Haven 1: Ascend

by Sandra R Neeley

  “You’ve had her?” his friend questioned, disbelieving.

  “Several times. Lord Malm rewards you well if you go above and beyond. This one was my choice every time.”

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Kol stood at the end of the corridor, Vor and Kail with him. They listened intently as Kol explained the latest developments. They discussed strategies, agreed that the best way to protect Vivian, short of locking her in her quarters, was to insist they be with her everywhere. No longer shadowing, but actually escorting her — all five of them escorting her. They didn’t realize she’d left Bart’s quarters and gotten on the lift. They’d become accustomed to her calling out to them to announce as she was coming and going. In fact, when their meeting was completed and planning done, Kol went off to send the other three members of the team to meet Vor and Kail, and Vor and Kail went back to their posts outside Bart’s door.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Vivian came to with her face pressed against the cold, smooth metal of the ship. She opened her eyes just enough to peek through the slits of her lids and realized she was in the bowels of the ship. Quite possibly in the same area she’d found Kitty, but definitely on the same level. She heard the voices of males around her, but didn’t recognize them. She lay still, pretending she was still unconscious. These males spoke English, she could easily understand them. She lay still, biding her time, waiting for her chance.

  “Yes, Lord Malm. We’ve been successful. We have her! Extraction is needed as soon as possible, my Lord.”

  There was silence for several moments while he apparently listened to someone reply on other end of his device. Then, “We are below deck, in one of the maintenance sectors. We are surrounded by wiring and metal tubing. We intentionally chose this area because the standard frequencies used by the Cruestaci will be interrupted by frequencies coming off all the equipment down here. As soon as this communication ends, we will activate the frequency jammer to further confuse their systems — their own computer will not be able to locate us.”

  Another pause, then, “Yes, my Lord. We’ll wait for contact.”

  Vivian closed her eyes when the male turned back toward her. His partner was standing several feet behind her, near the ladder leading to the above deck.

  “He said that we have a sympathizer on board. He’ll get word to him that we’ve retaken his property and send him to help us move her undetected to the ship.”

  “What about the Ambassador?” his partner asked.

  “We leave him here. Just tell him we misunderstood. He didn’t want us here anyway, thought we were following orders and we’ll send another transport for him when his duties are finished.”

  “They’ll know it’s us. We’ll be the only ones not here, and she’ll be gone.”

  “Doesn’t matter, we’ll be gone. That’s the point, and Lord Malm will have his property back, and we’ll be back under his protection,” Perkins explained. “Maybe get another little taste of this,” he said, toeing Vivian’s leg with his booted foot.

  Vivian’s heart sped up. But not from fear. She was angry. This male was one who had raped her, beaten her. She had no memory of him in particular, but it didn’t matter. He’d admitted it to his friend. And that was all she needed to know. The terrors she’d survived all blended together into glimpses, flashes of memory. Pain, humiliation, faces, hands, and more. They’d begun to fade as she’d begun to heal and now were just flashes rather than clear memories. She’d been thankful as they faded from her mind. But hearing this male admit he’d been one of them made her wish she could remember his attack very clearly. She wanted to make him pay. A calm descended over her. Yes, she would make him pay. An opportunity to avenge oneself didn’t present itself every day. But today it had, and she planned to take complete advantage of it. She waited until they were involved in conversation, then, she very slowly moved the arm that was underneath her just enough to use her fingertips to pull the sheath with the dagger in it from her waistband. Once it was free, she wrapped her fingers around the jeweled handle and laid the blade up her wrist. Then she simply waited, feigning unconsciousness.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Zha Quin sat back in his chair as his Lieutenants rose to leave. All plans had been confirmed, all strategies laid out, and counter plans discussed for the ‘what if’s’ that could arise in any situation. General Lo’ San had been brought up to speed and was in charge of the basic day-to-day requirements of the ship so that Zha Quin was free to concentrate on the actions needed to flush out the traitors and keep Vivian safe. Rather than broadcast their situation freely throughout the ship, they relied on word of mouth to certain teams of warriors, as they would in an actual battle situation. It gave them the upper hand.

