Walt came to sit and they clinked containers. “Here’s to living dangerously,” he said as he raised his own drink to his lips. As if sensing the urgency vibrating inside her, Walt didn’t waste any more time after his first long swallow. “What brings you here?”
“I did tell Aydarr you’d been following your previous orders, from Sectors Command, when you tried to talk to me, by the way,” she said, figuring beginning with her attempt to do him a good turn with the leader of the valley couldn’t hurt. “He took the information well.”
Walt shook his head. “Yeah, you try disobeying one of his orders and see what happens to you. Aydarr was literally born to run his pack of skillful and deadly killers, and he doesn’t tolerate infractions. It’ll take me a few squared away missions run by the book to get back on his good list.”
“You’re not going to like what I’m here for then.” Taura set her nearly full drink on the cave floor. “I realized I was the special experiment the Khagrish were working on at that damn lab. The Chimmer wanted them to break my Mellurean memory block.”
Walt whistled. “Good luck with that.”
“Yeah, well the Badari Great Mother zapped it in nothing flat so good thing she’s on our side. Or the Badari side anyway. But I’m sure the Khagrish have been keeping an eye on that lab site in case they can recapture me, if I survived. I suggested to Aydarr I should go on this mission to serve as a distraction—”
Raising one eyebrow and pausing before he took his next swallow, Walt made a guess. “And he said no.”
“Politely but emphatically. But he’s wrong—you and I both know he’s being overcautious. Extra firepower or a good diversion at just the right time could be the difference between success and failure. Between saving Jadrian’s life and losing him.”
Walt pointed his beer bottle at her. “You could wind up dead.”
“I’ll take that risk in a heartbeat. Aydarr said I’m debilitated and, of course, he doesn’t know what I’m capable of so he said no.” The refusal burned in Taura’s craw.
“The Badari accept the fact human women can be kickass fighters,” Walt said. “There’s Jill herself, of course, and Flo from Gabe’s crew, plus some others. But even you have to admit your track record on the ground here hasn’t been too good, with all the flashbacks.” He drained the final drops from his own drink. “So if he said no, and you’re here, I can guess what you want.” He pointed at her then himself. “Are we about to become a two-person rescue team?”
“Will you fly me there? Is there a flyer we can get our hands on?” She held her breath.
Leaning back in his chair, Walt pitched his empty container in the direction of the small food prep area. A muted clang as container met trash bin testified to the success of his throw. “When I was assigned by Sectors Command to find you, I was shown your service jacket. Not all of it, of course—a lot was redacted—but enough so I know what a good agent you were, how deadly you could be. So I don’t question the assumption you can do what you’re proposing. But going rogue on someone else’s mission, especially a rescue op, isn’t a good idea. What if we fly in and get crosswise with what Aydarr has planned? It could be a disaster, Jadrian could end up dead anyway, and you and I might as well trigger our own checkout codes because Aydarr would never forgive us.”
“I’d never forgive myself if I sit here and don’t go out there myself to help Jadrian.” She rose from her chair and paced, needing to use her excess nervous energy. “I know this will work. It’s the extra boost Aydarr and the Badari need, whether he’ll admit it or not. Aydarr doesn’t understand how qualified I am and there wasn’t any time to prove my skills to his satisfaction today.”
“Yeah, he’s hard headed. Comes with his job, running everything.” Walt sounded approving to Taura. “He also probably promised Jadrian to keep you safe while he was gone.”
“Which makes me even more angry—who the seven hells are they to decide what’s best for me?” She ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to calm down a bit and refocus on the most pressing issue. “Time’s running out—if you won’t fly me there, at least don’t turn me in. I’ll steal the damn flyer and get myself there.”
Walt stood as well, heading for the corner of the cave where his bed sat. Over his shoulder he said, “I didn’t say I wasn’t going. Old soldier like me, I hate to miss out on a good fight. Let me get my weapon, and we’ll head for the landing field. I can get us past the guards if Aydarr left any. We can strategize on the way about how not to muck up Aydarr’s strategy for rescuing Jadrian in one piece.”
