Reede touched Fallyn’s elbow. “Reinforcements coming in one minute so be ready to move.”
She nodded, thinking what a valuable strategic asset it must be to have telepathic connections with fellow soldiers.
A flyer set down on the landing pad outside. Ours? Or theirs? Getting a better grip on her weapon, she tensed for action either way.
Next moment the doors at the end of the hall behind the security guards crashed open and there was a cacophony of blaster fire, as well as what sounded to Fallyn like old fashioned projectile weapons, and a lot of yelling from the Khagrish. The attackers were silent and efficient. Reede sheltered her against the wall in an alcove with his body and she decided not to object.
The sounds of battle ended and Fallyn caught a glimpse of camouflage-clad soldiers flowing efficiently down the hall past their alcove. Three men stopped where she and Reede were. He stepped into the open. “Glad to see you.”
“That the scientist in charge?” asked one, pointing at Enishiggama huddled on the floor.
“Yeah.”
A soldier knelt next to the Khagrishi and shook his head. “Dead.”
“Listen, we’re on a tight timeline here,” Reede said. “One of the guards called for help with the sickness and before she died Enishiggama said the orders would be to incinerate this place and everyone in it, not sure how. Missiles maybe, or blaster fire from above, but we need to evac the humans, starting with this one.” He indicated Fallyn. “She’s the scout we came to find so get her out of here now.”
Two of the soldiers stepped forward. “If you’ll come with us, ma’am.”
Fallyn turned to Reede, “I can help—”
“The whole point of my being here was to find and extract you,” he said. “Thanks for rescuing me back there in the lab, but my orders right now are to get you to safety. Jadrian and Sorren are two of our best.”
Evidently seeing from her expression that she didn’t appreciate being treated like a helpless civilian, he leaned closer. “Fallyn, you’ve got information no one else on this planet possesses. Please go with my men and let me concentrate on evacuating the other humans so we can all leave.”
She wasn’t happy but she knew when she was overruled. “Take care of yourself, have the medic look at that leg again. You’re still favoring it.”
He ignored her comment, giving his attention to MARL20, “Monitor the coms, let me know the instant you detect anything incoming. Can you create any kind of shield, like we have at the valley?”
Fallyn never heard the answer from the AI. As she hastened away down the corridor sandwiched between the two hulking warriors, Fallyn had so many things buzzing in her head she wished she’d asked or said. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Reede moving in the other direction with the main group of soldiers, the pulse rifle in his hand. Stay safe.
Which was ridiculous, since he was obviously a highly trained soldier and his pack brothers gave ample evidence of being equally deadly, so whether she was here to watch his six or not wasn’t going to make a difference. Leaving while there was more fighting to be done rubbed her the wrong way.
The sunlight made her blink but her escorts gave her no time to pause, rushing her across the landing field to the nearest flyer. A line of humans was already assembled, moving slowly onto a second flyer, while a third craft hovered protectively above.
“Good haul today,” Sorren said, pointing at the rest of the Khagrish flyers parked on the pad. “Three more flyers, one armed. Good thing we brought extra pilots.”
“Our air force is growing all right,” Jadrian replied. “Reede says to put you in the cockpit with Gabe,” he said to Fallyn. Taking her by the elbow, he rushed her onto the nearest flyer, which she saw held an assortment of humans, freed prisoners from their battered and gaunt physical condition. “Here she is,” Jadrian said to the human in the pilot’s seat. “We’re to go now, no more loading.”
“I’m on it.” The pilot activated the controls smoothly and the flyer rose into the sky, accelerating forward as it did so and making a loop over the lab, heading north.
Fallyn watched the buildings recede in the vidscreens. She hated running away from a fight. “Will your men be able to get the rest of the prisoners out in time?”
“They’ll do their best, ma’am,” Jadrian said from his position leaning on the cockpit door. “From all indications the prisoner population here was small. Finding you makes the mission a success.”
Gabe levelled the flyer off, flipped on an autopilot function and then extended his hand to Fallyn. “We should introduce ourselves. As you’ve no doubt gathered by now, I’m Gabe Carter, formerly of the Sectors Special Forces.”
