Theron Destiny (Brides of Theron) (26 page)

After what seemed like forever, the three of them gained entrance to and were now enclosed in the Drylon’s base. A Drylon soldier was waiting for them at the door.  He waited for the doors to shut before speaking.

“The Emperor has informed me of your business here. He has requested that I show you to your quarters. Then once you have the woman settled and secured, the Emperor would like to meet with you. Follow me.” The soldier turned without waiting for a response.  He led the small group through several snaking corridors, finally stopping in front of a grey door.

“You will find everything you need inside. I will wait outside the door until you have settled the female.  Then I will take you directly to Emperor Gatton. ” The soldier took his stance against the wall and waited.

“The Emperor wishes to see us now?” Lars questioned the soldier.

The soldier turned his head, “Like I said before, the Emperor wants to meet with you. I will let you in on a secret. He does NOT like to wait.”

“Fine, we will do as the Emperor wishes.” Lars strode into the room and looked for a place to set down his burden.

“There is a bed over there.” Hano moved into the room and dropped the bags on the floor. “I have some medication in my bag if you wish to give it to your female. It will put her to sleep. This way you will know that she cannot try to escape.”

“That is an excellent idea. You may give it to her.”

Hano picked up the bag that contained the medicine that he had given Avery on the ship. Once again he brought out the silver tube and the bottle of water and went over to her. She was leaning back on the bed.  With her one good eye, she was watching the men.

“Are you in much pain?” he asked her.

She looked away from him when he spoke to her. Her fingers plucked at the cover on the bed when she gave a nod of her head.  That act alone obviously caused her pain. The color drained her from her face and a low agonizing moan escaped from her lips.

“Please take this.” He held out the tube and the bottle. She opened her mouth and let him give her the medicine. She drained the bottle of water then scooted down on the bed. She closed her eye and rolled onto her side.

The soldier in the doorway called to them, “You must come now. The Emperor will wait no longer.”

Both men walked to the door and watched as the soldier secured it. They followed him down the corridor as he led them to the Emperor. Hano was lost in his own thoughts as they walked.

Hano was becoming so confused by this change of heart he was experiencing towards the earth female. When he and Lars had first concocted the plan against Zeb’s mate he had been all in. Nothing was going to get their way. He wanted to see Lars have his revenge on the female. But, now he wasn’t so sure. Lars was quickly becoming out of control, becoming more secretive. He had no clue what Lars was really planning on doing.

He had been so happy when the mother ship had come across the planet called Earth. All the warriors on board could hardly contain the excitement of potential mates on the planet that spun before them. Hano had always wanted a mate and children but now those dreams were gone. He had joined into Lars scheme too hastily and was now going to pay the price for those dishonorable actions.

Chapter 25

Zeb and Kurtz took off in the first available fighter craft accompanied by several other fighters that were still patrolling the area around the mother ship.  The mission was to get Avery back. Everyone on the ship by now had been informed of Lars’ betrayal and his kidnapping of the Commander’s mate. There was a general understanding that the warriors of his race abided by.  They would never let anyone get away with harming a Warrior’s mate. As Theron Warriors, they had searched too long and too far to let someone like Lars’ take the procurement of Earth females away from them.

The speaker in Zeb’s fighter crackled to life with Ceran’s voice, “Commander, I have just received another cryptic message. It reveals the location where the fighter landed on UV-49. It’s the old Drylon base.”

Zeb and Kurtz listened to the transmission. They were nearing the desolate planet and now had the exact coordinates of where his mate might be.

“When in Drylon Hell did they manage to re-establish that base? I thought UV-49 was being monitored for any activity.” Kurtz questioned Zeb. “My ship has been through this system several times in the last couple of years. We have never seen any sign of the Drylons in this area.”

Zeb, shaking his head in disgust, replied, “The council made a decision about a year or so ago to end the monitoring of the planet because it was classified as dead planet. Nothing would be able to survive down there unless supplies were brought in. They obviously managed some kind of way to secretly rebuild their base right under everyone’s noses.”

