Karac: Kaldar Warriors #1 (6 page)

Karac

“Karac?  We can’t seem to find anything on her to locate her current whereabouts.”  Darrok pushed his computer away in disgust.  “No phone, no credit cards, nothing.  It looks like we are going to have start from scratch.”  They were talking in Karac’s office again.  Karac could see the frustration on Darrok’s face over his inability to find any information on Karac’s mate, but he also felt it was because he wasn’t finding anything on his own mate too.  Karac understood and sympathized with the warrior.  He felt the same way.

“We will go to her parents’ house.”  Karac said.  “They haven’t moved in 27 years.  They should know, or at least have an idea, where their youngest female is.”  Karac was ready for the hunt. Soon after finding out who his mate was, Darrok and his team started tracking and tracing all communication and travel that any relatives and friends that Ashley had.  Even with all their digging and efforts, there was still no sign of her.  Karac knew it was time to physically make an appearance and talk to her family.

He had exchanged his formal flowing attire for more practical clothing.  His warrior gear.  Now the only thing that made him stand out among his warriors was the insignia on the front of his leather vest and his commanding presence.  The insignia was of a crown and two swords crossed and pointed down.  Only his warriors knew the true meaning of the symbol.  The humans never asked and he was disinclined to share the information anyways.  Looking down at his outfit, he felt at home in his warrior clothes.  Weapons at the tip of his fingers, he was ready for anything.  And he was going to find his mate.  He looked back up at Darrok. 

“Find Calzen and tell him, you, me, him, and five others he chooses will be taking a trip in one hour.”

“You want me to notify the closest law enforcement agency?”

“I suppose we must.”  Karac shook his head.  It was a pain in the ass to have one of their human enforcers with them whenever they traveled on the planet.  But, that was part of the agreement and for now, Karac was all about keeping the peace with local officials while his warriors searched for their mates. 

“We will meet you at the ship in one hour.”  Darrok nodded to Karac as he left the room.  Karac studied the planet out the window, excited to finally be going planet side to search for his mate.  All the inactivity of using technology grated on his warrior’s nerves.  He wanted action.  He wanted to hunt.  Today, he was getting his wish.

He strode from Command and stopped at navigation, informing them he would be planet side but to contact him if they had emergencies.  After that, he walked through the halls to his private quarters.  The warriors saluted him as he passed and he acknowledged each one.  On the ship he tried to maintain equality with his warriors.  At home, diplomacy didn’t allow this, but since this was his ship, he followed his own rules. 

As he entered his quarters, he walked directly across the room to his personal collection of weapons.  As a warrior, weapons were an extension of one’s hand.  All warriors learned from an early age how to wield a sword, throw knives, and fight with their bare hands.  Projectile weapons, like guns and lasers, were considered dishonorable to fight with.  While the ships were armed with these weapons, the warriors themselves followed a strict code of honor.  Most of their adversaries or fellow allies held the same beliefs.  Their allies did because they were all honorable.  Their adversaries did merely because they knew every race in the galaxy would consider them cowards if they did otherwise.  Of course, there were a few that didn’t care one way or the other.  Karac grinned at that thought.  The only projectile weapon Kaldarhn warriors had on their persons was a stun gun.  The ones who fought without honor were quickly subdued, and the Kaldarhn warriors stripped them of every weapon besides a blade or their fists.  That’s when the warriors really had fun. 

Karac added a few more blades to his chest straps which held the swords on his back.  He pulled both swords from the scabbard on his back and spent a few moments swinging the blades back and forth to lessen some of his tension.   He worked through several series of moves before his body slowly relaxed.  For good measure, he repeated the moves three more times each.  After the last series, he sheathed his swords and turned to the small cooling unit along the wall.  He strode over, opened the door and picked up a bottle of water.  Chugging the whole thing, he looked down at his hand computer and noticed that he had only ten minutes before he was to meet the others.  He threw the bottle in the recycling on his way out the door. 
Time to go hunting.
  Karac grinned. 

