“You’ve never been in imprisoned before?”
“Thankfully, no. I came close a couple of times back in my college days, but I always managed to slip through the net when the civil patrol showed up.”
“Your college must have been a lot more fun that the military academy was.”
“That wouldn’t be hard. Why did you go there? I’ve heard it’s hell.”
“My father—your confessions.”
“Like I said—boring. I spent more time in college than out of it. I’ve got a dozen degrees in the sciences—which you already know—and not much else. I’ve had a grand total of six lovers and none of the relationships lasted more than a handful of years. I’d look up from the microscope one day and they’d be gone. Not even a note to say ‘kiss my ass!’”
Tariq chuckled. “It can’t have been that bad!”
Koryn shrugged. “It wasn’t really. I’ve been content enough. I just haven’t had many highlights and the most excitement has been almost discovering something.”
“You’re one of the top scientists in your field,” Tariq pointed out.
“If some the old bastards would die, I’d be at the top,” he said jokingly, then swallowed a little sickly. “They take samples every year. The top people don’t have a choice. They’ll bring me back.”
Tariq was relieved that he didn’t have to think of a response. The guard returned and this time he had Aeon with him. Tariq surged toward the door. “Give me a few minutes with him.”
The guard frowned. “Tell me where to find my tip and you can have as much time as you want.”
Tariq studied the man a moment. “There’s a lion at the gates of my father’s old estate. You’ll find another box like the one you have in its throat.”
Nodding, the guard hurried off. Tariq met Aeon’s gaze. “I’ve got a better offer for you than the one I made before, but it’ll also be harder. You interested?”
Aeon studied him for a moment and finally nodded.
“Mylor took my woman. I spoke to Lady Seana about getting her out of there, but I don’t trust her to do it for me or that she’d take care of Emerald even if she did. I know you can get in there. No one ever pays attention to the androids. Get her out for me and take her to the old woman named Cleme in Old Town and I’ll tell you where to find a box of gold.”
Aeon studied him for a long moment. “She won’t be safe there,” he said finally. “Lord Mylor considers her a great prize. He’ll take the city apart searching for her.”
Tariq stared at him in consternation for several moments and glanced at Koryn. Koryn got up and joined them.
“Do you think you could get her on the next transport back to Earth?”
Aeon looked startled. “Perhaps.”
“I hired a crew to take Emerald to one of the human colonies. They have the coordinates. If you can get her back to Earth, the six of you can take her to the colony and …. No one will know you’re androids. You can take a woman for yourself if you can find one and live among the humans as a free man,” Tariq said urgently.
For the first time Aeon’s face showed real emotion—disbelief. “We would still be what we are. We can’t change that.”
“No, but you don’t need to to live as men among men, to have the life of a man.”
Still, Aeon hesitated. “Mylor destroyed your child. She is weak. It will be difficult to move her.”
Tariq had feared as much and it was still a crushing blow to hear it. He couldn’t catch his breath for several moments, let alone speak.
“Get her out of there!” Koryn growled. “Just get her on the transport.”
Aeon bowed. “I will do my best. What android will I seek?”
“Terril,” Tariq managed. “Find Terril.”
Chapter Sixteen
Tariq exploded with rage when Aeon had left. He was still cursing and pacing the cell and slamming his fists into the walls when Koryn finished throwing up. Weaving a path to the bed, Koryn sprawled out weakly on it and watched Tariq pace back and forth until he was dizzy, his own anger and frustration mounting as the nausea passed.
He couldn’t think of anything to say—because there was nothing to be said. They couldn’t kill the bastard. He would’ve liked the chance to get his hands on him as much as Tariq did but it wasn’t going to happen and both of them knew it.
The baby was gone. They couldn’t do anything about that either.
He pushed it from his mind. It only frustrated him and angered him more and he didn’t know any other way to deal with it. He felt like pacing and cursing and pounding the walls. He felt like he was angry enough to tear the wall down, but it hadn’t worked for Tariq yet and he doubted it would for him either.