  As the warriors filed out of the conference room, Quin spoke, “Computer, is my Ehlealah still with Bart?”

  “No, Commander. She is not.”

  “Where is she?” he asked, tension filling him.

  “She is aboard the ship, Commander.”

  Zha Quin roared, “Where aboard the ship?!”

  “I’m searching, Commander. But I am unable to locate her. Please wait while I perform another scan.”

  “Where are her guards” he yelled.

  Kol, Jhan and Ba Re’ had all remained with him and were now on their feet, all as concerned as he was.

  “Her guards are still on duty outside Ambassador Bart's quarters. Vivian is not inside.”

  “Where the hell is she? When was the last time you find record of her?” Quin yelled as he rushed from the room, his friends with him, each shouting instructions to other warriors still in the corridor to spread out, search, find her.

  “On the storage deck, Commander. Approximately 25 minutes ago.”

  “Ba Re’ confront Bart, rally her guard — inform them they guard a damn door! I’m going to check our quarters— perhaps she’s returned there. Kol, you’re with me,” Zha Quin ordered.

  Quin rushed to his front door, his battle Psi fully emerged from the stress of Vivian missing. He slapped his hand on the scanner beside the door. It whooshed open and he hurried inside, calling her name, “Vivi? Vivi?!”

  There was no answer other than an angry yowl and a crashing sound from the bathroom.

  Quin approached the bathroom door but it didn’t open for him. He scowled and then pressed the button combination on the outside of the door to release it. Immediately an angry, snarling shraler leapt into the living room.

  He yowled and ran for the bedroom, then the kitchen, obviously looking for Vivian.

  “Where is she, Kitty?” Quin asked the animal as it ran to the front door.

  He followed shouting, “Computer, have you found Vivi?” as he exited his quarters, the shraler running ahead of him scenting the air.

  “No, Commander, I have searched all quadrants except the maintenance deck. I am attempting to repair my functionality in that quadrant and will complete the scan at that time.”

  “That’s it. That’s got to be where she is,” he said to Kol, who was keeping pace with him, his battle Psi fully engaged as well.

  They made it only halfway down the corridor before the Communications Master was seen hurrying in their direction, “Commander! They have taken her, Commander!”

  Zha Quin knew fear for the first time in his life. Real fear. Until then he’d been holding out hope that Vivi had simply outwitted her guards again.

  “Who? How do you know?” Quin demanded.

  “I reached out to my brother again as you instructed, but I told him I planned to take her tonight. The encrypted reply I received said he didn’t need me to take her, she was already in their possession, but they requested my help smuggling her off ship.”

  “How could they possibly do that?” Kol asked.

  “They must get to the Consortium transport. The two that have your Sirena are Ambassador Bartholomew’s escorts. They have sworn allegiance to Lord Malm,” Vennie explained.

  “Where are they?” Zha Quin snarled.
>
  “Below deck, Commander. They are on the maintenance level awaiting my arrival to assist them in spiriting away your Sirena.”

  “Then that’s where they’ll die,” Kol snarled.

  “But not quickly. They must suffer first,” Quin agreed. “If they’ve hurt her, Kol, I may annihilate their entire species.”

  Kol only grunted. He had no problem with that.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Bart smiled again, thinking of Vivian and the reaction his father would have as soon as he managed to get word to him that she was alive. He thought that maybe he’d just surprise him, allow Vivian to place the vidcom and have him answer thinking it was a regular check in holovid call from himself. With this in mind, he left his quarters, headed to the communications headquarters of the ship.

  He stepped through his doorway and into the corridor. All five of Vivian’s guard stood outside his quarters. Three against the opposite wall and Vor and Kail on either side of his door. Vor and Kail both turned and looked at him expectantly. When his door slid closed behind him, they both look puzzled. “Where is Sirena Vivian?” Vor asked.

