by L M Lacee
Before the five people realized what she intended to do, Melody’s blaster was in her hand and the shot echoed in the large room. The young male screamed behind his gag as tears ran down his cheeks when a hole appear in his shoulder.
The female called Celinna, mate to the older brother, screamed behind her gag as Orotha screamed when her brother slumped to the floor. Both male’s faces paled and the older brother yelled as Sether jumped to his feet, only to subside when he saw several blasters trained on him. With another nod from Peyton, Netta and Janet picked up the male and dumped him unceremoniously back onto his chair.
He groaned and sobbed with pain as sluggish dark gray almost black blood seeped from the wound. Heather had explained at first-meal, the Jenersar bled very slowly and their blood was thick like syrup. Which Peyton and the others had not appreciated as they were eating hotcakes at the time.
So blood loss, Heather assured her was only possible with multiple deep wounds, but the Jenersar had a very low tolerance for pain. So even when the blood stopped seeping, the pain receptors in his brain would keep triggering for quite a while.
‘I will ask again?’ Peyton said, then took a sip of her coffee, placing her cup down. ‘Which of the brothers likes hunting?’
A flicker in Orotha eyes caused Peyton to smile as she said. ‘Maybe! I should be asking a different question. Maybe the question should be, which of the females like to hunt?’
Again no one answered, Peyton nodded to Melody. The older brother this time.
Within a space of heartbeat, Melody shot the older males leg, he screamed behind his gag and fell hard onto the floor. His bound hands unable to break the fall.
The females again screamed and cried with another nod from Peyton. Netta and Janet hefted the male up and dumped him none to gently back onto the chair.
‘Remove their cuffs and gags please.’
Dispassionately Peyton explained to the five people, looking only at Sether’s pale face. ‘I do not think you understand. I have from now until I decide to leave this planet, which could be soon, or many days from now, depending on the answers I receive. In that time I can think of many ways to get you to answer my questions and if you still do not speak. I am told, you had Warriors instructed in the art of torture.’
Peyton in truth had no idea if they had or not, or even if the Warriors knew about torture but she thought it was a possibility. So went with it, and it seemed her guess may have stirred something, as each of the prisoners squirmed in their seats. She could almost see the fear coming off of them in waves.
‘Our specialists have disabled your security and comp’s, there is no incoming or outgoing comms,’ except for what we send.’
Sether’s eyes shifted from side to side as his mind raced at the implications of her statements, he knew eventually one of his relations would break. But if he talked first, maybe he could control the flow of information. But before he could formulate a coherent plan, his attention was on the small female again as she said. ‘Oh, I am sorry were you hoping we did not think about that, maybe you had signals to be sent every four hours. Shame on you, so easy to find apparently and duplicate.’
She did not sound sorry, in fact Sether thought she sounded, remarkably amused.
Peyton asked. ‘So I ask again, who likes hunting?’
Still no one answered, she shook her head. ‘This is just sad, I had really hoped to avoid this. Oh well, take him.’ She pointed to the older brother Meins. ‘Take his head.’
Janet and Netta grabbed the male as he struggled to get away from them. Netta slugged him, not hard enough to render him unconscious just a tap on the chin to let him know she was not amused. He went limp in their arms as he gave up the fight. All the others watched in horror as Netta and Janet started to drag him toward the door, the two females could not start talking fast enough, causing Sether to curse inwardly. The females talked over each other, trying to explain and plead for the life of the male.
Peyton nodded to Netta and she and Janet dragged the male back and seated him on the chair. Peyton pointed to the female named Orotha. ‘Only you, speak!’
She nodded as she looked her brother over while avoiding her mates accusing eyes. ‘We do, all of us. Both our families, we hold hunting vacations here.’
Peyton just stared at Sether for a minute then said. ‘I see, so both sides of the family, yours Sether?’
He answered with a resentful look at his mate. ‘Yes.’
‘Mmm! Interesting, I wonder just what it is you like to hunt. Tell me Orotha, what special species does your family enjoy stringing up and skinning? That is after you have played your little seek and find game and run them to the ground?’