“Lt. Fallyn Damara, Sectors Recon Scout.” She found it hard to believe she was safe now, after the ordeal at the Khagrish lab.
“Your teammate survive the wreck too?” Gabe asked.
She shook her head, repressing the flare of painful emotion over Fred’s death. “Afraid not.”
“Do you need the medic?” Jadrian asked. “Reede sent a message to make sure we check.”
She didn’t know whether to be pleased or chagrined at his concern about her in the midst of what must be an intense operation at the Khagrish lab, cleaning out pockets of resistance, trying to herd the humans onto flyers and keep an eye out for the incineration force. “He’s certainly thorough,” she said.
“You have no idea.” Gabe glanced at Jadrian and both men laughed. “But seriously, how are you doing?”
“Bumps, bruises, scrapes. Nothing life threatening or urgent.” She shrugged. “He’s the one who needs the medic—Enishiggama worked him over pretty badly in the lab from what I observed when we broke into the lab to rescue him.”
“We heal fast,” Jadrian said, voice unconcerned. “You hungry or thirsty? We’ve got limited rations in the passenger cabin. I can go get you something.”
“If it’s no trouble, I’d love a nutrition drink or even water. Listen, there’s no need to babysit me, if you need to be taking care of the others.” Uncomfortable being the object of attention and solicitude, she realized she was clenching her fists and took a deep breath to relax.
“We have a team in the passenger cabin,” Jadrian said. “I’m assigned to you and only you. I’ll be right back.”
He left the cockpit.
“Glad we found you, lieutenant,” Gabe said. “I’m sure you’ve figured it out for yourself, if you spent any time with Reede, but the Badari are righteous. You can trust them. Good soldiers, standup men. And women.”
“I’m a little overwhelmed right now,” she said, leaning back in the chair and trying to will herself to come down from the after action adrenaline rush. “Thanks for coming to get me. I didn’t get a chance to thank the others, before we left the lab.”
“There’ll be a debrief, don’t worry. And probably a separate session for you with the Alpha.”
“Reede said he belonged to a pack, which I have to admit I don’t quite understand, so why does it all feel so military and familiar?” she asked, relieved by her instincts for data gathering kicking in. The touch of normalcy was steadying to her nerves.
“We were created to fight the Sectors,” Jadrian said as he re-entered in time to hear her question. Handing her two ration bars and a nutrient drink, he smiled. “It’s a long story.”
“We’ve got a couple of hours flying time,” Gabe said. “Might as well relax, lieutenant, and let us tell you what kind of a situation you’ve crashed into here.”
“Eight hundred years ago,” Jadrian said, “the first of my people were genetically engineered by the Khagrish under orders from the Chimmer.”
Fallyn held up one hand. “You weren’t kidding about spinning a long story, were you?”
The two men laughed. “There’s a standard debrief for rescued prisoners, where we kinda spoon-feed them the information,” Jadrian said. “But you need to be briefed as fast as possible and certainly before you meet Aydarr, the Alpha. He’s impatient to
move out on a special mission only you can help us with.”
“I can take it.” Fallyn chewed the ration bar. “Reede explained bits of your history to me while we were in the lab but you might as well fill in the details. All right, so 800 years ago—”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Her head was reeling by the time Gabe brought them in for a landing within the confines of what her companions called Sanctuary Valley. Overall she was impressed by everything the Badari and the humans appeared to have accomplished since first escaping the labs but she definitely agreed with Gabe’s sober assessment Sectors reinforcements were needed as soon as possible. “I’ll do what I can,” she said. “Tell me more about the Chimmer ship Darik said he captured.”
The two men didn’t even exchange glances, “You can trust me, you know.” She made her statement a challenge.
“We believe you.” Jadrian’s answer was prompt. “But it’s the Alpha’s call what to say and when.”
“Cabin’s clear,” Gabe said with a glance at his internal vids. “Time for you two to exit the craft so I can make the trip for another load. Happy to have met you, lieutenant. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other in coming days.”
