Tracking (Return of the Nine) Read online

  Ianka kept on track with his directions, and after ten minutes, she was sitting in the cockpit on a jump seat with her bag stowed in a locked shelf behind her. She needed the contents of the bag for the mission and wanted to keep them close.

  Two other members of the Fury were on the command deck and they linked to the probe that Ula had sent out and used that for telemetry. The moment that Derion was strapped in, they started the engines and the ship began to move.

  Ianka was fascinated by the flight. It was so different from lifting off from a world. There was no pressure, no discomfort, only a slight indication of motion before all exterior signals ceased.

  Humming to herself, she followed the motions of the crew and unbuckled her launch harness. She unlatched the storage box and removed her bag, fishing out the tablet with the information programs that she wanted to watch. She had twelve hours to kill and she was finding the history of the Nine fascinating.

  Derion smiled and got to his feet. “Miss Senior, this is Uradik and Morwil. They will be at your disposal if you require anything. Medical is ready if you want to take a nap.”

  She smiled. “I am fine. I can stay awake and alert for a few days if needed. I don’t need to use the bed in medical. Will this documentary disturb any of you?”

  Uradik and Morwil shook their heads. Derion shrugged. “It will be fine. What are you watching?”

  She flicked her fingers across the screen. “The origins of the Balance, since Vida is married to one.”

  She set the volume down as low as she could and still hear it and settled in to watch the documentary. She might be able to make her way to the People of the Air if she kept her focus. With her blood singing in an urge to action, focus was all that kept her from screaming with tension.

  Chapter Seven

  One meal and a gearing up later, Ianka was ready to land on the moon base.

  The moon had the same profile as Gaia and the base was heavily fortified. The other nine ships were going to distract the Tokkel by engaging in direct confrontation while Derion’s ship skulked in through firefight and let their contingent onto the base.

  From the moment they left the ship, Ianka would lead the way.

  Uradik kept looking at her as they staged for the attack.

  She raised her eyebrows. “Yes?”

  “You are wearing weapons?”

  “Yup. My kind don’t get taller with claws when confronted. I have to pack my own knives.” She may have overdone it, but wearing knives strapped to her calves and thighs was a comfort with her long blade riding in a leather harness down her back.

  Morwil looked nervously at Derion. “We just think that your weaponry shows lack of faith in your mate.”

  Derion sighed. “I have told you, she is not my mate, she is my charge.”

  Ianka chuckled. “Even if he was my mate, I would not expect him to jump in front of me when danger rises. I will be leading the charge into the base, in search of the scents I am looking for. I will be in front, so having someone ahead of me distracting my senses is not a good idea.”

  Everyone in the room nodded, and Derion turned to check the position of the other ships. With a quick barked command, the ships mobilized and took up their attack formations.

  Things were underway. Ianka pulled on the gloves and pulled up the hood for just this moment before heading out of the command deck and down to the cargo area where the rest of the Fury were waiting to land and surge into the base.

  She grabbed a bar and held tight as the ship rocked as it entered the atmosphere. The warriors in the hold with her looked at her with curiosity, but she gave them the blank repelling stare that she had perfected, and they nodded and looked away.

  Ianka had no idea what they saw when they looked into her features, but if they turned away in respect, that was good enough for her.

  The ship pitched and rolled as gravity took hold, and they avoided the firefight that was now becoming audible with the atmosphere to carry the sound waves.

  Derion arrived and his men snapped to a rocking attention. “Are you ready, Miss Senior?”

  “Yes. Is the medic?”

  “Yes. Dr. Meevin pulled a lot of strings to come along on this mission. She is ready and waiting to see what older Gaians look like.”

  Ianka laughed and shifted her footing as the ship twisted again. “Just like me only wrinkled with greyer hair.”

  The ship jolted, heaved and then set down with a thud.

  Ianka and Derion moved to the door, and she pulled her thigh blades. The doors to the ship opened and they headed toward the base at a run.

  * * * *

  North Senior asked, “What can you see, Maklin?”

  “There are ships coming and one has landed, disgorging a lot of aliens with dark skin. Wait, there is a Gaian with them. A woman.”

  North smiled, wishing that he could see his daughter’s approach. “What is she carrying?”

  “Two huge knives, blonde hair, and an expression that reminds me of Beeda’s. Do you know her?”

  North knew it was his Ianka. No other Gaian woman would have the guts to charge along next to aliens on a strange world. Well, guts or insanity. It was hard to tell with Eek. “It is my daughter, Ianka. Pass the word to cooperate with the aliens. They have finally found us and we are going home. Vida promised.”

  The male researchers and females were housed separately, but the small com devices that Maklin Dorning had cobbled together let them speak at night when they felt the separation most keenly.

  North sat back and listened to Maklin speaking urgently to all the Gaian researchers who had been brought to this base. The order to cooperate with the new aliens was urgent as the Tokkel began to mill in the halls. They didn’t know what was going on either, and it was just a matter of time before they decided to kill the researchers and abandon the base.

  North hoped that Ianka’s senses were still keen. She was racing the clock.