None of the four answered, they just stared stonily at her, as their faces paled more. Then Darby comm'd. ‘Star Daughter, please come.’
She said a few more things but Peyton wasn’t listening being more concerned with why she needed to leave the room. Standing she said to Netta.
‘If they move or speak, kill them, but leave this one alive.’ She tapped Sether on the shoulder as she walked pass him. ‘Commander Melody, with me!’
When they were out of the room, they raced along the several hallways knowing if Darby called it was important. Minutes later they ran down three flights of stairs and came to a stop in a large underground tiled entry way. Bent over at the waist Peyton heaved in breaths, Melody fitter than her, just panted.
Heather and Patty stepped out of a lift to their right. Melody snarled at Peyton. ‘Did you forget to tell me all of Darby’s message?’
Peyton looked at the stairs they had just run down and then at another lift as it opened to disgorge Hawk and Kerol. ‘I think she said something about a lift. I forget now.’
Melody growled and stomped off. Peyton wheezed out after her. ‘What... what… the stairs are good for you.’
Heather said. ‘Wow, you really need to get into shape!’
At Peyton’s appalled look, she grinned. ‘Don’t worry, I will have Kerol help me draw up a routine to get you fit and Helen will see about a new eating plan.’
She huffed out. ‘No, really, I am good.’
Heather waved away her dismissal. ‘Seriously, do not concern yourself. It will be my pleasure, really it will!’
Peyton opened her mouth to complain when Patty asked in her quiet way. ‘Why are we here?’
Hawk told them. ‘Lady Darby said to follow the red line.’
They all looked down and sure enough there was a red line. Melody looked up at Peyton, who quickly said. ‘She never mentioned anything about lines.’
‘That you can remember!’ She growled as she and Hawk along with Heather and Patty. Heather’s second in charge, started following the line.
Peyton stared after them and smiled a little as she gave Patty a once over, she looked very different now, compared to when she had first arrived at Runnerdale.
When Peyton had been introduced to her, the woman had looked exhausted and so forlorn, it had hurt Peyton’s heart to see her that way. Today she looked wide awake and her mousy hair was tied back from her face, which did not look so pale or sad anymore.
There was still an air of sadness around her, but outwardly she appeared well and a little happier. Peyton wondered what had changed for her. Maybe it was having Heather around her all the time or could be the soft blue top and trousers she was wearing that made her look like a competent professional, which made her happy. She would have to ask Heather what she thought later.
She looked over at the amused Kerol as he cleared his throat; and protested. ‘It isn’t that I mean to forget. I have a lot on my mind.’
‘Of course Madam, after you.’ He swept his hand out in invitation.
Peyton sighed, hearing the amused doubt in his voice and asked. ‘How goes the search outside?’
‘We are sure we have found all the inhabitants. Some are being evacuated as we speak, all the farms and villages are being searched once more, just to make certain. There are villagers being treated
and given food and others are in the process of packing what they want to take with them. They will be shuttled to the Maikonia II, as soon as they are ready. Specialist Nina has arrived and is organizing the collection of seeds and plants, several farmers are helping, apparently there are many that are worth collecting. Specialist Jean has found records of the inhabitants and their history. She is downloading all their information if, as she told Lady Darby, they require it later.’
‘Good, do the inhabitants wish to stay with us or be taken somewhere else?’
‘They have elected to remain with us.’
‘Alright.’
While they had been discussing the farmers, they had traveled down a hallway with doors on either side. It reminded Peyton of a vaulted basement she had seen in a picture book as a child, she called out. ‘Darby, where are you?’
‘Here!’ She was standing in a doorway. ‘Did you really forget to tell Melody about the lifts?’
‘Why are you asking that now?’ She asked as she tried to look pass her.
Darby shook her head. ‘Oh, Peyton, we found sleepers.’
‘How many?’
‘Four thousand.’