It made him sicker wondering if they would ever know if Aeon succeeded in rescuing her.
He wanted to know that at least before he died.
“He’ll get her out,” he said finally, more to reassure himself than Tariq.
Tariq paused, panting for breath, and turned to stare at him. After a moment, he moved to his cot and dropped down on the edge, holding his head in his hands. “I told her I’d protect her.”
“You tried.”
“That isn’t good enough!” Tariq bellowed. “I should’ve done something as soon as you suggested it. I should’ve thought of it myself. She would’ve been safe then, but I was too fucking selfish. I couldn’t give her up.”
Koryn sat up and held his own throbbing head. “I couldn’t either. That’s why I offered to take her.”
Tariq tilted his head up to look at Koryn and swallowed sickly. “I knew he’d abort the baby. I kept telling myself he wouldn’t notice, that I’d get her out somehow before he found out, but he knew I was breeding her. He probably had her checked as soon as he got her onboard.”
“There was nothing you could do about it! I’d love to blame you for it, but I got the shit kicked out of me for trying to protect her and you see how fucking effective that was!”
“I could’ve not bred her.”
“Hindsight is always perfect. I didn’t think about it either. All I could think about was that as soon as you did I could have her. You think I don’t feel like shit about it, too?”
Exhausted from their anger and frustration, heartsick, they both lay back on their cots after a while, staring up at the ceiling.
“Do you think there’s any chance one of them might get her out before they execute us?” Koryn asked after a while. “I’d just like to know.”
“I don’t know,” Tariq responded. “Aeon knew a lot more than I’d expected. Of course servants always talk. If she’s … weak from it, though, it might make it easier for him to locate her.” He was silent for several minutes. “Seana will let us know. If she succeeds, she’ll want credit and if she doesn’t she’ll complain that she tried and she was gone.”
“You think?” Koryn asked hopefully.
“If she holds true to form and I expect she will.”
Koryn had almost managed to drift off to sleep when he heard a sound just outside their cell. He frowned, listening, and finally turned his head toward the door when he realized the sound was coming from that direction. He discovered when he did, that Tariq was already halfway across the room. Moving against the wall like a shadow, he flattened his back against the wall next to the door.
“Lord Tariq?” said a male voice barely above a whisper.
Tariq hesitated.
The door opened. “Lady Sean ….”
Tariq had already jumped the man and had him in a headlock, cutting him off.
“Lady Seana sent me,” the man grunted.
Tariq held him a moment more and released him.
Shrugging his shoulders, the man turned toward the door again. “Hurry.”
Koryn bounded off his bunk and joined Tariq at the door. Wondering if they walking into some kind of trap, he followed Tariq and the unknown man stealthily down the corridor. There was a guard at the end sprawled face down on the floor. They stepped ove
r the dead man and kept going. After the second turn, Koryn realized they weren’t going out the way he’d come in and his uneasiness increased, particularly when they reached an old stair and descended. They went down four flights and ended up in a tunnel-like corridor that was pitch black. Even with his acute vision, it was all he could do to see where he was going.
“What is this place?” Tariq asked after a few minutes.
“Sewer now.”
No wonder it smelled so fragrant, Koryn thought ruefully!
It seemed to him that they followed it for miles, wading knee deep in water part of the time and sometimes through waist high water. After what seemed several hours, Koryn noticed a lighter patch in front of them. He discovered when they finally reached it that it was the opening where the sewer water spilled down into the canyon below the prison.
They paused in the opening. Tariq leaned out far enough to look down and then searched the walls on either side.
“They’re coming,” the stranger said.
“Who’s coming?” Tariq asked sharply after casting a quick look behind them.
“The crew flying Lady Seana’s ship.”
Koryn gripped the man’s arm. “Did she get Emerald? The breeder?”
The man shook his head.
Koryn felt his heart sink.
“I don’t know. This was my part of the mission.”
