She leaned into the warmth of his touch.
Ketrick leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“If you need anything, you know you only have to ask. My heart beats with yours, Sorceress,” Ketrick said, using his pet name for her.
Riot reveled in the understanding that someone cared for her in this way once more. Endorphins hit her system like a sledgehammer, but she snapped back to her senses just in time. “What are you trying to do to me, here?”
“What?”
“Get out of here.” Riot playfully pushed Ketrick back with a shake of her head. “You’re going to have me inviting you into my room in a second. No, that wasn’t an invitation. Go. I mean it, you raging bag of hormones and testosterone. Wait until we get back.”
Ketrick smiled, showing off his long, canine teeth. He back pedaled down the hall. “Whatever you say.”
Riot let out a long, pent-up breath from deep within her lungs. She entered her room, already stripping off her armor. It was incredible to see the two large puncture holes the Zenoth queen had inflicted and her own new, healthy skin underneath. The nanites running through her system did an unbelievable job of stitching her back together. Besides being tired and a bit sore, Riot was no worse for wear. As she undressed and maneuvered into the hot shower, she used the opportunity to find out more information on the Zenoth she would be interrogating in a few minutes.
“Evonne,” Riot spoke out loud to the Valkyrie’s AI as she removed her underwear and walked to the shower. She twisted the hot water nozzle on full blast. “You’re equipped with all the information the Syndicate had access to about the universe, is that correct?”
“It is,” Evonne said, speaking through the ship itself. “Is there a question I can assist you with?”
The steaming hot water against Riot’s skin felt like heaven reaching down and touching her. She lathered her hair and body, doing her best to wash away the fatigue she felt, along with the sweat and grime.
“Do the Zenoth speak their own language?” Riot asked Evonne.
“They do,” Evonne responded back. “Despite their primitive appearance, the Zenoth’s language is quite extensive.”
“But they don’t speak English or the language the Grovothe speak? Are they even capable of something like that?”
“No. However, technology similar to the nanites you use in your body to translate other languages to your ears and in turn transform your words into other dialects exists in various forms across the universe. It would not be out of the realm of possibility for the Zenoth to have constructed some kind of translation device.”
More than anything, Riot wanted to sit down in the shower and feel the glorious water hit her skin in soothing streams, but there was no time for relaxation. Admiral Tricon was waiting. Riot rinsed the soap from her face and body.
“Evonne,” Riot said, transitioning to the next question bothering her. There was only one way the Zenoth could know her name. If it had been given to them by the Karnayers who’d also provided the technology for the bug-like creatures to build their own ships. “Tell me about the Karnayers.”
“The Karnayers are a technologically advanced species heralding from the planet Rinar. They are ruled by a council of founding families. They are politically charged and known for their history of confronting other planets.”
Riot towel-dried her body before exiting the bathroom. The next question she had for Evonne died on her lips when she saw a breakfast burrito and a large cup of coffee on her bed. A hastily scrawled note sat beside the food.
Sorceress,
Keep your strength up.
P.S. What you call coffee is delicious. I feel warm and tingly inside after my first cup.
Ketrick
“This freaking guy’s going to be the death of me,” Riot said out loud as she grinned like a school girl. She gulped the hot coffee and tore into the burrito as she changed into a clean uniform.
“Evonne, tell me about the house of Karn on the Karnayer planet,” Riot said, bringing to memory the name Remus’s brother had used during their brief conversation.
“The House of Karn is one of the ruling families on Rinar. They can trace their ancestry line to the very beginning of the colonization of the planet. They are known for their questionable tactics and a shady history with other planets. It seems they have come close to open warfare more than a few times, with incidents ranging from one of their ships accused of stealing technology from other planets, to accusations of kidnappings. Should I list the discrepancies leveled against the House of Karn for you?”
“No, that’s fine.” Riot winced as she dragged a hairbrush through her short, wet, brown hair. “Admiral Grovothe told me as much. It seems the ruling families have a history of doing whatever they want, then, if they are caught, they deny being involved with the accused party, stating that they have gone rogue.”