She backed into the room and swept her hand around, showing an enormous underground cavern, hued out of the bedrock. Rows upon rows of Warriors in stasis tubes greeted her as she came to a stop beside Melody.
She was watching Hawk and Kerol, she gave Peyton a swift look and then returned her stare to the two males murmuring. ‘I am unsure whether I am angry or saddened.’
‘I know.’ Darby murmured back as Peyton remained silent, she too watched Hawk as he started to walk slowly between rows of tubes. Touching each glass top as he passed, Kerol stood at the beginning of a row looking down onto the face of a sleeping male.
‘I thought he was dead.’ He said to Heather as she came alongside him, she placed an arm around his waist and asked. ‘You know him?’
‘He was my training partner. I was told thirty yentas ago, he died. I mourned him.’ Kerol looked up at Peyton, his face an icy mask. ‘Someone has to pay for this.’
They all looked up when they heard Hawk say. ‘So many... so many! I did not really believe. I had hope, but I did not think we would see all these Warriors. Many of my... Dinas!’ He cried out and ran to a tube and placed a hand on the top of the glass a confused look on his face. ‘He is my friend, but… he is more, what is the term now?’ He muttered to himself.
‘Best friend.’ Patty supplied for him as she came to stare down at the most beautiful male, she had ever encountered. ‘Oh my!’ She whispered as she too placed her hand on the top of the tube.
‘No... No! Even though that is true. I remember now, he is my heart brother.’ Hawk said, pleased he had remembered the term Peyton had used. ‘We grew and trained together with my brothers and when they were all lost. I thought I was the only one to have survived, I was alone until Kerol came and we formed a squad he and I. Lukkas came later, then Willian. Correct Kerol?’
Kerol agreed as he walked to the other side of the tube and stared down at the Elite. ‘This is true Hawk, Dinas being here, is a gift from the Stars.’ Then he looked at Hawk asking urgently. ‘Are your brothers here?’
Hawk whipped his head around to stare at the rows of Warriors, then the two quickly began searching the tubes. Peyton whispered as she stared at all the stasis tubes. ‘Oh my friend, they will pay and pay dearly, trust me on that!’
She walked around for a bit as Hawk and Kerol searched for his brothers, then she asked Darby, how they were going to get the tubes out. She had shaken her head and said with a sigh that she was sending for reinforcements to try to figure out how to take the sleepers to the ships. Seeing there was nothing left for her to do and her anger was starting to build. Peyton decided to see what treasures were revealed in the other vaults Darby had unlocked.
The first one she entered was about fifty feet by twenty-five feet and it seemed to have stacks of what looked like precious metals within. She was sure she saw silver and gold as well as containers with what she assumed were jewels stack to the ceiling. She shook her head as she wondered why they had needed jewels and gold for hunting.
The next vault she entered was the same size as the first, except this one was filled with rows of small tubes, she thought they contained some kind of alcohol. The next vault had floor to ceiling containers that held gold and silver eating utensils along with dinner sets. Another room was stacked with rugs of all shapes and sizes as well as rolls of cloth and other materials. In still another room there appeared to be rows and rows to the ceiling of some type of crystal, in so many colors it was like walking into a rainbow. She asked Willian who had been trailing her. ‘Are these valuable?’
‘Yes Madam, everything we have seen so far is of value.’
‘Well, Willian. I am assigning you a task, please find Warriors to have all of these vaults emptied. I would say there are about ten, maybe fifteen.’ She mumbled as she looked along the closed doors, then she asked him.
‘Can we find somewhere for it all to go?’
‘Of course Madam, we have plenty of cargo space and many Warriors and females to help.’
Spying Trina, Peyton called to her. ‘Trina Brown, just the person I need!’
‘Yes Madam, what can I do for you?’
Trina was a tall blonde, green eyed bombshell, with a sharp wit and a skill with languages. She had a permanent sun burned skin tone and her Australian accent was engaging and usually filled with humor.
