Resurrection (The Inherited War) (16 page)

~

Split remained motionless waiting.  Waiting for a signal to act.  Cole had stopped thrashing around and had gone completely still.  Tension was building in the small room and something had to give.  Split remained focused on his task.  If Cole was close to death they would act and kill the Esii.   Cole and the Esii appeared locked in some sort of mental battle that was imperceptible to Split.  Still, they waited.

“Try the girl.  Cole is safe for now and you won’t be far away.  Try and rouse her, the chances she would believe an invisible person was talking to her are remote.  In her state she will believe it was her subconscious forcing her to act.”  Split thought over the suggestion for a moment before acting.  Slowly he lowered his dagger and moved quietly across the floor, knelt and held his mouth close to her ear.

“Little one.  He needs your help,” Split whispered in her ear.  “Get up and attack the ugly man.  If you do, you can save Cole.”  He waited for a few moments to see her reaction.  Nothing.  “Please, fight your fear.  Whatever they did to you is nothing compared to what they are doing to him.  He cannot survive much longer.”  Split put a little more volume into his voice.  “Get up and help.  Now.”

She twitched and her eyes rotated wildly around in her head.  She was looking for whoever was talking.  Then she blinked a couple of times and moved her head.  Good, Split thought to themselves.  “Get up and attack it.  Clamp your hands on its throat and squeeze the life out of it.  Do.  It.  Now.”  They said the last words as loud as they dared.  It worked, for a brief moment.  Anastacia began to push herself off the floor.  As she did she began cursing in Russian.  She said every dirty word or phrase she could think of to focus her mind.  She got to her feet and took one step before she collapsed.

Split quickly got down and pried open one of her eyelids.  “Shit.”  “Shit.” They both said it as one.

“She has been taken by the Esii as well.  They both will share the same fate.”  Split got back up and took his position behind the Esii.  Again he drew his dagger and held it just behind the Esii’s neck.  Now he watched all three as they silently fought for victory.

~

She was still being held to the floor by her terror over the being who was obviously torturing Cole.  She knew he was in pain and fighting for his life but the terror she felt was too great to overcome so she
watched and waited.  She knew she would be next once the monster was done with Cole.  She shivered as she felt, what she thought was breath flare against her left ear.  Then she heard the voice.  “Little one,” it said.  She cringed at the new horror that was visiting itself on her.  Wait if this was more of the monsters tricks, why was it telling her to get up and attack the Faceless.  The disembodied voice urged her to rise up and throttle the Faceless.  She looked around the room as fast as she could but saw nothing.  She began to hyperventilate as the voice implored her to act.  Finally it said with a voice used to being obeyed.  “Do.  It.  Now.” 

It had to be her inner voice telling her to do what she knew was right.  She shivered as she slowly forced muscles locked in terror to relax and respond to her commands.  She averted her eyes from the Faceless and focused on getting on her feet.  It was a struggle but she managed to get on her feet.  She smiled as she took the first step and as she began to reach out her arms to the Faceless she fell.  She fell down a bottomless pit.  She fell and fell until she crashed to the ground, in the very cell she had fallen through.  She landed near Cole and saw him struggling against and invisible weight.  She saw Cole look at her and she tried to tell him to stay strong and not give in.  But here the Esii held complete power.  The Esii’s voice thundered in Cole’s mind and Anastacia heard every word thought she didn’t understand the language.

Once again she tried to get to her feet but was stopped cold when the Faceless turned his sightless face toward her.  He entered her mind in less than a second and made her scream.  Scream like she had never screamed before.  Her last sight before she blacked out was of Cole.  He was looking at her and above and behind him was the face of an alien beauty, she was looking down at Cole and smiling.

~

Split was held motionless by the strange tableau.  The Esii had remained on its feet but had partially slumped forward.  Cole’s body had relaxed and the tension had eased out of his muscles while the girl had curled up into the fetal position on the floor at Cole’s feet.  Split looked at each of the three before he finally realized what was happening.   He shifted his attention to Cole’s neck and watched for a pulse.  They saw none.  They dashed around the Esii and placed their hand on Cole’s neck.  It was almost ten seconds before they felt the thump of his heart.

