by Kate Rudolph
They wouldn’t be the people they were if they didn’t need to protect their people.
She made it to their suite and burst in to find chaos. Half of the women had cornered Laurel, the blonde with the stolen tablet, while Jo, Mindy, Quinn, and a few others were trying to hold them back. They were yelling and grabbing and hitting and seemed oblivious to the flashing lights around them. The sirens, thankfully, weren’t constant, or Sierra might have gone deaf.
Tension rode everyone hard. There was some sort of threat coming from space, but so far the sky was clear and there was nothing but a blue, wintry morning outside.
“Hey!” She tried to get some attention, but the mass of bodies was too focused on themselves to stop the pile on. Sierra looked around, seeing if anything in the room could be twisted to her advantage. And right there was the metal table she and her crew had sat at yesterday, mostly empty. She got a good grip on it and flipped it, sending it crashing to the ground with a deafening clatter.
That froze everyone in place. Sierra stalked over and the mob parted before her. She stood in front of Mindy and Jo, who she trusted no matter what was going on, and crossed her arms. “What the fuck is happening here?” she demanded.
“She used the tablet to send out our coordinates. She wants to be their fucking slave!” one of the women in the crowd yelled and a chorus of angry agreement backed her up.
“I didn’t,” Laurel whimpered, cringing in on herself. “I don’t remember. I don’t—” Her denials choked off as she blubbered out tears.
Sierra looked at Mindy, eyebrow raised.
“There was a message sent from that tablet you took off her,” she confirmed. “And there’s a splotch of oil on her pants that could have come from the engine room.”
Sierra held her hands up and pushed at the air like she could somehow summon magical powers and push the angry survivors back. “Mindy, Jo, and I will deal with Laurel,” she promised them. “But right now shit’s about to get real and you need to get your stuff and be ready. I don’t know the procedures here, but we might need to make a run for it.”
“I’m not running with her,” another one of the women said. All the ones that were talking seemed to be hiding in the middle of the group, as if they couldn’t speak up if they showed their faces.
Quinn had disappeared when Sierra showed up, but she came back with strips of cloth that looked like they might have once been a shirt. “If we tie her up and guard her, she can’t fuck with us anymore.”
Laurel let out an even worse cry, her pale skin now blotchy and red.
Sierra didn’t let pity into her heart. Maybe Laurel had done something, maybe not, but if they didn’t show the women action right now, Laurel would end up dead before they could get to the bottom of this. “Do it,” Sierra told her. “Just to restrain, not to hurt,” she warned. Quinn didn’t seem like the overly violent type, but she wasn’t taking any chances.
Quinn went to work, tying incredibly competent knots that Sierra knew she couldn’t have gotten out of without a knife. If they had time, she might have asked where Quinn learned something like that, but everyone was in motion, packing up the few belongings they’d gathered and now talking quietly in the little factions that had formed among the survivors.
Mindy and Jo found her and neither wasted time asking where she’d been, not when things were in the middle of going to hell. “We think it’s a control chip,” said Jo. “No way to get it out without turning her over to the aliens. And we don’t know how much she sent. The message was coded.”
“Shit. Is our ship ready to fly?” She did not want to hear that Laurel had managed to leave any more surprises while she was free to wreak havoc.
“Not quite, I would have finished today if it weren’t for that.” Mindy jerked her finger up at the flashing lights.
“We need to keep them safe. And we need to tell someone what we sent them.” Most of Sierra protested against giving strangers information, but these strangers were the only thing standing between them and certain death or slavery. Plus, her mate was one of them. That had to count for something. “As far as I can tell, they’re surprisingly flexible when it comes to new information.”
Neither Mindy nor Jo looked convinced by that, and Sierra couldn’t blame them. “If she did this because there’s a control chip in her head, I can’t justify potentially handing her over for execution,” Mindy whispered, leaning in close so the other women wouldn’t hear.
“No one said anything about execution,” though Sierra knew first-hand just how death happy the Detyens could be.
The sirens blared again and the pulse of the flashing lights changed. The three humans looked up, as if flashing lights might give them some insight into what was to come. The ground beneath their feet shook and Sierra reached out and placed a hand on the wall to steady herself. They silently met each other’s eyes, knowledge of danger hanging heavy between them.
The battle had begun.
***
Toran and Kayde were suiting up when Raze found them. Toran looked at him like nothing had changed between them and it was Kayde who did a double take. “Your evaluation was satisfactory?” he asked, betraying with the question, if not his tone, that he wasn’t as neutral as he was supposed to be.
Even with the world crashing down around him, Raze wanted to smile. He’d survived and he had his mate. A little battle couldn’t quell that joy. And, remembering that his new status as a mated man was known, he let his lips pull into a grin. “Eventually,” he answered.
Kayde stared at him like he’d grown a second head.
“Didn’t you realize everything was fine when you sent that report?” Raze asked. He didn’t want to talk about his newfound expressions and emotions right now. They could deal with that when they survived.
“I sent it to the team,” Kayde confirmed. “There was no notification to keep anything from you.”
