A Forgotten Kitten (Sea-anan Saga Book 2) (14 page)

“I am called Sssirt. My bussinesss here isss none of yoursss.”

“If it entails my female, then it is my business.”

“Your
female?”

“Correct!”

“A pity for you. She now belongsss to the Aconda.”

Sev heard Areo’s gasp. “Who are they? Do you know of them?” he asked her. He looked back briefly and saw Areo taking a better look at the giant snake.

“I have heard stories of them. They are merciless slave traders.” She glanced up at him. “Female-slave traders. They never fail to get the women they set their bitty little eyes on. No one dares stand in their way. They are known to be excellent sharpshooters.”

Sev’s gaze drifted to the gun. He readied himself. “Get out of here, Areo.”

“No way. I’m not leaving you.”

“Areo!” Sev snapped. He did not want her anywhere near this slave trader, especially if he started shooting.

“It doesss not matter if she runsss. I will hunt her down and take her with me.”

“Over my dead body!” Sev growled at the giant monster.

“If you wisssh. But before I kill you, I like to know the name of my prey firssst.”

Sev boiled at the Aconda’s nerve. “I am Sev, Lord of Oceanica. I give you one last chance to leave this planet in peace.”

“Sev,” Areo said, “you can’t let him go. He’s a slave trader. He’s wanted for murder and numerous abductions around the galaxy. His ship is most likely filled with kidnapped women.”

Sev growled. “Blast it! That didn’t occur to me.” He shot fiery-red daggers at the giant snake. “Aconda, I will have to retract that offer. I hereby place you under arrest for murder, kidnapping, and the attempted kidnapping of my mate.”

“You would dare try to arressst an Aconda?”

“I dare stand against anyone who threatens a defenseless being, especially one who dares threaten the safety of my mate.”

“Quite foolish of you…cat.” He started shooting.

Both felines rolled out of the line of fire and vaulted into the nearest trees. Utilizing their natural feline speed and agility, they zig-zagged in and out of the overhead canopy. Each took turns landing before Sirt. They taunted him, flustered him into taking chances.

Areo landed in a crouched position three feet in front of the incensed creature. She stood as Sirt took aim at her heart. The giant reptile was about to fire when Sev tackled him to the ground. Without giving Sirt a chance to regain his bearings, Sev rendered the Aconda unconscious with a mighty right cross.

With eyes aglow, he roared at the alien. “No one threatens my mate and gets away with it! No one!” He stood and saw Areo staring at the unconscious snake. “Areo!” He rushed to her and pulled her against him. “Are you hurt? Did that monster hurt you?”

“No, I’m all right.” She grabbed the front of his shirt, looking anxious. “Are
you
all right?”

Sev searched her lovely features for any sign of injury. He was relieved he had been able to keep her safe. Instead of answering her question, he kissed her.

Areo’s response was equally violent.

“I’m just curious as to how the Aconda got past your defenses,” Areo said. “You do have a defense system up and running, covering the gravisphere around Oceanica, right? I mean, how else could you have known I was floating out there?”

“We do,” replied Miko. “We have security cameras with built-in motion detectors in each sector around the planet’s perimeter.”

“How many per sector?”

“Two.”

“Two!” Areo repeated, thunderstruck. “That’s it? You mean you don’t have an electromagnetic grid surrounding the planet?”

Theo and Miko shared a confused expression. She received her answer.

“Well, it’s no wonder they arrived here undetected, especially since we were all fighting that fire yesterday.”

“That must have been how they got past our defenses without us knowing. We were not here,” inserted Angel.

Areo frowned. “I don’t think so.”

Miko regarded her from his seat. “Why not?”

“Because amidst all of the excitement yesterday, I didn’t get the chance to tell you guys that I saw one of those Acondas near a Feron home. I think that’s how the fire got started.” She leaned against the nearest wall and crossed her arms. “What I’m wondering now is, how long have they been on Oceanica? And how many women are already missing from this planet?”

She paused, beginning to feel the tingling sensation she always got at the back of her neck when something was amiss. She frowned as she looked at each man in the room. Her feeling was quickly intensifying. How could she tell them her sixth sense was going crazy without revealing her gifts?

“While we’re on the topic of missing women, can anyone tell me where Uma and Serena are?”

Angel responded. “They went with Jugar to Cat’s Cove earlier this morning.”

“Have they checked in yet?”

Theo glanced at the others, who shook their heads. “Now that you mention it, no, they have not.”

“Then don’t you think it’s time someone tried to reach them?” Areo asked. “I mean,
hello,
people—they are two women with only one man as escort. These Acondas are not the sort of species to take lightly, from what I hear.”

“I agree,” spoke Sev. “Theo, contact Cat’s Cove on the transmitter. Miko, did you run the daily tests on the security cameras?”

“I did, and nothing was out of the ordinary.”

“They’re snakes. They’re very cunning and sneaky,” remarked Areo. “We have to be very careful with them.”

Miko spared her an irritated look.
“We?
Since when are you part of this team?”

His words offended her. Areo stiffened and glared at him. “For your information, where I come from I’m considered a valuable warrior.”

Miko scanned her slight frame from head to toe and chuckled. “You are joking.”

“Areo
is
a warrior,” insisted Sev, who was also standing straighter. “Have you forgotten how she risked her life to save Seon’s? She is the only one who succeeded when the rest of us failed.”

Miko snorted and muttered under his breath. “Lucky shot.”

