by Mary Auclair
“You want me to free Knut and the guards?” Aliena shook her head, then shot a glance at the girl. “That won’t work.”
“Not the guards,” the Ilarian guard cut in. “Only Knut. We only need Knut.”
Aliena looked at the guard. That blank face, devoid of emotions, those eyes, gleaming with an artificial intelligence, honed like a fine blade for a single purpose. He was not a person, but more a robot, intent on preserving the life of his owner. He wouldn’t even blink at the idea of leaving his brothers behind to face a certain and gruesome death.
“And you’re okay with that?” Aliena turned to Sheegar. “You will leave your friends behind like a coward, hurt a child if you don’t get what you want?”
Sheegar rotated his shoulders, giving his rectangular body a strange, almost fluid look. It was so strange to see a body move like that—like he didn’t have an interior skeleton—it sent a flutter of fear traveling through her gut.
“You will get Knut and Wyol out.” Sheegar’s voice was more metallic, harder to understand. “The others will have to be left behind. If you do not obey, the Ilarian will kill the human hatchling. It is a matter of survival.”
“I don’t even know if they’ll let me near him,” Aliena pleaded, but saw there was no hope in changing their minds. She changed her tactic. “Okay. I’ll go, but only if you promise me on your life that you will not let any harm come to that child.”
Sheegar looked at her for a long time, then nodded. “I will protect the hatchling, because you are a strong and honorable female. But I also swear this to you: if you betray me, I will take my revenge on what you love most.”
Aliena looked away from Sheegar, from the Ilarian guard, and bent down in front of the child. Those gray eyes latched on to her like a lifeline.
“I will come back for you.”
Then she got to her feet and walked back inside the building to betray those who were counting on her.
Her heart beat so hard against her ribs that it hurt, but she still made her way through the maze of hallways and found herself at the crossing to the cell where they were holding Knut and his guards.
She stood at the doorway, peering into the large room. Rows upon rows of steel bars ran from the floor to the ceiling, creating tiny cells to contain or punish difficult specimens.
Used to confined and tame humans, strip their minds of dignity and crush their spirits into submission.
At the back of the room stood a group of at least twenty Ilarian guards, packed two or three together in the same cell. They stood silently, their faces stoic and blank, not displaying fear or anger at their situation.
Then she saw him. Knut stood alone in a cell, his silk suit wrinkled and torn at the collar. His black hair was a mess but his face retained the same slightly disgusted, haughty expression it always did when he saw her in the doorway.
In stark contrast to Knut’s composed stance was Wyol, who paced back and forth in the adjacent cell, exuding anger like a caged predator.
Looking at them, her mind rebelled against her actions. She was going to free the monsters responsible for the horrors her people had lived through, walk them out of those doors and into undeserved freedom. Her hands balled into fists at her sides. Every instinct inside her rebelled against it, but she had no choice. Knut had once again robbed her of her free will by holding the life of an innocent child against her.
Still, she had to get him and Wyol out.
How am I going to do that?
There was a single guard in the room, sitting down in a large chair in a bare space in the middle of the room, fast asleep. He was young, not much more than a kid. Maybe in his late teens, with ash blond hair and long lashes caressing his baby soft cheeks.
Another child born in a life of slavery. But no more. Even if Knut did manage to sneak away with his life, it was all over. Humanity had won, there would never be another like Knut to hold power over them.
And he would live the rest of his life on the run, shunned by civilization, while humans healed and prospered.
She took a step inside, then another. It was easier now that she was moving.
Aliena walked silently until she stood right behind the sleeping young man. Knut and the others watched her every move as she reached slowly over his body, grabbing the ionic gun that lay on his lap.
Her fingers closed around the handle and she pulled it away, one millimeter at a time.
The young man grumbled, then his shock-filled, sky blue eyes shot open.
Aliena grabbed the gun solidly in her hand, then turned it on him. “Don’t move.”