Karac, Calzen, Darrok, and five other warriors boarded the shuttle to descend to earth.  Apparently his little mate had grown up in rural Montana – some subsection of the United States of America.  She was raised on a farm, smart from the looks of her school grades and educational classes, and a humanitarian at heart.  Karac was already forming a picture of her character in his head.  He grinned, she was perfect.  Her personality and character would be exactly what was needed for the mate of someone in his position. 

They landed near the side of a small law enforcement agency in the country near the town where her parents lived.  Apparently this was where his mate was supposed to report to be registered.  Not that she bothered herself with doing that.  No, she had to go and wipe herself from the face of the planet.  But he would catch her.  And when he did, she would be his. 

As they exited the shuttle, a small group of law enforcement personnel was there to greet them.  The shock on their faces as they saw Karac in his warrior uniform was almost humorous. As warriors, they concealed their emotions behind a stone wall but internally, Karac was grinning from ear to ear.  

“Karac, sir, I wasn’t expecting you to be decked in battle gear.”  The man in front addressed him.  Karac didn’t bother to answer and finally the man continued as he cleared his throat.  “I am the Sheriff of this County.  I heard you were on your way down and was wondering what we could do for you?”

“My mate is missing.”  Karac didn’t hesitate or mince words.  Time was of the essence and waiting on human enforcers was not something he was keen on. 

“Your mate?  I wasn’t aware you had mated one of our women.”  The Sheriff looked back at the other human males around him, gauging if any of them had heard.  Karac didn’t wait for an answer. 

“She is missing from the registry, but I know who she is.  I’m here to find her.”

“How did you find out who she is without the registry?”  Another male piped up.  Karac glared until the male looked away. 

“That is between myself and your government.  Now, I’m required to have one of your enforcers accompany us on our mission.  Which of you will come?”

“I’ll go Sheriff.”  A slightly smaller man stepped forward and introduced himself.  “I’m Chief Deputy Michael Higgs.”

“Fine.”  Karac said dismissively.  “You’ll follow in your own vehicle.”  Karac turned toward the two black SUVs that his warriors backed out of the shuttle.  When they first arrived, they needed a way to blend in, so they had “acquired” the black vehicles.  No one ever questioned where they come from, not that any of his warriors would have said if asked.  Blending in never really worked, but it was nice to have transportation around the planet. 

“Who is your mate?  Do you know her name?” The Chief Deputy asked as he walked slightly behind Karac.

“Her name is Ashley Jacobson.”

“Ashley?”  The way the Chief Deputy said his mate’s name had Karac turning around.  “Ashley is your mate?”

“You know her?”  Karac was not at all comfortable with the familiarity the man was showing towards his mate. 

“Yeah, her old job used to require us to work together.  She’s a sweet girl.”  He paused, looking past Karac at the other warriors waiting before looking back at him.  “You’re sure she’s your mate?”

“Why would you doubt it?”  Karac growled.  The man didn’t seem to take the hint. 

“Well, she’s nice, and, well, uh, happy, all the time.  She loves her family.  She won’t be too pleased about going anywhere with you.”  The Chief Deputy had guts expressing his opinion like that, or maybe he was just stupid.  However, if Karac didn’t have to keep up an image, he would put the little male in his place.   

“We’ll see about that.”  Karac glared at the implied accusations that he wouldn’t be able to keep his mate happy.  “Follow us and don’t interfere.”  Michael nodded, gulped, and ran to his car to jump inside.  Apparently he hadn’t hid his emotions as well as he thought.  Shrugging internally, Karac folded himself into the front passenger side of the first SUV.  “Let’s move.”  Calzen, who was driving, nodded and started forward.  Earth’s driving wasn’t too dissimilar from their own.  It just took some getting used to.  Calzen took to it faster than any of the others.  One of the main reasons he was driving the lead vehicle now. 

