Hunting Cari (First Wave) (5 page)

Fury
rolled through Cari in waves as she realized that Vincent had just ordered his
men to take their time raping and hurting Jess. The breeding…. She felt so
stupid not realizing it before. They were raping Jess to get her pregnant. And
they intended to do that to her as well. Like hell!

Her
anger began radiating from her uncontrolled. No longer pretending to be
unconscious Cari began bucking and swinging wildly trying to tear the ropes
from the rafters. Hearing Jess scream outside the barn, only made her try
harder to break the ropes and help the girl.

“I
see you’ve awakened. We could have begun sooner, had I known.” Vincent Baker
said quietly as he reached out to touch her cheek.

“You
fucking piece of shit! Don’t you fucking touch me; you disgusting parasite!”
Cari screamed into his face. Bucking and twisting her body in the ropes to get
away from his touch and break the ropes, her anger growing stronger.

“You
might want to learn to be nicer to me. Because I can either be nice to you, or
I can give you to the rest of the men, as entertainment, like that little
mouse.” Vincent fairly growled at her, his temper clearly rising.

“You
better damn well kill me, you bastard, because I will NEVER be nice to you!
EVER! Do you understand me; you piece of filth! Just you wait you bastard! I
will kill you myself!” Cari screamed at him furiously, completely forgetting
what Jess had warned her about staying calm.

“I
just may end up killing you bitch, but only when I’m done with you. I’ve spent
years hunting you. And I will get a child off you if I have to keep you tied up
until you drop it!” Vincent said coldly, trying hard to control the anger her
words had caused. The little bitch dares to call him names! She should be
honored, he bothered to choose her! Maybe a lesson in who was her master was in
order.

“You’re
such a fucking idiot! YOU can’t get our kind pregnant you moron! You know why?
Because the All Father determined a LONG time ago that, your kind needed to
become extinct! Your kind has no useful place anywhere! You’re parasites,
nothing more than ignorant mongrels that should be destroyed like a bad virus!”
Cari screamed back at him, jerking at the ropes.

Vincent
could no longer control his anger, and backhanded Cari across the face hard
enough to knock her off her feet, leaving her swinging by her wrists. Now maybe
she would be more amendable to his touch. He did not spend years following her
to tolerate this kind of behavior from her. She would bow to his superiority
and eventually be grateful for his attentions. He would make sure of it.

Cari’s
head rocked from the blow, and she could feel the blood trickling down her chin
from what she presumed was a split lip. Although she knew she should be in a
lot of pain from a blow like that, surprisingly she didn’t hurt that bad.
Catching herself, she regained her feet and stopped herself from swinging.
Letting her anger get hold of her, she licked up as much blood from her mouth
as she could, looked up at Vincent, and spit it directly into his face. She
watched in satisfaction as the blood and spit slid slowly down his face.

“Apparently
you need some lessons in who now owns you little bitch. I’ll teach you respect
one way or another.” Vincent vowed furiously while he wiped her blood from his
face.

“Go
rot in the deepest fires of hell you fucking bastard! You will never own me!
You’ll never have me! And you’re the one who needs to learn respect, since
parasites are the lowest form of life in ANY universe, everyone and everything
is above you! You should be outside bowing down and serving anything that
crosses your path!” Cari replied with venomous hatred, not caring how mad she
made him. This bastard killed her uncle. His kind and maybe even he killed her
parents. She shook with rage.

The
fist to her stomach, literally lifted her several feet off the ground and took
her breathe from her lungs. The force of her body coming back down jerked her
wrists and arms painfully. Her breathe came back with a whoosh, sparking her
anger even more. Although the blow was painful, it was nothing she couldn’t
handle. She wasn’t sure if her anger and adrenaline were helping or not.
However, she knew she’d be sore later, if she lived.

Thing
is, if a life like Jess’s was in her future, she’d rather be dead anyway. And
from the conversation the men had earlier, it’d be days before Jess would be
able to try to help her. She would rather die than let Vincent touch her that
way. “Fuck you, you pathetic piece of trash! You even hit like a girl!” Cari
taunted.

Cari
heard, more than felt, several ribs breaking from the next blow to her side.
After that, she lost count of the blows and where they landed. She wasn’t even
sure how many blows it had taken before the blissful darkness took her again.
 

*****

“Cari…”
Randor Macner moaned for what seemed like the tenth time in the past half hour.
However, he still wouldn’t fully awaken, and it was driving Scaden crazy.
Running his hand through his hair, he got up from the chair he’d been sitting
in at MedLab for the last moon cycle, and began pacing the room.

The
only information that he’d been able to piece together so far is that the
female’s name must be Cari. Although an unusual name, he liked it. He liked the
sound of it on his lips. And he wanted to know more about her and where she
was. However, Randor still hadn’t awakened, and Amun was at a loss on how to
force him.

“Cari!!!"
It was said with such force, that Scaden turned around. Randor had sat up in
bed and began to pull the medibands off his body. “Cari” He repeated with such
sadness, even Scaden felt sick with sadness.

“Wait.
Randor wait.” Scaden said gently drawing the man’s attention to him.

“Where
is she? What have you done with her?! I swear by the All Father, I will kill
every one of you if you hurt her!” Randor cried out, reaching his arms to
Scaden as if to strangle him.

Scaden
watched as Randor's arms fell uselessly at his sides; the healing not yet
completed taking the last of his energy to move.

“Randor,
calm yourself or we will not be able to help your Cari. I am Commander Scaden
Torenson, of the ship Adaria, commissioned by the planet Valendra.” Scaden
stated simply, waiting for his words to sink into Randor's mind. When Randor
didn’t move, but looked at him blankly, he continued.

