The Mercenary (The War Chronicles Book 1) Read online

“Come with us. We need to leave now.”

  “You have a way to get off this hill undetected?” Zoran inquired urgently.

  “There are some tunnels that the Ketaari do not know about. We need to protect the location of the tunnels from the Ketaari, so some of my rebels will engage them while the rest get away.”

  “You cannot get all of your rebels out before the Ketaari get here?” Zoran asked.

  “The tunnels are too narrow” Tilabok explained. “We have to move single file through them. We need to buy some time so some of us can get out.”

  Zoran pressed a tiny control on his wristlet before taking it off his wrist to slip it into the pack slung over his back.

  “I’ll distract the Ketaari” he stated, as he began stripping knives and other weapons hidden all over his body.

  “We can get both Saakshi and you out safely” Tilabok assured him, watching with fascination as the big male efficiently stripped several weapons from hiding places all over his body onto a neat pile that he stashed into his pack.

  “No, you need to get Saakshi and all your rebels off this hill safely. I can buy you that time. Your rebels know that Saakshi was here tonight to meet you. The Ketaari cannot find Saakshi or even start a hunt for her until she’s safely off this planet. If they discover her here …”

  Tilabok opened his mouth to refute Zoran before closing it again. He knew that his rebels were not trained to withstand Ketaari interrogation. He also knew that was what had driven Saakshi’s request for privacy before Zoran had revealed his identity and made his offer of assistance to Tilabok.

  “I’ll be fine” Zoran assured him. “I’ve been captured many times before and with minimal chances of rescue at that. I’ve already summoned the starship waiting for us. They’ll be here soon to autoport both Saakshi and me off Budheyasta. Your job, my friend, is to keep Saakshi safe and make sure that the Ketaari remain unaware of her presence here till the ship gets here” he said bluntly, his voice urgent.

  “I’ll keep her safe” Tilabok promised, suddenly understanding what Zoran was asking of him. Neither Saakshi nor anyone who knew about her presence here tonight could be allowed to fall into Ketaari hands. That would destroy forever any chance of getting this new cooperation between the resistance and Hadari’Kor off the ground while bringing grave danger on to Saakshi’s head.

  Saakshi ran towards them as they strode into the larger cave where a small group of rebels had gathered.

  “Tilabok” Saakshi said urgently. “Could we have led them here? We were very careful.”

  Tilabok raised a hand to stop her.

  “No, Saakshi” he reassured her. “They suspect that we use this hill as a meeting place and send their soldiers periodically to check it out. It’s just luck. This is not your doing.”

  “Make sure this is transported out with her. There’s technology in here that will raise Ketaari suspicions” Zoran held out his pack to Tilabok.

  “I’ve summoned the ship for emergency evacuation, Saakshi” Zoran turned to Saakshi. “Make sure that you’re somewhere up on an elevation, if you can. They should be here soon.”

  Saakshi, watching the pack being transferred with a puzzled air, suddenly came to life as an unwelcome hint of his plans wafted to her.

  “No” Saakshi protested vehemently. “No, Zoran. They will kill you.”

  “I’m not that easy to kill” he responded as they spilled out of the cave with the other rebels. “They’ll first attempt to figure out who I am. That should keep them busy until the ship can autoport me away.”

  “No” Saakshi reiterated again, her terror for Zoran obvious.

  “Everyone on this hill knows of your presence, Saakshi. If they pick up any of the rebels and get even a hint of this, the Ketaari will ransack the village and province. It will bring down more attention on the rebels than they need, especially now.”

  “No, please” Saakshi whispered, a single tear rolling down her face.

  “Tseriya, the ship will be here in a few hours. I will see you then” Zoran tried to reassure her.

  “He’s right, Saakshi meya” Tilabok chimed in unexpectedly. “It is more important to keep your presence here and the news of this potential alliance secret from the Ketaari.”

  Saakshi opened her mouth to protest once more, but Zoran cut her off.

  “Saakshi, remember your promise to me. That time is now, tseriya” Zoran pointed out bluntly.

