Gram reached for the light stylus on the table where Venus had placed the tablet. Stepping closer, Venus watched her write on the glowing notepad feature: Don’t worry about me. Love you, Venus.
In the other room, the crackle of the communicator drew her attention. Venus drew a deep breath and tried to compose herself, wiping tears away as Volund strode to the storage room.
With a smile on her face, she turned back to her Gram and leaned over, whispering, “I love you, Gram, and I can’t wait to have you in my life again. Be back in a minute.”
“Earth Station One,” an unfamiliar voice called across the air waves. “Come in, please. This is Sky Streamer Three.”
Venus jumped and grabbed the extra pistol she kept at the side cabinet by the door to the lab. She drew her pistol as she scanned the room. Nothing.
With the mumbled words and the activity of Volund in the next room, Venus slipped out of the lab with her weapon still in her hands. Jaxxon stood behind Volund.
She’d seen her men carry many things in from their ship, but she didn’t remember seeing this. Foreign equipment was now patched into the high-tech communications system. Badden must have been working on the station. He’d been busy that was for sure. Before when someone had called their voices were muffled, now it was if they were in the same damn room with them.
Volund sat on a chair and moved his fingers quickly over the multi-colored panel. Occasionally, he would frown and tighten a wire or add a new one.
“Earth Station One here. Go ahead, Sky Streamer Three.” Although Volund spoke, there were no microphones that she could see.
“We should be entering your solar system within the next twenty-four Earth hours. Respond with coordinates, please.”
Jaxxon turned and, seeing the gun in her hands, questioned her with his eyes.
“Sorry, didn’t know you’d fine-tuned the equipment. It was so loud. Warn me next time so I don’t have heart failure, please. I thought for sure someone was here”
Venus sighed and put the weapon away before returning to stand in the main entrance way to the bank tapping her hand on the counter, surveying the bank’s main entrance. With more men coming every few days, in no time this place was going to become very crowded. Even now with the children it was getting smaller. It was a good thing that she knew they were planning to expand into the nearby buildings.
Jaxxon frowned at his brother when he switched their side of the communicator off so the third party could not hear them. “So Tapio has sent two former death squad captains to Earth for the re-settlement,” he pointed out, “but he has also burdened them with a full squadron. Do you not find it odd that the other leaders would allow Tapio to send such dangerous men here so soon? We can use the added protection, but full squads?”
She jumped as Volund pulled her onto his lap, his hands warm, gentle. “I am suddenly very glad Miln and Oshki are gone now, but I’m worried about Badden and Acwel,” he said. “We will warn them tonight.”
“We need other safe houses.” He continued, indicating their surroundings. “This building is not going to hold everyone, and I find I am uneasy with having Venus around so many males. They can use the third level three below our quarters and that of the children’s for now. It is yet to be used and big enough for the two teams.”
“Why do I get the feeling this is not a good thing? Are these men dangerous? They can clear out the building across the way. It’s big enough for a few men.” She placed her hand over her stomach feeling suddenly very protective of their children.
Immediately, both Jaxxon and Volund caressed and kissed her. “These men will die for you, Venus. If anything, they will be more protective than Miln was. But I am worried about why they have been sent here. These two men, the captains, are reported to be Tapio’s…” He stared at her with a quizzical expression on his face. “What is your English slang for someone who is controlled?”
Realization hit her. “Oh, you mean they’re Tapio’s puppets.”
“Yes,” he nodded, “that is the expression.”
Jaxxon took hold of her hand and led her back into the lab. “These warriors, the Kallias, are different in appearance, little warrior. If they travel back in time they will have to wear their body shields to cloak them. They come from Planet StarGrouser. Their skin is dark red, but it has the texture of a snake’s. Their eyes are black, sort of diamond-shaped and without pupils. The Kallias are the fiercest and deadliest of warriors. One tear or scratch on your skin from their teeth or claws will cause a swift death. When in battle, they produce an oily substance that, if it gets into a wound, kills the opponent.” He sat her on the chair near Gram and moved over to a medical cabinet he’d transported there from their ship.
