Ral's Woman (5 page)

“Wake.”

Ariel opened her eyes. “Damn you get up early. Did we sleep
long? How do you know what time it is?”

“I hear. We have patrols in the hallway that call out the
time. My hearing is keen. Get dressed fast. We must hurry. We have much to do,
Ariel.”

She got dressed. She saw Ral put on a shirt. She watched
him. “You’re wearing a shirt today?”

“Where we are going today is colder than down in the cavern
mines.”

“Okay.”

Ral grabbed the blanket from the bed. Ariel watched him dump
all of his clothes piled on the floor into the blanket. Something was
definitely up with Ral but he wasn’t telling her what was going on. He hefted
the bag of clothes over his shoulder and shoved open the door. He reached for
her hand.

“You stay by me. No matter what, you stay with me, Ariel.
You are bound to me. I am bound to you. We belong together.”

“I remember. I am to not leave your sight and I will stay
very close to you at all times.”

“Very correct.”

He took her to the bathroom. Four men were ordered by Ral to
leave so she could have privacy. When she was done he walked in and used the
bathroom. Three different men walked in. Ral pulled her closer to his body and
jerked his head at her to not look. She shot him an eye roll but kept her gaze
on Ral. She didn’t want to see three men piss. She’d give Ral privacy if she
thought he’d let her out of his sight. They washed up before leaving the
bathroom. Ral took her to the eating room.

“Eat fast.” He handed the plates he filled with food to
Ariel. He got them mugs of water. She eyed the room. It was packed, unlike the
morning before. The room was unusually quiet. Ral sat on the bench at the end
of the table, spreading his thighs wide. He inched back on the bench to make
room for her to sit.

Without him needing to tell her, Ariel slid onto his lap
between his thighs. They ate fast. Ral gave a nod at men around the room. She
glanced up. Ral’s people were tense. She could almost feel it in the air. She
wondered what in the hell was going on. She glanced up at Ral. He looked down
at her and smiled.

“Ral?”

“Trust me and ask later.”

She shut her mouth and nodded. Ral wanted them to be on the
move. She left the eating area with him. He didn’t walk toward the mine though.
He gripped the blanket over his shoulder, took her hand and headed toward doors
marked with words she couldn’t read. The markings looked like wiggles with some
scratches. The hand holding hers tightened. He paused to look down at her.

“Stay with me. If something goes wrong, we will have to run.
Run with me. Swear it to me, Ariel. I won’t lose you and I will die if they
take you from me because I will fight to keep you regardless of the odds.”

Fear hit her. What in the hell was going on? Ral opened up
the door that led to a smaller hallway. Ral jerked her forward and they nearly
ran down the hall. It ended at one of those platform elevator things with the
raw rock walls. Ral stepped onto it pulling her into his arms.

“Do not touch the walls.”

“I won’t.” She shivered. “It would be like touching an
electric cheese grater at the speed these things move up and down.”

“Cheese grater?”

“Never mind. I was talking to myself.”

The platform slowed. Ral sniffed the air as he jerked her forward.
They ran down halls until they came to another large door. It looked like the
crush door she’d walked through when Yoz had taken her to the mines. The door
swished open. Ariel was a little surprised to see that one of Ral’s men stood
there.

“We are ready. The rest follow.”

Ral nodded and took off without warning. His hand on Ariel’s
tightened as he yanked her behind him. She ran for all she was worth across the
large room to another large door. Ral paused and looked back. Ariel glanced
over her shoulder to see dozens of Zorn run into the large room with more on
their heels. The room was filling with Zorn.

The man who’d let them into the room finally shut the other
door. There had to be well over a hundred Zorn in the room with a few other
species she hadn’t seen before. The other non Zorn looked as confused as she
felt. There were only a handful of them, all of them were females.

“Let’s do this.” Ral nodded.

The doors opened. Ariel spun to see what the room they were
going into was. She gasped when she eyed the largest ship she’d ever seen
parked in what appeared to be open space. She saw the glass dome then. It was
barely noticeable with deep space as a background.

More Zorn men were by the ship. They waved frantically at
everyone. Like a stampede, the Zorn started to run. Ral gripped her hand as he
jerked her closer to his body. They both ran for the large ship.

