Colliding Worlds Trilogy 01 - Collision (21 page)

The image looked so real, she fought back the urge to reach out and touch it. The Sephians had the coolest technology. Actually, it was Draeken technology since the Sephians had been nothing more than their worker bees for hundreds of years. Designed by Draeken, built by Sephians. The real irony was that the slaves had used their masters’ technology to gain their freedom.

And use that technology the Sephians did. The base was filled with technology adapted to their needs. They were experts at survival, and adjusting to other cultures seemed a tool of the trade. Since she came on the base, she’d begun to see familiar objects pop up everywhere. From video games to guns, from laptops to magazines, the Sephians were starving for anything they could get their hands on. She figured it had something to do with growing up in slavery. There wasn’t a Sephian on this base who owned much of anything before they broke free from Draeken control. Some, like Legian, maintained a minimalist attitude while many others turned into pack rats.

Sienna wanted to spend more time pondering what made the Sephians tick, but there were far more important things at hand. Like — holy freaking bat shit — how she ended up in a meeting with Apolo’s trinity. She leaned back in her seat and made eye contact with Apolo. “What am I looking at here?”

Apolo shot her a quick look before his eyes dropped to his wrist computer, which reminded her of an iThing with metallic straps. He hit a series of buttons, and a strange silver glow with a muted vibration fell over the room.

“Dampener device,” Apolo said in Jax’s direction. “It prevents any type of electronic connection to or from this room.”

A glow and vibration rose in the room that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Squinting, Sienna examined the walls and ceilings for some small contraption, but she couldn’t find the source.
Sweet.

Apolo gestured over the image. “What you see before you is the last piece of viable intel I received from my Draeken scout before he went to black-out.”

Sienna narrowed her eyes, waiting for Apolo to continue. He didn’t. And so she spoke up. “How do we know we can trust that what your inside guy gave us is any good? They could have gotten to him long before the base attack.”

Apolo’s attention snapped to her. “We may have a traitor in our midst, but the Draeken did not know we infiltrated their ranks even before we considered coming to this planet. It’s because of my scout we learned about the Draeken coming to this small planet. His intel can be trusted. Besides, we still aren’t sure he’s been discovered. He may have simply gone to black-out to prevent detection.”

Nalea shook her head. “Sienna’s right. We have to play it safe. We can’t trust any intel from your scout now, no matter how good he was. Not after the base attack. Until we know different, we have to assume his cover’s been blown.”

Apolo scowled. “This intel came in two weeks before the ambush. The faulty intel was rushed. It felt off — different.” Suddenly, he hit the table with his fist, causing the image to shiver. Everyone froze in their chairs while he clenched his fists. Apolo’s moods were worsening, and rumors were spreading that he may eventually lose his mind after being separated from his
tahren
for so long. The odds weren’t in his favor.

When Apolo finally continued, he never looked up. “I should have known better. Instead, I grabbed onto an opportunity that seemed too good to pass up. The chance to stop the Draeken in one fell swoop. The Draeken played me the fool.” He clenched and unclenched his fists as he spoke. “The intel that led us into the attack on the base was the last communication I received from him. Before that, he reported in several times a week.”

He paused and glanced over each face around the table. “This data, although incomplete, is good. I’m sure of it. I have been holding onto it until my scout could send more information. At this point we know he’s gone black-out or has been compromised, and so I must assume we will be unable to collect more data any time soon.”

“If they got to your scout, it makes sense that’s how they found the location of our base,” Bente added, softer than his usual brusque tone.

Apolo shook his head. “Impossible. My man does not know the location of this base. He is nearly unbreakable — ”

Bente raised a finger.

Apolo replied to Bente’s unvoiced interruption by patting down the air with his hands. “Yes, I know every man can be broken. That was why I ensured my scout knew nothing of our base nor our strategy. It’s safe to assume we have our traitor to thank for leaking the location of the base to the Draeken. If only my scout shared the location of the Draeken camp before …”

Apolo came to his feet, clasped his hands behind his back and ambled around the table. Everyone sat there in silence and watched the leader pace seemingly oblivious to anyone else in the room. On his third time around the table, he paused and pointed at the image. “We need to focus on what we can control. So far, we have nothing more besides this floor plan and a partial address.”

