Rebellion (23 page)

“What about?” Merek asked.

“The texts seem to indicate that from the beginning there were those with and without psi on our world.” Arlo rubbed his neck.

“Go on,” Olivia said.

“That type of friction, envy from those without psi, could explain why our ancestors nearly destroyed this planet. Having those with and without psi lends itself to a natural class divide.”

Warder scratched his days old stubble. “It’s certainly possible.”

“Maybe that’s how they got away with the planetary rulership,” Olivia said. “They could prove the natives had no psi. As long as they selected the right Curzans.”

“Things are going to get interesting here pretty soon. In the meantime, we need to decide what to do with him.” Warder’s anger was obvious.

“Don’t hurt him,” Trin said. She’d watched the whole thing silently with an arm wrapped around the young teen, Bella. “He’s so young.”

“We should kill him for what he’s done. You understand that?” Warder said.

Connor paled.

“No,” both Trin and Bella cried out.

“Not on our watch,”
Dani said to Ian.

“Let’s wait and see how this plays out.”

“What he did is horrid,” Bella said, “but he was afraid for his life and trying to help his sister. You know what Gordat’s people are like. If they had him for any length of time, he wouldn’t have been…treated well.” Bella was near tears.

“Killing him is not what the Mother Goddess would want, I’m quite sure,” Father Arlo said.

“It is not what I want either.” Warder looked tired.

Dani was about to make a suggestion when a man dressed in Mortog’s security outfit burst into the room. She and Ian drew their lasers and aimed.

“Halt,” Warder said calmly. “He’s one of ours.”

The man was breathing heavily. “We must evacuate immediately.”

“What has happened?” Warder asked.

“Mortog found us. He’s planning to bomb the underground. We must hurry. As the newest member of Sou’s security team my absence is going to be noticed.”

“How could he find us?”

“He bugged the boy. I came as soon as I could.” The man nodded toward Connor.

Warder turned to the man who accompanied Connor. “Nocher?”

“I scanned him personally.”

“Scan him again.”

Nocher withdrew a device and powered it on. Within a few seconds, it glowed red. “He was clean! I swear, I scanned him.”

“Execute evacuation procedures,” Warder said. “Nocher, you’re in charge of the boy. The rest of you, follow me.”

An alarm sounded, and below people ran toward the perimeter of the underground.

“Wait,” Dani said. “We have to get Ria and Ty.”

Warder shook his head with a saddened look. “No time. The tunnel they’re in won’t accommodate our cruisers. They’ll have to make it out on their own. I’m sorry. My people come first.”

“We can’t just leave them,” Dani said.

“You come with us or go after them on foot,” Warder said. “I’m sorry, but I can’t jeopardize the lives of my fellow Curzans.”

“Understood,” Ian said. “No more than we can leave our people behind. Go.” He and Warder nodded to each other. He took hold of Dani’s hand and headed out the door.
“We’ll catch up to them and have Armond port us out.”

Dani smacked her forehead.
“Shit. Why didn’t we give them a focal point?”

“I’m still not used to having these things. Didn’t even occur to me until after they were gone.”

* * * *

Anger slid away, and the adrenaline rush left Ria rattled as they walked down the cold, damp tunnel. She inhaled deeply and let it out before speaking. “We need to talk about what happened back there.”

Ty squeezed her hand. “I know. I’m sorry, but I honestly can’t control my anger sometimes.”

“I figured that out,” Ria said. “The problem is, it affects me, too. I went a little crazy. I was shaking. I really need you to not do that anymore.”

Ty stopped and turned her to him. He pulled her tight and his psi wrapped around and through her own. “I’m sorry, Red. I’ll do my best. There’s just so much anger. I see my parents and…” He bowed his head.

“It’s okay. I’m here.” She squeezed back. She knew his pain and understood how he lost control. “Look at me.” Pushing back enough, she placed her hand on his face. “Between the two of us, we’ll learn how to tame that anger. We’ll turn it into something else.” She tilted forward on her toes and kissed him deeply.

The sound of running feet had them spinning apart and pressing against the side of the tunnel.

“Ria, Ty!” It was Dani’s voice, still out of sight around a bend in the tunnel.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Ria called back.

“Come here. We have to go. The underground’s cover has been blown. Get over here, we can port out.”

