“They may have him, but they still have to get away safely.” Maverk was already strapping a laser to his thigh.
“Let’s go.” Jonette nudged her sister warrior.
Darvk shook his head. “Soldiers are everywhere. You’ll be seen in seconds.”
“Our sisters need us.”
“’Tis too dangerous. You two will stay here while we search.”
“Not happening.” Senna made a grab for the dagger at her waist, only to have her wrist seized. She was spun around so fast she staggered, and before she could regain her balance the laser was plucked from the holster at her thigh, the dagger from her waist, and she was flung over Jase’s broad shoulder. “What the hell?”
“Come along, lass, be a good wench and do what the Cap’n says,” he said cheerfully to his cursing captive.
“Put her down,” Jonette ordered, the dagger already in her hand. “Now!”
She’d forgotten about Shamon behind her until a brawny arm clamped around her, effectively pinning her arms to her side. She kicked back and twisted but he was too strong.
Swinging her off her feet and tucking her securely under his arm, Shamon asked, “Where do you want them, Cap’n?”
“In Tenia’s cabin.” Without a smidgen of guilt, Darvk plucked the dagger from her hand. “Sorry, lasses, ‘tis for your own safety.”
“You bastard!” she screeched as she was borne away, followed by Jase and his swearing captive. “I’ll kill you myself!”
“Now, now, lass,” Shamon tut-tutted.
“You big oaf!”
Darvk turned to Maverk. “Get everyone up and we’ll join in the search. The soldiers won’t know who we really look for.”
He nodded and left the cabin, returning in a short time with the rest of the crew, their clothes hastily pulled on, some still blinking sleepily. Shamon and Jase followed.
“Red, you and Simon are in charge of the ship and our two guests while we’re gone. Whatever you do, don’t let them out of the cabin they’re locked in.” Darvk checked his laser, slid it into the holster. “They’re so wild they’ll mop the floor with both of you.”
Red rolled his eyes. “Thanks so much, Cap’n.”
“The rest of us will break into pairs and search for the Reekas.”
“I thought they were going to wait for us?” Borga frowned.
“Change of plans, it seems.” Darvk scowled. “Apparently Sinya and his pirates are here and they have been all day, unknown to us. Two of the warriors came to warn us while four of the others entered the fortress to kidnap Shari.”
“Which they’ve managed, from the sounds of it,” Cam put in.
“If anyone finds them, get them either safely away from the fortress or back to our ship unseen. If they’re in a fight, we aid them. Understand?”
They nodded.
“Good. Grab weapons as you leave and remember, unless there is a fight already in progress, as far as anyone knows we’re helping search for Shari. Now go and good luck.” Darvk held up a hand and his men stopped. “Take care. Keep safe. Don’t take stupid risks.”
They nodded.
Maverk turned to Red. “Put the shield up around the ship and monitor the area. Allow no one but the warriors through.”
“No problem.”
Going down the ramp, Darvk saw that the whole fortress was a hive of activity. Soldiers were everywhere, searchlights sweeping the area, powerful beams lighting up the countryside. Overhead, fighter ships scanned the surrounding area.
“Those wenches had better be safe,” he ground out. “If anyone touches Tenia or any of the other wenches, I’ll kill them.”
“We’d better find them first,” Maverk said grimly. “If these soldiers sight them, there won’t be anything left of them.”
They walked out into the melee.
~*~
“Halt.” Reya pulled up sharply. “There are soldiers approaching up the tunnel. Back up.”
They retreated swiftly back to the room.
“Into the corridor-” she began, then cursed as two soldiers entered the room from the corridor.
“What the hell?” The first soldier gaped.
“Reekas!” the second yelled.
Her dagger sank deep into the first soldier’s throat but the second one twisted away and Aster’s dagger thunked into the wall beside him.
“Bloody hell!” Tenia drew her laser and took aim.
He yelled a warning to anyone within hearing, firing his laser.
