His laughter made him wheeze, which led to coughing and the expulsion of a large wad of phlegm. Eryn’s stomach lurched, and she thought she would lose what little she had for breakfast.
When he regained his breath, he ordered further, “Have her readied quickly. I am starving and plan to gorge myself.”
Hard, webbed fingers dug into her arms and dragged her away, the attendant holding Cierra exiting through a different door. Fear for her child consumed her. She offered up prayers to her God and to Ram’s Maker that her mate would come to their rescue. Before she had to betray him again, with a sacrifice greater than either one of them would likely ever recover from.
27
Guards dragged her away to a room with a large bathing pool where attendants with rough hands stripped her, bathed her in frigid, soapy water then anointed her skin with a repugnant fish-scented oil, the smell so foul a debilitating nausea overtook her. Too weak to stand, guards had to be summoned to carry her into the adjoining bedroom. After tossing her on the big canopied bed, they left…and left her unrestrained. But dizzy now, and sweating profusely, she could barely lift her head. Somehow, she managed to roll to her side, thinking it might be safer if she had to throw up.
What she saw when she settled again hurt her eyes. From the light fixtures on the red velvet walls to the floor tiles, everything appeared to have been dipped in gold. If she hadn’t been deathly ill already, the garish room would have made her so. Closing her eyes against the glare, she waited for whatever atrocity the leader of the frog people had planned for her next.
By the time the leader came to her, she burned with fever and chills that left her shaking. When he approached where she lay clinging to the side of his bed, she promptly yacked all over him.
A high-pitched shriek left his frog-like lips a second before he backhanded her so hard she rolled from the bed onto the floor. “You will pay for this! Once I get this ghastly substance off my person.” He twisted toward the door and bellowed, “To me, now!”
“I can’t help it if I’m sick. It’s been coming on all day, and this frog oil is foul.” On the final word, her stomach rebelled again.
He backed away, staring at her with alarm as the door opened behind him. “Send for a physician,” he screamed at whoever was unfortunate enough to have answered his summons. “I cannot feed from her. She might have a contagion that could transfer to me.”
“Yes, Commander, right away,” an obedient voice replied then he scurried away.
“If you are faking, milk whore, I will make you pay, and your daughter will be the price.”
“It is impossible to fake a fever and vomiting, you fool,” Eryn gritted out between the chills rattling her teeth.
“She looks quite ill.” One of the guards observed while covering his flat nose and wide mouth with his webbed fingers. “We should quarantine her or we could all get whatever she has.”
“Sound idea,” Ti-zod crowed, leading the way from the room. “Set a watch. She doesn’t leave my chamber, and notify me when the medics have determined what is wrong.”
“Yes, sir,” came the muffled reply of the guard who fled behind his commander.
Left alone, Eryn laid her cheek on the cool floor, not knowing whether to cover up or strip off her clothing, chilled to the bone and burning up at the same time. She’d felt this sick once, aboard the Odyssey on the trip home.
While moaning, which always seemed to make her feel better, she took big gulps of air, trying to settle her stomach. If Ram didn’t arrive soon, she could only hope one of the women would come up with an escape plan. Lana was her best bet. A scientist first, but also USIF trained, she’d done it before.
Whispering aloud the few prayers she had learned in her youth, she abandoned them when a wave of pain stabbed through her upper belly.
The few words she could manage afterward were a plea. “Ram, please, come get us.”
* * *
Followed by Trask and the six warriors selected for the rescue mission, Ram entered the transporter chamber and called to the man at the controls.
“We need to go now.”
“Aye, sir. I’ve locked onto the ship’s coordinates. A warning, we must deactivate the stealth function so you can teleport. We cannot do both at once. The Denastrians may be alerted to your arrival.”
“For how long?” Trask wanted to know.
“Ten seconds, no more.”
Ram nodded. “Not ideal, but it will have to do. Let’s hope they have an inattentive man at their scanners today. I’d prefer the element of surprise on our side.”
“Aye, Master Ram.”
“Let’s go.” Trask led them onto the transporter stage. When Ram stepped on the lighted circle next to him, he glanced his way, and said with confidence, “We will get them back, my friend.”
“Uh, General Trask, Master Ram…” When Captain Allon’s voice fed in through the speakers, Ram and Trask shared a look of concern.
“Hell! Don’t tell me there’s more bad news,” Trask barked.
An ominous silence fell over the room.
“Give it to us, Allon,” Ram ordered grimly.
“Word just came in. The other female aboard the captured shuttle has been identified as Lana Hartman.”
“Dammit,” Ram exclaimed at yet another blow. He had become well acquainted with Lana during Eryn’s illness and had grown fond of her, but Trask thought of her as his mate.
When he glanced at his friend, he took in his rigid frame and clenched jaw, and how the muscles in his neck had corded with tension. Ram gripped his shoulder, squeezing firmly as he addressed the captain. “Allon, do you plan on parceling out more bad news one bitter bite at a time? Or is that it?”
“I apologize. There was no easy way to tell you.”
“If they’ve hurt her,” Trask growled, with deadly intent. Then he barked, “Transport now.”