It was a space ship. She understood that. She wondered about
what was about to happen. Comprehension hit her as they neared the ship. They
were trying to escape. Shock tore through her as they ran up a ramp and into
the belly of the ship. It looked like a large cargo area. More of the Zorn waited
inside. Ral kept moving, yanking Ariel with him, as they ran through the cargo
area into a metal hallway.

“This way, Argis Ral,” a man yelled. “We are getting ready
for flight.”

Ral wasn’t even out of breath as they ran. “Have you damaged
the other ships?”

“Yes,” the Zorn jogging beside them growled. “They won’t be
able to follow us. Not for a long time.”

Panting hard, a pain in her side, Ariel started to slow
down. Ral growled. He halted and spun, shoving the blanket and clothes at the
other man as he released Ariel’s hand. In an instant Ral grabbed Ariel by her
middle. Her hips hit Ral’s shoulder hard. He spun around and started to run
again as he held her tight against his body.

They ended up in an elevator. Ral stood there with the other
Zorn man as the elevator jetted upward. Ariel pushed hair out of her face to
stare at the Zorn man standing a few feet from her and Ral.

“The ship is full.” The Zorn touched his ear. Ariel saw a
metal device clipped to the man’s ear. “They are securing the cargo doors.
We’re ready. All are accounted for.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Ral snarled. “Do not wait for me to
reach the command center.”

“Liftoff,” the Zorn ordered. “Argis Ral has ordered
liftoff.”

The engines of the ship weren’t loud but Ariel still heard
them as they vibrated to life. The elevator door opened as it stopped. Ral
moved fast into the room. He bent over to deposit Ariel on her feet gently. He
gripped her arm and spun her around.

Ariel stared wide eyed in astonishment at the large window. The
room was some kind of control center. Five Zorn were at the controls. Ral moved
to the large seat, tugging Ariel with him. He sat down, yanking her across his
lap. He wrapped his arm around her waist securing her so she couldn’t move.

“Report,” Ral ordered.

“They triggered the alarm when the ship was started but
we’ve overridden their systems.” The man behind them snarled. “The dome is
retracting. Forty seconds to liftoff.”

Ral growled. “Faster, damn it.”

“We can only go so fast. The dome has started to open. They cannot
reach the ship. The pressure seals were broken when the dome started to open.
They would be sucked out of the dock even if they could bypass their safety
measures.”

Ral nodded. “What about their defenses?”

“They are destroyed.” The man sitting in a chair to their
right laughed. “We blew them at once when you gave the order to lift off. Those
blue bastards are busy right now dealing with the fires we set. We will be
clear. They cannot stop us.”

Ral nodded. Ariel’s eyes flew to his. He didn’t glance at
her. He looked grim as he gazed at the large window. “Until we are free and
clear I will not feel too confident, Avi. Viz, have you accessed their charts?
Do we know where we are and how to get home?”

“Yes, Argis Ral. We are three weeks from home at full
capacity.”

Ral shut his eyes and smiled. “Home.” His eyes snapped open.
“Time?”

“Ten seconds. We are ready. I will alert our people to hold
on.”

Ral tucked Ariel tighter to his body. “Hold on, Ariel. This
ship has strong engines and we are not easing out. We want to cause damage when
we leave here. It will burn up their docking bay.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck to cling tighter to
him. The engines of the ship vibrated harder as the ship shot forward into
space. Her body was slammed into Ral’s. He held her tighter. She turned her
head to look at the view as the ship flew into space.

“They have one weapon that didn’t blow,” a man snarled.
“Evasive maneuvers.”

Ral growled. “Can we avoid being hit?”

The man laughed. “Not a problem. We are out of range in three,
two, one, now. We’re free.”

Ral laughed. He held Ariel in his arms as he stood up. He
grinned at her. “We are free, my Ariel.”

Shock hit Ariel. She stared at Ral. He winked at her. “Open
full ship communications.” He gently sat Ariel in the seat he’d vacated.

