Collateral Trade (23 page)

Chapter IX

Sharell trudged through the murky water, watching the rock walls of the cavern by the light of the glowing emerald ring. The stream followed the small tunnel and there was no other light to guide her. The water never rose above her knees, though the ground beneath her feet was less muddy and no longer sucking at the soles of her boots. It seemed as though she had been walking for hours, but she also thought that time was disjointed in this stream.

Sharell had no particular plan when she caught up to the ancient. She was still not sure what kind of powers or weapons the mystic might have at his disposal. Through the strange glow of the emerald, Sharell was certain Miranda would not have selected her for this journey if she did not possess what she needed to capture him. As usual, Sharell would shoot from the hip and figure out the circumstances when they happened.

He’s just an old man, for god sakes; a really old, mean nasty man.
She walked a little further.
He’s just a really, really old, mean nasty man with mystical wizard powers that can destroy a planet. And he’s probably nuts. Shit.
Her thoughts were seriously creeping her out, so she focused on counting her sloshing steps through the water.

At last, she saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. The closer she walked towards the haze, the more she could see of the sky. It was the color of a sickly overripened banana yellow. “Great.” She walked forward, speaking to the opening in front of her. “Tian, can you hear me, now?” She thought of her ‘smart phone’ and laughed. “Yeah, right. Like I’d get a signal in here.”

She emerged onto a ledge and stared out at a horrific sight. There were boiling pits of sewage-type waste with steam hissing from pocked craters throughout the surface. Burned trunks of trees and branches set against the steamy yellow haze gave the place a more desolate feeling. Sharell understood this destroyed world was the result of the ancient’s creations, and it renewed her resolution to find him.

Beside her, she heard steady dripping water. The blue sapphire glowed faintly in that direction, but her emerald gleamed brighter across the nightmare landscape. She located the source of the small, clear stream. “Okay, now I know my exit home.” She sat beside it, trailing her fingers in the water and wishing she could just slide to her mates.

The emerald beat a demanding, pulsing light, and she lifted her eyes and stared at the devastation. If the ancient’s destruction could turn this world into an apocalyptic scene, she did not want to think of what would happen to Actana and its gem fields of power. She knew she had to find him and drag him to this stream.
Tian?

Sharell felt his gasp.
“You’re there? Sharell, my mate, you are there?

I’m fine. I miss you and Chaya.
For Sharell, she had only been gone a day. She had no way of knowing that Tian had been climbing to the altar for over six months.

Are you coming home now?

Soon, I think. At least I have you with me now.

Please, come back now.

You know I can’t. Not until I catch him.
Sharell rose and something familiar in the distance caught her eye. “It can’t be.” Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “God, this can’t be. It’s a worse landfill than before.” In shock, she walked away from the slip-stream, and Tian’s voice faded.

It took the better part of an hour to circumvent the potholes and garbage. Sloshing through fluorescent mud and debris, Sharell made her way to a distant and eerily familiar shape. At last, Sharell stood at the entrance to the shuttlebay of the husk of the Manerea. Trembling, she walked inside and felt like she entered a tomb. What equipment did not hang by wires ripped from walls was rusted and pitted from what appeared to be centuries of exposure to the elements.

The sound of her boots was muted as she walked down empty corridors with opened doors half-hanging off broken hinges. It took a while to crawl up the chutes… the elevators were useless… but she made her way to her old room. The emerald stopped pulsing and the light dimmed slightly. The first sounds she heard since entering the ship, came from behind her door. It was sobbing.

Steeling her resolve, Sharell slowly pushed it open and lavender eyes looked up at her. “Ayana?”

The woman rose and threw herself into Sharell’s arms. “Pretty, pretty.” Her hands stroked down Sharell’s back with relief. “I knew you would come.” Ayana was wracked with tears and shudders.

Sharell returned her hug and whispered, “Ayana, what happened here?”

“He took it away,” she cried. “He said he would make it right, but he took all the pretty, pretty color away.”

Sharell froze. “Ayana, do you know where he is?”