  He gave the silent girl with tears in her eyes a quick hug before turning his back on them to head in the direction Tilabok gestured him towards.

  “Keep her safe” Zoran called softly to Tilabok over her head.

  “I give you my word” Tilabok promised.

  Tilabok led her with the other rebels to a large cave a few minutes away, the going rough as they hurried in complete silence with just the light of the moons to guide their steps. All Saakshi remembered from that night was a last glimpse of Zoran as he descended the hill, presumably to intercept the Ketaari patrol while all around them reigned organized chaos, all the more sinister because it was in utter silence. Rebels poured into the cave, lining up to silently squeeze into a narrow opening at one end. When her turn came, she preceded Tilabok into the narrow tunnel to crawl for twenty minutes until it broadened enough to allow her to stand up and walk down the rest of the way to the bottom of the hill.

  Almost two hours later, Saakshi glanced around the busy Command Chamber on the Henia, her eyes searching for Zoran. She had just been autoported from Budheyasta moments ago.

  The Star Captain was waiting to help Saakshi off the Autoporter Pad.

  “Are you hurt?” he inquired solicitously as she stepped off the Pad.

  “I’m fine” Saakshi reiterated hurriedly. “Zoran …”

  “We’re working on it. We can’t seem to get a lock on his locater. We need a precise location before we can autoport him out safely.”

  “Zoran was taken by a Ketaari patrol. He allowed himself to be captured so that the rebels and I could escape safely” she said slowly, her disquiet about Zoran starting to mushroom into full blown panic.

  “We can boost his locator signal once we have an approximate location for him. That should allow the Autoporter to pull him out safely” the Star Captain tried to reassure the frightened young girl before him. The Ur’quay Captain had suspected that something had gone wrong when the emergency evacuation signal had been activated.

  Saakshi gazed back at him, unable to hide her stark fear for Zoran.

  “Perhaps your rebels can help us find out where the Ketaari have taken Zoran” he suggested gently.

  Saakshi shook her head to clear the fog of fear clogging her mind. She would not succumb to panic, she reminded herself sternly. This one time, Zoran needed her help.

  “Yes, the rebels can help us locate him” she said with renewed hope.

  Her face fell, as the logistical difficulties of making contact in any form with Tilabok on Budheyasta, now that she was back on the starship, rammed home to her. First Commander D’raar hurried over to them to have a quick word with his Captain in their language.

  “Were any of the rebels at the location on Budheyasta when we autoported you a few moments ago?” the Star Captain asked Saakshi.

  “Yes, they were with me at the ridge on the hilltop.”

  The Star Captain nodded to his First Commander, who placed a small palm-length square black device on the Autoporter Pad before handing an identical one to Saakshi.

  “It is a set of paired communicator devices” the Star Captain explained to Saakshi as the second device disappeared from the Autoporter Pad. “They have both been enabled. Hopefully the rebels are still close enough from where we picked you up to hear you.”

  Saakshi stared bemusedly at the device on her palm until the Star Captain nudged her to speak into it.

  “Tilabok” she called out urgently. “It is Saakshi. Tilabok, can you hear me?”

  She could hear some distant sounds in the background, but not
hing discernible.

  “It is on maximum volume” the First Commander chimed in helpfully.

  “Tilabok!” she called out again. “Tilabok, please answer if you can hear me. Tilabok! We need help. It is Saakshi. Tilabok!” she called in increasing desperation.

  “What the hell?” said a faint voice. “Someone is calling to Tilabok” chimed in another distant voice she couldn’t recognize.

  “I’m on a communicator. Look for a palm-sized black device. This is Saakshi looking for Tilabok. Please get Tilabok!”

  They could hear distant voices calling for Tilabok now, and some closer ones, looking for the device, as Saakshi called out desperately for him. Then, suddenly Tilabok was there. He must’ve figured out what was happening for he made his way unerringly to the exact location Saakshi had been standing when she’d been autoported out. A few scuffling sounds later, his voice came through the communicator clearly.

