Kol shoved his way through his own security forces and reached down, grabbing the male by the throat, and snatched him into the air before slamming him against the wall hard enough to break the sheetrock.
Kol’s Psi was fully engaged, he was almost eight feet tall, his shoulders widened to the point that they’d brushed the sides of the doorway as he’d kicked it in and ducked to rush through it. His horns had elongated, his claws had pushed through the ends of his fingers and become razor sharp, and his jaw had jutted forward while his mouth widened, very clearly displaying all the rows of his shark-like teeth. A snarl rumbled constantly from his chest and the saliva dripped from his mouth as his newly appearing cold, dead pupils pinpointed the male in his hand as a target.
He leaned toward the male now gasping in pain from being slammed into the wall, and gnashed his teeth. “You will tell me where he is, or you will die in his place when I rip out your throat,” Kol snarled, the words barely understandable with his Psi so engaged.
The male’s terrified eyes flicked to a wall displaying all the rulers Diskastes had managed to get photos with to further feed his delusions of grandeur. Kol shook him and dug his claws a little deeper into the male’s throat.
He made gurgling sounds while quickly looking back and forth between Kol and the wall, as he clung desperately to Kol’s wrist while still being held two feet off the floor. Kol realized he was trying to tell him that Diskastes’s escape had something to do with that wall. Kol dropped the male to the floor and stalked toward the wall, glancing quickly over all the photos before getting irritated and beginning to snatch them from the wall, in search of anything that would show him where Diskastes had gone.
Kol thought it strange that photos covered the entire wall, even down at knee level. He reached out with a booted foot and kicked the photos there, causing the glass frames to shatter and the photos to fall to the floor. His kicks also revealed a small cavity built into the wall near the floor.
Kol leaned over and peered into it. He stood and inserted his booted foot into the space and stepped down. The wall shifted and swung open, revealing a small passage. Kol stepped into the passage on heightened alert, his weapon leveled and prepared to fire at anything that came at him. Those not responsible for taking the males they’d defeated into custody followed closely on his heels. They got no more than ten feet before Kol saw a body lying on the floor of the passageway. He approached cautiously, prepared to fire if it was a ruse. He nudged the body and on deciding that it was truly dead, flipped it over.
“It’s Pomrance,” Kol said in a hushed voice.
“Diskastes must have decided he was too much of a liability to keep alive,” Buchanan said.
Kol didn’t respond to Buchanan, instead he snarled in pain, bending his body in on itself as a piercing noise filled his head from his ear piece he wore. “Arrrrgggghh!” he growled, yanking his ear piece out and snarling at it before placing it back into his ear tentatively. There were voices arguing on the other end of his auditory device. And he knew them both. Bart and Quin.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
“Sire,” Vennie said urgently to Zha Quin Tha Tel Mo’ Kok, Commander of Command Warship 1, and Sire to the Cruestaci people.
Quin rumbled in response. He was intently watching Elite Commander Kol of his Elite Special Forces carry out what should have been a simple military operation taking the Consul of Earth Base 28 into custody for various offenses. But the male had run, and his security forces were providing resistance to Kol and those supporting his efforts to remove the Consul from power. Each representative of the governing planets of the Unified Consortium Defense had the option to sit in on the military operation if they so chose, and Zha Quin so chose. Not only was Kol Elite Commander of the Cruestaci forces, Kol was one of his best friends.
Quin had a private conversation with Bart prior to the operation beginning. As the technology Kol was using was of Cruestaci origin, Quin did have the ability to override the Consortium and step into the operation, figuratively of course, and affect the outcome. Bart had extracted a promise from Quin that he would not do that. So, he sat quietly on the bridge of his ship, watching as the operation unfolded from Kol’s point of view, and listening, but unable to speak to Kol.
“Sire!” Vennie tried again.
“Quiet!” Quin snapped.