Moments later, in a shimmer of brilliant white light, they arrived in an unoccupied cargo hold on the Denastrian ship.
“Where to next?” Trask demanded.
One warrior activated a handheld scanner. “About one hundred on board, standard engine room, although, oddly, it’s on this level. There are four in all, but the layout is in reverse of what we are used to. We’re at the top, and the bridge is located at the base of the craft. The next level down is crew quarters.”
“It’s where they are holding the women,” Trask surmised. “We get there undetected, move back up, and transport out. Once aboard the Dauntless, we blow the disgusting creatures and their ship to the far reaches of the galaxy.”
Ram shook his head, narrowing his eyes at Torq, who was still scanning. “It’s too easy. Check again. What are you missing?”
After another moment, the warrior glanced up in surprise. “You’re right. There are low level radiation readings on level three. Just a fraction over, so it’s barely a blip on the scanner.”
“In the crew quarters?” Trask asked of Ram. “Stored weapons perhaps?”
He shook his head. “My guess is they’re holding them there, under guard. They wouldn’t trust Noran, as a warrior.”
“They’d be smarter to mistrust Eryn, she seems to have an elusive knack about her,” the general added.
Ram couldn’t discredit his remark. She’d escaped him twice but didn’t have an infant in her charge either time.
“The radiation is the highest near the lifts,” Torq disclosed further.
“Which makes them too risky to use,” Ram stated.
“What’s the alternative? Blast our way through and announce our arrival?”
Ram grabbed the handheld device from the warrior and studied it. He swiped through several different screens, searching for another more viable option.
“Well? What’s the call?” Impatience filled Trask’s voice.
“We go through the air ducts.” He pointed to a three-foot square vent in the wall. “There.”
As they moved toward it, Ram imagined they were all thinking the
same thing when they glanced at one another doubtfully.
The general voiced his concern first. “Will we fit?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll soon find out. But not this one. There’s another outside in the hall, leading to a side corridor away from the lifts.”
With photon blaster at the ready, Ram led the way, checking the corridor ahead of exiting. He motioned for the others to follow. About midway, they came to a ventilation panel low on the wall. He squatted, pried off the cover, and stuck his head inside. Narrower than the grate, the smooth-sided chute dropped about six feet then jutted off at a sharp ninety-degree angle.
“It will be tight, and the bend at the bottom will be tricky, but I think we can do it if we go headfirst.”
A dull thud rising from the open duct put Ram on alert. He peered down into the hole. Another faint thud had him holding up a hand, silencing the men behind him. He cocked his head, listening, watching.
Trask moved in next to him and peered down the chute with him. “What’s wrong?”
“I thought I heard something.”
Before he finished speaking, several muffled noises echoed off the metal walls, followed by a thud and a muffled curse.
“Someone is down there,” Trask commented needlessly.
“Give me a light,” Ram ordered, and shoved his open hand out behind him. When one slapped across his palm, he aimed it into the duct. The noises grew louder, and then the top of a blonde head came into view at the L juncture below them. A moment later, a flushed feminine face and a pair of golden-brown eyes appeared. She froze, squinting up into the light. A second later, realizing she’d been found, she began a panicked retreat.
“Lana?” Trask murmured in surprise. “It’s Lana.”
She stopped again, a hand coming up to block the glaring beam shining in her eyes. Ram angled it away. Her surprise turned to shock and her mouth gaped open. “Trask?” She blew out a breath. “Thank you, God.”
“What the hell are you doing down there?”
“Escaping,” she snapped at his censorious tone. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Where are Eryn, Cierra, and the others?” Ram asked.
She scooted farther along until she could sit up, her top half in the vertical shaft. She wiggled around, moving a heavy blanket covering her chest. A thick thatch of ebony hair appeared, and a soft cooing carried up to them. To Ram, it was the sweetest sound in the universe.
“Cierra.” His deep breath seemed like the first one he’d taken since hearing of her capture.
“Yes, your daughter is right here. And I must say, she is the best baby, ever. She thinks it’s all a game. I didn’t have to worry about her crying, rather that her laughter would alert the disgusting toads.”
“Only the Master Warrior’s offspring would find crawling through a ventilation duct an adventure.” Trask chuckled, slapping the relieved father on the back.
“Pass her up to me,” Ram ordered. “Once she’s secure, we’ll haul you up.”
Reaching into the vent, his long arms scooped up his baby girl as Lana lifted her over her head. When he stepped back, he checked her for injuries while Trask took his place and hauled Lana out of the tube.
She sneezed the moment he set her on her feet then began brushing the dirt and dust off her face and from her clothes. “I don’t know how they haven’t succumbed to a fatal respiratory disease or spontaneously combusted.” She sneezed twice more in quick succession. “Those vents are caked with filth.”
“What are you doing here, Lana?” Trask growled. “You were supposed to be working at the colony where it is safe, not on a shuttlecraft, waiting to be snatched by amphibians.”
She stiffened. “Eryn needed my help. I couldn’t say no.”
“Help with what?” Ram demanded without missing a beat.
“Um… Maybe we should find her and she can tell you.”
“Answer the question, mate,” Trask ordered, his anger slightly abated since she’d been found.
