Bandits (18 page)

Daniel watched Nickel struggle to do as he was told. The sizzle and ringing of the Kelpings’ death gave him some sati
s
faction. Nickel killed the four Kelpings that were attached to his neck and his face. Kelpings were hard to find, so the Zukar only used the exactly what was needed. The Zukar had long ago realized the potential of the evil creatures and brought them from one of the raids to harvest them for torture. Lucky for Nickel, he was young and recovered more quickly from the effects of the Kelpings than an adult.

The sound of shuffling feet and grunts were coming clo
s
er. Daniel whispered, “Hurry, Nickel! They’re coming.” 

Nickel scrambled with a burst of energy, and picked up the dead Kelpings that fell around him, and then he slid back into the darkened corner from which he came.

Daniel’s gaze moved to the hallway ahead of him. He heard a cough and gurgle from the victims being carried. Wai
t
ing, he stood with his hands behind his back and a frown on his face as he slid down the wall and slit his eyes while pretended to be asleep. He was ready and hopeful the Zukar carrying Jade and the others was his father’s killer. He braced himself against what may have been done to the others.

It wasn’t long before they came into view. Jade was thrown over the shoulder of the first Zukar to come into D
a
niel’s line of sight. His jaw tightened, and he forced away emotion at seeing her slumped and lifeless body. Faulk fo
l
lowed slowly behind them. His mouth gagged, and his arms were tied or cuffed behind his back. He staggered into Nickel’s cell. Gabe was knocked out and dragged by his feet with his hands bound and tangled in his long dreaded hair. Their ca
p
tors cursed, and dropped Jade roughly on the floor with Gabe in the cell next to Daniel’s.

“I say we kill them,” one of the men grumbled. “They’re useless, gave up no leads. They’re just takin’ up space.”

“Hell, we can’t kill them until he gets what he’s after. Whatever the hell it is. He
’s
not told us a-thing, ‘cept that it’s a way to hang the King up by the neck. Humph,” the guard who locked the cell replied.

“We need to do somethin’ about that bastard King and quick. He’s changing the laws on Merwin, and trying kill us off in hopes of reclaiming the planet he claims we invaded. We’ve been here for three centuries, and have more of a right to be here than they do. We bring the commerce here, som
e
thing they didn’t have before the Zukar claimed the planet. Too bad the new King wasn’t like his father. At least his father left us the hell alone,” the taller Zukar stated. He walked down the hall and out of the holding area with the other guards following close behind.

Daniel stood and waited until they left, disappointed that the mastermind behind this capture wasn’t present.

He heard them argue as they left
,”
An attack against the King?  Treason? If this blows up in his face it could give the King the ammunition he needs to get support from the Galactic Council to kill all of the Zukar on Merwin, and hell if we want that.” 

Daniel bit down and swallowed the stagnant taste of blood while he pondered. He was torn. Clues to who was behind this capture were too vague, too many Zukar wanted the Merwin King dead. He still didn’t know how the treasure his father snatched fit into the puzzle, but whoever their leader was wanted them and the King dead.
I’m not dying to day though.
The need to avenge his father’s death filled him, yet he wanted them all to live. His head dropped and he listened, waiting for confirmation that it was safe to talk to the others.

Silence rung in the air, and Daniel slid up the wall to stand. “Nickel, help Faulk get the Kelpings off, and take that gag off his mouth,” Daniel said in disgust.

Nickel replied, “He’s friggin heavy!” Nickel said in a hoarse whisper as he gave up his battle to pull Faulk closer to the bars. He pulled the Kelping off one by one and burned them as they fought to get back to Faulk’s limp body.

“Smack him if you have to. Just make sure he snaps out of it.”

Daniel figured it was a good thing that the Kelpings were so one tracked minded once they got the scent of the blood of their chosen victim, otherwise they would’ve attacked Nickel while he tried to remove them. The ringing of their deaths sounded out within the cell. Faulk groaned in pain when Nickel removed the last Kelping from his body.