The heat of the blast flashed past her as she threw herself to the side, the flare from her laser burning through his throat. With a gurgle he fell to the floor, revealing the burn mark of the laser blast on the wall behind him.
“Intruders in the soldiers’ quarters,” a metallic voice droned. “Intruders in the soldiers’ quarters.”
The Reekas exchanged grim looks. The bloody sensors had picked them up.
Shouts came from two directions, the tunnel and the corridor.
“Not much choice left to us,” Dana pointed out coolly.
“Connie says fighter crafts have the outside areas patrolled, and even now two are positioned outside the tunnel entrance.” Reya touched the tiny receiver in her ear. “No going out that way.”
“Then it’s out through the door.” With a shrug, Aster palmed her laser, stuck her hand out of the door and fired into the corridor.
Screams indicted direct hits.
Tenia and Dana pulled the tunnel door closed and shot the bolts home, top and bottom. Dull thuds indicated that they were just in time. The patrol had reached them.
Twisting her wrist around, Reya activated the tiny screen on the wide band to show the scanned map, studying it with calm urgency while Aster kept the soldiers in the corridor pinned down with laser fire.
“What direction are they firing from?” Tenia asked.
“Both, but less from the left.”
“The left leads to the kitchens and servants’ quarters.” Tenia peered at the map over her sister’s shoulder. “It means going down.”
“Yes, but we have, hopefully, more rooms to hide in for cover.”
“So left we go?”
“Left it is.” She switched off the screen and reached into the little pouch on her belt, withdrawing a handful of smokies. “Aster, get ready with the boomers.”
“Give me the word.”
“Now!” Reya threw the smokies into the corridor.
Smoke filled it, confusion reigning amongst the soldiers. Aster flung out four boomers to the left and right. Explosions and screams sounded as lasers exploded in the hands of hapless soldiers.
Into this confusion the warriors plunged with Shari. They ran to their left, keeping to the wall. Avoiding using the flaring of lasers to give away their position, Reya and Aster wielded swords with deadly intent, felling soldiers appearing out of the thick, smoky haze before the soldiers realised who they were facing.
For those few who realised it was too late, their blood slicking the floor as they fell.
“Where the hell are they?” Shouts sounded and someone opened fire with a laser.
“You idiot! Stop shooting, you’ll kill one of us!”
No more soldiers appeared before them. The main bulk was now behind the warriors.
“Everyone in the corridor down!” barked a voice.
“Shit!” Dana swore. “They’re going to spray the corridor with laser fire.”
“Open fire!”
The warriors hit the floor, dragging Shari with them. They rolled as laser fire spattered around them. Tenia threw a handful of boomers into the smoke and was rewarded with explosions.
“Fall back! Fall back!”
Banisters halted her roll, and she gestured to her sister warriors, dim figures in the smoke. “We’ve reached the stairs.”
“Aster, you go first,” Reya ordered. “Tenia and Dana will follow with Shari, and I’ll cover our rear.”
They descended cautiously into the gloomy depths, coming to a s
top in the great, dim kitchen to flatten themselves against the wall.
“Which door do we take?” Dana asked.
Tenia frowned at the three wooden doors, each in a different wall and leading in three different directions.
“Get down the stairs!” a voice ordered from the corridor above them.
“No chance.” Reya aimed the laser up the stairs and opened fire.
“Intruders in the kitchen,” came the metallic, expressionless voice. “Intruders in the kitchen.”
Grabbing Shari’s arm, Tenia hauled him in the direction of the nearest door. Opening it, she saw the dimly lit corridor with doors off to each side. Frightened faces of servants peered out, but upon seeing the tall warriors and their captive looming in the open doorway, the faces disappeared and the doors slammed shut, bolts shooting home.
Tenia glanced at Dana. She hated going down a corridor knowing that people dwelled behind the doors. People who might have weapons.
“It’s getting very warm down here!” Reya yelled above the blasting sounds of lasers. “Which way?”
“Let’s go.”