“We need to move,” Toran broke in. He looked at Raze, who wasn’t bothering to school his features into a blank mask any more. As Kayde took a blast rifle and jogged away, Toran stepped into Raze’s space and spoke quietly. “You may not believe me, but I’m glad you got your miracle.”
“I believe you.” He understood why Toran had turned him in, but that didn’t mean he was ready to joyfully accept the hand of friendship, if that was what Toran was offering.
Toran nodded. “Good.”
They both ran to catch up with Kayde, who was standing by Sandon awaiting instructions. Sandon nodded to both of them as they approached. “You and Druath’s team will go and guard the humans. We can’t risk them getting in the middle of this mess.”
“Shouldn’t they be safe where they are in the complex?” Toran asked.
Another team of three warriors, this one led by Druath, a tall man whose skin was almost as purple as an Oscavian’s. Raze’s brother, Dryce, stood next to the man and a third warrior, the soulless Nokta, stared at them all, her eyes blank.
“Someone revealed our location to that ship,” Sandon replied. “And it’s best if they don’t do anything else.” His eyes shot over to Raze. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“No.” Raze didn’t know how any message had made it to the Oscavian warship, but he knew Sierra didn’t send it, and she wouldn’t have let it be sent. If one of the women with her somehow did it, she would be dealt with.
Dryce was looking at him and Raze realized his brother had no idea what had happened. They hadn’t seen each other in weeks, or perhaps longer. Ever since Raze had become soulless, meetings between the two of them had lessened to the point of near nonexistence. As the two groups tore away to head to the heart of the compound where the women waited, Raze stepped back to run beside his brother.
“A lot has happened. We need to speak when this is done. There’s someone I want you to meet.” It was more than he’d said to Dryce in three years.
From the widening of his brother’s eyes, he realized it. “Who are you? Something’s wrong.”
A laugh caught in his throat and Raze couldn’t stop the smile. “I promise, brother, there is nothing wrong at all. I’ve met my denya.” Toran cast a glance back at him and Raze nodded. “We’ll talk soon.” He left his brother gaping there and caught up to his team.
“Your good news will make its way around the base by the end of the day if you keep acting like this,” Toran warned, giving him a strange look.
“Is there a reason I should be wary of that?” They passed dozens of warriors running in the opposite direction. Most of the defense would be done by drones, fighters, and anti-ship gunners and they had no reason to hunker down in the middle of the base.
“Change is not an easy thing to adjust to. Especially not for us.” Whatever warning Toran was trying to give, Raze didn’t care.
“This isn’t something to keep secret. And now that I’m not about to be executed for having feelings, I have no reason to hide them. She’s my mate. I’d sing it from the rooftops if they weren’t covered in two meters of snow.” Even before he’d given up his soul he hadn’t been this demonstrative. But Sierra was his, and he could do nothing less than proudly claim her.
“I worry,” was all that Toran responded with.
“About?” Now was really not the time for this conversation, and they were getting closer to the women’s quarters, but Raze’s curiosity was piqued and he found he didn’t have as much control over his emotions as he should. He wanted to know what Toran thought and he wanted to know now.
“Some among us are not so eager to lose their souls.” He’d dropped his voice until it was barely more than a whisper and Raze had to struggle to hear over the echoing halls and pounding feet. “They may look to those defenseless women as a way to salvation.”
He understood the implication, and it made him sick. “You can’t force the denya bond.”
“That doesn’t mean someone wouldn’t try.”
Raze was saved from answering by their arrival at the women’s suite. Just as they were getting into position, the ground around them shuddered. Raze widened his stance to steady himself and pulled up a feed on his tablet. “They’ve breached atmo,” he told those gathered around them.
“Our brothers and sisters will do their jobs,” Druath assured them, though among the six of them there was no doubt. “We’ll take the hall,” he told Toran. “Will you stay inside?” He nodded to the door.
“Got it.” Toran opened the door and Raze immediately knew that something was wrong.
***
Panic set in and Laurel started to wail. Whether it was because of the chip Sierra was almost certain was in her head or the glares from her fellow survivors was unclear, but Sierra was reminded that she wasn’t among a group of battle-hardened women who spat in the face of danger. No, this was a group of traumatized survivors who were doing as well as they could, given the circumstances.
Most of the women had split off and huddled among themselves, far away from Laurel, but Quinn and Davy sat next to her and spoke quietly, trying to calm her down.
The door to the room opened and Sierra reached for her blaster before she remembered that she wasn’t armed. Her eyes darted around for a weapon, and she relaxed slightly when she saw Toran enter. Raze followed closely behind him and she shot him a smile and a nod, taking him in from head to toe. He wore all black, and looked ready to fight a dragon, from his tactical gear to the large rifle slung across his back. Toran and Kayde were dressed the same, but her money was on Raze for martial prowess.
“What’s your boyfriend doing here?” Jo asked, some of her old sneer leaking back into her voice with all the pressure around them.
“Mate,” Sierra corrected.
Both of her teammates stared at her, mouths agape. Jo recovered first, snapping her jaw shut before speaking. “Come again?”
“Later.” Sierra couldn’t have stopped the joke if she wanted to, but neither Mindy nor Jo were laughing. She rolled her eyes. “He’s my mate. It’s a thing. Let’s not make a big deal about it right now.”