“That seems correct,” Evonne said.
Riot stuffed her face with another mouthful of burrito before deciding to take the burrito with her in one hand and her coffee in another. Riot walked from her room toward the rear of the Valkyrie, where she was supposed to meet Rippa.
A thought to go and check in on Vet crossed her mind, but Wang or Doctor Miller would let her know if there was any change, she was sure of it.
Riot passed an empty cargo bay, Vikta probably out patrolling the skies around the Dreadnaught. Rippa was sitting on the edge of the Valkyrie’s open cargo bay ramp. She was showered and changed, as well. A grey uniform hugged her body. Her bright red hair just as wet as Riot’s.
The major stared in silence, her view directed out of the hangar bay force field that showed a setting sun over the red pane of Raydon. She was calm, though bags hung below her tired eyes.
“The Karnayers are as much to blame for this as anyone else,” Rippa spoke, still staring out into the orange-hued horizon. “They may not have pulled the trigger, but they gave the Zenoth the weapons. They killed not only Ragnar, but also the other two strike teams we sent in that failed to take out the Zenoth transport ships. There are teams on Raydon still digging out Grovothe bodies from the two other hives.”
“You’re not going to get any argument from me,” Riot said, thinking back on her own past with the Karnayers. She placed her coffee and burrito on a crate in the cargo bay. “The Karnayers have been at the center of all of our problems, thus far.”
Rippa rose from her seat. There was something past anger in her eyes, something Riot understood well. Wrath and revenge were on Rippa’s mind. “I’m going to kill them, Riot. I’m going to wipe the House of Karn from the history books.”
26
Riot fell in step with Rippa as the two women left the Valkyrie and headed for the meeting with Admiral Tricon and the Zenoth that was apparently capable of communicating with them.
As usual, the hangar was a rolling mass of Grovothe engineers making repairs on ships. Various Warwings and Archangel transport ships came in and out from running their missions on Raydon.
As Rippa and Riot made their way to the meeting, Riot couldn’t help asking Rippa to elaborate on her previous statement. “Is the Admiral and the rest of the Grovothe brass going to give the green light with engaging a Karnayer ruling family?”
Rippa led Riot down two flights of stairs and a long hall that sloped down.
“They will. I’ll make them see it has to be done,” Rippa said, her voice so menacing, it caught Riot by surprise.
The way Rippa was feeling was normal after losing a soldier. The Riot from a few months ago would have agreed with Rippa, maybe even stoking the fires and urging her on. Maybe even not saying a word. The woman Riot was becoming told her she should say something.
Great, Riot thought as a dozen different comforting words came to mind, each sounding worse in her own head than the last. You’ve got to say something.
“We’re not going to let them get away with this.” Riot lifted a hand to place on Rippa’s shoulder. The two women walking side by
side made the act awkward. Riot was about to put her hand down, then rethought it and retracted her palm.
“What are you doing?” Rippa stopped in the hall and looked at Riot with a awkward glare. “Were you going to pat me on the shoulder?”
“What? No, no, no. No way. Why would you even think that?” Riot asked, leaning back to further prove her point. “That would be weird and so out of my character.”
Riot stared at the shorter Grovothe for the space of a handful of heartbeats before she shrugged and walked down the hall. “Well, are you coming? Because I have no idea where I’m going.”
Rippa huffed, catching up to Riot and led her into the ship’s labyrinth of corridors once more.
“I’m just saying, I’ve got your back,” Riot said, unable to let the conversation go. “My recommendation to SPEAR once we head back to Earth is going to be to hunt down this Karnayer faction. I don’t think we’ll get any grief from the Trilords. Ketrick’s people want them dead just as much as we do.”
“Good,” Rippa grunted.
The two women continued on, always heading deeper into the ship’s underbelly. The floor under their feet felt like thin carpet, the lights overhead set into the ceilings, the walls a plain grey.
