Authors: Tracy St. John
“It’s too heavy to swing. Hold it by these grips and ram.” Wekniz demonstrated the technique.
Nur grimaced again. “Putting a hole in a man’s gut? Just as nasty.”
Wekniz gave him a level gaze. “My Imdiko, do not hesitate to use as much force as you can.”
Falinset was quick to agree. “He’s right. If not for yourself or us, fight for Tasha and the princess.”
Mentioning the reason for why they were making a stand squared Nur’s shoulders. He nodded and took the blunt ram to practice with.
Wekniz picked up a rifle next, one with a large canister for a barrel. “We might also be able to use this.”
Nur’s brow rose. “A fire retardant rifle?”
The Nobek smirked. “Blast someone in the face with it, and they won’t be able to breathe for several seconds.”
Falinset added, “Plus the foam and propellant exhaust will make visibility hard. I like it. Let Nur have one of those.”
Wekniz swapped the rifle for the ram. “Falinset, you take the other rifle. I’ve at least had basic training camp fighting; I’m the one who needs to be ready for hand-to-hand and knife fighting.”
Falinset looked at him with a troubled expression. It warmed Wekniz to know his Dramok worried for him.
Nur eyed the canister of his rifle. “Short barrel on this. Won’t we have trouble seeing and breathing too if we go into the retardant after we fire it?”
“That’s where the oxygen masks come in.” He showed them the face-covering masks in which he’d already put in fresh filters and explained how to charge the oxygen component. “You’ll notice you can’t hear anything outside the masks until the oxygen transfer charges, which is about ten seconds. I’ll show you how to put these on. Follow along.”
He demonstrated the proper placement of the mask that fit over the ears, encapsulating the front of their heads. He went step by step on how to adjust to make them fit right. He watched to make sure the other two put theirs on properly. Then following his lead, they pushed the button on each unit that sealed the masks tight to their heads and began the oxygen charging.
The silence within his mask was absolute. He watched his clanmates to make sure they weren’t frightened by the complete absence of sound. Only the beat of one’s pulse was evident within the charging mask. Wekniz remembered his early days of training and how disconcerting he’d found the vacuum of noiselessness.
Falinset looked uncomfortable. Nur’s eyes were wide, but he kept his gaze on Wekniz. He didn’t appear panicked. Wekniz smiled encouragingly as he counted down the seconds;
ten ... nine ... eight...
* * * *
Tasha’s laughs joined Noelle’s hysterics. The red-faced girl’s shrieks of hilarity were funnier to Tasha than what set her off. It was impossible not to laugh along with Noelle as she screamed in helpless delight.
Her multicolored vid animals jumped Tasha like a hurdle. The young woman lay on the common room floor next to the firepit that Wekniz had filled with scentwood that morning, waiting for nightfall to be lit. Tasha stretched out on her stomach, head resting on her crossed arms. She watched Noelle as the child rolled on the floor, her eyes streaming as she laughed and urged the little animals on. Some got stuck on the way over Tasha, draping weightlessly across her back as they kicked stubby legs in the effort to move. Sometimes she had as many as four vid pets struggling to crawl off her after failed vaults.
It was a moment of sheer silliness that allowed Tasha to forget the growing danger they were in for seconds at a time. Playing with Noelle was supposed to give the girl pleasure, but Tasha admitted to needing the break herself. Unremitting horror sapped her strength.
When Noelle looked up at whoever’s shadow fell over Tasha and smiled in recognition, she rolled over expecting to see one of the men. She jumped up with a horrified cry to see not Falinset, Wekniz, or Nur … but Narpok. The woman the Basma had sent.
The Kalquorian woman’s drawn face lit with hectic light as they faced each other. She bore only the slightest resemblance to the still photo the news vids had shown, but it was still enough for Tasha to identify her. She looked gleeful as she looked Tasha over.
“Matara Tasha, I—”
Tasha didn’t wait to hear Narpok voice her triumph over her discovery. She swooped down and grabbed a thick chunk of scentwood. In one fluid motion, she swung hard. The hard wood connected with the side of Narpok’s head. The other woman went down in a heap, her eyes rolling over white before closing. Tasha stood over her, breathing hard, the length of wood raised to whack Narpok again if she stirred. There was no need. Narpok was out cold.
