by Lea Linnett
“Sounds like weeks of work.”
Marek shrugged. “Days. I am good at what I do. And I do not want to stall too long, lest the humans grow too weak. Some are injured already.”
“What do you need from me, meghar?”
Marek paused, the word said in the solayan’s own language hitting him square in the chest. The solayans had many names and endearments for those around them, but meghar…
It was a word reserved for the closest of friends. Only weeks ago, the word might have made him uncomfortable, reminding him of his impure heritage. Now, it moved him deeply.
He cleared his throat. “I need you to help me with some sabotage, meghar.”
For the first time since entering, Silas’ fangs flashed in a grin, and Marek saw a shadow of the solayan that he knew best. “Gladly.”
31
“It’ll snow tonight,” Bree murmured to Noe, elbowing her gently in the side. The sun was setting on the third day of their captivity, but it was already dark inside, the thin light coming through the small window further blocked by the clouds milling overhead. “If we could get away, our tracks would be covered. They wouldn’t be able to follow us.”
“Great idea, but how the fuck do we get out?” Noe bit back, equally quiet. They had not been fed in over a day, and some of the others were growing explosive in their discomfort. Many had burned themselves out trying to bust a hole in the impenetrable metal walls, and they sat now in clusters, their heads hanging between their legs.
Bree’s lips thinned. “I don’t know,” she admitted.
A part of her still wanted to think that Marek would help them, but she kept seeing his face as he held that firestone in his palm. Fear and want in equal measure, just like when he’d seen it in the watchtower. He had struggled at first, but when they’d dragged Bree away he’d let her go.
She had begun to wonder if Noe was right about him, but the thought made her ache even more than missing him did.
“Maybe we can play at being sick,” Noe suddenly said, her tone brightening. “They haven’t killed us, and they obviously take slaves. Slaves need to be healthy, right?”
“I suppose.”
“So we say we need help, that bitch comes in to check it out, and I finally get to give her the gift I’ve been holding onto all this time.” Noe grinned, rubbing her knuckles. “We escape, and I get to give these fists a workout. Perfect, right?”
“I don’t know if it’d be that simple—”
Bree fell silent as the metal door suddenly clanged, rolling back on frozen runners and shedding a meager light on the humans within. A large, masked form filled the doorway, but from her gait, it could only be Peris.
Bree and Noe both shot to their feet, along with some of the stronger fighters, but Peris stepped inside without fear. Even with the mask obscuring her features, Bree could imagine the pleased look on her face as she squared up to them, her rifle at her side. Then, she reached for Bree, and her gloved claws were somehow still sharp as they dug into her arm.
“Let go of her!” Noe said, stepping forward, but two more levekk followed. They restrained her quickly and quietly, well-prepared for her ferociousness now.
“Lisira ve. Urek, salak neirakass.”
Bree didn’t need to know what they were saying to understand. It was time. Urek was ready to ramp up his plans, and there could only be one thing he wanted. Their village.
She went quietly. There was no use fighting. The heatsuit she wore had stopped working, but Torrin’s coat warmed her as she was directed through the snow, which had piled high enough to cover the evidence of their battle. Behind her, she heard Noe struggling.
They were taken to a cluster of freshly-built levekk buildings—a large one that reached as high as the Barracks’ walls and two smaller ones beside it—the smallest of which they were marched inside. Bree felt the air change as she crossed the threshold. It was warm, becoming even moreso once the door snapped shut behind them and the seal of the door puffed with air. Inside Torrin’s coat, she was suddenly sweating.
Urek stood in the center of the room, a smirk on his face, but Bree’s heart leaped into her throat when she saw Marek standing behind him, a device in his hand.
Despite her doubts, all she wanted was to embrace him, but she pushed the impulse down. Urek watched her like a hawk, until his gaze slipped sideways to where Noe was still fighting her captors’ grip. He nodded to them, and they released her.
“About time,” she grumbled.
Urek said something else, and Peris and the others left the room. Bree’s gaze lingered on Marek as the door hissed shut behind them, trying to read him, but he was listening to Urek, and his eyes didn’t return to her until he opened his mouth to translate.
“This,” he said, holding up the device in his hand, “will give you the ability to understand our most common language. Urek wears one now, which means he can hear everything you say.”
“Then can he hear me when I say he’s a cocksucking asshole?” Noe asked, not skipping a beat, and Urek stiffened. She grinned. “That’s a yes.”
“Please, do not make this difficult.” Marek said, talking over Urek as he started to spit something caustic. “Things will go more smoothly if we can interact as equals.”
“He’ll never treat us like equals,” Bree said. Marek met her eyes then, and finally she saw the wealth of emotion she’d been searching for in the blue-violet depths.
“Please,” he murmured, but as he moved closer, Noe stepped into him, batting his hand away.
“You think we’re gonna let you bring that futuristic, alien space shit anywhere near us?”
“Noe…” Bree began, but the blond cut her off.
“Come on, Bree. We don’t know what that does. It could be anything!”
Urek grunted with frustration, grabbing Noe’s arm and yanking her aside. “Salak tarna lisira sehr ka?”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re saying, asshole! Let go of me!”