“Well, this time we will have to make sure that there is nothing left of that base. My fighters are close behind us. We need to ensure that the Drylons never have the opportunity to take this planet again. Zeb, how do you plan on landing without setting off any alarms?”

“Ceran has been taking care of that as we speak. Ceran, give me an update.”

“Commander, I have jammed their tracking devices so they cannot see you approaching. The planet itself is actually helping us. There is a huge dust storm taking place now and index of visibility is zero. You will have to rely strictly on your instruments and instincts to guide you in the base. The landing zone is not far from the entrance of the base, but in any case you will need to use the re-breathers. There is just too much sand and dust flying around in order for you to breathe without aid. Getting inside will be easy. I have been scanning the outer perimeter for any heat signatures. Everything is quiet on the outside. Once you get to the main entrance remove the key panel and cut all the wires.”

Kurtz looked a bit confused at that information, “Are you sure we need to cut all the wires? Won’t that prevent the door from opening?”

“No Sir, that’s one of the Drylon’s secrets to their security. Most would try to figure out which wire to cut in order to get in. The Drylons were clever enough to make it so simple to get in but, if you were not privy that knowledge, you would be caught before you figured out which wire to cut.”

“Listen up warriors! I want half of you to remain in flight around the base. You are not to attack the base until you have heard the order from myself or Kurtz. The rest of you, I want to land near my fighter and provide ground support as we enter the base. Take out any and all Drylons you come across. Check every room. If you find Avery before I do, inform me then get her the hell out of there.  Once we are all out and have Avery, return to the fighters. Those fighters in the air, on our command, will start a full attack on the base as soon as we are clear.”

Kurtz now spoke to his own people, “Pernmocks you are to follow Commander Zeb’s orders at all cost. Search for the female and get out when told to do so. The mission will commence now.  Start the landing process.”

The dust and sand storm was like nothing had ever seen before. Not only was it night on this side of the planet, but the storm took out any possible remaining light that would have been there. The winds pushed and shoved the fighters as if they were just another piece of sand in the storm. Luckily all the fighters were equipped with autopilots that were quite capable of landing the fighters in any kind of weather condition.

“There are still no signs of movement near the outside of the base, Commander.” Ceran’s voice cracked over the speaker again. “The storm seems to be intensifying so be careful when you exit the fighters.”

All the designated fighters, Theron and Pernmock, had landed safely on the landing zone of the Drylon base. The fighters rocked and creaked with the vicious storm that gaining strength outside. Above them were the invisible, cloaked other half of the fighter crafts.

“Let’s do this warriors! Remember, that the first objective is to locate my mate, then to radio back and then get the hell out of here.” Zeb and Kurtz strapped on their weapons and made to exit the fighter. A long broad sword was strapped to each warrior along with several other smaller knives to use in case of hand to hand combat. In their hands they each carried a CG-3, a gun.  The gun has an endless amount of power supplied by a tiny fragment of the cavmenton that powered the mother ship. Brylon had discovered a way to use the cavmenton in other ways than just traveling through the worm holes. It had taken him over two years to perfect this weapon but once he did the weapon became invaluable to the warriors that carried them.

The Therons and Pernmocks that had landed made their way out of their fighters and formed a tight group so that none would be lost in the raging storm. They could barely hear the other fighters that stayed a flight surrounding the base and its occupants. They carefully made their way to the entrance of the base. They were observant of their surroundings given the current conditions relying on what little they could see.

The main door to the base seemed to appear out of nowhere. One of the Pernmock warriors moved forward in order to open the panel to the wires that they needed to sever. Working quickly, he had the front of the panel off the wall in a matter of seconds. Next to him Kurtz held up a light so that the warrior could see clearly what he was doing. He grasped all the wires that were hanging in the panel in one hand. Kurtz handed him a large serrated knife and with one easy yank upwards, the wires were split apart.

