Nuworld: Claiming Tara (21 page)

Tara woke the following morning alone on the down
mattress. She and Darius had made love most of the night.
Apparently now she’d overslept. She had procrastinated the
night before in telling Darius about her visit to Dr. Digo.
Darius had acted preoccupied until they went to bed. Now,
he had left without waking her, and she had no idea where
he had gone.

She lay there a moment trying to convince herself to get
up. It wasn’t like her to be this exhausted first thing in the
morning. It was time to remove herself from duty, but she
had responsibilities here. Of course, there were several
good candidates she trusted to take over. But damn it, she
wanted the action.

Tara jumped to her feet when a large explosion shook
the tent. Screams, and people running outside followed.
Instinct took over. Tara dressed in a flash, hobbling to the
entrance of the tent as she shoved her second boot on her
raised foot. Another explosion rocked the ground before she
got out of the tent.

“Darius,” Tara shouted, struggling to wrap her comm
around her ear. “Where are you?” She left the tent and
jumped on her bike. “Hell be doomed!” she howled as
another explosion created an unnatural light around her.

For a moment there was no sound. Her head rocked
from the impact of it. The explosion had been closed. Tara
slowed her bike and finally reached the middle of camp,
joining several soldiers squatting behind large barrels of
water. “Report!” she yelled through the noise and
understood when none of her Runners looked at her. Their
eyes were on the sky.

