ROMULUS (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 1)

by Marilyn Campbell

  "Chief Romulus. Stop." Falcon's raspy voice halted him before he reached the front door. "Your car was here a little over an hour ago." The tracker climbed out of his sleek speeder.

  "That's impossible. I drove it to work this morning."

  "Would you stand aside for a moment, please? There is a great darkness here." The man with the special abilities placed his hand on the door and closed his eyes. A violent shiver ran through him. "A struggle occurred. Let me go in first, before you disturb anything."

  Rom stood tensed in the open doorway. Falcon moved slowly through the room, randomly stopping to touch objects. When he picked up Aster's note, he called for Romulus to enter.

  "Tell me about this."

  Rom took the paper and recognized Aster's handwriting. "This isn't right. I offered her the car this morning and she refused. She's afraid to drive it herself. What is it, Falcon? What's happened here?" A steel vise closed around Rom's heart.

  "Do you know a man, very thin, almost your height and coloring, with a gem in his tooth?"

  "Victor." Rom's voice turned to ice.

  "He was here and took your female away. He is the one who stole your commuter."

  "Let me see what happened."

  "No. You do not want to do that. It is uncomfortable for me and I am not involved with her."

  "I said show me! That's an order."

  Falcon nodded and positioned himself in front of Rom. "What you will see and hear are the events as they happened and the words spoken aloud. I do not have the ability to discern thoughts of someone not physically present. You will not experience the emotions I am picking up. If you are certain you wish to do this, you may touch my mind."

  Each man placed two fingers on the other's temple and closed their eyes. Like a video with poor sight and sound, the scene replayed in Falcon's head for Romulus.

  "I'll destroy him," Rom growled as he broke contact.

  "He did not say where he was taking her but I can follow their brain waves. I should be able to overtake him with my speeder. I will contact you when she is safe."

  "Like drek you will. I'm going with you." Romulus's powerful grip closed over the other man's forearm.

  "Romulus, you will be in my way. You are so full of anger that it is interfering with my reading. Besides that, you are burning for her. I felt it the second I touched you. I would be distracted by your emotion. Let me go so I can help her."

  "I'll get it under control. I have to go." Romulus was out the door and in the speeder ahead of the tracker.

  They were beyond the city for several minutes before they both realized precisely where Victor had taken Aster. Falcon shifted his speeder and they soared into the air toward the Rehabilitation Clinic.

  * * *

  Victor's timing was perfect. The daytime employees of the Clinic were gone for the day. The skeleton evening crew never came to this end of the building. He had spent enough nights in the laboratory to know he had complete privacy.

  He removed the wrist cuffs and gave Aster a shove. "Lie down on that table, bitch. And don't try anything cute or you'll watch me when I slice that little Cherry into bite-size pieces."

  She obeyed as slowly as she dared. If only he would remove the tape on her mouth, she could try to talk to him.

  Victor snorted loudly at her grunting and expressive eyes. "No, I will not remove the tape. You have nothing to say that I want to hear. I, on the other hand, have several things to say to you." He painfully secured her wrists and ankles in the restraints at the table's four corners.

  "Oh, my. I forgot to take that thing off you before I got you ready. Well, we can fix that."

  Aster shrieked with terror as he brought the blade down to the hollow between her breasts. Dragging the razor-sharp edge down the center of her body, he split the teddy in half, leaving a thin bloody trail behind. With a flick of his wrist, the material fell to her sides, exposing her helpless body to his greedy eyes.

  "My, my, how pretty you look in red. I think a touch more color would make it even better. We want to make sure the chief knows we mean business, now don't we? Let's see. We have this nice spot here by your eye." He touched the point to her cheekbone and fresh blood crisscrossed over the dried blood dripping into her hair. "Then we have an attractive decoration on the right shoulder."

  Aster held her breath as the steel passed across her chest to prick the other side. "There. That's an interesting addition. I think one more line right here should complete the look." The knife sliced across her ribs, more deeply than the other cuts. Aster could feel her taut skin pop open like a zipper as her blood seeped down her sides and under her back.

