Theron Destiny (Brides of Theron) (25 page)

Zeb nodded in the affirmative and Ceran replied, “Permission granted.”

Six creatures which all stood over nine feet tall walked forward to greet Zeb. Kurtz, the leader of the Pernmocks, extended one of his four arms in order to grasp Zeb’s hand and give it a shake. “It is so good to see you again. It has been far too long.” Four eyes blinked in unison as a smile with razor sharp canine teeth spread across the Pernmock’s face. The two hands that were clasped together in greeting were vastly different in color to the Therons. While Zeb’s well-toned muscular arms were the color of a healthy tan and had fine hairs, the Pernmock’s arm was bare well-muscled and pale green. The Pernmocks were a rather odd looking race but their loyalty was unwavering. Once they gave their loyalty to someone it became an unbreakable vow.

“It has been a long time since I have seen you last.  However, you managed to show up at the right moment in time. Where were you heading when you came upon us?” They had let go of each other’s hand but remained standing as they were.

Kurtz surveyed the room for damage before replying, “We were heading to the Yazo system to trade. We have run low on some of our supplies and they are the closest system that carries the supplies that we seek. Do you need the assistance of my medics?”

“I am not sure how many have been hurt. We are currently assessing the damage and I have not been in contact with my ship’s doctor yet. Although, I am sure we could probably use the help.”

“Most assuredly, my friend.” Moments later another ten members of the Pernmock crew beamed aboard. Two of the medics assisted the crew that had been injured in the command center while the rest made their way to the clinic in search of Zane.

“I need to go check on my mate Kurtz.  Would you like to come with me?”

“Did you say mate? You have finally succeeded in finding a mate! I would definitely love to meet her. Lead the way.”

As Zeb and Kurtz made their way to the living quarters, they were able to see the damage to the interior of the ship. The transportation tubes weren’t working yet so the corridors were filled with crew members going from place to place on the ship the hard way. Wiring could be seen hanging from the ceilings in certain areas where tiles had come loose but thankfully none of the outer windows had been breached. The ship was a mess, there was no question about that, but it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed.

Approaching the door to his quarters Zeb got that uncomfortable feeling again that something was wrong. The door to his quarters was wide open with no light coming from the inside. Zeb slowly walked into the darkened room and called out, “Avery?”

Kurtz was close behind him, “Over there by the wall Zeb. There is someone lying on the floor.” Both men now rushed over to the still individual on the floor.

“Avery!” Zeb lifted the still form and turned her over. “Gracie!”  He spoke into a small transmitter, “Computer, connect me to the clinic!” He carefully laid Gracie on the floor. When he heard the sound of activity in the clinic, he gave an order to his friend, “Zane, you need to get to my quarters immediately!”

“Zeb, I am a bit overwhelmed here at the moment.”

“Zane, its Gracie.” Zeb shouted.

“I’m on my way!”

Zeb returned his attention to the woman lying on the floor. The right side of her face was swollen and bleeding. There was a large gash on the back of her head that had appeared to have stopped bleeding on its own as clotted blood was hardened in her hair. He kept calling her name in order to get her to wake up, “Gracie, Gracie wake up! Please wake up! Gracie!” He gently patted her uninjured cheek. A low moan came from her split and bloodied lips.

“That’s it Gracie! It’s Zeb. Gracie.” Kurtz had sought out a wet towel to wipe the injured woman’s face while Zeb continued to encourage Gracie to open her eyes.

“Gracie. Oh my Gods!” Zane came careening around the corner of the doorway and slid the rest of the way to his mate. “Gracie, speak to me please!” Zane’s moved his hands all over her body checking for broken bones. When he found none he concentrated on her face and head.

Kurtz was wiping away some of the blood that had dried on her face when she finally opened her eyes. She stared up at the pale green face that was looking down at her with a friendly smile. “What the hell!  Zane, Zeb, who is this?  What is this?  I must have hit my head pretty damn hard because I am sure I do not believe what I am seeing.”

“Hello there Gracie. I am Kurtz.”