Tara’s comm beeped, and she slapped at the small
button to activate it. “Yes,” she yelled.
“Five
aircraft
just
flew over
us,” one of Tara’s
commanders shouted in her ear. “We got one of them, but
the others should be flying over you soon.”
Tara squinted at the dark gray sky. “I
see
two
approaching.” She didn’t see the other two.
“They’re coming back around,” the Runner next to her
yelled, and jumped behind the Gothman who squatted with
an Eliminator resting on his shoulder.
The
powerful weapon
was
more
than capable
of
destroying the aircraft flying overhead, if the shooter had
good aim. Once Tara had arranged for Darius’ men to be
equipped with eliminators, it immediately became their
weapon of choice. There wasn’t time to take the eliminator
from the Gothman and give it to a more skilled shot. She
prayed the warrior had excellent marksman skills.
“On my mark, fire,” Tara ordered. She hurried to give the
Gothman space, knowing what kind of kick the thing had.
“Fire!” Tara yelled.
The Gothman pushed the large button on the side of the
Eliminator, and then fell backward as a zinging sound
pierced the air. Tara didn’t focus on the Gothman, but
strained her neck to look at the sky and the two dark gray
crafts now shadowing the ground.
“Take cover! Take cover!” Someone screamed, but the
advice wasn’t needed.
A massive explosion overhead sent shrapnel zooming to
the ground. Once again her world went silent. The attack in
the
air
was loud enough
to
pierce
her
eardrums. A
humming sound violated her senses as she crouched to the
ground with her arm over her head. She wasn’t able to
hunch over as much as she normally would. It seemed
something prevented her ribs from getting as close to her
hipbones.
Something
was
preventing
her—the
baby
growing inside her. It was a harsh reminder that she was
not in a suitable environment. Tara never would allow one
of her warriors to endure direct fire if they were pregnant.
“It’s a direct hit!” The Gothman next to her let out a
whoop of excitement then immediately ducked.
“Excellent,” Tara whispered as watched the craft ripple
with fire. More burning fragments began twirling to the
ground. The second plane wasn’t hit, and it fired on the
camp.
The ground exploded around them. Either large pieces of
the aircraft, the hit from the remaining craft, or both,
shook the ground hard enough that Tara stumbled to the
side. She dug bits of dirt underneath her fingernails when
she braced herself, not wanting her body slammed too hard
in any way.
She wasn’t able to focus on her pregnancy and keeping
them all alive.
Tara grabbed
the
eliminator from the
Gothman, who had let it go limp in his arm. She swung it
with one arm so it rested on her shoulder and aimed at the
craft when it hovered over them.
Tara fired and flew backward. She lost her footing and
slipped to the ground, landing rather hard on her rear end.
All wind was knocked out of her. It seemed the jarring of
her body was more extreme than usual. She’d fired
eliminators enough times to know how hard their kick was.
She told herself it was her imagination that her body
seemed to react more to the fire power of the weapon than
usual.
A moment after she fired, the aircraft exploded. It was
impossible
to
see
anything—the
flames
and smoke
surrounding her made it difficult to see the weapon still in
her hands. But the bright flames that burst into the sky
was enough to know she’d made her mark.
“Tara! What’s going on?” Darius’ voice boomed into her
too-sensitive ear.
“Four aircrafts were reported. We believe all four are
down. Where are you?” Tara coughed as black smoke filled
the air.
“Help!” someone screamed.
Tara leapt to her feet but then balanced herself as a
wave of dizziness made it impossible to move.
This is no
place for a woman in your condition
, the warrior inside her
chided. Tara promised herself she’d step down as soon as
possible. Runners with spray packs on their backs began
hosing down the isolated fires. The water turned the black
smoke to gray as it filled the air.
“Where are you?” she asked again.
Tara put her hand over her mouth and nose when she
could
barely breathe.
Her
headscarf didn’t stop the
thickness of the smoke from filling her lungs.
“We’re at the edge of the Blood Circle camp. My reports
tell me the Gothman camp took the worse hit. Patha says
your landlink shows you’re right in the middle of it.”
“All is under control now. And I’m fine. But what about
you? Are you okay?” Tara coughed again and ignored the
curses she heard through her comm.
Her comm beeped again, and she reached for the thin
wire that ran along her cheek from her ear to her mouth.
“Stand by Darius,” she said.
“What?” he barked. “Hell be—”
But she cut him off with a sigh, regretting that when she
saw him next he would probably keep yelling. “Tara here,”
she said as she tapped the side of her comm.
“Frig here, Tara,” one of the Runner soldiers she had
known since childhood responded. “We’ll have these fires
out in no time. I’ve got a medic team reporting only three
wounded.”
“Thanks, Frig.”
The attack didn’t last long, although it seemed half the
day passed. Even though casualties had been few, the
soldiers were
shaken,
and the
campsite
was partially
burned, but functional.
“Darius, were you hit hard?” Tara waited too long before
his deep baritone swam through her senses. She wanted to
know if he was injured, and if Patha was okay, along with
the rest of her family. Darius would view that as a sign of
weakness, however. So Tara kept her comments pertaining
to the issue at hand.
“A few casualties. Prepare yourselves. More crafts have
been spotted!” He sounded stressed.
Any warrior would be anxious under pending attack, but
she couldn’t help but hope he wanted to be at her side as
much as she wished she were with him. “Acknowledged,”
she said simply and shut off her comm after hearing the
termination on Darius’ end.
Tara left the minimal protection offered by the water
barrels and moved her way through the active camp. She
tapped her comm again and addressed Frig. “We have more
crafts headed our way.”
“Several of my best warriors are armed with
Eliminators,” he told her. “We’ll have the Sea People out of
the sky before they’re able to attack this time.”
“Make sure of it.”
A
hit
of
adrenaline
surged
through
her
from the
enthusiasm in Frig’s voice. Well-trained warriors lived for
battle. They fought for a just cause, and Runners and
Gothman would be triumphant. Tara held her head high as
she worked her way toward her bike. Those around her
straightened, or moved faster when they saw her. If they
only knew how their reaction to her inspired her to hold
her own.
Daylight barely managed penetrating the smoke and