Emotionally Ariel was reeling from the shock. They’d escaped
the Anzons. She hadn’t known they were even trying to escape. Ral hadn’t told
her. That was what that meeting had been about last night. The Zorn hadn’t been
excited about new prisoners. They had been excited about a large ship being
prepared so they could use it to escape. Hurt washed over Ariel. Why hadn’t Ral
told her? Hadn’t he trusted her?

“This is Argis Ral,” Ral snarled. “We are free. In three
weeks we will be returning to our home. We will see Zorn again.”

The men threw back their heads in the room and howled
loudly. Ariel started. Ral smiled widely at her. He ran his hand over his
throat. The man to the left nodded.

“Communications are off, Argis Ral.”

Ral glanced at one of his men. “Any pursuit?”

“No, Argis Ral. We damaged them too well.”

Ral nodded. “Keep a sharp eye on it. I don’t want any
surprises.”

“Yes, Argis Ral.”

Ral turned to stare at the large window facing space. He
crossed his muscled arms over his chest. Satisfaction was the clear emotion
displayed on his face.

Ariel swallowed. “Ral?”

He grinned at her as his arms dropped to his sides. “Yes?”

“Are you taking me home?”

He nodded. He moved toward her and crouched down in front of
her. His hands gripped her face gently. “We are bound. You will be very welcome
on my planet.”

“I meant Earth,” she whispered.

Ral’s smile died. “We are bound, Ariel. I don’t know where
your world is or where to even look. I am sorry. My home is now your home.”

She nodded feeling a little numb. What else could she do?
Ral smiled at her and released her as he stood up. He headed for one of the
stations and spoke softly to his men.

Ariel sat in the chair he’d placed her in and just watched
Ral. He was taking her to his planet. She wasn’t going to ever get back to
Earth. Pain and anger filled her as she realized that his men had access to the
Anzons Charts to find his world but he wasn’t even going to look for her
planet. She shut her eyes and fought tears that burned behind her eyelids.

She finally opened her eyes and stared out into space when
she had her emotions under control. She turned her head sometimes to watch Ral.
He looked excited as he moved around the room from station to station. He finally
walked toward her and held out his hand. Hours had passed.

“We are not being pursued. They don’t have anything faster
than our ship and we have been watching for them. We made a perfect escape. I
have memorized the floor plan of the ship. We are going to the leader’s
sleeping quarters.”

“All right.” She let him pull her up to her feet.

Ral retrieved his blanket-wrapped clothing by the door. They
left the command center and walked down a hallway. Ral stopped by a door and
opened it. It wasn’t locked. Ral stepped in first and dropped his clothes. The
lights automatically came on. Ariel eyed the large room.

“Nice.” The room was huge and looked fitted with every
comfort the Anzons had to offer.

“They put us in rock rooms with thick mats.” Ral looked
pissed off. “Yet they lived in luxury.”

Ariel looked at the room again. It had a living room area
with comfortable chairs and then there was a bedroom area with a large bed. One
wall was a window of space. It was beautiful. When they lay down in the bed
they would face the view of space, staring out at it, she knew it would be an
experience. Ral reached for her, pulling her into his arms.

“You will love Zorn.”

She locked eyes with Ral. “You could find Earth if you
wanted to.”

“I can’t let you return to Earth.”

“I don’t understand.”

He held her tighter. “I could find your planet, but I can’t
let go of you now, Ariel. I am in love with you. You are everything to me. We
are bound.”

“What does that mean? Bound?”

“It means I have taken you as mine until death. It means we
are together until death. I have committed my life to yours.”

“You mean we’re married?”

“Married?”

“That means committed to each other until death.”

“Yes. Then that is what it means. You are bound to me,
Ariel. I will never give you up.”

“What is Argis?”

“My actual title.”

“And Ral?”

“My name.”

“Should I call you Argis Ral now like everyone else is?”

He grinned. “You are bound to me. You need not call me a
title. Ever. When we were captured and taken I ordered my people to drop the
title to protect my identity. I was just one Zorn of many.”

“If the Anzons captured you once will they come back to your
planet to get you again?”

“No. We were not taken from our home planet. We were taken
from another we were visiting. It was our hunting planet. The Anzons made many
mistakes with us. They thought we were not smart enough to deal with technology
and they thought we were not worthy to even watch closely. We allowed them to
think it. It worked well with us to have good access to escape.”