The Chalice (37 page)

“Do you want to eat in here or outside?”

“Outside please,” Anne barked over the com motion, her face ashen. “The

smell’s making me sick.”

“I hear that,” Dread agreed. “Sm ells like a dam n skunk got loose in here.”

“Skunk?” Shagal’s brows drew together. “W hat is skunk?”

“It’s a stinky animal on Earth but don’t worry about it. Not like you’ll ever see

one anyway.”

A biting cold wind hit them  with full force as they left the building. On theleeward side, a squalid bevy of diners huddled over their cooling m eals, perchedon broken down benches aligning equally broken down tables. Shagal nudged aweasel-faced individual out of the way, set the food down and signaled the womento sit. Grum bling and m uttering, Weasel Man slunk to another table, glaring as hewolfed down his food. W hen he was finished, he scuttled away, stopping once togawk before vanishing into the crush of bodies. Not good!

Kara stared at the mushy contents of the plates, her stomach rolling andrumbling. She was starving but the cuisine did nothing to tempt her appetite. Hadto be edible though!

Biker Chick stuck a finger in and took a tentative lick. Her face lit up. “It’s

good.”

“Compared to what?” Dread examined the plate a little closer. “Looks like road

kill with barbeque sauce on it.”

Biker Chick scooped a handful, m unching contentedly. “Tastes like chicken and

okra with maybe some wheat germ  thrown in.”

“I hate okra,” Dread com plained, grimacing as she poked at the food. “Tastes

funny.”

Goth Girl sam pled a bite, rolling the tidbit around in her mouth. “I thought all

black people liked okra.”

“That was a rather wide-ranging com m ent,” Anne interjected, wiping her lips.

“I ain’t one of ‘em,” Dread growled, taking a small nibble. “I grew up in Detroit.

Didn’t eat okra unless I had to.”

Kara’s stomach rum bled, loud and com plaining. Okra or not, I’m  going for it.

Im itating Biker, she touched a finger to the concoction and licked. It was good—surprisingly enough. She didn’t recognize okra in the flavor, m ore like greenbeans or peas, or a com bination of both. Whatever! It was good.

“We eat and then we get back to the ship,” Shagal mum bled around a mouthful. “We’ve been gone longer than I’d expected but I want to com mend you. Your tactics in the market were exceptional.”

The praise sat well with all of them . Anne fairly glowed and even Biker Chickseemed pleased. For herself, she was thankful the bartering had gone as quicklyas it had and with few setbacks. They had the energy coils, enough foodstuffs tolast for quite som e time and even a few keepsakes to commemorate their firstventure into alien com m erce. A great story for those grandkids!

“W hat about Mordaq?” Anne gestured at the food. “Shouldn’t we take som e

back to him . He’s been inside that transport for hours.”

“Mordaq knows his duty,” Shagal said, unconcerned. “He would expect no less.”

“Duty or not, he deserves some food.”

“You got to eat,” Goth Girl snipped. “He should too.”

The artisan grinned, eyes sparkling with m irth. He was teasing!

“I purchased the second platter for his consum ption,” he laughed. “I would not deprive him  of sustenance even though he is a Warrior and does not expect such consideration.”

“Spoken like a true friend,” Dread com mented dryly.

Shagal finished the last bite on the platter and stared longingly at the second.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Anne snatched the tray out of his reach. “You said it’s for

Mordaq and that’s where it’s going.”

He wiped a hand across his lips and stood up, gazing at the sky. The feeblelight of the planet’s distant sun was waning. Night was falling on this barrenplanet.

“We need to return to the ship.”

The bleak landscape was growing even darker. The tem perature plum m etedand as it did, the winds picked up, blowing across the desolate flatlands in galeforce. The crowds hastily thinned as the inhabitants scurried to find shelter.

Even protected as they were by the inn’s rock wall, strong gusts buffeted them ,

stinging their hands and faces with razor-sharp granules of ice.

