by Lisa Lace
Bethany risked another glance at her captors. She didn’t see anything electronic. The room seemed devoid of anything that could help her. She took a deep breath, holding in her fear. She just needed to get the message out. Only once she’d done that could she could give in to fear.
She tentatively called out to them. “Hello?”
The men ignored her.
“Please… I need something to eat. I have a medical condition. If I don’t eat, I could lapse into a coma and die.”
That got their attention.
“No way Klowix would have chosen a defective one.”
“He’s not that far gone.”
“What if he has? This is the only one we’ve got.”
“Get up!” One of them finally yanked Bethany to her feet. “Come on. You’d better not be lying to us.”
Though it turned her stomach, Bethany leaned on him for support, as though she was too weak to walk by herself. He brought her through to a tiny, dirty kitchen. Wherever they were, the place obviously hadn’t been used for years.
He shoved her toward the fridge, and Bethany stumbled, clutching the beacon in her hand. She put her hand against the fridge, as though holding herself up, pressing the beacon against the cold metal. It warmed at once, and Bethany let it fall to the floor. It had done its job. Klowix was on his way.
“You want food or not?”
Bethany opened the fridge and grabbed the first thing her hands touched – some kind of fruit that must be unique to Telion, because she’d never seen it before. She sank down at the table and ate mechanically, waiting. How long would it take Klowix to get to her?
She should stay in this room, if she could. The beacon would have auto-destructed after sending out the signal, a safety measure against it being discovered, and it would have sent this room as her exact location. Klowix would come directly here, and she wanted to be waiting for him.
“I’m so tired.” She let her head sink onto her arms on the table.
Her captor grunted in disgust and kicked a chair out of the way on his way out, muttering about how weak humans were. Bethany kept her breathing deep and even, in case one of them came back, counting the breaths. When Klowix got the message, he wouldn’t wait. He’d take the fastest hover and come at once. How far away was he?
“Ha! All right, girl, enough sleeping, let’s get this show on the road.”
Bethany’s insides went cold as someone dragged her up. They must have gotten the live feed working. Now, it was time to kill her. She was dragged into a plain room in front of a battered old camera. One of the men had a knife in his hand.
Bethany was terrified. What if she’d sent the signal too late? What if Klowix didn’t arrive in time?
“Wait, what’s that?”
The knife moved to hang loosely at the man’s side as he listened. Bethany listened, too. She could hear the faint zooming sound of a hover approaching at top speed. Despite everything, she smiled.
She looked up into the eyes of the men surrounding her. “You should run.”
Suddenly, the world exploded.
Klowix burst into the room like a summer storm. His eyes were blazing. He had a laser in each hand – not one of the little defensive lasers he’d left at the house, but powerful, military-grade lasers, which were glowing a menacing red as they prepared to fire.
Bethany was thrown aside as her captors made defensive moves. She knew Klowix well enough by now to stay down and out of harm’s way.
He was magnificent. With one shot, he blew a man’s head off entirely. Even as another tried to tackle him, Klowix twisted and kicked him in the stomach before dispatching him with a quick shot to the chest. Another ran at him, and Klowix shot him at such close range that his body turned to mist with the heat of the laser.
Those who remained switched their tactics from attack to escape, but Klowix cut them down just as quickly. He was a god, as glorious as he was terrifying. His face was hard and set, and showed not an ounce of mercy. The men fell like broken toys, gone before they knew what was happening.
By the look on Klowix’s face, Bethany thought they should be glad their deaths were quick. She thought she’d seen him angry before, but she realized now that she never truly had. This was more than anger; this was lethal rage flowing smoothly from his twisting body. The thugs who had kidnapped her were paying the ultimate price for their actions.
It had only been moments, and the whole thing was over. Bethany found that she was squashed into a corner, trembling.
“Come.” Klowix held out a hand, his eyes flickering around the room, looking for any more attackers. Bethany knew there weren’t any more, but she couldn’t seem to get her mouth to work to tell him that. “Come!” He gestured impatiently, but Bethany couldn’t move.
Klowix crossed the room swiftly and crouched down in front of her. “Are you badly hurt?”
Bethany managed to shake her head. That was all he needed. Klowix picked her up in one smooth motion and carried her away through the hole he’d blown in the wall. The cuts on Bethany’s back pulled painfully, but in seconds, Klowix had her lying on the back seat of the hover.
Bethany could hear the screeching sound of emergency hovers approaching and chuckled under her breath. Of course, Klowix had the situation resolved before they even arrived. He must have flown at light speed to get to her so fast – a good thing he did, too.
Klowix glanced back at her every few seconds, checking if she was ok. Bethany wished he wouldn’t. The hover was going so fast that she feared they’d crash if he was distracted. Her voice still didn’t seem to be working. Klowix was talking to someone on the coms, ordering a doctor to be waiting.
The hover came to a smooth stop and arms reached for Bethany. She screamed and scooted back against the opposite side of the hover.
“Bethany, it’s ok, they’re doctors, let them look at you.”
Klowix reached a hand in for her, and she slowly took it, letting him help her out. They weren’t home like she expected – of course they weren’t. Their home had been blown up by maniacs.