Lana’s light-brown eyes cut to his. “Mates no more, Trask, remember?”
“How could I forget?” he muttered.
Ram frowned at the contentious pair. Were they blind? He could almost see the electricity arcing between them. But their drama would have to wait. He still had a mate to find.
He cleared his throat. “What reason did you have for being on the shuttle, Lana? And why did Eryn need your help? When I left her yesterday, she had plans to continue work on the residence. Did something happen?”
“I’d rather Eryn—” she demurred, starting to defer again.
“Tell him what he wants to know,” Trask ordered, all patience gone.
She bristled. “You overstep your authority, General. I’m a resident of New Earth. Under the treaty, colonists have rights, which means you don’t get to boss me around. Or, if I read the intent on your face correctly, spank me for defiance.”
“You think not?” he challenged, pulling her closer.
Her cheeks flooded with color. “You Primarians agreed to that condition. On our new planet, we are free people. Even women!”
“You’re not on New Earth, little one, and we’re saving your sweet ass. Which means you are under my authority. Don’t push me.”
“Your arrogance is unbelievable,” she bit out, trying to pull away.
Ram intervened. Their conflict could go on for days, it had for months already, and Eryn didn’t have the luxury of him indulging them, not while in Ti-zod’s clutches. “Can you two have this little discussion after we rescue my mate and the others?”
Both stopped, their heads twisting his way.
“Of course, Ram. I’m so sorry,” Lana said. “You must be frantic.”
“Where is she?”
“They confined everyone to quarters on the floor below, under heavy guard.” Her eyes darted away, meeting Trask’s then cut back to him. “Except Eryn. Their commander took a liking to her because she already, um…produces milk.” She grimaced. “They are such disgusting creatures. Nothing I could conjure up in my nightmares could be worse.”
“Lana!” Ram urged, attempting to get her back on track.
“Sorry. All I know is he’s keeping her somewhere else, separate from the others.”
“Where?”
Her face fell. “I don’t know.”
“Why were you on the shuttle?”
Posed by him, this time she answered. “Eryn received a summons from the elder council.”
“What? When? I wasn’t informed.”
“The message came for you while you were away. She got upset when they threatened to strip you of your title, position, and property if you didn’t comply. With seventy-two hours to do so, and you gone for two days, she decided she couldn’t wait for your return and went to put an end to it.”
“Stubborn impulsive woman,” he grumbled.
“She said you had sacrificed so much for her already, possibly giving up your position because you couldn’t go home, and being saddled with a mate you don’t love. Eryn insisted on going to keep you from losing anything else because of her.”
An uncomfortable knot gripped his stomach. “She thinks I don’t love her?”
“Yes, and that you are with her out of duty because of Cierra. But she has accepted it. For what she did to you, she sees a one-sided love match as part of her punishment.”
Pain, sharp and severe, stabbed him in the chest, almost bringing him to his knees. He broke out in a cold sweat as a wave of dizziness followed. He stayed on his feet with the aid of the wall, which he leaned against for support.
“Ram? What is it?” Trask demanded, moving his way.
“Give me a moment.” Breathing deep, he tried to steady himself. When he did, though still weak-kneed, his eyes came up to meet Lana’s.
“I’ve received similar messages since our return. I ignored the council and took the matter straight to Kerr. He wasn’t aware they had summoned her and became furious they did so without his consent. He called a special
meeting to remind them his Prima had already taken a flogging so the other women wouldn’t have to. He said they appeared stunned and no one admitted sending the messages.”
“If not the council, who would dare such a thing?” Lana exclaimed.
“I haven’t found out yet, but I’m sure this one is also a fake. I don’t think any of the elders would risk Kerr’s wrath.”
“Then someone who knew you were away sent it, knowing Eryn would get it.”
“I agree, and it must be someone who knows her well enough to anticipate she would react as she did. Taking it upon herself to stand before the council to answer for what she feels are her sins.”
“She has tortured herself, plagued with guilt for months over this perceived wrong she did to you.”
“I have given her my forgiveness, dammit.”
Lana didn’t blink as she met his gaze. “She didn’t believe you.”
Growling his frustration, Ram speared his fingers through his hair. “I’ll deal with this after I get her back. As well as the plot to get her off the planet.”
“You think someone alerted the Denastrians that women would be on board?” she challenged further.
“Yes. That shuttle has run four times a day for months. Why attack at this point if not for that reason?”
“We have a conspiracy,” Trask concluded.
Ram grunted. “And at least one traitor.”
“This has gone on far too long. First Eva then Maggie, and now Eryn?”
“My mate was targeted before this. But I’ll explain that later. I need to find her and get her and my daughter off this ship.” When he pushed away from the wall and stood upright, he swayed, still troubled by the dizziness.
“You don’t look well.” Trask moved next to him. “Are you certain you’re up for this? Perhaps you should wait here while I fetch Eryn.”
“No. I’ve got it under control.” He breathed in, addressing the fury brimming in his chest that he barely kept contained. “However, if that slimy bastard has harmed her in any way, I vow I will separate his head from his body.”
His Rebellious Mate (Primarian Mates Book 3) Page 34
