Mate-Prize

by Renee Bond

  “We’re not waiting for that,” I hissed. “The piece of shit who took her has a history with her. He wants revenge. And he’s a real sadist. He’ll hurt her, badly, long before the proper fucking channels get us anywhere. I am not going to leave our woman in that monster’s hands!”

  All my men made sounds of emphatic agreement.

  “Is she worth it?” Dresden asked, as our ship lifted into the air. “Is she worth throwing away your careers for? Is she worth getting killed for?”

  “Damn right,” I said without hesitation.

  “Fucking damn right,” echoed Jensi.

  “We’re coming up on the base,” said Daxen.

  “We’ve got to go,” I told Dresden. “I wish you’d given us authorization to use force. But we can’t abandon our mate to the hands of the enemy.”

  Dresden looked like he was about to shout something.

  Then he heaved a deep sigh.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “But I won't be able to help you if you do something that puts our diplomatic standing in jeopardy.”

  “Thanks anyway,” I said, then cut the comms channel.

  Presently, our ship was hovering a few hundred feet above the enemy base, which was on the opposite edge of the town from the Triumphant airfield. It was offset from nearby buildings by a few hundred feet, so we didn’t need to worry too much about civilian casualties. There wasn’t much activity that I could see directly around the base.

  That would change, and fast, when we announced our presence.

  Jensi left the cockpit to man our ship’s single turret gun. It wasn’t big, being designed mainly for use against small, agile fighters like ours. But we also had a larger frontal laser and a variety of heavy ordnance, including a half-dozen high-yield torpedoes. All in all, it was enough firepower to reduce the pre-fabricated, unfortified enemy base to rubble.

  Then again, the enemy base surely housed far more firepower than we did.

  “Daxen, begin scanning the base for our woman,” I said. “I don’t care if we have to scan every bio-sign on the premise.”

  “I’m getting anti-scanner readings from the metal that base is constructed of,” Daxen said. “We can penetrate it, but it will slow us down. And I can already see that there are hundreds of people in there. It’s going to take time.”

  “Do it,” I said. “I’ll find a way to buy us that time.”

  Daxen set to work, his fingers flying over the pilot’s console.

  “We’re being hailed,” Daxen reported a few moments later. “Everlasting frequency.”

  “Patch it through.”

  A burly man in a green Everlasting uniform and an officer’s cap came up on screen.

  “Just what the Hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded. “Your craft is in highly restricted airspace! Turn around and return to your designated-”

  “Daxen,” I cut in, “arm all weapons.”

  “Yes sir.”

  The Everlasting comms operator blanched.

  “W-wait a minute!” he said. “What do you even want?”

  “You have something that belongs to us,” I said. “Our woman.” I gave the man a brief explanation of what had brought us to his base.

  “Unauthorized personnel aren’t allowed on base,” the man said, a confused look creeping onto his face. “And I’m sure that includes members of Triumphant military, no matter who they are. I’m checking base records as we speak - what’s her name.”

  There was a moment of silence. We hadn’t figured that out yet.

  “Rachel Faraway,” I said.

  “Nobody by that name here,” he said.

  “Check again.” I was losing my patience. “And you’d better find her this time. We know she’s here, and if we have to take this whole base apart, we’re getting her out.”

  Suddenly, a burst of fire lept from our ship - fired by Jensi, from our under-ship turret. Hundreds of explosive rounds punched a line of destruction into the empty dirt field in front of the Everlasting base. Gouts of dust and flame leapt up from each impact. The noise was thunderous.

  It was only a warning shot.

  But we’d officially just fired on the Everlasting base.

  Shit. I’d intended to save that move. Jensi, and his fiery temper, had jumped the gun.

  With a subtle nod of my head, I signaled Ellon to take over the turret. Jensi was obviously too emotional to approach this situation with the care it warranted. Ellon, knowing Jensi, left the cockpit without me needing to explain anything.

  “Are you dumb, or crazy?” the Everlasting comms officer demanded. “Or have you just got a death wish? Cause we can oblige that if you do.”

