I turned back to watch my mate bellow orders into the chaos. He was a mountain among his men, fierce and strong, and completely focused on finding his parents and securing the camp. He turned, scanning the site with a predator's gaze. That scrutiny flitted over me, through me, past me, is if I were already forgotten.
"Don't be a baby," I scolded myself as I ran with the doctor. She was half a head taller than me, and strong. I was running, but she dragged me about every third step because I couldn't keep up with her in the sand. She may have been used to running on a beach, but I wasn't. The transport station wasn't far, but I was winded and scared by the time the doctor and I ducked under the tent flap. The two warriors with us stood at the entrance, weapons out and ready. The noises outside the tent were nothing like when I first arrived. Calmness ensued then. Now, without even being able to see, I knew something was wrong. Fear, panic, death could be heard through the thin walls.
The doctor closed the flap and wrapped me in a quick hug, girl to girl, and I really needed it. "Tell me everything's going to be fine, even if you have to lie."
The doctor pulled back and smiled. "Everything's going to be fine. And I'm not lying. Councilor Roark wouldn't have sent you here otherwise." She released me, pointed to the transport platform. "But I'm also cautious."
"What do you mean?"
She pointed. "Get up there. I'm going to get the transport codes ready, just in case."
"Just in case?" I knew what she was saying, but I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to leave Roark behind.
"Your mate asked me to protect you and this is what I'm doing." She was a doctor and seemed to remain cool under pressure, but I could see her eyes were slightly wild, her hands quick. "This is the only way out of here with the Drovers everywhere."
"Where are you going to send me?"
"It takes a couple minutes to power up, then a few more to enter new coordinates. Right now, this thing is still set to Earth." She waved at me again, but didn't look up from what she was doing at the transport controls. I felt like I was on a Star Trek episode waiting to say, "Beam me up, Scotty."
I stood and wiped the sand off my skin. I was covered, the fine grains coating my arms and chest and clinging like glitter to the soft fabric of my dress. It fell, spreading in a random mess all over the transport pad.
"Hurry. Hurry." The doctor muttered under her breath and I stopped with my hands on my thighs, rubbing at the sand. A loud clattering of metal, of sword striking sword, sounded from the entrance of the tent. The doctor cursed in her native tongue and I jumped, screaming as one of our guards flew backward through the entrance, a knife sticking out of his left eye socket.
"Go! Now!" Our remaining guard roared the order as he backed into the entrance. He fought three men that I could see. These Drovers were smaller than he, but fast and vicious. They were covered, head to toe in a dark brown robe and scarves that reminded me of desert nomads I'd seen on National Geographic. Their smaller swords flashing through the air so quickly I had trouble tracking the battle with my eyes.
"No!" I screamed. "What about Roark? Where's Roark?"
The doctor shook her head, shouting even as she worked the controls. "He's dead. I'm sorry. If they're here, he's already dead. I have to get you away from here."
"Dead? No!"
No. He couldn't be dead.
No. No. No.
The doctor yelled at me but I could no longer hear her. The floor vibrated beneath my feet. A bright blue light erupted from previously unseen lines. The brightness made me squint in pain as it formed a strange grid pattern on the transport pad. I tried to move off the pad, but I was trapped by the energy rising to choke me in a cloud of power and I could not breathe. The guard I'd barely met fell to his knees and one Drover slit his throat as another plunged a dagger into his side. I tried to reach out to them, to scream, but I couldn't do anything. I could only watch and do nothing.
Behind the doctor, the third Drover raced to her and plunged a dagger into her back. She screamed, I saw her mouth open as she sank to her knees, but I heard nothing now, nothing but the hum of the transport. One Drover plunged his knife into our guard's chest, over and over as I stood, frozen, watching with growing horror as the other attacker rushed toward me.
He lunged through the bright blue light, his gnarled and calloused hand grasping at me.