At twenty-nine it had been her lifelong dream to be in law enforcement and now she got to be more than just a trooper, she was a Warrior. Trina loved her life; she was never bored or overlooked and was making friends, true friends. Which was a novel experience for someone who had been a foster child and then a teenager on the streets of Australia.
Peyton grinned at the cheerful accent, spoken by one of her favorite people. ‘Trina could you please assist Willian. We need males and females, in truth we need an armee to remove all the valuables from the vaults and the rooms upstairs, and we need it itemized?’
‘Can do! We have heaps of females that know how to do that. I will put the word out as long as the shuttles run, we will be working.’
‘Good, I leave it to the two of you then.’
Trina grinned at her as Willian nodded his head. Peyton walked farther down another short hallway just pass the last of the vaults, as she listened she heard the two Warriors behind her on their links asking for help.
She came to a door and wondered why Darby had not unlocked it, then she saw the lock was something she had never encountered before. It was very high tech, maybe Darby needed Jean or someone else to help open it. Looking around she saw no one was watching her, so she placed her hand next to the lock, on the stone or what she thought was a stone door and watched as her hand glowed with starlight. Within seconds the lock clicked open, and the door swung inwards.
She tipped her head and peered into the dim room and spied a female with a baby. She just stopped her mouth from dropping open in what she knew would not be a good first impression.
The female was nut brown; it was like she had been fashioned from a walnut tree, she seemed very delicate, almost ethereal and was very beautiful. Her hair fell in one long curtain to her waist and she wore a dress that was a shade of green Peyton had never seen before. It appeared to be made from a soft material that seemed to fall in waves around her. She looked chilled, Peyton suspected the thin jacket covering her shoulders did nothing to keep her warm. She guessed she was somewhere between her height and Melody’s and the unbidden thought came to mind that she was a tall, slim walnut.
The baby was a bit of a shock, from what she could see, it was light blue and had a patch of white hair on its head. The infant was wrapped in a blanket that at some time may have been red. On the cabinet next to the bed were diapers and baby bottles, along with some dirty cloths.
Peyton felt like the baby was only a day or two old, again a thought came
to mind of a little blue berry, she had to admit they made a startling pair and as she thought about it she nodded. It was almost like they were meant to be together and she was meant to find them, almost like it was ordained. Walking into the cell, she looked at the female who held the baby protectively against her chest. ‘Greetings.’
‘Greetings, Star Daughter.’
Again she was unsurprised, the female knew who she was. ‘Is the baby yours?’
‘Yes, but not of my body.’
‘Male or female?’
‘Female, I was told she is three days old.’
‘Is she well, are you hurt?’
‘I hope she is. I know little of babes and I am unhurt, only chained.’
She moved her leg so Peyton could see the heavy chain wrapped around her abraded ankle.
‘Huh!’ Peyton flicked her fingers, and the chain fell away. She mind-sent for Heather. I need you.
Seconds later Heather and Hawk entered. ‘Oh, my.’ Heather said astounded to find the female and baby.
Hawk bowed. ‘Greetings, Sene, are you permitted to leave your home world?’
‘Greetings, Commander, I indeed have been declared castque.’
Peyton asked. ‘Commander Hawk, explain please?’
He inclined his head as he said, ‘Madam, a castque means an outcast. A Sene is what in your language you would refer to as a Seer, and they are always female. There are Sene’s who can see the future of whole worlds or Galaxies. Some can see future stages of any event, such as a battle in a war. Others that can read the future of a single person. It is rumored that there are Sene’s who can see the past and the present. A Sene is never allowed off their home world, unless they are contracted out by their Elders.’ He eyed the Sene sitting sedately on the bed holding a baby.
Heather asked Hawk. ‘Where is this world?’
‘It is called Yanarah and is ruled by the High Elder and twelve elders. To be castque means the Sene broke with tradition and disobeyed the Elders. She can never return to her home world and is destined to roam. No one will allow her to settle on their world in fear of retaliation by the Elders. A priounty or what in your tongue is called a bounty, is always paid on the death of a Sene.’
