Supreme Leader of Anstractor: A Sci-Fantasy Space Adventure (The New Phase Book 3) (13 page)

“I can hold my temper. I’m not killing anyone. Why do you like it here? This place is all kinds of wrong.”

Camille shrugged at Marian and hopped off the stool, then took her hand and led her out of the square. They walked for some time before coming upon the statue that had been erected for Rafian. There was some graffiti on the base and Marian ran forward and began rubbing it off with a rag. “Little
thypers
, do they know who this is?” she mumbled as she worked at removing the graffiti.

Camille sat in the grass and stared at the statue with a look of sadness in her eyes. “Don't worry about it. There are machines that do that every night. It’s a popular statue so kids are going to write on it. Why are you here anyway, Rhee? You never come into town.”

“I came because I needed to talk to you. Tayden’s a mess, and Marika has Val, so I had to come and find you.”

“You don’t like Val, do you?” Camille said with a big smile on her face.

“He’s sweet,” Marian said and ceased her rubbing to walk over and sit next to Camille in the grass. “I really feel like we should be doing something. All of this waiting to see if Rafian will make contact is driving me crazy. Everyone came back, but he’s still missing. What if he is hurt badly with no comm or anything? He could be near here, like near the beach, and no one is trying to look for him.”

“Then why don’t we go look for him?” Camille said. “I need an excuse to walk off this drinking, anyway.” She got up and Marian followed her out, and they walked towards a community transport. Marian took the controls and flew them to the rear gate, where they exited the shield wall and floated down the hill and into the forest. “I saw some fighters earlier. Do you know what that was about?” Camille said.

“Rend MEC sent his executive officer to help us with our lizard problem.”

“Really?” Camille laughed. “Talk about poor timing. I guess they can consider this an extended vacation then. Good for them. Hell, I would have loved it if Abe RUS had sent me to Vestalia back when I was on
Helysian
.”

Marian remained quiet for a time as she scanned the radar for any movement. When she finally spoke, she did so in a flat, humorless tone. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to grow up the way you, Raf, and Tayden did. Children drafted into the military with no planet to call home. You’re all so strong, and it amazes me that you can be somewhat normal after all of that.”

“Do you think that Raf is dead, Cammy?” she asked suddenly, parking the hover car in the middle of a clearing.

“Marian, no! What the hell? If that man dies, one of us would have felt it. Tayden has the seeker blood, and she was able to touch him when he was lost in your world. She hasn’t felt him pass and neither have I, so don’t go there. Just leave it alone, okay? Take it from someone who dealt with it for two years; you don’t want to start thinking like that. If I were you, I would be more worried about him showing up with a prettier girl that he’s married behind your back.”

“You’re saying that I shouldn’t worry about him,” Marian said, not wanting to respond to the jab. But, alas, she couldn’t help herself and turned to confront Camille. “First of all, I don’t consider myself prettier than you. I think that you are a beautiful woman with enviable features. Second, he had no memory or else he would have probably left my world months before meeting me.”

She sighed again and ran her hand through her hair quickly. “Third, I don’t think he would willingly hurt me like that. I didn’t have as traumatic a childhood as you all had, but I gave up everything. If Rafian were to do that to me, I think I would kill him, and then myself.”

Camille waited as if she expected Marian to start laughing but when she didn’t her eyes grew wide. “Marian! I’m surprised to hear you say what you just did. It sounds like some
schtill
I would’ve said back when I was on the psych ship. You shouldn’t give anyone that sort of power over you. Do you not have something that you can live for?”

Marian started the car again and slowly moved it between the trees. “Tyherans are passionate people, Camille. It’s all or nothing for us. We live full lives with passionate partners, and we put a lot of emphasis on love. You know, when I went back home with Marika, I did it to look for what you’re asking me about. I went to find a reason for living, something that wasn’t Raf. My galaxy was in trouble and I thought that my passion was to help free them from Palus Felitious.”

“So you found your reason,” Camille said reassuringly.

“No, what I found was that I wanted my husband next to me more than anything else in the world. Even my time with Marika, as sweet as it was, did not stop me from wanting him. I need love, Camille. Life has given me a lot of things but when I found love, it made everything else feel cheap.”

‘Maker,” Camille said, “he has you tethered doesn’t he?”

“Rafian is my heart, but it isn’t just him. I thrive on being in love.”

“Okay girl, you’re scaring me, so let’s make sure we find him. I don’t want to see you when you lose this love that you’re so passionate about.”

W
HILE TIM and Vessica were being looked after by one of the village’s doctors, Rafian went home to collect his things and close out the account on his room. The credits that he had stolen that first night had turned out to be substantial, and though he made a promise to pay it forward for his theft, he still felt little in the way of guilt.

After collecting the few things he had as possessions—a souvenir for Marian and a change of clothes—he picked up the locator, which was the Traxian’s only means of communication. He punched in the number for Jinay’s apartment and it took a very long time for her to answer.

“Is this my favorite friend?” she cooed into the receiver, her voice like honey to his ears.

“The one and only. Are you available?”

