Alien Savior (Zerconian Warriors Book 5) (19 page)

A siren sounded, making her freeze. Around her everyone stilled.

“Prepare to evacuate. We are under attack. This is not a drill. Prepare to evacuate.”

Around her, people fled. Parents picked up children. The elderly were aided by those younger. But they all moved.

She and Kyle stood frozen as Zuma raced up to them. “A Coizil warship was spotted. It’s less than three hours away. It can’t be a coincidence—they must have come for us.”

Fuck.

Darac strode into the small cabin, his heart beating rapidly. He knew she was all right. He could sense her through the bond. But the panic filling her made it hard for him to maintain control over himself.

“What is happening?” he asked, staring around the room. His gaze hit her and immediately he felt calmer. He moved to her side. Willa squeezed his hand once then went back to looking at Rye, who stood at the end of the room.

The village was in chaos. Organized chaos. But still chaos.

“A Coizil warship has been spotted by our scouts,” Rye stated.

“How far away?” he asked. Coizils? Here? That couldn’t be a coincidence.

“Three hours,” Rye told him grimly.

“Three hours?” He gaped at the other man. What kind of security did they have in place? Why hadn’t they had earlier warning?

“We pay people on Zadar to tell us about anything they see that’s suspicious. They spotted the warship,” Willa told him quietly. “We don’t have the resources for anything more.”

“We need to contact my people. We cannot fight a warship filled with Coizils.”

Rye nodded. “Our ship has the best communication system. Deacon, take him. The rest of you, arm yourselves. We’re evacuating to the mining tunnels. Arm everyone who can carry a weapon without shooting their own foot off.”

Darac glanced down at Willa, frowning. He did not want to leave her.

“I’ll be fine,” she whispered. “I can take care of myself. Better than most of these people can. Let me do what I have to do.”

It was hard, but he let her go and followed Deacon out.

***

“Your people can be here in less than two days?” Willa asked as she walked beside him. “That quickly?”

“The Lilans must have seen Koran’s ship attack the Coizil warship. They asked Zerconia for help. While our Emperor and the Council are making their decision, our ships decided to pull into port on Tarra. They are faster than your ship so I believe it should take them about thirty hours to get here.”

“The Crown Princess won’t be pleased that there will be a delay getting her chocolate.”

Darac nodded. “Chocolate is very important to her. Because of her delicate condition, she should not be upset. I am surprised that Koran remained.”

“Delicate state? Bet she loves hearing that.”

“We have been ordered not to mention those words in her hearing,” he replied.

He studied their surroundings. After he’d messaged Koran, he had raced back to where Willa was gathering her stuff.

Once everyone was ready, they’d set off. Zuma, Rye and Deacon leading the way. Willa, Darac, and Steele at the back. Everyone moved steadily. Duke and some others drove the racers, carrying the infirm and the very young ahead of them. Others moved behind them, erasing their tracks.

They had been walking for over an hour. The landscape was flat in every direction but one.

“What is that?” he asked, pointing ahead of them where rising from the ground was a huge rock-like hill. Bathed in colors of red and yellow, it looked so out of place that he almost wondered if he imagined it.

“That’s Ilam.”

“That is where we are going?”

“Yep.”

The top was flat, and deep grooves ran down the sides. Twenty minutes later, they stood at the base of the huge hill. Time was ticking away. By his reckoning, there were thirty minutes left until the Coizils arrived. He wondered if they were going to attempt to climb the steep cliff when some of the males moved towards some boulders at the base of the hill. Pushing and straining, they moved a large boulder, revealing a small opening.

“We are going in there?” he asked incredulously.

“Why beast man, are you scared of small spaces? Have we discovered your weakness?”

“I have no weakness.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But there is some difference between your size and mine.”

“You don’t say,” she said dryly. “Don’t worry, it will be a bit tight in places, but Rye had the tunnels widened. It shouldn’t be too bad a fit.”

“Rye created tunnels in this rock?”

She shook her head. “It was an ancient dwelling. The natives created the original tunnels. We lived hours away in that direction.” She waved her arm to the south. “We didn’t even know this was here. But a few years after our parents died, Rye helped rescue a native from a group of rogues. There are very few natives left. His family was grateful and to clear the debt they gave him Ilam.”

“Gave it to him?”

“It sounds weird but the natives are big into guardian spirits. They believe this is a sacred, safe place. They didn’t want us to live here, but in times of war we could take shelter. After our parents were killed, Rye became obsessed with protecting the village. So he moved us all here. Oh, some people didn’t come with us, but most did.”

They entered the small entrance and like she had told him, there were a few tight areas where he had to bend down or force his shoulders through.

“What about the entrance?” he asked.

“Duke and some others will cover it up, then hide the racers with invisibub’s around the other side of Ilam. There’s another entrance there.”

“Does everyone know where to go?”

“Rye made us all memorize the way in case the village is attacked while we are away. We usually run a drill every two months. Rye’s a paranoid bastard. With good reason, it seems.”

This could actually give them a chance of surviving. They reached a large cavern, the walls of the cavern were a soft, pale yellow. He ran his hand along it. Smooth. Almost silky. Crates piled three high sat against one side of the cavern. Some of the men started opening them.

“Hold this.” Willa handed him her handheld, which she’d used to light their way. She pulled out a glow stick, shaking it until it lit up. Around them other people did the same, filling the cavern with a soft light. She moved to another crate and handed him a blanket. No one seemed too concerned about their situation.

