Warrior Invasion: A Science Fiction Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 10) (9 page)

T
he life
of a soldier usually provided excellent sleep. After a typical day of vigorous training and plenty of mental exercise, Troxeo was ready to crash into his bunk. He rarely dreamed, but when he did, he forgot his dreams by morning.

Last night had been different. From the moment he closed his eyes, he dreamed of nothing but the human. He relived his conquest of the Earth spaceship when he first saw her, only this time he didn’t sling her over his shoulder. He scooped her into his arms and looked down into her eyes. In his dream, it wasn’t a kidnapping. She wanted to go with him. She wanted to be with him.

He saw himself with her in the prison cell again. There were no guards this time, and it was Katie herself who demanded that he strip her. He could feel the smooth material of her bodysuit ripping, revealing the pearlescent wonder of her body. She wrapped her strong legs around him and pressed her lips to his. When he awoke, the warmth of her body dissipated with the night.

His dreams haunted him as he made himself ready for the interrogation. Troxeo knew his day would not be a sexual adventure. He would be forced to watch someone torture Katie. He might even be the one doing it. He couldn’t stand the thought of his blade piercing her smooth skin, not when he could be running his hands over it lovingly instead. No method was below Commander Reck’s standards.

As Troxeo showered, he wondered if Reck was as attracted to the girl as he was. If the old man laid a hand on her, Troxeo might do something that would get him executed. There was no way to know the truth until it happened. He dressed and ate with efficiency, but without excitement. He knew he would regret this day for the rest of his life.

The fortress was quiet this morning. They were supposed to arrive at the prisoner’s cell early, before breakfast. Troxeo thought about Katie as he marched through the empty hallways, concerned for her comfort as well as her safety. When had he become so soft that he was worried about whether or not a prisoner was hungry? He would have to make sure he didn’t say anything about the conditions in which the human was living. No honorable soldier would notice them, much less care what happened to an off-worlder.

He arrived at Commander Reck’s office precisely on time. He wouldn’t dare to be late and never liked arriving early. Reck was pacing back and forth, recording a video on the computer. “There will be substantial repercussions if my orders are not carried forth to the letter. I trust that you already know this, but given recent events, I feel the need to repeat it. Don’t start thinking on your own, and don’t disappoint me.” He turned to look at Troxeo. “I hope that you’re feeling as good about today as I am.”

“I am confident our mission will be successful, sir.” He had said the same words many times before at the beginning of missions or battles, but he had never realized how stiff and robotic they sounded until now.

“You can give me all the prattle you want, Captain, but I’ve come up with a few ideas.” The older man turned to the window and stroked his short beard. “I haven’t changed my basic plan, mind you. If the Earthling still refuses to talk at the end of the day, I want it dead. I don’t like the idea of a foreign creature being in my fortress to begin with, much less the notion of it escaping and ruining things.”

That must be exactly how I sounded
, thought Troxeo. I thought of Katie as nothing more than an animal, barely worthy of her gender and incapable of anything but grunting and shitting. He recoiled inside at the idea that a living being as beautiful and intelligent as Katie was being treated this way.

Commander Reck interrupted his revolutionary thoughts. “I’ve decided to try a different tactic first. The human didn’t seem to care too much when I threatened it with pain or the mind-control specialists. Do you think it understood what those things were? Even if it doesn’t, I’m sure it will understand the idea of going home.”

“You’re going to send her home?” He became excited for a fraction of a second at the thought of being the person to bring her back to Earth and seeing her face light up when she saw her home planet again. She would feel grateful toward him, wouldn’t she?

“Haven’t you been listening, Captain?” Reck demanded. “I just said I still wanted it dead. But that doesn’t mean I can’t manipulate the human before I kill her. First, I will imply I may send it home if it cooperates. If the human is willing to answer my questions thoroughly, and not just give me some shit about not knowing again, I’ll promise it a free ride home. I’m smart enough to know that some creatures will respond better to a bribe than to a threat. Of course, its carcass will never make it out of the prison.”

Troxeo swallowed. Reck’s words had shattered his last hope. “As you wish, sir.”