“Make sure he wakes up,” Daniel whispered.

He glanced at the cell next to him at a comatose Jade and Gabe. He was thankful their captors underestimated Nickel. Daniel thought it was stupid of them to assume that a child of one of the legendary EBRA sect leaders wouldn’t be well trained. He turned when he heard a moan from the cell next to his.

His breath caught in his chest as he looked upon Jade’s bruised face. He fought hard to hide the
anguish
on his face at seeing Jade that way. “Jade? Jade!” he called to try to snap her out of her stupor. He hoped they hadn’t put any Kelpings on her, but under his inspection of her face and neck, he knew she wasn’t so lucky.

“Daniel?” she replied with a moan. Her head moved to the side while she fought to awaken.

“Get up, Jade. Get up!  You have to get the Kelpings off before they come back,” he whispered harshly at her to get her attention.

“What?” Jade responded as she slowly came out of her daze. She reached out to touch the bar as if to stand up, and then she sank back to her knees and crawled.

He watched closely while she slowly made her way to the bars of the cell. “Don’t! Don’t touch it. It’ll electrocute you. Just put the Kelpings on it,” he told her sternly, trying to get her to wake up fully.

She did as he told her and yanked them off her face and neck. Numbly, she watched them sizzle as tears rolled down her face. “They’re going to make us take them to it. They want this, this thing to control Merwin’s King. Your father had it. What are we going to do?” Her body adjusted to the shock of pain when the numbing poison from the Kelpings wore off.

“We’re going to get free. Now help Gabe. Hurry up!” Daniel demanded.

He looked over at Faulk who was just starting to recover. Faulk also sported a swollen eye, along with a busted lip and purple and green splotches of bruises on his face, neck and arms. Daniel nodded in respect. He was proud of Faulk’s pers
e
verance, especially since he knew Faulk wasn’t used to this type of life.

Faulk looked up at him with his one good eye and winked then winced. “I didn’t tell those bastards
no
thing.” He spit out some blood and wiped his hand across his lip. “Figured they’d kill me whether I did or not.”  He grimaced and adjusted himself on the floor.

“Gabe’s not waking up. I burned the Kelpings off, but he still isn’t waking up,” Jade said. She started to sound frantic. Then she lost the battle with her tears when they flowed freely from her eyes as she slapped Gabe’s face to bring him out of his deep sleep. “Gabe? Gabe…no!” Her hands shook, and then she took a deep breath and swallowed. She looked up at Daniel, her face black and blue, with her lip busted. Slowly, she let out a shivering breath.

“Shhhh, it’s okay…we’re gonna get out of here. Look, shake him.” Daniel gazed at her and noticed how she fought to hold back tears. “What did they?  Did they do to you? Are you okay?” he asked, hoping they didn’t hurt her in ways that some of the crueler Zukar were known to do to female captives.

Her eyes narrowed and her face filled with rage. “They beat me, cut me, and then knocked me out. I hate them, and I’ll kill them the first chance I get,” she replied her breathing heavy with anger.

He closed his eyes, unable to bear the response to his grea
t
est fear. “They didn’t, you know…” he said hoping her answer would confirm that his worst fear hadn’t come true, yet bracing himself for the worst.

“No, they didn’t. I’m sure they’ll try to get around to it if we don’t get out of here soon. Said they would tell my father, lure him here to kill him also. Whoever they are, they don’t just want your father’s treasure. They wanted him and my father dead. They’re also planning on killing all of us along with them,” she answered and started to pull at Gabe’s shirt and hair to try to awaken him.

Daniel breathed out in relief when Gabe started to aw
a
ken. They were all coming out of their dazes, and he wanted to get them out of there. He squeezed at the waist of his pants. His fingers felt around in search of the wire just inside his wais
t
band. If he could grab it than he could pull through it to get his picking tool. It was just under his fingertips. “Yeah, here… it…  is.”