His fingers brushed over the image, and the screen zoomed in on a section of rooms. “Bente, you’ve spent more time in Draeken facilities than any of us. Look closely at this block of rooms. My scout believed this to be the location of a Draeken medical center. A human breeding facility to be exact.”

Sienna shoved her chair back from the table in a rush. “Human breeding? You can’t mean …” her voice trailed off.

Apolo nodded tightly. “Yes. We know the Draeken female population was decimated in the Noble War. Their numbers are desperately low. It makes sense that they are pursuing the survival of their race through cross-breeding. In fact, we believe this may be the primary reason they chose this planet. As we’ve discovered ourselves recently,” Apolo waved a hand in Legian’s and her general direction, “humans are genetically compatible with our race. There’s no reason not to believe it is also the case for the Draeken.”

An alarm blared somewhere in the back of Sienna’s mind. Now the Draeken wanted not only her world, but they wanted Earth’s women, too? She shivered thinking of the fate of humans if they didn’t stop them. It would be worse than she imagined.

Men would become slaves. Cattle.

Women would become nothing more than concubines. Baby makers.

A future like that would be unthinkable.

“Unlike us, the Draeken are likely more compatible with humans. They don’t require the
tahren
bond to reproduce. But that’s just my guess,” Nalea said before turning her attention back to examining the floor plan.

“That’s assuming they’re willing to stoop that low and taint their Draeken bloodlines,” Bente added from the side.

“Unless their numbers are low enough that they can’t afford pride,” Jax retorted.

Bente scowled. “You sure this is a medical facility? It’s not laid out like one.”

“My scout couldn’t confirm but was confident about it being a breeding facility,” Apolo replied.

Bente went back to looking at the screen. “This is new territory for me.” His eyes narrowed, and then he pointed at a long hallway with a series of rooms on the screen. “But it could only be this area.”

Nalea nodded. “I agree. This area should be our primary target. Outside the larger area, all the smaller rooms attach to this hallway. It’s the hub. Most of their medical equipment and prisoners are likely contained here.”

It was Apolo’s turn to nod. “Agreed.”

“What’s the certainty?” Bente asked, his voice still sounded as ragged as he looked.

“Seventy-two percent,” the Sephian leader replied.

Legian shook his head. “An attack is too high a risk for that low of certainty.”

“Is there any way we can verify the information?” Sienna asked.

Bente leaned forward stiffly and examined the image. “Recon.”

“Do we know if they’re drawing the human women to this location, or are they capturing them and then bringing them there?” Legian asked.

“We believe they are being drawn there. The com-tec said that this large room here is used as an entertainment venue.” Apolo’s fingers brushed over the display he wore on his forearm. He paused to read whatever was displayed. “It’s called Mayhem. Tanel says it’s called a ‘Goth’ club. He’s researching it now.”

“It’s a night club where folks in dark clothes get together to hang out, dance, drink, and what not,” Sienna explained. “I’ve always wanted to check one out.”

Jax ran a hand through his hair. The guy looked like he was made for drades. The dark wraparound glasses only added to his raw sex appeal. While Sienna, on the other hand, felt like a total poser wearing them. “It would be too easy to drug women’s drinks in a dark bar.”

She jerked at the truth in his words. The idea of drugging someone pissed her off. It was one thing to fight someone face to face. But taking advantage of someone like that felt dishonest. “Dammit. You’re right. They probably use something like roofies. From there, they could restrain the poor girls throughout the pregnancy.” She fidgeted with the bandana on her wrist while she spoke her thoughts.

“But the simplest plan would be to let the girls go,” she continued. “They wouldn’t even need to keep their victims more than a couple hours. Just long enough to tag ‘em and bag ‘em. The girls would never know what hit them. Basically, it would be a breed-and-release program. If they picked carefully, the poor things would think they got knocked up off a one-night stand. The Draeken could sit back and wait until their nine months are up, and then go in and take the infants.” Sienna leaned back and shook her head. “That’s wrong in so many ways.”