From the directions, Ashley’s parents’ home was only a little ways south of where they were.  It shouldn’t take them more than 20 minutes to get there.  Soon they were pulling off the highway and onto a rocky road.  Karac was getting more impatient by the minute.  There was a slim chance that she would be at her parents’ house since she made such an effort to erase her connection to anything on Earth.  But some people believed hiding in plain sight was the best option.  At the very least, he was hoping for clues to lead him to her.  Karac openly grinned as they traveled down the rocky road, the hunt was on. 

Ashley

“No, Ashley!”  Nathan said warningly with his hands raised out in front of him in a warding gesture.  “Put it down or I swear to God…“ 

“You swear what?”  Laughing I aimed the garden hose at Nathan’s chest but didn’t pull the trigger, yet. 

“If you soak me I’ll tackle you and hose
you
down.”  He was still holding his hands out in front of him to try to ward off my impending water gun. 
Yeah, like that was going to help.
  I giggled. 

“Only if you can catch me!”  With that, I blasted him.  Laughing I circled around as he tried to come at me.  Finally he got smart and grabbed the hose on the ground and started reeling me in. 

“No!”  Laughing, I tried to plant my feet.  “That’s cheating!”

“No such thing in this game.”  His jeans and grey t-shirt were soaked but he was grinning ear to ear.  I was still laughing even as I threw the nozzle down and sprinted toward the house. 
He couldn’t, wouldn’t, get me wet in the house, right? 
Before I went ten steps, an arm wrapped around me and dragged me back in the direction of the hose. 

“No!  No, no, no you can’t do that!  I won’t cook you anything for a month!”  I threatened while laughing. 

“Guess I’ll have to pull out my old recipes then.”  He held my arm while he reached down for the hose.  I yanked on my arm trying to get loose to no avail.  The man had a death grip on my arm. 

“Old recipes?  You ate deer sausage, cheese, and crackers on a daily basis.  I’m surprised you could take a crap with as much cheese as you ate.”  I laughed as I remembered how he used to eat the first couple weeks before I took over the meals. 

“Hey now, it was a balanced diet.”  He replied indignantly.  He pulled the hose around and aimed it at me, and I froze.  He still had a hold of my arm so I couldn’t run away.  “Now you have two choices.”

“What’s that?” I asked still trying to contain my laughter and eying the hose at the same time.

“Be hosed down until every inch of you is soaking wet or…”  He trailed off, waiting for me to look at him. 

“Or?”  I caught my breath at the heated look in his eyes.

“Or, you give me a kiss.”  He replied softly. 

“A kiss?”  When did I become a parrot? 

“Your choice.”  He held the hose up as a warning but he had a small grin on his face too. 

“You want to kiss me?”  The hose was long forgotten now. 

“No, I want
you
to kiss
me
.”  I kept looking at him, wondering where shy Nathan went.  He wanted me to kiss him?  I’ve never kissed a boy, or man, before.  What can I say?  I was never that into boys in high school.  In college there weren’t any I was really interested in.  Then when I started working, there weren’t any guys that showed an interest and that I had an interest in return.  I wasn’t going to just go around kissing or jumping into bed with any guy.  They had to earn my trust.  Sadly, no one fit that bill.  And the first time should be with someone you love.  Again, sadly I’ve never been in love.  Looking at Nathan…now, there’s a sweet guy.  He let me stay with him, ok, hide out in his house.  He was nice, good looking, not self-centered and I truly trusted the guy.  So, one kiss?  Sure, I could do that. 

I stepped forward and Nathan’s eyes widened slightly. 
Did he not think I would do it?
 
Oh well, I was committed now. 
I took one more step to close the distance and was just reaching up to touch his face when I heard it.  A car was coming down the road.  A split second later Nathan heard it too and pushed me toward a bush in the backyard.  Our pending kiss was forgotten with the danger of discovery on the horizon.  The yard was pretty well isolated and you could barely see the road now that all the trees were leafed out but Nathan wasn’t taking any chances.  And I was perfectly ok with that. 

