Prime Selection (39 page)

“I’m sure Huw will learn.” Nadia unstrapped herself, reached for the dart weapon lying at her feet, and then stood. “He has no choice. He’s stuck with me.”

“Not stuck,
cwen
. I love you. Worship and adore you. But if you get one scratch on
your body rescuing me, I’ll think of new and arousing ways to punish you.”

“That’s not scaring me,
sladkie
. And the same goes for you. Don’t attract undue
attention to yourself. You’re Prime. They’d love to kill you if your value as a hostage
depreciates.”

She stalked to the shuttle exit and opened it. She walked down the ramp and was met by A’tem, the rest of Gold’s away teams, and the crews from the downed Gold battle cruisers.

As Wulf received a sit rep from A’tem, Nadia turned in a full circle. She sought to triangulate Huw’s position through their connection. During the first sweep, she could discern no specific direction. She swore a blue streak. There were too many emotions in the air around her.

Building semipermeable mental walls around the collective
batel rabia
psi, she tried again. This time, she followed the line to Huw more easily while still using the battle rage of the others to strengthen her focus. Huw was frantic. His fear for her and, yes, his anger and frustration bombarded her. His position was fixed in her mind now—she could find him on a pitch-black night if she had to.

“Wulf!”

Her brother-kin came to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Have you found my brother?”

“My
gemat
is about one point five kilometers in that direction.” She pointed toward a small mountain range covered by a dense forest. “And about twenty meters above the surface of the plain we’re standing on. The enemy will have eyes on us.”

Nadia turned and looked at the crowd surrounding them. “We don’t have much time.” She found a strange face and approached him. “You’re part of the expedition here?”

The man nodded. “My name is Dr. Peters, and I’m in charge of the geological survey of this planet.”

She took Dr. Peters firmly by the shoulders and turned him in the direction where Huw was. She pointed. “See the dark red shadow about twenty meters up? It’s the only spot on the side of the mountain that has no trees. What is that place? And how do I get to it without the Antareans seeing me?”

“Without
us
being seen,” Wulf interjected. All the soldiers grunted their agreement.

Nadia sighed. “Yes, all of us.” She looked at Dr. Peters who had a look on his face between concern and bemusement. “What’s up there?”

“A small lab which we use to test core samples we’ve taken from the caves.”

“Is there another way up there besides scaling up the side of the mountain?” Nadia asked, taking control from Wulf who didn’t complain. They all wanted the same result: Huw and the team back. Wulf would understand the instincts driving her better than most. He, too, was a battle-mate.

“Yes, you can get into the cavern system and come out behind the lab. I’ll lead you,”

Dr. Peters said, picking up a pack and shrugging it on.

“Let’s go.” Nadia followed Dr. Peters. The security teams along with Wulf, Iolyn, and some of the other crew members from the downed cruisers followed. Wulf placed Commander A’tem in charge of continuing to communicate with and stalling the Antareans.

After they’d traveled about a kilometer, she spotted a path leading to a dark hole in the side of the mountain. Nadia grimaced. Before she could help herself, she asked Dr.

Peters, “Are the caves safe? Are there any dangerous creatures we need to be aware of?”

Visions of giant, blonde-eating worms sent chills down her spine. Instantly, Huw was in her mind, soothing her, sending her warmth, sharing his faith in her courage and her leadership abilities. Her fear dimmed as Huw’s strength became hers. Yeah, this bond had its advantages.

“The cave system is completely safe.” Dr. Peters spoke over his shoulder as he traversed the well-worn path that led into a thicket of giant trees, dense ground-level bushes, and tall grasses at the base of the mountains. The terrain reminded her of the Caucasus mountain range on Earth. “The planet’s core is cooling, and there is little tectonic activity left. The only life-forms in the caves are bacteria, fungi, some insects, small frogs in the underground streams, and some flying mammals similar to Terran bats.

Mostly harmless.”

