Alien Caged (18 page)

The Earther managed a startled shout and lunged for the closest rack, one filled with plasma rifles.  Oret was on him before he could finish his cry or even a single step.  He dispatched that man as well.

When he had no choice but to kill, Oret was little bothered by doing so.  However, he knew seeing the evidence of such violence might disturb his sensitive Imdiko.  Oret located a closet within the supply room and dragged his victims into it.  He saw to it that the door was locked so Miragin wouldn’t accidentally trigger it open.  The two bodies, with their heads twisted the wrong way, were out of sight and out of Oret’s mind in a matter of seconds.

The Nobek trotted back to where the corridors met and signaled his clanmate to join him.  Miragin did so, grinning when he saw the small arms inventory neatly lined up.  He glanced around and motioned to a hover cart on one end of the room.

“Load it up?”

Oret snapped a nod.  “Quickly, my Imdiko.”

They worked swiftly, Miragin taking direction from his warrior clanmate without pause.  As soon as Oret was satisfied with the number of firearms they’d collected, they moved their prizes farther down the corridor where the cargo lift waited.

Oret was just thinking how the operation had gone much too easily when a shout sounded behind him.   

“Hey!  What the fuck?”

Oret turned in a flash, simultaneously shoving Miragin to the floor.  The young Earther crewman he faced was not armed that he could see.  The sandy-haired youth turned and ran while grabbing for something in his pocket.

Either the kid had panicked or no one had ever told him it could be lethal to run from a Nobek ... especially one trying to keep a clanmate safe from harm.  Oret’s thinking mind shut down, leaving only animal instinct.  In an instant he was after the Earther, responding to the primitive predator urge to run his victim down and kill it.   

Oret caught up to the white-faced crewman as he raised a com to his lips.  One swing sent the com flying.  The next few seconds were a flurry of heat and blood and strangled cries.

When Oret’s thinking brain reasserted itself, he groaned to see the mangled mess at his feet.  There was no time for conscience however.  Claxons blared, making his ears ring.  With a despairing look at his victim, Oret turned and ran back to Miragin, wiping bloody hands on his pant legs as he went.

He told his pale Imdiko, “It sounds like we’re out of time.  Let’s go.”

They shoved the hover cart into the cargo lift and set off for their hiding place.  When they got to the cargo level, the doors opened on six Nobeks snarling and ready to attack.

Seeing members of his security force and knowing that Elisa and Zemos had gotten through their mission erased Oret’s tension.  He even grinned as the other Nobeks straightened from their attack stances and offered him deep bows of respect.

He walked among his men, pounding his fists against chests in celebration.  “It’s good to see you all again.  Did everyone get out?”

The Nobeks returned his enthusiastic greeting, happily thumping his chest in return.  One answered, “Yes, Commander.  Allow me to escort you to the captain.” 

With their escort and the cart full of weapons, Oret and Miragin headed for the cargo hold where Zemos and the survivors of the destroyer crew already prepared to barricade themselves.  The Nobek knew there was a long way to go yet until they were free, but he couldn’t help the surge of elation he felt to have gotten this far.  He was eager to move on to the next phase of the plan.

* * * *

In Captain Walker’s ready room, tactical officer Alec Robards paced in front of Joseph’s desk.  Twenty years the captain’s senior, Robards’ lined face appeared even older with his jaw clenched and eyes squinting as he ranted and raved.  Joseph thought the lieutenant commander’s once-dark hair had grayed appreciably since he last saw him five hours ago. 

Robards’ knotty-knuckled hands clenched in fists as he tried to grind his teeth into powder.  “Five men are dead.  The heathen freaks blew two of them away in cold blood with Ensign Coombs’ blaster.  Two nearly had their heads ripped off, and the last—” 

He didn’t finish.  What they had found of one man had barely been identifiable.  It looked like a grizzly bear had savaged him.

The captain offered the small bits of hope he could.  “Coombs is alive.  Miss Mackenzie is possibly still alive and a hostage since her body hasn’t been found.”

