. “He’s working on putting a retrieval team together.”
Merek gazed toward the fountain of cool sparkling water. “I should be on the team since it’s Amanda and Lexi. I was Lexi’s team leader on the space station. She’s only a young girl. And Amanda…”
“That will be Trace’s decision.” Deuce shot him a level stare. “Bashar is monitoring Khalib to learn how much the nomad suspects. He says Khalib is suspicious but has his own agenda. Plus, Bashar says he may be able to gather the code for the locks.”
Merek frowned. “How can Bashar do that?”
After pausing for another drink, Deuce answered, “You Terrans have a highly developed technology and advances in science which we don’t. I’ll grant you that. But Alysians have their own secret resources.” Deuce smirked.
Raising an eyebrow, Merek said, “So, what are these secret resources you claim to have?”
Deuce leaned forward. “We call them secret for a reason—they’re secret.”
“I know that you are telekinetic. That’s no secret.”
Deuce shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Yeah, I was stupid enough to get caught at it. Trace has given me no end of grief over that slipup.”
“How heavy an item can you lift?” Merek asked.
“I’m not sure. More than my body weight.”
“Can you lift yourself?”
Deuce shrugged. “A little. I can’t go high enough to fly like a bird if that’s what you mean. This is all top-secret information, by the way. Elise knows, but that’s the extent of it. We’d like to keep it that way.”
Merek frowned. “Too late. That cat’s out of the bag. Besides, I thought we were working together.”
Deuce nodded. “To a certain extent we are, but just as Terrans are withholding pieces of their advanced technology, we want to hold back parts of our abilities in order to protect ourselves.”
Merek felt uncomfortable with the withholding of information by both sides, but the current mission was more important at the moment than the argument.
“We should get the females out now.” Merek slapped a hand on the table. “Each day the risk increases.”
Deuce shook his head. “No. You could handle it, maybe Mika, but I’m not endangering Bashar and Sousi. Richard made that very clear. A professional team will use the intel we have gathered and do the job without putting them in danger.”
“I have the basement and storage area to finish mapping.” Merek rubbed his neck.
Deuce pushed back from the table. “Bashar goes this afternoon to scope out the animal pens and outside buildings with Khalib. They have plans to go to the cellar to pick out tonight’s drink. He might want you along to assist. I’d check in with him if I were you.”
Tapping his fingers on the tabletop, Merek said, “Does he still plan to leave in the next couple of days?”
Deuce nodded. “As soon as we have the data.”
***
Merek met up with Bashar, and now, he and Bashar strolled in a lush garden, protected by a voice shield. Tall green fronds lined a stone path and flowers scented the air. Merek barely noticed. “The two Terrans are Amanda and Lexi. Lexi is only thirteen … a child. We have to get them out now before they’re moved and hidden.”
Bashar shook his head. “I’m here as a guest of Khalib’s. I will not desecrate a relative’s hospitality while under his roof.”
“But, sir.” Desperation welled up within Merek.
“No.” Bashar faced Merek. “I have stretched any obligations I have to Richard Steele to the fullest. I will not spit on the graciousness and goodwill of a neighbor and family member. Do you understand?”
Merek stared off across the garden. “Word is your gracious neighbor tried to compromise Mika while thinking her your wife. He disregarded your feelings and honor. What if he goes after Sousi next?”
Bashar’s face closed up. “How did Mika fare?”
Merek chuckled. “No man has a chance of compromising Mika. I’m not worried about her, but I’m worried about your innocent niece if Khalib presses.”
Bashar smirked. “How well do you know the girl?” Bashar’s strange eyes turned to stare at him. Merek swore he saw them flick. He’d learned that those of the Sunglast had eyes with an outer lens that would close to protect the inner eye against the sand. This outer lens was usually not apparent unless the observer sat close and consciously observed them. Now, those alien eyes unnerved Merek.
Merek shrugged. “Admittedly, not well.”