“Sire, you must see this!” Vennie insisted, sliding out of his chair and squelching himself via his tentacled body toward Zha Quin’s command chair. He held a small tablet in his hand, and held it up for Quin to glance at.
“I said I am not to be interrupted!” Quin said, turning murderous eyes on his Communications Master.
“But, Sire. Missy has sent me notification of a face recognition.”
Quin looked away from the main vid displayed in front of him and at Vennie. “Explain,” he demanded.
Vennie looked to his left and his right, and took note of the warriors around them, some watching the operation take place, others listening to his conversation with Quin. “I can’t, Sire. But, this will explain it for you.” He handed the tablet to Zha Quin who wore a confused look until he looked down at the tablet and took a minute to absorb the information there. Then he was standing and barking orders at everyone, but especially Vennie.
“Block the Consortium’s connection to Elite Commander Kol, now! Right now! I need to speak with Kol privately immediately! Contact Chairman Bartholomew on a private com! Vacate this command deck at once! Only necessary personnel shall remain!”
Warriors ran from the command deck following Quin’s orders at once.
Vennie was busy trying to block the Consortium’s piggy-back link atop their own via Kol’s audio ear piece, while one of Vennie’s communication support people tried to reach out to Bart on a personal com line.
After a few seconds, Quin watched Kol’s point of view vary sharply from the the path up ahead of him to a blurry view of the wall, then the floor beneath him as he heard Kol hiss.
“Blocked, Sire!” Vennie announced.
“Chairman Bartholomew is on a private live com, Sire,” another communications officer advised.
“I want that bastard alive!” Quin snarled in his native Cruestaci language to Bart.
“What the hell is going on, Quin?” Bart answered.
“He’s one of them! Missy is constantly running facial recognition software in the background of all communications. I will find all the males that assaulted my Sirena! Every fucking one, and they will wish they’d died!” Quin snarled.
“I still don’t understand, Quin. What does that have to do with today’s operation?” Bart asked, distracted from the military operation he was in charge of and wondering why it had come to a momentary stop.
“Diskastes! He’s one of them! He was there, he’s on the godsdamned video! I want him here, now! I will accept no less!” Quin thundered.
Bart was one of the last remaining relatives of Quin’s Sirena, Vivian. He had in fact been instrumental in helping her heal and was one of the few that was well aware of the video that Quin referred to. “Let me get this operation completed. Take him into custody, then I’ll petition to have him sent to Cruestace.”
“No! I want him here now! He comes to us first,” Quin demanded, his own Psi fully engaged. “If you get him first, it will be years before he pays for his actions!”
“Will you two stop the damned arguing?” Kol hissed.
Quin and Bart both stopped speaking and turned their attention to Kol who’d turned his com toward his own face. “Stop it! This is not the time. I’ll take the bastard into custody and then you can decide what to do with him. But this is not the time!” he hissed.
“I’ve mistakenly brought the private call with Elite Commander Kol on line with the audio recorder he wears!” the communications officer said to Vennie. “Should I cancel the call?” he asked with a panicked look on his face.
“No!” Vennie, Quin, Bart, and Kol all answered forcefully, even though Kol was whispering.
“Do not end this private com unless you’re willing to release the block you have on the general audio all the rest of the Consortium is attempting to listen to!” Bart shouted. “I need access!”
Quin ignored Bart’s last statement, focused on his need to get one of those who’d harmed Vivi into his own hands. He just continued on with his explanation to Bart, trying to persuade him to see his point of view. “He was in the recording we found when we rescued Vivi. He was one of the males that assaulted her, tortured her,” Quin growled. “He will answer for his actions.”
“I will deliver him,” Kol promised. “Now be quiet!” he snapped. He dropped the vidcom he was holding aimed at his own face to let it once again ride on his shoulder as he proceeded down the darkened passage again.
“Quin, unblock the audio feed. The other representatives are reporting a problem with the audio. They're figuring out they can’t hear the feed properly,” Bart said softly.