Finally, Rippa came to a stop by a pair of doors guarded by two Grovothe soldiers in grey uniforms. They saluted when they saw who approached.
Riot returned the salute, as did Rippa.
“Admiral Tricon asked that you join him in the viewing room first,” one of the guards said as he opened the door behind him. “He’s waiting inside.”
Rippa didn’t say anything. She walked inside the open door.
Riot nodded to the two guards, who looked up at her with something like a mix of wonder and admiration. The guard on her left, a muscular Grovothe with a long, black beard, coughed into this hand, then turned as bright red as a ripe tomato.
“Sorry, Captain—Warrant Officer Riot,” the Grovothe regained his composure. “My cousin—Brimley—she serves in the Spartan mech unit. She told us what happened down there.”
“Is it true you charged the Zenoth queen with a sledgehammer?” the other guard butted in, saving his friend from stumbling over any more words. “And you were on foot with no support?”
“I heard the Zenoth queen spits acid and has two heads. How did you do that?” Brimley’s cousin asked in awe.
Great. Fan boys, Riot said to herself. No, not boy. Fan Grovothe. They think you’re some kind of hero.
“It’s what had to be done,” Riot said, reliving the moments of battle already. They were nightmares she would take with her to the grave. “She was twenty feet tall, by the way, with a row of spikes around her head.”
The two Grovothes’ jaws dropped open as Riot entered the room. Inside the room was a plain glass window to the left showing the view into a holding room where a particularly small Zenoth sat chained to the wall.
Besides Rippa, there were two other officers in the viewing room. Admiral Tricon and the intelligence officer Riot recognized named Jaroth.
Jaroth sat at a desk with a holographic screen monitoring the creature in the next room. Everything was watched, from its pulse to its breathing pattern.
“Glad you could make it.” Admiral Tricon motioned Riot to close the door behind her. “I wish I could give you more time to rest, but as you can imagine, time is a luxury at the moment.”
“I understand,” Riot said as she closed the door to the room. “I was told the Zenoth is able to communicate?”
“That’s right.” Admiral Tricon looked over at Jaroth who sat at the table, adjusting settings on his monitoring equipment. “I’d butcher the exact words on how it’s able to do this. I’ll hand it over to our intelligence officer to explain.”
Jaroth still sat in his chair, his attention solely on the screen in front of him, with the Zenoth in the adjoining room.
“Jaroth, that’s you,” the admiral said just under a shout.
Jaroth jumped from his desk. “Yes, right, sorry, sir. It’s just that, well … we’re in uncharted territory here.”
“Start from the beginning,” Rippa said as she leaned against the opposite wall of the glass window. “I want to hear it all.”
“Right.” Jaroth looked between Riot and Rippa as he began his explanation. “We’ve studied the Zenoth species in-depth for years now. As we’ve monitored them to make sure they remained on their planet, we’ve discovered they are still a primitive species able to communicate with one another, but not capable of fashioning weapons, and far from space travel.”
“But the Karnayers fixed that,” Rippa said, bristling at the mention of the alien species she held responsible for Ragnar’s death.
“Right.” Jaroth went to the window and pointed at the lone Zenoth. “It seems the Karnayer left a messenger, as well.”
The Zenoth was slumped against the corner of the room. Six chains, one for each of its arms, ensured it wasn’t going anywhere. The segmented body and black eyes looked identical to the thousands Riot had seen earlier that day. Riot was about to ask Jaroth what he was pointing to, when she saw it.
The thin, gold band around the creature’s neck was nearly hidden by the way its head connected to the middle of its body. The gold band glowed with a green hue. Riot had seen this type of decoration before when she fought the dragons on Ketrick’s world of Hoydren.
Karnayer technology or magic allowed them to control various species.
“They’re manipulating and talking through this Zenoth,” Riot said, putting all of the puzzle pieces together. “More exactly, Alveric from the house of Karn is probably speaking through this Zenoth.”
“Do you think they were all tagged like this?” Rippa asked anyone with an answer. “They were all controlled in fighting us?”
