"You should give his clothes back. It's an affront to his dignity."
"We'll give him something to wear."
Nikira rose and left the chamber, stopping beside Enyo at the observation window to watch the girl continue to feed the dra'voren.
"Such devotion," he murmured.
"Pathetic, isn't it? It's got to be that field he's generating. It's having some sort of mind altering effect on those near him, which is why we can understand her when she's with him."
"Then we're also in danger from it. Perhaps that's why he's made no attempt escape. He's waiting for us to become like her, his puppets."
She shot him an uneasy look. "Have you noticed any effects? Any sudden urges to worship him?"
"No."
"Find a way to block it."
His brows rose. "Block a psychic field? We can barely detect it. I don't think there's a way to block it."
"Then make sure the crew is rotated regularly, and don't spend more than eight hours at a time in here. If you notice any strange behaviour, report it to me at once. I don't want any of my men ending up like her."
Nikira turned to gaze at the dra'voren again. Ethra had finished feeding him and was curled up beside him, her head on his chest, her arms around him. The contech Nikira had despatched for clothes brought a pair of standard issue grey trousers, and she took them from him. Re-entering the chamber, she approached the girl, who glowered at her like a tigress protecting her cub.
Nikira said, "Please leave the room for a little while, so we can dress him. You can come back afterwards, I promise."
Ethra obeyed with obvious reluctance, and Nikira averted her eyes while two contechs put the trousers on the dra'voren. When he was dressed, the girl took up her vigil beside him again.
Nikira left to make another report, and then went to her cabin for some sleep. For a while she lay awake, staring up at the dappled plastic ceiling as she thought about the girl and her fearless devotion to the dra'voren. What if they were wrong? What if he truly was benevolent? She frowned and berated herself, wondering if the dra'voren was influencing her as he had done to the people who had been with him. Still pondering, she drifted off to sleep.
When she woke, a message on her vidscreen informed her that the ship was approaching base, and would dock within the hour. She went to the bridge and ordered a message sent, informing the leaders of their prize and requesting instructions. The reply came shortly before the ship docked. Retribution was to be quarantined, and a party of high-ranking scientists and technicians would be coming aboard to examine their data and the captive.
Nikira met the group of grey-haired intellectuals clad in white protective suits in the boarding tube. They greeted her with curt nods and hard eyes. They seemed angry, and she wondered why. She took them to the containment room, where Enyo and his crew waited to show the prominent scientists their data. While they pored over the recordings, Nikira went to stand by the observation window and gaze at the dra'voren whose fate would soon be out of her hands.
Ethra was feeding him again, diligently wiping away every drop that spilt down his chin, her expression tender. Nikira glanced at the bio scanner, which showed that the dra'voren's metabolism had risen significantly, almost back to normal. A single tech monitored the screen while the others watched the display of their data. Nikira turned back to the window as Ethra put aside the empty bowl and curled up beside the dra'voren. The chief scientist, Drontar, came to stand beside her.
"Fascinating data, commander."
"Thank you sir."
"But did you stop to think, before you brought him here, the dangers involved?"
"He's unconscious, and if he wakes up, the stunner works."
He shook his head. "That monster could destroy not only our city but our entire world. How do you know he won't find a way to disable the stunner as he did the stasis field generator? It's one thing to risk your ship and crew, but quite another to put us all in danger.
"What you did was irresponsible, and your ship was only allowed to dock because of the foolish curiosity of some of the members of the High Council, who seem to find your assurances of his imprisonment reassuring. I, however, don't share their complacency. You shouldn't have brought him here, it may well be that this is exactly what he wanted, and he may even be shamming his weakness."
"His arm is broken, sir. There's no way he could fake that."
"How do you know that? Are you an expert on the abilities of mortal dra'voren now?"
Nikira's cheeks warmed with a combination of anger and embarrassment. "It's the opinion of my techs, sir."
"And they don't know any more about him than you do."
"Only what our instruments have shown us, which is that he's physically almost identical to us."
