Ferret huddled inside the tunnel, coughing and gagging. “I ain't goin’ in there, not in that evil bitch's place. No siree, no I ain't,” he declared as he turned and fled back down the passageway.
Inside the room, a screech of rage then a rushing figure came at Tal and Malcolm as they made their way toward Cea, her cries for help indicating her approximate location.
Malcolm pushed Tal behind him and threw out an arm, blocking Raven's dagger thrust. The knife stuck deep into his arm, but did no real damage. He grabbed Raven's hand and held on as she kicked and hit at him, trying to free herself from his iron grip. “Tal, Cea is on a table in the center of the room,” Malcolm said.
Tal moved past him. When he reached the table, he assessed Cea's condition with a comprehensive glance. She was bloodied, but alive. His sigh of relief echoed throughout the room. He reached down to unsnap the shackles at her wrists and then her ankles. Turning her over gently, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and helped her sit up.
“Are you okay, Cea?” He winced at the sight of the long, deep red welts down her back. “Is anything broken? Can you walk?”
Cea nodded then moved to slide off the table. “Nothing is broken, and I can walk,” she answered. “Hand me something to put on.” She moved stiffly, but managed to get her legs under her.
Tal left her leaning against the table and searched the room until he spied a small, mirrored cupboard in the corner. He opened it to find various erotic, skimpy costumes. Not caring what he grabbed, Tal took the first thing at hand and rushed back to Cea. He held it out to her. “Here, put this on. We don't have much time. We have to get out of here.”
Cea slipped on the nearly see-through black jumpsuit. “Doesn't hide much,” she commented. “But, it's better than nothing.”
When ready, she nodded at Tal, and the two of them moved toward the hole in the wall.
Tal climbed through and reached out a hand to help Cea up and over into the tunnel. Malcolm back-handed Raven across the room and turned to assist Cea, true to his programming, more concerned for his Captain's safety than any danger at his back.
With lightning speed, Raven recovered from a fall that would have rendered another female unconscious and grabbed a long sword from the wall. Then, she lunged at Malcolm's back.
Just as quickly, Cea turned and pushed Malcolm aside. She grabbed a sword from the wall beside the hole.
“You wanted to show me how to appreciate a sword, bitch. Now's your chance,” Raven hissed, lunging her blade at ready.
Using her weapon to deflect Raven's advance, Cea thrust her sword under Raven's until it met skin and penetrated. “You were never the warrior you thought you were, you pathetic insect. You're just another weak sister who thinks she's more than she is. The world is full of bitches like you, and it'll be a real pleasure to be rid of one more,” Cea hissed. She gathered her strength in order to push the sword home.
A strong hand held her sword arm back. “No, Cea. This isn't the way. Killing those we should pity is never the answer,” Malcolm said at her side. “You become like her if you kill her.”
Cea paused, looked over toward Tal. He watched her with love in his eyes. His eyes also conveyed that whatever she decided would be okay with him.
“You're right, violence isn't always the answer.” She took a deep breath and let it out, allowing her body to relax. “But we'll have to do something to keep her quiet, or she'll give us away.” Cea withdrew the sword from the small puncture in Raven's belly. “Be glad I know how to pity someone like you, Raven,” Cea said while Malcolm grabbed the woman and held a hand over her mouth.
Tal climbed back into the room and rushed over to the cabinet where he found an outfit made of stretchy material. He ripped off a long strip and used it to bind Raven's mouth. Then Malcolm placed Raven's struggling body on the table and snapped the manacles onto her wrists and ankles.
“That will keep her,” Malcolm commented, making sure the restraints were bent enough to stay closed, even if someone tried to pry them open. “She'll be here for some time.”
Tal grabbed Cea and rushed her to the open hole where Ferret waited now that the fight was over. The rat-faced man eyed them with anxiety. “Are you guys gonna spend all day down here? We gotta get the bloody friggin’ hell out of this place!”
Malcolm followed Tal and Cea into the tunnel, and the four moved as quickly as they could, each hoping to find Penny in one piece.