“You have excellent timing. I just finished with a customer.”

It wasn’t the type of answer Rafian liked to hear but he was happy to learn that she would be able to meet him. She crossed the street and made it up to his hotel room in twenty minutes Vestalian time. She wasn’t dressed in the robes he was used to seeing her in, but instead wore canvas pants, closed-toed sandals, and a bright blue blouse that seemed to billow everywhere. Her thick dark hair was plaited back into a series of complicated coils, and she wore a hat that gave him the impression that she was set to travel.

“Going somewhere?” he asked when she walked through the door.

She removed the hat and placed it on the table. “I don’t know, am I?” she asked, her expression was one of serious determination.

Understanding her body language, Rafian said, “So, you will be going with me when I leave? You do understand that—”

“How many times must you remind me? You don’t have to worry about me embarrassing you in front of your wife.” She laughed deeply and it made her seem girlish. It took everything within him to resist her.

“I just want to see you safely gone from here. You could get a villa in a warm country on Meluvia, or come stay with us on Vestalia.”

“You would risk having me near you while you are there with your wife?”

“What does it matter? I’m a Phaser; if I wanted to be with you it wouldn’t matter where you live,” he said.

“You make me so excited the way you talk. You speak of impossible things but I believe them. So, are we going, or did you call me for something else?” She sat down next to him and put her tongue inside his ear.

“I went to the desert last week, Jinay. That is why you couldn’t reach me.”

The Traxian beauty sat up suddenly when he said this. “Why would you do that after what happened before? My heart breaks just thinking of what could have happened to you.”

“I saw a lot of things, Jinay, and they raise a lot of questions. Now, I don't want you to get offended.”

Jinay looked concerned as she glanced at him out of the side of her eye. Then she got up suddenly and crossed the room to place her back against the wall while she watched him. “You saw a solkatha?” she asked quietly and he nodded his head in response. “You want to know if I knew about the solkatha and what they do to your people.” She twisted her lips into a grimace and shook her head. “They will cut my throat, but I will tell you,” she said finally.

“Jinay, I know evil, and I know that you intercepted me to keep me safe the day I arrived. The cult was out human hunting the night we first made love. You kept me in your arms and wouldn't let me leave the whole day. I recognized that you were stalling me, but I didn't know why. I thought at the time that you saw me as a way to escape this place.”

“Did you see the people?” Jinay whispered. “Did you see what the solkatha left of them? It is a cruel thing that we do, a disgrace to life itself. But citizens of Copl are made to keep quiet. We cannot say their name or tell outsiders about the trade—”

“Trade? So your leaders are selling humans to the Geralos? Is that what I'm hearing?”

Jinay nodded and looked around frantically as if she suspected that they were being recorded. “My friend Ilza. She got her tongue cut out and they sent her away to work in the mines.”

“Because she talked?” Rafian said, then stood up suddenly to approach Jinay. “I’m taking you with me. You won’t see the mines, and you will need that tongue to taste plenty of rich and exotic foods.” He winked at her. “Now go to the clinic. You will see my friends. Mention my name and say that you are with me.”

“Where will you be?” Jinay asked and Rafian shook his head in response.

“Better you not know. I don’t want you to learn that other side of me. Just go to the clinic and stay with my friends until I arrive.

Jinay flashed him a questioning look and then grabbed her hat to leave. Rafian slipped on his pack, hung the las-sword on his waist, and then gave the room a once-over before leading her out.

As they stepped out into the hallway, Jinay spun around to face him, forcing him to feint backwards in order to avoid being popped in the face by the brim of her large, floppy hat. “Will you walk me to the clinic, Rafian?”

He was about to object, wanting to get right to the mayor, but he read fear in her eyes and that made him rethink his plans of having her go there alone.

“Jinay, you're frightened. Of course I'll take you. Keep the hat low and stay close to me,” he said, but he wondered at the likelihood of Jinay being in danger. Had his room been bugged or rigged with scanners? He pondered this as they descended the wooden staircase with their arms interlocked and her leaning into him. The woman was visibly shaken, and Rafian kept his hand near the handle of his pistol.

When they left the building and entered the square Rafian had a feeling of deja vu. Here he was playing bodyguard to a sex worker, which was not unlike his first job when he lost his memory on Luca. He felt Jinay shudder so he scanned the crowd. Most of the men were curious about them but none made any moves that could be interpreted as aggressive.

“I didn't tell you everything, Rafian. I work for someone,” Jinay started to say but Rafian shushed her and pushed on through the crowd.

“No need to start confessing secrets. I know more about you than you think. When they show up to reclaim you, I will—”

There was a slight movement to their right and Rafian grabbed Jinay and pushed her towards the door of the clinic. “Run!” he commanded and spun to face a giant Traxian that had barely missed her face with his knife. The feeling of deja vu was strong again, but he caught the wrists of the man and twisted them violently, forcing him to drop the knife.

The crowd of shoppers opened up a clearing for the fight, and three men stepped in to assist their friend. Rafian spun with a leg out, causing the dust to fly everywhere. The men recoiled, guarding their eyes, and it was enough time for him to draw his pistol and shoot the nearest one in the face.