  * * * *

  Ianka sprinted through the halls, a sense of urgency swamping her. Derion was at her side and growing bigger with every attack. Her knives dripped with Tokkel blood, and she paused at crossed corridors to make sure she was heading in the right direction.

  The barricade of Tokkel was a hint that she was in the right place.

  She turned to Derion, “Down that hall.”

  He nodded and let out a hunting roar that shook the halls. Members of the Fury, ready for battle, appeared around them, and as one deadly red tide, they surged forward.

  Ianka dove through the heaving bodies, sliding along the ground until she was in front of a cell door. Her sense of smell told her she had reached her goal.

  There was probably a key or a pass code or something, but she grabbed the bars and hauled with a strength she rarely accessed. The door tore off in her hands and she tossed it aside.

  There were two women huddling together on the bed and one was belovedly familiar. “Mom?”

  Beeda Senior got to her feet and made a beeline for her daughter. “Eek. Oh for the love of cellular degradation, I have missed you.”

  Ianka hugged her mother but kept her blades ready. “Where is Dad?”

  “The other side of the compound. They saw you coming with an army of aliens and warned us to cooperate.”

  The other woman got to her feet and smiled. “It has been a long time, Ianka. You are looking well.”

  Ianka grinned. “Thank you. Please keep my mom from tripping on anyone. I have to set the others free.”

  Dr. Wells nodded. “Over there on the wall. A palm print from one of the guards will do the trick to open them all.”

  Ianka nodded and headed back to the battle, finding a body and hacking off one of the hands.

  She spoke to her mother and Dr. Wells. “The men at the end of the hall are members of a friendly species referred to as the Nine. They are also hostile to the Tokkel, so this is the best of both worlds for them. They won’t hurt you, but don’t touch them. They link chemically and even shaking h
ands can be foreplay if you are compatible.”

  She slapped the hand against the pad and the doors slid open. Women cautiously crept into the hall whose entrance was being cleared by huge red creatures.

  “They are the Fury, one of the species of the Nine. I need you to get onto the ship and to safety with a few of them guarding you while we head off to rescue Dad.” She was speaking to her mother but the other women nodded.

  “Dr. Wells, take care of my mom. The ground will be a little slippery.”

  Derion had been listening to her and he gave a few hand signals to his men, sending six of them with the thirty women.

  Sighing in relief that her mother was out and on her way to freedom, she headed out to find her father.

  She had kept the hand of the deceased Tokkel, and she used it to open all the men’s cells. One hundred twenty men appeared in the hall, but there was only one face she cared about.

  “Dad!” She ran to the familiar figure, and he embraced her when she was in front of him.

  He laughed and tears came from his eyes. “I felt Veed in my head last week. I knew you wouldn’t be far behind.”

  “Come on, Dad. We have ships and we are all going home!”

  One of the scientists snorted. “We are trading one set of aliens for another.”

  She walked up to him and stared until he backed away. “What do you think happened after you were taken? Let’s cut the polite speech. We were blasted back to first gen colonization with our technology. We couldn’t fight and the Tokkel kept coming until the Nine arrived. They have a ship in orbit and have assisted us with medical treatments, rebuilding and protected us. The Gaia that you left is gone.”

  “So, they have taken over?”

  She chuckled. “No, they have not, though they have more of a right to it than we do. They evolved on that planet just as our race is evolving with every generation. Their people called it Underhill and they have cities that have been lost to time, but as we gain the ability to travel longer distances, we have been finding them.”

  Murmurs began and she lifted her hand. “You are all going to be on different ships, each run by a different species, but they are all members of the Nine. Nine distinct races, shaped by the very same world shaping us. Be polite. Not all of them speak Gaian yet.”

  The men nodded and most were obviously weary and just wanted to return home.

  None of them were a match for the warriors that had accompanied Ianka, so she was satisfied in that at least.

  She kept her arm around her father’s waist. “Come on, Dad. Mom is waiting.”

  His shoulders flexed in relief. “You did go to her first?”

  “We did.”

  The stream of scientists was confined between banks of the Fury, but Derion and two others waited for her. He was still in his battle form, and she blinked at the enormity of the transformation.

  He was huge. Much larger than he had appeared in the ship. Now, she knew that that first ruckus had been for discipline. This form was all about destruction.

  “Father, this is Attack Master Derion of the Fury. Derion, this is my father, North Senior.”

  In a low rumble, Derion answered, “It is an honour to meet you; your daughters are extraordinary.”

  North smiled. “Beeda and I have always been proud of our girls. It is an honour to meet you as well. Ianka’s tone has informed me that she is more than a casual acquaintance.”

  She was going to slap herself in the face and cover her eyes but she was still carrying the Tokkel hand. With a wet thud, she dropped it and sighed. “Enough of that, let’s get back to the ship.”

  North patted the hand she had around his waist and smiled. “Derion and I can discuss it later. I am sure that the flight will be long enough for one conversation.”

  Ianka winced. “I don’t know if you want to do that. Why not just enjoy cuddling with Mom for the twelve hours back to the mother ship. From there, you will be medically checked out and you can return to Gaia right away.”