His fist tightened in my dress, tugging me mercilessly, relentlessly forward. I braced my feet and struck his arm with the dagger I still held. The gold blade struck his arm. Blood splattered on my dress, but he did not release me. Terrified, I pulled away from him with every ounce of strength I possessed. I felt the seam of my dress pop along my back as the dress ripped in two. The Drover fell back with a yell when the garment fell away from me, the seam in back exploding with a tearing sound that rattled my teeth.
Naked but for my sandals and the chains hanging from my breasts, I screamed at him, enraged that he'd killed the doctor, stabbed her in the back. Cold blooded. They'd also taken my mate from me. This was to be my fate on this stupid planet. The man I'd just begun to love, who had officially claimed me, was dead?
The hum surrounding me changed to a roar so loud I feared my skull would explode. I could not even scream as everything went black.
Chapter Eight
Roark
The chains around my wrists had worn through flesh to bone and a fever raged in my blood. My restraints were affixed to a heavy wooden post that ran the length of the Drovers' tent. I'd been beaten and starved, tortured for four long days, and still the Drovers had not revealed the reason for their attack, nor what they wanted from me.
I was surprised I still lived. The Drovers were not known for taking prisoners. Nor for torture. They preferred to strike and run. To kill indiscriminately, leaving no survivors. Ransom, perhaps? I heard of no other prisoners, saw none. I had to assume I'd been the only one caught. But why? Why was I still alive?
Something had changed, something fundamental to the future of my people. If the Drovers were employing new tactics, I needed to figure out why. I couldn't do it strung up like meat in this tent. I remembered searching for my parents, learning that they had transported as I'd wished. They were safe at home in Xalia.
Trying to clear the sand from my dry eyes, I blinked slowly, my entire body alive with pain.
And through it all, my only thoughts were of Natalie. My Natalie. My mate.
She had escaped their clutches. Of this I was certain. For if they had her, they would have used her against me, brought her here and tortured her before my eyes. They would have used her to break me. And, gods help me, they would have succeeded. I'd never tasted such heaven as I had in her arms. I would do anything to protect her, anything at all.
I had to get away, to find her. She was alone on Trion. She knew no one. Fark, she'd only been on the planet for a few days. The distance between us was more painful than the punishment the Drovers were inflicting on my body. She was saving me by just being in my thoughts. She was my motivation, my drive to remain alive. I promised her I wouldn't leave her alone, that I'd protect her, and I was failing her with every minute that passed, every beat of my heart.
I couldn't remain like this, chained. I had to escape. As I fumed, our suns set and the world became dark. There were no lights in the tent, the faint light of dusk barely penetrating the thick walls of the tent. My eyes adjusted to the darkness and I looked up as the tent flapped opened and a single Drover entered. They had arrived in groups the first day, perhaps concerned I would fight them. Now, they were confident, cocky that they'd tamped my spirit and were slowly crushing my body.
They were wrong. I was invigorated by their laziness. My weakened muscles now pumped with adrenaline. My hands clenched into fists in readiness.
The Drover never met my eye, only held his ion blaster in one hand and used a key to undo the chain from my wrist restraints. His stench filled my nostrils, acrid and bitter. Sweat and bitter oils made my nose burn. These bastards were barely above animals, would work for anyone who had coin. I wouldn't fight him here, not in the tent. I had to see how many others there were. I knew the basic layout of their compound from the other times they took me to a different tent to beat me. The Drovers who held me were not part of a large group, only a few tents made up the nomadic camp.
A push at my shoulder blades had me stumbling out into the fresh air. I looked about, although I could only see as far as the glow lanterns that hung from wooden stakes. All was quiet except for the snuffling sounds of their nox, the large animals they used as transport. The giant beasts were penned somewhere nearby. I didn't like the quiet as it was deceiving. The Drovers weren't ones to speak or socialize unnecessarily, and while there were no sounds coming from the various tents, I knew more enemies lurked than the one nudging me along.