“Liinakk shekra…”
While the two of them bickered, Marek quickly moved to Bree’s side. She stiffened, but his touch was gentle, and her body relaxed on instinct as his warm and familiar hands swept the hair from behind her ear and supported her head.
“Please, bear this. I do not wish for you to be in the dark any longer,” he whispered to her, and the sadness in his voice made her heart twist.
“This is going to hurt, isn’t it?”
His brow creased, and he darted a look at Urek and Noe, who were so wrapped up in their fight even without a common language that they barely paid any attention to them.
“Urek will not allow me to stay,” he said quickly, his lips by her ear. “You must keep him busy as long as it is safe to do so.”
She frowned, whipping around to look at him. “Why? Where are you going?”
“I have a plan, but I need him distracted. And I need you to trust me.”
Her breath hitched. He still held her in his arms, something between a lover’s embrace and a scientist’s careful hold, and she struggled to work out which it was. The metal device rested against her neck, a stark chill compared to the warmth of the room and Marek’s gloved fingertips.
But it was the look in his eyes that had her heart thundering. Sorrow, fear, regret, hope, and along with them all, trust. He trusted her to help him. But could she do the same?
The answer came easily. “I trust you.”
She arched her neck, allowing him access.
“I will help you. It should have been the first thing I did, but I will ensure it now,” he whispered, placing the device against the soft patch of skin behind her ear. “And yes, this will hurt.”
No warning could have prepared her for the searing pain that bloomed through her skull when the device activated. Whatever it was, it bit into her skin like teeth, latching on just as strongly, and there was a sharp tug as Marek drew the device away. Her hand shot up to cup the wound, only to find a smooth metal oval, the size of a small skippi
ng stone, nestled behind her ear. Her fingers came away red, but Marek passed her a cloth, which she pressed to the wound.
“It will stop soon,” Marek said, his voice soothing.
Across the room, Urek had noticed her grunt of pain, and he looked over at them with his clawed hand wrapped tight around Noe’s wrist.
“Kikehni… already? Good. Now, do this one before she scratches my eye out.”
Bree’s mind whirled, her hearing turning muffled as her ears rang loud enough to deafen her. Urek’s voice faded and then returned, echoing back in multiple layers as words in two separate languages fought for dominance in Bree’s mind. It was like seeing double, until the levekk’s staccato voices evened out, the metallic ringing subsiding to a strange vibration that accompanied their speech.
Her ear throbbed beneath her fingers, burning hot like a fever, but she pushed it aside when Noe suddenly screamed, “Ostie de crisse de tabarnak! That fucking hurts!”
Her voice pierced Bree’s ears, the pain excruciating, and she looked up to find Marek stepping away from Noe, an unhappy expression on his face.
“Now, maybe you will cooperate,” Urek snapped directly in Noe’s ear, making her wince, and Bree started forward.
“Leave her alone!” she snarled. To her surprise, Urek allowed her to pull Noe in to her arms, and the taller woman leaned against her as the translation device activated. “You’re a monster.”
“Only when pushed to be,” Urek snapped, motioning to Marek. “Go back to your work. And send in Peris.”
Marek tensed. “Urek, do not hurt—”
“I will do whatever I must!” Urek snarled, rounding on his brother. “Now go.”
Marek glared, and Bree saw his thoughts written plain across his face. He wanted to attack Urek right here, but that would not solve anything, not with Peris and the others outside. Even Bree could see that much.
His gaze cut to hers, his bearing relaxing just slightly. “As you wish, brother.”
They did not speak as he stormed past her and out of the room, but she felt the soft graze of his fingers against her elbow, and the touch bolstered her.
When he left, the room fell silent.
“Now,” said Urek, smirking again. “You will tell me what I need to know.”
---
Night had fallen, and the freezing wind bit into Marek’s exposed scales. But there was one advantage to the cold. The levekk’s heatsuits required a lot of energy to run, and with so many in use at once, their refueling capabilities would be hampered. Most had been ordered to return to the main cabin to save energy, and with the solayans banished to the perimeter, that meant there were less people for him and Silas to worry about.
He met with Silas outside his makeshift lab. “Urek is occupied?” the solayan asked immediately, and Marek nodded.
“Bree will look after herself and her friend. Hopefully he does not get too excited.”
“They will be fine. There are solayans who would cower before those two.” Silas flashed his fangs as he said this, seemingly back to his easy-going self, Marek was glad to see. “The transports?”
“Packed full of mesilisi,” Marek said. “And I’ve shorted the door on the main cabin.”
“Then all we must deal with are Peris and Urek.”
“The solayans will wait to sound the alarm until we have escaped?”
“Yes. Tomias will handle it. He owes me favors.”
Marek frowned. He knew Tomias. The miner was quiet and restrained, and not the type to owe anyone any favors. “How did you manage that?”
“By beating him at Kerfesk,” Silas said with a grin.
Marek snorted, but soon sobered. “Then it’s time.”
“You are nervous, but you should not be,” Silas said, clapping him on the shoulder with a large hand. “Urek will not see through this plan. I can promise you that.”
