by Pearl Tate
Damn! I don’t really know how I could have handled that differently without totally lying. I can’t make those kinds of decisions now that Bren is here. Everything will have to be run up the chain of command, which I’m totally fine with. If something goes sideways like it did on this last trip out, you know that it wasn’t just you that fucked up.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
- Karen
Rachel gives me a big hug as she murmurs in my ear, “Nice mating marks!”
As I pull back, her smirk widens into a broad smile that Hannah echoes next to her before adding, “We’re sorry you had to come back already. It’s just, after last night, we felt like it might be for the best.”
“Yeah, I totally slept through it, but they didn’t make it into the building very far.” Rachel shivers as she remembers. “I’m so tired of this, too.”
Hannah rubs her belly absently, and I can’t help looking over my shoulder at Selas. He’s engrossed in conversation already with Bren and Amari, and it looks like they’ve got a couple other guys unloading our stuff and piling it onto their version of a dolly. They must be fine without my help.
Turning back to Rachel and Hannah, I see Jenny and Lisa walking up with trays loaded with assorted goodies and some kind of drink in a pitcher. “Let’s eat outside. It’s beautiful, and we know a great spot not far from here. Everyone else is busy.”
“That sounds good,” I agree. Anything to keep my mind off the negative feedback I received from Selas on my idea. Maybe talking to Hannah and getting her to put a bug in Bren’s ear will help. You never know.
Weaving off the narrow roads, we work our way through some woods and stop only about thirty feet from the dome. It glitters with a blue hue, and I’m tempted to go touch it. There are very few trees on our side, but the other side is thick with brush. Obviously, they maintain it here.
Everyone chatters away, and Rachel’s quick to assure me that the dangerous plants have been removed inside the dome, and she wants to know if I saw any while I was out there at Amari’s place.
“Ah…”
Everyone roars with laughter before Lisa calls out, “I win. Called that.”
Rachel scrunches up her eyebrows and quizzes me seriously, “Did you go out at all? Lisa’s the only ‘no time outside’ bet. I was the between one and two hours time slot, so let’s clarify. No time outside—at all?’
I cringe as I realize they’re serious, and everyone is giggling as they lay out a blanket and begin to pull off the baskets of everything from muffins to brownies. I see Lisa hasn’t lost her touch. They look just as gooey and appealing as I remember, and the scent brings back memories of the night we were abducted from the study group.
Laying my jo down on one side of the blanket, everyone sits in a circle as napkins are passed out. “Thanks, you guys. This is really what I needed.” Taking a bite of the sugary confection, Rachel squeezes my knee from next to me to get my attention.
“Did everything go alright? I mean… not to pry, but you don’t seem as happy about this as I assumed you’d be?” Rachel must be intuitive, because everyone else looks surprised as they glance over to study me.
“It’s not Selas exactly,” I hurry to explain. I feel defensive of him and certainly don’t want them thinking it was his bedroom skills. Just thinking about the last twenty-four hours makes my thighs clench. “The chemistry between us isn’t the problem. It’s just that I tried to convince him on the way back here that we need to be more aggressive than Benard—”
“Wait, what do you mean by more aggressive?” Hannah cuts in even though her mouth is full and everyone nods their own confusion at my statement.
“You know. Benard seems to be able to pull these guys together and feed them a bunch of bullshit, and they buy it. Hook, line, and sinker. They’re doing his bidding and getting themselves in trouble in the process. But from the sounds of it, they just want to know what’s true. Are we really mates? Shouldn’t we be doing the same? Calling them all together to answer their questions? Giving them the facts?”
“I see. Yes.” Hannah thinks for a moment before dropping from her knees to her butt. “It sounds like Selas has been venturing out and keeping track of where they’ve been to get the word out. Telling them that everyone is welcome back in the dome, and Benard’s not in charge any longer—”
“Yes. For sure. I’ve been going out with Amari every day to map out areas that appear to have larger groups that look amiable and open to hearing it, but there are more out there than I’d ever have suspected.” Shaking her head sadly, Rachel wipes her hands on her legs. “No one really knows how many are out there even after reviewing all the files.”
