Page 17 of Redeeming Captivity (Human Pets of Talin #7)

Chapter 17

Lena

After packing a few canisters of water and a couple of items she thought might be useful, Lena set off after Tarquin. Unlike their journey to the ghost town, which wasn’t a direct route due to navigation by large landmarks, Lena was able to follow the path left by the ground transport. She didn’t need to watch for observation bots either; there were none in the air anywhere.

Now that they had Tarquin, they weren’t looking any longer. If they thought she was dead, that could only help.

Anger and worry made her cover ground quickly. She didn’t care about all the minor aches and pains that plagued her as the morning passed, nothing mattered but getting to Tarquin.

Even though following the scuffs and disturbed rocks left by the ground transport was faster, it still took her marks to reach the base. Never once did she stop her relentless pace. It was only when the base came into view that she slowed.

Although it was doubtful anyone was watching, she traveled from boulder cluster to boulder cluster until she was crouched close to a collection of buildings that marked the oldest section of the base. They’d been the first structures erected when the Talins arrived and were mostly used for storage now.

One of the buildings had a door facing away from the rest of the base. There wasn’t anyone walking close by. The only activity she could see was in the distance at the port section of the base.

Sprinting to the building, she found it unlocked and ducked inside. The place was piled high with supplies and boxes marked in the special symbols the military used to designate grades of weapons.

After opening several boxes, she found only charge packs and reloading cylinders but none of the weapons that used them. She wasn’t surprised, it would be unlikely that they’d store weapons where anyone could get ahold of them.

Getting into the armory would be impossible, but she knew there was a cache of weapons in Jafinium’s private home. She hadn’t known that wasn’t common until a soldier had commented to another about it.

She kept going through the boxes until she found a container full of code-switching comms. They weren’t used often because every Talin had an Ident that could do just about everything. Code-switching comms were popular when working with species that didn’t use Idents.

It took a little experimenting to figure out how to turn it on and activate the scanning feature. It burbled for a submark before it finally settled and fully formed words started coming out.

“Final checks are completed. Add Ship 23 to the pilot queue,” a voice said. She recognized the voice, it was Port Commander Lashuri. The code-switching comm was working and picking up everything being transmitted.

As much as she wanted to rush around and find Tarquin, she needed to be smart about this. Sitting down to rest, she listened to the code-switching comm for a quarter of a mark. No one mentioned Tarquin or her. That wasn’t surprising, but she got some good information about where most of the base population was located. Jafinium was organizing a massive launch of ships to join those already participating in a joint readiness exercise.

She had a good idea of how many soldiers had already been sent off, which was over half the base. With the additional numbers she was getting from the code-switching comm, another quarter had left and more were scheduled to go. The base was running on the absolute minimum personnel possible.

That gave her a plan. It wasn’t a great plan, and it relied on her getting a little lucky, but it was the best she could do.

After silencing the comm, she stuck it in the bag. Securing the bag closed, she pulled it back onto her shoulder and left the building.

Now she understood why she didn’t see anyone; they were all busy or gone. The timing couldn’t be better.

Sprinting from building to building, she made her way to Jafinium’s house. It was near the center of the base, and despite how few soldiers were left, she came close to getting caught once. It was only because the two were having a conversation that she was able to duck behind a sweeper bot slowly making its way between buildings.

“...but I’m sure the war will be short,” one said.

“I know you’re right. I’m only worried for my family on Rora Colony,” the other said. “They are reliant on trade for the fuel rod replacements. Without them, they’re vulnerable to power outages.”

“They only need replacement once a solar, correct?”

“Yes, but still…”

The two moved far enough away that she couldn’t make out words any longer. She knew exactly what war they were talking about. Jafinium had been planning it for solars, even before she arrived.

It occurred to her that she should probably tell Tarquin about Jafinium’s plans. Assuming they got out of this alive.

She made it the rest of the way without incident. Using a back entrance, she slipped inside the house. The weapons were stored on the second floor near Jafinium’s office. It was going to be hard to get access, but if she was patient and timed everything right, she should be successful.

She’d be easy to spot going up the short flight of stairs, so she hid and listened. While her hearing might not be as good as the average Talin, the house was built in a way that almost every sound echoed.

After a while, she was almost positive that there wasn’t anyone inside. She was about to move when she heard a shuffling. She froze, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.

It took a few submarks, but then she heard it again. It was as if someone was shifting something along the floor in one of the rooms in the hall where her cage was located. That made sense, there was storage over there.

If someone was in the house and looking for something, she needed to move now!

Running on her toes, she practically flew up the stairs. At the top, she rushed down the hall toward Jafinium’s office. Stopping short of the office door, she felt around the wall until she found the hidden switch. A soft press made a narrow hidden panel slide open and revealed a large niche full of weapons.