  “Saakshi” he called out hastily, an undercurrent of worry in his voice. “Where are you?”

  “Tilabok! Thank the Pura. I’m back on the ship but we cannot locate Zoran.”

  “How can we help?” Tilabok offered immediately.

  “Do you know where the Ketaari took him?”

  “The local military outpost” Tilabok’s response was prompt. “They built a new one on the outskirts of Terapi village.”

  “Hang on, Tilabok” Saakshi said into the communicator, in response to a gesture from the Star Captain who pressed a little button on her communicator. She guessed it was to mute it so that the rebels could not hear them. The First Commander disappeared in a hurry.

  “Do you know where this village is?” the Star Captain asked Saakshi.

  “I’ve a rough idea but I’ve only been there once” she responded without much confidence.

  “Mark it on the map for us” he asked her as the First Commander arrived at a run with the maps they’d been working off of before. Saakshi pored over the map, trying to remember little details based on the old landmarks. Her village had been a lot easier to locate since the high peak of Sainga Barame marked on the older map had helped as a point of reference.

  The Star Captain glanced at his First Commander to gesture at the communicator he’d taken from Saakshi.

  “The built-in translator is enabled” the First Commander assured his Captain. The Star Captain’s Alliance Standard was adequate, although something he’d rather not chance this time. The Alliance had provided them with translator language semantics to help translate for Budhi and Ketar before this foray to Budheyasta. They had been intended to assist in Zoran’s disguise, but the Ur’quay had been working to incorporate it into their own translator systems for use.

  The Star Captain spoke into the device slowly, with his words enunciated clearly.

  “This is the Captain of the starship carrying Saakshi of Budheyasta. Can you give us more details on the Ketaari Imperial Forces outpost from your current position?”

  “North east to my location and approximately ten petarsa from here” promptly came the response.

  First Commander D’raar quickly punched in some numbers into a hand-held device he unhitched from his uniform. He passed the device to his Captain while he held out his hand to Saakshi for the map. He pored over the map quickly to mark a set of coordinates methodically that he called out to one of the Ur’quay bunched around a console.

  “Thank you” the Ur’quay Captain spoke into the communicator. “It will help narrow the search for Zoran.”

  “It is the least we can do. He risked his life to come to our home world to offer his assistance” the rebel leader said simply.

  “Do you know if this military outpost is built into the rocks? We can only read his locator signal very faintly.”

  “No” Tilabok paused for a few seconds. “Although a part of it is rumored to be underground. Could that be the reason for the weak signal?”

  “That would explain it” the Star Captain agreed.

  “There is another way we might be able to help you locate him” Tilabok said suddenly. “Can your ship pick up a small explosion on the surface of the planet?”

  “Yes, if we’re watching for it” the Ur’quay Captain agreed. “What do you have in mind?”

  “If you can give us a little time, we’ll create a small bang as close to the outpost as we can safely get. Would that help you?”

  “Yes” the Ur’quay Captain responded as his First Commander nodded vigorously in the background. “We’ll keep searching in the meantime based on the information you’ve given us, relative to your position.”

  “Give us an hour to set it up. I’ll let you know right before we blast it.”

  “Keep the communicator open” the Star Captain suggested before he sent out a quick tutorial on the device controls for muting and disabling the device.

  Saakshi watched the First Commander stride over to the console where the warriors he’d called the new set of search coordinates out to worked intently.

  “Do not worry, Saakshi of Budheyasta” the Star Captain said softly. “We will find him. They will not harm him until they’re satisfied he has no information of any importance to them.”

  Saakshi shuddered at the mental image the Star Captain’s words conjured up for her. The Ketaari torturing Zoran for information constituted the stuff of her nightmares.

  “How did the Ketaari patrol find you?” he asked her, trying to distract her.

  “Tilabok believes that it was routine patrol. We’d almost concluded our meeting with him when the rebels noticed the patrol heading to us. There wasn’t time for everyone to get away, so Zoran offered to distract them while the rest got away. Including me” she concluded in a low voice.