* * * *
Five minutes must have passed before Dirk arrived and found Raven bound on the table and Cea gone. A second man arrived minutes later and found Dirk swearing as he struggled to free her from the bent manacles. Both men were forced to leave her bound there, cursing and spitting with rage, so they could go back and report to Crowe that his prisoner had escaped.
She wouldn't want to be either of them when Crowe found out.
The thought made her feel better and her high-pitched hysterical laughter echoed down the passageways as they ran for their lives.
Chapter Twenty Seven
“Find them—and their damned ship, too!” Crowe thundered at the three men flinching in front of his chair. “Do I have to do everything myself? Now go!”
Dirk stayed behind while his men scrambled out of the room. “We found the hole into the tunnels, but they could be anywhere by now,” he said after Crowe finally calmed down. “It shouldn't be too hard to find their ship, though. At least they won't be going anywhere, even if they do manage to slip by our guards.”
“I want them found, and I want some answers. I don't want any excuses. Make sure they're found then bring them to me inside the lab. I have something very special there that will give me all the information I need,” Crowe growled as he stood up. He glared down at Dirk. “Kill any man who fails to stop them. I'm tired of all this incompetence.” He spun on his heel and disappeared out a side door.
Dirk turned and moved out the front door into the main hallway that led to the men's quarters. A group of armed men patrolled the hallway. He stopped them. “You three. Have men been sent into the tunnels to herd the prisoners, yet?”
“Yes, Dirk,” Blane, the oldest replied. “Six men went into the hole from Raven's room. Three went left and three, right, hoping the outsiders will flee toward one of the outer duct grates. We have armed men waiting at every grate. They'll be captured the second they show themselves.”
Dirk nodded at the man. “Good. Now, take your men and go find the outer perimeter guards and alert them to what's going on in here. Tell them to keep a tight watch. Send some men to search the outlying areas for a hidden ship. When they find it, have it searched and anything they find brought to Crowe as soon as possible.”
Blane nodded and turned to go.
“And Blane, tell them Crowe ordered the death of any man who sees the intruders and fails to bring them to him. He means it this time.”
Blane's face paled, but he nodded a second time before rushing away with his men close behind.
Dirk made his way to the men's quarters and found the door locked. He banged on it. “Open up, Nigel! Fun time's over. Crowe has work for you and your men—and he wants to talk to the woman. Open up, I say. Damn it!”
Not a sound issued from the room. Worried, Dirk threw his weight against the heavy door, but it held. “Shit,” he swore before turning and running back down the passageway toward a storage bay that held tools he'd need to tear down the door. “What now?” he muttered as he ran.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Penny wiped her hands on the sheets of the only clean bunk she could find in the quarters. Glancing over the still forms of the men lying in various positions around the room, she murmured, “Well, seems my work is done here.” A dreamy smile crossed her face. It matched the dreamy, brain-damaged smiles on the faces of every man around her. Every one of them looked like they could play a starring role in any porno flick that featured ugly men with very low IQs.
Penny smiled as she searched the room.
It took only moments to find a reasonably clean pair of coveralls and pair of remarkably soft boots from the smallest man then slip them on. She moved toward the door and reached for the handle. At that moment, a male voice bellowed out for it to open.
She waited until the sound of his footsteps receded down the hallway before opening the door and peeking out. The hall was empty. With catlike stealth, Penny slid down the hallway and slipped into the nearest room, closing the door behind her.
With uncanny night vision, she peered about the room, scanning it to make sure she was alone. The room seemed to be a storeroom, full of supplies that mostly reeked of leather, fish, and candle wax. Her stomach revolted, but she ignored it and searched among the stacked crates and bins for any kind of weapon, unsure of how she'd get back to the ship or what kind of resistance she'd meet along the way.
A small metal box perched on a shelf caught her eye. She opened it and found four small silver balls nestled in soft packing material. She reached out and lifted one from its bed. It felt a lot heavier then it looked. She ran her fingers over the metal, searching for any markings. There were some faint ones but nothing she recognized.