They bolted off the wall, but halted at the sound of an explosion. Dust billowed down the tunnel as another explosion rocked the walls.

“Come on, we have to get to the entrance.” Ty spun her around and they ran. Psi gave them the needed boost in speed as they outpaced the dust behind them. Barely. A few moments later, they came out into a dense undergrowth. Rain pelted from above and soaked them within seconds. They moved to the side as a blast of air and dust burst from the tunnel.

“There are no repellers out here,”
Ria said.

“The rain should help mask our smell and our sounds.”
Ty looked around and fixated on a cliff face in the distance.

Ria followed his gaze and fear stabbed her heart.
“That’s where we were running to in the dream.”

Ty didn’t answer as a voice bellowed from someplace overhead. “Halt. Remain where you are. I repeat, remain where you are and do not move.”

“Like hell.”
Ria pulled at Ty’s shirt, and they took off. Deeper and deeper into the forest they fled. Branches scraped bloody gashes into Ria’s arms and legs. A branch whipped back from Ty’s passing and nearly snapped into her eye.
“Watch it with the branches.”

“Sorry, Red.”
He shot her a troubled glance.
“There’s a reason we were going for the cliff face.”

The memory of the dream superimposed itself on reality.

Ria ducked under a large limb and tried to shake off the dream.
“And?”

“There’s a weapons cache in those cliffs. It’s our only hope. If your boss is right, all we have to do is stay alive long enough for the GTO commander to come and take over.”

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure we know how this ends.”

Ty slowed to a stop, breathing heavy.
“We won’t let it end that way.”

Much as she wanted to believe him, she’d lived that dream too many times. She looked into his gray eyes. Gods, she loved this man. She stood a little taller and shifted into battle mode. Mentally shoving her fear to the background, she nodded.

Somewhere down the hill and to their left, the scream of a worick split the night.

“It may just be responding to the cruiser,”
Ty said.
“Less than a mile. Come on. We can make it.”

Ria followed her psi-mate and sent a little prayer to the Mother Goddess to see them through this.

Rucon Cavacent was not a happy man. Chancellor Mortog would pay for this folly. His wrists were chafed from struggle, but he had to admit the bands were impressive. Never had he heard of such a thing. It was obvious they somehow contained one’s psi to the range of the physical body. Although not painful, the sensation was uncomfortable and foreign, to say the least. As well as the bands, he was restrained by straps that held him to a steel table at a nearly vertical angle. The room was sparsely furnished. Nothing but a table and a few chairs. Bright lights faced him. In the floor below him was a drain. There was only one reason for a room such as this. He was contemplating how to escape when the door opened. It wasn’t Mortog who entered, however, but Gordat Prayda.

Rucon’s anger surged. Because of the bands, his psi had no way to expend the increased energy. Now, the restraints became painful. He would have to be cautious of his emotions. “You filthy excuse for a soul. I should have known you had a hand in this.”

Gordat closed the door behind him and sauntered over to Rucon. “Such foul words from someone in your, shall we say, compromised position.” He slapped Rucon in the face, which caused him to laugh.

“You hit like a child.”

Gordat spun around and retrieved a nasty-looking metal rod from a rack on the wall. “Perhaps this will have a greater effect. You didn’t think I was just going to let you go, did you?” He swung the rod back and slammed it into Rucon’s left knee.

Combined with the pulse of his restrained psi, the pain surged through his body, tipping him into blackness. The shock of ice-cold water over his head had him coughing and trying to focus.

“No, no. You must stay awake for this. It wouldn’t do to have you miss out on all the fun. I’ve waited a very long time for this day, Rucon. Looks like we’ll need to experiment a little to see how best to extract my revenge and keep you around to enjoy it.”

* * * *

Mortog paced in front of his office windows. A storm raged outside. The sky was dark and wind whipped rain against the glass.
Good. This weather should help mask our little extermination.

Sou had detonated the explosives a few minutes earlier. The news stations had stopped spewing that incessant feed of lies, and investigations were underway to determine how it had happened. Mortog closed his eyes and imagined Curzans dying en mass, like rats on a sinking ship, and smiled. He snapped back to attention. “Do you have the exits covered?”