“We stayed too long,” Goth Girl bitched, covering her face against the tempest.

“No duh,” Dread snapped, leaning into the wind, the tails of her long woolen

cape flapping.

A violent blast of air ripped the food tray from  Anne’s arm s, the ceramic dishcrashing against the rock walls and then disappearing into the storm . The Englishgirl staggered, crying out, “I lost it!”

“Least of our problem s,” Dread screeched.

The artisan wrapped a sturdy cloth across his face and strode into the open. “Stay with me,” he shouted over the din. “Hold onto each other and don’t losesight of anyone along the way.”

Biker Girl’s stocky form  led the troupe of females with Goth Girl covering theirrear. Shuffling like a line of POW ’s in an old war movie, they followed Shagal’slead.

Kara cursed under her breath. Warm  sandy beaches and studs in thong bikinis! That’s what she wanted to see right now. Not this freezing wasteland in ass-wipedeep space. The bitter cold seeped through her outerwear, pervading her veryskin. Shivering uncontrollably, her bones and muscles ached from  the frostyinvasion. Teeth chattering, she clutched Dread’s coattails, clinging to the materialand using the girl’s body as a buffer against the biting wind. Behind her, Anneheld onto her belt, burying her face against her back.

Teach me for volunteering! Kara rubbed her face against her m itten. Probably

have snotcicles crusting my nose!

Shagal angled across the now deserted m arket square and headed down a darkalleyway. The wind was less fierce but the passageway was so utterly black, Kara’s heart thrum m ed, pounding in her chest. This is so wrong!

“Just a little farther,” Shagal shouted. “I can see the lights of the transport up

ahead.”

Not too soon for me! She stum bled, tripping on the heel of Dread’s boot. Shereached down, anticipating the fall, but at the last m oment, Anne wrapped her

arms around her waist, catching her before she dropped.

“We’re almost there,” Anne gasped. “Just keep m oving.”

The maelstrom  grew in intensity, howling with turbulent ferocity. Once outsidethe passageway, the full strength of the wind hit them  in a blinding flurry. Theline wavered, snakelike as the women struggled to move forward, one foot at atime. Kara lost her grip on Dread’s coat, sliding sideways as she was caught fullbore by the unrelenting power of the storm . Like nothing I’ve ever seen! Sheknew about hurricanes and tornadoes, but didn’t those happen in warm  climates? Not like this. So terribly cold! I’m  not going to make it!

A huge hand gripped her arm  and she jerked upright, startled. Mordaq’s grim

face materialized.

“Hold on to me,” he rum bled against her ear. “I’ll help you.”

She almost collapsed with relief. Nodding, she clutched his hand, too frozen tospeak. Ahead, Shagal hauled Biker and Dread towards the ship, a female tuckedunder each arm . Mordaq enfolded the remaining three women beneath his longcape, sheltering them  as he drove them  forward. Kara cuddled against his warmtorso, grateful for even this small respite from  the raging blizzard. Hanna’s manwas a giant, powerful and confident and if anyone could save them , he could. Tegan could as well. A lum p grew in her throat. Back on the ship, warm  and safein his bed was the true meaning of ecstasy. This being bold and adventurouswasn’t what it was set out to be. She never pretended to be Superwoman!

The artisan’s long fingered hand pulled her into the transport. She tripped,sprawling face down. Rolling to her side, she literally crawled away from  theentrance. Anne and Goth Girl tumbled in followed by Mordaq. The metal panel slidshut. Warm  air flowed over her in euphoric waves of rapture. I made it!

W him pering moans escaped the Englishwom an. Curled in a ball, she huddled ina m iserable heap, tears glistening in her ice-encrusted lashes. Kara brushed ahand across the woman’s ashen forehead, em pathizing with her wretchedness. Anne was too delicate for this shit!

“We’re okay,” she whispered, soothing. “We m ade it.”

Anne’s throat worked, her lips trem bled.