At the sound of the gunshot the people scattered, and Rafian joined them in the confusion. By the time the men had recovered from the dust and the chaos he would be long gone from the vicinity. Copl had android guards and a few Traxian ones that maintained them, and he didn't want to mar the Phaser reputation by butchering a village of innocent people.

He sprinted towards the large home that Jinay had explained was the mayor's, and he ran past the guards to gain the entrance. Several loud gunshots cleared the lobby, and when the guards rushed in, he scattered fire into their midst. The men's white tunics turned red from their blood, and they went down fast, lifeless before hitting the ground.

The hot pistol was pulsing in Rafian's palm so he drew the las-sword that he had commandeered from the Geralos. Slowly and methodically he climbed the steps and as the men and women ran past him screaming, he scanned their clothes to make sure that none of them was the mayor.

When he emerged on the top floor of the three-story building, a handsome Traxian stood waiting for him with a shotgun pointed in his direction. Rafian didn't wait to see if the man wanted to negotiate; he phased behind him and spun, cutting behind his knees. The man screamed and collapsed helplessly while Rafian snatched the shotgun from his hands.

He grabbed him by his hair and dragged him to an adjacent bathroom. He threw him on the ground and then went back to the office area to look for something to tie him up with. The only thing present besides the computers and paper was a decorative red chain that would normally dictate where people could line up to see their mayor.

Rafian cut a sizable bit of chain, then took it to the bathroom and looped it over a beam in the ceiling. He tugged at it to make sure that it was strong and secure, then pulled up the mayor and bound his hands so that he was barely standing inside of the tub.

“Why are you feeding my people to the lizards?”

“Cri, zhyt, puc—” he began and Rafian backhanded him, causing him to spin one way until the chain forced him back, spinning the other way.

“Speak the universal tongue, you worthless
schtill
. Why are you feeding my people to lizards?”

Fresh blood oozed from the lips of the smooth-faced Traxian, and his long black hair suddenly became damp with sweat. Rafian could feel himself becoming angrier. Torture was not the most honorable practice for a Mera-Ku monk.

“Last chance, Mayor,” he said as he reached up and tugged at the chains. He looked down at the collection of blood that had formed a crimson pool below the man. He could see that the chains cut deeper into his wrists.

“I don’t know what you’re looking for,” the mayor mumbled under his breath. “We don’t set up our guests, you lunatic. I told you that—”

Rafian swung the las-sword in a downward arc and severed his arm at the shoulder. The man’s scream was a horrific noise that cut through the sounds of the village. The mayor’s office was on the tenth floor of a beautiful stone tower, but the removal of his arm had caused a noise that could be heard from the streets below.

“Listen to me,
schtill.
Your life was forfeit the minute you decided that Geralos money was worth the lives of my people. The couple that I rescued, they’re Alliance military. This means that your crimes have gone galactic. It means that I can carve you up slowly and they would applaud my efforts. So do yourself a favor and just come clean, preserve your other arm, and I will leave you at the mercy of your people.”

“You’re a savage!” the man spat at Rafian in the native Traxian dialect, and Rafian swung the blade so close to his other arm that the man thought that he had made good on his promise.

“You haven’t seen savage,” Rafian said as the blood went cold in his veins. He couldn’t recall hating a person more than the coward who stood in front of him.

The man’s eyes met his and something within them changed. “YES!” he cried. “We have dealings with the Geralos, but I did it to allow my people to live in peace.”

“How long?” Rafian asked in a flat, even tone.

“What?”

“How long has this been going on? How many humans have you sacrificed to the lizards?”

The man seemed to give up and Rafian understood; he didn’t need him to answer anymore. There had been countless humans sent to the Geralos and it had been at the hands of Traxians like him. He wondered how many Geralos inhabited the planet, and he wondered how many hubs were death traps for Vestalians.

To be so close to achieving true progress against the lizards only to find out that your allies were selling you out… The bile in his throat began to seek a way out, but he wasn’t going to vomit, not in front of his victim. Thirty-five Traxians and a Geralos military man had been killed by his hands in the last three days. He felt like a sort of unstable weapon, and as he looked at the man and recognized—as if for the first time—what he was capable of, he staggered back in fear of what he had become.

The contradiction of the Mera-Ku teachings and those of an Alliance military officer made for a painful maelstrom in his mind. He had gone soft for the Geralos when he took a peek into their culture, but then the Makers had appeared to scold him for losing his way. He felt lost and alone on this alien world, and even Jinay had not been enough to keep these feelings at bay. Traxis is an ally, he reminded himself, but they’re selling off my people to the enemy that terrorizes us.

“I lied,” he said finally and the man looked at him curiously as he fought to stay conscious against the pain. “I lied about keeping you alive. I’m going to kill you and everyone involved with the human trafficking, and then I am going to place this city under Phaser control.”

The man looked stunned and Rafian stared at him intently. “You must really hate us,” he said between bloody lips. “I don’t blame you. We made a mistake.”

Then he closed his eyes to accept his fate.