Koryn had begun to wonder if the damned ship was coming after all when he saw movement along the canyon. His heart slammed into his chest wall, doubt warring with hope while he tried to decide whether it was the ship they were waiting for or a patrol. Tariq stepped back and plastered himself against the wall as the ship came even with them. It stopped, hovering, and then began to move sideways toward them. When it was little more than a couple of yards away, an opening appeared in the side and the gangplank extended toward them like a tongue.
The man who’d led them, leapt toward the gangplank, landed solidly and disappeared inside. Tariq turned to him. “You next. Don’t look down.”
“You had to fucking say that, didn’t you?” Koryn snarled when he’d looked down and felt his belly take flight. Shaking the image from his mind, he gauged the distance and jumped. He hadn’t taken the movement of the gangplank into consideration. He lost his balance and went down on one knee, nearly pitching over the side. Scrambling up again, he bounded toward the opening just as Tariq landed behind him. Tariq bowled him over as he raced in behind him.
The man who’d led them bowed when they picked themselves up and Koryn realized for the first time that he was an android. “Lady Seana sends her love and wishes you a safe journey and a happy life.”
“Emerald?” Tariq asked sharply.
The android lifted his arm and gestured toward the rear of the ship. Koryn started to follow him when he turned and raced down the corridor and then stopped. He turned to look at the android. “Where are we going?”
The android shrugged. “We await further instruction.”
“I’d say the first order of business would be to get the hell out of here,” Koryn said sharply. “Tariq can give you the coordinates when he’s checked on Emerald.”
The android frowned. “Any direction?” he asked doubtfully.
“Milky Way galaxy. For now, just use the coordinates to reach Earth. That’s the general direction anyway.”
* * * *
Tariq paused outside the door, suddenly uncertain. After a moment, he pushed inside and looked around, half fearful that he would discover Emerald wasn’t there after all. He saw almost immediately that she lying on the bed in the middle of the room, however.
A knot swelled in his throat as he stared at her, trying to tell himself that it was enough to know for certain that she was with them and finally safe. He didn’t want to wake her.
Besides, he could smell the stench from the sewers on himself.
After a long moment, he turned and moved quietly toward the door again. He’d almost reached it when she called out to him. He stopped and turned back, discovering she’d pushed herself up on the bed to look at him.
His gaze flickered over her hungrily for a split second before it pierced his mind that she was clothed in the nearly transparent sheathe of a sex slave—in the colors of the house of Mylor. A nauseating collection of thoughts and emotions collided inside him all at the same time.
“Tariq?”
Shrugging off the disorienting, conflicting emotions at the fear he heard in her voice, Tariq returned to the bed, kneeling beside it. “How’s my baby?” he asked gruffly.
She struggled across the bed toward him and threw her arms around his neck. “I missed you so much! I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
Tariq felt a knot swell in his throat. He hadn’t thought he would see her again either. “I stink like hell, baby. I took a stroll in the sewers and at that it wasn’t much worse than that stinking prison cell.” He wrapped his arms around her, though, hugging her tightly to his chest because he couldn’t dismiss the need to assure himself he wasn’t dreaming.
“How did you get out? How did I get here? Where are we?”
He chuckled, disentangling himself and leaning away to cup her face in his hands. “We’re home.”
She blinked at him in confusion. “Home?”
He searched her face. “Yes. Home is where ever you are. Now let me get cleaned up so I can cuddle you properly.”
She sat back when he released her. “I could bathe you,” she offered.
“Not this time, baby. Rest.”
Getting to his feet, he headed into the small bath that adjoined the master cabin—or in the case of this particular ship, the mistress’ cabin. When he’d stripped and dropped his uniform in the cleaning unit, he took a quick, hot shower, scrubbing himself ruthlessly to get rid of the stench. He was too impatient to stand still for a full drying cycle and stepped out of it while he was still damp, striding back into the bedroom and climbing into bed with Emerald. She scooted toward him even as he settled, pressing tightly against him as he curled his arms around her.