She finally found her voice. “Are the others ok? Beoli, Snia, Lizzy…?”
“They’re all fine. You will be soon as well. Just rest now.”
Bethany’s eyes didn’t seem to want to close, so she stared upwards as she was loaded onto a stretcher and quickly carried to an unfamiliar bed. She didn’t recognize Dr. Yie. Bethany wondered who the new doctors were and where Dr. Yie was. The doctors poked and prodded her as Bethany tried to curl up into a ball. She just wanted to sleep. She gasped in pain as they gently pulled her dress off her back and it got caught in the dried blood.
Klowix swore and Bethany heard a piece of furniture go crunch.
“Just lie still, Bethany. We’ll have this fixed in a blink.” An unfamiliar female doctor leaned over her, holding a metal object in her hands. The doctor held it over her back and pressed a button, passing it over Bethany’s wounds. Her back felt very hot for a moment, and another moment later, the pain had gone.
“There you go.”
Hands helped her lie down on her back, and Bethany watched in astonishment as they passed the implement over every scrape she had. They all healed instantly.
They swiftly replaced it with another metal contraption, this one round and glowing. It hovered over Bethany and sent a jet of orange light at her forehead. She flinched, but all she felt was a little shock, then the pounding in her head was gone.
The doctors worked on her like this for about fifteen minutes, and by the end of it, Bethany felt filthy and in need of a shower. The healing devices hadn’t gotten rid of the dried blood and grime, and she was tired, but otherwise perfectly fine.
The female doctor spoke up. “She needs rest. She’s been through a lot. I suggest you let us put her to sleep. We can get her cleaned up and back to familiar surroundings, and she can get the rest she needs without fear.”
Klowix approved. “Do whatever you think is best for her health.”
&nbs
p; “Klowix.” Bethany didn’t want to be put to sleep. What if she closed her eyes again and more attackers came out of the darkness?
He came over and stood next to her bed. “You will be fine. I promise you, Bethany, such a breach in security will never happen again. It never should have happened. I underestimated them, and you paid the price. Now, they will pay the price.”
The look on his face was positively dangerous, and Bethany wondered just how many protesters he was going to kill while she was asleep.
She looked up at him. “Stay with me?”
Klowix looked like he was going to protest – clearly, he wanted to vent his rage on someone – but one of the doctors gave him a stern look, as though warning him not to upset her. Klowix nodded. “I will do as you ask.”
Only then did Bethany let the doctors approach her with a mask to put over her face. Within a few breaths, Bethany felt herself drifting off.
Bethany awoke slowly. She was so warm and so comfortable, she didn’t want to open her eyes. A sudden sound made her jerk fully awake, as fear caught up with her. Had Klowix dealt with all the people behind this? Were there more, waiting in the shadows for him to be gone, to get another chance at her?
She looked around, but the room was dark, obviously nighttime. She couldn’t see Klowix anywhere. Panic seared her throat as Bethany saw something moving on the other side of the room. The form came towards her swiftly, surely, as though it knew they were alone. Perhaps the guards Klowix would have placed around her were dead.
Bethany’s eyes were drawn to the shadow figure’s hands. It was holding something. She tried to move, to run, but her body didn’t obey her commands. She imagined she saw the shape of a laser, lifting up to shoot her, to finally end her life.
She screamed.
Chapter Thirteen
Bethany’s screams echoed through the room, and someone else screamed too. Lights suddenly came on, and Bethany saw a tray tumbling out of Snia’s hands. Lizzy burst in the door.
“What’s going on? Is everything all right?”
Snia put a hand to her heart. “It’s fine, Bethany just scared me, that’s all.”
Bethany tried to get her panicked breathing under control. There wasn’t anyone coming to attack her. It was just Snia.
Snia glanced down at the tray of what looked like breakfast, but was now face down on the floor. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were awake.”
“It’s – it’s ok. I just got a fright.”
Lizzy leaned down to clean up the mess. “It’s all right. How are you feeling?”
“Ok, I think. Just shaken.”
“Of course you are. The doctors say you need care and rest. I’ll go and get some more food.”
Bethany moved so that she was sitting up against the headboard. “How long have I been asleep?”
Lizzy looked at the clock. “About a day. The doctors will be relieved. I think they worried Klowix would strangle them if you didn’t wake up soon.”
Bethany grinned. That sounded like Klowix. “Where is he?”
“He’s at work. As you can imagine, you wouldn’t want to be one of the protesters right now. He’s not exactly happy with them.”
“It wasn’t all of them. I mean, there were the violent ones that broke in here and kidnapped me, but there are also some that are just expressing their opinion without hurting anyone.”
“And do you think Klowix is going to see that distinction?”
Bethany remembered him bursting in and raining death on everyone who had dared touch her. “I guess not. Still, won’t he get into trouble?”
“He’s the commander of the army, he can do what he wants.”
Bethany tried to hide her disappointment that Klowix wasn’t there.
Lizzy reassured her. “He’ll be back in no time. He’ll be mad he wasn’t here when you woke up. You should have heard him trying to get an exact answer out of the doctors for when you would wake. They didn’t want to tell him that they couldn’t know for sure. You know how he gets.”
