Sinful Surrender

by Houston Havens

  “Drakker’s over there.” He pointed as he rushed toward Logan. “In the tent with the red banner at the top. He’s with Ortello and Nikias. They’re strategizing a battle plan with a Star Rider named Faerydae.”

  “Faerydae? Shit! I heard he wasn’t trustworthy.”

  Andonis shrugged. “The guy claims to have helped you. He said he wants to help us defeat the Dirt Dwellers.” Andonis took Chandra from Logan’s arms. “Damn, where’d you find this beauty?”

  “Fix her.” Logan knelt beside Fay, pulling her face toward his. “I’m trusting you to help Andonis take care of them while I go see who this Faerydae guy is and what he wants.”

  She nodded but was at a loss for words. Desperation was all that registered.

  “We’ll have to move fast. Go with Andonis. You remember, he’s the doctor who fixed your arm. See these two get what they need. Then get them ready to move.” He reached over and kissed her tears. “He’ll be all right. He has to be.” With the sentiment expressed, he was off.

  Fay looked up at Andonis. His handsome, dark looks reminded her of Drakker. Her hands shook as she fought to control her fears. “Will Chandra be all right?”

  “We’re going to find out. Can you two follow me, or shall I call for assistance?” Andonis was a man who fit his name to perfection. He was over six feet tall, and his tanned skin looked like moon-spun gold. He was naked except for a white loincloth covering his groin. The loose ends of the material came up and draped over his muscled shoulder. He was more beautiful than an angel with a magnificent body and muscles on muscles that seduced the gaze. His deep aquamarine eyes shone like sapphire stars. His raven hair was short around the neck, but long enough on top for playful fingers to rake through it. He would be the perfect man for Chandra.

  Fay looked down at Arlo’s half-opened eyes. “Can you make it?”

  “Help me up,” he muttered like the true hero of her heart.

  * * * *

  Two and a half hours later, Andonis stepped just outside the medic’s tent where Fay was resting. She jumped up and grabbed her head, still feeling a little weak after giving Arlo blood. “Are they both all right?”

  Andonis’ stern expression didn’t waiver. He motioned for her to come toward him.

  “What’s wrong?” Was it worry or anger she saw in his eyes? “Please, don’t tell me one of them is dead.”

  There was no change in his mysterious expression. He just repeated the arm movement beckoning her to him.

  Fay rushed over. When she tried to push past him, he pulled her into his chest and whispered, “Don’t panic.”

  “What?” She didn’t know Andonis, and his embrace was way too familiar. Fay push against his rock-hard chest, but the strength of his arms jailed her to him. He turned his body, bringing her with him into the tent. Her heart pounded with alarm. She was unsure of his intentions.

  Pressing her painfully close to him, he whispered against her ear. “I had no choice. I had to get you, or they’d kill Chandra and Arlo.” He released her.

  “Who?” She turned around to find herself staring down the black barrel of an XREP wireless shotgun Taser.

  “Come here to me.” The human-looking android motioned with the twelve gauge. The way he jerked it around said she should do it fast or she’d be feeling twenty seconds of pure hell very soon. Two androids stepped forward and pulled her toward a slit cut into the back wall of the tent. Two others moved Andonis in the same direction. “Follow all orders quickly and silently, and your friends will not be harmed.”

  “What friends?” Fay hissed.

  The android’s synthetic voice replied, “Arlo and Chandra. Those targets have already been acquired.”

  Fay spun around, facing the android. “They’re wounded. Neither should be moved.”

  “They’ll only live if you do as instructed.” The android turned his head instructing the cyborgs. “Take the physician.” He shoved the Taser’s barrel into her shoulder, using it to push her forward as he finished his commands to the cyborgs. “ETA fifteen minutes, three seconds.”

  Glancing back, Fay saw one of their captors grab Andonis and shove him through the slit of the tent. She had to find a way to save them.

