His chin rested a moment on her head. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, so quietly she almost couldn’t hear him.
She leaned into him, clutching his side. Soft tears burned at the edges of her eyes, unshed. She just wanted this to be over. Really over. With no take backs.
A moment later, they were through the ceiling. A couple of brown, lightly-furred, alien men were there, and they pulled the platform toward them. “Everything’s ready, Haze,” said one.
Surprise washed over her to see these strange aliens taking orders from Haze. A lot seemed to have happened while she was stuck here.
Haze stepped off the platform and gave Vi a hand, helping to steady her as she clambered off too.
There was a scuffle below.
“Cut it!” Haze commanded.
As the rope and platform clattered to the floor below, a few wild shots fired off into the air around them. They leaped away, and Haze tossed a couple of explosives down the hole after the tray.
Vi made her way out of the closet. The slaves were there, clustered together, looking around with large eyes. There were a few more men with guns that Vi didn’t recognize.
“Quickly now. The fun’s not over yet,” Haze said, moving to the lead, pulling Vi next to him.
They moved down the hall and around a corner.
Vi gasped. Twenty-Five lay on the ground, pressed against the wall. Two of his hands were pressed to his side where blood pooled. His other two hands were in the air, shielding himself from whatever other shots may come.
She rushed over and bent down. The slave stared at her with glazed eyes. It didn’t look good.
“Haze.” She looked up. “Can you help him?”
“Not here.” Haze pulled the man up and threw him over his shoulder. “We have to make it a little further.”
The merchant and his bodyguard waited in the middle of the next hallway, at a side door. The merchant held a gun in each of his outer hands.
Vi pulled up short. “You’re the ones helping us? These are your men?” she asked, confused.
He nodded with a smile. “Haze made a strong case for acting now,” Yarda said. “Looks like it was the right call.”
The two men that had run the lift came jogging up. “This floor’s clear,” one of them said. “We count two hostiles on the stairwell and at least three on the floor above.” He shook his head. “If we want to keep this quiet, we’d better step things up.”
The bodyguard turned toward the merchant Yarda. “Boss, I’ll keep most of C-Range here and handle the mop up. You and Haze can take Branson and Radner to get everyone to safety. I’ll signal the AirBuses that you’re on your way to the rendezvous.”
“Thanks, Ollie.” He gripped the bodyguard’s arm for a moment. With his other two free hands, Yarda opened the door and waved the slaves through.
The men fanned out around them, searching for targets. Vi kept her head down, racing with the others to the large shuttle vans, and clambering onboard.
She came to a seat toward the back of the van, aware of her heart beating a thunderclap, squeezing and tightening, so she thought she would faint. She looked around. No Haze, no one she recognized.
The shuttle made a screeching sound as they lurched down the road at high speed. They were all piled in the back, and they jostled around as the vehicle careened around corners.
She got on her knees and crawled toward the front. Haze wasn’t driving her van. It was the men, Branson and Radner.
She tried to think back to when she’d last seen him. He’d grabbed Twenty-Five for her, then she’d just… just focused on getting out.
“Haze, where is he, please?”
“What?” the driver called back.
“Haze - the big green guy — I don’t see him.”
“He’s probably in the other one. Just sit, lady. Let me do my job.”
They careened around another sharp corner in the road. This was definitely a different route than the way she’d arrived.
Vi stopped breathing when she saw a barrier up ahead.
“Now,” the driver yelled. The man beside him pushed a button.
There was a terrific explosion. The vehicle leaped through the divider, and they were free to the open road.
“The other shuttle’s through. Let’s head to the rendezvous.”
It took about thirty minutes before the shuttle came to a jerky stop.
The two men up front climbed out, and it was silent. The slaves in her shuttle looked around with wide eyes, fear filling their faces.
Vi knew that Haze would never let anything happen to her, but these people had risked everything, with no reason to believe they weren’t about to be sold to even harsher Masters.
“It’s okay. I promise. It’s really okay, now,” Vi said.
Finally, the doors opened, and the bright sunlight blinded her.
Vi looked across, and another vehicle had parked there.
The others in Vi’s van began to pile out, but it seemed to take forever. She could sense their reluctance and nervousness. She craned her head to try and look outside, trying not to push herself forward.
Finally, she was at the door of the shuttle again and could step out. She squinted in the bright sun as she tried to peer across to the inside of the other vehicle. The door opened and the merchant Yarda got out.
Then she saw a man come around the back of the van. Haze.
He froze when he saw her and shook his head.
Vi hurried over.
“I couldn’t save him,” Haze said.
“Twenty-Five is dead?” she gasped. He’d been so close to his freedom. It was so sad, just beyond words to express.
Haze nodded and drew back for a second. “Listen, I…" He lunged forward, pulling her into his arms.
Her heart went rat-a-tat-tat as she felt his strong arms hold her close again.
He pulled her into the air, spinning around with her. “You’re safe.” His face buried against her neck, resting against her. “You’re safe.”
He swung her back and forth in his arms, kissing her neck, softly. “Mah lo ma… Mah lo ma… Shah la mah lo ma.”