  “We’re not crazy,” I said. “We’re fucking pissed. And we’re getting what we came for. With or without your cooperation.”

  “Multiple ground vehicles are deploying,” said Daxen. “Scanners are picking up anti-air weapons packages. Shit, they’re locking on!”

  Fuck.

  This was getting out of hand. Fast.

  But backing down now wouldn't save our woman.

  “Arm the high-yield torpedoes,” I ordered, staring right into the Everlasting comm officer’s eyes. “If so much as a toy gun fires on us, blow that Everlasting base to Hell.”

  Daxen shot me a glance, but had the good sense not to question me. I know what he was thinking, though. We would never get our woman back if we destroyed the base while she was still inside it. Yet, we couldn’t help her at all if we got blown out of the sky. Our ship was packed with firepower, but it wasn’t invincible. If the shooting started, there was no way we could avoid being shot down.

  Which is why my bluff had to work.

  “Holy fuck, you are crazy!” said the Everlasting officer. “I’m telling you, there’s nobody here named Rachel Faraway! There are no women in the base at all - this is a men-only facility! Trust me, I’d know if there were any women around! You’d better fly the fuck away - NOW - or you’re going to turn into a pile of flaming wreckage real fast!”

  Warning buzzers began blaring.

  “Weapons lock!” said Daxen tensely. Then, too quietly for the Everlasting officer to hear: “We’re fucking sitting ducks here! Anyone on the ground fires, and we’re dead!”

  “They fire, and they’re dead too,” I said, giving the Everlasting officer a little smirk. “All of them. Now then. I suggest you get off your ass and find our woman. Or we’re going to start shooting, and if we all die, so be it. We’re not letting that bastard sadist have her! She’s ours, and we’re damn well taking her back!”

  “What the Hell makes you so sure she’s even here?” demanded the Everlasting officer.

  I nodded to Daxen. Daxen began broadcasting the secret message which had been sent to our woman on every frequency.

  I waited until it had played through once.

  “Just one question,” I asked the Everlasting officer, after the recording was finished. “Is this the kind of man that the Everlasting military protects? Is this the kind of man you’re willing to fucking die for?”

  The Everlasting officer opened his mouth.

  Then closed it. Apparently, momentarily, at a loss for words.

  “Shit!” said Daxen. “We’ve got incoming! I’m reading over two dozen fighters inbound - they’re our ships! Fuck, Travan, they’re coming for us!”

  Dammit.

  We all knew the brass didn’t approve of us taking action. But I was hoping we’d have enough time to get our woman out of harm’s way before they sent the Triumphant military after us, to keep us from destroying the fragile Triumphant-Everlasting alliance.

  “How long do we have?” I asked.

  “Twenty seconds!” Daxen hissed.

  Dammit!

  Chapter 38

  Rachel

  The strangeling had been bad. The Bastard had taken his sweet time, putting his hands around my throat. Squeezing, until I couldn’t breathe. Waiting, until I almost passed out - then relaxing his grip. Letting me hav
e just enough air to say conscious. I was pretty sure my neck was a mess of bruises.

  The strangling, which had lasted somewhere between a few minutes and a hundred years, had been bad.

  But the whipping was much, much worse.

  “How do you like that you little fucking whore?” said The Bastard as he cracked his six-foot whip against my naked ass once again, leaving yet another red, purple, weeping line in my flesh.

  I screamed in pain.

  It didn’t help.

  Tears streamed down my face. Sobs racked my body as it hung, suspended upside down by the chains coiled around my feet.

  I’d managed to get one decent shot in when The Bastard had shown up. Hid behind the door and punched him square in the jaw, hoping I’d be able to knock him out and escape into the hallway, and then to... I don’t know, somewhere else.

  It hadn't worked.

  Well. At least he had a big purple bruise on the right side of his face.

  I, however, had far more than one bruise.

  “You’re going to learn the proper respect for your new master!” snarled The Bastard as the whip cracked against my naked back.