  * * * *

  Fay forced her anvil-like feet to take another step toward Drakker’s command center. Regret and anger warred with each other in her stomach. Just as Andonis had been forced to deceive her, she was now being coerced to betray Logan and Drakker. She was in a catch twenty-two situation, doomed either way. Her captor had given her information to pass on to Logan, leading him and the Airbornes into a trap. It was genocide, but she had to convince the Airbornes the information was good and encourage them to go, if she hoped to keep Arlo, Chandra, and Andonis from being killed. Either way she lost. Save one group, and the others die.

  Her only hope was to convince Logan she spoke the truth, and then pray he’d find her note confessing the real truth before he acted on the deceptive information. If the mind traveler her captor sent to watch her reported a change in any of the men’s vibrations or a fleeting glimpse of alarm on any of their faces, an immediate attack would ensue, and her beloved Arlo would be the first to die. A mind traveler herself, she was very much aware of their ability to retrieve information on every level of consciousness, so she had to be careful with all her thoughts and actions when her men were close to her. No whispered secrets or the mind traveler would hear it.

  She had to pull this deception off without a hitch if she hoped to keep them all alive. Yet she still hadn’t thought of where to leave her clue. She prayed Logan and Drakker loved and believed in her enough to trust she left the warning in good faith.

  When she dragged her heels and heart into the tent, she was almost knocked down by the coyote that adopted her the day Arlo and Drakker found her near her demolished airship. “Moochy.” She cooed, bending down to greet him. She turned her head away from him before he’d completely washed her face with his tongue. He raised his paw and plopped it on her shoulder. “How did you get here?” she whispered, hugging him to her. His ear tickled her nose as he rubbed his head into her neck, marking her with his scent. It was then she realized Moochy would be their savior.

  A glance told her none of the men in the attached section to the main tent area had noticed her. They were in such an intense discussion a bomb could have gone off without their notice. She skimmed the room for the mind traveler. He was stationed, unseen to the naked eye, to her right. Good, he wouldn’t be able to see her pull a small piece of fabric from her left pocket. She’d written her warning on it ahead of time in hopes of dropping it somewhere, or leaving it on the strategy desk under something, but Moochy had given her a better idea. The fabric was as soft as a cotton ball. She could easily tuck it into his right ear. There would be a greater chance of the warning being found sooner if she did. The soft fabric wouldn’t hurt his ear, but in time, it would annoy him enough to get Logan’s attention. Hopefully, before it was too late.

  Fay hugged and rubbed her pet with a staged happiness. Her heart was anything but joyful. All the while, she pushed the little ball of fabric into his ear canal. It was just deep enough to stay put until she could get the mind traveler out of the tent.

  She stood, looking across the large tent. As she walked closer she noticed Logan looked exhausted as he leaned over the table in a deep discussion with four other men, Drakker being one of them. She took a deep breath and stepped into the larger area.

  “Ma chérie!” Drakker’s sharp blue eyes twinkled on spotting her. He and a younger man wearing a flight suit and flat cap over his unruly, blond curls rushed in her direction. The pilot brushed past her as Drakker reached over and scooped her up into his comforting arms for a loving kiss. Depleted and emotionally drained, Drakker’s arms were exactly what Fay desired most at this very moment. His strength gave her the courage she needed to see her deception through. She tossed her tired limbs around his neck and squeezed him as tight as she could, but refused to let go an
d cry. His bear hug told her everything she needed to know. He missed her as much as she missed him. He placed her back on her feet. “How’s Arlo?”

  If she could only tell him. She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. Logan saved her from an emotional outburst when he barreled his way between them to give her a reassuring hug of his own.

  “You’re something else.” His voice was soft. “I heard you gave Arlo your blood. You saved his life, Fay.”

  Her heart broke at his words. She studied his emerald eyes. There was more there than gratitude. She saw love, a love she’d never get a chance to experience. He pulled her into his chest. “Are you feeling all right? You look ill. Do you need to lie down?”

  Drakker looked stunned. “Arlo needed a transfusion?”

  “I’m fine, Logan.” Fay nodded at Drakker. “He lost too much blood. We were lucky it was a slow bleed. Chandra isn’t so good. She won’t be able to travel. She has PCS…post concussive syndrome from the hit she took to the head when she fell. Her humerus and scapula bones are fused together thanks to the laser hit she took to the shoulder. She’ll need surgery to get back her mobility. Her left hand was burned, but Andonis said an aloe gel paste will make it like new.”