It was a little overwhelming. Taking in all the weapons, she searched for one that she’d seen used. As she looked, she spotted Tarquin’s belt and Ident. She grabbed those and shoved them in her bag, then went back to looking at everything else. Most of them only looked vaguely familiar, not enough for her to confidently wield them.

There! It was a weapon that fired small exploding projectiles. Not only had she seen it used, but it was small enough for her to carry. Although she’d need two hands while the Talins only used one.

There was a spot on the side of the weapon that was meant to secure it to a Talin’s belt. She tried it with her rope belt, relieved when it worked perfectly.

She filled her pockets with extra munitions for the weapon, then looked at the other items in the niche. What she needed was something that would explode after she’d left. An explosion inside Jafinium’s home would draw everyone here and give her an opportunity to free Tarquin from the brig at the port.

As she searched, she found Jafinium’s ceremonial dagger. Talins who served the military were issued one. It was a sign of honor among Talins and the only weapon you could carry in the open on their homeworld, Talarian, without special permission.

Instead of accepting the standard one given to every Talin soldier, Jafinium had an ornate one specially commissioned. He prized the ostentatious weapon, which meant she didn’t even hesitate to grab it. It tucked perfectly into her belt at the small of her back.

Grabbing the dagger upended a stack of items. She picked some up and turned them over. The description and instructions were brief and warned the user not to accidentally kill themself twice.

She read the three-step process to set and arm the weapon several times. She tucked two in her bag and carefully set the time on the third. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and armed it. If she did any of the steps wrong, she wouldn’t be alive long enough to know it.

Nothing happened. Opening an eye, she looked down to see a tiny display marking the countdown. Hastily she set it back into the niche and shut the panel.

Running back down the hall and to the stairs she debated which way would be the best to get to the port. She hit the bottom of the stairs, turned right, and ran into something hard. Falling back with a cry, she looked up to find Gaklum staring down at her.

“We thought you were dead!” he exclaimed with a surprised rattle.

Sprawled out on the floor, Lena froze in terror. She feared Jafinium the most, but Gaklum was a close second. Jafinium was vicious because he was impatient and had strict ideas of how a pet should behave. Gaklum didn’t care about comportment or appearances, he simply liked being cruel.

Getting over his surprise, Gaklum crouched down and sounded a happy rumble. “Did you miss me? Did you survive the winds to come back to me? The little human likes it when I hurt her.”

She couldn’t take her eyes off him and her body wouldn’t even let her shake her head let alone reach for the weapon on her belt. She wanted to scream with rage but also curl up in a ball and sob in panic.

“Who’s there!”

The yelled question helped pull her out of the freeze. “Tarquin?” she whispered, surprised to hear him inside Jafinium’s house. Was that the shuffling she’d heard? Had they locked him in her cage?

Suddenly she wasn’t afraid of Gaklum any longer. She had to get herself and Tarquin out of this house or they’d all die inside it!

Fumbling with the weapon, she pulled it off her belt and raised it up with shaking hands.

“Move!” she demanded, proud that she got that word out even if it wasn’t as loud or commanding as she wanted.

Gaklum took in the weapon then focused on her face. Sounding an amused rumble, he snatched it out of her hands before she even realized he was moving.

“You didn’t even have the charge on,” he sneered, holding the weapon up and pointing to a small display on the top of it. “You disappoint me, stupid human. That wasn’t even a good attempt to kill me.”

While he pointed out her mistake, she reached behind her back and pulled out Jafinium’s dagger.

With a primal scream of rage, she brought it forward and lunged at the crouched Gaklum. Like the gun, it was meant to be a single-handed weapon for Talins, but she wrapped both hands around it.

It was clear she took him by surprise because he flinched and toppled back, sending the gun skittering away. She followed him with the blade tip and aimed for his eye, but one of his arms swept down to knock her blade away. It only succeeded in re-aiming it for his throat.

The tip hit the fine keratin plates of his neck, but she didn’t give up. It slid down until it sank into the thin gap at the base of his neck where there were no armor plates.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Gaklum roared and grabbed her left wrist to pull her away. Ignoring the pain he was causing, and threw her weight forward.

Gaklum bellowed in pain as the blade sank in. He let go of her wrist and shoved her off. Staggering to his feet, he grabbed the handle and yanked the weapon free. Blood spewed out of the wound.

Lena got to her feet and staggered back. Gaklum dropped the dagger and put both hands to his neck, trying to stem the flow.

“Help,” he said, voice garbled by the damage. He took a step toward her, but fell to his knees, eyes wide and pleading.