I continue as excitement tinges my voice. “But if we could figure out a way to prove to them that we’re really the real deal, not some new ploy sent by the council to lure them into… I don’t even know what… wouldn’t that leave Benard with just a tiny group of followers?”
“I suppose. In theory.” Hannah agrees, adding quietly, “Anything is worth trying at this point. I’m tired of second guessing everywhere we go. It’s getting ridiculous.” Wiggling her fingers in front of her, she leans forward and says ominously, “Who’s going to double cross us next?”
Lisa gasps across from me, and when I glance up, I realize she’s looking over my shoulder. Spinning around, I see three men on the other side of the dome, watching us.
“Don’t panic.” Hannah’s voice is calm from behind me. “Just stand up and start moving away. They’re outside…” A faint hum starts and only lasts a second before one of them moves closer—inside of the dome!
Fuck that! Hopping from my knees to my feet, I pull my jo up with me, holding it like a staff and facing them squarely. “You guys go back. Run! I’ll take care of this and be right behind you.”
Tugging on my arm has me turning to see Rachel, not looking at me but them with tears in her eyes. “No, no. Come with us.”
Shaking her off, I step away from her and toward them. “No, Rachel. Run!” She doesn’t wait any longer and takes off behind me into the trees we came through.
Turning around slowly, I take in the men that really look more like boys. They haven’t moved any closer. Instead, they’re standing warily about twenty feet away. Wearing only little scraps of material like sarongs around their waists along with very beat up boots, they look like a strange male dance crew.
Their skin is darker than a lot of the guys I’ve seen around here, and I wonder if sun exposure causes them to tan outside the dome differently than inside. When they don’t say anything, I demand, “What do you want?”
The tallest steps forward a bit as the others spread out from his side. Do they think they can flank me and take me down? My jo is going to really hurt if they try.
“We’ve been sent to get one of the female mates by Benard. I won’t lie. He wants the one called Karen, but we aren’t here at his bidding.” His words make no sense.
“Are you, or are you not here for me? I’m Karen.” Maybe it’s their language that isn’t translating properly?
“No, we’re here because he sent us, but we don’t want to take you back to him. He’s evil and cruel, but he has food. Rations, and many of us are starving. No, we just want to see you up close, and our group has questions before they’ll come back to the dome. We want to come back…” His voice trails off, and one of his buddies that moved about ten feet to my right picks up and finishes.
“…we’re afraid.”
“No, we’re not afraid,” the leader scoffs from in front of me. “Benard says that the prison population is being killed off, and the whole facility is going to be transformed into a new home for refugees from Quasar, but everything our group hears from the dome is good. We don’t know who to believe.”
“We thought that someone like you might be willing to come speak with our group? Prove you’re a mate and not a council plant, painted up with mating marks.” It’s the guy on my left who speaks this time. I see the lunge from my ri
ght as soon as he stops speaking and realize they might be saying the truth, but just as I suspected, they’re still stupid enough to think they can take me back by force.
Pulling my jo from where the end is planted by my feet, I crouch and flip it, knocking both men to the ground by sweeping their feet out from under them as they launch at me in tandem. Crying out, the one on my left lies stunned, looking at the sky while the one on my right holds his shin as he whimpers like a baby.
Stepping back a yard, I hold my jo in a defensive stance and cock my head at the one directly ahead. “I’ll go with you, but on my terms. And that includes not trying that again. No one moves closer than the length of this pole. Agreed?”
There’s a long pause while the only sound is whimpering from the guy on my right. I might have broke his leg. Whoops.
“Agreed.” Their leader pulls up his buddy on the left by the forearm.