His words swam through her mind, his voice filled with relief: [My mate, my woman. This woman is my woman.]
As relief filled her with the realization that she might truly be safe now, she felt a tear roll down her cheek, escaping her control. Then his lips were on hers, one arm wrapped tight around her, a hand cradled behind her head.
The world faded away for a moment as they kissed.
32
Haze
Gently, Haze set his female upon the ground: Vi, his most precious charge. He ran a hand through her hair, wishing never to be away from her.
“What’s next?” Vi asked as she pulled back to glance at the people gathered around.
The Vargys slave that Haze had noticed earlier, came forward. “I’m grateful for the connection, Master,” she said, bowing slightly. “What shall be our path forward now?”
“I’m no Master to you, Sister. You can call me Haze. These men are going to get everyone off this planet.” Haze hesitated. “But you might not know… The Vargys planet is not available to you now. Do you have another place to go?”
“Originally, I was headed to Balanger, the planet with all the old Vargys ruins. With everything that’s happened to Vargys, perhaps I could continue there. Truly, those Suhlik are villains to create such a plague upon our people.”
“Wait. What’s this about the Suhlik?”
“Didn’t you hear? My last Master told me. I think he enjoyed telling me while he had his fun. The Suhlik created the plague and released it on our planet. They wanted a testing ground for taking out unruly planets without having a force present. I think the plague was a bit slow for their taste, though.”
Shock rushed through Haze, followed quickly by strong disbelief. “It’s not remotely possible. We would have heard of it. The doctors would have figured out if the Suhlik caused the plague on Vargys.”
>
The Vargys girl shrugged her shoulder. “Apparently, there’s a lot of profit in it, for The Underground. The man was very excited to deal with the Suhlik and put himself in a position to benefit from it. He never made it back from his meeting with them. Then his belongings were sold, me along with them. I think the Lady Boss, she won the bid. Perhaps, she can tell you more.”
Haze let it pass. He would tell Seban and the captain. They would get to the bottom of it. For now, he only grieved for the girl in her rags. “Little Sister, what’s your name?”
“I was… am… Saetyria. Saetyria Louves.”
“The old colony you mentioned, it’s a safe zone now. We could take you there, if you wanted.”
“Thank you. It would be so nice to live amongst my own kind again.”
A large noise broke out above their clearing. Haze looked over to see a big air bus making a heavy landing.
The merchant came over. “Haze, our transport is here.”
“Sorry about your countryman, Yarda. I guess they called him Twenty-Five here,” Haze said.
“Truly, I did not know him well enough, although I’d met him briefly when dealing with Lady Vardon. I’d hoped we could free him.” He shook his head. “We’ll bring him home, try to find his family and his name, give him Last Rites. It was a true service of you to try and rescue him. His family is in your debt, and I shall stand for it, should you ever need it.”
Haze nodded his head. “And I remain in your debt, for your help rescuing Vi, should you ever need anything.”
The merchant smiled. “We have your parts, as arranged.”
“Thanks, Brother. It is appreciated.”
The shopkeeper inclined his head. “It is an honor to be called your Brother.”
“What’s next?” Haze asked, looking to the former slaves.
“We’ll fly out to our little cabin; get everyone processed and find out where they want to go. Some of us will need to stay here to quell unrest and see what inroads we can make into the businesses on other systems. At least at first, we must function as though it is business as usual.”
A tall yellow-skinned woman came forward to stand before Vi.
“Little One, I am told there is a home for me. It is small and a well-guarded secret. I will need to…” She cocked her head in thought. “…approach channels to open the way for me, but…” She inclined her head and touched her forehead, closing her eyes in deepest thought. “I have a home now.”
A single tear elegantly rolled down her cheek until she opened her eyes again with a smile.
Vi reached forward and pulled the woman into a hug. “I”m so happy for you,” Vi said as she pulled back.
The woman nodded. “Thank you, Eighty-Three,” she said, touching Vi’s forehead with a fingertip.
“Vi. You can call me, Vi. What will you call yourself?”
The woman closed her eyes. “I thought Yuula before, when I thought I was the last of my people, in honor of our race. But now…” She shook her head. “I will reclaim my name once it comes to me, for I am sure it will chase through my dreams from my mother’s heart. It only waited for my freedom to make its return.”
Haze reached out to touch Vi’s hand. “I’m sorry. We should get back to our shuttle. It’s a bit of a hike from here.”
“Some day, I hope I will learn of it,” Vi said to the yellow-skinned woman. She glanced back at Haze with a soft smile on her face.
Haze reached out to grasp her hand. “Yarda, we’ll take our leave now.”
Yarda folded two hands together to nod over his hands while spreading two away from his body in farewell. He led the freed people away, toward the airbus.
Once Haze, Vi, and Saetyria reached the shuttle, he couldn’t help but marvel at the parts arranged near the entrance. Their work here was done.
They had done it, and freed others from a terrible life, while they were at it.
In truth, Haze hadn’t been sure any of the slaves would come. They had no reason to trust more men, especially men with guns. He figured it had everything to do with Vi. She had gotten through to them.
He lugged the parts inside as Vi showed Saetyria one of the awkward, fold-out beds in the back, so she could rest.