Unhooking the strap around Gram’s neck, Volund offered her a reassuring smile. “I must ask you not to touch Venus until we make sure you are perfectly safe. We do not want to risk your great grandchildren.”
Gram sighed but nodded as she moved her neck back and forth, flexing it. She cleared her throat. “Men won’t hurt Venus?”
Jaxxon grinned and shook his head. “No, I am injecting her with a serum we were given before we came here. It will prevent any of the Kallias from hurting her or the babies. When you are fully changed, I will also inject you with it, too. However, until you are completely healed I do not want to chance the interactions of our medicine with the Bone Eater antidote.”
“Jaxxon, you know I hate needles,” Venus pushed her chair back, “and that stupid little—whatever you call it—doesn’t have one needle but a whole bunch! Can’t you put it in a pill form or something?” She backed away from him.
Volund snaked his arms around her from behind. Taken by surprise, Venus screamed.
“You fight Bone Eaters, have survived alone for years, yet you are going to run away from a little inoculation?”
“Let me go, Volund! You both know I don’t like shots, not even your high-tech kind.” She stomped his foot, but he didn’t budge. Instead, he pushed her up against a table and bared her ass for Jaxxon.
She turned her head and glared at her grandmother, who actually giggled. “This is not funny! Don’t you dare think I forgot about you and mom holding me down for vaccines when I was little.”
A slap came down on her ass. “Don’t snap at your Gram,” Volund reprimanded her. “This has to be done, so stop acting like a child.”
“This must be administered into your buttock muscle. The inoculation is strong and it is going to sting, so I am sorry,” Jaxxon warned her as the needles and goop entered her skin.
She could have sworn her butt had been set fire from the environite strip Jaxxon used for innoculations.
Finally, Jaxxon peeled the band off, making her flinch. When they released her, Venus turned and slugged Volund’s jaw.
He rubbed the offended area but smiled. “As you say, nice right hook, little warrior. Did you wound your hand?”
“That freaking hurt! My ass cheek is still burning!” she shouted, ignoring him. She grabbed an empty test tube and threw it at Jaxxon’s head. “And you better start changing your shots into pills or I’m going to cut your balls off!”
Jaxxon ducked just in time. The glass shattered behind him, and he laughed. “I do not think so. Besides, you know I do not have the equipment here to convert our environite strips. Maybe in time we will have more medical provisions since the council now knows of your pregnancy. I am sure they will send more supplies to ensure you carry to term.”
Perimeter alarms wailed outside. Whirling, Volund said, “Jaxxon, stay here with Venus. I know I will be glad when we have the extra protection for this place.” He stormed out of the room with the pets on his heels.
Venus heard Badden and Acwel in the next room and knew Volund wouldn’t be alone.
She moved to the monitors in the adjoining room, flicked them on, and gasped. “The Bone Eaters have never attacked the fence before—and it’s still daylight.” Trembling, she sat on a chair before her knees gave out.
“If they’re attacking like this, there’s no way we can live in the house by ourselves. Our children will be at risk.”
Behind her Jaxxon pointed to the monitor. “We’ll get that wall built and when we do we’ll be fine. But you are right, they are getting smarter and I don’t like that they are out during the day now. Their bodies must be changing, still adjusting to the environment.”
He bent down and looked closely at one of the Bone Eaters. “Venus have you seen this one before? Look at how stands back, watching. He seems to know we have cameras, look at the way he focuses on them.”
She leaned forward and studied the creature. “I think I’ve seen him before, but not this close. When we get the new lab together we need to capture a few males. If they really are changing we need to know what’s going on.” Venus watched as Badden and Acwel started firing on the Bone Eaters. Immediately, the one that had been watching took off, leaving the others. Something was familiar about him, but not.
“I’m going to have Acwel bring me in one of the dead males. I can study him over there in the corner while you work with the females. The more data we have on them the better.” Jaxxon spun around and left her sitting at monitors.