“And he stays.” I point at the whimpering man whose leg, now that I look more carefully, definitely is too swollen to walk. “Lead the way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
- Selas
I run toward where I sense Karen as soon as I watch Bren and Amari cut off mid-sentence in our discussion. Roaring in anger, they take off out of the living area of the dwelling where we’ve been discussing tactics. The door’s mangled when it doesn’t open quickly enough as Bren and Amari struggle to push through the opening at the same time.
Karen’s with Hannah and Rachel, but I don’t feel any panic from her—yet. Attentiveness… resolve… that’s it. Outside, Travek is sprinting in the same direction we are, and only a few feet ahead of us. As they all start to pull ahead of me, Hannah and Lisa crash out of the tree line up ahead. The females slow to a jog as they spot us, waving and yelling at the same time.
Amari doesn’t slow and disappears into the darker foliage ahead of me. I hear Rachel and him before I see them, hugging each other. There’s a bright patch ahead in a clearing they were obviously sitting. This should have been safe! The dome is right on the other side.
But as I enter the clearing and look around quickly, only a male is there, leaning up on his elbows with his leg swollen in front of him. “Where is she?” When he doesn’t answer immediately, my roar of anger makes him scramble back in terror, whimpering and pulling himself back towards the dome with his bad leg dragging behind.
Pointing towards the barrier, he covers his head with his arms, surrendering to my beating. But how can that be? Ignoring him, I try to make sense of what I feel. I can tell Karen’s close, but she can’t be on the other side.
Trying not to panic and slow my breathing to make sense of this, I pant over the filthy male on the far side of the blanket where the females were eating. As I inhale the scent of food, the only other odor I smell is… dirty males.
Tingles spread up my arm as I lightly touch the dome. “Karen!”
“Selas.” Ignoring Amari behind me, I look down the length of the barrier both ways. No, she definitely feels as if she’s on the other side. A hand on my back has me spinning around to face Rachel’s tear-streaked face.
“They had a way to get through! I’ve no idea how they did it, but when we realized it, Karen told us to run and stood her ground! I tried to get her to come with me, but she wanted to make sure we got away. We assumed—I assumed she’d beat the crap out of them, and I didn’t sense they were bad really… so, I stayed to watch from the trees there…”
My chest seizes tighter and tighter until her voice sounds as if it’s at the end of a long chamber as she speaks. My tunnel vision focuses on the enemy as Amari’s drags the male up onto his feet, almost dangling in the air as he whimpers. “Where did you take her?”
“She went willingly. Our group just wants to talk to her. Talk to her and confirm that she wasn’t sent by the Quasar council before we come back into the dome.” Amari drops him onto the ground where he crumples under the weight of his leg, crying out, “I think she broke it.”
“Good,” I snarl before reaching down to drag him back up with my arm around his neck from behind. He doesn’t fight, which is good, because I’m tempted to snap his neck. Turning to Amari, I pause to confirm what I already suspect. “Have you ever heard of a penetration device for the dome?” He’s already shaking his head.
“It’s something from Benard. We’re supposed to return it with Karen, but they won’t—I swear it. They won’t give her to him.”
Shaking him slightly, I pull his head back over my left shoulder by curling my arm around his head. He doesn’t move, frozen in fear in my arms. “You’d better hope they don’t, because I’ll rip your head right from your shoulders when I’ve no more use for you. Understand?”
A nonsensical strangled response is my only affirmation as my eyes flicker to Amari over him. Bren’s booming voice calls from behind me. “We already have males out and heading towards this area from the other side. Travek’s heading over there too, and he’ll get the Gazer up with you in it. We’ll find her.”
I’m already moving along the perimeter of the dome toward the spacecraft access point, still dragging the idiot male under my arm by the neck. He’s only on his good foot half the time, but I don’t care. I hope he suffers.
“Should we get a medic to the access point and have him meet us there?” Rachel’s voice isn’t far behind as I clear away the easiest way. Ignoring her, I hear Bren and Hannah behind me as they tag along, and it’s only a few minutes before I see the males on the other side of the dome, weaving in and out of the trees and brush.