“I will speak to my Elite Commander as I wish, and I will not unblock the live audio. They do not need to know of the horrors my Sirena survived!” Quin shouted.
Kol snarled, then took the ear piece out of his ear and shoved it in the trousers of the BDU’s he wore. He didn’t need to fucking hear them arguing at the moment. He needed to concentrate on what he was doing. He needed to locate this bastard and do everything he could to get him back to Zha Quin. This was no longer simply about duty, it had become personal. Vivi was his friend, one of his closest confidantes, and Diskastes had hurt her. Diskastes was going to pay.
Chapter 25
Ba Re’ stood with his back against the wall nearest the only door that granted entrance to Kol’s quarters. His weapon was drawn, and his left hand was flattened against Elisher in an effort to hold him still and quiet beside him. He listened carefully, heard the various weapons discharging, including the loud boom of the ancient firearm Buchanan favored. From time to time they’d hear footsteps running past the door, but as of yet neither had attempted to open it to look out.
Another particularly loud round of weapon firing had Elisher clearly frightened. “What should we do?” Elisher asked nervously.
“We stay here,” Ba Re’ answered, his eyes pinned to the door, weapon still at the ready.
“But isn’t that just allowing them to come to us if it’s their intention. Everyone at this base knows that I’ve been holed up in here, locked away with all the documentation I could find from every department. If anyone has it in for me, they’re coming here!” Elisher said.
Ba Re’ turned his head partially toward Elisher, before having to agree with her. “You’re right. If they plan to come after you, they know exactly where you are.” Ba Re’ reached for the door and quietly unlocked it. When no one rushed the door, he very slowly eased it open. “Stay right there,” he instructed Elisher. Then he stepped into the open doorway and looked up and down the hallway. Nothing but a little smokiness beginning to waft through the opposite end of the hall.
“Come on,” Ba Re’ said. He reached out and grabbed Elisher’s hand, forcing her to follow him. “Stay as close to me as possible. Do not run off on your own, or make any noises that would bring attention to us.”
“Where are we going?” Elisher said, crouching behind Ba Re’ and staying so close to him she wondered if she hindered his progress through the building.
“Docking bay. Outside the building. Rather be there than trapped inside with nowhere to fall back to,” Ba Re’ explained.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
“You do realize that we aren’t sure what exactly we’ll find when we arrive at Base 28 don’t you, Ada Jane?” Jason asked.
They’d been in the transport for some time now and since her initial expressions of appreciation, she hadn’t made any effort to speak to him.
Ada didn’t look over at Jason as he calmly maneuvered his transport toward Base 28 in Texas. They’d been on their way for about two hours already. They should be arriving momentarily, but at the rate Jason drove, which was maddeningly slowly, who could know for sure. “I’m sure what I’ll find is that my mate has been unavoidably detained,” she said.
“Perhaps. But, I just want you to know that no matter what we find, I will always be here for you. You will have me to turn to,” Jason said, affirming his message.
“For what?” Ada Jane asked, finally turning her gaze to him.
“Well, for anything, Ada Jane. If your alien somehow turns out to be not all you expected him to be, it would not actually be the greatest of surprises, now, would it?” he asked, chuckling as though making light of it.
“I’m not sure I understand you, but I am more than sure that I don’t appreciate you implying that Kol is less than honorable. He is nothing if not honorable,” she said, somehow managing to maintain her calm.
“Oh, I’m sure he is. But, unfortunately, it’s been proven time and again that no matter how honorable,” he said, placing sarcastic tones on the word ‘honorable’, “these aliens are, they simply cannot resist the urge to copulate with any human female willing. And even some not willing as you unfortunately have learned.”
Ada Jane’s mouth worked like a fish, gasping for air as she searched for the right words to throw at Jason. She was angry, surprisingly angrier than she’d been since being rescued.