“Let’s get on with it, shall we?” Reck led the way out of his chambers, down the elevating pods, and into the prison.

As they wound their way through the numerous cages, Troxeo’s heart and stomach competed for space in his throat. He would make sure he didn’t look the Earthling in the eyes, but it would be impossible to tune out her angelic voice. There was nothing he could do to prepare for the task ahead of him.

When they reached cell number 406, it was empty.

T
roxeo had
his gun at the ready as he approached the Earthling’s cell. He knew Katie would be furious if nothing else. Even though she was no threat to him or anyone else with training as an Oretoz soldier, he couldn’t go into her cell acting like he trusted her. It would reveal all the feelings he had been working to eliminate.

In the end, his armaments were irrelevant. It hadn’t mattered that he had fully charged his blaster and sharpened his knives. There wasn’t a prisoner on whom to use them.

Commander Reck stood at his shoulder, taking in the scene before him. Troxeo knew his superior officer saw the same thing he did. The floor of the cage was empty. The door was closed and locked. It made it look like Katie had slipped through the bars or melted through the floor, behaving like an ethereal being they couldn’t hope to understand or catch.

Troxeo had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach, an automatic alarm that immediately made him think of his cousin. Arkhan helped him capture the prisoner, but would he have worked on his own to free her?

“Where is the human? Guard!” Commander Reck barked, his deep voice echoing in the large room. His jowls wavered with every word. “The prisoner was supposed to be here, but this cell is empty. Who was on watch?”

A young guard came running over from his station by the elevator pod doors. “I don’t know, sir. I only started my shift a few minutes ago.” He quickly pulled up the prison records on a computer, fingers flying over the screen. “Apparently the Earthling has been taken to the Research Department.”

“When did the transfer occur?” Reck’s voice sounded ominous.

The young guard consulted the computer again. “It was this morning, sir, during the shift change.”

“I’m going to have a long discussion with whoever authorized the move. Who signed off on the transfer?” the older man raged.

Drops of sweat were visible on the young guard’s forehead. He gulped a few times, his breath becoming labored when he discovered the answer to the commander’s question. “It looks like you did, sir.” He looked up at the older man, eyes wide with fear.

As Commander Reck’s face slowly turned purple from the neck up, Troxeo felt a little sorry for the young guard. What was the guard supposed to do if the computer told him Katie went to the Research Department under Reck’s authority? He was only relaying the information. Troxeo was sure Chixo had forged the records. He shook his head. The girl was an expert at hacking into computer systems. She had done it numerous times when they were children, just to see how far she could go. Unfortunately, the fact that the fake document said they had permission to take the prisoner to the Research Department was like an arrow pointing directly to her.

Troxeo fully expected the commander to exact a demeaning punishment on the guard. Anyone who accused Reck of doing something foolish disappeared for a while. But instead of ordering the guard to the electrocution room, Reck gave him a different order. “Try to get a hold of someone in Research. Confirm they received the prisoner.” He paced back and forth as he waited, heavy boots beating out a staccato rhythm on the hard floor.

The guard touched a button on the earpiece of his communicator. “This is Private 126 in the Fortress. I need to speak with the receiving guard in the Research Department.” He waited for a moment while he was connected. “I would like to confirm the transfer of the human prisoner to your building.” He listened, and his skin paled visibly. “I see. Thank you. Signing off.” He touched the button on his earpiece again. The young guard swallowed, and Troxeo didn’t need to hear him speak. He knew the news wasn’t good. “There’s nothing in our records to indicate anyone received the prisoner, sir.”

“Of course not!” Reck roared. “I should have known the idea of bringing a human to Oretoz would never work. Reck pointed at the guard. “You come with me to the Research Department. I want to confirm that the prisoner is gone, and her disappearance is not a system malfunction. No good will come from sounding an alarm if the human is still safely within the walls of the Fortress. I also want to see who had the balls to sign my name on fake orders. He pointed a thick finger at Troxeo. “Head outside and search the grounds. If the timestamp on the transfer requisition is correct, the human can’t have gone far.”