Hmmm, she thought. Are these the Benwa Balls I read about in my studies of human sexual practices?
Running her fingers inside the lid of the box, she discovered embossed letters that spelled out the word CAUTION. Nope. They're not for sex. They're for something much more useful, she thought while chuckling at the irony of small metal balls being so useful to humans for so many things.
With a huge grin, she carefully tucked the ball back into its nest, closed the box and slid it into the large pocket along the leg of her coverall.
She searched the rest of the room, finding only a small flashlight for her troubles. When she tried to move a large crate at the back of the room, looking for a way out that didn't involve using the main hall, a grating voice barked out, “Ouch! Why'd ya have to do that? Can't a man take a nap around here?”
Pushing the crate aside, she found a huddled form in the corner.
“Ferret,” she sighed as he blinked up at her.
“Well, I'd know that voice anywheres! Fancy meeting you here, darlin'. You wouldn't by any chance have a smoke on ya, would ya?” he asked, a hopeful tone in his voice.
Chapter Twenty Nine
“We found their ship, and we also found this,” Dirk said, holding out an alien device as if it was something nasty. “The thing seems to be a miniature of the one you have here ...” He nodded at the huge dome behind Crowe. “...but it's fused into one piece.”
Crowe grabbed it from Dirk. “No wonder they came here! They know about the technology, and they want to steal it from me! I knew Gains sent them! I just knew it! The lying, black-hearted bastard!” Crowe ranted as he paced, staring down at the abstract figure in his hand.
Scorpion stood like a statue behind Crowe, measuring Dirk and his boss with cold, hard eyes. “I told you Gains was going to fuck you, didn't I? He wants the power, and he's using you to get it.”
Crowe growled. “Well, he'll soon find out that fucking with me brings far more pain than mere death—and he'll soon find that, too.” Crowe's laugh echoed off the metal walls of the lab.
Scorpion glanced up at the huge opalescent dome and scowled. “With this power in your hands, you can rule the universe. You don't need anybody, much less an asshole like Gains. All of ’em will grovel at your feet, once you get this thing to work.”
Crowe flinched and quickened his pace. “Yes, I just have to figure out how to get the damned thing to work!” he snarled, turning the alien object around and around then back and forth from hand to hand.
“What about Gains’ spies? Do I get to deal with them for you?” Scorpion asked with a thinly veiled note of passion.
Crowe abruptly stopped pacing and glared at Dirk. “Why haven't you brought them to me yet? Your men have been looking for hours now. They should be in my hands. Why aren't they?”
Dirk's facial expression didn't change, but sweat popped out on his forehead. “Some of my men have come down with a strange malady, Crowe. I can't explain it.” He hesitated then rushed on. “They all seem to have lost their minds or something. I had to break down the door to their quarters, and when I got inside, I found...” He stuttered to a halt, then gulped.
“What did you find?” Crowe bellowed into the man's face, his own livid with rage.
“I found the night crew, all of ’em, stumblin’ around, runnin’ into walls and furniture, actin’ like they was mind fucked or somethin'. And, they...” He gulped again. “...they all had their cocks hangin’ out like they ain't got no sense left at all.” He squared his shoulders, yet refused to meet Crowe's glare. “I can't explain it, but they're useless to us. The few men I got left are looking everywhere, but the outsiders seemed to have vanished into thin air.”
Crowe's glare didn't falter.
More sweat poured down Dirk's face. With a glimmer of hope flickering in his eyes, he pointed to the artifact in Crowe's hand. “Maybe they have another one of those? And they know how to use it? Maybe that's how they damaged my crew and got out of here.”
Crowe stared into Dirk's eyes a fraction longer, before nodding. “Yes, I suppose it's possible.” He turned and sat down on the padded bench in front of the large machine he'd been experimenting with, trying to get it to work. “If so, all the more reason to find them. I know they can't get off this planet without their ship, even with one of these.” He held up the statuette. “Our ... uh ... friends told me that much.” He grimaced. “So, that means they're still on this moon. Take some men and ships and find them. I must know how these things work!” His voice had escalated from normal to maniacal with every sentence until Dirk literally ran from the room as Crowe's last command left his mouth.