  The fine-looking man with long red hair she’d seen in her mind travel approached. “Faerydae said he’s seen the woman you speak of with a New World Mole called Talpidae. When he returns, I’ll ask Faerydae if he can take Chandra to Talpidae on his way back to space station Zebra to get Brokk and Rani for the attack.” His voice was a deep bass.

  Fay interrupted, “Chandra’s not a Mole. She’s a Dirt Dweller like me.”

  “A spy?” the redheaded man bellowed as he dropped his hand over the hilt of his dagger.

  “Calm yourself, Ortello.” Logan placed his hand on the man’s broad shoulder. “Trust me…I just went through an attack with Fay and Chandra. They’re both as brave as any Airborne warrior. They have our backs. She or Chandra could have led us right into the hands of Reto. Instead, Chandra took me to Gansu, the leader of the Old World Moles. Dirt Dwellers they may be, but they’re runners, and they’re on our side.”

  Every muscle in her body tensed, hardening like stone. No! The mind traveler will report that! It took effort to get her mouth to work as she turned to Logan to plant her second seed of warning. “The Dirt Dwellers will sentence her as a traitor if you return her. Please don’t do it.”

  “So you trust her and this one as well, do you?” Ortello looked as though he were gauging Logan’s confidence.

  The last man from the table walked over to join the group. He had a medium build, but his shaved head and studded ear gave him a larger-than-life appearance. No doubt this was a powerful man. He extended his hand to Fay. “Ya can call me Yarrow.” He continued talking, but Fay didn’t understand a word. Here and there, he’d say a name she recognized or point at someone she knew, but that was all she got out of his soliloquy.

  “Me vassal, Faerydae, has claik the blether on Talpidae is nickum. He is unco and carries mattucashlass. I wadna turn over quean Chandra to him.”

  “What the hell?” Ortello’s bewildered expression made the corners of her mouth move up for a second. If she wasn’t so upset by the circumstances, she would have enjoyed Yarrow’s unique company. Ortello leaned into Fay and asked, “Was he asking us questions or telling us something? What the hell did he just say?”

  Yarrow frowned at Ortello’s ribbing then repeated what he’d said in English. “I said, my man, Faerydae has reported the man called Talpidae can’t be trusted. So I wouldn’t recommend turning Chandra over to him, if ya know what I mean.” He glanced at Fay before pointing at the redheaded man to Fay’s right. “It is better to have Ortello, here take Chandra with him. He can leave her at a hole in the wall until this battle is won. A better resolution, don’t ya think?”

  Ortello whispered, “Bet he couldn’t say it again if he tried.”

  When she couldn’t find a smile to return, he gave a kind nod and turned away to address Logan.

  “If all that crazy jibber means Yarrow wants me to take Chandra, I have no problem with it.” He raised a suggestive brow at Drakker and thumbed his finger at Fay. “If all Dirt Dweller women are as good-looking as this one, I’ll be more than happy to take Chandra. I might even refuse to give her back.” He winked at Fay.

  If only she could warn them of the deceit she was about to hand them.

  Ortello must have noticed her edginess. “Rest easy, little lady. I’ll take very good care of your friend.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Drakker said, turning to Ortello. “Have Andonis stay here for a few days with them until Chandra and Arlo can be moved. He can meet up with us at Sweet Jane Ketchum’s hideout, The Knothole.”

  “Allow me to suggest…” Fay gripped Logan’s arm and squeezed it hard, hoping to get more than just his attention. She wanted his suspicion at full alert. “I know you won’t do it, but you should use every available man you have and surprise the Dirt Dwellers with an attack at their main hub.” She went to the table and rifled through several maps. She pulled out a few and placed them face down on the table. She found one of Carlsbad, New Mexico and laid it over a Denver map she’d placed faceup. She leaned over the table, grabbed a red highlighter, and then placed her arm in a position blocking the view of the map from most of them. “Here there’s an underground city.” She made a thick red circle on the Carlsbad map.

  “I can’t see where you’re pointing,” Ortello said.