Zeb was standing by the door when it slid open silently. Zeb and the warriors faced a long empty corridor before them. Their footsteps were silent on the rocky floor as they carefully made their way further into the base. Behind them the storm was blowing its debris into the confines of the corridor. Zeb was the first to reach the first juncture and held up a hand for those behind to halt their progress.

A Drylon soldier was moving towards them but was oblivious to their presence. Kurtz held up a single finger to his lips to let the warriors know that an enemy was approaching.  When the soldier made it to the juncture, he glanced down the corridor and in a split second he got a brief glimpse of the enraged Theron before him. It happened so fast. Before he knew what hit him, he was pinned to the wall and his throat sliced open.  Zeb worked quickly, not giving the enemy enough time enough time to sound an alarm. The Drylon was dead before his body hit the floor.

Zeb motioned to Kurtz to take half the group down the right corridor while he took the other half and went down the left. There weren’t many rooms to check down either side of the corridor.  Each one was quickly checked and cleared of the enemies’ presence. Once again, Zeb came to juncture but this time it branched off in four directions. He quickly pointed to the warriors which corridor he wanted them to take, and then finally he made his way down the last one.

Without warning three Drylon soldiers came out of one of the doors. Taken by surprise, seconds ticked by until they realized they weren’t looking at fellow Drylon soldiers, but at invaders. The first to react pulled out his weapon and fired, missing Zeb by mere inches. Words were quickly exchanged between the soldiers and one went back into the room, out of sight. Zeb and his men took cover as best they could and returned fire. It didn’t take long to take out two of the obstacles that were standing in their way. It was the third one that they couldn’t see that was now their main concern.

Zeb guessed that the third soldier had been sent back into the room in order to report that the base was under attack. Once he got to the door, he blasted it open with his gun and scanned the room for the soldier. Sitting there in front of a computer station was the third soldier. The soldier was rapidly speaking into the microphone.  He was cut short when Zeb moved in behind him and gave his neck one quick twist.  The solder went instantly limp and slowly slipped out of the chair.

“We don’t have much time now. The bastard was able to let them know that we are here. Let’s move quickly!”

Moving back out of the room they started checking the rest of the doors that lined the walls. All were unlocked and empty.

Kurtz’s voice came to life in Zeb’s ear piece, “We got problems Zeb!”

“I know but keep searching!”

“Sir.  This door is locked!” One of his warriors called to him.  He rushed forward to the locked door with a sense of urgency. He aimed his gun at the handle of the door and fired a quick blast. Sparks flew as the door swung open. Inside the room was complete darkness.

“Sir, we got company!” The soldier who had discovered the locked door shouted to Zeb then fired his gun down the corridor.

Zeb moved further into the dark room searching every crevice. Over in the back corner of the room was a small bed that appeared to have a lump in the middle of it. Cautiously, he moved forward with his gun drawn ready to fire. Behind him, he could hear the rapid firing of pulsar blasts being exchanged between his men and the Drylon soldiers.

He crept quickly but quietly to stand next to the bed. The lump didn’t move, but he could tell it definitely was a body. Keeping his gun pointed at the bed, he reached out his free hand and pulled back the covers. The sight before him took him by surprise and knocked the wind right out of him. Lying there asleep with a horrible bruised and battered face was Avery.

Chapter 26

When Lars and Hano put the female in the room assigned to them and exited, the Drylon soldiers locked the doors behind them. Lars was left wondering, what the hell was that about? This female was his not a gift to the Emperor. He would find out what the Emperor was up to. He said he would give his loyalty, not HIS female.

The three of them continued to walk through the corridors for a while. As they passed through the interior of the base, Lars could appreciate the amount of work that the Drylons had completed in order bring the base back to operational status. Workers and soldiers alike moved about installing and repairing computers systems, walls and performing various other tasks. Though the place still needed a lot more work, the Drylons had achieved much in such a short period of time.