“No, more than likely the Karnayers chose a handful from each hive to share a link with so they could monitor the Zenoth and aid them in creating their ships and weapons.” Jaroth crossed his arms over his hefty frame and stared at the Zenoth in the other room. “I can’t wait to get my hands on the Karnayer tech and see what I can learn from it, but we thought it prudent to allow the Karnayers to deliver their message first.”
“And he wants to talk to me,” Riot said, summing up the last phrase on Jaroth’s lips. “Ever since I threw his brother into a pit, he’s been gunning for me. He was the one attacking your ship when we arrived.”
“Alveric and Remus are the heads of the House of Karn, the rogue arm of the Karnayer government,” the Admiral said as his finger traced the scar on the right side of his head. “Warrant Officer Riot, I can only ask that you go in and speak with him. Whatever he has to tell you may give us a clue on what happens next.”
“What happens next is that we find and crush that Karnayer scum and his entire house,” Rippa spat as if the words tasted of venom. “Admiral, I want to go after him right away and…”
Her voice died under the harsh glare from her superior.
“I’m with you on this.” Admiral Tricon looked at Rippa with solemn eyes. “Ragnar was the best of us. I am going to motion that we hunt down Alveric and his contingent of Karnayers, but the more information we have before we do this, the better.”
Rippa looked ashamed for a moment. The expression was soon overtaken by a grim determination once more. “I’m sorry, sir. I understand, of course.”
Riot understood exactly how Rippa felt. More than a few times she had been caught in a similar position, driven by her emotions.
“I’ll go talk to the Zenoth,” Riot said, already turning to leave the room.
“Do you want an escort?” Jaroth asked from his spot next to the one-way glass window. “We have two guards at the door who can go in with you.”
“I’m a big Marine,” Riot said, winking at the short, pudgy Grovothe. “I’ll be fine.”
Riot left the room, nodding to her fan club as she went back into the hall and turned to open the door next to the one she had just exited. Riot released
the reinforced door. It was heavy, and swung open with a click.
The lights in this room were brighter than she expected. No furniture, just the chained Zenoth in the corner of the room. With its impossibly inky black eyes, there was no telling if it tracked her movement as she entered the holding cell, but Riot had a feeling it was watching her with more than just mellow interest.
The door closed behind her with another loud click as safety features bolted her inside.
“Well, you wanted to see me, Alveric,” Riot said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Are you ready to surrender yourself? I mean, we squashed your little bug allies like a bad habit. You have to know we’re coming for you next.”
The Zenoth’s pincers twitched. It rose to its feet, the chains around its legs keeping it from traveling any farther. Alveric’s voice she recognized from their brief conversation after the battle in space above Raydon came through the Zenoth’s throat. It was a bit harsher, like the Zenoth was gargling with a mouthful of gravel, but it was him.
“Warrant Officer Riot, ever the impetuous voice in the face of annihilation,” Alveric said, speaking through the Zenoth. “I see you’ve figured out how we are using the Zenoth. I have to admit, I didn’t know if you were mentally capable of connecting the dots.”
“Oh yeah, my daddy didn’t raise no fool.” Riot smiled. She wasn’t sure if Alveric could see her, but in the end, it didn’t matter. She had no desire to keep the conversation going longer than needed. “You were requesting my presence? Did you need another reassuring that an ass-whooping is coming your way?”
Alveric laughed, a horrible sound that resembled something like acrylic nails being scraped across a chalkboard. “I’m going to enjoy hearing you scream.”
“Well, I’m not really into all that kinky stuff.” Riot sighed. “Listen, I’m not saying I don’t enjoy our chats but, well … I don’t enjoy our chats. If you don’t have anything important to tell me, I have a cold breakfast burrito I left somewhere.”
“I just wanted to tell you that your end is near. I know you consider what you did on Raydon a victory, but let that victory turn to ash in your mouth. All those you care about will be made to suffer in front of your eyes, the Trilords included.”
Click Click Boom (War Wolves Book 2) Page 17