  “Neither can I.” Drakker moved to the right for a better position. All of the men jostled around the table until their bodies unknowingly blocked the mind traveler’s view.

  “Here.” Her hand made a circular motion before pushing the map toward Ortello to see. She traced the circle once again on the map before pushing the map toward Drakker, marking over the circle again. She repeated the circle action one more time when she pushed the map toward Logan. She tapped, scratched, and dragged the marker over the map as she talked. “Most of our Dirt Dwellers live here.”

  Logan scratched his head looking confused.

  “You’ll wipe them out by…germ warfare—”

  “Germ warfare? Fay, we don’t—”

  “Just hear me out, Logan. You could block their air filter systems or something like that, and you’ve settled the war without a lot of losses.”

  Ortello braced Logan’s shoulder. “She kind of makes sense.”

  “I guess it’s something for us to consider.”

  Okay, I’ve planted the Dirt Dwellers’ bait. It should save Arlo, Chandra, and Andonis. Now, all she had do was plant her own clues, so they didn’t take the bait. Fay bent over and grabbed her stomach with a loud groan. Drakker reached for her. “Are you all right?”

  “Just a treacherous cavern in my stomach tonight. Gas…tritis.” She stood. Seeing the confusion in his eyes, she hugged Drakker. When he tried to pull away, she held on tighter, so she could whisper in his ear. “I love you. Don’t ever doubt me.” She parted from him and walked over to Logan. “I think I’ll take this war in my stomach to my tent and lay down for a little bit.” She tapped the end of his nose. “I’ll dream of the missing northern star.” She stood on tiptoes and tossed her arms around his neck. She placed a gentle kiss to his lips. She backed away. His inquisitive stare almost broke her.

  She placed her hand over her heart, turned, and headed toward the exit, hoping they’d put together her clues after she left. Moochy followed. “No, boy. You stay with Logan.”

  “Fay?” Logan’s inquiring voice followed her out of the tent as hot tears spilled down her cheeks. Looks of perplexity covered the faces of her handsome men in the last image she had to hold forever in her heart. It was an awful picture to carry into uncertainty.

  Halfway to her rendezvous point, a young man with white hair and pinkish-violet eyes ran past her. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw he was hell-bent toward Drakker’s tent. Fay broke into a run.

  *


  Nikias, Ortello’s youngest brother, rushed into the tent out of breath and shaken. His albino eyes widened as he said, “We’ve caught a spy!”

  Chapter 13

  “Let me sleep!”

  Drakker smiled as the drug he used on the spy started to take effect. The man’s responses signaled his resistance wearing down. His body slumped forward. His head rested on his folded arms across the table.

  Drakker’s henchman, Maddog, yanked the spy’s head up by the hair as Drakker said, “After you talk, then you can sleep.”

  Maddog shook the man’s shoulders to keep him awake.

  “Stop it!” The man stiffened in his seat.

  “Tell me the truth this time.” Drakker kept his voice in a monosyllabic tone and pace, making it even more difficult on the spy to stay awake. He’d lull the man to near sleep then disturb him with a loud cough or a nudge from Maddog. To break him, they would repeat this pattern until he told the truth in his exhausted state. “How were you able to track us?”

  “I told you. I followed an SNS signal.”

  “Whose SNS signal?”

  He sighed. “You got her already. Fay Avalon.” The man rubbed his red, swollen eyes. “I was sent to get her out.”

  Drakker gave Maddog a curt nod. He reacted to the silent order by pulling the spy’s head back and slapping his cheeks to force the man’s eyes open.

  “You lie.” Drakker had seen Fay cut the device out of her own arm with his knife. He shouted at the man, “Tell me who your real spy is. Give me a name.”

  “Please.” The man’s voice cracked. “I need to sleep!”

  “Talk!” Drakker glanced at Maddog. He punched the spy in the stomach. This time the force of the blow cause a whoosh of air to exit the man’s lungs on a hard grunt.

  “I told you!”

  Maddog moved behind the man as Drakker stepped in front of him. Maddog grabbed the man by the arms and pinned his back to the chair.

  Drakker punched the spy in the gut. “Tell me again!”