  “She left almost an hour ago. Why are you still here?” Bart asked, turning to glance at the other three behind him, then back at Vor and Kail.

  “What do you mean she left? She’s inside with you!” Vor insisted.

  “No, she’s not. She left here a while ago. She was going home to check on Kitty before Quin got home. Why did you not go with her?” Bart asked, his voice rising in concern.

  “We weren’t aware that she left! How did she even get past us?” Kail asked no one in particular.

  “It must have been when we were speaking with Kol at the end of the hall. We were so focused on what he was saying we didn’t notice her leave. And she didn’t advise us she was leaving as has become her custom.”

  Zahn, who was usually very quiet, said, “I’m going to search for her. She can’t be alone until the conspirators are identified. Perhaps she’s with our Sire. I’ll start there.”

  “Computer…” Kail started, but Vor stopped him, “No! We can’t alert the ship. If she’s wandered away on her own, we don’t want others to know she’s alone. Zahn, as you said, go to our Sire. If she’s not there, advise him that she’s slipped away again. The rest of us will split up and search for her. When she’s found, ask the computer to advise the rest of us of where you are, not where she is, where you are.”

  “Understood,” they all agreed.

  They started in different directions only to freeze in place at Ba Re’s shout to them as he exited the lift. All stopped where they were and immediately ran toward him as he approached them.

  “She is not in the Ambassador’s quarters,” he rushed out as they approached.

  “We know. We’ve only just been alerted,” Vor answered.

  “I was shocked when I found them still standing outside my door,” Bart answered.

  “How did she get away from you this time?” Ba Re’ asked.

  “We believe that she left while we were talking with Elite Commander Kol Ra’ Don Tol. We had no idea she’d left,” Vor said.

  “Our Sire is going to have to stress to her the importance of cooperating with us,” Rel growled.

  “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem going forward. But for now, we have to find her,” Ba Re’ answered, as they all split up into teams, Bart included, to search for Vivian.

  Chapter 26

  “Computer, advise Ba Re’ and Jhan I am en route to the supply deck. I expect to see them there,” Zha Quin bit out, barely discernible. When his battle Psi was engaged as it was now his mouth filled with row upon row of sharp shark-like teeth.

  “Yes, Commander.”

  “Have you been able to scan the maintenance level?” Quin asked.

  “No, Commander. There appears to be a magnetic disruption on that level. I am working to isolate it.”

  Quin and Kol boarded the lift and rode it down, planning to exit on the supply deck, but it stopped on one of the residence floors.

  Zahn took a step toward boarding the lift, but stopped when he realized his Sire was already aboard with Elite Commander Kol, their Communications Master and a very irritated shraler. The shraler darted out of the lift and trotted a few feet in either direction of the lift sniffing the air before returning to it and beginning to pace back and forth at Quin’s feet.

  “Warrior Zahn!” Quin started.

  “Sire! Please tell me you have our Sirena tucked away.”

  “No, I do not. How did you allow her to escape you?” Quin shouted.

  “We arrived for increased security and started watch under the assumption that she was still inside the Ambassador’s quarters. It is believed that she left before we arrived. Captain Vor and Warrior Kail believe they were distracted when speaking with Elite Commander Kol, which allowed her to leave unobserved, Sire. They are searching for her now. I came to see if she’d returned to your quarters or if you knew of her whereabouts. We chose not to alert the ship’s computer in the event that it may be monitored.”

  “Get on the lift!” Quin barked.

  As soon as Zahn boarded the lift, Quin explained that they knew Vivian was on the maintenance level and that the two Consortium escorts that arrived with Bart had taken her there. Zahn immediately spoke to the computer, “Computer, advise Captain Vor, and Warriors Kail, Rel and Asl that I am on the maintenance deck. I repeat, advise that I am on the maintenance deck.”