  They started walking with Derion in front and two members of the Fury behind them.

  “We can return to Gaia? Where will you be?”

  She cleared her throat when Derion looked over his shoulder at her with a grin.

  “I will be visiting with Vida. She has married a member of the Balance and seems quite happy about it. He boosted her signal so that she was able to reach you.”

  North nodded and then scowled. “How much time has passed?”

  “It has been six years.”

  He stiffened. “That is unexpected.”

  “How long did you think it was?”

  “Six months. This base is brand new. They opened it up to use us as weapons researchers. Until six months ago, I believe we were in cold sleep.”

  Ianka’s mind felt eased. They didn’t know how long they had been gone. They hadn’t counted on a rescue that never came because the Gaians didn’t have spacecraft.

  They exited the base and were on their way to the ship when a Tokkel body sat up and took aim at their party. Moving on instinct, she threw one of her knives at him and it struck him between the eyes, knocking him back.

  Derion was staring at her in shock and she shrugged. “What?”

  Chapter Eight

  Derion was staring and a strange tingling was moving through her body.

  Suddenly, her arm around her father’s waist went limp. She looked down and there was a large smoking burn on the left side of her torso.

  The guards behind her grabbed her father and hauled him into the ship while Derion carefully lifted her, sprinting into the ship and directly to medical.

  Dr. Meevin cut her suit free and started working on her during takeoff. Ianka was strapped down so that she wouldn’t hit the floor.

  “I am sorry you have to be awake, but we need to keep you alert to test for the progression of the nerve damage.”

  Ianka gritted her teeth as the area was cleaned of scorched flesh and a numbness crept up her left arm.

  She mentally kicked herself for not being a second faster with her throw. She knew what damage a Tokkel blaster could do. Numbness was the least of her worries.

  Dr. Meevin worked on her for hours while others who had been injured were treated and released. Finally, she couldn’t do any more. Frustration was written on her features.

  “I am sorry. I can’t seem to stop the damage. I don’t have the right treatments for a Gaian.”

  With half her face paralyzed, she smiled weakly. “S’okay. You tried. I tried. Vida has my parents again. It will all be good.”

  Dr. Meevin drew a privacy screen around her and said, “We will be on the mother ship in a few hours. Perhaps we can figure something out there.”

  With her moving right hand, Ianka gave her a thumbs up. She had done what she set out to do.

  Her cubicle was dark and quiet, but she heard someone moving. A hulking figure took a blood sample, and she heard a small hiss. She dozed, thinking that one of the medics had come in to do some checks.

  The figure returned, and this time, the hypo was pressed to her wound. The hiss preceded the warm input of the injector and was withdrawn in complete silence.

  Her eyes had both been taken over by the paralysis, so all she could make out was a dark figure that stroked her hair back and she could see the hand touch her cheek, even though she couldn’t feel it.

  Fire burned through her limbs and she started to thrash her arms and legs. The monitors went berserk, and Dr. Meevin knocked the screen down as she came in to check on the seizure.

  Ianka was still strapped to the bed but only for a moment as she was transferred to a gliding gurney and escorted out of the ship with a mask giving her an inhalation of sedative with every motion of her lungs.

  Dr. Meevin began to run tests the moment that she was back in her regular facility. When the results curled upward on the monitors, she stared at them without comprehension.

  The paralysis was reversing. That much Ianka could feel for herse
lf. She could see clearly now that her eyes could focus and her face was once again under her control. “What is it, Doc?”

  “Did you mate while you were lying strapped down and paralyzed?” Dr. Meevin turned to her with raised eyebrows.

  She shifted as much as she was able. “Not that I recall. I had a peculiar hallucination but there wasn’t any mating involved.”

  Vida came in with their parents behind her. “Not that kind of mating, Eek. Did you swap blood with anyone?”

  “Someone came in the night to take a blood sample, and an hour later, I was given a shot. Does that count?”

  Meevin frowned. “It could.”

  North came to Ianka’s side and carefully found her hand. “It was Derion. He asked us if we would give you up to save your life. I didn’t understand so he explained.”

  Beeda came up as well, wearing a fetching gown in black and red. “Every parent with a daughter will lose her, but I would rather have you in orbit than underground, Eek.”

  “So, that was it? We swap blood and I heal?”

  Meevin shrugged. “Members of the Nine are not damaged the same way by the Tokkel blasts. We are merely burned, not paralyzed, and the Fury aren’t damaged at all, so he gave you his immunity.”

  “What were all those guys in medical?”

  “Those were cuts. Easy fixes.” Meevin patted her knee. “I will register the mating since you two didn’t make it to the garden for the formal recording. Your blood samples are already in. He just needs to finalize it.”

  Vida took her hand. “You did it, Eek. You got them home.”

  Surrounded by her family, she blinked back tears.

  North must have sensed her mood, because he piped in, “Ularica has an idea for an artificial sight mechanism. She is looking for volunteers, and you know how your mother and I enjoy that sort of thing, and the chemists have asked us to come in and contribute to their work. We might not be leaving for the surface right away. After all, everything we love is up here.”