by M. Garnet
He turned to go down to the interior of the mountain that he stood upon. It was a giant cave or cavern where people had lived when they first invented fire and now had installed power lifts and force fields with Threads of Targent. Thin filaments found in the rocks only on this planet, that some felt was a gift and others felt was a curse.
Regardless of what one thought about the Threads, all wanted to have control of the exports of those powers.
Chapter Two
After the War….
Inter Commander Minel Waldbuch was celebrating the day of her birth in a prison. On her own planet she would be thirty-five recurrently periods, and if they had left her with her implanted calendar it would have announced a silly, silent song into her head.
Minel carefully made up her bunk and cleaned up the tiny area assigned to her. She was in a large holding area with about twenty other females. The force field at the front of the holding area had turned clear, so she could see into a like area across a hallway that also held about the same number of females.
She had found that if she leaned on the force field, she could see down the hallway and into many similar holding areas where both male and female captives were being restrained. There must be hundreds of captured soldiers in this efficient prison.
Within her room, there were three showers that the females could share and use anytime of the day or night. There were five body disposal units that cleaned the body after use with the touch of a button. There was a floating cart accompanied by a worker that traded clean clothes for dirty ones daily.
They all had the same loose one-piece coverall and soft slippers. There was soap and shampoo and combs and brushes. Other than these items their prison was austere. A generous amount of food was delivered to the cells by the floating carts twice a day.
Minel had a workout routine that she did every morning and was surprised that several other females started to join her. The lack of activity was boring and setting some time for exercise helped pass the periods.
Minel had several secrets, yet her greatest problem was being within the large cave. She felt at night that she could feel the mountain pushing down on her, making it difficult to breath. She lay on her back now, on the strange floor, looking up through a section of the ceiling that was a clear force field. She could see high in the distance the rocks that formed a section of the cave that these idiots lived within.
Living for long times within the tight quarters of war ships meant she didn’t have claustrophobia. Yet feeling the weight of this world above her left her uncomfortable. One of her important secrets was the sound of the many voices around her invading her mind.
She had learned at an early age to keep this a secret and the military couldn’t teach her to control it. The mind receiving ability just drifted, picking up different thoughts and conversations, unable to pick or choose what she wanted to hear. She could use it sometimes, yet her superiors had decided that without control she couldn’t be put into the Intelligence Section.
That led to another of her secrets. Most of the females in this containment area were low rank soldiers. She had been on another ship and when it landed, injured she had stumbled with her troops to join another ship’s contingent. The fire behind them scorched her clothes, but she escaped. Once within the other ship, she changed into the first available uniform, the clothes of a simple soldier.
Her superiors had put her into the Planning Section, so among the other secrets she had hidden, was the contact number for the Master Assassin Misrot. She also had the knowledge of the hidden world that supported the new weapon. When completed it would be a real threat even to the Twinned Dissnue or their ill gotten spawn.
Minel knew she had a natural ability to draw people to her and she had used it as she worked her way up the ladder of success in an unresponsive military. She had given up a lot to reach her officer status, no friends, no lovers, no permanent home, but she would not change any of it. She was the military and it was her friend, her lover and her home. Being a captive was unacceptable. Being a captive within the earth and away from her open space was making her uncomfortable.
Lying there on the floor thinking of all of this right now, blocking or not listening to the voices drifting through her mind. She had her cover-all suit open at the top and tied down around her waist with only the sleeveless undershirt still damp from her exercises.
Minel was hearing the people walking by in the hallway. There were soldiers hurrying down the hallway with only drifts of complaints, workers with strange in-complete thoughts of tasks. Then there was the silence. People or someone, more than one who projected silence? She had heard the silence once before and she rolled over carefully, getting up to walk with the other females to the clear wall.
She was tall and chose a couple of others to stand behind. She never wanted to attract attention, yet she had noticed this special silent couple once before, when she had been led from the transport. She recognized the tall male in the black cape as being an assassin. What was a member of the Assassin’s League doing here?
The other tall handsome male, also in black, was not one she could identify. She knew which female to ask the right questions, so she moved forward to get behind the one called Din Din.
Minel spoke quietly to Din Din. “I wonder who the tall one is beside the Assassin? I bet you know.”
Din Din just couldn’t resist a challenge. It took the silly female three tries before she turned around to look up at Minel.
“You were looking at that really handsome guy, right? Well I can’t believe you didn’t recognize the Head of State. His Majesty’s common name is Quilliam. I have heard that his friends call him Quill.”
With all the minds and thoughts drifting into Minel’s brain, she also felt the empty place where the two men in black stood. They didn’t allow their thoughts out of their control. Interesting.
Now she was careful not to stare at the dangerous pair of males, as a couple of officers approached the clear wall. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Assassin crouch down on one heel. The other one leaned back, arms crossed over a strong chest and one ankle over the other. Both seemed too casual, a pose to fool. Why?
