Extinction (21 page)

      Training took on
a whole new meaning. I was disappointed. I didn’t develop super strength or
speed. I was just as slow and uncoordinated as before. Moving things with my
mind was the only ability I developed. But it did give me the edge I needed.

Gaios moved toward me. I knew I didn’t stand a
chance against him. He still moved slower for my benefit, always careful not to
hurt me. I concentrated, focusing my thoughts. I couldn’t lift him from the
floor, he was too heavy and I hadn’t figured out how to use my full power yet,
but I made him stumble and he ploughed into the mats. Arianna clapped
thunderously.  She enjoyed seeing me kick butt for a change, especially if it
involved Gaios.

“Not bad.” Gaios straightened. “With practice you’ll
get stronger.” He ruffled my hair.

“Excuse me.” A Brakalorn faced us. He was so small;
I nearly didn’t see him standing there.  “Captain Chai Quintus requests your
presence on deck B.” Gaios nodded and the Brakalorn shuffled away.

“Are you coming?” Arianna grabbed her towel and wiped
the sweat from her neck. I nodded eagerly. Until now I hadn’t been allowed on
deck B.

      The elevator slid
open
.
A small crowd gathered in front of the screens. Bill was among the bodies
trying to press closer. I automatically edged closer to see what they were
watching. Chai was right in front, his hands clutching the back of a chair
turning white with the pressure he exerted. He glanced in my direction and he
pressed his lips together when he saw me.

“Get her out of here. Now!” he snapped at Gaios.
This wasn’t good. I knew the look on his face.  Something very bad was
happening that he didn’t want me to see.

“What’s going on?” I pushed through the crowd to
take a better look at the screens lining the wall.

Chai tried to put his body between me and the
screens, but I quickly sidestepped him. I sucked in my breath. The screens
zoomed in on the cobblestone square in front of the Vandelrizi palace in
Palasium. To one side was a solid black wall of Vandelrizi, roughly about
twenty of them. They watched in silent unity as Robert Miller impatiently paced
the square. There was no audio to the images and I didn’t know what orders he
heaved at the soldiers. A woman was shoved forward and she fell on her knees,
joining five other humans in the middle of the square. She braced her fall with
the palms of her hands on the stones, grey strands of hair falling from the
disheveled bun on her head. It was Maria. She was one of a row of humans forced
to kneel on the square. My nails bit into the palms of my hands. This couldn’t
be happening.

“Lexie.” Chai placed a hand on my shoulder willing
me to look away.

“Don’t.” I needed to keep watching. I owed it to
Maria. She was the one that looked after me when my mother died, she wiped the
tears when I cried, and she tended to the bruises that Robert inflicted.  Robert
waved his hand, his face red and bloated. A soldier lifted his rifle, but
didn’t pull the trigger, uncertainty written all over his face. Robert snatched
the rifle from his hands and turned to the six men and woman. The rifle jerked
in his hands and they toppled over. He killed them…they were dead…Maria…he
killed her.

I wasn’t on the alien spaceship anymore. I was a
twelve-year-old girl clutching her arms over her chest, begging her father not
to do it, watching in terror as he lifted his gun and shooting her mother.

Chai’s arms were around me, whispering in my ear,
bringing me back to reality. I clamped my mouth shut, stopping the screams from
my mouth. I had never felt such a potent mixture of anger, hate and pain inside
of me. Robert was a monster. I shoved away from Chai, blindly heading for the
elevator, barely aware that I was pushing people out of my way using my
telepathic abilities. I knew what I had to do.

The elevator door opened on deck C. With a flick of
my hand I flung open the locked doors of the weapon lockers. I would stop him,
no matter what I had to do. I couldn’t let any more innocent humans suffer at
his hands.

“Lexie stop.” Chai’s body barred the entrance to the
lockers.

“Get out of my way!” He didn’t move. I focused on
him. I could make him move out of the way.  My thoughts hit a solid brick wall
too strong for me to penetrate.

