AydarrGoogle
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“Sounds good.” Wake me next and then I’ll hand off to Gabe.” Jill wasn’t about to shirk her duty.
Lily curled closer as the wind howled outside the scant protection the rocks afforded. “You didn’t even see Megan?” she asked, speaking directly into Jill’s ear.
Pain made Jill’s heart clench. “Do you think I’d have left her there if I did?”
“No, of course not but couldn’t you have stayed a little longer to look? She has to be there.”
“The Khagrish guard patrol was on its way and would have noticed the room was open,” Jill said. “I couldn’t take the chance of getting recaptured and losing you as well.” She smoothed Lily’s hair as she used to do when the twins were toddlers and she was the bossy older sister. “We’ll go back for her, Lil, I promise. I’ve got help now, with Gabe, Brent and Flo, not to mention MARL. And you, when you get to full strength. As soon as we’re safely in the valley, we’ll be planning the next raid on the lab and we won’t leave without her, and all the others.”
Lily yawned, closing her eyes and shifting position to use Jill’s lap as a pillow. “I know you will, sis.”
Jill leaned against the rock and watched the sheets of rain blowing past the opening of their shelter. She was already reviewing new action plans in her head, trying to remember which members of the colony were ex-military and might recover from the stasis faster, as Gabe and his team had done. I should prioritize freeing them first, to assist with the others, and to help fight off the Khagrish. We’ll have to carry in as many weapons as we can.
A blast of thunder directly overhead startled her and she patted Lily’s shoulder in automatic reassurance. Remembering the last storm she’d weathered in the open on this world, she thought about Aydarr and the pack. I hope they’re doing okay on the combat mission. I hope he comes back to me. Their Great Mother needs to watch out for her children.
She felt she couldn’t delay the attempt to rescue the other humans, but it worried her if she was successful—or if she tried and failed— the Khagrish would take additional security measures, making it harder to free the Badari later. Humans were outnumbered and outgunned on this fucking planet. No one else was going to be as invested as she was in rescuing her mate and his pack. She glanced at MARL and smiled. My ace in the hole. What other capabilities might he have, if asked the right questions? Rubbing her forehead, Jill closed her eyes and tried to calm her racing thoughts enough to fall asleep. The situation was fluid, multi-faceted and there weren’t going to be any easy answers. She hoped Gabe would be an asset in planning the next raid, but officer or not, he’d better not think he was going to take charge. This is my rodeo—I have the most at stake. On that possessive note she sighed and distracted herself with bittersweet memories from her last night with Aydarr, focusing on the happy moments she and her mate had experienced being together. I hope I can dream about him at least.
CHAPTER NINE
Aydarr’s first thought upon wakening from cryo sleep was of Jill. He hoped she was all right and could find a way to stay safe in his absence. As the lid slid open, Aydarr sat up in his pod, relieved to see Mateer and Reede on either side as always. Climbing from the cramped enclosure, he joined the rest of the pack, already doing the mandated exercises to get the blood flowing. The Khagrish guards and the scientist in charge of these military sorties stood off to the side, watching closely.
You left your mate well? Mateer gave him a sideways glance.
She was sad, trying to hide it from me, but fine. Aydarr wondered if she knew, as he did, how high the odds were against ever seeing each other again. Even if he survived this mission, the capricious Khagrish might keep them apart and there’d be nothing either of them could do about it.
At least the bastards didn’t bring her with us. Mateer offered comfort.
Aydarr shuddered. That idea hadn’t occurred to him. Although she said she was a soldier in the Sectors.
I’m not surprised. She has fire and strength. You’re fortunate in your mate.
Aydarr wholeheartedly agreed with Mateer’s assessment but forced himself to change his focus. The Khagrish officer in charge was calling for the pack to get dressed and consume their rations, so the final briefing and staging could begin.
“We’re on a timetable here,” the man reminded then harshly. “The assault on the city will begin promptly, and we have to be deployed before the first bombardment.”
As he led his pack through the spaceship’s corridors to the briefing room, Aydarr briefly speculated what people his pack had been brought to wreak havoc on this time. As he’d told Jill, as far as he was aware he and his men had yet to be sent against the Sectors, although he was curious who’d conducted the raid that captured her entire colony. His pack had been sent out on a variety of reconnaissance missions, to sabotage facilities, to retrieve high value data, several times to obliterate outposts, all on different worlds.
The Chimmer evidently waged war far and wide in the galaxy on behalf of their masters, the Mawreg. Yet they avoided the Sectors for the most part. Maybe Jill’s people would make formidable new allies, if he ever had a chance to contact them.
Pipe dreams. Bittersweet hopes, all useless. Aydarr settled into his chair and waited for the briefing to begin. His job was to keep his pack alive and performing well enough on these missions to persuade the Khagrish to allow his DNA subset to continue, to keep the cubs and cadets alive. But if they ever slip up and give me an opportunity to escape, take the young with us to safety…
He cut off the wishful thinking. No use in distracting himself right now. Only the Khagrish could get him home, to Jill and to the young, so accomplishing the mission objectives was key. The packs whispered a tale that at least once an entire squad had been executed onsite, for an unspecified but egregious failure causing the Khagrish commander to look foolish and ineffective. Not my squad. He must have made his vow on the open mental channel, because Mateer gave him a surprised glance.