The hair on Minel’s arms stood up, as she felt a pair of green eyes on her. She forced herself not to look in his direction, but she had no doubt that the tall man with a long brown braid and shocking green eyes had her directly in his sight. The soldier in front of her moved. It gave her an excuse to move over in a direction away from the two men.
Now she made a point of listening to the officer outside the clear wall as he spoke.
“We would like to help any of you that was impressed into the military without volunteering. We would be glad to have you released and if possible, returned to your home world. You can start by being brave and just raising your hand.” Here the officer paused, probably to see if anyone would raise a hand. Of course, no one would make a move in front of everyone else.
“You can also let any one of the workers or guards know. Also, we will be doing a series of med checks. It would be a secluded place to ask for help.” The officer looked around at his attendants. “I think I covered everything.”
“Except secrets.” Minel jumped back from the clear force field. How had the tall man with the green eyes moved without her being aware of his changed position. He was right next to her until she had jumped back.
The voice was low and meant only for her. She doubted if anyone else heard the words and wondered if they had even been said aloud. Were the words in her mind?
The tall male moved his braid off his shoulder and moved back to lean against the other force field across the hall. Again he struck the casual pose, arms crossed and one leg cocked. It brought her eyes to the muscles in the black leather on his thighs. He wasn’t muscle bound, but there was no doubt that this male had a very strong body.
Minel needed to get control of her own body, as she felt a touch of fear and some attraction to the handsome leader of this plane
t. She moved away without looking over her shoulder, still taking the memory of those green eyes.
She had one more foolish secret. She was still a virgin. She knew that men found her attractive and the state of her body was just an accident. She was tall and kept her body toned through the proper exercise. Her long brown hair was kept pulled back in a tight braid, stretching everything back to keep the hair under her helmet. She had a normal size bust that she kept restrained in her uniform and the hips of a female. It was just a fact that her waist was a little too small, making the rest seem in nicer portions. Except for a couple of strange small religious groups, having never experienced sex as an adult was unusual. Most would say it was probably pretty rare.
When she remembered, her brother had sold her at a very young age to a male who was taking her and other young females to a house where their bodies could be used by anyone who would pay the right amount. Before her young body had been touched, fate took a hand and rescued her. The evil male was raided and trapped by a military group. They took the children and placed them in a military supported school to be raised, until they were old enough to be enlisted.
To get the investment back, these young ones were watched over with strict observance to deportment. In other words, there could be no drinking or no late night parties. There could be no foul language and no sex with either sex. That lasted until they all got through schooling and out into training. Such strict practices was not to keep them chaste, it was to make the job easier for those who were in charge. Make a few tough rules and enforce them harshly.
By that time, it was all of the above or put it all off for another time, depending on how hard you wanted to be an officer. Minel heard the stories of sex and read the stories of sexual play on her small screens. Like all the others, she knew all about the act of intercourse. She knew the positions and the results and had finally found the good actions of her own hand.
There had been close encounters, but her curse, her mind’s ability to pick up bits and pieces soon turned her off from where his mind was traveling. She had even tried the female route with the same results, perhaps even worse, as self-ego was foremost in the jumping thoughts of a partner.
Secrets, secrets, secrets. What did the male with the beautiful green eyes know of her secrets? She closed her own green eyes. Strange, green eyes were really rare among the universe.
Chapter Three
After the War….
Bogdan watched the byplay between the Son and the prisoner. He found this interesting. In his mind he had referred to the Heir Apparent as the Son. When they were alone he called the male Quill. When there were many around he was a shadow. It wasn’t the job of an Assassin to be obvious.
****
Before the War…
Bogdan had been brought in by his master on assignment to guard the Queen/Slave of two amazing twins. When the two men merged, they were called the Twinned Dissnue and seemed to be two males of one unusually strong mind. A mind that created weapons that eventually was needed by their son, to fight a war against an overwhelming number of joined forces.
As an Assassin, he had done his job well and it had never been boring. Intrigue and politics had surrounded the intelligent female as she tried to rule the rich world that everyone wanted. The monarchs had deserted the entire system just before the birth of the son.
One of the first complete sentences the young child had said was that his fathers had warned that war was immanent. Then the boy had looked up into the shadows of the crossbeams and asked the name of the male up above. There was shock from all the others, as no one else had seen Bogdan perched on the thin railings. It was one of the areas where Bogdan could travel and watch and not be seen. It was above the sensors and cameras and allowed him to move fast in many directions. Most beings would think the bars too dangerous for anything to travel on and small bug and animal catchers had been installed.
Queen Loralei had told the Assassin that the contract would continue for as long as he wanted and that the payments would increase at a percentage agreed upon on a regular basis. In case of war, she had said that he would also be awarded Threads.
