Chapter Twelve
Kristin
It was even better than my Glock 23. Lighter, a smoother trigger, less kick. Way more powerful. I could get used to having it.
“Woman, you are bat-shit crazy.” Rachel chuckled as the door slid open and all six guards rushed into the room with their own weapons drawn and aimed at the now smoking chair.
I ignored them, looking up into her laughing eyes. “Does that mean we can’t be besties?”
“Hell no. I like you even better now that you shot the shit out of your chair.”
I laughed, completely happy for the first time in days. Freedom sang through my veins like the sweetest poison. I knew I was going to have to face down my mates over this, but I was tired of sitting around like a bump on a log. I’d talked and talked about it, but while they heard me, they hadn’t listened. If I was going to make a go of our match, then I had to be myself. If I allowed them to keep me locked up and safe, then I’d be spending the rest of my life in this damn room. And if Tyran wanted to spank me later…well, it would be worth it. And, I wasn’t completely opposed to that since I liked it every time he’d done it so far. “Good. Let’s go.”
We headed for the door but Captain Marz stepped in front of me. I knew he was new to the Colony from what my mates had told me. Him and the dark eyed Everian Hunter next to him. They were shoulder to shoulder, their features nothing alike—Marz was Prillon and the other looked like a human, just bigger…a lot bigger. Both of them frowned at me, but it was the Captain who spoke. “What do you believe you are doing, Lady Zakar?”
I lifted a brow. “I’m going to go shake down a few people, find out what’s going on around here. Find our missing warriors.” I made a show of putting the blaster back in its holster on my thigh before lifting my head to look up at them both again. Way up. The Hunter, Kiel was his name, was trying to hide a grin, and failing. The Captain, however, was far from amused. I didn’t look behind them at the other men. Hell, I couldn’t see around them, they were too dang big. The Atlan in the back was beyond huge, but I knew Marz was in charge by the way the others let him do all the talking. He was the one I needed to convince, so I looked at him.
“I don’t think your mates would approve,” he said.
“I don’t need their permission.” I crossed my arms as Rachel came to stand behind me. “I do need your help.” That was the truth. I needed all the manpower I could get and I assumed alien power would be even better. “You can either stay here, bored out of your minds watching my door, or you can come along, protect me and Lady Rone, and maybe do a little hunting of your own. One of your men is missing, too. Captain Perro?”
I had him. I knew it when his eyes narrowed and he took a deep, deep breath, the kind you take when you’re about to say something you know you shouldn’t. “Lead the way.”
Rachel looked at me. “Where do you want to start?”
“Krael’s personal quarters.”
She nodded. “I know where he was staying.”
Rachel nodded to Captain Marz as she passed and the other warriors fell into step behind her. The three who weren’t part of Marz’s group looked like they were about to argue, but Warlord Rezzer crossed his arms and said one word.
“Move.”
The unknown Prillon closest to the Atlan opened his mouth, closed it, looked at Captain Marz, who was already waving them away.
“Two of you stay here and make sure no one gets into Lady Zakar’s rooms. You,” he pointed to the third, “Go back to command and tell the governor where we’re headed.”
“Yes, sir.”
After that, everyone fell into line and I followed Rachel through about a quarter mile of corridors and covered walkways. The entire base was enclosed due to severe lightning storms that struck, sometimes with little to no warning. I hadn’t seen much yet, except the inside of my room, and I was eager to explore.
Beyond the corridors, outside the Base, I saw endless rocky landscapes and ravines dotted by buildings in a circular grid. I knew from my reading that there were vertical housing units, training facilities, but mostly mining. There was an element on this planet I’d never heard of. Apparently, it was rare, so unstable they couldn’t use their S-Gen technology to create it, and absolutely necessary for the operation of their transport stations.
Which made me angry. They’d taken their wounded veterans, those who carried Hive technology, the survivors, and sent them to this Colony planet to be miners?
Really? That was the best they could come up with? Hunt explained to me that there were seven bases on the planet, and three of them were completely underground.
Like any bride from Earth was going to want wind up there. Not that I spoke the thought aloud. I didn’t need to. My mates had felt my dislike for that idea through the collars. Then again, maybe it was just me. There could be a spelunker from back home who wouldn’t mind living like a bat in a cave. But that she was not me.
Rachel knew her way around and we were before a closed door just a few minutes later. Krael’s quarters. The Hunter, Kiel, moved to the front and stood before it. He took several deep breaths, moving his head around the edges and the control panel as if he was some kind of bloodhound.
The process was both fascinating and weird and drove home the fact that I wasn’t on Earth anymore, that these guys were all aliens.
“Your mates have been here,” Kiel opened his eyes and stared down at me like I’d have some kind of explanation.
I shrugged. “That’s not surprising, considering they’ve been looking for the missing men.”
Kiel shook his head and looked over my shoulder, sharing a look with Captain Marz, who stood behind me like a towering oak. “What is it?” Marz asked.