by KD Jones
“I thought you said they took your mother as well?” StrykER asked.
“She didn’t make it. The captivity was too much for her and she went to the afterlife a few months ago.”
StrykER got images of the male as he was allowed to carry her body out of the compound to bury it. “I am sorry for your loss.”
“I don’t want your pity! I demand your help!” The leader was furious as he glared at StrykER.
“We are here to help,” Commander AshOR reassured him. He hit his comm link. “This is Commander AshOR. We have hostages being held in an outside compound. Find them and get them to safety.” He turned to the leader. “Take us to the underground bunker.”
“How can I trust you?” Leader TarIS asked.
“We’re the only chance you have to free your people.”
The leader paced back and forth. “I need reassurances that my people won’t be hurt.”
“There is going to be fighting. It can’t be helped. Our priority is to shut down OrIN. As long as your people follow orders and keep out of the way, hopefully injuries will be limited,” AshOR told him.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Tell someone you trust to help your people clear this area while you act like you are going to show us more supplies, as you normally would for an inspection.”
TarIS nodded his head and opened the door to exit. They followed him out and watched as he pulled one of his males aside. Then he turned to AshOR and motioned to him to follow him.
StrykER followed, keeping back so that he could observe what was going on around them. He passed a male that was dressed like a civilian, but he carried himself like a warrior. That had StrykER turning to watch the male, and then he found himself following him. The closer he got, the more that the warrior picked up his pace, glancing back at StrykER worriedly.
Images started coming to him of the male trying to get to an escape shuttle. There was urgency. Something was happening. He couldn’t allow this guy to get away. As soon as they rounded the corner of a building, StrykER took off after him. The male caught sight of him coming and began running full out.
StrykER stopped and pulled out his phaser and shot the male’s leg. He cried out in pain as he fell to the ground. He approached with caution and when the male on the ground pulled out a phaser, StrykER shot the male’s hand, making the weapon drop to the ground.
“Don’t move or the next thing I put a hole in will be your head,” StrykER warned him.
“Who are you? What in Kitana are you shooting me for?”
“Why were you running?”
“Hey! You’re the traitor that stole the female. OrIN has a price on your head.”
He was expecting that. “Where is OrIN?”
The male grimaced in pain then snorted. “Like I’d tell you anything, traitor.”
“The way I see it, you’re the traitor. You helped kidnap a female and abused her and are helping plan to overtake the ruling nations. You’ll be lucky if the council allows you to live.”
He recognized the emotion of fear as it flashed over the male’s face. “If fact, many of our warriors are so outraged you would dare harm a female that you may not make it to trial.”
“I didn’t hurt a female!” He yelled out, shaking.
Images appeared in his mind then of detonations being set and a young warrior being tied up next to it. He recognized the young warrior immediately. TaymAR.
“Where are the detonators?”
“What? I don’t know what you mean.”
He hit his comm link. “Commander AshOR, get everyone off the luna now! There are detonators somewhere. I am trying to locate them but I don’t want to take the chance they’ll go off. Evacuate the civilians immediately.”
“Are you sure?” AshOR asked.
“Yes.”
“You have twenty minutes to get back to the shuttle or we leave without you.”
“I understand. Commander, if I don’t make it back, make sure that Prime Leader KadEN treats Melody as my true mate and offers her all that I own.”
There was a pause. “I will, but for her sake, make it to that shuttle. Good luck.”
“You as well.” He ended communications and looked back at the warrior on the ground. “Get up. You’re going to take me to those detonators.”
The male panicked. “No! We need to leave now!”
StrykER grabbed the back of the male’s shirt and yanked him to his feet. The male stumbled a little with his injured leg. “Show me where the detonators are located.”
“I can’t do that! Leader OrIN will kill me!”
“You do it or I’ll kill you!”
“I don’t know where they are!”
StrykER got more images from the male down within in the tunnels and in the armory room. He knew where that was. That was deeper than he wanted to go but he couldn’t let TaymAR die.
“How were you planning to leave?”
“There’s a shuttle that I hid from OrIN, just in case. He was so trying to find his own escape, he didn’t pay attention to a missing shuttle. I’ll take you there.”
“I’ll let you go if you tell me the other passages out of the base.”
“Three other exits. One by OrIN’s quarters, one on the opposite end and one in the middle.”
“Take me to the closest one to the armory.”
“Then you’ll let me go?”
“Sure.”
The male hobbled down a path hidden behind small buildings and homes. They came up to a stonewall. He watched as the male waved his hand in front of a hole that hid a scanner. The rock door slid open to reveal an entrance.
“You enter first.”
“You’re supposed to let me go.”
“Not until I get to the armory.”
“I won’t go.” The male tried to back away. StrykER reached over and hit the male on the head hard enough to knock him unconscious. He would come back for the male if they weren’t blown up before then. He entered the dark entrance using his own memories of the tunnels and what he could piece together from the other male’s memories.