“He is killing himself and taking the Esii with him.”  Split sounded shocked.

“Can he do that?”  He asked himself.

“He is capable of many great things, I believe he can do this.”

“The time has come, we must act to save him.”  Split agreed with his bond mate.  He stood and moved behind the Esii.  They let their stealth fall away as they rammed the dagger’s blade deep into the neck of the Esii.  Once all the way in, they pivoted the blade around 180 degrees before removing it.  As the blade left, the Esii’s head rolled forward and banged onto the floor.  The body remained standing and Split had to shove it away.  He vaulted over the body of the Esii now slowly dribbling the black fluid they called blood.

Split grabbed Cole by his shoulders and lay him flat on his back.  “I hope this works brother.”  Split told himself and he agreed.  They started to slam their fists into Cole’s chest in an attempt to keep his heart from stopping.

CHAPTER 13

The vehicle slowed and came to a stop.  The three passengers filed out one at a time, and Thalo leaned into the passenger side of the vehicle to pay the driver.  He smiled at the being and paid him twice the actual fair.  Thalo turned around and stood to the opposite side of Snow from Sky. 

“Ready?”  Sky nodded her head yes.  “Alright let’s do this.”  And all three of them stepped forward in tandem.   Their destination was obvious.  The door flanked by the pair of Thrashodons.  As they approached the well-guarded door, the two lizards moved from an easy stance of leaning on the wall to wary caution.  Their hands dropped to their side arms and they watch the three approach.  Thalo stopped the small group well out of arms reach.

“We’re here to see Vinco, he’s expecting us.”  Thalo stated matter-of-factly to the two guards.  He stared at the two when they didn’t respond.  “You gonna move?  Or do you tell your boss that he missed out on the deal of a life time?”  The Thrashodon on the left cocked his head to the side slightly, like he was listening to something.

“You are permitted.”  His voice was a throaty growl.  “Leave your weapons with the front desk.”  The right one reached out and triggered the door release.  The door shot up with alarming speed.  Thalo got a good look at it for a second before it disappeared into the frame. It appeared to be almost a foot thick and solid metal.  Vinco didn’t skimp on his security it seemed.  Thalo lead the way with Snow in the middle and Sky bringing up the rear.  They entered the building and found themselves in a long narrow hallway.  The hall was a sterile white with a black floor.  There were no doors down the sides but the hall ended in what appeared to be an open elevator.

Thalo strode down the hall with confidence, forcing the other two to keep up and not hesitate.  They were playing the parts of criminals going to meet a criminal, they couldn’t afford any slipups.  They needed to exude the arrogant confidence of small time crooks with a big time score.  Thalo got to the elevator first and turned to let Snow, then Sky, on.  He stepped in backwards and kept the door to his front.

They stopped in the elevator and waited.  One minute passed then two.  Thalo and Sky stood stock still while Snow slowly shuffled her feet in nervous anticipation.  All three playing their parts perfectly. The doors finally closed.  The anti-grav setting on the elevator was tuned perfectly, they never even felt the machine move.  They had no idea if they went up or down and for how long.

Thalo hoped it was up, otherwise his backup plan was in serious jeopardy.  He gave a mental shrug and pushed the thought to the back of his mind.  There was a loud “DING” and the doors smoothly opened.

Thalo hadn’t known what to expect when arriving to the den of one of the wealthiest criminal bosses on the Pitt.  That wasn’t exactly true, he had expected a dark smoke filled room full of shady criminal types.  Maybe guns and drugs scattered over the tables with slave girls chained to poles and dancing for the bosses’ men.

What he got could be found in any successful business in the galaxy.  The elevator opened to a lavishly appointed waiting room.  There was thick, expensive wall to wall carpeting in a stunning shade of red.  Expensive artwork hung on the walls and trendy chairs and couches surrounded hardwood tables.  Everywhere you looked you saw wealth on display.  Thalo nearly stumbled as he exited the elevator, he was taken aback by what he found here.