Peeking through the bush, I saw two unknown black SUVs followed by a Sheriff’s car passing Nathan’s house.  Going in the direction of my parents’ house.  For some people, this may not seem so strange.  To those of us who live in a rural area and can identify who’s passing just by the make and model of their vehicle, this was a very bad sign.  Not to mention the sheriff’s car right behind them.  My mind was racing to come up with some reason,
anything,
which would have two identical black SUVs with a sheriff’s car following that would be traveling down the gravel road on a Saturday, besides the obvious.  Nothing came to mind besides looking for me.  My breathing started coming faster and I was getting lightheaded.  The cars were long gone but I couldn’t seem to pull myself up.  I turned my head to look at Nathan, who was still soaked to the bone, and saw him staring off in the direction of the cars.  He looked down at me and I could read his worry written all over his face.  That was not comforting…at all. 

Nathan stepped up to me and grasped my arm, pulling me up.  Without a word, he led me inside and sat me down on the couch.  He looked at me for a long second before speaking.

“Wait here.  I’m going to change and call my parents.”  I nodded numbly.  Nathan turned with one final look and hurried downstairs.  I just sat there, staring off into the distance. 
Have they found me?  What does that mean if they did? 
The news had been vague over the past couple months about those girls who did register, were courted, but said no.  What happened to them?  Those stories were never covered.  The stories they did cover were the happy couples holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes with adoration.  And those girls who didn’t register?  In the beginning, there were a few stories about a girl here or there being located, God knows how, and taken in for questioning by the Kaldarhns.  Beyond that initial story, no news was ever given if the woman was released or taken, never to return home.  I started shivering.  It wasn’t cold in the house, but I couldn’t stop my teeth from chattering. 
Was this shock?  Can a person go into shock even if they weren’t physically hurt? 
A blanket was placed around my back and I looked up at Nathan who had changed clothes.

He wore a different pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt.  Still cute, still my Nathan.  He sat down and dragged me into his side as he pulled out his phone.  He pushed a few buttons and let it ring for a second before someone picked up on the other end. 

“Hey, do me a favor?  Drive by the Jacobsons’ and see if there are two black SUVs and a sheriff’s car there…I don’t know, that’s why I need you to drive by…No, I’m not leaving her side…let me know what you see.”  Nathan hung up and set his phone aside.  I looked up at him expectantly.  He sighed before answering my silent question.  “I called Jesse.  He’s going to do a drive by to see if the cars are at your place or not.” 

“If they are?  If it is them?”  I asked in a small voice.  I pulled my legs up to my chin and rested it on my knees, hugging my legs. 

“Then we stick to the plan.”  Nathan said firmly.  He stretched out an arm behind me, scooting closer before continuing.  “I’ll call my parents, and they casually stop by your parents’ place in a little bit.  They’ll get the scoop and go home.  Jesse will be there to get the news, and he’ll call me.”

“Are you sure that will work?  Maybe we should add a few more people in there just to confuse anyone who might be tracking my parents’ movement.”  I looked down at my hands playing with the blanket. 

“No, you know we can’t involve anyone else.”  Nathan shook his head before continuing.  “Shit, Jesse wasn’t supposed to know but it was hard to hide it from him when he’s here all the time.” 

“I’m sorry to get your family into this.”  I looked back at him with a small grimace. 

“Shhh, no worries.  You’re practically family now.”  He grinned at me and that made me return a small smile.  I folded my legs under me and tucked my head into his shoulder as he turned the TV on to wait.  Ten agonizing minutes later, Nathan’s phone went off.

“Yeah?” He sighs before saying, “Thanks.  You headed over to Dad and Mom’s then?”  My stomach clenched at that statement.  Shit, that meant they were at my parents.  The Kaldarhns were aware and actively looking for me.  It took six months but now they knew about me.  “Yeah, I’ll wait for them to go by before I call them…Bye.”  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking at me. 

“I know.  You don’t have to say it.”  I said softly. 

“Looks like we will be waiting a bit longer.”  He looked at the screen before asking, “You want to watch a movie?”

“Sure.”  I shrugged.  A movie might take my mind off my current problem. 

“Which one?”  Nathan asked. 

“I don’t care.”  I shook my head. 

“Avengers then?”  Nathan offered.