  This is not happening! It's another nightmare and it's going to end in a minute and I'll wake up in Rom's arms and I won't cry because this isn't real. Lord, tell him where I am, Aster's mind screamed as she tried to block out the pain.

  "You think you're too good for a Julio like me, huh? It didn't need to be like this you know. When I came to your apartment house, you could have been pleasant. You could have offered to help me, simply as a kindness, but, no, you had to be a smart-ass, some kind of ice queen. And all the while sleeping with some creature from outer space like he's normal and I'm not. I don't think he'll be so hot for you after I get through."

  Aster tried to follow him with her eyes as he strolled around the table then stopped near her face.

  "I know. I'll brand you, like the cow you are."

  Aster gagged on the acid that rose in her throat as he carved a deep V in her forehead. The bubbling red liquid gushed into her eyes, burning and blinding her.

  Victor's demonic laughter echoed in Aster's ears and she slammed her eyes shut against his insanity and her own pain. Why am I still conscious? she thought, surprised at her ability to stand the agony wracking her body.

  "Are you praying, bitch? You should be. Pray that that freak boyfriend of yours cares enough about you to give me what I want. Otherwise, what I've done so far is nothing but foreplay for the big finish!" Victor snickered at his metaphor. "I almost forgot about that character flaw of yours—being so very religious. He used to laugh at you. Little Miss Innocent praying in church for salvation every Sunday, especially after she had done that dirty awful thing with him on Saturday nights."

  Aster blinked open her bleary eyes and warily listened to his cruel words. He swaggered up several steps behind a raised counter. Suddenly an enormous light glared down on her. It was so bright it made her squint, even with her eyelids closed.

  "You never had any idea, did you? That was the funniest part. You, so righteous, engaged to one of the crookedest pigs on the Frisco police force."

  Certainly her hearing was being affected by the searing pain coursing through her. The only person she was ever engaged to was Dennis. Victor could not be talking about him.

  "I see I have your full attention again. Your name was familiar to me when I heard it on the yacht but it wasn't until a few days later that I put two and two together.

  "He talked about you a lot, especially when he was high. So beautiful yet so cold. If it wasn't for the fortune you inherited, he would have kissed you off after he had you the first time. He said you lay there like a dead fish. He didn't know you were only turned on by aliens."

  Aster blinked against the verbal assault. This had to be another part of Victor's perverted torture. Dennis had been a good police officer. He had hated drugs. He had loved her, not her money.

  The light burned through her eyelids. What was he talking about now? She could not remember. Was it important? She was so tired. Maybe Victor would let her take a short nap.

  Victor! Her mind snapped to attention again. She recalled the healing light from when she first arrived in Innerworld. It was similar to this one but not so bright. Victor was operating this light. Perhaps if she concentrated very hard on what he was saying, she would stay awake.

  "Are you still with me, bitch?"

  Aster blinked.

  "Are you relaxed yet? No? You will be soo
n enough. Then I'll sample what you never gave easily to good old Dennis. I don't like women who move around too much when I take them.

  "He said you only did it one night a week and even then you were stiff as a board underneath him. I heard you cried sometimes after he came, no matter how easy he tried to go. Do you think you could do that little trick for me? Unlike some men, I don't mind a woman's tears. As you might have guessed, I find inflicting pain somewhat exciting." Victor laughed aloud as though he'd just heard a very funny joke.

  He knew! No one knew exactly how their love-making had been except her and Dennis. Could he have guessed? Could he be telling the truth? Why would Dennis have confided such a private thing to this beast? Unless...

  "We had a good thing going, your Dennis and me. An associate of mine turned me on to him. I bought all the product he could confiscate on his little drug busts. Then he had to get greedy. He wanted double his prices or he'd turn me in, as if everything he had done was part of some undercover operation."

