Rebel (19 page)

Then again, Hunard could’ve been bluffing. With the girls in cages, keeping them in line required very little manpower, and their care and feeding was probably automated. Obviously no one cared what the customers did to the girls. The two Herps could handle any fights that might arise between the men.

The
men…
Hunard might not be the only one who liked to fuck other males. “Got another room where you keep the slave
boys
?”

“Not yet, but we’re working on it. You may have the honor of being the first.”

“Guess you’d better not kill me then, huh?”

The Herp barked out a nasty laugh. “I might keep you for my own personal use.”

Onca had been debating whether to kill Hunard or not. What he and the others had done to the girls was certainly enough to warrant it, but it was bad karma to kill—aside from the fact that he would prefer not to bring the law down on himself any more than necessary. This revelation, however, made him feel a bit murderous. Still, it wouldn’t do to appear to be too accommodating…

He glanced at the remnants of his clothing piled up against the opposite wall. The belt might be useful as a weapon and so might the sharp edges of a broken comlink. Taking a deep breath, he made a run for them.

Hunard grabbed him by the hair as he flew past. Yanking him off his feet, he snaked his sinewy arm around Onca’s waist, pinning his arms to his sides. His breath was hot on Onca’s neck, and the stench would’ve disgusted a Drell.

“But that’s only if I don’t fuck you to death right now.”

Kim hammered at the door with her fists. It was so solid she doubted anyone on the other side could even hear her.

Was there a password for this door as well? She tried every word she could think of starting with “fuck” and ending with “done.” Nothing worked. There had to be a way to open it in case of emergency—unless it was all controlled from a central location. She’d taken out the Herp and the Cylopean. She hadn’t seen anyone else. What if those were the only two working here?

Impossible.
All those girls?
No
way.

She ran back down the corridor to where the stunned Herp lay sprawled in the floor. Keys were rather old-fashioned, thumbprints and palm locks being the more common means of security. And that door didn’t appear to have a visible lock…

The Herp didn’t have anything on him but a pulse pistol, which she confiscated, and a small medallion on a chain around his neck.

Surely it wouldn’t be that easy. It couldn’t be.

Then again, these were fuckin’ Herps. How smart could they be?

Yanking the chain from the Herp’s neck, she leaped to her feet. A moment later, she heard voices. Familiar ones.

“Thank the gods!”

Rashe came charging down the hallway, brandishing his tomahawk. “Wish we’d known the password was ‘fuck’ to begin with. Would’ve saved us a lot of trouble. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but he’s not.” Kim held up the medallion. “I think this may be the key. It was all he had on him.”

“Don’t suppose you checked inside his undies, did you?”

Kim shuddered. “I’ll leave that to you. I’m going to test my theory.” She took off running. The girls were screaming as she passed by the room where they were caged. Skidding to a halt, she ran over to Cassie and held up the medallion. “Is this the key?”

Cassie nodded. “That’s what they use to open everything. Not sure how it works, though. They always press them and sort of mumble something. I’ve never been able to catch what it is they say.”

“Another freakin’ password.” This time, Kim was certain it wouldn’t be as easy as saying the
F
word. The security on the main door was one thing—regular customers probably knew what to say and passed through without question—but letting girls in and out of their cages was another. Stepping back from Cassie’s cage, she shouted to the room at large. “Do any of you know the passwords?”

Several of the girls volunteered suggestions, but none worked when Kim tried them, despite pressing the stone center of the medallion until her fingers ached.

Rashe appeared at her side. “We broke into the control room and took out another Cylopean, two Racks, and a Terran. Val’s hacking into the system now. Turns out that Herp you stunned wasn’t the only one they’ve got.”

“Herp?” Cassie exclaimed. “Holy shit! That guy, Onca, is trapped in a room with him.”

“Why the hell didn’t you say so before?” Kim shot back. “Here we are, wasting time when Onca’s probably getting the shit kicked out of him.”

Rashe chuckled. “Dunno about that. Zetithians can be pretty tough when you corner them.” Grinning, he tapped his teeth. “Fangs. Remember?”

Kim found this only mildly reassuring. Using his fangs would require Onca to actually
bite
that Herp—the mere thought of which made her gag.

“Oh, and by the way, thanks for taking out that Cylopean on your way in. Made it a lot easier—that and the fact that Roncas has a real nasty mouth on her these days. You should’ve heard her screeching at the Cylopean dude in the control room.” He paused, shuddering. “Scary little woman.”

“You broke into the control room? How?”

He shrugged. “The door was open.”

“Are you sure the doors to the, um,
other
rooms aren’t controlled from there?”