“He is with your Chairman. He made promises, and they exiled my Commander to the dark side. The other Casiquas are with him, but my mate told me to wait for you.” She cried and shook harder.

“How did you know I would come?”

“
He
told us. He said you were evil and would destroy our new world, but we knew he lied. I was the only one who knew who you were, so my Commander and my mate told me to wait for you.”

“Ayana, you have to take me to him.” Sharell swiped her hands through the frightened woman’s tears and smiled. “And then, you must go to your mate and hide.” Sharell took Ayana’s hand and they slid down chutes to the lower level. “Hold on, I need to get something.”
Please be there, and please still work.

She used her shoulder to push the rusted door to the plant lab open. She got down on her hands and knees and found her stubby, still held by the magnet to the bottom of her stool. Crawling under her table, she felt with her fingers until she located the screws. Two of them held the small metal flap in place, and when she pulled it free, the stun gun dropped onto the floor. The green light of full charge glowed in the darkness, and Sharell smiled.

When Tammy was demoted to the Cleaning crew, Sharell had followed Matt on one of his secret meetings with her. They convinced Tammy to let them into the Security room when they knew it was empty. Sharell had no intention of finding herself trapped with no weapon like she had been during the launch. When she had been called to the shuttlebay, she had not realized the danger. Looking back, the stun gun would have been ineffective with all the Security in the bay. And right now, she was relieved she had left it hidden.

Matt had taken one too, for very different reasons. If he had ever cared for a woman, it had been Tammy. Word circulated through the ship, primarily due to her promotion and bragging, that Officer Metzer compiled the lists for the women traded to the aliens. Arriving on planet, Matt quickly aligned himself with the Casiqua and their talented women.

From his new Man Cave, he looked down on the Manerea and learned the rotation for outside Security patrols. Within a week he knew the schedule, and he watched Officer Metzer walking the perimeter, searching for dissidents trying to leave and avoid the workforce tasked with building a habitable settlement. Matt snuck up behind her and whispered, “Hey, bitch.” She turned, reaching for her weapon, but Matt stunned her and she dropped to the ground without a word. “That’s for Tammy.”

Matt was content with his new life, and the Casiqua fawned over him. Still, he owed this to Tammy for risking so much while they were in space. He knew she was given to the aliens because of the guard, and he smiled at the transparent Casiqua dragging another Earth woman competitor away.

Sharell took Ayana’s hand. They left the Manerea, and Sharell saw streaks of blue slicing through the polluted clouds. “No. Oh god, Miranda. Not yet.” Sharell knew the Ancient was cleansing the world, although she did not know how Miranda had found her. “Come on, Ayana. We have to hurry before he knows I’m here.”

They raced across the healing ground towards the Casiqua ship. Ayana pointed to a dull crystal building beside it. “In there. He is in there.”

“Go to your mate,” Sharell instructed.

Ayana tickled her palm and smiled nervously. “Pretty, pretty.”

“You too, Ayana. Thank you.” Sharell watched her fade as she ran towards the caves.

Sharell crept towards the building, hiding behind the columns. She followed angry voices and saw no one on her way.

“She’s here,” a panicked voice screeched. “The witch’s mercenary is here.”

“What are you talking about, old man? All you do is rant paranoia. You promised me a kingdom.”

Sharell recognized the Chairman’s voice. Jerome sounded irritated and a bit unstable, himself.

“There is no nelam. No nelam here,” the old voice raved. “There should be nelam.”

A million years ago, Rashilla Three had been rich with the crystal and it gleamed from the surface like a star. After hundreds of revolutions through the debris belt, it had worn away. This planet had been the manipulative ancient’s secret, one he had not even shared with the two wizard brothers who traveled streams with him over the centuries. It had been his perfect escape, his last perfect planet. And now, the witch’s assassin was after him. He had no power to draw on. He had sucked the last life out of the filthy place to build his small palace.

There were only two voices, and Sharell wondered where the rest of the Manerea crew could be. At least fifty had chosen to stay with Jerome.
Where are they?

“You promised me a kingdom,” Jerome thundered. “My last supporters have joined the Casiquas, all because of your lies.”