“What?” The young man looked confused, his eyes darting around like he expected this to be some prank. When he saw she was alone, his eyes locked on to the barrel of the gun and his young features twisted with fear. “Aren’t you Markus’s niece? Why are you doing this?”
“I’m sorry,” Aliena said truthfully. “I don’t have a choice. They have a kid, and they’ll kill her if I don’t free Knut.”
“You’re doing this for one kid?” The young man’s face lost its shock and showed anger. “What about all the kids who saw their mothers sold, who were sold themselves?”
“That girl’s death won’t bring them back.”
She was aware that this was going to be the reaction of most of the human population. They would not understand her decision to preserve a single life over the satisfaction of punishing the monster who was responsible for an entire people’s suffering. But it was her choice, for better or for worse. Knut could be hunted, captured, and brought to justice at a later date. Or not. He could live out the remainder of his days on the run, comfortable and rich in the remote corners of the universe.
But a child’s life could not be brought back. Once gone, that single girl could not be replaced.
“I’m sorry, but I won’t let her die just so we can all have our revenge.” Aliena gestured to a cell to the side. “Get in there.”
“You’re a traitor.” The young man spat out the word as he got to his feet. “We’ll get you for this. Even if you’re Markus’s niece, we’ll get you.”
“Well, you won’t get me in time to have that child killed.” Aliena hardened her voice. “You can hate me all you want, but hate me in there, or I swear, I’ll shoot you where you stand.”
The young man kept his resentful stare on her as he backed into the cell.
“The keys.”
The young man reached into his pocket, then handed her the simple oval shaped magnetic device they used as keys. Without hesitation, she slammed the door on him. The look in his eyes as the door locked on him was one of pure hatred, the bone-deep hatred reserved in people’s hearts for traitors.
She felt his eyes on her as she turned to Knut.
The Avonie male stood close, his purple stare on her. No emotions showed in his face, not a trace of fear or anger, only that terrible interest and that never-ending cunning, that sharp, sharp twisted mind filled with perverse pleasures.
“Well now, this is unexpected, my dear.” Knut stepped forward until the bars almost touched his clothes. “What made you suddenly realize you needed the protection of the most powerful male in the Ring? Did that Eok warrior finally scare you enough to make you come to your senses?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Aliena didn’t miss Knut’s words, the barely veiled threat underneath them. “And you have no power anymore. You’re just a name that will be remembered by all as the male who lost control of Earth and the human population. You’ll be a laughing stock.”
Knut’s pupils played a psychotic dance, shrinking and expanding convulsively, but his face remained still as stone.
“We’ll see who laughs in the end, little human.” Minister Knut’s pursed lips exposed the bottoms of his tiny fangs. “Now, I suppose you intend on getting me out of here, so why don’t you?”
Aliena stepped closer, then brought up her magnetic key.
“Sheegar and some other guard are waiting outside.” She lifted t
he gun, pointing it at Knut’s chest. The Avonie didn’t stir. “If you try anything, I’ll put an ionic charge through your chest, and then we’ll see if you’re as heartless as you seem.”
“There is no need for that.”
With one more hard look at Knut, Aliena unlocked the cell, then stepped back. Knut lifted his brows, then pushed the door open and stepped into the middle of the room before heading straight for the door.
“You’re just going to leave me here?” Wyol called. “We’re in this together.”
Knut paused, then turned to Wyol. His expression was half-amused, half-pitying. “I am not sure what you were expecting, but there is no we here. You worked for me, and you failed me.” Knut lifted his chin to Aliena. “Come now, my dear. There is no need to burden ourselves with the trash.”
“I’m sorry.” Aliena turned to Wyol, to his anger-flared face, his repulsive pink eyes. “Sheegar insisted on me bringing Wyol with us.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Knut exhaled forcefully, then turned back to the doorway. “There isn’t a lot of time before another human comes to see the prisoners.”