*****
AshOR gave out orders. “Get those females on the shuttles!”
“Sir, we aren’t going to have enough shuttles.”
AshOR had a feeling that was going to happen. He hit his comm link. “This is Commander AshOR, connect me with Commander TylOR.”
“Commander, report.”
“OrIN is gone but they have rigged up detonators. We’re loading up the civilians now but we’re not going to have enough shuttles.”
“Load up and get off that luna. You’ve done everything you can. I won’t have the Colony lose its commander and I won’t lose a brother.”
AshOR turned so that his warriors wouldn’t see how much that meant to him. He and TylOR may have had different mothers and been raised apart, but they were brothers through and through.
“I can’t leave the civilians if I can help it. StrykER is trying to locate the detonators.”
“I think there’s a Katieran transport close by. I’ll see if they can help with the civilians. I want you off that luna.”
“I’ll leave in ten minutes. If I don’t make it back, make sure that you take care of my mate. StrykER has claimed Melody so make sure she is treated as his mate and entitled to the benefits of survivors.”
“Kitana! I do not want to tell those females that their mates are dead. Get off that luna and drag StrykER’s ass out of there!”
“Yes, Commander,” AshOR ended communications. He hoped StrykER found a way to defuse the detonators.
*****
StrykER knew he was getting closer. The door to the armory was left ajar. He pushed it open and frowned. The warships were gone but all the stockpile of weapons he had given them were still there. On a chair close by was TaymAR. His face was badly beaten and hung down over his chest.
He went to the male. “Warrior? Can you hear me?”
TaymAR lifted his head and squinted the
one eye still open at him. “Specialist StrykER? Why are you here? Is the female safe?”
“She is fine. Did OrIN order this to be done to you?”
TaymAR shook his head. “I told my cousins and uncle that I was glad that the female escaped and they beat me, then turned me over to OrIN.”
StrykER couldn’t believe one family member would do that to another. “I came here to stop the detonators. I’m going to untie you. Don’t try to stand right away because you might fall.” He cut the bindings. Then he stood up and went over to where he saw the detonators. “Warrior TaymAR, do you know if there are more detonators?”
“I think I heard OrIN say something about two more detonators in the tunnels. Commander MarIK stuck this in my pocket and asked me to give it to you if you returned.” He pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to StrykER.
He opened it. The sheet contained numbers. The code to the detonator! He quickly entered the code and the green light turned off. They now had the chance to escape this tunnel, but there were other detonators still active in other areas of the tunnel. There wasn’t much time left before all of their routes were destroyed.
“Come on, warrior, we need to get out of here.” He went over to help TaymAR stand up. They went back through the tunnel and up to the entrance. The male he had knocked unconscious was just starting to stir.
He leaned TaymAR against the side of the rock wall and walked over to the half-conscious male. He leaned down and slapped the male on the face. “Wake up!”
“What in Kitana! What did you do to me?”
He dragged the male up by his shirt. “Take us to your shuttle!” He knew they didn’t have time to make it back to the Kiljorn shuttle.
“Kitana.” The male groaned as he hobbled his way through the buildings. StrykER hit his comm link and tried to contact AshOR.
“StrykER, where in Kitana are you?”
“There are multiple detonators throughout the tunnel. Did you get the civilians off?”
“A Katieran transport was close by and sent shuttles. We have them off. I was waiting for your return.”
“Get off the luna now.”
“What about you?”
“I have a Purist warrior here who says he has a shuttle hidden. He’s leading us there now.”
“Can he be trusted?”
“No, but he doesn’t want to die.”
“Don’t die, StrykER, you have a mate waiting on you to return to her.”
StrykER ended the communication. He looked at TaymAR. “How are you doing?”
“Better. Thank you for coming for me.”
“My mate would be devastated if something happened to you. She took a liking to you.”
“You mated with Miss Melody?”
“Yes, is that a problem?”
“No, sir.”
StrykER could see the shuttle hidden in the greenery. The Purist warrior opened the door when they got closer. Then suddenly the ground started to shake, causing them to momentarily lose their footing. “Get in the shuttle now!” He shoved the Purist warrior in unceremoniously.
“Sit down and buckle up!” StrykER took the pilot’s seat. The luna was shaking and the ground underneath the shuttle was starting to cave. He fired up the shuttle and started lifting off. The shuttle rocked as trees began falling around them.
“Now might be the time to start praying to the Goddess to forgive your sins,” StrykER called out.
Chapter 21
“What’s going on?” Melody asked, watching as the alert flashing lights went off.
Ava, who had been eating with her in the meal room shook her head. “I don’t know but I’m going to find out. She stood up and started to move down the corridor.
Melody followed her to the command center. They could hear Commander TylOR yelling out orders. They stopped just inside the room.
TylOR looked at them. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“TylOR, what’s happening?” Ava asked.
“The Purists set up detonators on the luna. AshOR is trying to get as many of the civilians off the surface as possible.”