  “I’ve already advised Lieutenant Ba Re’ to meet us on the supply deck,” Zha Quin said.

  “We agreed that if we found her, we would advise the rest of where we were, not where she was, but of where we were so that any listening would not realize that we were looking for her.”

  Moments later they stepped off the lift in the starboard corridor at the same time Ba Re’ and Vivian’s guard stepped off the lift in the port corridor.

  “Where is Ba Re?!” Quin asked Jhan, who stood in wait just outside the lift they were on.

  “I’m not sure, Sire.”

  The computer answered, “Lieutenant Ba Re’ is currently moving in this direction, Commander. He is accompanied by several warriors, and they have just arrived in the port sector of this deck.”

  It took several moments for Ba Re’ and those with him to arrive. Once they did, Zha Quin explained, “The Communication Master’s brother requested his assistance in getting our Sirena off the ship. He’s going to them under the guise of assistance. He will lure them out into the open, get them into the corridor and moving toward the loading bay where their transport awaits. Jhan is the best assassin we have. Jhan, you are to lie in wait to take them out at the first opportunity you have. The rest of you will provide back up as needed. We have to keep the corridors clear and prevent anyone from getting in the way. If they find out we are aware they have her, they may kill her in an effort to get away.”

  A chorus of ‘yes, Sire’s’ and ‘yes, Commander’s,’ followed his instruction.

  There was one, “I’m going to do what?” It came from his Communication Master.

  “You are going down to the maintenance level. You will make them believe you have arranged for them to get to their transport.”

  He indicated his tentacled extremities. “I cannot climb down the ladder, Sire. It’s not possible.”

  Quin turned on him, “Then I can throw you down it!”

  While they’d been speaking, Kitty had been sniffing around the ladder that led down below deck where he’d been kept before Vivian had found him. He paced back and forth and sniffed a time or two more before setting off at a jog in the direction Ba Re’ and Vivian’s guard had come.

  “I don’t think she’s in this area of maintenance,” Kol said, watching Kitty go the other direction.

  “Jhan, you hide nearby, shoot on sight, but wait until both males are on deck. Rel, you are a sniper — you go back to the other lift. Conceal yourself, again, same orders. Wait until both males are visible — do not lea
ve one below deck with Vivi. The only way off this floor are the two lifts and the ladders to the maintenance deck beneath. They will have to approach either lift to go to their transport. Do NOT shoot to kill. I want that pleasure myself.”

  Zha Quin opened his mouth to speak again, but his words were cut off by a blood curdling scream from below them. It came from the maintenance area of the ship where Vivian was being held. Zha Quin didn’t think. He snatched the chains from the ladder access and grasped the outsides of the ladder in both hands. He pressed his boots against the outside of the ladder as well and slid down to the level below. He was followed right away by all of his men that had been in the corridor above, with the exception of Jhan and Rel who rushed to take up the positions they'd been instructed to take.

  The minute Zha Quin reached the bottom of the ladder, he crouched low, moving aside, looking for cover and sharp eyes taking in everything around him. Vivi was not here, but the screaming continued, and now he could hear a male cursing, threatening Vivi.

  “You stupid, fucking cunt! I’ll kill you!”

  His heart did not ease when he heard Vivi answer, “Come on, then. Do your best. I’m right here. Maybe I’ll manage to cut off your cock just like your buddy’s here. At least, I think I cut it off — there’s not much lying on the floor there. Is that all he had?”

  All this was said through the constant wailing of a man who screamed and sobbed about his dick being gone.

  Zha Quin and his men started stealthily moving toward the sound of the voices. They didn’t have to worry about being quiet — the constant screaming was drowning out any sound they may have made.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Vivian rolled over onto her back, purposely exposing her front to them, keeping her right hand and arm pressed against her hip, so they wouldn’t see she held a blade. She hoped they’d take the bait and try to touch her. It didn’t take long. The male behind her asked his friend, “So you said she was a good fuck?”