“Mate?” Mindy’s voice got comically high pitched for how quietly she was trying to speak.
“The technical term is denya. It’s all new to me, but I really need you two not to freak out now. You know, big giant alien ship attacking?” She pointed up at the flashing lights as if that would shut down the conversation.
Jo grabbed her arm, but she didn’t try to move it. “Have you gone fucking crazy? He’s not human, he doesn’t even live on Earth, and your job is not exactly conducive to relationships.”
Sierra took a deep breath and tugged her arm back. “Thank you, Mom.” She rolled her eyes. “None of your business, and I already know this shit. So can we get back to the imminent threat to our safety?” The Detyen warriors were walking towards them and this was not a conversation they needed to overhear.
Jo seemed to get the point, but Sierra could see that she didn’t plan to let this go. Too bad. Jo wasn’t her commander, wasn’t her family, and they were barely friends. So what if being mated to Raze was complicated? That was her shit to deal with and damn anyone who said otherwise.
A warm hand brushed against her back and Sierra leaned back into Raze’s touch as Toran and Kayde stepped up next to him. She wanted to give him a kiss, but now was really not the time for that. She let her hand fall and brushed it against his outer thigh, grounding herself in his presence.
“We’re your guards,” Toran told them. “A secondary team is outside to ensure the safety of your people.”
She, Mindy, and Jo exchanged looks and the conversation from before played out in their eyes. Sierra glanced down to the large pocket in Mindy’s pants where the tablet was sitting; she raised an eyebrow. Mindy gave her a small nod and pulled the device out.
“We think one of the girls has a control chip installed,” she spoke quietly so none of the women could hear the accusation, even if much worse was already floating out among the group. “She stole my tablet and sent out a message after somehow connecting it to your wireless system. The message was encrypted, so we don’t know what it said, but,” the building rocked again and the sirens quieted. “But,” Mindy repeated, “given the current situation, we’re pretty sure she sent out the coordinates.”
“And she might have disabled our ship,” Jo added. “She says she didn’t do it, so either she’s lying, she doesn’t remember… or she didn’t do it. We have her contained for the moment and will deal with her once this is settled.”
Kayde took the tablet and started it up, his fingers flying against the screen. Toran and Jo stared one another down and Sierra knew that if he demanded they hand Laurel over, this whole situation was going to go to hell. They couldn’t hand her over, no matter what she’d done.
“Intel will need to look at this,” Kayde said, after several moments. “I can’t decrypt it.”
Toran and Sierra stared one another down and she waited for him to make the next move. Raze’s warm presence at her back was the only thing keeping her from saying something she’d regret and giving the other Detyen time to make his move.
He broke their stare down to talk to his man. “Give it to Nokta and have her run it to central command. If Dru has a problem with that, go in her place.”
Kayde nodded and made for the door, leaving the five of them standing there, waiting for something worse to happen.
“This doesn’t have to end poorly,” said Toran, he glanced over at the cluster of women and quickly looked away. It almost looked like he was trying not to see them.
“Yeah, that’s up to you,” Jo responded.
“She’s your problem,” Toran finally said. “Unless we find something more than our coordinates on that tablet.”
They settled into an unsteady agreement after Kayde came back. The soldiers kept watch near the door and observed the women as unobtrusively as possible. Sierra, Jo, and Mindy did their best to keep the peace. Thirty minutes or so into the battle, the building was near constantly shaking and several of the women were no long
er able to muffle their terrified sobs.
Quinn came up to Sierra and leaned against the wall. “Is there some sort of escape plan we should be making if this whole building crashes down around us? Or are we officially prisoners again?” She cast a glance at the Detyens and seemed to get caught on Kayde for a moment before snapping her gaze away.
“We’re not prisoners,” Sierra assured her, even if her mate was really starting to look like a prison guard. “They just don’t want us getting in the way.”
“You sure about that?” The woman wouldn’t quit.
“Do you really want to run out onto the battlefield right now? Cause I’m not complaining about the dudes with guns standing between us and the enemy that wanted to make you all—” she cut herself off and took a deep breath. “It will be fine, I promise.”
A few minutes later the building shook more than it had and a tile in the ceiling crashed to the floor, almost hitting one of the women, who didn’t stop screaming until another gathered her into her arms and rocked her tight. Sierra tore the med kit down from the wall and went to check for any wounds. Once that was done, she looked up, trying to spot her mate in the mess, but Raze and Kayde were gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“They should have told us before leaving their post,” Raze said as he and Kayde walked down the barren hallway in search of Dru and his people. That last blast had set Toran on edge and he didn’t like that there’d been no communication for a quarter hour. When they saw Dru and Dryce gone without a word, he and Kayde were instructed to quickly investigate.
“I can’t get them on my comm,” Kayde confirmed, tapping at a button on his forearm where the comm commands were located.
There was no sign of a struggle, but if they’d moved on for any other reason, they should have said anything. Raze pushed worries about his brother aside as scenarios played out in his mind. Clearly, something had gone wrong, and they must have had a reason for not telling them. It could be as simple as Sandon calling them away.