The flight to the lab where she’d been held was longer than she expected, but Taura had to admit she’d been in no condition to judge distances when she was rescued initially.
Walt flew at a terrifyingly low height across the landscape but with consummate skill. “We might actually arrive before Aydarr does, by the way. This is a faster flyer, and he’s going to have to link up with the cadets first and take care of the wounded man they have with them before he can go after Jadrian.”
Taura was in the co-pilot’s seat. “We need to find where the Khagrish are holding Jadrian. Let Aydarr know we’re here and give him our scout report—you can do that, right? You have the com frequency? Then we’ll take position to support the attack when Aydarr launches his offensive.”
“Yeah, I can contact Aydarr. The Badari communicate telepathically with each other, but now since the pack now has human allies, there’s a com setup too. A special rig MARL created and swears the Khagrish can’t detect.” Walt scanned the readouts. “Getting close. I’m going to land in a different place than the Badari used last time they came here. We’ll have to hike in. Are you sure you’re up to this mission? Not too late to call it off and fly home.”
“I’ll be fine. “ She laughed without much humor. “I slept for three days—I can’t imagine what it’d take for me to feel any better.”
Walt set the flyer down in a small clearing. As soon as they descended the ramp and Walt had sealed the flyer, Taura set off into the forest, weapon at the ready. The soldier hastened to catch up.
“How do you know where you’re going?”
“I can sense Jadrian—I know where he is.” She felt as if she had a cord wrapped around her hand and all she had to do was follow the tug. Even more than before, she knew to the core of her being she was doing the right thing to disobey Aydarr’s orders and be here to participate in the rescue of her mate.
“At least he’s alive.” Walt fell back to guard her six, treading silently in her wake.
After about a half an hour of working her way through the dense forest, Taura reached the fringes of the forest surrounding her former prison and took cover. “Viewers?”
From his position in concealment beside her, Walt handed her the requested item.
The Khagrish had established a makeshift camp on the fringe of the ruined lab since ambushing the Badari salvage team and capturing Jadrian. Several of the black-uniformed security officers stood guard on the perimeter, watching the forest intently, while two more were clustered with a pair of Khagrish scientists, unmistakable with their elaborate red and yellow hair. The latter were dressed in fatigues but had no body armor and no visible weapons Taura could see. All of the security troops were armed to the teeth. The group with the scientists stood off to the side, studying something which Taura guessed was either a motion tracker or a map, probably trying to figure out where the other Badari had gone in the vast forest.
She bit her lip to stifle a gasp when she found Jadrian. Half naked, he was strung up by the wrists between two columns. A blood splattered black neurocontroller was locked onto his right wrist, just below the ropes. His back was a bloody mess and his head lolled to the side as if he was unconscious. Only the fact she sensed the psychic cord taut between them reassured her he was alive.
Handing Walt the viewers so he could make his own assessment, she hunkered down further in the brush as another team of Khagrish security guards passed by abo
“No sign of the escaped prisoner,” said one in Khagrish, which she’d learned during her captivity.
“No more Badari either. Whoever he was protecting got away. Tracks indicated juveniles, maybe one badly wounded adult.” The other guard reported to the person Taura guessed was the senior scientist, as his crest contained a preponderance of high status red hair.
“Aydarr is mad as hell,” Walt whispered, one hand to his ear where the tiny com device was embedded. “But since we’re already on scene and I’ve described the numbers we’re dealing with here, he’s agreed to add us to the plan. The Badari aren’t picking up anything from Jadrian—he’s got them blocked. We’re to wait for the Alpha’s signal before going in.”
“Fine, whatever he says.” Taura kept her focus on the scene playing out in front of her. One of the security guards strutted to Jadrian, lifted his head by the hair and swore at him before punching him hard in the gut.
A second man joined the first, holding a neurocontroller. Laughing, he thumbed the switches and a spasm tore through Jadrian’s frame.