“Don’t misunderstand me, Ada Jane. I’m simply saying it cannot be avoided, they have animalistic tendencies, you know.”
Jason glanced toward Ada Jane and when she continued to look at him like he’d lost his mind rather than speak to him, he continued. “They are more attuned to their baser needs, and they corrupt our women. Sullying them so that even if they eventually figure out they’ve allowed themselves to be taken advantage of, those of us who see things as they truly are would never be able to see past their failings.”
“Those of you?” Ada finally managed to get out.
“Yes. Purists. That’s what we call ourselves. We are dedicated to keeping human blood human. We were not meant to blend our pure DNA with that of the aliens who are occupying our world. They have no right to be here.” Jason glanced toward Ada Jane again to find her watching him, her eyes big, not even attempting to speak at this point. He misread her expression as concern and hurried to assure her he didn’t see her as sullied.
“Oh, I know all the things you’ve endured are not your fault. And I do understand that you feel beholden to your alien for rescuing you. I also share your gratitude to the male. If it weren’t for him, you may have never been brought home. But now that you’re here, it’s time to face facts. And the fact is, he’s sure to have already broken whatever promises he’s made to you. But I will be here to help you pick up the pieces. I’ll be here to support you, and to help guide you through all the healing necessary to embrace the ways of our Purist movement.”
“I want to get out. Now,” Ada Jane said, realizing the doctor she’d believed was her friend, was actually quite warped, and had even joined a movement that believed all aliens were little more than animals.
“We’re almost there,” Jason said. “See that little silver dot up there?” he said, pointing through the windshield of his transport. “That’s Base 28. I’ll escort you in just the moment we land,” he said. “I’ve been trying to ask for permission to land for the last ten minutes but no one has answered. It’s shameful how unprofessional the remote bases are. We’ll just land anyway. They mostly likely won’t even notice.”
“I don’t want you to escort me. I’m going in alone,” Ada Jane snapped.
Jason looked over at Ada Jane. “Oh come now, Ada Jane. Surely you knew what they were like. I understand the hero complex, but now that you’re home, it’s not necessary. I’m here. I’m your own kind, and I’ve decided to take you for my own and give you my name and all the regard that comes with it. You won’t have to worry about how you’re viewed, you’ll be my wife, and as such an envoy and symbol of the Purist movement and an example of how the occupying aliens have abused our women for their own
use. A constant reminder to women everywhere that they are not to be trusted and to stay with their own kind.”
Ada Jane bit her tongue until Jason very, very slowly lowered them to the docking strip at Base 28. Then she unbuckled and moved toward the door, reaching out and being sure it was opened before she spoke. “My mate, my husband, is a good male. His friends are good people — all of them are. The occupying forces here, they’re here so that we aren’t enslaved and shipped off to other planets to live out our lives under another’s rule. Maybe things aren’t perfect, but those that are here now freed our world, and they keep it that way.”
“Maybe at one time, but now… they simply occupy us, keep us from returning our world to the way things used to be. Go on, my dear. I’ll wait here. You’ll see shortly. I’ll be waiting,” Jason said, smiling at her pleasantly.
Ada Jane threw open the door on the transport and stepped out onto the scaffolding that surrounded all docking spaces and served as a walkway from the transports themselves to the ground. She hurried down the metal walkway the scaffolding provided and onto the ground. She was far enough away from the base itself that she’d have at least a seven or eight minute walk to get to the base. She started her walk with her temper flaring, but refused to allow herself to look back at Jason and flip him off. She was really, really tempted, but refused to lower herself. He was demented, truly demented.
Some minutes later as she approached the base, she took note of several teams of men moving about outside with their weapons in hand. Some were firing their weapons, while the opposing group took cover before firing back. She slowed her step as she realized this was not just a training session. She could hear the sounds of the weapons being fired. She could see the dust and the haze as a result of those weapons making contact with whatever or whoever it was they’d been fired at.
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