  The clothes I’d brought were in tatters, ripped off my body. That had been after he’d chained my feet above my head. Which had been after he’d tazed me, knocking me out. Made it pretty easy to tie me up, that.

  Bastard.

  “Now, cunt,” he said. Slowly. Menacingly. Breathing hard, sweat beading on his pale, balding brow. “I’m going to take out my cock. And you’re going to suck it. And if I don’t like what I feel-”

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  The pounding on the door was urgent. Almost frantic. The Bastard actually jumped. I, being nearly blinded by the pain, barely reacted.

  The door flew open.

  In came the guard I’d talked to at the front gate of the base. The one who’d brought me to this Hellhole.

  He looked… frantic.

  “We’ve got a problem,” he started.

  The whip cut him off, striking him across his face.

  “I told you not to disturb me!” shouted The Bastard.

  “There’s a Triumphant fighter ship demanding the release of one of their woman!” the guard all but squeaked, holding his face with one hand. “The Commander is going ballistic! The whole base is on full alert, and Internal Security is tearing the place apart looking for this bitch! Either they’re going to find her, or we’re about to be in the middle of a shooting war! I didn’t sign up for this!”

  The Bastard frowned.

  “Fuck!”

  His whip thundered against my body. Again. And again.

  Through it, I managed to force a smile.

  My men were coming for me.

  “They’re going to kill you,” I said through gritted teeth. “And I’m going to laugh in your face as you die.”

  The Bastard’s eyes went wide. He raised his arm.

  But the guard caught it before he could whip me again.

  “If they find this cunt,” said the guard, “we won't just be written up for bringing contraband into the base. We’ll be tried as rogue agents! You know Triumphant is supposed to be on our side now! I heard that the Commander is already swearing that he’ll personally charge anyone connected to this incident with treason!”

  “I never thought those fucking meathead soldiers would have the balls to do something so… public,” said The Bastard. “Shrewd move. Either that, or a bat-shit crazy one.”

  “We’ve got to get rid of her,” said the guard. “I cleared out one of the deep-freeze lockers. If we put her body in there, we can bribe one of the kitchen staff to look the other way until this blows over. Worst case scenario, we won't get caught red-fucking-handed! They’re sweeping the base as we speak-”

  “No.”

  The Bastard had a very dangerous tone in his voice as he spoke.

  The guard’s mouth hung open as his eyes bulged.

  “Didn’t you hear what I just said?” he demanded. “If we get caught with her we’re in deep-”

  “She’s. MINE.”

  The Bastard, his olive skin suddenly clammy, his paunchy face suddenly tight, had an unhinged look in his eye.

  “I’m not going down cause you’ve got a thing for a piece of contraband meat!” snarled the guard.

  He unholstered a pistol.

  Aimed it straight at me.

  I didn’t flinch. Didn’t look away.

  I was going to die. The thought hit me like a ball of ice. Regrets flashed through my mind - chief among them was not getting to spend more time with my squad. My men.

  My mates.

  The Bastard suddenly had a long, wicked knife in his hand.

  And that knife was just as suddenly handle-deep in the guard’s throat!

  The guard, all but dead on his feet, made a burbling sound as he grasped his ruined neck, sunk to his knees, rolled over, kicked a few times… and was still, a dark pool of blood spreading across the floor.

  Through the pain, the humiliation, through my hatred for The Bastard for everything he’d done to me, I managed to feel the shock of seeing a man murdered right in front of my eyes.

  “Nice to know you care,” I said mockingly.

  The Bastard scowled.

  “As soon as we get out of here,” he said, “I’m going to cut out that filthy tongue of yours. You’ve got plenty of other holes to satisfy me, after all.”

  He lowered me to the floor. Briefly, I thought about attacking him again - but quickly realized that my battered body was in no state to win a fight.

  So I decided on a different tack.

  “Get up,” the Bastard said.