“They’re covered, but this rain isn’t going to help any.”

Five minutes later Sou’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “I’m missing a team that was stationed on the west entrance, but we have a hit at the northern exit. Two people on foot. Hold on.” Sou spoke to someone else a moment, then returned. “It’s them. That Sordina boy and the redhead.”

Anger rippled over him. “Send me the coordinates. Do not lose them. Do not kill them. I’m going to end this personally.” He turned to go to his cruiser. “And find out what happened to your missing team.”

* * * *

Dani’s hands covered her face. The comfort of Ian’s arms surrounding her meant they’d made it out of the tunnel. She opened her eyes to find Armond looking at them with a raised eyebrow.

“Thanks,” she said as Ian let her go and proceeded to dust her off. A layer of fine dust from the blast covered them from head to toe. “That was close.”

“Too close,” Ian said.

“I hope they made it out.”

Armond studied his com. “Would you care to explain how is it I ported you from approximately twenty-five feet underground?”

“Turns out the Starfall Underground was underground,” Ian said.

“Mortog bombed it, the bastard. Warder and his people should have made it out, but there were children in that group.” Dani couldn’t believe the chancellor would go to such lengths. “That man needs to be stopped. His rights are forfeit. I’ll kill him myself.”

“Easy,” Ian said.

It was then she noticed Balastar and Marco. “Hey guys, good to see you.” Marco was an EP, but Balastar was here on his own free will. “Thanks for coming, Balastar.”

He gave her a nod and a wink.

“I just spoke with your mother, Ian,” Armond said. “Supreme Commander Anantha should be here soon. It’s been an hour since Balastar and I returned. We have four ports available.”

“All right,” Ian said. “In the meantime, find the old maps of the planets subterranean rail. We need to figure out where Ria and Ty are going to come out and get someone there as soon as possible.”

Ian’s com buzzed, and he glanced down. “It’s Warder.” He connected. “Did everyone make it out?” There was a brief pause. “Glad to hear it. Can you send someone to where Ria and Ty will exit? They’ll need help.” Ian nodded affirmative. “Thank you. As soon as Commander Anantha arrives, we’ll head to the palace. We’ll apprehend Mortog and find my father. Stay in touch.”

Ian slipped the com back into his pocket. “They ran into Mortog’s security but overpowered them. He’s dropping off some people, then he’ll take a team to help Ty and Ria. Armond, I need you to stay here. If anyone needs rescue, you’ll be ready. As soon as the Commander arrives, we’ll go straight to the palace. Once he’s established his control, we’ll arrange a planet-wide broadcast on all stations notifying the citizens that the GTO is now in command. Did he say when his main forces would arrive?”

“He did not. I would prefer to accompany you. You may meet with resistance.”

“We’ll almost certainly meet with resistance, but you are our backup. You need to stay put.”

“Yes, sir.”

Dani glanced at Armond. “I know it’s not easy staying here, but Ian and I are proof that your being able to port us out at a moment’s notice is the most important thing you can be doing.”

“I understand this,” Armond said. “But you are correct, it is not easy.”

“One thing’s for sure,” Ian said. “As soon as we see Ria, she gets a focal point.”

Less than five minutes later the Supreme Commander, Torril Anantha, and three of his security walked out of the portal. Another thirteen, uniformed officers, men and women, came through in quick succession. The commander was a large man, a few years younger than Rucon. Lean and fit, he exuded confidence.

Ian made the introductions.

“Any word of your father?” Torril asked.

“None.” Ian shook his head. “But we feel he is most likely being held at the planetary ruler’s Palace. Chancellor Mortog has been residing there and effectively in charge for the past seven years.”

Dani stepped forward. “You’re just in time. Mortog bombed the Starfall Underground headquarters.”

“Casualties?”

“None that we know of,” Ian said. “But one of my own and her Curzan psi-mate were separated from us. Warder Zar, the leader of the resistance is going to look for them now.”

“Good. Let’s go find your father and take down this corrupt regime.”

They summoned a private transport cruiser in order to avoid detection for as long as possible. Anantha’s team contained powerful psi, and between them, they were heavily shielded. They followed the traffic flow around the palace. Even through the pelting rain, it was an opulent building of bright white and gold trim. A bit over the top for Dani’s tastes.