Drontar snorted. "Almost being the vital part of that sentence. We've never encountered one like him before. We have no idea what he's capable of. Also, I was told that his slaves have prayed for help. What if another dra'voren followed you here?"
"We stopped them praying and sent another stealth ship to the area where we were at the time, to capture any dra'voren that came."
"Laudable precautions, but how do you know that the slaves have stopped?"
"We've been observing them."
He leant on the glass. "From what I know of the ancient practice, all a person has to do is whisper the words, commander. How can you be sure they haven't continued to do that?"
"I was unaware of that, sir."
"Perhaps you should have consulted your database before making that decision."
Nikira inclined her head. "An oversight on my part. We found no information on any of the other religious references the dra'voren made."
"Which only goes to show how little we know about them, but we do know a little more about prayer, since there are a few cults that still practice it. I hope, for all our sakes, that those people obeyed you. Your record is exemplary, but you do have a tendency to make decisions without consulting a higher authority."
"Most of the time a stealth ship is beyond communications range of base, sir."
He nodded. "I know, but when dealing with something as dangerous as that creature, and making a potentially disastrous decision to bring him here, you should have consulted base as soon as you could."
"I informed the council before we docked, sir. They could have ordered us to leave."
Drontar frowned. "But by then he was within the city, and the council seemed to find your assurances of his helpless state persuasive. None of them considered that he might have tricked you into bringing him here, and neither did you."
"I think that's highly unlikely, sir, and when you've reviewed all the data, I'm sure you'll agree."
"Don't put money on it." Drontar jerked his chin at Ethra. "How long as she been in there?"
"Only a day, sir. It was the only way to keep him alive."
"We're not in the business of keeping dra'voren alive. We'll double check all your findings with our equipment, then all that remains is to find out how many ways there are to kill him. You can remove her now, his vital signs have stabilised, and he won't be allowed to live long enough to require any more feeding."
"Yes, sir."
Drontar returned to his group, which left for the lab to experiment on the samples that had been taken from the dra'voren. Nikira entered the chamber and approached Ethra, who raised her head and frowned.
"Come, Ethra, let's go and see Sarrin."
"No, I'm staying here with Bane."
"Let him sleep for a bit. You can come back later."
Her eyes grew suspicious. "No, you might hurt him."
"We won't, but you need to rest. You haven't slept. Aren't you tired?"
"I'm not leaving him!"
Nikira stepped closer. "Come now, don't be silly."
Ethra wound her arms more tightly around the dra'voren's neck, her expression mutinous. Nikira sighed and motioned to the two guards who stood behind her. One slung his weapon and reached for
Ethra, a wary eye on the dra'voren. She tried to avoid him, but he gripped her arm and tried to tug her away. The girl sank her teeth into his gloved hand, forcing him to let go with a yell.
Nikira frowned. "Stop it, Ethra."
"I won't let you hurt him! You'll have to kill me first!"
"We're not going to hurt him." Only kill him, a small voice whispered in her head.
"I don't believe you!"
Nikira signalled to the soldier again, who entered the fray once more, his expression grim. This time he gripped Ethra's arm with both hands, avoiding her when she tried to bite him, and attempted to drag her away. The girl hung on and gave a piercing wail that made Nikira's ears ring. The crewman pulled harder, making the dra'voren slide sideways as Ethra clung to his neck. Ethra kicked and struggled, slipped on the smooth floor and shouted for the dra'voren to help her.
Enyo appeared in the doorway. "Get out of there commander, he's waking up really fast!"
Nikira cursed and joined the guard in the struggle to pry Ethra away from the dra'voren, but she was unusually strong for such a small girl. She continued to scream at an ear-splitting pitch, and Enyo shouted from the doorway, "Now commander! Get out!"
The dra'voren's brows drew together in a deep frown, and he raised his head. The soldier released Ethra and retreated, his eyes wide, and Nikira was forced to do the same.
"Commander!" Enyo shouted. "Get out so we can stun him!"
Ethra glared at Nikira, and then turned to the dra'voren. "Bane! Wake up! They're going to hurt you!"
His right hand rose to touch her shoulder. "Ethra?"