Without hesitation they ran into the corridor, Reya slamming the heavy door shut and with Dana’s help wedging a heavy chest against it.
Boot heels rang on the flagstones beyond the door followed by curses.
“Search the corridors, damn it!”
“They have Shari! Take care you don’t hit him!”
The warriors ran, swords and lasers ready, but no one opened their doors or challenged them.
“Intruders in the servants’ quarters number one,” the metallic voice droned. “Intruders in the servants’ quarters number one.”
They were nearing the end of the corridor, the sounds of pursuit behind them getting closer.
Ahead they heard a door scraping open. “Get in there and get those women!”
“Trapped.” Tenia skidded to a halt. “Do we go back or forward?”
Reya shrugged. “No real choice, is there?”
“We’ll make a stand.” Aster slapped her laser into her other hand.
A sudden noise sent them spinning around.
“I’m a friend!” A veiled woman peered out of the door at them, fear in her eyes. “Please!”
“What do you want?” Tenia demanded harshly.
“The soldiers will be here any minute. Come inside, quickly.”
Boots pounding the stone floor came closer and Reya said grimly, “There’s not many choices today, is there?”
They hurried into the room and Reya shut the door, the woman throwing the bolts across.
“Place is a bloody fortress inside and out,” muttered Aster.
Tenia looked around the dimly lit room. Apart from the veiled woman and the Reekas, it was deserted. An iron bed with a thin mattress stood against one wall, while a peg holding three coarse woollen dresses hung on the other side of the room. It smelled dank and musty.
“Why are you helping us?” Tenia eyed the woman calculatingly.
“My freedom. If I show you a way out, take me with you.”
She glanced at her sister. “If she knew…”
Reya nodded curtly in agreement and to the woman said, “We can’t take you to where we live.”
“Take me home, that’s all I want.”
“The village?”
“I don’t come from there. I come from Medar on Ylan.”
“From the Outlaw Sector? How did you come to work here?”
“A better life for myself, or so I thought.” She laughed harshly. “What a joke!” She stripped the veil from her face.
Although she kept her face expressionless, Tenia felt a twinge of pity. A scar went from the woman’s left ear to the corner of her mouth, starting again on the other side and up to her right ear.
“Make someone unhappy, huh?” Dana sheathed the sword on her back.
“My blood is not pure Inka,” she replied. “My ‘fornicating’ with a Dragon soldier earned me this from Shari.”
“Meet him.” Reya pushed the Inka leader forward.
Sucking in a deep breath, the woman stepped back and bumped into Dana.
“Relax.” Dana steadied her with a hand on her shoulder. “He won’t touch you.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing you need concern yourself with. What’s your name?”
“Tia.”
“How do we get out of here, Tia?”
Going to the wall where her clothes hung, Tia removed a dress from a hook and pushed it up. The warriors watched in amazement as part of the wall slid open.
“A secret passage?” Aster raised her brows.
“The place is riddled with them. Only the servants know of them and we use them to escape the displeasure of the Inkas. There are so many of us that if we remain hidden for several weeks, they’ll usually have forgotten about us.”
“So why didn’t you escape before now?” Reya asked suspiciously.
“Because I’m not strong enough.”
“For what?”
“This tunnel leads to the dungeons.”
“The dungeons?”
“Yes. Guarding the dungeons are two of the biggest mutants.” She shuddered. “Those that have tried to escape have all died trying. Horribly.”
“This gets better and better.” Leaning against the wall, Dana crossed her ankles. “So if we get past these mutants, there’s a way out?”
“Yes. A door leads into the death yard.”
“Death yard?” Tenia sheathed her sword.
“Those that have died during torture or are put to death are taken out into the yard to be carted away and burned.”
“How nice,” Dana said dryly.
Voices sounded outside the door. “Search the servants’ quarters!”
“You risk your life by coming with us,” Tenia warned Tia.
“All I ask is that you take me home.”
Reya looked at Tenia. “Let’s go.”