Taura caught a renewed surge of pain through the bond. Hold on, don’t give in, we’re coming, she said in her mind, trying to send her lover encouragement and strength.
The other guards joined the first two, ringing the helpless Badari, watching him react to the torture, encouraging the one with the controller to ratchet up the power. Another man took a force whip from his belt and lifted it to inflict a blow.
“They’re going to kill him,” she said, taking aim at the man with the neurocontroller. Her first shot went a bit wild but she drilled the Khagrish through the heart with her second. Picking out her next target, she downed another guard. Beside her, Walt was firing as well.
“We need to move,” he said. “We’re outnumbered and Aydarr won’t be here for at least ten more minutes.”
She kept firing but now the enemy had taken cover and was returning fire with ferocity. “Lead the way. I’ll be right behind you.”
Walt slid away into the brush but before she could follow him, a squad of six Khagrish came up on her from the forest behind her position. The first inkling she had of their arrival was a pair of energy bolts blasting the tree trunk on either side of her.
“Drop your weapon, human, and turn around slowly,” said the black-clad officer leading the group. “Or I’ll kill you right here.”
Angry and nauseous over being captured so easily, she raised her hands and did as he demanded. Two men came forward, grabbing her by the arms and hauling her to her feet. The officer ordered the others into the forest to search. “She can’t have been here by herself. The shot pattern indicated at least two shooters,” he said. Walking over to her, he looked her up and down, retracting his visor so she could see his sneer. “Kind of a small and ineffectual rescue team, aren’t you?” he said. “Don’t worry, we’ll find your companions soon enough. “
I hope Walt relocated. But the soldier wasn’t her concern. Saving Jadrian was. And right now all the Khagrish attention had redirected to her. Good.
Their grip on her tight and punishing, the two Khagrish guards brought her to the scientist, who wasn’t anyone she’d ever seen before during her captivity. He and his colleague stared at her with unnerving attention while the female scientist ran a scanner over her. The two Khagrish conferred over the readings and repeated the procedure.
Excitedly, the junior scientist said, “This is her, the human the Chimmer wanted to have broken at this lab. The DNA signature matches exactly.” She clutched her senior’s arm, practically weeping with relief. “We’re so blessed to have found her—the customer would never have forgiven our losing her. But now they won’t ever have to know.”
“Maybe we’re a little too blessed.” The senior scientist didn’t act thrilled. He studied Taura’s face and body, reached for her right arm and rubbed the spot where the red mark from the neurocontroller stained her skin like a brand. He spoke over his shoulder to the waiting guard officer. “Seems you were right, captain, that the animals would be drawn to our trap, using their captured comrade as bait. I never expected to be lucky enough to find this woman, however.” Eyes narrowed, he studied Taura for an unnervingly long time. “I’m Dr. Ingglimmer and you are obviously the escaped prisoner.” His Basic was fluent. “I think you have much explaining to do. Many things to tell us, including what the Chimmer want to know, but now I have my own, more pressing questions.”
Breathing hard, Taura tried not to allow her stress to seep into her voice. Buy time for Aydarr to get here. “My mate told me to hide until you left, but I couldn’t let you kill him. You leave him alone, you hear me? Take me, let him go.”
“Mate? They’re mated?” The younger scientist sounded awed, and her bushy yellow-pink eyebrows rose. “We’ve got ourselves a mated pair? Do you think she’s breeding? Oh, this gets better and better. I’ll go get the deep tissue scanner.”
“You do that.” Dr. Ingglimmer kept his focus on Taura as his excitable colleague hustled to the pile of crates and instruments. “You expect us to believe this man and his band of juveniles broke you out of this lab, killed the entire contingent of Khagrishi, did all this damage to our facility—” He waved his hand in the general direction of the burned ruin, “Took you for a mate and stayed in this vicinity until we arrived to search for you? Perhaps the majority of my colleagues are more skeptical than I am when it comes to the intelligence and abilities of their former test subjects but I believe the animals and the escaped humans have become a dangerous fighting force on this planet. A threat to Khagrish.”