“They probably are—in some way or other—but we haven’t figured it out yet. Val’s good, but the control panels are labeled in Cylopean. He can’t read them.”

“I take it the Cylopean in the control room wasn’t being very cooperative?”

“Stunned, actually.” Rashe grimaced. “We should be able to squeeze some information out of him when he comes around.”

“And in the meantime, Onca is stuck in a room with a Herp—and we have no idea how to get him out.”

“A
homosexual
Herp,” Cassie put in. “A real mean one too.”

“Okay, that’s it,” Kim growled. “Where’s Draddut?”

“He and Shemlak are holding off the cops and everyone else at the main entrance,” Rashe replied. “Not sure we want them to leave their posts.”

Kim scowled. “Maybe we need more than a password and the medallions. Maybe we need the Herp, too—or at least his fingerprints.” She glanced at Rashe. “Think you could drag him in here?”

“No problem. Be easier to just bring his hand, though.”

Kim arched a brow. “Bloodthirsty, aren’t you?”

“A bit,” Rashe admitted. “Seeing all these girls in cages kinda brings out the savage in me. Val didn’t even want to come in here. Said it would mess with his concentration too much.” His gaze swept the perimeter where the girls now sat quietly in their cages. “It’s kinda fucking me up too.”

Kim felt the same way, but she couldn’t allow her empathy to impair her determination to find Onca. Right now, the girls were safe.
He
was the one in danger. “Grab that Herp and let’s get going.”

Rashe stroked the edge of his tomahawk with a loving caress. “Sure you don’t just want his hand?”

“No. I want the whole Herp. If he wakes up, you can threaten to chop off his balls to get him to cooperate.”

Rashe nodded. “That’d do it.”

Racing back to the fallen Herp, Rashe grabbed a foot while Kim took the other.

“Damn, this dude’s heavy,” Rashe complained.

“We are
not
chopping off his hand.” Then again, if that other Herp had actually raped Onca, she might be tempted to use Rashe’s tomahawk to do a bit of castrating herself.

They finally made it to the third door on the left. Assuming that the thumb and forefinger were the required digits, Kim pressed the unconscious Herp’s fingers to the center stone of the medallion. Before she’d had the chance to try any passwords, the door slid open.

The first thing she saw was blood.

Everywhere.

***

Onca didn’t have to open his eyes to know Kim was there with him. Her sweet fragrance overpowered the stink of Herpatronian sweat and the metallic tang of his own blood. Her touch on his face flooded him with warmth.

She loved him. Her emotions flavored her scent, and he breathed it in, reveling in the joy of it. That love was wrong, and he knew it—but just this once, he let himself bask in the glow of her affection and her caring touch. The hint of sadness in her scent forced his lids to rise and his eyes to focus on her beautiful face—to behold the sorrow and relief in her gaze, the gentle curve of her cheek, and the fullness of her softly parted lips.

“Oh, Onca…” she whispered as she knelt beside him. “I’m so sorry. This was all my fault. I should never have let anything happen to you.”

He gave her a weak smile. “Jack will be so pissed.”

“No, she won’t. You’re alive and appear to be all in one piece.”

“Almost wasn’t,” he admitted. “Damned Herp was determined to fuck me to death.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “He didn’t—”

An attempt to shake his head failed. “Wasn’t for lack of trying. Never saw such a horny bastard in my life.”

She paused. “You’re both…naked.”

“Yeah, well, Herps prefer their men undressed. Didn’t you know?” He nodded at the pile of useless clothing. “Looks like I’ll have to walk out of here that way too.” He blinked as his vision clouded again. “That is, if I
can
walk out of here. Not sure about that.”

“But how—?”

His chuckle was undoubtedly as pathetic as his smile had been. “Sonofabitch couldn’t handle the
snard
.”

“You—you
didn’t
.” A groan from the Herpatronian heap by the bed drew her attention. “I can’t believe
snard
had anything to do with his condition. You couldn’t respond to his scent.” She wrinkled her nose. “Could you?”

“No, but he sure seemed to like mine. His dick was like a steel pipe. Had the devil of a time putting a bend in it.”

“You
bent
his dick?”

“Twisted his balls too. I thought about ripping his throat out, but this seemed more appropriate. Don’t think any of his junk will ever work the way it’s supposed to again.” Wincing, he raised a hand to his ear. “My hearing may never be the same, either. Never heard anyone scream like that.” He ran a knuckle over his jawbone and winced again. “A Herp can pack quite a punch when he’s trying to get you to let go of the goods.” Reaching up, he touched her cheek. Still lovely. Still the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. “Good thing he passed out before I did.”

“You look like you’re about to do that now, dude,” Rashe said.

