The Chalice (16 page)

excited anxiety laced the unflappable tech’s voice.

“On my way.” He stood up, gritting his teeth in exasperation. His first real encounter with the Chalices lasted a too short span of time, his hopes for a meaningful connection dashed by the terse comm unication.

Mordaq and Shagal hurried to join him, their looks of concern adding im petusto his dark suspicions. Vaux would not have interrupted unless there was greatneed. Their close proxim ity to the Deg’Nara outpost only served to am plify theim port of the tech’s brusque m essage. He searched the room , sending a silentmessage to the assem bled Warriors. Long years of unwavering devotion duringthe dark times of misfortune and despair drew them  to their feet, wary and alert. Grouped together, hands resting on the hilts of their Tars, they awaited hisorders. A mom ent spent in great pride for these stalwart souls’ staunch loyaltyand he was ready.

The fem ale, Kara, appeared puzzled, worried. But how to com m unicate?

Perhaps a light touch to her hand and a sm ile?

“Do not be afraid,” he m urmured, instilling reassurance into his voice, hoping

to ease her disquiet. “We will return.”

Her lashes fluttered, fingers tapping the table. She sensed his unease, knewsomething was am iss. The room  buzzed with the females’ quiet discourse. Theytoo felt the friction em anating from  the agitated breeders.

The exit panel slid open and he rushed out, headed towards the upper reaches

of the ship.

Chapter Nine

The room  felt em pty after the breeders left the com m unal cham ber. Silly, Karathought. The room ’s still full of women. But she’d felt so sheltered— protected bythe big guy…er…Tegan’s presence. Something about him  made her feel warm . Special.

“Wonder what’s happening.” Dread peeked from  women’s quarters. “They sure

hustled out of here in a hurry.”

“I get the feeling we’re having som e issues.”

“Issues with what?” Anne plunked down in the seat vacated by Tegan. “This

not knowing is irritating to say the least.”

A loud wailing noise shattered the air, followed by a string of unintelligible

chatter over the com  system .

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m  not feeling particularly relaxed.” Kara rose to her feet and leaned forward, bracing her hands on the table. “Something’s wrong.”

“Isn’t good, whatever it is.” Dread paced the floor, dark braids bouncing. “That’s some serious squawking. Wish we could understand what the frickin’ blabber is all about.”

“Maybe ve don’t vant to know.” Hanna covered her ears, wincing at the

irritating screech of sound. “Vat is it you say—bliss is ignorant.”

“I think that’s ignorance is bliss. In some situations, I’d have to agree. But

right now, I’d give Dread’s right boob to know what’s going on.”

“Give your own dam n boob,” Dread huffed, slouching onto a bench. “Damn

noise is driving me crazy.”

Just like that, the room  grew silent. All eyes focused on Kara.

“Don’t look at me,” she snapped. “Not like I know anything m ore’n you do.”

Irritated, she strode to the exit. “Maybe we should go out there and take alook.” She ran her hands across the panel, fingertips tracing the coolness of the

marbled texture. Felt almost satin. W hirling around, she addressed the throng of

anxious women. “Should be a window or viewing port someplace.”

“Maybe aliens are taking over the ship,” a voice interjected.

“Oh…good job,” she groaned, disgusted. Her mind conjured up a string of hideous creatures—all ready to rip their heads off. “Let’s be sure and add more crap into the picture.”

“I say we stay here and wait.” Anne stood up, raising her voice. “If we go out there, we’ll just be in the way and if there’s a situation developing, we’d best stay put.”

“W hat aboot the ship’s com puters?” Moira headed into the women’s quarters.

“We might be able tae access the warning system .”

“Good call.”

Moira seated herself and began fiddling with the controls. The screen flashedwith unfam iliar symbols, blinking colored lights and soft clicks as she wovethrough the data. None of it made sense, but judging from  Irish’s expression, sheseemed to have some understanding of its workings.

“Find anything,” she breathed, leaning over the girl’s shoulder for a better

view.