“What about them?” Aliena asked as Wyol stepped out of the cell, his hateful gaze locked on her. “Don’t you care about the rest of your guards?”
“My dear.” Knut didn’t even deign to turn to her. “One can always buy more Ilarian guards when one needs them. Now, let’s hurry up before your little betrayal is discovered.”
Silently, Wyol walked past Aliena and followed Knut through the hallways. After only a moment of hesitation, she followed.
Chapter 24
Kamal
“I thank you.” Kamal inclined his head to the red-headed woman who was working on Marmack’s sleeping body.
Ava checked the drip of fluids containing the nanites that would repair the damage to the Relany’s interior organs. It was one of the many items of high-tech medical equipment Minister Knut kept in his facilities. The male wasn’t one to skip medical treatments on his expensive subjects, and Ava had found everything she needed in the building adjacent to the mansion.
“Marmack wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you.”
“And we wouldn’t be free if it wasn’t for you and Aliena.” Ava turned briefly to him, smiled, then turned back to her work. “Did Tailan restore long-range communication?”
“No.” Kamal shook his head. “Whatever Knut set up as a lock-up on his systems, she didn’t get past it.”
“She must be in a good mood, then.”
“I wouldn’t go into that control room for all the money in the Ring.” Kamal chuckled. “We got word from twelve more facilities. The guards all surrendered peacefully once we showed them Knut was our prisoner. At this rate, we’ll have freed all the facilities before the end of the day.”
“Good.” Ava nodded, not looking up from her instruments. “Knut should be grateful he’s still alive. If you’d let the boys have their way, he’d be dead by now.”
“I’m not sure I had that much influence over them. They’re all following Markus.” Kamal looked at a series of numbers on Ava’s little portable screen. “He’s clever, he knows what it will mean to Prime Councilor Aav—and the rest of the Ring—if he hands over Knut and his guards alive.”
“Full status. No limitations, no going back.” This time, Ava turned to him. Hope was burning in her purple eyes—eyes no full-blooded human could ever have. “True freedom.”
That word. Freedom. So simple, so easy to take for granted. But not for humans. Humanity would cherish it for generations to come, as would the woman who was more important to him than his own life. Kamal nodded, then walked away. He was almost at the door when he stopped. “Let me know if anything changes for Marmack.”
“What with the amount of internal damage to his spleen and his liver, he won’t wake up for four, maybe five days. The worst is his spine. That could take months to heal properly.”
“I’ll be back to check on him, then. I’ll bring Tailan, too, if I can tear her from her screens.”
Ava nodded, then turned back to Marmack. She finished whatever she was doing and got up, then bent over the next cot they had in the large infirmary. Her gaze was soft and tender as she tended to the heavily pregnant woman sleeping in front of her.
“Is she going to be okay?”
“She’s doing fine.” Ava looked at the young mother. “She’s going to give birth soon. We’re tracking the father of her baby as we speak. He was sent to another building soon after she got pregnant.”
Kamal stared at the distended abdomen, at the peaceful features, so full of softness. She looked so fragile, and so strong at the same time. Would Aliena look like that if they were blessed with a youngling?
He shook his head. He shouldn’t be thinking about such things, not while he was in disgrace with his tribe and his family. He would not bring up a youngling in shame and rejection.
He was about to turn away when Ava called again.
“Where’s Aliena? I thought she would want to see them.”
“She’s still with her uncle.” Kamal looked back at Ava. “She has a lot to tell him.”
“About Earth?”
He frowned at the way she said the word. Earth. Like it was some unreachable heaven.
“Yes. Markus wanted news of his family, of the free human community.” Then he decided to add, “They are good people, the humans back there. Most of the young ones grew up free, in the wild.”
“That’s quite something; growing up free.”