Noelle’s laughter had cut off abruptly. She unleashed a horrified scream that scattered the vid animals in all directions. She started to cry as she crawled close enough to Narpok to pat the unconscious woman’s head.
“You hurt Mommy’s friend, Tasha! It’s the quiet lady Narpok. Why did you hit her?”
“Fuck!” Two things occurred to Tasha at once: that Narpok would not have come alone and no one from Clan Falinset had come running at the sound of the attack. Tasha turned to the common room’s door to scream for Falinset, her mouth opening wide. Before she could utter it, a man raced in and grabbed Noelle.
Nobek Ket held the struggling child with one arm. He grinned at Tasha as Noelle squalled in fear. As Tasha raised her piece of wood threateningly, he pointed a percussion blaster at her.
“I don’t need you alive, bitch. Just the brat.”
Startled cries sounded from the back of the home. Barely two seconds later Wekniz was in the room wearing a clear face mask, his hands wrapped around a metal pipe with handles. A moment later Falinset, also masked, shot into the room holding a massive gun with the biggest barrel Tasha had ever seen. Then Nur was there, armed with another of the odd-looking rifles.
They stopped short because Ket’s aim at Tasha’s head never wavered. The blaster held steady, its black barrel pointed at her face.
Narpok groaned and stirred where she’d fallen, practically at Tasha’s feet. No one paid her any attention as Noelle’s screams died into moans and the rest remained frozen.
It was Wekniz who spoke first, snarling at Ket “I always knew you were a coward. Hiding behind a child and threatening an unarmed woman … you are a blot on our breed.”
Ket grinned. “On the contrary. There is a difference between being a coward and being smart.”
“Not from where I’m standing. You’ve wanted an excuse to fight me for years, Ket. Put the princess and the blaster down. We’ll settle this now.”
Ket’s harsh bark of laughter brought fresh tears sliding down Noelle’s cheeks. “Not likely. This may not have been Maf’s plan, but it works well enough for me. I’ve won his favorite hostage and a pure-Kalquorian Matara to boot.”
Falinset’s eyes filled with hate. “He’ll despise you for your interference. He doesn’t want you at his side. He wants his son.”
“Not now. He’s finally realized he’ll never going to win you over. You and your precious honor have lost you everything,
brother
. Not asking Narpok to clan right away was the final straw. Maf has given up on you.”
Tasha barely followed the conversation. She watched Noelle, barely able to breathe for the horror of seeing her caught by Ket. The little girl held her arms out to Tasha, her streaming eyes pleading to be rescued.
Tasha couldn’t let the monster take her. Yet the blaster still wouldn’t waver for an instant, wouldn’t give her a chance to act.
Narpok climbed to her feet, angling her body to stay out of Ket’s line of fire. She glared at Tasha.
Ket’s disgustingly merry voice asked, “Are you all right, Matara?”
The Kalquorian woman’s gaze bore into Tasha’s. “I’ve had better days. But I’ve also had better opponents.” With that, she moved like lightning, jerking the firewood from Tasha’s hand. She held it up over one shoulder, like a batter ready to hit a homerun. Tasha braced herself.
Ket laughed again, his eyes shifting to keep Tasha, Wekniz, Falinset, and Nur in view. “I told you we’d make a perfect pair, Matara. We could win the rebellion on our own, I think.”
A smile pulled one corner of Narpok’s mouth up. “You think so, huh? Duck, Tasha.”
With that note of warning, Narpok moved in a blur yet again. With a gasp, Tasha dropped to the floor as the other woman pivoted, swinging the chunk of wood. It whistled over Tasha’s head. Narpok kept turning, coming around with her reach extending. Ket’s eyes widened just a bit before the wood hit him on the side of the head, much as it had Narpok.
His blaster went off, the percussive blast making Tasha’s ears ring as Nur yelled a warning. There was a flash of movement, ending with Wekniz bowling Ket over.