Clapping him on the shoulder, Bashar offered him a strained grin. “Let me allay your fears. Sousi is royal Ching T’Karre. She’s made of stern stuff. She has had to deal with men propositioning her constantly at the royal court. She can handle herself. No, today I’m going to present Khalib with two prize lompirs. Sousi assures me that she will be done with her part of the mission by the end of the day. Meanwhile, I’ll distract our host with presents and flattery. Then tomorrow, we leave.”
“And Amanda and Lexi?”
“That will be up to Trace and Richard. I’ve done all I promised.”
Merek closed his eyes. “I hope they won’t take too long, or it might get very dangerous.”
“Ah, but Richard says you do danger well.”
***
“My sweet child. Are you enjoying your stay?”
Khalib’s bulk cast a shadow over Sousi. She looked up from making notes on her electronic pad.
Child? What an irritating man. A few additional names and locations, and all would be done. The layout was almost complete, but she didn’t know where the laundry was located or the name heading up that operation. She pressed the button on her tablet to transmit her notes, causing the music to stop. “You’re a most generous host,” she gushed while pocketing the device.
“Is there anything I may personally do for you?” Khalib moved closer and softly tapped her arm.
“If it wouldn’t be an inconvenience, I need to know who the head laundress is and where the laundry is located.”
She saw it was not the response Khalib had expected. He straightened up with a puzzled expression. “Laundry? Did you say you want to know about laundry?”
“It seems I was a bit careless with the sauce at dinner and stained my abela. Bashar is very strict about keeping our attire in order. I’m quite embarrassed.”
An understanding expression crossed Khalib’s face. He smiled and moved closer, his fetid breath almost knocking her off her feet. “Amman Bin Shalla handles all laundry. I will send him to you after dinner to collect your abela. There’s no need for embarra
ssment.” His hand stroked her hair. “A pretty young thing like you must often feel deep emotions that cause such accidents. I feel strong emotions that I struggle to control, too.” He stepped even closer and tapped her chest. “But yet, the heart calls out.”
An answering smile danced along Sousi’s lips. She fluttered eyelashes at him as she backed away from the invading finger. “Yes, a true princess of the Ching T’Karre must learn to manage her passion. Grandpier always says we have Chai to maintain. Fealty.” She lifted her hair so that it fluttered gracefully about her waist.
Khalib's brow dipped. “Grandpier?”
“Oh, I thought Bashar told you that my grandfather is the Honorable Shenji Blue T’Kai, Grand Khalif of the Ching T’Karre.” She raised an eyebrow. “It wouldn't be seemly for me to fling myself at a man other than my husband-to-be, no matter how handsome and tempting he be. The T’Kai family places great importance on honor.”
“Ah, yes. Of course. I understand.” Now it was Khalib who took the step back. “The Honorable Shenji Blue T’Kai is your grandfather.” Khalib’s voice quavered.
“That’s what I said.” Sousi pulled out a piece of paper “Amman Bin Shalla?” She made a show of writing down the name. Her smile grew wider as Khalib turned and fled, suddenly finding something urgent to attend to.
***
“I fear Sousi has been too much on Khalib’s mind.” Bashar put down his drink. He sat with Merek and Deuce in the men’s drawing room, all waiting for their tardy host.
Merek sipped his t’aile, savoring the drink, all the while wondering how Bashar knew so much about what Khalib thought. “Mika told me that he approached Sousi, but the girl held her own,” he offered.
Nodding, Bashar indicated that he wasn’t surprised. “If we sift the sand properly, we may be able to use his interest in her to our advantage.”
Merek was trying to figure his meaning but put it aside as Khalib burst into the room. All three men rose to greet their host.
Khalib patted the air, motioning them to their seats. He fluffed his kassock about him and made a commotion while he, too, sat down. Fingers snapping in the air brought a scurrying servant with a drink. Khalib sipped and then bestowed a benevolent smile on them.
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