Alien Caged (16 page)

Zemos stroked her hair and smiled.  “That’s much better, little one.  You’ve been properly cared for, and no one can punish you for it this time, can they?  As for that nonsense that only desperate men would want to serve you in such a way, you can plainly see we find you attractive.”

He motioned at the men’s tented crotches.  All three were aroused, judging from the immense strain their erections placed on their trousers.

Elisa thought she should be scared now.  The clan wanted sex, and there was no way she could stop them from taking it.  Even Miragin, the smallest of this trio, could easily overpower her. 

Yet terror refused to put in an appearance as she stared at the men.  In the wake of the incredible climax, her body was relaxed and her mind felt unhinged.

The computer buzzed.  With a soft exclamation, Oret lifted her legs so that he could move out from under them and stand.  He went back to the desk.

With a last caress to her cheek, Zemos rose to his feet and joined his Nobek, looking at whatever the computer had accessed.  Meanwhile, Miragin helped Elisa sit up.  He straightened her clothes for her as her brain began to kick back into gear.

They weren’t going to take advantage of her?  They weren’t going to – well,
rape
wouldn’t be the right word for it.  Not after she’d let them touch her in such intimate ways.  Not after she’d experienced such pleasure.  Elisa had assumed that the three men would simply take advantage of her acquiescent state.

Miragin smiled as he made her modest again.  His expression stayed serene, as if his groin wasn’t swollen to the point where Elisa thought it must be painful.  “Are you all right?” he asked.

Elisa blinked at him. 
Was
she all right?  The strange intoxicated feeling that Zemos’ bite had given her had begun to dissipate.  Elisa felt more like herself, though a bit loose-limbed from the intense orgasm.

Good heavens, what had she done?

Before Elisa could properly acknowledge the sudden onslaught of terror and guilt filling her, Zemos spoke as he looked at the vid readout over Oret’s shoulder.  “The ship is at its lowest number of active crew right now with it being the night shift.”

Oret answered, “Most are in their quarters, probably preparing for sleep within the next few hours.  The alarm has not gone out about our escape yet.”

Zemos looked over at Elisa.  His gaze was still warm, but not as tender as before.  Now there was the stark expression of command, of a man who had a mission to fulfill and no mercy for those who might stand in his way. 

He said, “Come here, little sweet.  Help her if she needs it, Miragin.”

With the Imdiko’s support, Elisa gained unsteady balance on her legs.  She still felt weak following the orgasm and her knees trembled as she walked over to join the other two men.  Miragin stayed at her side, his arms circling the air around her to catch her if she fell.

She stood next to Zemos and looked at the floating vid image.  After a moment, it registered what they were looking at:  the ship’s layout.  All the levels and all the corridors and rooms were laid out before her.

Zemos pointed at one room on another level, then the area that displayed officers’ quarters.  “Small arms supply is here.  We are here.  What is the best route to get to the hand weapons?” 

Elisa looked up at his intent face, trying not to gaze at the lips that had so recently been on hers.  She took her worry and wrapped it tight around her as she asked, “Weapons?”

Zemos’ eyes narrowed, but he spoke in the most patient of tones.  “We have to defend ourselves, Elisa.  Remember, your ship attacked us.  Its actions are illegal since we are no longer at war.  This crew took the lives of many of my men, good men defending our Empire.  I don’t plan to go on a killing spree, but I do intend for the survivors of my crew to escape by any means possible.”

He was right, of course.  Zemos, his clan, and his crew were the victims in this mess.  Yet Elisa felt she had already done plenty to help the Kalquorians, unwittingly or not.  She was terrified of the hornet’s nest she’d opened up.

All warmth fled from Zemos’ gaze as he stared her down.  His voice bitingly hard, he said, “You will tell me what I wish to know one way or the other.  I can bite you again and put you under my absolute control.  You will not be able to deny me
anything
.”

Elisa’s heart stuttered.  The Dramok’s threat was loaded with extra meaning.  Making it worse, Oret also looked at her, his expression dangerous and calculating.

She did not want to lose control of her senses again, not if things were going to turn ugly.  There was also the question of her crew, especially innocents like that guard Larsen.  If keeping her head meant she could keep others from dying, she needed to keep Zemos’ fangs – and other parts – off her.   

Her finger trembling, she pointed out the least traveled corridors that would take the clan from the former captain’s cabin to the small arms supply office.  “This way.  Then down here.  You can use the lift tube to reach the seventh level.  Turn here and you’re right at the supply department.”

Oret asked, “You are quite sure of this being the least populated route?  What about these service tunnels that run throughout the ship?”

Elisa shivered at his suspicious gaze.  He didn’t trust her.  Everything she told him would be scrutinized for deception.

She said, “Weapons supply is considered a threat-sensitive area.  The brig too, since I assume you’re going that way as well to free your crew.  You can’t use the maintenance shafts in those areas without security clearance.  If you go in there, alarms will go off.” 

Then men would come, shooting would start, and people – Earther and Kalquorian – would die.  It would be her fault.

Oret’s stern glare never wavered.  “I understand and thank you for that intelligence.  However, I must remind you to not send me in a direction that will force me to defend myself.  I would hate to have the blood of your fellow shipmates on my hands because you decided to send me among a great number of them.”

Elisa could barely believe this was the same Nobek who had tenderly watched her come out of orgasm’s haze only moments before.  There was no trace of that now.  His expression had gone brutal.  Not one trace of mercy showed in his cold stare.  A thrill of fear ran through Elisa.  If she hadn’t thought Oret was capable of killing without conscience before, she knew it for a fact now.  She didn’t think he’d hate having blood on his hands at all.  She thought he might well enjoy it.

Elisa swallowed.  “I am sure I have shown you the best possible way that I know.”