“No, God no!”  I exclaimed thinking about the aliens at the end.  Not something I needed to be thinking about right now.

“Oh, yeah…sorry.  Um…how about Pirates of the Caribbean?” 

“Yeah, that’s fine.”  He stood up and pulled out the movie to slip the disc in the player.  He walked back to the couch and I let him get comfortable before snuggling down in his side.  We had perfected this about a month ago.  It was comfortable, cozy, and nice to be this close to someone and feel at home.  Safe. 

************************************

Karac

As they pulled into the driveway of a farmstead, he had a surreal feeling as he looked around knowing that his mate grew up there.  He could almost picture her running up and down the driveway chasing the small four legged creatures –
cats? 
He thought that’s what the Earth word was – that disappeared into the barn as they drove by.  They parked the vehicles at the garage and stepped out.  The air was cleaner here than in the bigger cities where he had previously spent all his time.  But now that he knew he had a mate, he had every right to drop his other responsibilities until she was found.  They could do without a spokesperson for a little while. 

Just as he made a complete circle of his surroundings, a door opened on the house.  Out stepped a middle aged man and woman who looked very nervous. 
Criza,
he should have thought how intimidating he and his fellow warriors would be to her parents.  The last thing he needed was making an enemy of Ashley’s parents.  Her father had black hair with a smattering of sliver throughout.  He was medium build, but not fit by a warrior’s standards.  Karac could define a slight muscle tone that the male probably needed to run the farm.  Karac slid his gaze to the female and assessed her.  She was shorter than the male, not nearly as tall as Ashley was said to be from her file.  She had dark brown hair, the same as Ashley’s, but Karac didn’t get any further than her stormy eyes.  He could tell she was worried, pissed, and nervous of them all at the same time.  Trying to make amends, he decided approaching them by himself might help. 

“Warriors, stay back.”  Karac said under his breath, knowing that they would hear and obey.  He took a few steps towards the man and woman as law enforcer came up beside him.

“Michael?”  The woman asked surprised.  “What are you doing here?” Karac’s gaze slid to the small Chief Deputy beside him. 

“Hi Carol.  The Kaldarhns are required to have one human law enforcement agent along with them at all times.”

“So,” the man beside Carol paused, giving Karac the once over.  “You are them.”  The man said with steel in his voice.  Karac had to admire that.  “What do you want?”

“Your daughter.”  Karac was all about getting to the point. 

“My daughter?” Carol gasped. 

“Which one?”  The man’s voice was still steel but wavered slightly. 

“The youngest.”  Karac stated.  The woman gasped again before rambling.

“Do you know where she is?  Have you found her?  We haven’t seen her in almost 5 months.  Ever since your countdown ended.”  The woman looked at Karac like the end of the world was his fault.  Well, maybe in her eyes it was. 

“You have no idea where she is?”  Michael asked, trying to pacify the humans by distracting their attention from Karac.

“No, she told us she was going to stay with her sister, Anne, but we haven’t heard from her since she supposedly left.”  Carol said with sniffles still glaring at Karac.  He didn’t flinch, although inside he was groaning.  Having his future mate’s parents hate him right from the beginning was not something he needed on his plate right now. 

“Where does this sister live?”  Karac asked.  He knew it would be asking too much for his mate to be easy to locate.  Karac already had a feeling that she wasn’t here.  But he had to check here for clues.  By asking where her sister lived, he could also test their honesty since his warriors had already been deployed to her house.  He needed to know if he could trust what they said.  To an extent, of course. 

“San Francisco, California.”  Carol replied.  Karac kept his face emotionless but inside he was smiling.  She spoke the truth.  “But we don’t know if she is there or not.  Anne won’t tell us one way or another.  She said Ashley wanted to keep her location a secret.”  Carol glared at Karac before adding, “Just so your kind wouldn’t find her.”

“She is my mate, I
will
find her.”  Karac was done with niceties.  He needed to move on if there was nothing here.  He looked to his warriors before continuing.  “Search the premises.  Double check everywhere.”  All seven warriors nodded.