Fallyn said goodbye and then followed Jadrian from the flyer.
“I’m to take you to the hospital,” the Badari said. “Have you checked out by the doctor and then you’ve been temporarily assigned to your own cave residence, which will be guarded at all times.”
“I’m a prisoner?” She was shocked and berated herself for failing to maintain a better situational awareness. Maybe these Badari weren’t the allies they claimed to be.
“No, not at all. The guards are for your protection, truly. We had an incident here not too long ago and the alpha’s taking no chances on your safety.” He gave her a sympathetic glance. “You can always ask to be housed in the women’s dorm if you prefer. Aydarr might say yes.”
“Is there a human military commanding officer here?” she asked as she walked along a beautiful, peaceful forest path. “So many humans coming and going must call for administration, structure, an organization chart, management—”
Jadrian laughed. “My mate Taura is actually the official you want to meet. She’s the highest ranking active duty officer from the Sectors here as far as we can tell.”
“Oh. Well, then I’d like to report to her first, before briefing the Alpha.” Overwhelmed by her change in circumstances, Fallyn missed Reede’s no nonsense, reassuring presence. Jadrian was pleasant and efficient but she didn’t know him. And you know Reede so well, she said to herself sarcastically. But she unaccountably trusted him and without him here, she felt alone and adrift. Soldier up, woman. You don’t need Reede’s hand to hold. The Sectors wouldn’t have sent you on the mission if you did.
“I report to the Alpha,” Jadrian said while she was silently lecturing herself. “I can’t disobey his orders but I can ask Taura to meet us at the hospital if it’ll relieve your unease.”
“That would be great.” Fallyn looked around as she proceeded, making mental notes about the valley and the many occupants, mostly humans. She’d have to give a report when she got home to the Sectors, if she ever did. There were relatively few Badari although they certainly stood out—uniformly tall, well built and incredibly attractive. She was beginning to wonder if appearance had been another factor the Khagrish selected when designing their genetic engineering approach.
The hospital was an odd conglomeration of prefab walls and modular units stitched together but the interior was clean and reassuringly medical. Jadrian stopped to confer with the male nurse on duty and then took Fallyn to the other end of the facility, to an examining room.
The doctor met them in the hall. “I’m Dr. Madarian,” she said, extending a hand to Fallyn. “Mate to Camron, who I think you met?”
“Yes, he was on the rescue team. A good soldier. Impressive in the field.” Fallyn added the genuine praise.
“You’ll never hear me disagree about his skills. I owe him my life.” The physician’s eyes took on a dreamy cast for a moment, as if revisiting pleasant memories, and then she reverted to professional mode. “This exam shouldn’t take long and I’ve been informed Taura’s on her way over.”
“I’ll wait out here.” Jadrian took up a position in the hall next to the door.
Fallyn was relieved the soldier had no intention of entering the examination room. She would have objected vehemently to his presence. The equipment inside was all Khagrish and she repressed a shiver.
Dr. Madarian patted her arm. “We’ve looted all kinds of things from destroyed labs,” she said. “But we put them to far more benign use. We even have a few human medical devices, apparently taken from hijacked ships, but not much. We do a lot of adapting here. There were quite a few techs in the group of colonists and they’re eager to apply their knowledge and training to anything we can use.”
“I suppose it’ll all take some getting used to.” Fallyn sat on the examining table.
“Oh yes, no one just walks out of a Khagrish lab and into the valley without lingering trauma and nightmares. Not even me.” Gemma smiled. “Now tell me what you remember about your injuries from the crash and what the Khagrish did in their medlab.”
Dr. Madarian was painstaking in her examination and gave Fallyn a couple of localized treatments to finish healing broken bones. “The Khagrish were pretty thorough in patching you up, although I’m sure their intent was anything but benign. They could have done more but perhaps the staff at the lab you were at doesn’t have much experience with healing humans. This is when I wish either we had the modern equipment from the Sectors, or else that Badari healing powers worked well on humans.”
“You mean the way they recover from injuries?” Fallyn asked, thinking of how Reede had carelessly ripped the various ports and tubes away from his body and been none the worse for the rash move, after a few scary minutes.