“We
were in the area doing standard scans when we saw your distress beacon. We came
as soon as we could. But your Cari was already gone, and you gravely wounded
when we arrived. I need you to tell us what happened. How did you get a female?
Where is she?” Scaden asked.

“How
do I know you’re Valendran, and not another damn Relian? Give me some proof!”
Randor demanded, not willing to give up any information regarding Cari, in case
she’d been able to escape.

Scaden
admired the man’s protective instincts and therefore, called Amun into the room
when he would have rather throttled the information out of the man! Where was
the female?! Luckily, Amun came into the MedLab area and immediately began
assessing Randor's injuries.

“Commander,
he’s only at fifty eight percent on his body functions. You have to allow him
to rest. He can’t tell you anything if he is dead.” Amun said putting the
medibands back on Randor.

Scaden
ran his hand through his hair in frustration and annoyance.

Turning
back to Randor, he said, “We were in the quadrant doing a random check on the
area when we received a distress signal that was over two thousand years old.
After the attack on the outpost, this area was deemed too far away for support
to arrive, and it was agreed that basic overview was only required. Until we
got the beacon. We arrived on the planet to find you almost dead; a Relian
presence had been in your housing quarters, and a Valendran female was missing.
How did you get a Valendran female on an outpost?” Scaden asked trying to hold
in his frustration, and coax the information out of him about the female.

“Who
is my father?” Randor challenged Scaden.

“Your
Father is Duncar Macner. He is on the Council of Elders and has long mourned
your death on the Outpost, as well as many others. You were lead scientist to
the Outpost on the planet now called Mars. There was communication, and a
beacon sent out warning of a Relian attack on the outpost, then nothing. It was
assumed since all of our ships were destroyed on the planet that all survivors
had perished.”

“Because
it took so long for help to arrive, it was decided this planet was in its
infancy and didn’t need the regular watching of an outpost until they had progressed
further. We mourned your deaths and moved on. I am sorry for that decision. We
received your distress beacon during a routine patrol. We need to know about
the female. She wasn’t there when we retrieved you, and the records show no
females assigned to your Outpost.” Scaden told Randor as honestly as he could.

Scaden
hoped the man would reveal some kind of information about the female. Her scent
was driving him crazy. Knowing she belonged to someone else would surely dampen
his need to own her, to dominate her. Damn just to find her and see what she
looked like. He felt like he was losing his mind with wondering and worrying
about her.

“I
will explain anything you want, after we find Cari. Please we have to find her.
She’s so damn stubborn… her gift... it has to be running wild. We have to find
her now. We can’t wait.” Randor said worriedly, grabbing Scaden’s arm as if to
force him to do as he requested.

“She
is alone, and so impulsive… just like her mother. If we don’t act soon, she
will end up dead. By her own hand or the hand of the Relians. Either way,
she’ll end up dead. Please, I beg you, questions later. We have to find her
now.” Randor pleaded.

“We
will find your mate. We have trajectory scans of the vehicles that they used to
remove her from the housing unit. We will find her.” Scaden told him sadly,
realizing that through the depth of his emotions, the female must be his mate.

“She’s
not my mate. She is my clan though, by choice. I’ve raised and protected her
since she was a very small child, after the Relians had killed her mother and
father. Her father was Mikel Lakatis. I failed her. I don’t know how they found
us.” Randor said on a tired whisper, his thoughts jumbled.

Amun
and Scaden looked at each other in total shock. Not only was there a female
Valendran out there but a child? A female child? And she was the child of one
of the presumed dead, who is also the son of another Council member? How did
this happen? Scaden chose his next words carefully.

“Randor,
how old is Cari?” He asked gently.

“She’s
twenty six years old. Her full name is Caretia Ann Lakatis. Mikel named her
after his mother and his mate. She grew into such a beautiful woman. Always
such a good child. But stubborn. So very stubborn. That’s why we have to find
her soon, or they’ll kill her. She won’t allow them to touch her and try to
breed her. She’ll make them kill her first.” Randor said on a broken sob.

Scaden
tried very hard to control his rage. He would not allow anyone to touch her or
breed with her! “Assemble the Tact Team and prepare to port back to the housing
unit immediately.” He fairly growled into his comm unit.

“You
have to know something before you go. Our children were born here with special
gifts. Cari is what we’ve called a projectionist. She can project her emotions
to everyone around her and make them feel what she is feeling. She can make
everyone around her afraid, or happy or angry. If you begin to feel emotions
normally foreign to you or the situation, then you’ve found her. Try to fight
through the emotions. Don’t let it control you. She’s most likely projecting
anger, so they’ll kill her or fear in order to keep them away from her.” Randor
warned, the exhaustion of his injuries evident in his voice.

“There
are more children out there on this planet?” Amun asked in shock.

“Yes,
at least twenty or thirty at last count, if not more by now. We’ve lost dozens
to the Relian attacks, including my own mate and child. It is a long story, and
one we don’t have time for now.” Randor replied, before succumbing to a healing
sleep.

“There
are more females out there? How did they get mates?” Amun asked Scaden.

“I
don’t know. Right now, there is one female we know is in danger, and we have to
find her. We can tear this planet apart to find the others later.” Scaden replied
walking out of the MedLab.

He
walked down the corridor to the Tact Team room on the transport. He tried hard
to get his head wrapped around the idea of, there being more Valendran children
on this planet. And what did Randor mean about 'her gift', did the other
children have the same gift? He couldn’t seem to understand his own need to
find this girl. The thought of anyone touching her, drove him crazy and made
him want to violently harm someone. However, a Relian touching her… he wanted
to tear them apart with his bare hands.

Walking
into the Tact Team Room he looked around at all of his men. Trusted men.
However, he knew if even one of them touched her, he’d harm them. And he just
couldn’t understand why, but he knew it to be a fact.