The fury of the storm  rocked the transport. Debris crashed against the outerhull, clanging and thudding in a continuous cacophony of howling noise. Therelentless battering echoed in the small enclosure. It has to lessen sometime. Butif anything, the tem pest grew in volume. They were lucky to have made it backalive.

Goth Girl threw her hood back, the black-rimmed eyes glinting with shock.

“W hat the fuck was that?” She choked, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

“The wind,” Mordaq answered.

“I know that num b nuts. I meant why’d we get caught out there?”

“ I miscalculated,” Shagal muttered, stripping off his outer clothing. “I thought

we had m ore time.”

“Yeah? W ell, you were wrong,” Biker hissed. “We could’ve died.”

“But we didn’t,” Kara said. “We made it back and we got what we needed.”

Anne rose to a sitting position. “I lost the food,” she mum bled tearfully. “I

should have held on tighter.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Dread reached in her pocket. “I got this in the marketplace and was saving itfor later.” She opened the small package and handed it to Mordaq. “Smells good

whatever it is.”

He took the offering, eyes lighting with interest. He sniffed. “Kushon,” he said,

taking a bite. “Very tasty.”

He tried to hand it back.

“No. You keep it.” Dread grinned like a naughty child. “We ate already.”

He inhaled the food in two mouthfuls, nodding his thanks. W hen he finished,he moved to the pilot’s cubicle and sat down, fiddling with the various knobs andgadgets.

“The storm ’s too fierce to chance a lift-off.” He flipped his head, the long white braids flying. “But Lord Tegan needs to be contacted and advised of our situation. I’ve tried hailing the ship, but they’re not answering.” He scratched his chin, lost in thought. “I can’t understand why— unless they’ve moved out of range.”

Shagal’s already round eyes grew even rounder. “They wouldn’t leave us,

would they?”

“Not unless they had to,” was his terse reply.

****

Alarms resounded through the ship, piercing surges of shattering intensity. Breeders and techs burst into action, speeding to their posts, shouting com m andsand bellowing responses. The silent running was breached.

Tegan raced towards the lift, gnashing his teeth until the door slid open.

“Deck One,” he snapped, chafing at the delay. The m inute the apparatus stopped, he flung himself out and sprinted towards the command center. Branos whirled as he approached, stark worry im printed on his youthful features.

“The Freedom’s under attack. A Deg’Nara battle cruiser by the configurations.”

“How bad?”

“They’ve lost m aneuverability and suffered some pretty heavy hull damage.”

He wiped a trem bling hand across his brow. “They’re dead in space.”

“Can we reach them  in time?”

Branos nodded. “We m ight if we leave now—and I mean now. This old ship isn’t

as fast as it used to be.”

“So be it.”

“ But what about the landing party?”

“Contact them  im m ediately and apprise them  of our situation. Tell them  to stay

put until we return.” He drew a deep breath. Have I signed their death warrants?

But what else can I do? Two thousand breeders and Chalices desperately neededim mediate assistance. A splinter of grief tore at his psyche. My m ate and mydearest friends. Painful as it was, the loss of seven individuals was far morebearable than the loss of an entire ship. Even if one of them  was his Chalice!

“Prepare for hyper-space.”

“We haven’t used…” Branos began, his face registering surprised objection.

“Prepare for hyper-space,” he snapped, ignoring the tech’s distress. Hyperspace was the only real chance they had of getting to the Freedom  before the Deg-Nara wiped them  out. He experienced a brief moment of uncertainty. W ith little idea of the advancements of the Deg’Nara since the purge, he was going in blind. The weapons of the destroyers could far outweigh the ones they carried— every one old and outdated. There was sim ply no other choice. If they didn’t reach the other ship soon, all on board would perish.

He ground his teeth, anguished by the possibility. The Chiagan-Se had suffered

too much to lose what little they had left. He wouldn’t allow that to happen.

The deck tilted, angling left as the ship left orbit. He dropped to a seat and

braced himself.