“Well, that too, but the Badari have healers who draw on special powers to speed up the process but their power doesn’t work well on us humans.” Looking at her readouts, the doctor frowned. “I can’t do much for the concussive aftereffects showing here,” she said, coming back to the examining table to retest Fallyn’s reflexes and vision. “Have you been suffering much dizziness? Or headache symptoms?”
“No, there’s been discomfort but diminishing over time. Timtur gave me a couple of his healing treatments while we were on the hike to my ship, as a matter of fact, which helped. After the Khagrish finished patching me up in the medlab, I was stuck in a cell and left alone. No experiments or mistreatment. Well, until the day they made me part of Reede’s experiment.” She grinned. “Which worked out well, I guess.”
Gemma shivered. “Yes, the Badari are brave, risking recapture and torture or even allowing themselves to be taken so they can infiltrate a lab when necessary. They’re willing to do whatever it takes to defeat the Khagrish and fortunately for us humans, the pack regards helping us as their sacred duty from the goddess.”
“Goddess?”
“The Great Mother they worship.” The doctor regarded her curiously. “How much time did you and Reede spend together?”
Fallyn flushed, remembering the night of the storm, in the cave. “Not much really. And we were on the run for large chunks of time, inside the lab and out in the preserve. We—we didn’t talk much.”
“I see.” Dr. Madarian busied herself putting away the instruments and straightening the room. “They’re well organized here and there’s a standard intake briefing for newcomers such as yourself, to answer as many relevant questions as possible. I’m not sure what Aydarr plans to do where you’re concerned, as far as integrating you into the community, but please feel free to ask me any question any time. He understands and accepts my oath to my patients, not to reveal anything I’m told in confidence.”
Fallyn suspected the doctor was waiting for her to say something. Several questions were on the tip of her tongue, but as they involved Reed
e and the things he’d said about being mates, she decided not to ask any of them. Surely that was all a ploy on his part to convince the Khagrish to let them stay together. And when the two of us were getting intimate in the cave? He wasn’t putting on an act then. “Thanks, doc,” she said, getting dressed as fast as she could. “Maybe I’ll circle back to you later if I do have questions.”
“Any time.” Her tone was warm and friendly. “We have supplies of clothing,” Dr. Madarian said, frowning at Fallyn’s less than pristine utilities and tee shirt. “Once you get assigned to a residence or the women’s dorm, or wherever, remind your assigned mentor to get your allotment. And food.”
“Will do. Although so far, I’ve only been assigned to Jadrian and he clearly regards his job to be guarding me. His wife is coming so I can check in with her.”
“Mate, not wife,” the doctor said. “Badari are quite particular about the terminology. It’s a lifetime commitment like a marriage, however.” She rubbed one shoulder but not as if it ached. Smiling, she said, “All right, let’s see if Taura arrived yet.”
When she emerged into the hall, Fallyn found Jadrian deep in conversation with a human woman. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but not this person dressed in casual utility pants and a tee shirt.
“Sir?” Fallyn saluted. “Lieutenant Fallyn Damara, Recon and Scout Force reporting in.”
Taura laughed and snapped a salute off. “We don’t go in for the military formalities much here, Fallyn is it? How is she, doc?”
“Good to go but she needs fresh clothes and a hot meal.” Gemma waved her hand in farewell and headed off toward another examining room.
“We can talk in the conference room,” Taura said. “Follow me.”
Once the two women were settled in the room, with Jadrian guarding the door outside, Taura said, “I’ve asked the chef to send over dinner. Ordinarily everyone eats in the communal dining hall, with a few exceptions, like the Alpha and his mate, but this is a special occasion. Getting back to your questions, I’m going to tell you straight, I could be a brigadier general—which I’m not, by the way—or you could be and the chain of command would still be straight to Aydarr. He’s the Badari Alpha, he’s in charge here and we all obey his orders.” She smiled. “And we’re damn grateful he regards it as a sacred command from his goddess to rescue humans when and where he can.”
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