Zemos said, “I need a place to hide my crew, Elisa.  I prefer it is near the engineering section.”

They were going to try to seize control of the ship.  Good God, what was she supposed to do?  Why did they insist on her helping them, on turning on her own people?

Damn it, the Kalquorians had been captured long after the war had ended to be sold off as slaves.  Elisa knew her commanding officers were in the wrong.  Still, it didn’t make helping Zemos any easier.

She tried to console herself with the fact that the matter was already out of her control.  All she could see left for her to do was keep the death toll for Earther and Kalquorian alike as low as possible.

Her tone clipped with anger at the situation, Elisa told Zemos, “The engineering section is still too well manned for you to hide on the same level with it.  However, the level below it was all cargo at one time.  There are many empty holds now since we sold off everything we could to keep going.”

Oret tapped the keyboard, bringing up the cargo area and enlarging the schematic.  “What is the least traveled route from small weapons supply to this level?”

Elisa showed him where the supply lift in that area operated.  That particular tube’s use was designated for cargo that had to be moved from the storage level to other parts of the ship.  She said, “We’ve got little cargo left on board.  Plus the supply lift is out of the way of most parts of the battlecruiser that still operate on a daily basis.  The route is unlikely to expose you to danger.”

Zemos relaxed enough to appear cautiously pleased.  “Excellent.  What about from the brig to that level?”

Elisa nodded.  “There are more cargo lifts, just down the hall from where your men are being held.  It’s been used for prisoner loading and offloading before.”

“Good girl.  I know this part hasn’t been pleasant for you, but you are doing the right thing.” 

Zemos turned to his Nobek, who was intently studying the blueprints and memorizing the routes they would be taking.  “Oret, Miragin will go with you to get the firearms we’ll need.  I’ll keep Elisa with me.  We’ll meet in this cargo hold, second from the end.”  He pointed out the planned hideaway on the schematic.

Elisa stared at him.  “Can’t you let me go now?  I can’t see where I’d be of any further use to you.  I’d only get in the way.”

Zemos crooked a brow at her.  “With what you know of our plans?  No, little one.  I am afraid that will not be an option.  Besides, even if you promised to keep everything a secret, I can’t dismiss the awful notion someone might try to torture the information from you.  Your people have been known to do such things against their own.”

Elisa thought of Commander Chase and Lieutenant Commander Robards, and a chill ran down her spine.  Torture was very much a possibility with those men.

Oret said, “We’ll leave after an hour.  By then, we can hope everyone has settled for the night and our routes will be the most clear.” 

Zemos nodded.  “Agreed.  Elisa, see if you can rest until we go.  It may be we’re in for a long night.”

Elisa didn’t comment on his consideration.  She didn’t know how to feel towards the Kalquorians now; not when her head screamed traitor but her heart wanted them to succeed.

Chapter 9

Zemos watched Elisa retreat back to the piece of furniture that he thought of as a lounger.  She curled into herself in the corner of it, as if defending herself against them.

It made something inside his gut clench to see her like that.  It made despair turn to anger so that his hands ached to tighten into fists.  Punching things would be good right now to release the tension.

Take deep breaths when you feel violent and you have no way to indulge that urge
came the remembered voice of one of his Nobek grandfathers. 
Breathe through it.  Instead of the red of rage, make it a brilliance that feeds your mind and body that invigorates rather than frustrates.

Zemos was a Dramok, a born leader through and through.  However, as a child he’d almost been categorized as a Nobek.  He possessed a short temper and the primal urge to destroy when infuriated.  Because of that, his Nobek father and grandfathers had taken him in hand while he was still young.  They’d taught him how to channel the feral instinct to run riot.  They had made it into a tool to enhance his take-charge personality.  Over one hundred thirty years of life had also tempered the need to take out frustration on objects and other people.

The animal within was still there, pacing and waiting for its chance to wreak havoc on those who woke its ire.  Its claws had unsheathed and teeth had bared when Elisa shared her awful story of being punished for an innocent kiss.  As a Dramok, Zemos wanted to guide her away from her sad, unloved past.  As a Nobek, he wanted to hunt down those who had hurt her and make them pay.

Elisa now cringed as she bowed to the natural inclination to defend her own people against him.  Even though she’d been hurt so badly by her fellow Earthers, instinctive loyalty remained.  Intellectually, Zemos could understand it.  Emotionally, it only made the fury he felt worse.  He wanted to yell at her for being dedicated to those who had harmed his crew, who would continue to hurt him and his clan by selling them into slavery.  He wanted to shake her for willful blindness, especially since he loved her.  His instincts claimed she should be as devoted to him as he was to her.  Elisa had taken his heart; he needed her to offer hers in return.

The Dramok part of Zemos knew better, however.  It knew why she felt frightened and torn.  It even had sympathy for the plight she found herself in.  He recognized how she was a victim to everything that had happened.  Elisa might be even more an injured party than he and his crew.

No, he had no right to be angry with her.  Of all people, she deserved his wrath the least.

It hurt to see how she huddled now, a tight little ball of misery as she watched them from her corner of the lounger.  The beast inside Zemos calmed, recognizing how much better it would be to go to her and gather her in his arms again.  He felt once more how sweet it had been to hold her at long last, after suffering through months of not being able to touch Elisa through that damned containment field.  She’d been even warmer and softer and more vulnerable than he’d imagined, her soft scent filling his senses.  He had tasted her lips, a dream he’d held for what felt like an eternity.  The gorgeous fantasy had been realized, and Zemos thought he’d not been able to properly enjoy it because it had seemed too impossible to be happening.  He hadn’t been able to believe it was real, that Elisa had been kissing him, actually kissing him, for a few precious minutes.