“I’m not going to let you do this. Your ability
doesn’t work on me. I’m stronger than you,” he said grimly. I forgot he had his
own version of telepathic abilities. I let a chair fly through the air aiming
straight for him. He caught it in mid-air and dropped it to the floor. 

“You can’t stop me!” I flung a chair in frustration
against the wall.

“I know you’re upset…”

“You don’t know anything. Maria never did anything
to anyone. Why…why did he kill her? It’s all my fault. I left her there with
him. I left all of them…I should’ve helped them. Now he’s going to kill them
one by one.” The shelves rattled behind Chai. My anger was gaining momentum,
fueling my power.

“You can’t go storming into Palasium by yourself.” 

“You want me to sit back and do nothing? Let him
kill every human left on this planet?” I thought Chai was the one person that
would understand.

“No. I want you to calm down and listen to me.” He
took a step closer and touched my cheek. The anger seeped away, leaving only
pain in its place.

“She didn’t deserve to die…like this. We have to get
all the slaves out of Palasium.” Chai pulled me into his arms, tucking my head
under his chin.

“We will. I promise. We’ll do it together.”

      The bullet proof
jacket
brought back a lot of bad memories, but Chai insisted I wore it. He was not
taking the chance of me getting shot again. He grimly sheathed a knife on my
belt. 

“You don’t take one step without me.” He scrutinized
me, making sure I had all the weapons I needed. He pressed a quick kiss on my
lips. I knew he wasn’t happy that I was going with him, but he knew he couldn’t
stop me. He promised me we would do this together. Besides he needed me. I was
the only one that knew Palasium like the back of my hand. I also knew where the
safe was in Robert’s office and the code to open it. I used this information as
a bargaining chip to get Bill to agree with me tagging along. It was a long
heated discussion he lost in the end. Chai stepped away from me, going over our
plan with Gaios one more time. 

Bill placed his hands on my shoulders.

“Be careful.” His eyes were full of concern. It was
still new to me to have a father that cared about me.

“I will be. I’ve got three aliens to protect me.” I
tried to smile, but my face felt stiff. I was scared of going back to Palasium,
though I wouldn’t admit it to anyone. Chai would use it against me to make me
stay here.

“Chai came to see me earlier.” I blushed. He told
him about the Shidmina.

“I wanted to tell you. But with everything that
happened…”

“Are you sure this is what you want? Do you love
him?” I cleared my throat awkwardly.

“Yes. I love him.”

“Then I’m happy. I couldn’t ask for someone better to
look after my little girl.” Bill’s eyes were misty and he hugged me to his
chest. I swallowed at the lump in my throat. “You both better come back in one
piece.”

      The endless waves
of sand were transformed into a dark mystical place in the moonlight. Every
rock, every dune looked different, changed from barren and hopeless to magical
in the dark. The stars were so bright in the sky, I wanted to reach out and
touch them. It would’ve been romantic if it wasn’t for the mission we were on.
I would love to be alone right now with Chai, with only the stars and the
moonlight surrounding us. I snuck a glance at him next to me. He watched me
with amusement and I blushed. I forgot how good he was at reading the emotions
on my face. 

The truck hopped over the uneven surface and I
clutched my hands in my lap. Everyone was quiet. Not even Arianna had said a
word since we left. Gaios maneuvered the truck over the sand towards the
jungle. He was heading for the weather-worn shack with the entrance to the
tunnels.  A couple of bigger trucks followed behind us. They would transport
the slaves back to the mountain.

The truck skidded to a halt. The shack loomed in
front of us. Chai still had the key I gave him for the lock the night I had to
get him out of Palasium. It felt like a lifetime ago. He took my hand and gave
it a gentle squeeze.

“You can stay here. I can go alone.” I knew he
sensed the fear and hesitation in me.

“I have to do this.” I yanked open the truck door. This
mission was too important. I couldn’t let fear get the better of me and Chai
would be with me every step of the way.