I’m not surprised Karen went with them. She made it clear she thought communication was the best option, but to willing go with males from the wilds of the planet—alone! Alone! My vision is narrowing, tinged with a pink haze as a strong grip on my arm wrapped around my captive starts to hold me back from moving forward.
“…Selas! Damn it, Selas! Focus!” Bren’s grip slowing me finally pulls me back to the present where his hands are planted on my arm, yanking slightly. “He’s turning purple! You’re going to kill him if you don’t lighten up. We need him!”
Surprised, I loosen my arm totally, and he slumps to the ground on his knees, coughing and gasping. Bren’s right, too. He might be the only one that knows where they’ve taken her. Sure, I can feel her, but he’ll be able to tell us what we’re walking into.
Two males from team five arrive from the building ahead and look to us both at attention. “Grab him!” They each snatch an arm and begin to pull him after me. Knowing they have him, I sprint along the perimeter of the dome, keeping it on my right.
Coming back to my senses has made me think about Karen and her impulsive decision-making skills again. Can you punish a mate? She’s going to be the death of me if she keeps making these kind of life-threatening decisions. They could kill her instantly, and even with her physical skills, there are other weapons, stunners and brute force that could injure her permanently.
She could be carrying our child already, and yet she risks her life? The thought has a red haze descending quickly again…
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
- Karen
Following them through the dome began innocently enough. My intention is really just to talk to them. Sure, they said they’ve a group not far, but Selas is going to be here in ten minutes—tops. But it does feel like we’ve been walking for close to that now.
Selas will be fucking angry, I’m sure, but it’s good for him to see that I can take care of myself. My eyes flicker back over to the obvious leader. “Jack, how much further?”
“Not far, I swear.” He swings around to glance back from where he’s helping his buddy limp through the underbrush. I kind of feel bad about that. Kind of.
I really shouldn’t. These guys need to learn that you can’t just manhandle others. And the one we left in the dome will get medical attention right away and be better of for it.
“You know, I highly recommend that we just stop and talk here soon. You do realize that they’ll be looking for me
and here any minute?” We’ve been working our way up a slight rise, walking uphill which probably only makes it harder for the injured guy named Tee.
“I know, I know.” Jack’s face is grim as he glances back again before pointing at an incline getting higher with each step. “This is it, though.” We’ve finally reached the top of the slope and it’s opened up to a large clearing made of rock about forty feet around.
Dropping his friend to lean against a large boulder, he walks around the side and drops over the edge about a dozen feet. I follow him to peer around and see where he’s gone. A narrow space between the boulders and the incline edge is all I can see, but I hear him call back into whatever space is back there.
I’m shocked as he returns and a stream of guys begin to slowly trickle out and up towards me. Backing up to the stone slope behind me, there isn’t really a good spot for me to go to as they climb up one by one. Thin, filthy, and barely clothed—they look so young!
I don’t need to worry at all, because in the condition they’re in, I could have them all down in seconds. I’m not taking any chances though. Pressing my back against the boulder Tee was left against, they stream out in front of me, filling the space and staring at me as if they’ve never seen a woman before.
They eat me up with their eyes, and it’s a little disconcerting. I recognize it for what it is, though. Awe.
Hunger. Nothing predatory, though.
They whisper to each other as if I can’t hear them.
“She’s so small?”
“Is this the fighter female? Are they sure?”
“Why’s she so pale?”
“Do all the Earth females have light hair follicles?’
By the time they all make it up, I count seven of them in addition to the two I arrived with, Jack and Tee. It’s clear why they were sent to the dome for me—because they’re the strongest and healthiest.
These men… they look rough. Not dying or starving, but dirty and hungry. It’s no wonder they’ve been considering coming back to the dome. It’s also just as clear that in their desperate condition, they’d be susceptible to charismatic, crazy talk like what Benard is spewing.