“What about him? Is he still there?”
“No, his shuttle left the surface a few minutes ago.”
“Thank God...and the Goddess.” Ava breathed a sigh of relief.
Melody felt tingles in her spine. TylOR wouldn’t look at her. “What about StrykER? Is he with AshOR?”
“No, he remained behind to try to defuse the detonators.”
She reached for the wall to help hold her up. TylOR moved around the table and helped her to a chair.
“Do you need a healer?”
She shook her head. “I just need a minute.”
Ava was there holding her hand. “It will be okay.”
TylOR’s comm link was beeping. He listened for a moment, then responded. “Put it on my viewing screen.”
They all watched as images of the luna popped up on the large viewing screen. Melody could see a lot of shuttles and warships as they were flying away. Then something exploded on the luna, making part of it start to cave in on itself. It seemed to happen in slow motion. A few minutes later, a second explosion rocked the luna.
“Oh God.” She stared in horror as half of the luna seemed to break apart
Ava put her hand on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. “We don’t know that he was still on the surface. Just keep hoping for the best.”
She nodded her head but she felt numb all over. She felt like her whole world was turning upside down. What would she do if she lost StrykER?
TylOR hit his comm link. “Lieutenant, has Specialist StrykER reported in yet?”
“Not yet, but there’s interference from the luna’s debris.”
“Contact me as soon as he does.”
“Yes, sir.”
He turned to face her. “As soon as it’s safe, I’ll send warships out to look for him. His ship might have been damaged.”
She nodded her head, still not able to talk.
TylOR looked at Ava with concern. “Perhaps you could walk her back to StrykER’s quarters to rest. I’ll let you know as soon as I have news.”
“No, I’m not going to sit in my quarters doing nothing. I want to be here.”
TylOR was about to argue, but Ava held up her hand. “She needs to be here so that she knows we are doing everything we can to find StrykER. Otherwise, she would just be worrying herself sick.”
TylOR ran his hand over his bald head. “Very well, let me get something for you to eat and drink, though. StrykER would want you to stay strong for him.”
“Okay.” She wasn’t hungry but she was glad that he was allowing her to remain. Ava was right. If she went back to their quarters, she would do nothing but worry.
Warriors came in and out of the room reporting to TylOR about the damages done to the luna, the survivors who were being treated. She lost track of them; her eyes rarely left the viewing screen. At some point, Commander AshOR returned and was greeted by his brother and Ava. They filled him in on StrykER’s absence. She didn’t know how long it had been since she had first arrived at the command center, maybe hours. She lost track of time. She felt just like the damaged luna looked. Only half-alive.
Commander TylOR hit his comm link for the hundredth time. “Report! When? Connect us now!”
Melody felt every hair on her arm stand up. TylOR looked at her as he spoke. “Commander LemAN, do you have something that belongs to me? Is he alive? No, let him get treated first. We’ll come get him.” He ended communications and turned to face Melody.
“StrykER’s alive. He and two other males managed to get a shuttle up off the surface just as the second detonator went off. There was damage to the shuttle and one of the males on board stabbed him in the back. He’s alive, but they have the medics working on him.”
She clutched her heart. Thank God and the Goddess. “I want to see him.”
“I’ll take a shuttle to get him and bring him back,” TylOR told her.
&nb
sp; “No, I want to go with you. I need to see him for myself.”
Ava stepped up to TylOR and put her hand on his forearm. “She needs to. If it was Lizzie injured, wouldn’t you go to Kitana itself, just to get to her?”
“I would rip apart any male that stood in the way and would leave a trail of blood in my wake.”
Melody saw Ava frown as she took in his graphic words. “Um...okay then.”
TylOR nodded in her direction. “Come, I’ll take you with me. AshOR, you have command of my ship. Do your best to keep it in one piece this time.” Despite the stern tone, both brothers hugged each other.
Melody stood up and gave Ava a quick hug before following TylOR out. She felt anxious. She needed to see and touch StrykER to make sure he was all right.
“He’s a strong male. He’ll be fine,” TylOR reassured her with a gentle tone.
“I know, I just love him so much. The thought of him being hurt…or worse…”
“We’ll get you to him.”
*****
StrykER had just gotten the shuttle out of the luna’s atmosphere when the second set of detonators went off. Half the luna appeared to just break off. Debris hit the ship and knocked out sensors. Communications and the operation of the thrusters were messed up.
He saw a transport in the distance and since he was on the opposite side of the luna, he knew it wasn’t a Kiljorn transport. It was Katieran. He might not be able to directly contact them, but he would send a repeating signal that hopefully would get their attention.
“Go to Kitana!”
He barely heard the words whispered behind him before he felt a knife being jabbed into his side. He leaned forward over the control console and another sharp stabbing pain struck him in the back.
“No!” TaymAR yelled. StrykER looked over to the side and watched as the young warrior overtook the Purist warrior. He appreciated the training the young TaymAR had.