He briefly clasped his friend’s hand, before turning away. “If theres one thing I’ve learned from these humans, Silas, it’s that we must not make promises we’re not sure we can keep.”
“Good thing I intend to keep it, then.”
The snow was soft under their feet as they crossed the open square, and more of the stuff fell all around them. It melted off Silas’ shoulders almost immediately, but stuck to Marek, and suddenly he realized that the cold felt more oppressive than it had before. His suit was failing, and he did not have time now to refuel it.
This didn’t worry him, though. He had a bit more time on his side than an average levekk. And all he needed was to get Bree and the others safely back to their people—properly, this time.
That was all that mattered now.
They came around each side of the humans’ cell in a pincer movement, using the thickening snow to cover the sound of their steps. There was only one guard, one of Peris’ team who’d drawn the short straw. That was another advantage: Urek didn’t see the humans as a threat. He thought that, stripped of their weapons and faced with levekk technology, they would lose their fight.
But he was wrong. If Bree was anything to go by, he’d underestimated them from the beginning.
Silas got to the guard first, striking her sensitive internal ear and sending her sprawling with little more than a whimper. Marek focused on releasing the half-frozen catch on the door, sliding it open as soundlessly as possible.
Inside, half the humans were on their feet, and they banded together at the sight of him, protecting those that lay tired and injured at their backs. No one spoke, just watched him carefully with the practiced focus of soldiers.
“Come with me,” he said in their language. “We have arranged your escape.”
Suddenly the cell was not so silent as a wave of whispers swept back through the room. Many looked around with wide, questioning eyes, like they weren’t sure they’d heard him properly, while the others argued fiercely with those beside them.
The leader—Luis, Marek remembered—stepped forward, the grays in his hair glistening in the light from the massive levekk lamps that now flooded the Barracks.
“You’re the one Bree brought with her,” the human said, looking him up and down, and Marek sighed. Of course they barely recognized him, even after locking him in a cell for hours. He was just another levekk to them.
“I am.”
“You realize we can’t trust you,” Luis said. “Not after what you brought down upon us. You could be leading us to our deaths.”
Marek gritted his teeth. “If we intended to kill you, you do not think we would have done so, already? Bree has surely told you what life awaits you with the levekk. You will work in factories and mines. You will be shipped to cities with towers more beautiful than anything you have ever seen, but which will always be out of your reach. You will live in slums, and if you succumb to illness, your children will be left alone, led astray by other humans and sub-species who do not have their best interests at heart. They will join gangs, sell their bodies. Every city is the same.”
Luis looked ill, although whether that was from his words or the wound no doubt festering beneath the bandages at his side, Marek wasn’t sure.
“This is your future with Urek. But if you come with me, I can get you home to your people. Or at least, I can try.”
The human’s thick brows were furrowed, and although he gripped his side now, he still stood tall. Behind him, the bearded one whom Bree had first spoken to—Torrin—whispered to his leader, “Better to die out there than waste away in here.”
Luis’ expression turned so fierce that Marek feared he would turn him down, but then he blew out a sigh. “What is your plan?”
“I have prepared a transport—”
“One of those spaceships?”
Marek almost rolled his eyes. “Yes. The spaceships. It will be slow with this many passengers, and the navigation will not work. But with one of us operating and your directions, we can get you home.”
Luis stilled, and Marek’s heart leaped into his throat. He knew the dilemma he fac
ed. Trust an alien with the location of everything they held dear so they could return, or stay silent and never see their families again. But there was no other choice. No other way to get the humans to safety.
Still, the human shook his head. “You know we cannot accept that.” At Marek’s attempt to protest, he held up a hand. “We are the final defense for our people. A weak defense, maybe,” he said, gesturing at the hulking figure of Silas hovering outside, “but the only one we have. We cannot endanger the husbands, wives, and children who wait for us.”
Marek gritted his teeth in frustration. “You will be parted unnecessarily.”
“Better that than giving your people the tools to find them. I don’t trust your intentions, I don’t trust your technology, and I can’t trust you.” He looked almost apologetic when he sighed. “You must understand.”
Marek turned away, his mind racing. The square outside was still quiet, meaning no one had noticed them yet, but they would not have much longer. Besides, every minute wasted here put Bree in more danger. He didn’t trust his brother to stay pleasant for long.
There was only one alternative.
He turned back to Luis. “Can your people make it through the snow on foot with their injuries?”
The human’s eyes widened in surprise, but then a hint of a smile pulled at his lips. “They can.”
“Silas, I need you to call in another favor with Tomias.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Tell him to leave a gap in the perimeter. And take these humans through it.”
“His kind will not follow us?” Luis asked, eyeing the solayan.
“Your weapons have been left in a pile two buildings away,” Marek said. “Silas will allow you to collect them.”
Finally, the human’s eyes were bright with something other than mistrust, and behind him, the others whispered amongst themselves with interest. “If they try to follow, we will fight,” he warned.
Marek nodded. “Promise me that you will.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, and then Luis asked, “What about the girls?”