The others would stay behind. Only Chai and I would go
through the tunnels. We had to get the codes for the security gate for the slave
quarters. Once we got them out of the quarters, the slaves could escape through
the tunnels to the waiting trucks. Quickly in and quickly out. Robert and the
Vandelrizi must have no clue to what’s happening. We didn’t want to get
involved in a fight.  Too many of the human slaves could get hurt if we started
a war tonight.

Chai unlocked the door of the shack, turning on his
flashlight. I tried to slow my breathing. It wasn’t only fear holding me back.
There was something else. I didn’t know what I was going to tell Rosa when I
see her. Emily was dead.  How am I going to tell her? I would have to explain
to her what happened to her daughter.

Chai took my hand. “Are you ready?” I nodded,
ignoring the urge to run away. I drew on the strength his touch gave me.

We followed the tunnels straight to the supply room
across from Robert’s office. These tunnels opened up in the most unusual places
across Palasium and I knew them each by heart. The metal shelves scraped the
floor loudly as Chai pushed it to the side, opening the door that lead into the
store room. His hand rested on the small of my back as we stepped into the
darkened room. The office building was deserted at night. No one should hear
us.

“His office is across the passage. The door won’t be
locked.” I whispered. 

Chai flashed the light through the small space. Huge
metal shelves filled the small space, stacked with files and folders. There was
barely enough room for both of us and I had to press myself closely to Chai to
move towards the door. He chuckled softly and a hand skimmed my thigh as he
reached for the doorknob. He stopped and his breathing sped up. I heard it too.
Voices. Coming closer. A boy and a girl. I rolled my eyes. It was one of the
soldiers trying to impress a girl by showing her the office of the Prime
Minister. It was already far past the curfew of the slaves and the soldier
risked a lot bringing her here.

Chai turned to me and we were pressed tightly
against each other. I suppressed the sudden urge to giggle. We would have to
wait for them to leave and they didn’t seem in a hurry. Deciding I could just
as well take advantage of the situation, I slid my hands under the hem of his
shirt, exploring the planes of his back. He stiffened and I smiled. Standing on
the tips of my toes, I reached for his face and planted kisses along his jaw.

Chai’s hands tangled in my hair, tilting my head
back.
It’s time for lesson four. Don’t start what you can’t finish.
His
lips found mine and the kissed me until I was breathless. His hands moved to my
hips, pressing me closer to him and he pressed feather light kisses on my neck.
A small sound escaped my mouth.

You have to be quiet, little one.
His lips traced my jaw.

A door slammed shut. The soldier and the girl left. I
gave a disappointed sigh and Chai chuckled softly. He turned the doorknob and
peeked around the corner. The passage was deserted and we silently crept
towards Roberts’s office. The door wasn’t locked. The safe was hidden in the
last drawer on the left side of the desk. I pulled it open and punched in the
code. The safe snapped opened. I pushed the manila folders to the side and found
the printout with the codes. The first phase of our mission was complete.

The tunnel opened in a darkened alley outside the
quarters. Chai pushed the grate sealing the entrance to the side. He placed his
hands on my hips and lifted me out of the hole. The alley was deserted. I could
see the gate of the quarters from here. The smell of smoke hung in the air. A
few fires burnt low in the metal drums on the other side of the gate. Chai
pushed me behind him. He scanned the streets for soldiers, before taking my
hand and we sprinted to the gate. My heart hammered in my chest. We were out in
the open and could be discovered at any moment.

The first soldier we encountered at the gate didn’t
know what hit him. Chai planted a well-aimed fist in the soldier’s face and he
crumpled to the ground. He didn’t have a chance to make a sound. A second soldier
rounded the corner and lightning fast Chai circled an arm around his neck,
cutting of his air supply. The soldier’s body went limp as he passed out and
Chai let him slid silently to the ground.  

I scrambled for the electronic keypad next to the
gate and typed in the code. The gate clicked open. Behind me I heard the crunch
of gravel and the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking. I froze. There was a
scraping and shuffling and another body hit the ground.