“No giant worms.” Nadia could’ve kicked her own ass as soon as the words left her mouth. So much for the boost of confidence Huw had provided. Phobias backed by real life experience were hard to put away. The only good news was none of the men with her snickered or teased her.

In fact, one soldier close by muttered, “Hope to hell not.”

Dr. Peters visibly shuddered. “No, thank the Lord. I had a bad experience with one in the Umbraxi system.”

Well, join the club, doctor. Maybe I should start a club and have secret handshakes
for the members.

“Never want to meet one again.” He turned and swept a glance over them all. “But if you see something glowing in moist areas…”

She nodded.

“Don’t touch it. The only dangerous life-forms underground are several varieties of anaerobic bacteria. Nasty stuff.”

The men grumbled—they’d gotten the message.

“Thanks for the warning, Doctor.” Wulf responded and then gave orders to his team.

“Cover all parts of your skin you can. We’ll decontaminate in the
Renard
and
Picarus
decontamination chambers before transporting back to the ship.”

As they continued to follow the doctor, the men pulled on gloves and balaclavas to cover their necks and faces as much as possible. Nadia pulled hers on as well. She didn’t want a lecture from Huw about being careless. His masculine grunt of approval vibrated through her body.

They finally reached a dark hole in the side of the mountain. This was the adit or opening to the cave system.

Dr. Peters stopped and waited until all had gathered around him. “Stay close to me.

Do not go off into any side tunnels. Many of them drop off unexpectedly and others dead-end. We have mapped the cave system and coded all the tunnels using standard mining symbols.”

“How far to the hut where they have our people,” Wulf asked, retaking his leadership role.

Fear for Huw and disquiet about entering yet another unknown cave system had struck her dumb. But her fears, though real, wouldn’t keep her from doing what she needed to do. She’d let Huw comfort her … later once they were safely locked into their quarters.

“I’m here,
gemate
. I’m fine. You are all that is brave and beautiful. I will give you
all the comforting you need.”

“I love you, Huw.”

“And I, you, my battle-mate. Be careful,
lubha
. The Antareans are very nervous.

They suspect something.”

“About a five-minute walk … single file.” Dr. Peters attached a small red LED light to his hat. “I’ll lead you and then get out of the way and allow you to do what you need to do.”

“Hurry, Wulf,” said Nadia. “The Antareans are getting antsy according to Huw. My gut tells me they won’t wait the full hour before they kill a hostage.” Huw’s danger increased with every second they wasted.

Dr. Peters must have sensed time was not a luxury and walked into the opening. The inky blackness quickly swallowed him up. Turning on her LED light, Nadia hurried to follow.

“Huw. We’re coming. Be prepared to distract your captors on my signal.”

“Take care of what’s mine, Nadia. I’ll be fine.”

*

Huw pulled at the bindings on his wrists. The cuffs slick with his blood now had some slight give.

He felt the battle rage building among the Prime on the planet; he fed on it, as did the other Prime hostages as they waited to make their move on their captors. But it was the connection with his battle-mate, her fear for him and his for her, along with his rage at being taken by the hated Antareans, which gave him the extra strength to weaken the bindings. He paused, breathing shallowly, sublimating the pain of fighting the restraints; his eyes slitted as he followed the movements of the enemy.

The two guarding him and his engineering team were paying more attention to their peers who watched the lowlying plain from the cliff.

“Nadia, we’re outside on what looks to be a bluff overlooking the plain. Be careful,
they’re watching.”

“We aren’t coming up the front. We’re coming through the caves.”

“The guards are very lax. I almost have my bindings off. I’ll be ready when you
signal me.”

“What about the rest of your team?”

“They’re riding the
batel rabia
. They’ll be ready.”

Huw turned his head. His team members watched him as they also worked on their bindings with lesser success than him. Having a battle-mate was an added advantage.

When the two Antarean guards turned to look at them, all movements ceased, only to begin again when the enemy turned its backs. The lazy
apayebote
would deserve all that happened to them. Prime and Volusian soldiers, even captured and bound ones, were still deadly—as their hostage takers would soon find out.