For reasons of his own, Prime Assassin Misrot felt it was an excellent idea. Bogdan wasn’t fooled, knowing Misrot had to have his own reasons and would gain something from the connection. It could be the fact that having the Prime’s own Second on the richest planet in this section of the trading universe.
As for Bogdan, he had more funds that one alone could spend in a lifetime. What he wanted was to fill his life with adventure, and the planet of GigasVnee was all adventure. He would stay and protect the Queen/Slave for a pittance if she had asked. Still it was better to receive a recognized large amount. It proved his real value.
The War begins…
When the first strikes came, Bogdan was on his own, cut off from his League, and felt he would protect the Lady Loralei in all ways. But in Bogdan’s inner thoughts he had another lady to protect.
By this time the son was of an age equal to sixteen passages. That was the age of the son’s body, but the age of the male’s mind was so much older.
The boy had requested that Bogdan teach him how to death fight. The royal boy meant it, as he took every bone and muscle in his small body and repeated every movement that the Assassin taught him. There grew an unusual friendship between the two.
This Heir Apparent had no other friends. There were no children to play with as he did not play. There were few friends, as the child saw through the lies of most beings. There was Advisor Dee and Commander Sachim both were too busy helping the Lady Loralei run the government. There was a young girl named Tet that was the Lady Loralei’s maid. This sweet, innocent female was in a different world than that of the Royal Heir.
At first the Assassin allowed the child to follow him and make requests. Bogdan wasn’t sure when it happened that Quill allowed the Assassin to be in his presence. Bogdan wondered how much unusual intelligence the Heir had received from his fathers?
By the time of the surprise first attacks, Bogdan saw that Quill was a full grown male with greater intelligence than any of the tutors that were supplied for his schooling. It seemed that this young male just absorbed immediately anything that any teacher brought to his attention.
In the same topic, the youth would go on, seeming to add theories that had not been discovered or published in the past. His learning far superseded each subject tutor, yet still he requested additional teachers. Bogdan thought of him as a dry sponge from this planet’s own seas, sucking up knowledge and then needing more.
Bogdan and Quill had been in the large exercise room when the first attacks happened. Through the clear force field wall, both sweating bodies jerked as the mountain they stood within moved. Then in the sky above, the flashes followed.
Bogdan heard Quill speak. “It is the war my fathers warned. It has finally come.”
Bogdan gathered his clothes, whipping his cloak around him. “I will go to your mother.”
He remembered Quill spoke as they both ran. “There are safe vaults in the back of the landing area. She will resist, wanting to fight with her people. Perhaps if she is accidently unconscious, it would be better.”
Bogdan traveled within the hidden passageways to get to the Lady. Power was going down as additional energy bombs were blasting above. He remembered the curses he flung at the cowards who fought from a distance.
Quill had been correct. No amount of pleading, talking or pointing out dangers could convince Lady Loralei to hide, as she called going to the vaults. Finally a pressure on her neck allowed Bogdan to take the Lady and her maid Tet to the strange vaults down behind the lifts on the main floor. It took her limp hand on the plate to open the comfortable, fully equipped apartment hidden in the rock.
Bogdan left her in the hands of her sweet maid Tet, locking the thick door. He had another personal task to take care of, a person to hunt for in the chaos of the landing area.
In the pledge the Assassin made, wh
en he reached his final degree, was to remain unencumbered of commitment to a mate. Homes and families and retirement were not in the life of an assassin. Still sex and attachments were permitted.
For reasons that he could not even explain to himself, he had become attached to a released slave who worked in a secluded section against the rock wall of this great landing bay of the royal cave. She was interesting and did marvelous things with her hands in repairing small items for the ships.
All her life Magda had been mistreated by males, yet she opened up her friendship to the dark, tall deadly assassin. It baffled Bogdan and drew him to her, closer than he had ever been drawn to anyone since his mother had placed him, as a child in the cold against the door of the Assassin’s Palace.
With the strange colors of blasts tearing the outside world apart and his charge safe, he needed to find and get Magda safe. He looked around and was unhappy with what he saw. First he saw damage.
He never expected to see damage within the Royal Cave. This section was so large that on most planets it would be built on a wide open area surrounded by large hangers and buildings with ships of different sizes having areas of landing and storage.
On this planet everything was in caves, unbelievable giant caves, that over eons had been developed into cities and living areas and homes. They also had developed, like this flat area where the ships could land safely and be unloaded or fueled or repaired.
What was happening now was a staging of organized disarray. At least two ships had crashed on landing and the scraps were being pushed away to allow ships to both land and leave. The damage in this great area was so unusual, it was hard to see what was usually neat and complete order.
Several groups of soldiers were rushing in lined batches, traveling to load into ships. There were some in heavy outside gear, almost the type used in outer space, that were running to the exits that led up the strange tunnels that would open to the upper outside plateaus.