“Why not?” She grabbed Shari. “Let’s see what awaits us below.”
Reya placed Tia’s dress back on the hook and they filed into a wide tunnel. Tia pulled a lever on the other side and the wall slid shut. They were now enclosed in the tunnel, all sound cut off. The walls were lined with luminous stones that dimly lit the way.
“Lead on.” Reya nodded to Tia.
The passage sloped downward, seemingly going on forever as it twisted around corners. Steps were cut into the stone floor in different areas, and eventually they came to a dead end.
Tia stopped and pointed to it. “Beyond the wall are the dungeons.”
“Where’s the exit from the dungeons?” Reya asked.
“A passage leads straight out to the death yard.”
“You come with us and stay close. If we see you trying to get back in here and it’s a trap, I’ll kill you myself.”
“It’s not a trap,” she promised.
Tenia looked at Dana and Aster. “Ready?”
“Of course,” Dana said. “Need you ask?”
Reya nodded to Tia. “Open the wall.”
She tried but couldn’t shift the rusty lever in the wall. Aster took her place, pulling on it, her muscles straining with effort. Slowly a section of the wall slid away, leaving a gap wide enough for a person to go through bent over.
“I’ll go first,” Reya decided. “Watch for my hand.”
Tenia watched her crawl through the opening, and after several minutes her hand appeared and gestured. Tia was shaking so much with fear that she wondered if the servant would refuse to follow. But she didn’t and they all went through, Shari in their midst, quiet and unresisting.
Coming out the other side, she straightened and gazed around in growing distaste. On the far wall a low burning torch dimly lit the dungeons. The room was immense, iron bars in the walls separating cells from which low groans issued. The smell of vomit, blood, and human excrement filled the musty air. There was no movement in the dungeon, no roaring, no mutants, nothing.
“This deep underground?” Dana looked up at the ceiling high above them.
“I’m not prepared to risk anything. If we’re discovered, if the soldiers come down,…” Holstering her laser, she didn’t finish the sentence. “Daggers or swords, I don’t care, but no laser fire unless the solders appear or it’s a last resort.”
Tenia didn’t like it, but her sister was right. To have come so far and risk capture or death because of laser fire was reckless.
The Reekas holstered their lasers, drew their swords.
To get to the passage leading out they had to cross the room. Aster took Tia’s elbow to keep her close and quietly they all started.
It took five minutes just to reach the middle of the room, five minutes that was like a trip through a slaughter yard. Here and there tables stood beside bins full of human body parts, the flesh rotting and putrid. Intestines coiled out of one bin to touch the floor. Sitting on top of another bin was a head with no eyes, the nose torn off, and a lolling black tongue.
Tia’s face had a greenish tinge, sweat dotting her brow as she looked at the mess. Aster tugged her elbow gently but firmly. While the sight of the dungeon and what it held was enough to make them grimace, the warriors had seen enough horrors to be more hardened to it.
In the dimness a cage loomed. Inside sat a small figure that shivered and whimpered.
Reya squinted into the dimness and the features of the prisoner became clearer. Her eyes gleamed coldly.
Tenia didn’t know why she was so interested in the prisoner, but obviously he meant something to her. He was a child, she realized, maybe twelve years old or a little more, it was hard to tell.
Suddenly a roar rent the air and lights flashed on overhead, casting the dungeon into brighter horror. An answering roar issued from the opposite side.
They swung around and stared, stunned, at the two brutes lumbering towards them, one from either end of the dungeon.
Yes, they knew there were mutants. Yes, they expected mutants. But truthfully, none of them had ever seen a mutant in the flesh.
The very ugly, scary flesh.
The mutants were identical, with gaping holes where their noses should have been, wild eyes that glowed red, loose-lipped mouths huge and gaping, and jagged teeth showing wetly through the saliva that drooled down their slack jaws. Scars crisscrossed the faces and sparse tufts of ginger hair could be seen on the otherwise bald heads.
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