  Aster's confusion mounted. She didn't understand why this man was so angry with her. Had she done something and forgotten what it was? He didn't seem to like Dennis very much either. It was all very strange.

  "Do you know what José and I did to him then, bitch? We tied him up and blindfolded him in his own apartment and while he was on his knees begging for forgiveness, I blew his fucking head off. It made such a mess I had to burn the clothes I was wearing. Splattered brains don't wash off very easily." His voice crept higher and his laugh mutated into a shrill giggle.

  Aster's mind crawled through a field of muck. It was all around her. The man was stark raving mad. She screamed in her silent world. Victor murdered... somebody. Or was it that terrible nightmare again of Cherry's blood gushing uncontrollably?

  Victor watched her gradually stop straining against the clamps. When her face muscles relaxed, he knew it was time. First he would take his payment from her then he would call her lover and let him know just what the ransom would be for the bitch's release.

  As he came down from the platform, he admired his handiwork on Aster's devastated body. Her battered condition exhilarated him. Sweat oozed beneath his moustache as he urgently pulled at the closure of his pants.

  Chapter 15

  The laboratory door slammed against the wall, exploding its glass window on impact. Falcon pounced into the doorway, pointing his weapon directly at Victor.

  Victor hurled himself to the ground, rolling toward the platform as a lightning bolt shot across the room and burst in the spot where he had been standing. Falcon fired again as Victor scrambled up behind the platform.

  It took only a moment for Victor to recover from the shock of being found. "Drop the gun or she's gone!" he shouted menacingly.

  Falcon glanced sideward at the grotesque sight on the operating table then stared into the panel sheltering Victor. He saw the man's hand resting on a control, read the violent emotions cowering there and lowered his paralyzer to the floor with a clatter. Victor stood up and nodded at the meddler.

  "Why don't you come in too, Chief Romulus? I should have guessed you might not need an invitation."

  Romulus stepped cautiously into the room. His eyes took in the bloody mess Victor had made of his love. A growl thundered out of him as he moved toward Victor. Instantly, the intensity of the light increased and at the same moment Rom heard Falcon shout inside his mind.

  Stop, Romulus. Stop the anger. Do not look at her. She is alive, but we cannot help her until you regain your self-control.

  When Victor saw Romulus halt in his tracks, he lowered the light to a less harmful level.

  Romulus hammered down his rage and kept his eyes riveted on Victor.

  Victor leaned nonchalantly against the control panel. "You might have noticed I've had some fun with her before you got here," he taunted.

  Fight it, Romulus. Use your control.

  "I didn't ruin her, but I may have spoiled her for lesser men... or aliens." Realizing that he could not provoke Romulus further, Victor changed his tack. "I'm sure you're familiar with that light over her head. My hand is on the control dial and is going to stay there while we have a very short conversation. Right now, she's just very relaxed, slipping layer by layer into deeper states of unconsciousness. She can be brought out of that eventually without any permanent damage.

  "But if my hand should slip and accidentally knock this dial to full power, like it did a moment ago, I'm afraid the sexy lady's brain gets fried. Poof! She's a vegetable with no memory. Personally, I would keep her that way. As long as she's a good fuck, who needs her brain? Then again, you could have her reprogrammed, like they did my friend, and just fill in the blanks any way you like."

  Rom lowered his eyes for a moment. Falcon, does he know how to do that?

  He believes he can. It is a possibility.

  Victor instinctively sensed something was going on and raised the light to its full beam once again.

  "Hold it!" Romulus clenched and unclenched his fists. "Get to the point. What do you want?"

  Victor turned the beam down again. "It's simple really, at least for you. I want out of this stinkin' place and back to the United States. I don't know how it's done but I know you're the man who can make it happen. I also know all about your foolish codes of honesty and nonviolence. Give me your promise that you will send me back, alive and in one piece, tonight, and I'll walk away from this control panel."

  Rom was momentarily stunned by Victor's extraordinary demand. "If you know so much about us, then you also know we cannot allow anyone to return to Outerworld once they learn of our existence. We have unlimited resources. There must be something else that would satisfy you."