Sitting across from his desk, First Officer Mitchell Chase pursed his thin lips and shook his head.   As slender as a praying mantis and nearly as pretty, Chase scared Joseph the worst of anyone on board the ship.  The man knew almost nothing of kindness as far as the young captain had ever seen.

Chase layered so much remorse into his voice that it sounded faked.  “Not that Miss Mackenzie’s life matters now.  We know the deviant urges those monsters have.  No doubt they have already exposed her to sexual misconduct.  She has been sullied in the eyes of God.”

Robards paused and nodded his agreement.  “She must be listed as dead too.  Even if they didn’t kill her with their inhuman lusts, she no doubt would prefer her life over now that she’s been raped.  I’ve told my men not to hesitate.  If they find the Kalquorians and her with them, her life is not to be spared.”

Joseph sat up straight in his chair.  “Now hold on.  She didn’t ask to be a part of this horror.  She’s an innocent.”

Chase’s wispy blond hair, thinning to show the pink of his scalp, waved in the air as he shook his head.  “She’s sullied, Captain.  Remember what our Holy Leader said when he warned we would be invaded.  ‘Cut your wives and daughters’ throats rather than have them endure being raped by our enemies.’  Bless her soul, but Elisa Mackenzie cannot be saved.”

He looked at the vid portrait hanging on the wall over Joseph’s head, the one showing Browning Copeland looking heavenward with an exalted smile.  The mindless adoration with which Chase gazed at their leader made Joseph shudder inside.  The captain refused to look at the vid with him. 

Instead he told his officers, “Killing women to save them from being raped is the responsibility of husbands and fathers.  No one else may do so, and Elisa has neither on this ship.”

Robards stared at him in shock.  “Then you must stand in their place as her captain.  Surely you don’t sanction a ruined woman to be spared, not after she has known sin.”

“She is a victim!  The sin is not hers!” Joseph said, forgetting his nervousness in the face of passionate belief.

Joseph knew the two men in front of him were among the faithful, to a fanatical degree.  Yet he still could not understand how they and Earth’s former government and religion could sanction punishing rape victims ... even going as far as to advocate killing women to prevent them from being raped.  The idea that women tempted their attackers, that they were as guilty as the rapists themselves, was an abhorrence in the captain’s view.

In this one instance, it didn’t matter to him how Chase and Robards would take his orders that went against their beliefs.  Joseph would not allow Elisa killed simply because she’d been in the wrong place when Zemos and his crew had made their escape. 

He told his officers, “If your men find Miss Mackenzie alive, they are to do everything in their power to keep her that way.  She will not die because of a crime done against rather than by her.”

Robards actually recoiled.  “The Holy Leader would never sanction such protection for a ruined woman.”

Joseph narrowed his eyes.  “I’m the captain.  Holy Leader Copeland has placed his faith in my ability to run this ship.  Are you questioning that?”

It was as bold a bluff as he dared to make.  If Chase and Robards insisted on him bringing the matter up to Copeland, he knew the answer the Holy Leader would give them.

Elisa Mackenzie was tainted by sin.  No matter what she might claim, it would be assumed she had been raped by the Kalquorians.  That made her a temptation for other men.  Therefore, for her own good as well as that of others, she would have to be executed.

Joseph was already on shaky ground where Chase and Robards were concerned.  He thought the only reason they hadn’t taken command from him was because Copeland had made it plain he wanted Joseph Walker as the battlecruiser’s captain.  This issue over Elisa might be enough to make them challenge him.

Silence hung over the men for a few seconds.  Joseph could almost feel the two men weighing their options.  Fortunately, they decided to continue to bide their time.

Chase gentled his insulted glare to a more conciliatory smile.  It didn’t make him look any better.  “You are our commanding officer, as decreed by God’s Voice.  But Captain, I must protest this understandable but utterly wrong kindness to the poor woman.  She is better released from her sins so that she still finds a place in God’s embrace.”