The brute had lost hold of Noelle when Narpok hit him. The Kalquorian woman dropped the length of wood and leaped forward, catching the falling child before she could hit the floor. As Wekniz wrenched the blaster from his stunned opponent, Narpok rolled away, clutching Noelle to her chest. Falinset and Nur jumped on top of Ket, helping Wekniz overcome the battle-trained soldier.
Tasha saw it all happen though it was so fast she didn’t have time to immediately figure out what
had
happened. As her brain started to catch up, Narpok cradled Noelle, rocking the weeping child and kissing the top of her head.
“It’s all right, my princess. He won’t hurt you. No one will. I won’t let them.” She looked at the group, all of whom stared at her in shock. Narpok gave them a tight smile. “If you’ll secure that asshole, I think I can get Noelle home to her mother.”
Beneath the three men holding him down, Ket groaned. Tasha looked at him and noted his head was bleeding where Narpok had whacked him. He looked dazed.
Wekniz shook off his astonishment and yanked his strap off his waist. He and the other two men rolled Ket over. Wekniz bound his hands behind his back. Falinset used his belt to tie his half-brother’s ankles together.
“Will that hold him?” Tasha asked. She knew Nobeks, particularly soldiers, were trained to escape all kinds of situations.
Narpok spoke up again. “I have sedatives. We could knock him out for several hours.”
Falinset bared his fangs. “I’d rather see his throat cut.”
Narpok stood, still holding onto Noelle who goggled at her. “For what I have in mind, we may need him yet. I hope not, but you never know. Besides, he might be worth keeping alive.”
Before anyone could answer her, Noelle piped up. “Did Mommy send you?”
Narpok smiled down at her, her strained face softening as she gazed at the little girl. “Not quite. She may know I’ve come here by now.”
“I don’t suppose you want to explain what’s going on?” Tasha asked. She was barely keeping herself from leaping at Narpok to snatch Noelle away. But the woman had taken Ket out … and saved Tasha’s life.
Narpok said, “When Sitrel took me shopping before we came here, I was able to slip away from him for about an hour. I gave a message to the Imperial Sister’s Imdiko … the one who owns the restaurant in the marketplace?”
“Vax?”
Narpok nodded. “I asked him to pass the message on to Emperor Bevau. The message contained information about who had taken me from the hospital and where I was headed … and that I hoped to somehow get in contact with the Basma and locate Noelle.”
“They know we’re here?” Tasha’s heart lit with hope.
Narpok shook her head. “I had no idea Maf was the Basma or that I’d find Noelle here on Lobam. I could only say that Maf might have ties to the rebellion and I would be visiting his son’s clan to find out more.” She glanced at the window vids worriedly. “Look, it’s a complex story. I’ll have to give you just the bare details because if Ket followed me here, his men might be right behind me.”
Ket’s growl rose from the floor. “The Basma will not care you are pure Kalquorian, you witch. He will execute you with the rest of the Earther slime.”
Tasha’s heart leaped. At least some of the Earther abductees were still alive. She hadn’t failed them yet.
Meanwhile, Wekniz gave the back of the other Nobek’s head a hard slap. “Give me the sedative,” he told Narpok.
She dug into the pocket of her jacket and took out a medical injector. She passed it to Wekniz. “It’s got several doses of satedil,” she told him. “From my father Pwaldur’s supply that he kept on hand. Apparently investigators missed it when they searched the house after … after he turned traitor. It’s a few years old, so it may have lost some of its effectiveness.”
There was a coldness in her tone when she spoke her deceased father’s name. Ket growled threateningly, but Wekniz ignored him. The injector hissed against the prisoner’s neck and his head thumped to the floor. “It still works,” Wekniz said.
“Tell us what we need to know,” Falinset urged Narpok as he climbed to his feet and pulled the oxygen mask from his face. The other two followed suit. Everyone looked at Narpok expectantly.
She said, “Sitrel showed up during my recreational period in the hospital’s garden. When he hinted I was to recover my claim as empress, I thought he might have something to do with the revolt – and Princess Noelle’s disappearance. He brought me to Dramok Maf, who said he knew the Basma. Hoping to get a lead on Princess Noelle, I went along with his stupid scheme to make his son love him.”