“Noo,” she said. “Still locked out.” She sat up, mouth gaping in surprise.

“W hat’s this?”

“Hello…Hello,” a fem ale voice said. “Can you hear me?”

Irish made som e adjustments and a face materialized. “Can you hear me?” thefemale voice asked again. Grouped behind her, several m ore wom en peered atthe screen.

“We can,” Kara squeaked. “Where are you?”

“Oh my God,” the amazed wom an gasped. “Where are you?”

From  what she could gather from  the screen images, this new group of wom enwere in m uch the same surroundings—wearing much the same clothing. Morehuman faces of every ethnic type and skin tone.

She touched the monitor, drawing comfort from  the knowledge that there were

others. “We think we’re on an alien ship. In God knows what part of the galaxy.”

The woman nodded, frowning. “That’s what we came up with too. Som e weirdguys showed up but we barricaded the entrance so they couldn’t get back in. Bigcreepy guys with white hair and silver eyes.” Her look changed to one of fear. Herhead turned as she glanced over her shoulder. “Something’s happening. Alarm sare going off. That sort of thing.”

“Same here,” Kara said. “We were trying to access the com puter system  when

you appeared. Where are you?” she asked again. “Are you on the same ship?”

“I don’t know,” the wom an said, shaking her head. “I don’t think so.”

Anne leaned in. “Kormak specifically said there were two ships that made it

back to the home planet. I’d hazard a guess you’re on the other one.”

“How many over there,” Kara asked.

“We’ve counted four hundred and seventy-five.” Her voice changed, growing sad. “There were som e dead girls in the cages. Looked really old and m umm ified.” She visibly shuddered at the remembrance.

“Same here.” She added up the numbers. “That’s alm ost a thousand women all

totaled. Pretty much what Korm ak said, give or take a few.”

“W hy are we here?” The woman asked. “All we know is we woke up and there were these…these abbreviated swim m ing suits,” she snapped a shoulder strap, “and some strange food.”

Anne laughed. “Didn’t you get the you will be punished line from  Kormak?”

“I didn’t hear anything.” Voices behind her murmured agreem ent. “All we know

is we’ve been kidnapped.”

****

Tegan studied the screen, concentrating on the tiny bleep launched from  the Deg’Nara outpost. Only one small ship and a Stinger by the looks of it. But whyonly one? Didn’t make sense. A single Stinger stood little chance against theformidable artillery of a Seeker ship even without the added modifications. The Deg’Nara m ight be overconfident and reckless, but attacking a battle-ready shipthe size of this one was foolhardy—even for the Deg’Nara. And if Vaux’s theorywas correct, they’d have no idea a second Seeker was in the vicinity.

“You’re sure there’s only the one?” he asked.

Vaux nodded. “Com ing straight at us on a collision course. I’ve been keepingtabs on it since it left the outpost. If there had been m ore, the ship’s sensorswould have tracked the plasma trails.”

In the before times, Stingers converged in deadly swarms, striking fast andham m ering their unfortunate victims until nothing rem ained, oblivious to anypleas for mercy. Manned by skeleton crews, heavy on weaponry and short onrange, the Stingers’ attack strategies bordered on suicidal with little allowancegiven for the return trip. But they never traveled alone.

He studied the bleep, noting the craft’s trajectory. Still too far off for hailing,

but close enough to feel the wraithlike fingers of unease crawling up his spine.

His teeth gnashed together, grinding in fury. Even with the added security, the

outpost’s sensors must have pierced their cover.

Welling rage bloomed in his chest. The Deg’Nara’s very existence was akin to acancerous growth eating at his innards. Horrific visions of persecution and deathassaulted his overloaded psyche. Screams and the pitiful prayers of the woundedechoed in the depths of his tortured brain. Wrenching pain hit with full strength,bending him  over in agonized rem orse. Gasping, hands fisted, he pounded theconsole, seeking relief from  the perverse images. I’ll kill every last one of you, he

silently vowed, for what you’ve done.