Kamal thought back to his childhood, free on the plains of Eokim, to his mother and father, his brothers. Yes, freedom had imbued every day of his life as a youngling. Then he had lost his way. He’d turned his back on freedom as he’d fled from his family, from his tribe, without even knowing what they would say about his intolerable disobedience. Maybe it was time to look back on his life, to fight for his place in the Eokian nation.
If a female who’d lived her entire life under the weight of Knut’s ownership could find the strength to fight for her freedom, for a future for herself, then he would find that strength, too. Not only for himself, but for the wonderful, resilient female who had become his bloodmate, his very reason to live—and for the youngling their union might bring to the world.
“From now on,” Kamal told Ava, “every human will grow up free.”
He stared into Ava’s eyes before stepping out of the infirmary. He walked down the long hallways of the facility in the direction of the small room Markus had chosen for his temporary headquarters as he took command of the human forces. Markus impressed him, forced his admiration. Even without proper training, he understood tactics, military strategies, the need they had to keep the guards as hostages instead of giving in to their instincts and killing them all. Kamal saw Aliena in him, more and more every time they talked.
After a few minutes, Kamal entered the small room, then looked around, confused.
“Aliena is not with you?” He looked straight at Markus, despite the many other people present.
“She’s at the infirmary,” Markus told him, then looked down at the map he was studying. “She wanted to check on Marmack.”
“No she’s not,” Kamal answered, and Markus snapped his head up. “I just left there.”
Markus straightened, then looked at Kamal with confusion.
“Nyall.” Markus turned to the young man who stood near the communication device on the wall. “Call the prison, see who’s taking care of Knut.”
The young man rushed to the job, then turned back to Markus. “Nobody’s answering.”
Kamal turned away. Then he ran.
Aliena
Minister Knut walked with confidence down the maze of hallways, a sure indication that he was familiar with the building. As she hurried behind Knut and Wyol, Aliena couldn’t help but imagine him strutting around, visiting his favorite specimen, choosing those who would be kept for his breeding program, forcing others into lives being owned as exotic pe
ts, selling them to the far corners of the Ring to a life of slavery.
How I wish I could kill you now.
As she followed Knut to the door, Aliena felt her hand clench on the ionic gun she had taken from the guard. She might very well have her chance, and she would use it. As soon as the girl was safe, she was going to kill Knut, Wyol, and the rest of them.
Knut pushed the door, and blinding sunlight poured in. Aliena walked into it, momentarily blinded. She blinked furiously, then turned to see Knut, Wyol and Sheegar to her right. She flipped around, her ionic gun pointed at Knut, then stared as Sheegar aimed his own weapon at her.
“Drop the gun,” Sheegar said, motioning to the ground with the barrel of his weapon.
“Where’s the girl?” Aliena scanned the lawn, the vegetation at the limit of the forest. There was no trace of the child, or the Ilarian guard. She brought her eyes back to Sheegar. “You gave me your word.”
“The hatchling is unharmed. She will be handed to you when we can be sure there is no one following you.”
“No.” Aliena shook her head, fighting the rise of the terrible dread that threatened to engulf her mind. “Bring her back. Then you can have Knut.”
“The hatchling is waiting by Knut’s shuttle,” Sheegar answered. “If there is no word from us soon, the Ilarian guard will dispose of her.”
“Then tell him to let her go.” Aliena glanced back into the hallways. Would someone come soon? Was that girl already dead? Too many possible scenarios pushed themselves inside her mind. “I’ll let you escape as soon as I have confirmation she’s safe and on her way here.”
“Don’t be stupid, it doesn’t suit you,” Knut answered, apparently unruffled by the threat of the ionic gun. “That girl is as good as dead if I don’t personally enter the shuttle. Why do you think that particular guard fled when all the others fought? He was my insurance policy, for a case just like this. He had precise orders to hide, grab a female child, one with the highest possible value on the black market—it’s illegal, but children are worth so much more than adult females, even if I don’t see the attraction—and find a way to get me to the escape shuttle. He won’t take orders from anyone else.”