Troxeo nodded, surprised that Commander Reck was operating in a relatively level-headed manner. He had seen the older man slaughter most of the soldiers around him after a failed maneuver or a training session that was going badly. Troxeo was privately glad they were taking precautions before announcing the escape. It would give him more time to find Katie before anyone else did.

He trotted to one of the elevator pods and jumped inside. Troxeo tapped his fingers impatiently against the circular wall as he rode up. There was no way Katie could have escaped without help. Getting out of the Fortress alive would require a native’s knowledge of the system, the people, and the rules. Katie’s only weapon was sass. That wouldn’t get her far with any Oretoz, who understood strength and weapons better than wordplay.

Someone helped Katie escape. She must have had an accomplice or two, and Arkhan and Chixo were the most likely suspects. They knew her. Chixo probably felt sorry for the girl, and Troxeo was sure she would have loved to see the inside of a functioning human body if the opportunity presented itself. Arkhan, on the other hand, was only participating for himself. He had told Troxeo in no uncertain terms about his interest in the Earthling.

When his pod arrived at the ground floor, Troxeo headed swiftly for the front door. The guard was practically asleep until he noticed Troxeo striding across the foyer with determination. At that point, he snapped to attention and muttered something deferential. Troxeo ignored him. He had no time for pleasantries, even if they were proper military protocol.

He burst into the courtyard, scanned the green stones that paved the ground and the tall fence surrounding the area. The place was practically empty. Troxeo headed for a gate that would take him to the surrounding city, but the sound of a ship’s engines made him look up. A small land hopper rose up out of the shipyard, leaving a trail of white exhaust against the dark blue sky. It hovered overhead for a moment, then zipped off to the east.

Troxeo’s heart sank. Before any ship took off on an authorized flight, a warning alarm sounded throughout the courtyard. The conspicuous absence of any noise meant the hopper’s movement was unsanctioned.

He raced across the courtyard toward the gates that led to the holding area for all the ships. Troxeo hadn’t bothered to grab a communicator on his way out of the Fortress, and he wasn’t about to go back and get one now. He had to catch up with that hopper.

Once Troxeo made it past the gate, he started moving for his ship. It was larger and slower than the land hopper, but he would have to make it work. It would take too long to obtain access to a smaller vessel, and he wanted to get into the air before the rogue ship had a chance to get too far out of range. He clambered up the ramp, slammed himself into the pilot’s seat, pushed his left hand against the fingerprint panel and punched the ignition with his right hand.

Nothing happened.

Troxeo was waiting for the ship’s instruments to light up and the engine to start rumbling underneath him, but he didn't even get an error message. Without thinking, he pressed the button again, but he didn’t get a response the second time either. He didn’t understand what could be wrong with his ship. He had flown it all the way back from Earth only yesterday. It should be ready to fly.

Unless someone had sabotaged him.

He scrambled back down the ramp and underneath the ship. One of the access panels was hanging open, wires dangling from it. A small cylinder lay on the ground below. It must be the starting mechanism.

Troxeo scooped it up and began reattaching it to the wires. In his mind, the disabling of his spacecraft confirmed that Arkhan was the one who had broken Katie out of prison. Something like this was just his style, and he would have known that Troxeo would start pursuit immediately. Anyone else might have damaged all the ships in the yard. When he looked around, he didn’t see problems with any of the other vessels. Only his was disabled.

He cursed as he accidentally cut the tip of his finger on an exposed wire. He should be requisitioning another ship, but that would mean informing Commander Reck of his suspicions about Arkhan. He would have to find his superior officer, explain the whole mess, file a report or two, and possibly implicate himself in his unsanctioned interrogation of Katie. By the time he received a new ship through official channels, Arkhan would be long gone.

When he finally had the starting mechanism reattached, Troxeo shoved it back up into the underbelly of the vehicle and slammed the access panel shut. He hoped he hadn’t wired it incorrectly in his haste. Back on the bridge, he pressed his left hand on the smooth green panel and punched the red button with his right. The ship whirred to life around him, dash lighting up and the engine roaring. He could finally get out of here.

Troxeo boosted the ship into the air and started tracking nearby signs of life. He scanned the readout screen eagerly, but there was nothing on it. He was too late. Arkhan had already fled out of range.