Robards stretched his big-knuckled hands in supplication.  “At least discuss the matter with the Holy Leader.  I beg you, for all our sakes.  You do not want to lead us into iniquity.”

The knot in Joseph’s stomach loosened as the momentary reprieve was granted.  He had a little extra time to figure a solution out to keeping Elisa alive after her rescue.  All he could do was hope the Kalquorians’ escape would keep him in command for just a bit longer until he found a solution to this mess.

A part of him was sure Zemos would never allow his men to harm Elisa.  The Dramok captain didn’t strike Joseph as a man who would countenance a woman crying and begging for mercy.  Even the frightening Oret seemed to have plenty of conscience when it came to those weaker than him.  The Nobek had shown great protectiveness towards Imdiko Miragin.  Surely a helpless woman, even if she was an Earther, would lead such men more towards care than animal lust.

To his men, Joseph said, “I have every intention of talking to the Holy Leader about the trials we face.  God’s Voice will give us the final word.  Meanwhile, we have to find where those Kalquorians are.  Lieutenant Commander Robards, you’ve found no way to bring the monitors online?”

The tactical officer shook his head.  “We are utterly locked out.  Nothing I do will bring the program back up.”

The captain said, “Then have your men go level to level, section by section.  We’ll do a manual search until we’ve got them cornered.”

Robards’ temper flared anew.  “With all due respect Captain, I say to hell with the Bi’isils and their money.  Give me leave to kill every last Kalq we find.”

Joseph kept his tone calm.  “And run this ship on what?  Dantovon and Adraf are the only species that will sell us provisions, and they don’t do charity.  The Holy Leader needs those funds as well to continue his cause.  Find the Kalquorians.  Have our men defend themselves, but take as many of the aliens alive as possible.  And save Elisa Mackenzie if you can.  You are both dismissed.”

Chase rose from his chair.  He and Robards were back to looking surly, but they saluted anyway.  Joseph didn’t breathe until they left the room and the door shut behind them.

He sagged in his chair, feeling the hopelessness of the situation.  The Kalquorians were loose on the ship.  They had killed five crewmen, one so horrifically it looked as if an animal had done the slaughtering.  Elisa was with them, and she was probably safer with them than her own kind.  She was certainly better off than Captain Joseph Walker, but that wouldn’t last, not if Chase and Robards had their way.  Sooner or later, there would be a fight for the ship.  Sooner or later, people would die, and whether he re-captured the Kalquorians or not, Joseph knew his command – his very life – would probably end.  Innocents like Elisa would also perish, more than likely.

He couldn’t deny it.  Time was running short for them all.

Chapter 10

The tension in Zemos’ body eased a fraction when he saw his Imdiko and Nobek.  A sense of calm flowed over his senses as Miragin and Oret entered the wide open space of the cargo hold.  The lighting in the bay was low enough that Elisa had complained she couldn’t see very well, but Zemos had no such trouble.  He easily spied streaks of smeared blood on Oret’s hands, but the crimson marks had obviously come from someone else’s body.  Zemos’ clan was safe, and it gave him a small sense of victory.

He looked at Elisa.  Some of the worry bled out of her expression as Oret and Miragin approached, making most of the light creases at the corners of her eyes disappear.  It made the Dramok’s heart lift to know that despite what they had done to her, she still cared.  For now not all of her goodwill had been destroyed.  That too made Zemos feel easier in his mind.

As soon as his clanmates reached them, he gave Oret a nod of acknowledgment.  For Miragin there was a rough hug, because Zemos was glad to see his gentle Imdiko safe and because he wanted to whisper in his ear.

“Take Elisa to that small office over there to your right, behind that line of storage bins.  The less she knows of our plans the better, especially if she is taken from us.”

Miragin nodded.  He stepped back and offered his warm smile to Elisa.  “Let’s leave these warriors to their work, my sweet.  While they play soldiers, I’d like to interview you for my next book.”

She blinked at him, taken off guard by the request.  “You want to interview
me
?”