Roncas stuck her head in the door. “Val figured out the release sequence based on something you all did. Any idea what it was?”

“Herp fingerprints on a medallion,” Kim replied. “I don’t think there was a password, other than for the Herp to identify himself to the controller.”

“Must be a sensor above each door,” Rashe said. “Not sure how they would distinguish among the cages, though.”

“Probably a number,” Onca suggested. “At least, that’s what it sounded like when he got Cassie out for me—although it might’ve been spoken in a different language.”

“Makes sense,” Rashe agreed.

“Think we can find him some clothes?”

Onca was momentarily puzzled until he realized Kim had been referring to him. “Wouldn’t be the first time I walked through this district barefoot and naked. I’m more concerned about the girls. With all the sex pheromones floating around out there, if we let all of those ladies loose at once, there’s liable to be a mass gang rape in the streets.”

“Crikey, I hadn’t thought of that,” Rashe said. He glanced at Roncas. “How far would you say we were from the Palace?”

“Too far,” Roncas replied. “Aside from the fact that this place is, well…under siege.”

“You’re shittin’ me, right?” Rashe said.

Roncas shook her head. “I wish I was. There’s a mob out front—including the police—and according to the external sensors, Val says they’ve also got the rear exit covered.”

“Hmm,” said Kim. “Considering the type of business this is, seems like these guys would’ve built in some sort of escape route.”

“Do you
really
think they’re that smart?” Roncas snapped.

Kim flapped a hand toward the unconscious Herp. “You mean this bunch or the ones behind it all? I’d say someone somewhere had some brains. The equipment here doesn’t strike me as being cheap—or easy to install.”

Onca smiled at her. “You obviously have brains. Not so sure about mine anymore. Think they’re sort of…scrambled.” The room seemed to be getting darker.

Or was it his eyes?

***

Rashe sighed. “He’ll be out for a couple of days.”

“Might give us enough time to figure out what to do next.” Kim knew from her own experience that Onca would wake up feeling perfectly well, but having him out cold for however long it took for his body to heal itself was inconvenient, to say the least. She glanced up as a ponderous tread sounded from the hallway.

Shemlak stopped at the door. “Damn, these rooms are small. Obviously they don’t cater to Darconians.”

“Not many brothels do,” Rashe said. “I think the Palace was the only one with enough space.”

Shemlak nodded. “Onca let me take my wife in there once. Awesome place to fuck—whether you’re a Darconian or not.”

Kim thought it best to let that pass. “Hey, how come you’re not guarding the door anymore?”

“Val changed the password on the force field. It’s kinda funny seeing all those guys out there bouncing off the field yelling ‘fuck’ at the top of their lungs.” Shemlak let out a low, rumbling chortle. “Almost hated to leave, it was so entertaining.”

“What’s the new password?”

“‘Wings.’”

Rashe rolled his eyes. “Should’ve guessed that.”

“Yeah. But those idiots will never think of it.” Shemlak nodded at Onca. “Want me to put him to bed?”

“Yes, but get that Herp out of here first,” Kim said. “He’s polluting the air.”

Shemlak took Onca’s attacker by the foot and dragged him to the door. “How about I find some empty cages to put these guys in?”

“Perfect.” Kim couldn’t imagine a better punishment than to have each of the perpetrators wake up in a cage. “Put them all in cages. Naked.”

“Great idea—” Shemlak began, then shook his head. “Not sure I want to see a naked Cylopean. Herps are bad enough.”

Rashe grimaced. “I fucked a female Cylopean once—or tried to. Had to give her money back.”

Kim didn’t have to ask why. “What about the one I stunned?”

“Still right where you left him,” Shemlak reported. “He’s inside the field, though. Guess we’d better lock him up before he wakes up and tries to fuck with the computer.”

“Not likely—at least, not anytime soon,” Roncas said. “I stunned him again before I came down here to make sure he’d stay put.”

“You’re one helluva henchman, Roncas,” Rashe said. “Ever done this kind of thing before?”

“I used to work for a chocolatier. Damn stuff is almost as addictive as
snard
, and much easier to steal.”

“Ah. That explains it.”

Only Shemlak’s upper body fit through the narrow door. Fortunately, he had relatively long arms. Scooping Onca up from the floor, the Darconian laid him gently on the bed. Kim pulled the covers up over him and tucked them in. She smoothed his blood-matted hair back from his bruised face. He had been so brave to venture in here alone. True, he had found her friends, but look what that sacrifice had cost him—beaten to a pulp and nearly raped by a Herp.

Shemlak was right. Onca
did
love her.

Now all Kim had to do was keep him alive long enough to get him to admit it.