“Lord Tegan.” Mordaq’s worried voice stilled the rippling waves of grief. “Are

you ill?”

Sidelong glances skim med his flesh, questioning and concerned, but the crew

were too well-trained to invade what they perceived as his privacy.

He coughed, sucking in great gulps of air. Sweat beaded his brow, tricklingsalty rivulets into his eyes and wetting his cheeks. Hum iliated by the outwarddisplay of emotion, he wiped the moisture from  his forehead, struggling for

composure.

“ I’m  sorry,” he mum bled, shamed. “But the pain is still too fresh—too intense.

It crushes m e at times.”

“We all weep for what was lost,” Mordaq whispered, his words rife with m isery. “None escaped the suffering and we all carry scars. Never fear we would think less of you for baring your sorrow. If you didn’t grieve, you wouldn’t warrant our loyalty.”

Tegan gazed at his long-time friend. The sadness lining his face was bornefrom  the sam e ravaged dreams. Remem bered pain glazed the narrowed silvereyes, shadowed with soul-blistering torm ent. “We’re pitiful creatures, you and I. Bred to be Warriors, we must now follow the path of the hunted, taking what weneed and then disappearing into the void.”

His heart cried out for vengeance, but revenge was for dreamers and fools. Inthe end, the cost would be too high, both in the loss of precious lives and in thewaste of available resources. The future of the Chiagan-Se was dependent uponthe few remaining breeders and it was his duty to ensure they survived. He owedit to the living and to those who perished so long ago.

“Better hunted than dead,” Mordaq stated m atter-of-factly. “At least we have the hope of a bright future. So much m ore than m ost of our kind. I for one am grateful.”

“As am  I,” Vaux said, brows arched over glittering ice blue eyes. “If I’m  alive, I can still kill Deg’Nara.” He grinned, unrepentant. “And a dead Deg’Nara is a friendly Deg’Nara.”

Tegan clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Just keep in mind we’re trying to avoida conflict. We have an unwanted visitor approaching and unless the Deg’Naramellowed in the last two hundred revolutions, it isn’t a diplomatic envoy.” Hewatched the monitor for several psyrevs. “Increase our speed. Maybe we can losethe bastards.”

“And if they attack?”

The blip was narrowing the distance. He felt his face grow hard. “Then destroy

them .”

Chapter Ten

Kara stretched out face down on a lower bunk, resting on her forearm . Disjointed thoughts and images whirled through her troubled m ind, form ing andreform ing in a whirling kaleidoscope of confused im pressions. Her hands fisted inthe satiny fabric of the coverlet, rolling the m aterial into a tight ball. It’d beenhours since the breeders ran out of the comm unal area and this not knowingbullshit was killing her.

In   the   center   of   the   room,   the   wom en   grouped   in   small   clusters,communicating in hushed whispers as they waited for any contact from  the males —an interminable delay for those with nothing to do.

They’d tried exercising but the available space in the wom en’s quarters wasjust too crowded for any real effort. Leah suggested a language session andworked with them  on some new Chiagan-Se words, but their concentration levelwasn’t up to par. They even had a sing-a-long, but that was a disaster since fewof them  knew the same tunes and most were too nervous to sing anyway. In theend, they gave up.

Moira and Leah kept a constant vigil on the com puter, talking intermittentlywith the women on the other ship. Not m uch info from  that direction. They kneweven less about what was happening than this group did. Funny, she thought. From  their conversations, it was apparent the women on the sister ship Freedomhad no intention of ever interacting with the breeders. Like they had a choice.

Ume sat cross-legged on the floor, palms up, mediating. One almond eye

flicked open. “The ship’s increased its speed,” she commented. “I felt it.”

“Vat do you tink it means?” Hanna’s long, shapely legs hung over the bunk,

blocking Kara’s vision with slow, lazy kicks. Mesmerizing repetition.

“That we’re going faster m aybe?” Kara yawned, rolled over and stared at the green slab overhead. This waiting crap was for the birds. “But what would cause them  to speed up?”