Moving to the side to keep him from getting to her, she saw the gun and dagger nearby. Both were covered in Gaklum’s spraying blood. Ignoring the gore, she snatched the weapons up.

Gaklum tried to talk again, blood flowing rapidly out from between his fingers. Staring at him while she sheathed the dagger at the small of her back, she sneered.

“Rot!” she hissed at him.

She’d never killed anyone before. She’d never even seriously injured another person. Should she feel guilty or upset watching Gaklum die? What did this say about her?

Jafinium and Gaklum had made her as evil as them!

A loud, desperate rattle turned her attention to the hall and her old cage. No, she wasn’t as evil as them, she had Tarquin.

Her soul was safely held in the light by his love.

Ignoring Gaklum’s gurgles, she ran down the hall, skidding to a stop at the cage door. Inside was Tarquin, bound and thrashing around.

“Tarquin?” That single word made him stop moving.

“Lena, you shouldn’t be here!” he said, trying to wiggle his body closer to the door. “You should leave me here and go to the pickup site! Hurry!”

She shook her head at him. How could he think she would leave him behind? She looked at the display for the cage door. Her hand wouldn’t open it. Only the soldiers who worked closely with Jafinium would be able to open the door.

Kneeling down, she reached between the bars. She had to press her shoulder hard against the metal, but she was able to brush her fingers against Tarquin’s face. Purring, he wiggled his body closer until she could lay her palm against his cheek.

“Please, don’t put yourself in danger,” he begged. “You need to escape. I can’t stand the thought of you under the power of any of these abusers again.”

Time was ticking by. If she’d done it correctly, the bomb she armed would be going off soon. She needed to get Tarquin out but didn’t have time to explain using her poor verbal abilities. Hoping he understood, she pressed against his scent gland, covering her fingers with bonding oil. Bringing her hand back she rubbed the oil on her face and lips.

“Love you,” she whispered, then stood up and rushed back to Gaklum.

“You will always be my scent-bonded partner,” Tarquin called after her, his voice full of pain. “I will see you again in the Domicile of the Souls.”

She hated that he didn’t understand but focused on her task. Gaklum lay motionless, hands still clutched to his throat. He wasn’t as big as Tarquin but was still an average-sized Talin, which meant she’d never be able to drag him down the hall to the cage.

Thankfully she didn’t need his entire body, only his hand.

“I can hear you moving out there,” Tarquin called. “I told you to run! Go now while you still can!”

Ignoring him, she grabbed hold of Gaklum’s arm and pulled it straight. Unsheathing the dagger, she gripped it with both hands and held it up high. Bringing it down with all her strength, the edge of the blade only bounced off his wrist. Looking closer, she realized she’d only chipped the hard keratin plating.

Chopping wasn’t going to work. Laying the tip of the dagger between two plates, she pressed down with her body weight. The tip sank in slowly as Gaklum’s flesh gave way. Something hard moved the blade slightly to one side, but it kept going. Finally she felt the tip hit the floor.

Rearranging her grip, she knelt on his elbow and levered the blade down to cut half the wrist. It was gruesome, and she was forced to do a combination of sawing and pressing. Finally half the wrist was cut and she shifted and started again.

When all that was left was bone, she raised the blade and brought it down hard to break it. It took three blows, but finally the hand was separated with ragged, bloody flesh hanging off.

Grabbing the hand, she sprinted back to the cage with the bloody blade in one hand and the dripping hand in the other. When she got to the cage she ignored Tarquin’s questions, rattles, and rumbles. With single-minded focus, she pressed the hand to the display; a micromark later the cage door slid open.

Tarquin went silent and rolled on his belly to give her access to his bound wrists. The flex-cuffs were easy to get off by anyone who wasn’t wearing them. She pressed and pulled, and both cuffs released. Tossing them aside, she moved down to his ankles and did the same.

The moment Tarquin was free he turned over and grabbed her in a hug.

“Not time,” she said, pushing hard against him. “Go!”

He didn’t ask any clarifying questions. Keeping her held tight to his chest, he got to his feet and left the cage. She pointed and he sprinted. They burst into the light as a small explosion rocked the building.

She had a clear view from over his shoulder as they ran. Disappointment hit her. That was it? All that anxiety and—

A massive explosion made Tarquin stumble a step as he moved behind another building.

Tarquin leaned against it and slid down until she was sitting on his lap. She turned to face him.

“Did you do that?” he asked, tilting his head briefly to indicate the burning building.

She grinned up at him and nodded.

“And you cut off someone's hand to get me free?”

A grimace twisted her lips when she nodded again.

“Remind me never to introduce you to Lakin,” he said with an amused rumble. “The two of you might bring down the entire empire!”