Saving Sara: Warriors Of Kelon Book 5

Chapter 1

Sarah knew death would come,
she only wished it would come sooner.

Her captors kept her alive
because it amused them to inflict pain and watch her suffer.

In the back of her mind,
distant memories of a home far away still lingered while hunger gnawed at her
empty stomach. Forgotten was the smell of fresh air. Once, so long ago, she
knew the sweet scent of cool mountain air and the feel of the wind wrapping
around her body. Now, she inhaled in shallow breaths the foul, musty stench of
her own feces, blood, and remnants of decaying creatures inside her small,
cramped cell.

At first, she silently begged
for forgiveness for any wrong she may have done to deserve this punishment. The
burning pits of hell held more appeal than the ongoing nightmare she was forced
to endure. How she longed to be free from the pain and injustice of her now
wretched existence.

Never again would she see her
family or her friends. Tears of self-pity and the hope of rescue dried up long
ago. No human had such advanced space technology, fast-moving spaceships and a
cruel beam of bright green light, which gripped her, held her immobile, until
it delivered her into the clutches of these cruel, heartless aliens. She was
forever lost and alone.

The swoosh
of air indicated her cell door opening. Groggily and
weakly, she raised her head, careful not to lift her eyes too far, or it would
earn her another agonizing jolt from the thick, metal collar firmly bolted
around her throat.

She tried to ready herself,
needing to obey the commands of her masters. Her quick compliance helped avoid
the pain. Not that it mattered anymore; perhaps she would disobey enough for
them to finally kill her.

Inwardly, she rebelled;
outwardly, she was a coward. It hurt too much, and she didn’t want the pain
anymore. ‘
A weak, pathetic human,’
the
Xersons
repeatedly called her. She agreed.

Several
Xersons
entered her cell area.
Xersons
were as big as grizzly
bears. Their bristly fur covered more than half of their bodies and they had
pointed snouts and humanlike eyes, yet what she feared the most were not their
clawlike
hands. Their teeth often gnashed at her, displaying
crooked, sharp fangs smeared in greenish saliva.

Often they threatened to tear
her apart with those teeth, only to then laugh at her fear.

“We’ve cleared out the base.
The only thing left is this,” growled the low voice of the first
Xerson
.

“The human is useless. I
bought it for my amusement and it’s served its purpose. The valuable breeding
slaves are already secure. This one will only take up space. Leave it. It will
be dead before long.”

Sara recognized the voice of the
one who enjoyed inflicting pain and humiliation on her the most. It took her a
split second to understand that they were leaving her to die and abandoning the
station where she was kept.

Their amused laughter faded
away as the door slid closed again.

Fresh tears rolled down her
cheeks and she collapsed back onto the dirty, cold floor waiting for her life
to end.

* * * *

Solron
sat in his quarters, anger simmering in his veins for
being ordered on this pointless mission. Of course he knew why. He appreciated
the concern of his mentor and superior, Krill. But damn it, he had work to do
back on
Kelon
!

A less-experienced healer
would have sufficed, but Krill insisted on his presence onboard the
Kelon
Star-Searcher.

Here, he would be forced to
endure endless cycles of nothing. All the warriors onboard were in excellent
health and top physical condition. No human females to treat, no younglings to
birth. He sighed. At least he brought plenty of reading data with him to stave
off the boredom.

Solron
sat in his quarters, remembering the conversation
with Krill which landed him here in the first place. He was stressed and tired
from running back and forth, tending to the birthing human women on
Kelon
. Physically and mentally, he was run down.

“You appear pale, my friend.”

Solron
glanced up at Krill before running a hand over his
tired face. “I am fine. Another human went into labor early this morning.”

“You should let your trainees
attend them and get rest.”

The team of healers, which he
personally trained, helped ease his burden from the growing number of human
women now living on
Kelon
. Although they were
learning well, they did not have his extensive personal knowledge of human
females. Quite a few of the human women were having difficult labors.

Thankfully, once the
Kelon
pain inhibitor was administered, it took much of the
stress from the mothers and the worried
Kelon
fathers. Still, he felt responsible for the human women and knew more about
them than any other on the planet. He
had
to be there, just in case.

“Your dedication in caring
for the human females and their younglings is to be commended, but remember, a healer
must care for themselves too,” Krill continued.

“I shall. As soon as I am
able,”
Solron
said, offhandedly waving at Krill, then
turning back to study his new data on C-sections.

Krill growled with
disapproval. “There is a military exploration ship leaving for the edge of
Xerson
space tomorrow. It is on a cleanup mission. I know
if I order you to rest here on
Kelon
, you will not. I
want you on that ship.”

Solron
shot to his feet, turning to face the
Kelon
. “Krill, I cannot abandon my patients. They need me!”

“You have trained excellent
staff who can handle your duties. You can’t care for your patients if you are
unable to focus from lack of rest. This is not a request,
Solron
.”

Krill’s tone took on a more
forceful tone, one
Solron
recognized from his student
days. The older
Kelon
would not back down until he
had his way.