He bent the wire inside his waistband, and it broke through the material of his pants. The lock-picking tool was stuck inside and the tight unwavering metal of the handcuffs wouldn’t allow him to grab it.
Damn.
His only choice would be to dislocate his thumb to pull one of his hands out of the han
d
cuffs. It wasn’t his preferred method, but it was one his father had instructed him to do if desperate times depended upon it.

He took a swallow, closed his eyes, and pulled with force on his right hand. He heard his thumb
crack,
and a flashback of the first time he had to use this technique peeked through his determination to get it done. The pain and fear
from
the me
m
ory of his first experience was gone, and he completed the deed with a grunt.

He shook his free hand and corrected the crooked bent of his thumb with a grit of his teeth. Feeling around for the sharp tool, he pulled the thin wire out of his pants and grabbed the small hooked tool at the end. The handcuffs dangled on his right wrist while he unlocked it with his other hand, and fell to the floor.

“Use this to pick the lock on Gabe’s cuffs,” Daniel said. He noticed Gabe’s muscled form tense, struggling to stand.

“Dude, I got my own. Pass that to your cousin and brother. I’ll take care of mine,” Gabe replied.

Daniel’s swollen lip lifted in appreciation and he turned to Nickel. “Heads up!  Take the cuffs off Faulk.”  He bent down and slid the tool to Nickel who caught it with ease.

Daniel’s eyes closed and then stretched his neck and arms to warm them up for his impending attack. The slight sway from beneath his feet assured him the boat was moving. They needed to get off of it…
NOW
.

Gabe looked over at him, and they passed a knowing glance. He said hoarsely, “To the death.”

Daniel nodded at Gabe. “Do you remember how they took you upstairs?  I don’t want to waste time looking for the exit,” Daniel stated and glanced at Gabe.

Nickel responded, “I remember. I was awake the whole time.”

Daniel watched Gabe unlock his cuffs. He turned to Jade and said, “Can you throw the cuffs to deactivate the electrical current on the bars. You have to hit the button over there on the wall.”

“I got it,” she said and aimed. She threw the handcuffs with precision and hit the lever, and the bars were instantly deact
i
vated.

Jade grabbed the metal pick from Gabe and unlocked her cell in no time. She and Gabe rushed out, and she went quickly to Daniel’s cell and opened it. Daniel smiled his thanks. Nickel opened his cell door and he and Faulk stepped out.

“Man, I’ll be glad to get off this ship,” Faulk said.

Daniel motioned for them to gather around. “When we break through, and you see the sea, jump for it. You hear me? Faulk you drag Nickel to the edge if you have to
.
Nickel, you lead them to the underwater caverns, the ones with air pockets. Just like Dad taught us. Got it?”

Faulk shook his head. “I won’t leave. We’re family, and I’ll stay and make sure you get out with us,” he replied with an angry expression on his swollen face.

“I need you to take care of Nickel and Jade. Can you do that for me? It’s what I promised my father and Nickel. If one of us doesn’t make it, I could never forgive myself if your parents blamed me for your death – for Nick’s,” Daniel stated.

Faulk grudgingly nodded.

They made their way up the stairs stealthily, looking about briefly for anything they could use for weapons. Gabe stopped and ripped off part of the piping that ran up the wall. A blast of air escaped as he broke it in half and gave a piece to Daniel and Faulk. Daniel nodded at him in gratitude and wrapped his hand tightly around the pipe.

“Give me a piece of pipe. If I’m going to die, it won’t be without a fight,” Jade demanded, tugging on Daniel’s shirt.

Daniel turned to her and gave her his pipe. He took off his belt. Wrapping the softened leather tip tightly around his hand, he continued to follow Nickel up the last stair. Nickel stopped and put up a finger to his swollen mouth, which was crusted over with blood. Daniel nodded at him in return and motioned the warning to the others.

Daniel and Gabe stood on either side of Nickel. Daniel gave Nickel the hand signal to wait and run when they cleared the way. Nickel nodded and whispered the directions to Faulk and Jade.