Snia came back with a tray bearing a modest breakfast. Bethany dug in at once, but soon found that she was full, and let Snia and Lizzy take the rest.
“Where’s everyone else? They’re ok, right?”
“They’re all fine. You’re just not supposed to be overwhelmed by too many visitors at once.”
“That’s stupid. I want to see everyone.”
“It’s not your head Klowix will have if we disobey his orders.”
Bethany gave in. “Fine, then can you bring Culip? I need to thank her.”
“Of course.” Snia stood up. “She was amazing, while the rest of us were acting like maniacs, she was the one who actually did something that helped you.”
Culip cautiously came in, moving slowly, as though worried about frightening Bethany. She guessed everyone had heard the scream and crash, and would be more careful for a while.
“Culip!” Bethany pulled her into a hug. “You saved me. Thank you.”
Culip shrugged. “It was more Klowix than me. Remember, he was the one who had those chips installed all over the house. He really thinks of everything.”
“Still, if you hadn’t kept a clear head and gotten it to me, I might still be in the hands of those monsters.”
Culip shuddered. “You’re safe now. That’s all that matters. You should get some rest.”
Bethany didn’t want to rest, she wanted to assure herself that her friends were all right. She could already feel her eyelids drooping, though. She guessed being kidnapped took a lot more energy than she’d realized. She could hear Culip and Lizzy talking in the background, but couldn’t make out their words as she let herself drift off.
Bethany awoke with a start when she heard the door opening. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been asleep, but she recognized Klowix’s voice. He must be back from work.
She got up, a bit unsteady on her feet, and made her way to the bedroom door. Klowix intercepted her before she could get out.
“You should be in bed.” He smoothly picked her up, carried her to the bed, and pulled his chair close so that he was right by her side.
“I’ve upgraded security. No one intending harm will get inside here again. You have my word on that.”
Bethany nodded. She wasn’t that concerned with security at the moment. “How are you, though? It sounds like things have been pretty stressful for you recently.”
Klowix’s voice rose a little in anger. “Some people should not be given an equal say. They are still protesting – still! After what those monsters did, they should be cowering in shame, but they have the nerve to try to bring the case before the king. They want him to do something about the humans on Telion.”
“Do something about them? What does that mean?”
“It’s not going to mean anything, because I’m going to stop such foolishness before it has a chance to get any further than it already has. To be safe, though, I’m going to send the human girls home.”
“Oh.” Bethany felt a pang of sadness for her friends. She’d miss them.
Klowix shook his head. “I don’t need anyone else. It’s pretty obvious at this point that my choice is you.”
Bethany smiled. That was what she wanted to hear. “The Evions are staying, though?”
“Yes, if they wish to. I know that you are all happy here. Once the trouble here has passed, the humans will be welcome to come back. I’m thinking of offering Culip a position in the army; we could use someone with her intelligence.”
“She is amazing. I don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t slipped me that chip.”
Klowix was confident. “I would have found you, but even at that, it may have taken longer, which could have spelled disaster. She did well.”
Klowix brushed a hand over her neck, and Bethany’s eyes slipped closed as she felt the pull of her essence moving towards him. It was brief and sweet, and as relieved as she was when he stopped, she ached for more.
“I want to do s
omething special with them, to say goodbye.”
“How about some shopping?”
Though Klowix didn’t smile, Bethany thought she saw a twinkle in his eyes.
“Culip would like that – but no, not shopping. She’ll be able to do as much shopping as she wants when she leaves. I don’t know, I’ll talk to them, see what they want to do.”
Bethany smiled at him.
Klowix went on. “You may do whatever you wish, as long as it doesn’t compromise your safety. We need to be careful. Decide on your goodbye; I want to have the other humans off planet as soon as possible.”
“Have you told them yet?”
“Not yet. I will do so tonight at dinner.”
Bethany nodded. She and Klowix sat in silence for a while. She wondered if she dared ask him what he did to the remaining protesters. Deciding she didn’t dare, she remained quiet.
“Ugh. Is it morning already?”
Ruth was pale and her eyes were puffy. The rest of them looked no better. “Perhaps we overdid it a little.”
Snia looked even worse than Ruth. “A little? The next time you want to educate me on how humans celebrate, remind me to run for the hills.”
Trili moaned. “Why is that stuff even legal on earth? And how did Klowix even get it through customs? I can’t see them letting in poison.”
Lizzy protested. “Alcohol isn’t poison. Well, not exactly.”
Beoli disagreed. “It’s poison. I can’t believe you let us drink that stuff.”
“She has a point.” Anna sat holding her head in her hands.
Culip clearly remembered it differently. “Come on, it was fun last night. I’ve never enjoyed dancing that much.”
“So not worth it.” Everyone nodded limply. Bethany was half wishing Klowix hadn’t decided she was well enough to go and celebrate her last night with her friends. Sure, it had been amazing, but now she felt like her head would explode.
Everyone winced when the doorbell rang. Trili staggered off to get it and came back with Dr. Yie, who muttered disapprovingly.