  “He did the right thing” the Star Captain reiterated gently. “Now, they merely have an unfamiliar Budheya rebel in their custody. All they’re interested in right now is finding out where he came from. It will even take them some time to penetrate the cosmetic alterations to his body and discover that he is not Budheya. You’d have been identified immediately as a former rebel and Ketaari prisoner who had escaped their custody in very dramatic circumstances. It would raise uncomfortable questions about how you came to cross into Empire territory and land on Budheyasta without generating any alarm. That would have endangered everyone - you, your resistance cell and this ship.”

  The rational part of Saakshi’s mind knew that every word he spoke was true. But she was also confronting an uncomfortable truth. The moment Zoran had given in to her request to accompany him to Budheyasta, he’d been left with no other choice but to sacrifice himself to keep her safe and ensure the success of their mission. Saakshi pondered despairingly if Zoran was fated to pay the ultimate price for his desire to protect her and help her people.

  Keep him safe, Pura Bedana. Keep him safe!

  “The meeting with the rebels was a success?” the Star Captain queried, back to business.

  “Yes, they’ll be on the hilltop at dusk in twenty days” she responded.

  “Good.”

  The next hour passed tortuously for Saakshi as she watched the Ur’quay work frantically to locate Zoran, under the watchful eyes of the Star Captain.

  “We’re ready” Tilabok’s voice cackled suddenly from the communicator device in the Star Captain’s hand, interrupting the Ur’quay’s focus on their task.

  The First Commander glanced at his Captain to give him a short nod.

  “Go ahead” the Star Captain said to Tilabok.

  Saakshi heard Tilabok speak inaudibly to someone she guessed was on the rebels’ communicator network.

  She waited with baited breath while the First Commander peered at his console for a few moments before raising his right palm high without glancing up from his task.

  “We see it” the Star Captain murmured into the communicator.

  She waited in suspense for a few more tense moments. Then suddenly, Zoran was on the Autoporter Pad. The Ur’quay Captain handed Saakshi the communicator before stri
ding over to where Zoran sat hunched over on the Pad. His shabby Budheya peasant clothes were streaked with dirt and something darker, a sluggish gray matter. Both his feet and the hand she could see were encircled by heavy metal shackles that had been used to restrain him. She guessed that the shackles attached to his body had been autoported out with him. Zoran glanced up as the Star Captain reached him. His hair was matted with gray matter and a little of it trickled down from a corner of his mouth, while one eye sported a spectacular bruise. To her horror, Saakshi realized that the dark gray stuff on him was blood.

  He’s bleeding!

  The refrain ran through Saakshi’s mind, while she stood rooted to her spot numbly as the Star Captain helped Zoran up on the Pad. Zoran glanced around the Chamber until his eyes landed on Saakshi. A crooked grin lit up his damaged face.

  “Saakshi, am I glad to see you again” he called out cheerily, with a small wince.

  “Do you have him?” the communicator in her hand cackled to life with Tilabok’s hopeful voice.

  “Is that Tilabok?” Zoran inquired, a tad puzzled. The Star Captain murmured a response to Zoran when it became clear that no one else would.

  “Saakshi, do you have him?” Tilabok asked again, his voice urgent.

  “Ye … yes” Saakshi stammered. “We have Zoran.”

  “Good. Shall I destroy this communicator device?” Tilabok asked.

  Saakshi glanced at the Star Captain for assistance.

  “Ask him to hold on to it. It will help us contact him when we’re here again in twenty days” the Star Captain said to Saakshi.

  “Got that” Tilabok declared before she could relay the message. “Zoran, until we meet again” Tilabok called out, his relief clear. “Saakshi, take care of yourself.”

  The device went dead as suddenly as it had sprung to life.

  “It is Ur’quay technology. The Ketaari will not recognize it even if it falls into their hands” the Star Captain explained in response to a quizzical glance from Zoran.

  “We need to get out of here” he directed to his First Commander as he helped Zoran limp off the Autoporter Pad. In response, First Commander D’raar gave the order to set sail back into Alliance space.