Several rotations passed
since the day he stepped grudgingly onto the
Kelon
Star-Searcher
Linron
.

Solron
returned to the present, sighed again and dropped his
datapad
. He was staring, no longer seeing the words.
He stood up and left his quarters, then walked down to the mess hall. Several
warriors were hunched over a human game brought back from Earth by one of the females.

Chess, if he remembered
correctly. He was told it helped sharpen one’s military mind for strategy and
defense. It was general knowledge that many unmated
Kelon
males made it a point to learn about human women so they too could look forward
to courting and claiming one in the near future.

Solron
found the human female body attractive, but the
thought of ever mating was far from his mind. His dedication and focus were on
his healing duties and advancing his profession, which left no time for mating.
He also lacked the appeal the females wanted in a
Kelon
male. He was shorter, with less bulk than the average warrior. It was unlikely
a female would ever want him. Inwardly, he felt he lacked the ability to be
able to protect and fight
for a
corami
of his own.

From an early age, his
quickness of mind and steady hand helped decide his future. He wanted to be a
healer.

He entered the meal and
recreation room, only to be ambushed by the commander.

“
Solron
!”

Te-Commander
Rell
gave him a hefty, yet friendly slap on the back.

“Commander,”
Solron
acknowledged with a nod, trying not to appear winded
from the commander’s enthusiastic greeting.

“Good news, my friend, we
shall reach the outpost in a few
milrons
and
we shall see what those
Xerson
dogs have left
behind.”

“I suspect much like the last
few bases: stripped and empty.” The
Xersons
were
thorough in making sure nothing of value was left. Still, they needed to check
before destroying each base.

Although the Great War
officially ended a month past, much still needed to be done in cleaning up the
mess the enemy left behind. Most of the three enemy races retreated to their
own planets and territories. New listening posts were being set up to keep an
eye on the borders of their space, ensuring the peace continued.

He heaved a sigh. “I will
collect my equipment from the healing bay.”

* * * *

They docked with the spinning
asteroid orbiting a small dead planet.
Kelon
warriors
marched through each corridor, checking each room with caution. Even though the
scanners indicated no life signs, it paid to be cautious when dealing with an abandoned
base.

Solron
absently followed Te-Commander
Rell
while holding his portable
bioscanner
, searching for
anything hazardous to the
Kelon
crew.

Solron
almost ran into the commander when he stopped in the
lower part of the base at a closed door. Commander
Rell
tried to open it with little success.

“The only locked door on the
whole base,” Commander
Rell
muttered, examining the
plain gray metal door.

A
Kelon
electronic lock pick was quickly ordered from the ship. When it arrived, it
took but a moment for the warriors to open the locked panel, before forcing
open the door. They were greeted by the foul stench of old blood and expelled
body fluids. It made
Solron’s
sensitive nose twitch
with revulsion. He silently agreed with the warriors’ grumblings over how
disgusting the
Xersons
were.

One warrior quickly swept his
light beam through the darkness of the cell. “It’s clear.” The warrior nodded
for them to proceed, before stepping back while holding his nose.

Solron
glanced down at his scanner; an unusual reading
blinked back at him. Curiosity made him push past the warriors, snatch the beam
from the warrior’s hand and step into the obvious prison cell.

No wonder the warrior missed
her, as she was completely naked and her skin matched the filth in which she
lay.
Solron
stared in shock at the small female
curled up in the far corner. The readings were so faint, they barely
registered, but the closer he came, the clearer the data. She was still alive, but
barely.

“
Solron
,
what is it?” Commander
Rell
stepped in behind him.

Solron
dropped to his knees, running his scanner over the
unmoving girl.

“We have a human female, but
her heart is weak, and her vitals are fading fast.”

“Damn fire demons! How did
the
Xersons
manage to obtain a human female?” Fury
radiated off the commander in waves.

Another warrior stepped into
the cell, adding more light.

Solron
silently handed his beam to the commander and rolled
the female over. The gleam of a thick collar caught his eye. He growled,
reaching out to touch the
shrockna
, a cruel
device used on fierce beasts to control them.

Her long pale hair was dirty
and tangled; bloodied scars and deep bruises marred her skin.
Solron
barely registered the other
Kelons
’
menacing, angry growls as they, too, viewed her battered and grimy state.
Solron
carefully lifted her into his arms and rose to his
feet. She weighed hardly anything.
So small, so delicate.

“Make a path! I need to get
her to the healer’s bay now,”
Solron
snapped
urgently, turning and heading out of the cell.

“Out of the way!” bellowed
the commander.

Solron
ran with the girl in his arms through the abandoned
base and back onto the ship. Warriors stepped aside, curiosity and concern in
their eyes, as
Solron
raced past, his mind three
steps ahead of exactly what he needed to do to save her before she faded into
the darkness forever.

The doors to the healer’s bay
whooshed open and
Solron
lay his new charge on the
biobed
, his fast, nimble fingers hurriedly pressing buttons
to get a more accurate reading. Quickly, he filled the injectors with the drugs
needed to keep her heart pumping.