dust swirling around them. By mid-afternoon, the sky
remained a dark gray, and black clouds created from burnt
rubble and campfire smoke, hung heavy and low.
Visibility was so poor, Tara barely distinguished the
people
around
her
from inanimate
objects.
The
trees
outlining the camp were completely obscured. She tracked
her warriors’ movements from her landlink.
Water used to put out fires had turned the camp into a
mud drenched, dark gray world. If it weren’t for the energy
coursing
like
electricity
through
her
veins,
her
surroundings would have been gloomy. As it was, she
tapped her keypad and paid acute attention to her screen,
which
possibly
made
everything
around
her
more
acceptable.
Glancing up, Tara spotted a group of Gothman soldiers
through the murk. They continued past her without a
glance in her direction. “What are your orders?” she yelled
after them.
“Preparing to search the surrounding area, them’s the
orders.” The Gothman only half-turned to acknowledge
Tara, an act she’d grown accustomed with many of the
Gothman.
“The area surrounding the camp?” Tara wondered if
someone had picked up movement, and she hadn’t yet
been told. “Who gave you your orders?”
“Lord Darius.” This time the Gothman didn’t even turn
when he answered, but instead signaled his men to begin
their search.
“Darius?” Tara asked after tapping her comm.
“What do you need? Are you okay?” The concerned
sound in his tone made Tara want to tell him she would be
better if she were at his side.
“Have you spotted movement surrounding the camp?
Why wasn’t I notified?” She heard mumbling through her
comm and surmised Darius was speaking to someone with
him.
“Your landlinks show no activity,” Darius said after he
finished talking to whomever he was with.
“Then why did you order men to search the area?” Tara
waved at the Gothman leader to halt his men.
He only appeared mildly interested in her gesture, and
didn’t stop his men.
“To make sure the area is secure.”
“Tara, we’ve spotted the crafts!” Frig waved frantically
from several tents’ distance. He looked like a dark shadow
floating toward her.
Tara’s comm beeped in her ear. “Darius, order your men
to cease their search. It’s a waste of manpower.” Tara
barked the order, suddenly frustrated with the man for not
trusting Runner equipment and belittling her authority by
issuing commands she didn’t know about.
She hit the small button on the silver stem of the comm
to acknowledge the next call, cutting Darius off in midrebuttal.
“Eliminators are ready,” a Gothman grunted in her ear.
At least the Gothman stationed at this camp recognized
her authority. Granted, she was in the Gothman camp, and
Darius was at the clan site. Not that she didn’t doubt for a
moment he was in communication with all his men. She
was the
highest
ranking here,
though,
and
that
fact
couldn’t be questioned. She might be the claim to the lord
of Gothman, but in this battle, she was the second highest
ranking member of all Runner clans.
Tara ran back to her bike, ignoring the stitch cutting
from her lower abdomen down her leg. She started the bike
with one hand and moved it slowly while attaching her
landlink to the handlebars. “When you have them in target,
fire,” she ordered, deciding to monitor the attack inside one
of the nearby Runner trailers.
An explosion shook the ground. People flew into the air
not too far from Tara’s right. She accelerated, hugging her
bike, then swerved to avoid falling debris.
“One of the crafts has a different type of artillery on it,”
one of her commander’s shouted through the comm.
“Get those blasted things out of the air!” Tara yelled over
the growing confusion around her.
Another explosion shook the ground.
Tara was forced to stop her bike when several Gothman
bolted in front of her. Then she heard the zinging sound of
an eliminator.
“Yes!” Several cheered as one of the crafts twirled and
burst into flames.
She
moved
around
barricades and soldiers issuing
orders until she reached the spot where two Runners stood
next to each other, aiming eliminators at the second craft.
Tara parked, jumped off her bike and stood as close as she
dared to the marksmen, watching the sky the whole time.
Eliminators were fired. A fiery inferno burst into light as
bright as the sun in the otherwise, dark greyish black sky.
“Well done!” Tara cheered, grinning at the bleeding red
colors spilling to the ground.
“Thank you.” The man had a big toothy smile as he
looked at the dismembering craft. He then hugged the
warrior next to him and the two men kissed.
Tara allowed them their moment of celebration and
hurried to her bike.
“I want a report of damages,” Tara continued issuing
orders through her comm as she mounted her bike and
headed with more speed to the nearest trailer. The ground
billowed smoke, and the stench of burning metal, rubber
and human flesh turned her stomach. “Get this camp in
order and prepare for any further attacks.”
Over the next few weeks, the Sea People challenged the
Gothman borders, but Gothman and Runners managed to
keep them at bay. Tara remained in charge of all Runner’s
in the Gothman camp, in spite of Darius’ men continually
challenging her command.
Patha and Darius began to bond, with Patha taking the
role of mentor. Tara knew Patha looked ahead to a time
after his death, when she and Darius would rule both
races. To this end, Patha considered it his highest priority
to train Darius, to help him understand the Runner way.
It was late one night when Tara ventured to the front
line to find Patha and Darius. The rocky ground jostled her
bike, and when she stood after riding, mild stitches shot
down her legs from her pelvis. Knowing the discomfort
came from overworking the muscles holding her baby in
place, she stood still until the bits of pain subsided and she
could walk without discomfort.
As she glanced about her at the busy clan site, now
turned into a military operation on the front line, Tara saw
Patha and waved. Idly, she noticed that he appeared to
stop speaking into his comm as soon as he saw her.
Flicking off the device, he waved back, and after saying
something to the Runner he was with, began walking
toward her, smiling. His smile warmed her. She narrowed
the distance between them, taking care not to jolt her body
as she stepped on uneven ground.
“It appears we’ve a break in the action. The report I
received
this
morning showed
the
Sea People
have
regrouped and returned to their camp.” Patha looked tired,
but happy as he greeted her.
“And how are you doing?” She slid her arm around his
and walked with him into camp.
“I’m fine Tara-girl, just fine.” Patha chuckled and patted
her arm. “Darius and I plan on preparing our next method
of attack today. You’re just in time. Come to my trailer.”