Something was going on and she didn’t like not knowing. The more she thought about it, since her men had come here the Bone Eaters had been changing. They were acting different, and they had become more aggressive.
Chapter Nine
Venus looked at the clock and sighed. She still had over an hour before the newest ship was due to land. Volund and Badden were out hunting. For some reason he wanted to provide a feast for the new men.
Jaxxon and Acwel scouted around the city marking where the first wall should go up. If they could secure the area, and could get everyone to help, over time they might be able to get rid of the trash, bury the dead, and actually clean up the city. For now they could just wall in the inner city and slowly work their way out.
She tapped the stylus on the table and studied the map as her Gram slept in her new bed. Before the men had left, she’d insisted Gram be moved up to their quarters where she could keep an eye on her.
Plus, her men told her they expected her to stay upstairs while they were gone, especially after the Bone Eaters had tried to break through their defenses. The Bone Eater’s were changing and it wasn’t for the better. Becoming more aggressive and acting smarter. She was almost glad she didn’t have to deal with them alone anymore. She rubbed her arms as she remembered her nightmares. Could they be signs of what was yet to come?
Running her hand through her hair, she sighed. “No it was just a nightmare.” She studied the map again.
“There are four main roads into the city. Elyria is twenty six miles long and forty miles wide. Downtown is three miles wide and five miles long. If we can wall off our enclave, gate or fortify a wall or fence around the downtown land, clean out the BoneEaters in that area we can start working backwards cleaning spots out at a little at a time…”
“Venus?”
Gram’s quiet voice broke through her train of thought. Venus turned and smiled at her grandmother. Her face heated. Once more she’d been caught talking to herself. She laughed and smiled at her Gram, who also wore a large smile. “Sorry, Gram, I didn’t mean to wake you. Since I’ve been alone for so long I have a habit of talking to myself.”
“What’s wrong? You were frowning and mumbling.” Gram tried to sit up, but fell back onto the couch with a grunt. She tried to reach her back, as if she were in pain.
Venus hurried over to the bed as she scanned her grandmother’s spine hoping she hadn’t torn any of the new, slowly forming skin replacing the spikes that had been growing from her back. There was no further damage and only one small spike still protruded, the rest had fallen off during the night. The fresh skin had been pink and tender. Jaxxon had applied some of their Azutuan medicine to help speed the healing process.
“It’s going to take time, Gram. The healing won’t happen overnight. Your body has been through some major changes. However, there’s nothing wrong with me. I’m just trying to figure out a couple of things. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, but tired. Have you forgotten about the passageways below us? Those might help you move around the city more easily.”
Venus handed her Gram a bottle of water and shook her head. “Drink this—and what? Tunnels? Neither Dad or Mom ever mentioned anything about city underground passages.”
Her Gram nodded at the table. “Bring me your map. I’ll show you the entrance to one of them. They were dug when everything began to go crazy. The mayor wanted a way for people to get out of the city in a hurry if the weather got any worse, or other weird creatures attacked. After that first incident…” Grams laughed. “You should have seen it. There was a big meeting in the square. All of the sudden, behind the mayor three deformed skunks showed up. I never laughed so hard. Not only did the skunks spray the mayor, but they shoot out this nasty green crap. Little did we know it paralyzed its victims. The mayor found out the hard way, he was paralyzed for three hours. He should have listened to the townspeople when we told him there was a population explosion of skunks. Anyway, the mayor wasn’t taking any chances. I don’t know how many corridors he finished, but I know the downtown area was completed. Your mother told me about them, before…” She glanced down at the bottle of water.
Venus patted her hand. “Don’t worry about it, Gram. It happened to most everyone. I’m just glad I have you back.” She rose and checked the security relay box on the table, all green lights across the board. She grabbed the atlas before she sat down again. The Bone Eaters were quiet now after their earlier surprise. Six of the male B.E.s had been killed when they’d attacked the fence. One was brought in to study, but Venus felt that the smart one had gotten away. She shivered again. Her nightmares were so real.