“You’re not Zeb. I heard Zeb’s voice. Zane, where is Zane?” Her words came out slow and mumbled now.

Zane leaned over her so that she could see him, “I am right here my love. Don’t move your head. Zeb is here too.”

Gracie tried to move her head in the direction Zane had looked when he mentioned Zeb, but it was being held firmly in place. “She’s gone. He took her.”

Confused, Zeb asked, “Where’s Avery?”

A sob erupted from her chest, “Avery. She is gone. He took her.” Her body began to shake as the sobs grew harder and harder due to the failure she felt in trying to stop Lars from taking her friend.

Zeb’s heart had sunk to the lower depths of his chest when he heard her say Avery was gone. There was only one person responsible, “Lars. Did Lars take her Gracie?” He was leaning over her face now so that she could see him.

The tears were streaming down her face now but she whispered out one single word, “Yes.” That was all it took for Zeb to be on his feet.

Zane stopped what he was doing, “Go Zeb. You must find her. I’ll take care of Gracie.”

Kurtz stood as well, “I will go with you my friend. I will help you find your mate.”

“Thank you.”

As the two were preparing to leave Zane and Gracie, a young warrior came running towards them. “Where’s the Doc?”

Zeb slowed the cadet down by grabbing hold of his uniform shirt, “He is in my quarters with a patient. What is the problem?” he hadn’t let go of the young warrior.

“I came to see if he had seen the female that Lars had been carrying during the battle. He told me to report to the clinic after I found out what was happening in the command center. I went to the clinic but he was not there and neither was the Earth female.”

Zeb pulled the warrior closer to him, “You saw Lars with an Earth female?”

“Yes…Yes sir. He said she was injured and that he was taking her to the clinic. That’s the last I saw of him.”

Zeb let go of the warrior finally with a push, “I will kill the bastard when I get my hands on him.” He turned away and made a mad dash down the corridor. Kurtz was close on his heels. The corridors had cleared some as the crew reported as instructed to the designated areas they were assigned and resumed their work to get the ship back in order. Once back in the command center Zeb immediately went over to where second in command, Ceran faithfully sat at his post.

“Ceran, I need you to check what fighters took off during the battle.”

“Ok commander. It will take just a minute.” Ceran worked quickly to compile the list of fighters. “Sir, there is a message coming in from one of the fighters. It is strange though, this fighter isn’t on the list of those who took off.”

“Can you open communications with this ship?”

“No sir, they are blocking us.  It appears that they sent a coded message.”

“A coded message? Why would one of our own send a coded message?” Zeb and Kurtz glanced at each other with a puzzled look. “What does it say?”

Ceran listened to the message as it came through and wrote down what it contained. It didn’t take long for him to decrypt it as it was a simple substitution code.  He handed his commander the translated message. The words on the paper confirmed his fears:

Lars. Earth female. UV-49.

Chapter 24

The fighter ship that carried the renegades approached UV-49 with caution. The now nearly dead planet was once a beautiful and thriving place. For centuries the people of this planet had flourished and traded throughout the universe. They were a peaceful civilization until the Drylons discovered their world and forced their way into the trading zone.  They eventually took over the planet by force using dirty war tactics.

Once the Drylons had secured the planet for their own benefit, they began to strip the planet of any and all of the natural resources the planet had to offer. They removed and shipped anything of value to the planet Drylon and used them for their own selfish needs. The people of UV-49 become desperate as their planet slowly began to die. Many managed to escape the Drylon’s devastation abandoning the planet. Some weren’t so lucky and ended up selling themselves as slaves to passing slave ships in order to be free of the Drylon’s oppression.

With the mass exodus of the native population, the Drylons had a perfect opportunity to set up a base on the planet. The base on UV-49 was a fully functioning base for many years.  The Drylons would amass thousands of troops and fighters there, all too often in preparation for an attacking a nearby civilization. When the Drylons first started to attack Theron, it took the Therons some time to figure out where the Drylons were hiding their support troops. About four years ago the Therons and Pernmocks had finally gotten a tip on the whereabouts of the secret base and had launched a full scale attack. The Drylons were driven off the devastated planet and pushed back to their home planet leaving behind a lifeless and harsh environment.