“Koryn?” she asked after a few minutes.
“He was right behind me. He’s safe.”
She sighed, nuzzling her face against his chest. “How did you manage to get away?”
He uttered a derisive snort. “I bribed and begged every son-of-a-bitch I’ve ever known. Seana finally came through for us.”
Emerald stiffened and Tariq tensed. After a moment, she relaxed again and went back to nuzzling his chest and then kissing him.
He groaned. “Don’t baby. You can’t and I want to so bad I’m dying here already.”
She tensed again. “You know I lost the baby.”
The rage he’d felt instantly rose in him again. He fought a round with it and finally subdued it. “You’re safe. That’s the important thing.”
She began crying. “I’m so sorry, Tariq. I didn’t know what they were giving me.”
“Let’s don’t talk about it. I wanted to kill the bastard when I heard about it, but all I want right now is to get you some place safe where I won’t have to worry about that happening to you ever again.”
She sniffed her tears back, pressing tightly against him. “Where are we going?”
“Centaurian, I hope.”
Emerald was silent for several moments. “I was going to take my daughter there. It was the first colony outside our own system and the most well established. It’s supposed to be beautiful.”
“Hopefully we’ll find out. I did the best I could to get all the coordinates, but the data was damaged and encrypted besides,” Tariq said drowsily. “Don’t be pissed off with me if I nod off. I haven’t slept worth a shit since they took you.”
* * * *
As exhausted as Koryn was once the adrenaline of escaping left him and relief had swamped him to discover that Emerald was safe, he only managed to sleep fitfully. His need just to see her with his own eyes and feel absolute certainty nearly overrode his discomfort at interrupting
Tariq more than once. He thought the certainty that she would be more interested in seeing that Tariq was alright played a part in his reluctance to interrupt their reunion. He knew how she felt and he still didn’t want to actually face it, to see the proof that would remove the small hope he nursed that she’d cared enough to be worried about him, too.
Taking a smaller cabin, he bathed the stench of prison off and the smells from the sewer that he didn’t particularly want to identify and lay down on the bed, struggling to absorb the fact that he wasn’t going to die after all—probably wasn’t. At least, he thought wryly, he didn’t have to face the hideous execution that had awaited him. He might still be incinerated if the authorities managed to catch up with them, but that didn’t seem nearly as bad as being marched into a room to stand waiting for the furnace blast that would melt his skin from his body and then his muscles until even his bones were ash. Of course, from what he understood, nobody ever lasted much more than five minutes, but he’d had minor burns. He wasn’t unfamiliar with pain. He knew how long five minutes felt when the pain was excruciating.
Shuddering, he pushed the thoughts from his mind and turned it to trying to imagine what life was going to be like if they did make it to this new world and it occurred to him that more had changed than he’d realized—everything in point of fact. Neither he nor Tariq had a position on this new world. They would have to make one for themselves. It was almost as scary a thought as it was … exciting, he decided.
He wasn’t sure of how it was going to affect his arrangement with Tariq in regards to Emerald, though, and that disturbed him. Technically, she wasn’t a slave anymore since she was beyond the reach of the Anunnaki nation. She would have the same freedom and rights that she’d had before among her people—although he didn’t have a clue of what those were. No one had ever spent much time considering that the humans might develop their own way of looking at things, their own rules of civilization, but Emerald had certainly made it abundantly clear that it was entirely different to them.
When he woke to the sound of Tariq’s familiar tread in the corridor outside his cabin, he got up and went to collect his uniform from the cleaning unit where he’d left it the night before. It smelled better and it didn’t look filthy, but it offended him to have to put it on anyway, partly because it brought his prison stay to the forefront of his mind and partly because it hadn’t faired particularly well. It was the next thing to rags and he’d never had to wear anything that looked so bad, let alone be seen in it.
Deep Penetration; Alien Breeders I Page 26