"Yes. You've got to get out of here! They want to hurt you!"
Nikira backed away, her heart pounding. She wanted to run for the door, but her legs hardly worked at all. Ethra gripped the dra'voren's hand, tears running down her cheeks.
"Bane, save yourself!"
He grimaced, turning his head towards his left arm, which was trapped under him. "I cannot."
"You have to! They're going to kill you!"
He bowed his head with a soft groan, his ebon mane falling over his face. "I cannot. I have no strength."
Nikira could barely make out the soft, husky words, but they twisted her heart. So human, so gentle. Ethra wailed and hugged his neck, trying to prop him up against the wall. The dra'voren groaned again, then raised his head and opened his clouded eyes.
"Go, Ethra, or they will hurt you."
"No!" she wailed. "You can protect me!"
"I cannot. Obey me."
She sobbed and clung to him, making him grimace in pain.
He lifted his hand and touched her face. "Go now."
Nikira found her throat tight as the girl released him and turned to her with despairing, tear filled eyes. The dra'voren sagged against the wall, gasping, and sweat filmed his brow. Ethra jumped up and charged Nikira, her hands curled into claws, but a soldier grabbed her and dragged her, shrieking, from the room. The dra'voren raised a shaking hand to rub his brow, frowning.
"Commander!" Enyo shouted from the doorway.
Nikira held up a hand. "Wait."
The dra'voren turned his head towards her. "You intend to kill me?"
"No. She's mistaken."
"I think not. Ethra is no fool."
"There's a soldier with a weapon aimed at your heart, so don't try anything."
He closed his eyes and whispered, "Help me."
Nikira stared at him, puzzled. As the dra'voren bowed his head, she realised that he had not been speaking to her. Dread washed over her like a blast of ice water, and she sprinted for the door, the guard hot on her heels. The door slid shut behind her, and Enyo activated the stunner. The room shuddered as the muffled boom filled the shredder chamber, and the dra'voren slumped.
"He's summoned another dra'voren," she told Enyo.
"I knew we should have killed him."
Nikira activated a communication screen to the bridge. "Undock, go to stealth mode and leave the city."
She swung to glare through the window at the unconscious dra'voren, who lay next to the wall in an awkward huddle. "Clamp him to the table."
Two contechs entered the chamber, and Nikira watched them lift the dra'voren onto the table, her mind seething. A dra'voren had never attacked a stealth ship, because they could not see it, and she wondered what was going to happen. If another dra'voren entered the shredder chamber to rescue the captive, he was doomed. Perhaps their prisoner would serve as bait, and lure many of his brothers to their destruction. She groaned inwardly as Drontar trotted in with two of his fellow scientists, demanding to know what was going on.
Nikira had more pressing concerns than their questions. The only defence her ship had against dra’voren was the shredder room; if a destroyer attacked Vengeance, they were all doomed. At the very least, she had to get as far away from the city as she could, so the dra’voren who came to his aid would not destroy it, too. For herself and her crew, she held out little hope. Capturing this strange dra’voren had been a mistake, and she now regretted not killing him right away.
****
The tale continues in Demon Lord VI, Son of Chaos.
About the author
T. C. Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and moved to the Seychelles when she was a baby. She spent her formative years exploring the islands – mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination flourished and she developed a keen love of other worlds. The family travelled through Europe and Africa and, after the death of her father, settled in South Africa.
T. C. Southwell has written over forty novels and five screenplays. Her hobbies include motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she earns a living in the IT industry.
All illustrations and cover designs by the author.
Visit the Demon Lord blog: http://www.demon-lord-book.blogspot.com
Acknowledgements
Mike Baum and Janet Longman, former employers, for their support, encouragement, and help. My mother, without whose financial support I could not have dedicated myself to writing for ten years. Isabel Cooke, former agent, whose encouragement and enthusiasm led to many more books being written, including this one. Suzanne Stephan, former agent, who has helped me so much over the past six years, and Vanessa Finaughty, good friend and business partner, for her support, encouragement and editing skills.
Demon Lord V - God Realm Page 22