It was in the past year that the Drylons had moved back onto this wasteland. The Emperor had thought it would be very advantageous  resume operation on the base here, since it the planet was virtually dead and of no interest to anyone anymore.  No one would look here to find them. The base been rebuilt and had come back to life, though functioning in a much smaller capacity than it had in the past.

“UV-49 this is Drylon fighter Lars requesting permission for clearance to land.” Lars had woken earlier when Hano had announced to him that they were within range and approaching the planet. The little nap seemed to have improved Lars’ frame of mind. He hadn’t even bothered to check on the female that was still out cold in the back seat.

“Drylon fighter Lars this is UV-49. Your signature shows that you are approaching us in a Theron spacecraft.”

Lars rolled his eyes at the voice, “UV-49 the Emperor is expecting us. He knows that we are coming in a Theron ship just as he knows we would be escaping from a Theron mother ship. Please contact the Emperor for verification.”

“Stand-by Drylon fighter.” Then, radio silence lasted longer than he anticipated.

Lars was fidgeting with the controls and impatiently waiting for a response.

“What the hell is taking those assholes so long?”

Hano glanced back at the still form then looked at Lars, “The female is still out. What are your plans for her?”

Lars jerked his head in Hano’s direction, “Why are you so suddenly worried about my plans for her?” His eyes were set, gazing intensely at Hano.

“Just curious, I guess. Calm down man. I don’t want anything to do with the female. I have no interest in her.” Hano was feeling a bit nervous now. Was Lars suspicious of him?  Did he discover what he did earlier while he was sleeping? He had made completely sure that Lars was in a deep sleep before he had sent out the cryptic message to the mother ship.

“Drylon fighter, permission has been granted. You are clear to land.” The biggest evil smile crept across Lars’ face when the response had finally come through. He was home free now. Zeb would never find where he took his female.  He would have all the time in the universe to play with her, hurt her. He had decided he wasn’t going to kill her so soon. He wanted to see what she might be willing to offer him in order to stay alive. She might make a good whore once he had his fill of her. Why not offer her services to other Drylons and make some extra money.

The ship set down on the dusty landing pad. It was night on the dead planet and the winds were blowing with gale force. The ship shook in the ferocious winds, making it hard to land. The swirling dust accumulated all around the ship settling on the front window.

Lars and Hano got up out of their seats and moved to the back of the ship. Hano gathered together their meager possessions while watching Lars out the corner of his eye. Lars stood in front of the female staring at her still figure.  He did not move as he looked at her, appearing to be deep in thought. Suddenly he crouched down in front and her, bringing his hand up to the uninjured side of her face.

“Sweetheart, wake up. We are here. Come see your new home.” He patted the side of her face until she began to stir and open her eyes. “That’s it Sweetheart. Open your eyes and see your new mate.”

Avery was so disorientated and her head was bursting with pain with any slight movement.  She cracked open her good eye and saw her own personal living nightmare right before her.

“Why the sad look Sweetheart? You knew this day would come. Come on now and let me help you.” He unstrapped her from the seat and pulled her into his arms. He pressed a hard kiss against her swollen lips while she struggled using what little strength she had left to push him away.

“Don’t be like that Sweetheart. That was our first kiss. I wanted it to be extra special for you. But, I can see that you are tired from our journey and I can understand that. I will so look forward to getting to know you better and teaching you all the activities that I enjoy. You have much to learn.” Lars swung her up into his arms and moved for the door. Hano had gathered their bags and was now waiting for them at the door.

“We will have to be quick. This is not the best time to be moving about on the surface.” Hano opened the door and a gust of dusty wind swept through the ship. The wind was terrible outside making their short walk to the entrance of the base that much scarier and painful.

Avery had closed her eye shut and managed to pull her shirt over her face when she felt the sand and dust pelting her skin. The wind was blowing so hard, the fine grains of sand felt like needles stinging every uncovered part of her injured and throbbing face.  Her hair was whipped up all around her and Lars while he and Hano maneuvered toward the door.