“It was too early for them.” Her Gram took another drink of water. “They don’t start to move until it’s cooler or the sun is low.” She placed the bottle on the floor. “Come, let me see.”
She spread the large chart out on her Gram’s lap. “We’re here in the Fifth Fourth Bank.”
Gram scanned the paper. “If I remember correctly, the mayor had his office in the top of this building, didn’t he?” She glanced up at Venus, who nodded.
“Yep, we’re in it now. It was equipped with all the latest appliances and things, so I made it my home.”
“Good. Go down to the next floor below us by the back stairs. If what your mother told me was true, there should be an entrance here in the back of the walk-in safe. It should be behind one of the big metal shelves.” Gram smiled.
“The little weasel, the mayor, bragged to your mom all the time about the hidden tunnels and government secrets. He had his ‘own personal elevator’ to them. Do you know, before your dad married your mother, the mayor actually proposed to her once? Anyway…” She waved her hand and looked once more at the drawing. “You’ll have to look for the switch to move the wall. Knowing how he liked all the new toys and such, it has to be something stupid. All the downtown tunnels come to the middle of the commons, here.” She pointed to the town fountain’s location.
“Why there?”
“It was supposed to serve as an extra layer of protection, but the Mayor didn’t inform any of the people of it and kept if for himself. Under it there should be another storage room. There were supposed to be supplies for over a thousand people, and a larger tunnel leading out from there, past the edge of the city. I don’t know if that one was finished before… Gram glanced up at her. “Anyway, I don’t think Bone Eaters are smart enough to get down there. Each tunnel had a special access code.”
“I’ll be right back, Gram. I need to check something.” Venus ran out of the room and down the back stairs to where the mayor’s safe was located. She hadn’t been this excited in a long time. The area was filled with stale air, and she sneezed when turning on the light. Dust flew around her. She knew the lift would take a lot of juice, bu
t using it once might not hurt the solar batteries too much. With Volund’s and Jaxxon’s help, they were figuring out a way to feed more power into the building’s equipment.
Venus moved into the small chamber. She scanned the wall, her gaze coming to rest where the mayor’s personal elevator was hidden.
“Wow, so he did have everything, the little weasel!” Gram snarled behind her, causing Venus to jump. “While so many were starving, he played with his electronics, the prick. I’m so glad your mother turned him down.”
“Gram, you scared the crap out of me. Warn me next time. You shouldn’t have come down the stairs by yourself. You’re still healing.” Venus fussed and placed the knife back in the pouch under her skirt, all the while keeping her attention on her grandmother. The growl that had come from her still sounded too close to that of a Bone Eater’s.
She placed her hand on her Gram’s arm. “You are right. He was a prick. These are just more of his toys. I’ve used a lot of them, piecing together the things I needed. This elevator has a keypad, so we’re going to need a code. Maybe it will take us down to the tunnels, but first I have to see if I can access it, find the code.” She nodded to the recliner in the corner of the room.
“Also, you shouldn’t be walking around so soon. Come, let’s get you comfortable before I work on this. We can talk while I work.”
After settling her grandmother, Venus walked back upstairs to her apartment. She gathered her equipment and a fold-up chair, all the while her thoughts on what could be beneath them.
Gram smiled at her as she returned and set up her chair and tools.
“Venus! Venus, where are you?” Jaxxon yelled. Before she could even say a word he appeared in the room. He nodded to her Gram and hurried over to Venus. “What do you think you are doing?” He glanced around.
She stood and kissed his cheek before she sat again.
“Gram was telling me about some tunnels under the city that the mayor had built before everything went to hell. If I’m not mistaken, this elevator should take us straight to them. Gram said the mayor had food and all sorts of stuff down there in case of an emergency.” She grabbed her electronic scanner and started to attach it to the small code box. “If I can crack the code the mayor used, we can get it going and go check things out.”
Lovers of the Galaxy: Book Three: Raiders of the Lost Heart Page 6