  I didn’t respond. The dead guard had given me my best way out - simply get found by someone else within the base. Someone not complicit with The Bastard. Someone who would do the right thing and return me to my men. I still didn’t understand much about galactic politics, but it sounded like Everlasting didn’t actually want a fight against Triumphant.

  “I like it here,” I said, looking up at him from the cold, hard floor. “I think I’ll take a quick nap.”

  That got me a kick in the ribs.

  “That all you got?” I asked, trying unsuccessfully to mask my pain.

  “Not quite.”

  Then the taser was at the side of my neck again.

  Then there was nothing but blackness.

  Chapter 39

  Daxen

  “I never thought I’d end my career being shot down by our own fighters,” I said ruefully. Two dozen Triumphant fighter ships roared into view, taking up positions all around our ship, which was still hovering in place above the Everlasting base.

  “This isn’t over,” growled Travan. Never one to give up, him.

  One of the fighters requested a communications link.

  “We’re being hailed,” I said. Travan nodded gravely. I accepted the comm.

  On the screen in front of us, a man in a familiar Triumphant uniform addressed us.

  “Reporting for training sortie as ordered,” said the man, far more calmly than I’d been expecting. “We’re at your disposal.”

  Wait… what the fuck?

  I glanced back at Travan.

  Who’s brows were thoroughly furrowed.

  Then I noticed something peculiar on the scanners: the Triumphant fighters were surrounding us in what was very clearly a support formation! All of them were facing the way ours faced, straight down at the Everlasting base. Not a single one was targeting us in any way!

  “That old son of a bitch,” Travan said admiringly.

  I looked back at him. He was beaming.

  “You know something I don’t?” I asked. “Are we going back to war with Everlasting, and nobody bothered to tell me about it?”

  “Who authorized this sortie?” Travan asked the other pilot.

  Who gave us a confused look.

  “Um… Vice Admiral Dresden,” he said. “Kinda assumed you’d know that, this being your operation and
all.”

  And just like that, everything clicked into place.

  Dresden had said that he’d do what he could. And while he couldn’t order direct action against Everlasting, he could order a training sortie - led by us. The Triumphant ships weren’t here to shoot anyone. The only thing they were authorized to do was fly in formation with us.

  But nobody in the Everlasting base would know that. To anyone in the base, it would look like we’d just received officially-authorized reinforcements!

  I felt a surge of elation course through my body. With this much firepower - or at least the appearance of having it - we might just have a chance of reclaiming our mate!

  “Pilot,” Travan said, “This here is a wargames exercise. It’s our squadron against the Everlasting forces of that base down there. This is a simulated standoff - which we are going to win. I want every fighter to pick out a target on the ground and lock weapons. Don’t fire, but let me know immediately if anyone tries to enter or exit that base!”

  “Yes sir!”

  “Daxen,” Travan continued, “Get someone from that base on the comms.”

  “My pleasure,” I said.

  Dresden really had come through for us, the wily old fox.

  Now we just had to make it count.

  I didn’t need to hail the Everlasting base. They were already hailing us.

  Up popped an image - but not of some lowly comms officer. The man who stared at us from the main display screen wore the insignia of a senior officer on his uniform. He was much older, with haggard eyes and a chiseled face.

  “To whom am I speaking?” senior officer asked.

  “The man who’s got enough firepower trained on your base to kill you all a hundred times over,” Travan said flatly. “And who might you be?”

  “Commander Dilon,” the Everlasting man said. “I am the top authority in the base you’re about to die attacking. I’ve been informed of your situation, and I’ve reviewed the message you broadcast earlier. I can’t say I blame you for your reaction, soldier. That being said, I won't simply stand by and let you destroy my base. Even threatening us, as you’ve already done, could be interpreted as a direct act of war! If your fighters turn around - NOW - we might be persuaded to forget about this little incident. And if we find your woman, we’ll even return her, as an act of good faith. If you don’t leave… well, you’ve directly threatened the Everlasting military. My duties under such circumstances are crystal clear. If you and your fighters are still here in sixty seconds, I’ll have no choice but to open fire. Is that really what you want?”