“I look like a ninja,” Star said with a grin as she put the woven mask on. “It is so light it’s like not having anything on!” She exclaimed in surprise.
Madas chuckled. “That is why we like it. Otherwise, it would restrict our breathing.”
“Here are the weapons you had me pick up from Lady River,” Madas said pulling out the small crossbow that Star excelled at using, in addition, to several small throwing knives. “She said she would give us a one day head start before she told her mate. She is not aware that this star ship is faster than even the Kassisan warships. Still, I am sure they will be here to support us by the time we have need of it.”
Star looked at Madas puzzled. “Did you tell them where we were going?”
“No, but between Gril, Ajaska, and Torak I am sure they will be able to discover our location,” Madas assured Star. “Do not worry, little warrior. I would not risk your mate. I suspect if Tai Tek feels there is a possibility that his prison base had been discovered, he would have already killed Lord Jazin. It is better that only a small group are aware of what is happening until he is safe.”
Star nodded in agreement. “I hope you are right.” She looked at the small three-dimensional image of the fortress and sighed. “I hope you are right,” she repeated quietly.
*.*.*
Jarmen lowered his head as he walked by a small group of guards. The small device attached to his cloak rendered him invisible to the eye for the most part. The only thing that could still be seen were his glowing eyes, a left over from his days in the Mendes Research labs where he had been created. He pressed along the side, sucking in his breath when one of the guards staggered slightly, almost running into him. He might be invisible but he could still be felt. It had taken him longer than he expected to gain entrance to the prison. He had landed his small transport several kilometers away and hiked closer to the fortress four days before. He had camped just outside the dead zone, trying to figure out how he was going to get in. His luck changed on the morning of the fifth day when a small group of guards had driven a series of transports out through the entrance to discard waste in a nearby ravine that had broken open probably a thousand years ago. He waited until the last one backed up before grabbing a maintenance grip and holding on for the journey back to the prison.
He had searched section after section, level after level for where his friend was being held. He had almost given up until he rounded a corner and almost collided with Tai Tek. If one of the guards hadn’t called his attention at the last minute, Jarmen would now probably be enjoying the bottom of the deep ravine with the trash.
He had followed Tai Tek for almost an hour before the traitorous councilman finally made his way down to Jazin. Jarmen closed his eyes and cursed silently as his friend was tortured. There was nothing he could do to prevent it. He had been unable to follow Tai Tek into the room because of the number of guards standing in the way. The coward never went anywhere with less than twenty men surrounding him. It was only after he left that Jarmen was able to sneak into the cell and release his friend. He regretted he could not do more. He had slipped a dissolvable pain patch on Jazin but he could do nothing else until the huge Tearnat arrived with Torak’s and Ajaska’s forces. He had been shocked when the female mate of the Tearnat Leader had not only recognized him but told him things she shouldn’t have known. It was only her insistent demands that Jazin hadn’t been killed that had finally gotten through to him. He had done a little research and discovered the real video surveillance from the Uri Spaceport docking bay that Jazin had refueled at but had been skeptical until he had shown the video to the female. Once he saw the evidence for himself, he had contacted the female again and given her the prototype he and Jazin had been working on so it could be used to rescue Jazin. He knew only a small, stealthy team of warriors would be able to save Jazin before he could be executed. In the meantime, he would do what he could to help his friend survive until the warriors arrived.
Jarmen lifted his head and walked silently back down to the prison cell holding Jazin. His thoughts turned to a time when it had been him in such a place. His torture had been different. His tormentors had been the scientists experimenting on ways to create the ultimate warrior. They had succeeded to a certain extent. His body and mind were that of the perfect warrior. He could move, think, and kill faster than any other. The one thing they failed to do, though, was eliminate his conscious, no matter how many times they tried.
Jazin had discovered information about the illegal research facility from a drunken guard on leave. The man had a video chip of some of the experiments. He swore it was the only thing that kept him alive. The man told Jazin that other guards who decided to leave the research facility would disappeared only to later become one of the casualties of the researcher's experiments. He was determined he wouldn’t end up becoming a monster like what the doctors had created or dead like some of the other guards he had known. He had shown Jazin the disk. Jarmen had been the monster they had been working on at the time. A fortnight later, Jazin and a small group of his elite guards had entered the facility determined to shut it down. The battle had been brief but deadly. The researchers had ordered all experiments to be terminated immediately if the facility was breached. Jarmen wasn’t sure how many there had actually been but he knew he was one of the few to have survived from the records he had been able to hack into before the files were destroyed. He had been severely wounded by the guards. It had been Jazin who had saved him and taken him to the small isolated planet he now called his own. He had built a home and research lab of his own and only communicated with the young Kassisan prince who kept his existence a secret. He owed Jazin his life and more.