Nadia was closer. Her energy was strong, pure, and filled with love and the instincts of a
gemate
battle-mate to protect her
gemat
. He’d read the epic tales of battle-mates, but as many of his generation had, he’d believed them to be merely fantasies.

Now he knew the truth. Battle-mates acted as one unit.

Even now, Nadia took the pain of his bloodied and torn wrists and muted it so he could break free. Her adrenaline and cortisol production increased to aid his and flush the drugs the enemy had used out of his system. As she neared, she continuously relayed what she saw and heard, keeping him informed of the rescue team’s progress.

He also sensed her hatred of the tight spaces she traversed, but knew she would have faced her worst fear—giant worms—to get to his side. She was an amazingly strong woman. He was honored to be her mate and would tell her, show her exactly how special she was—once they were alone and in their bed.

The four captors huddled and spoke in hushed whispers.

Huw’s hearing was ramped up by the hormones flooding his bloodstream. His understanding of the Antarean language was shaky, but he understood enough to decipher the four were desperate to get away. The Antareans were tired of negotiating. They had decided to kill Huw and his men and take their chances in overwhelming the Gold forces on the plain in order to steal a shuttle. They expected help from their brethren orbiting the planet.

Too bad there was no ship capable of assisting them. He’d gleaned the fact from Nadia’s mind. Good thing the kidnappers didn’t know, or he and the other hostages would already be dead.

“Huw, we see you. Where are the Antareans?”

“They’re grouped by the edge of the cliff. They’re thinking of killing us and taking
the battle to A’tem and the others.”

“Too late for that. Let us handle them. We outnumber them four to one.”

“I’m almost loose … as are the others. Just get us some battle blades…”

“Sladkie—
no need for hand-to-hand. We have dart guns. Just stay low.”

Huw had no intention of getting between the poison darts and the enemy, but he’d be damned if he lay still while his woman fought. He hand-signaled his men to stay down and to wait for his next signal. He figured they’d know what to do when the time came.

One of the Antarean guards turned and raised his head as if sniffing the air. Damn reptilian senses. Smell was their best defensive weapon.

“Nadia,
cwen
, they smell you coming.”

“Stay down!”

Huw roared the Caradoc battle cry as the rescuers poured from a seam in the mountain. The high whine of the dart guns as they sent their small, but deadly projectiles at the enemy filled the air.

The one Antarean who’d turned to face the mountainside dove for Huw with a chilling hiss of rage.

Huw rolled away, kicking out with his legs. The battle rage filled him and helped him escape the Antarean’s sharp-clawed grasp.

Before Huw could get to his feet to fight the bastard, Nadia was there. She waved her knife, keeping the enemy away from him. Using her fragile Terran body and one small blade, she protected him.

Bellowing with rage—and fear for Nadia, Huw surged to his feet. He swept an arm around her waist and shoved her behind him while removing the battle blade from her hands. “My fight,
cwen
. Stay back.”

He noted the other three Antareans were down, unmoving—dead from the darts.

The Antarean menacing him and Nadia was too close for the dart guns to be used safely. The poison was as deadly for hominids as it was to pseudo-reptilians.

“Huw, come with me. Step away, love. Wulf has him in his sights.” Nadia’s voice was calm, but he sensed her underlying fear … for him. She loved him and that made him that much stronger.

Huw laughed. “
Gemate lubha
, if I can’t take down this slime, how could I call myself a man?” Keeping his body between Nadia and any danger, he circled the Antarean whose basilisk-like stare never wavered from his prey.

Nadia snorted. “Stubborn ass. You’re my man … and there’s no need to endanger yourself to prove it.”

“Nadia, come here. Now!” Wulf ordered. “Brother. We want him alive. We need the intelligence about the attacks in this area.”

“My thoughts exactly, brother.” Huw grinned widely as he moved in a deadly dance designed to lead the Antarean away from the others—from his Nadia. He gestured with the knife. “Come on, you scaly, fork-tongued
apayebo
. See if you can fight me now that I’m not drugged.”