Areo seethed. She glowered at Miko, then at Sev, who’s icy stare was glued to the back of Miko’s head.

“Sev, there is no answer from Cat’s Cove or from any of their individual wristguards,” reported Theo from the communication station.

“Blast it! Theo, you come with me. We’ll head over to Cat’s Cove. Miko, go with Angel and search Limbo’s Lookout. Areo, put your translator on, stay here, and watch over the castle.”

Areo retrieved her translator from her pouch as they walked up to the main control panel. “These yellow buttons will switch your view from one surveillance camera to the next,” Sev explained to her. “These blue ones will activate the communication systems to all the watchtowers, vehicles, and personal wristguards. I’m sure you know how to activate those.”

She nodded, and he continued. “You speak into either this hand microphone or into the general microphone situated here. This green button activates the main doors to the lair. And this red one opens and shuts the window guards. Make sure you keep both shut at all times once we leave.”

“Please be careful,” Areo whispered to him. She wanted to kiss him, but refrained from doing so. She hoped her eyes conveyed her concern for him.

“Stay away from the prisoner,” he warned. “Keep this orange button on at all times. It’s the power switch for the cell’s electrified gate. Understood?”

“Understood.”

With his eyes still locked on hers, he addressed the others. “Then let’s go, Seacats. We have some friends to find and some females to rescue.”

“Right!” The others headed for the door.

“Stay safe, Princess,” he whispered to her. His gaze darkened as he stared at her lips.

“You, too.” Looking at the other Seacats, she said, “Stay frosty, you guys.”

They shared confused looks with each other as they departed, making Areo laugh.

Areo familiarized herself with the surveillance cameras by first scanning the planet’s gravisphere and then the area outside the castle.

She pressed a blue button on the panel. “Sev?”

“Sev here.”

“Sev, it’s Areo. I’ve scanned the areas around each of your cameras. I have some bad news.”

“Go ahead.”

“I don’t see the Aconda’s ship anywhere. This can mean one of several things. Either they left already, or they have cloaking technology, or Sirt was just a scout and the others haven’t arrived yet.”

“Great.”
He sounded upset.

“Any luck in finding the others?”

“No, not yet. I tried using the gem’s power of second sight to locate them, but I was blocked by an energy field. We are not dealing with some backward species.”

“Wonderful.”

“Have you heard anything from Angel or Miko?”

“Afraid not. I’ll keep you posted if anything changes.”

“Affirmative. By the way, how’s the prisoner doing?”

“He’s taking a mid-afternoon nap. Lucky him. When this is over, I’m going to sleep, too.”

“Just as long as you hold off until I get home.”

Areo smiled, not missing his double meaning. “Of course.”

“OK, then. Sev out.”

Ten minutes later, Areo nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned off the blaring alarms and began a thorough search for the intruder who had tripped the spy cameras. It was only a Feron at the main entrance. She relaxed.

She went downstairs to manually open the huge, heavy doors. She tapped her communicator on and asked, “Can I help you?”

“Areo, I Fern.”

Areo was embarrassed that she had not immediately recongnized him. “Oh! I’m sorry, Fern. The others are not here, but if there is something I can help you with, I’ll be more than happy to do so.”

“Seacats gone?” He sounded disappointed.

“They’re on assignments. What can I get you, my friend?”

“Far?” He asked, nervously shifting his feet.

“They went to Cat’s Cove and Limbo’s Look—” Areo stopped in the middle of her sentence and sniffed the air. She reached out with her hypersenses and detected her enemies’ location. One stood on each end of the top landing, invisible. She yanked Fern inside the castle and prepared for battle in one fluid motion. “All right, I know you’re there. Show yourself!”

An Aconda materialized to her left.
Sssss.
“How did you know?”

“I’ve smelled your kind before. Tell your partner to show himself.”

“Partner?”

“Yes. I smell two rotten snakes.” She tilted her head to the right. “He’s standing over there.” Areo prayed they were not as good at hand-to-hand combat as they were at sharpshooting. Her back was to the castle’s entrance, and the Acondas stood on either side of her. “I take it you reptiles haven’t left. And I see you have cloaking knowledge.”

Sssss.
“We alssso have knowledge that one of our kind isss within thessse wallsss. We order you to releassse our comrade. Immediately,” said the serpent to her right.

“You are to come with usss,” the other added. “You will make an excccellent addition to our collection of fine femalesss.”

“Collection of fine females? You make us sound like vintage wine. I’m not going anywhere with the likes of you. And neither of you will be leaving here, except to share a cell with your friend. So let’s not make this difficult. Lay down your weapons, and no one would have to get hurt.”

“An Aconda doesss not give up. We are predatorsss, not prey like you.”

Areo’s right finger wagged in protest. “Uh-uh. Excuse me? Correction: I’m a Seacat. The last time I checked, we wild cats are the toughest predators around.”

Just to prove her point, Areo used her feline speed to kick and disarm her opponents. She locked their guns and Fern safely within the castle walls while she confronted them outside. The snakes were doubled over and gasping for breath. As they straightened, they reached behind their backs and pulled out their mercenary swords.

Areo’s heart pounded in her chest.
Great, more swords.
Flashbacks from her previous experience with a sword assaulted her mind. Yet she did not allow her enemies to know her confidence was shaken.

She scanned their towering forms.
Where is that damn cloaking device? I need to deactivate it before they pull out a missile launcher.
Areo made the first move. She lured them away from the castle and into the forest where she found a long, thick branch on the grassy floor.