After the briefing, the pack changed into combat fatigues and were assigned pulse rifles. This was when the Khagrish projected the most fear of their prisoners, fingering the controller for the stun bracelets. Aydarr knew his men wouldn’t be on their feet a minute after turning the weapons on their captors here on the ship. Everything was monitored, superior forces waiting to move in if the Badari made any aggressive moves. His pack was outnumbered and outgunned, and the Khagrish with the nerve bracelet controllers stayed well out of reach. And the cubs and cadets would be killed at the lab. Oh yes, he was boxed in by those who’d created him and kept him captive.
And now there was Jill to consider.
The shuttle taking them to the surface zigged and zagged as it dropped through the still unnamed planet’s atmosphere, avoiding the defensive sensors and weapons. The three assigned Khagrish guards kept their weapons activated and at the ready, in case the Badari entertained any notions of commandeering the shuttle.
To go where? Aydarr and his men craved their freedom, but not at the price of the lives of the young. The cubs and cadets might not be my children or even my brothers, but they’re of my species. I want to give them a chance to live and perhaps outsmart the Khagrish as none of us have been able to do since this nightmare program began.
His pack debarked in a smooth, well-rehearsed operation, taking cover in a wooded area on the bluff above the target city as the shuttle lifted off seconds later.
“All right, we know the route to our objective and we’ve seen the high value targets we’re to capture,” Aydarr said. “Reede, take point—”
“Just a minute, 801.” The scientist in charge had an odd expression on his face, as if he was eagerly anticipating whatever he was going to announce. “The mission parameters have changed. We want to see how you handle unexpected revisions when deployed in the field.”
Aydarr tamped down his anger. As long as no member of my pack gets killed in the process of your ad hoc test. “What is our new target?”
The Khagrish handed ov
er an AI. Aydarr scanned the information, went through it once more, his disbelief and anger mounting. Take out the soldiers in three. None of his men betrayed their surprise at his sudden mental order with even a blink. Aydarr shot the scientist at close range, taking care to blast the bracelet controller hanging from the man’s belt and then a second shot through the enemy’s chest.
The pack members fired within a heartbeat of his own blast, and the guards fell dead.
The Khagrish had been overconfident, not realizing the new orders had pushed him beyond his limit, even with the lives at stake back at the lab.
The pack surrounded him, staring.
“A place of worship. Our new orders were to target a building where families are sheltering in place, hoping to survive the bombardment,” he said, knowing his voice was vibrating with rage.
“These people have no limit to their depravity.” Mateer toed the guard he’d shot.
“Indeed.” Aydarr looked around the circle of his pack. “We were to capture twenty of the healthiest civilian adults for future experimentation and any children. That I will not do. I’ll take full responsibility for this.”
There was silence. No one dissented.
“We’ll co-ordinate a proper story,” Reede said.
“What are we going to do now?” Mateer checked his chrono. “We have five hours before the shuttle meets us at the extraction co-ordinates.”
“We leave the dead here. Let the inhabitants of this planet learn what they can from the bodies.” Aydarr had other worries on his mind.
“Dissect them for a change,” Mateer growled. “The Khagrish have certainly dissected enough of us over the years.”
“We make our way to this building and see what we can do about getting those people to safety, or at least out of reach of the Khagrish today.” Aydarr looked at the circle of men, all of whom nodded agreement with his plan.
“And then?” Reede asked.
“Anyone who wants to stay here, take his chances on this planet, I’ll release you from the pack bonds and you can escape.” Aydarr made his genuine offer, but he wasn’t surprised when no one took him up on it. “Of course you’d still be wearing the bracelet but no one native to this planet has a controller and the Khagrish aren’t likely to spend time pursuing a few fugitives.” He grinned, displaying his fangs, although humor was far from his mind. “They’ll be too busy punishing me for this unheard of insubordination.”
“We live or die together.” Reede’s face was grim.
“You should know this may be the last mission. Jill was told the Chimmer are pushing the Khagrish to pick one DNA strain to continue the program and eliminate the others. I made my choice to disobey today and I’ll stand by it, although I realize I’ve put you all in jeopardy. And our cubs and cadets.” And Jill. He swallowed hard. His reaction to the Khagrish’s new orders had been instinctive, a total refusal from deep in his heart to carry out the kidnapping of more innocents, but the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“We’re running out of mission time,” Mateer said, breaking the silence. “You did the right thing. I wouldn’t follow an alpha who chose otherwise today.” There was a low growl of agreement from the rest of the pack.
Aydarr reached out to squeeze his friend’s shoulder, warrior to warrior. “I’m grateful for the support. “
“I’ll always have your back, you know that.” Mateer shrugged. “It’s part of the job. We’ll figure this out. We’ve lied to the Khagrish before, we can do it again. Now we’d better get moving if we’re going to save those people.”
“Agreed. Reede, take point and get us there via the most expedient route.”