Taura tossed her hair. “Believe whatever you want. I won’t betray my friends.”
Ingglimmer didn’t answer, clasping his hands and tapping his thumbs against each other while he studied her. He gave a brisk nod and pointed to Jadrian. “Captain, kill the animal.”
“No!” Taura kicked out, toppling the guard on her left, whose hold had grown lax. Whirling, she ducked under the man reaching for her, grabbed the weapon from the man she’d knocked over, and sprinted toward Jadrian, determined to protect him.
“Stop her!” Ingglimmer yelled.
She shot the closest guard, right through the middle of his forehead, and winged the next man before she was tackled from behind by a third, who broke her hold on the weapon.
Hauled to her feet, she was still fighting.
“So part of your story is apparently true—you do have feelings for this animal.” Ingglimmer, who hadn’t stirred from his original spot, raised a hand. “I’m cancelling the kill order for now if you stand down at once.”
Taura relaxed her stance and sought to give off an air of cowed compliance.
“Good strategy, sir.” Enthusiastically the guard captain endorsed his superior’s chosen tactics. “Since she’s so invested in his wellbeing, we can sure use the animal as leverage on her. She’ll talk before we’re through.” He leaned closer to Taura. “You’ll be amazed how much punishment these brutes can take. It’ll add to the amusement to make you watch.”
She spat in his direction and tried to kick him. He reacted by slapping her across the face.
“None of that now,” the officer said with a laugh as she doubled over in pain and shock. “Show a little more respect or your so-called mate will pay for every insult. Corporal!”
“Sir?” The guard whose weapon she’d stolen stood straighter.
“Administer a reminder to our captive there.”
Apparently eager to inflict pain on their helpless captive, the guard wasted no time in pulling a controller from his belt, aiming it at Jadrian, and ostentatiously flicking the switch.
“You bastards, you’ll be the ones paying,” Taura said as the shared pain rippled through her, and Jadrian convulsed against his bonds. She didn’t know if he was fully conscious or not. She hoped not.
“Enough.” Ingglimmer snapped his fingers, and the guard flipped the device off. “Is she breeding?”
“Oh. Right.” Recalled to duty, the assistant stepped forward warily and ran a fast scan. “Apparently not.”
Head tilted, pointing his finger at her, Ingglimmer laid down his terms to Taura. “I think there’s much, much more to you than my late colleagues suspected. I think the Chimmer forgot to share a few details, but I intend to learn it all now. Co-operate and I’ll let the animal live a little longer, at least until you’ve given up all your secrets. Put her in restraints, captain, post a guard, and let’s finish our business here so we can leave before dusk. There are records we need to find, if at all possible, so I don’t have to recreate protocols from scratch at my own lab. Once we’ve secured those we can devote full attention to interrogating this pair of rebels here on site. I’m not sure we need to take them both with us. It may be better to kill the male as an example for any others lurking nearby.”
“Your kind didn’t manage to break me before,” Taura said, full of hatred that lent her strength.
“My colleagues didn’t have the tools or knowledge of your emotions at their disposal that I have.” Ingglimmer hooked his thumb in Jadrian’s direction. “I’ve got your fatal weakness in my control, I believe?”
“What do you want to do about the escaped Badari juveniles whose tracks we found?” asked the guard officer.
“Leave them for a future excursion. They’ll be easy enough to find, I’m sure. The new detectors should be in beta test mode soon, and we can scan vast swathes of the cursed forest and root out this troublesome resistance before the Chimmer ever hear so much as a whisper of the trouble going on.”
I hope I get a chance to warn Aydarr about the new scanner capabilities. Taura’s wrists were secured in front of her, and the guard dragged her to the columns where Jadrian was suspended, his toes barely dragging on the ground. The captain forced her to kneel before linking her bound wrists to a handy metal protrusion on the broken portal. She was achingly close to Jadrian but unable to touch him.
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