“You want me to take The Blackbird and track them down?” Scorpion asked.
Crowe's eyes remained fixed on the object. “No. Seek out Gains and deal with him. Take your time and enjoy yourself.” Before Scorpion reached the door, Crowe added, “And make sure you destroy any records he kept that links him to us, this base, or anyone we deal with.” Crowe glanced up at Scorpion. “And, make it hurt. Make it hurt bad.”
Scorpion's mouth twisted into an evil grin of acknowledgment then he left the room.
Crowe fondled the object as if he wanted to caress its secrets out of it. Suddenly he dropped it then raised both hands and grasped his head, rubbing his cheeks and temples at a furious tempo. “Get out of my mind!” he screamed as a searing pain raced like wildfire through his brain's synapses.
The alien dome opened, splitting into two halves that disappeared into the floor until a huge replica of the round portal hole stood revealed on a pedestal in the middle. The elongated rod lay at its base like a token of worship. Inside the portal's hole, a mist began to swirl furiously, a rainbow of metallic colors. Soon, the mist dimmed and cleared until the golden-domed head and long spider-like arms and hands of the alien seemed to come out of the portal it had created.
It whispered and rasped into Crowe's mind. “Find the humans. Unlock the portal. We must come soon. We will not wait any longer. The Malfoi must kill and we will start with you, human.”
Crowe screamed.
Chapter Thirty
Tal led the way with Malcolm and Cea close behind, groping along the passageway like three blind mice. The passages were dark, cold, and full of foul smells, the odors changing from bad to worse to gut wrenchingly foul as they approached each new connecting tunnel.
“That shitty coward Ferret! Wait until I get my hands on him. I'll wrench his maggoty, scrawny, no-good-for-nothing neck,” Tal mumbled, slowing down as a new smell hit his nostrils. “We'll never find our way out of this stinking hell hole, and stinking is an understatement. If I had any food inside me, I'd lose it about now.”
Cea whispered from close behind him. “I think that's the smell of the big hall. It smells familiar to me, anyway, and that's the only place I can remember sm
elling anything quite that bad in here.” She shuddered and tried not to gag.
“She's right, Agent English,” Malcolm said, behind her. “That's the combined odors of the men, the food, the drink, blood, and that filthy beast you killed. I'd know it anywhere.” He paused before adding, “I'm just glad I can turn my olfactory sensors off. Even synthetic people can feel quite offended by some things.”
Cea snickered and held a hand over her mouth. “So? Where does that leave us?” she asked, regaining her composure.
Tal stopped at the connection, unsure whether to turn right or left. “Okay. Now, that we know where we are, how about telling me which way we should go?” He glanced around, searching for the vague outline of Cea. He reached out and found a quivering breast. He smiled then reluctantly removed his hand before asking, “Cea, you found Crowe's machine. Do you remember where it is in relation to the hall? We must find that thing and destroy it before we can leave.”
“I exited through the left side of the room then followed a passage that went straight back to two heavy metal doors. We shouldn't be too far from it, if this is around the main hall.” She pressed against Tal's back, crushing her breasts against him and warming his neck with her breath. “There were five doors on each side of the passage, so I estimate the distance at about 25 klicks from the hall.”
“When we came in through the main entrance, the hall was dead ahead, so the lab must be to the left of the main entrance. All we have to do is figure out where we are in relation to the hall and the main entrance,” Malcolm whispered.
Then, he began to hum.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tal rasped, trying to ignore Cea's breasts against his back and a growing hard-on in front of him.
“Echo location, of course,” Malcolm retorted before continuing the strange hum.
“He does bat impressions? Or, does he think he's a dolphin?” Tal asked with a suppressed snort. When silence met his question, he added, “Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood a little.”
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