“I think the victims would catch on when ultra-sounds showed extra appendages,” Jax added on.

Legian wrapped an arm around Sienna. He did that whenever he was stressed. And with the clenched jaw, he was definitely looking stressed. “Hybrids likely wouldn’t develop wings. But we can’t know for sure yet. You make a valid point. They likely restrain the victims.”

“We can get intel from a distance to see the amount of traffic the place gets, but we’d need to get up close and personal to know for sure,” Nalea said.

Sienna glanced up at her friend. She hadn’t noticed how Nalea had nearly lost her Sephian accent. Before long she’d fit in like any other American. Well, except the golden skin and black eyes. That would still be a bit of a problem. Contacts would hide the eyes, but there was no realistic looking makeup they’d found yet to do the trick to their skin.

Apolo nodded. “We need to get an inside look. That is why I asked you two to join us tonight.” He looked from Jax to Sienna at the same time Legian’s grip tightened on her shoulder. “Jax and Sienna will be our scouts. You two will enter the club. You will then gain access to verify the Draeken have set up a facility here.”

Jax used his fingers to move through the floor plan. Even with this being his first time using the technology, he operated it like a pro. “I’ll need to know what I’m looking for as well as their usual security measures.”

Nalea rubbed her neck. “Trust me. You’ll know. Draeken technology is far more advanced than human technology. It will be hard to miss. But I can show you common equipment to look for. As for security, assume the worst.”

Bente looked Sienna up and down, and she frowned at him. He frowned back. “If it is a Draeken facility, they will have surveillance throughout and around the building. It will be critical to blend in. Sienna’s
soullare
will give her away immediately.”

“And Roden’s seen her before. If they have any kind of professional op going on, we’ll be busted before we walk through the door,” Jax chimed in. “Instead of Sienna, I’ll take another Ranger who’s better trained for this sort of thing.”

Sienna held up a finger. “First, with the right clothes, you can’t see an inch of my
soullare
. With some hair color and makeup, my own mother wouldn’t recognize me.” She held up a second finger. “And two tough guys walking into a Goth club alone will look a hell of a lot more suspicious than a couple.”

“But with a shit leg, you still put the mission at risk.”

She narrowed her eyes at Bente, aka Mr. Pessimist. “Doc has been working up a new brace for my leg. He thought he could have it ready by tomorrow. I’ll be able to go without a cane. He says I might not even have a limp when I wear it.” She turned to Apolo. “Give me a shot. I won’t let you down. I swear it.”

While Legian was always the strong silent type, he had kept more quiet than usual during the conversation. Sienna glanced at him, and he stared straight ahead in a daze. She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He jerked in response. “You still with us?” she asked.

He looked over her face. “I don’t like this. Not one bit.”

“Understandable. After all, I’m basically bait.” She smiled and ran her thumb over his jaw line. He didn’t return the smile. “I’m also one of only a handful of humans on this base as well as the only female human. And the only one with a built-in connection with a Sephian. It’s going to be fine. You said it yourself. I’ve been getting better in training. And I’ll have Jax with me. He’s trained for this sort of thing. He’s a super commando.”

“Army Ranger Special Forces,” Jax chimed in.

“See? Besides, I have no doubt my
tahren
will be somewhere
very
nearby.”

Legian leaned down, his forehead touching hers. “
Suvaste
. You better believe it.”

Someone cleared their throat. Sienna looked up to see Apolo watching them while impatiently rapping his fingers on the screen. “We’ll have analysis back from the com-tec by tomorrow. We’ll reconvene after second meal to finalize preparations. In the meantime, get some rest. You’ll need it.”

Whatever he typed caused the screen to go blank. He tapped out a few more keystrokes. The lights switched back to normal, and the mild vibration disappeared. Apolo cut through the door to his bedroom, leaving his trinity without another word. Everyone stood, Bente taking as long as Sienna to get to his feet. Legian and she followed the others out of the room.

Going deep into Draeken country scared the beejeezus out of her. But Sienna wasn’t going to complain. Hell, she was finally getting the chance to make a difference.