“Well, guess that answers that,” Sharell murmured. “King Poopah without a kingdom or subjects.” The sky was getting lighter outside and splashes of new green grass began to sprout. “Slow down, Miranda.”

Sharell held the stun gun and walked into the center of the chamber. Jerome gaped at her when the ancient screamed and pointed. “Away. Away with you.” The frail being scampered behind Jerome’s back, peeking out with ageless wide blue eyes that matched the veins pulsing like bruised spiderwebs across his bald head.

“You,” Jerome spat. “I should have shoved you into space when you turned me down. You have been nothing but a bitch since I laid eyes on you. Stealing my crew for your cozy new planet…”

“Crew you were planning to murder,” Sharell reminded him. She steeled herself for the confrontation and convinced herself the ancient posed no
threat. “So Jerome, how are you enjoying Adam One? Is it the paradise you expected to find? Do you still want to live forever?” She watched the ancient trying to slip behind some columns and make his way to the exit. “Un, un, old man. You’re coming with me.”

“Away,” he wailed, flailing his thin arm. “Away with you, now.”

Sharell tilted her head and studied the ancient. “Jerome, I believe your wizard is insane,” she chuckled. “Well, enough of our little reunion.”

She walked towards the ancient and Jerome panicked. He ran in front of him and held his arm out. “You can’t take him. He’s building me a kingdom.”

Sharell stared into his wild eyes. “Shit, you’re as crazy as he is.” She spread her arms. “With what, Jerome? He thought this planet would have the same riches you expected to find. Your information was not quite current concerning the resources on this dump.”

Jerome clutched a thin column and his eyes widened to smiling panic. “No. No, he built this palace and he has run the Casiquas off.”

“Along with your crew. Shit, look at this place. The crystal might have been clear when he raped the rest of the planet for power, but it’s dull and dying, Jerome. It can’t even support what little life there is left here.”

“Get away,” Jerome hissed. Spittle dripped down his chin and he pointed a shaking finger at her. “Go back to your own world and leave mine alone.”

“No can do, Jerome.” Sharell was surprised to feel an invisible long finger stroke her cheek and she smiled. “I have friends here.”

“Many friends, pretty, pretty,” Ayana whispered. “The colors are coming back for us.”

Sharell took a step forward, and a man swung around the pillar in front of her with his fist raised. Sharell hit the trigger to the stun gun, and Manny dropped to the ground. Sensing another presence close by, Sharell called out, “Dr. Terar, I suggest you stay out of this. If you look outside, you’ll see the plants are coming back.”

“The soil is dead,” a familiar voice echoed. “It was barely useful before, but since the wizard came, it is toxic.”

“Not any more.” Sharell stepped over Manny. She heard his body slide across the floor behind her as the Casiquas dragged him away.

Jerome straightened and tried to present his fomer controlled composure. His ragged clothes and unkempt appearance was at odds with his countenance. “You will leave my kingdom immediately. You have no authority here.”

Sharell shook her head and turned to the woman in fade by her side. “Ayana, don’t let them kill him. It would be far worse punishment to keep him alive.” Sharell stepped closer, and as Jerome swung to slap her, a long lean leg swept up and she kicked him in the balls. He sank to his knees, cupping his damaged parts, and Sharell grabbed the ancient by his collar.

He shrieked the whole way back to the stream, while grass fields spread and trees bloomed to life. The sound of the slip-stream paralyzed him, and Sharell struggled to drag him up the ledge. With two hands gripped into his robe, she pushed him into the stream and the current rushed them away.
Shit, I forgot to take an oxy pill.

They splashed into the pool, and Isari and Tali quickly grabbed the ancient. “Cripes, took ya’ long enough,” Tempest called out.

“Well, it wasn’t any party over there.” Chaya and Tian grabbed her arms and crushed her in an embrace. She looked over at Miranda. “How did you know I was on Rishalla Three?”

Miranda’s eyes twinkled. “Is it healing?”

“Almost too quickly. I barely had time to catch him.”

Miranda smiled. “Tian told us where you were. Of course, with the time warps, there was no way to send a ship to you. It would arrive long after you left.”