Haze made the checks, and the shuttle lifted into the air and broke atmosphere.
For a time, Haze and Vi sat beside each other, not saying anything, then he reached over to touch her hand.
Haze glanced over. “Want to talk about it?”
She smiled at him, a tight, guarded thing. “Not really. I’m so glad you were able to get them out. What an absolutely horrible place.”
He squeezed her hand.
“I’ll be honest,” Vi said, looking up. “I want to go to the gym and beat something up. What do you think? Once things settle down, you got time to teach me some moves?”
“You will be a force of nature for the Mahdfel.” He glanced at her, sideways. “You already are a force of nature, woman.”
Vi grinned at that. “Great, it’s settled then.”
“I almost forgot.” Haze dug into his bag and pulled out her drawing pad. “I stopped by the room, before. I found this and thought you’d want it back.”
Vi’s hand grazed gently over the cover. “I hoped so much you would grab this for me.” She opened it and flipped slowly through the pages. Then she bent to his bag and pulled out a pencil and started to sketch. It looked like long random lines, but Haze was no judge of how those things worked.
Haze reached over to swipe the comm, calling over to the Xeo on the encrypted line. “Team, come in.”
“Haze?” It was Xain. “I’ll put you through.”
There was a click. “Go ahead,” Xain said.
“Haze reporting in. We are two plus one. Ready the party. E.T.A.…” His eyes scanned the dash. “…About two hours.”
He heard a few whoops over the comms and a high-pitched squeal of joy. He chuckled at that last, leaning back from the comm’s feedback screech, and glanced over at Vi. She had stopped with her doodles and a smile crossed her face.
Already, the random lines were becoming something else.
Haze tore his eyes away. “Our plus one is a Vargys girl,” he said into the comm. “Can we have the doctor standing by?”
“On it, Haze,” Seban said. “Any injuries I should be prepared for?”
Haze glanced over at Vi, unspoken dread in his heart. They had been lucky with the slaves. Men lost, but most of the slaves had survived and were on their way to a new life. But that didn’t mean there weren’t injuries.
Vi shook her head no, then she leaned forward to speak into the comms. “We’re okay, Seban. I think a shower, clean bed, and a good night’s rest would be a very welcome thing.”
The captain’s voice came over the comm. “Understood. We’re glad to have you all back safe.”
“Cap’n, we have the parts. They even had some of those Evan fusers Oz mentioned.”
“Great, see you soon, Brother.”
“Haze out.”
Haze input the updated coordinates to the ship that Xain had sent over while they chatted.
After a moment, Vi glanced over. “To be honest, I’m so tired. Do you mind if I sleep?”
“Of course not.” But he felt a bit sad. The girl wasn’t looking him in the eye. Hopefully, she really was just tired.
As she went behind the curtain, he glanced down at her sketchpad. He saw thick black lines, and through the lines a whirling dervish of movement. Somehow, even in black-and-white, she’d managed to convey a splash of light as though from a burst of something. The entire thing was chaotic and beautiful, but the lines were what captured him the most. He saw the faint outline of fingers around one.
It was the bars of a cage and the movement beyond and the light show… a firefight. The whirling movement. It reminded him of something, of how he felt when he was lost to the battle.
It was exotic and beautiful and sad.
He studied it to try and read some clues, b
ut it felt like he’d been dropped into something he shouldn’t have glimpsed. Or perhaps, it was why she’d left it for him. To say what she couldn’t say?
His throat closed up as he thought of all he had almost lost, and all that he had gained back, in one day.
Trying to clear his head, he went to the side compartment to load his quarry: the parts that had brought about this whole mess; the parts that would return the Xeo to her old self.
33
Violet
Vi woke a short time later. She glanced over at the other cot, but Saetyria was still sleeping. Vi wondered if Saetyria had slept very well in many years. Vi sat up as quietly as she could, but Saetyria startled awake anyway. It was probably hard to relax in such an unknown place.
Vi whispered, "You can keep sleeping. I can let you know once we’re there.”
Saetyria stared at Vi, before comprehension flitted across her face. She smiled through a yawn, her tail clutched between her hands. “Thank you.” She tucked her tail under her head and settled more comfortably.
“I feel like this is all a dream," she mumbled. "I can’t even believe it’s happened. You really think this is real though?”
“Don’t worry," Vi said. "It’s completely real.”
It’d only been one day of hell for Vi, but she felt the worrisome truth gnaw at her too: Perhaps it was all a dream and they were really back at that boss’s slave camp.
Nerves flitted through her, but Vi hid them as best she could. “I’ll check how things are going,” she whispered and climbed out of bed.
The girl nodded and closed her eyes.
As Vi made her way to the front, letting the divider curtain fall back into place, Haze turned in his chair to glance back. “How’d you sleep?” he asked, softly.
She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s a little cramped, but much preferred to what I almost had to deal with,” she admitted. “Are we almost back?”
“Maybe thirty minutes.” He reached a hand back to her, a soft smile lighting his face.
She took it, and he pulled her hand to his face, kissing it.
Haze (The Telorex Pact Book 2) Page 13