As he made his way through the city, taking cover when the aerial combat threatened, Aydarr reviewed the maps and plans in his head, and figured out the best way to evacuate the building when he got there with his troops. Much was going to depend on how many people were sheltered in place.
The squad took cover and waited while two men completed a reconnaissance on the target building.
Do you suppose the other packs were also diverted to new targets? Mateer asked while they waited.
Probably. The Khagrish are constantly raising the stakes for all of us.
The Tzibir might not have our scruples about noncombatants. Mateer was dubious. They’ve been forcibly evolved in a much more drastic fashion, further away from the source material.
The last evolution of genetic experimentation on them was especially brutal, Reede chimed in. I think they’re unstable but the Khagrish seem to like their unbalanced minds.
The scouts reported in. “Fifteen adults, with six children of all ages—two old men with side arms, thirteen women. One woman was also armed. Barricaded in one room in the center of the main building.” The lead scout drew a rough diagram in the dirt. Aydarr and his two enforcers studied it.
“We’ll break in at each of the windows and the door,” he said.
“What if none of them speaks Basic?” Mateer asked.
“We’ll improvise.” Aydarr brushed his hand across the rough drawing to obliterate it.
The assault on the location went smoothly and by the book, with Aydarr’s men easily penetrating the flimsy barricades the occupants had placed at the windows and doors. The elderly men got off a few wild shots, and the woman managed to wound one of the Badari before she was disarmed.
Reede and the pack members guarded the panicked adults and children after herding them into one end of the large room. The woman who had been armed was unquestionably in charge so Mateer brought her to Aydarr, while Timtur took care of the wounded pack member.
The people of this planet were humanoid, like so many throughout the galaxy, blue-tinted skin, glossy black hair. She faced him defiantly, although he could tell by her scent she was terrified.
“Do you speak Basic?” he asked, hardly daring to hope.
“A little. We do business with the occasional Sectors free trader.”
“We’ve come to rescue you and your friends, get you out of here and away to safety.”
She took a step backward, running into Mateer standing close behind her. “Why would you do this? Your forces invade our world, bomb our city, and yet you say you want to save us?”
“You’re my mission today, one way or the other. Our motivations aren’t your concern. You should be happy to have help.”
Mateer pushed her closer to Aydarr. “Three hours left, commander.”
“Listen, if my men and I walk away, if you stay here, there’s a good chance another unit will be sent to take you captive.” He debated how much to explain. “This place is not defensible.”
“It’s a sanctuary.” Her jaw clenched and she fisted her hands as she glanced at the broken windows.
She reminded him a bit of Jill, so fierce and determined. Aydarr pushed the stray thought away and concentrated on the discussion at hand. “Not in the eyes of the people running this attack. To them it’s a trap, and you’re the helpless prey.”
“We tried to get out of the city, but the roads were blocked,” she said. “So I believed staying here was the best we could do.”
“Map,” Aydarr snapped out the command, and Mateer brought up a map of the surrounding area on his AI. He pointed at a long tunnel indicated in blue on the chart. “If we could get you to this underground transportation system, could you hike through it to safety in the countryside?” He gestured at the solemn cluster of children. “Are they able to walk that far? Or can your people carry them?”
A frown line creasing her forehead, she studied the map. “But it’s nearly a mile from here to the nearest station, and with the fighting going on—”
“The battle this time is focused on aerial bombardment of specific targets.” He didn’t care if he was divulging Khagrish military intel. “With a few units on the ground as we are, after specific targets.”
Waving her hand at the citizens around her, eyebrows raised, she said, “And out of all the warlike activity, we were a target?”
“Some of our men will help carry the children,” Mateer offered.
Her cheeks had gone paler blue in color and she held her hand against her stomach as if nauseous. “All right, you’ve convinced me. Give me five minutes to get my people organized and gather their belongings.”
“Leave everything behind—you’ll have to carry the children,” he warned. “We need to move fast.”
The pack made its way to the extraction point outside the city limits and settled in to wait for the shuttle. Aydarr handed his weapon to Mateer. “I surrender. You should put me in restraints before the Khagrish arrive.”
His enforcer took the rifle with a frown. “Don’t ask me to do this. We all stand with you—we all agreed to change the mission parameters.” The men voiced their agreement in rumbling growls.
“And we executed the Khagrish minders right alongside you,” Reede said. “We’re not going to let you take the blame for this rebellion.”
“You have to.” Aydarr injected all the power of his alpha role into the command. “The Khagrish don’t understand how a pack works, but they do know—because we’ve convinced them for our own reasons—everyone else is compelled to follow my orders. No free will if I or any other alpha issues a command. So the enemy will accept the concept that the guilt is mine alone. Tell them now because I’m mated, I couldn’t stomach the idea of capturing women and children to serve as test subjects. Which is true.” He pointed at Mateer. “The Khagrish in charge will let you step into the alpha spot. And at the lab they’re more likely to allow our cubs and cadets to live, if you’ve turned me in. I need you to rough me up, make it look like you challenged me for dominance and won. The Khagrish won’t know our rules for such a fight.”