He quickly caught himself and stepped into the waiting room.  On the opposite side of the room from the elevator, was a secretary’s desk, made from one solid piece of jade.  Behind the desk sat Vinco’s secretary and behind her was a large double door that undoubtedly led to Vinco’s private abode.  Thalo led the way to the desk.

“We have an appointment.”  Thalo stopped a respectful distance from the desk and waited for a reply.

The woman behind the desk was clearly an Archon and clearly unimpressed with the three beings in front of her.  She held up one finger in a “wait” gesture.  Thalo settled in to wait again.  If he had learned anything in his life it was one thing.  The more important someone was or thought he was, the longer they made you wait to see them.  Criminal bosses played by the same rule book as business leaders and politicians.

The secretary hit a button on her desk and a drawer slid out on Thalo’s side.  “Place your weapons in the drawer.”  She never even looked away from her computer screen.  Thalo looked over to Sky and nodded his head.  They placed the various weapons on their persons in the drawer and waited for it to shut.  The secretary finally looked up at them as if to inspect them for any weapons they may be trying to hide.  Seeing none she pressed another button which swung the massive doors behind her open.  “Go on in.”  She waved her hand, beckoning them to pass.

Thalo grabbed one of Snow’s robe covered arms and Sky grabbed the other.  They guided her around the desk and through the doors.  If the waiting room had been opulent, Vinco’s office was wealth personified.  The objects in this room could buy a small moon or planet.  Thalo recognized some one of a kind pieces of art work on the walls.  He was ready for the extravagance this time though and kept a firm hold on Snow and marched forward to the giant desk in front of the large windows that looked over all of Pitt.

The thin Archon sitting behind the desk rose and moved around to the front.  He extended his hand towards Thalo as he approached.

“Ahh, welcome, welcome.  You must be the three Jax spoke so excitedly about.  I am your humble servant, Vinco.  Please make yourselves comfortable.”  He waved his hands at two very comfortable looking chairs.  Thalo and Sky stayed where they were.  “No?  Far be it from me to define anyone else’s comfort.  Now let me look at my new associates.”  He looked at Thalo, “You I know.  Thalo, one half of the Worlder team Thalo and Jeth.  Formerly residents of Pitt but even more recently warriors in the returned human’s army.  Correct?”

Thalo nodded his head yes.  “Now the very, umm-how should I put it, underdressed one would be a Quinn.  A Quinn like I have never seen before.”  He looked Sky over from top to bottom.  “And as for the last one,” he turned his attention to Snow who was still swathed in the overly large robe, “my scanners say you are a Nixa but not why you are such a special Nixa that you would be brought to me.”

With exaggerated effort Vinco tore his gaze from Sky and locked it on Thalo.  “Now I suppose that Jeth is waiting somewhere to extract you if our deal should go sour?”

“No.  He is off world at the moment.  His responsibilities have kept him busy lately.”

“Ahh, now please explain why a fine upstanding citizen such as yourself is in my office wanting to sell me a Nixa?  You can understand why I would be skeptical of your less than honorable intentions.”

Thalo nodded his head and spoke, “Completely understandable.  In fact I wouldn’t want to do business with someone who didn’t know my past.  It is simple really.  How much have you heard of the war between the human fleet and the Esii?”

Vinco made the pretense of scratching at his chin and thinking.  Thalo knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a being in his position he knew exactly what was going on in the galaxy.  Probably as it was happening.  Vinco backed up and sat on the edge of his desk before he began.

“I know that your forces trounced the Esii and destroyed more than half of their available fighters and managed to do the impossible and destroy their Sun Eater.  After that I know you have had some problems with certain officials in the Nixa government and have had to shift operations to your home worlds.  Also it seems you have lost your only human.”  He looked at Thalo and Sky.  “Did I miss anything?”