  The light flared again.

  "No!" Rom shouted and the intensity of the light softened. "This isn't something I can do on my own. There are details that have to be worked out."

  Victor recognized the stall and flipped the dial again.

  "All right! Whatever you want. I'll figure out a way. Now shut that damn thing off and get down here."

  "Sorry, Chief, but I'd like to hear you say exactly what it is you're agreeing to before I move one inch."

  Rom's heart pounded in his chest as he ground out the words. "If you will leave Aster alone and come down here, I promise to send you back to the United States, tonight, alive and in one piece. I believe that was your precise request."

  Victor looked disgustingly triumphant as he turned off the overhead light, stepped down and strode across the room.

  At the last possible second Rom lurched forward. Powered by his unleashed fury, his fist smashed into Victor's face.

  Victor's shocked expression registered the deception as he stumbled backward. Blood streaming from his broken nose, he bent forward and charged Rom. In one continuous move, Rom connected his bent knee with Victor's chin, followed instantly by a powerful kick to his groin.

  Victor staggered but didn't fall. In desperation, he unsheathed his knife from inside his boot and swiped at the air in front of Rom's chest.

  The appearance of the deadly weapon in Victor's blood-encrusted hand raised Romulus's temperature to the boiling point. With an ear-splitting cry, he attacked and grappled Victor to the floor, prepared to kill or to be killed.

  Falcon struggled to shut out the violent emotions bombarding him. Finally regaining control, he retrieved his paralyzer and shot Victor whose body collapsed on top of Romulus.

  Flinging Victor aside as if he were weightless, Rom turned on Falcon with all his pent-up anger. "Why did you do that?" he shouted.

  "Because you would have killed him and I could not let you face the consequences of that action. He is only stunned. You will have to decide what to do with him rather quickly." Falcon glanced toward Aster. "I will call for a medical team."

  As Falcon walked away, Rom went to Aster's side. He stared at her blood-streaked beautiful face. He had to know what she had been through. His fingers moved to her temple.

  Warden Zenton and two g
uards accompanied Falcon when he returned and the guards hauled Victor's body away.

  Falcon placed a comforting hand on Rom's shoulder. I know.

  "I told her I would protect her from him." Romulus spoke quietly as he pulled himself together. "Reading about such evil existing outside our world was one thing. Having it here, touching us... Drek, Falcon, what he did to her. I can't stop this ache in my gut. I know it's against everything I ever believed but I could have strangled him with my bare hands even before I saw everything he'd done. Now... maybe if I could take that knife of his and cut out his heart I could repair the hole in my own. What am I going to do?"

  Falcon did not need to be told how Romulus felt. His anguish made itself known to the sensitive man. "I can help you. I have some arrangements to make and then I will wait for you to come with me when you are ready."

  Romulus removed the restraints and tape from Aster's mouth then covered her abused body with a sheet. Holding her lifeless hand in his, he found no pulse. He had never felt so helpless in his life. The sickness inside him threatened to drown out the last remnants of reasonable thought.

  When Doctor Xerpa arrived, she recognized the chief standing next to the patient but he did not respond to her greeting. Gently, she drew down the sheet to examine her patient. An unprofessional gasp escaped her and she cringed at the malicious destruction before her. She had been told something awful had occurred but no words could have prepared her for this. As a woman, she was nauseated. As a doctor, she was repulsed but challenged.

  Romulus did not move a muscle as Doctor Xerpa went to the control panel then returned to her patient. "The light was on a low-medium setting and, as such, she should sustain no permanent brain damage, but she is in a deep coma. We will run some tests and repair her body. My prescription for you is a long, brisk walk—away from here. You look wretched. She won't be conscious for at least another twelve hours."

  Rom's lungs burned in his chest as they filled with air again. He firmly clasped the doctor's hand then asked Warden Zenton to take that walk with him as he quickly presented his suggestion for handling Victor.