Chapter One
Warrior Nikhil Kozar didn't hesitate to fire his blaster, killing the Zaludian that was attempting to stop him from gaining entrance to the cave. He had never cared for the Zaludians. They were a race of scavengers that traveled the Known Universes looking for discarded resources that they could use and sell. And it seemed they had decided to mine the weak energy crystals that remained on Pontus while the Kaliszians’ attention was focused on the other side of their Empire, repelling the Ratak threat there.
He might have been able to forgive them as they were an opportunistic species, but he couldn't forgive their brutality. Six weeks ago, Emperor Wray Vasteri of the Tornian Empire was returning home from a meeting with the Kaliszian Emperor when his ship encountered Ganglians crossing between the Empires. Ganglians were banned from the Tornian Empire, so Emperor Vasteri fired on them, and then detained the Ganglian ship.
It should have ended there, but as the Emperor was traveling back from inspecting the Ganglian’s ship, with the abused female he’d discovered on it, a Zaludian ship attacked and caused the Emperor's shuttle to crash on Pontus. It took nearly a week for the combined forces of the Tornian and Kaliszian Empires to locate the Emperor due to a Pontus ground storm. Once the storm ended, the Tornian Emperor and the female he'd placed under his protection left Pontus. It was then that Nikhil's Emperor, Emperor Liron Kalinin, had ordered General Treyvon Rayner, the Supreme Commander of Kaliszian Defenses, and his Elite Warriors to investigate why the Zaludians had attacked. Nikhil was one of those Elite Warriors.
What they discovered had been shocking even to seasoned warriors. The Zaludians had reopened the old power crystal mines on Pontus, and were using illegal slave labor in them. This was the sixth site they had found, and with each one they were finding more and more bodies, telling them that this had been going on far longer than anyone had imagined.
Ducking into the next opening, he fired again killing another Zaludian. This one wore the red beads of command around his neck. Nikhil would have preferred to use the sword strapped to his back. He wanted the Zaludian to suffer just a portion of what their victims had at their hands, but in the close confines of the mine, he couldn't do that. His gaze traveled over the room, making sure he had eliminated all threats. He was about to move on, when he noticed a still form lying on a stone platform.
Moving closer, he felt his breath catch. Lying there so still was a restrained and severely beaten female whose coverings were barely held together. What in the name of the Goddess were the Zaludians doing with a female, especially one like this?
Zaludians resembled Kaliszians in that they walked on two legs and had two arms, but that was where any resemblance ended. They had no hair on their head, had no honor, and more importantly, could not join with any female that wasn't from their own species because their reproductive organs were in an entirely different location. They would have had only one use for a female such as this. To sell her to a pleasure house.
Reaching for his comm, Nikhil called for assistance.
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"What have you got, Nikhil?" Commander Gryf Solaun entered the room to find Warrior Kozar, a Squad Leader, standing completely still as he looked down at what appeared to be a small creature on the stone table.
"A female," Nikhil told him.
"What?!!" Gryf hustled to Nikhil's side, looking down at the creature in disbelief. "Why in the name of the Goddess would they have a female? Are you sure it's female?" Gryf wasn't sure Nikhil had been around many females, no matter the species, for Nikhil’s appearance put many off. Nikhil was a massive male by anyone's standards. Not so much in height, as both Gryf and the General were taller, but neither had Nikhil's girth which was all muscle. Because of his looks many avoided him, especially females. It didn't help that he rarely spoke, preferring to let his sword do it for him.
"Yes! Give me the covering!" Nikhil demanded, impatiently.
Frowning, Gryf handed what he'd brought to Nikhil and watched as Nikhil covered the female then carefully scooped her up, so her head rested over the heart in his mountainous chest.
"I need to get her to Luol."
Gryf knew he'd have a fight on his hands if he tried to stop Nikhil. He also knew he'd lose that fight. "Take Treyvon's transport. I will inform the General." Gryf turned to leave then stopped when his foot kicked something. Looking down, he saw a mangled metal restraint. He was about to ask Nikhil about it, but Nikhil was already gone.
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Mac wasn't sure where she was. She knew someone was carrying her, but she didn't know who. All she knew was that for the first time in what felt like forever, she felt safe. Why was that?