Steele cracked open a crate, while Rye moved to another one. They started pulling out weapons.

“You are well prepared.”

“Don’t sound so impressed.” She grinned. “Rye has been preparing this place for years. Its where most of the credits we earn goes. On weapons, defense mechanisms, emergency supplies.”

“I did wonder where the credits were used.”

“It took time to gather the credits to purchase Betsy, our parents left us some and we sold off some of the racers and borrowed some more. It took Rye a long time to pay off that debt. Then he had to gather a crew, find jobs. He set up this place, stocked it up over time with weapons, surveillance, supplies to last us a month. He also had Kyle set up a surveillance system that would warn us when rogues were near. We pay the Zadarns to warn us of anyone approaching our airspace.”

“Why does no one stop these rogues?”

“They’re too powerful. They’re ruthless and surprisingly organised. If someone organised the villages to band together we would have a better chance of fighting them. But people around here don’t trust easily. Do you remember me telling you about the overpopulation of Earth and how my grandparents number came up in a lottery so they were sent here? Well, back then the lottery was only for those who had a criminal record.”

“Earth sent it’s lawless here?”

“My grandfather was arrested when he was sixteen for stealing a racer. He didn’t know it was stolen, his best friend sold it to him. But he was caught with it and his friend was the Sheriff’s son. So he ended up with a record. Not everyone that was sent to Joyadan was so innocent, though. And some of them continued their criminal ways. People choose to live in our village, despite how rough it is out here, because Rye protects his own.”

Darac watched as Rye paced restlessly.

“They will find us.” How long could they hold out before reinforcements arrived? They had children and elderly to protect.

He had her to protect.

She grinned. “If they do manage to find us they are in for a few surprises.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“Remember, Rye is paranoid, and Kyle is a genius. They’ve got a few things up their sleeve.” She closed her eyes. “Guess we better get some shut-eye before it’s our turn on watch.”

***

No. Damn it.

Willa willed the image in her high-powered goggles to disappear. Coizils, dozens of them, were moving in slow formation towards them. Like something from a nightmare, they marched along, side by side.

“They’re not even trying to hide their presence,” she muttered. Fifteen hours it had taken them to get here. She quickly commed Rye to report what she saw then glanced over at Darac. He sat on a ledge a few feet up the cliff, hidden behind a boulder.

“We’re coming,” Rye told her grimly.

Darac dropped quietly down beside her.

“How did they find us so quickly?” she asked.

“Probably by the one thing we could not hide, our scent. They have excellent trackers.”

“How long until reinforcements get here?” she asked nervously.

“Eleven hours, perhaps ten.”

Shit. They were dead meat.

Darac sat silently, calculating the odds. They didn’t have the firepower to fight a troop of Coizils. They had the numbers and the weapons. They had to hold their position for at least ten hours.

“If I tell you to, I want you to run,” he told Willa. It probably wouldn’t save her, but perhaps it would give her enough of a chance.

She gave him an incredulous look. “Beast man, those delusions are getting the best of you. I’m not going anywhere.”

“This is no game, Willa.”

“No, it’s not. Those are my people in there. Children. Elderly. I can fight. And I’m going to.” She gave him a fierce smile. “Don’t worry so much. It hasn’t happened yet.”

But it would.

Kyle stepped up beside him, Rye next to Willa. People moved around them, taking defensive positions.

“We cannot hold them off for long,” he warned.

“Have faith, Darac,” she told him.

“Looks like we’re about to have company,” Zuma stated, taking a position on their right. Kyle and Rye moved over to their left, all of them crouching behind a few boulders. “Think we should offer them some tea?”

“Drat, I forgot to bring the good silver,” Willa replied.

“Best we send them on their way, then,” Zuma stated.

“Kyle, you ready?”

“They’re making it so easy for me,” Kyle answered. “Look at them, standing there like one big fat target. Three, two, one.” Kyle pushed a button on a small tablet he held.

Darac waited. Nothing. Then suddenly the ground dropped away beneath the feet of the first three rows of Coizils. At least one-third fell into the hole.

“How deep is the hole?” he asked.

“Fifteen feet.” She grinned.

This gave them a fighting chance. The rest of the warriors raced around the large hole, heading their way.

“Fire,” Rye roared.

Darac raised his blaster and fired. He lost track of how much time passed. He focussed on killing as many Coizil warriors as he could.

“Fall back,” Rye roared.

Willa tapped his free arm. “Come on.”

“We are retreating? Why?” But he moved. He knew how to follow orders, as much as they might confuse him. Should they not stay and fight?

“They’re too close,” she told him. They rushed down the passage.

“What are we doing? They will follow.”

“We know,” Steele told him. For the first time, the other male looked happy.

“You are enjoying this?”

“It’s a rush.”

Perhaps Darac might have felt the same had he not had Willa to protect.

“Get back. All of you, back into the next tunnel,” Rye ordered. “Kyle, you ready?”

“Yep,” Kyle answered. They raced back to the main cavern. Rye and Kyle remained behind.

“What are they doing?” he asked.

“Improving our odds,” Willa answered.

“Everyone get ready,” Steele roared.

Suddenly there was an explosion and the world around him rocked. Small pieces of the cavern broke away, falling to the ground. He dragged Willa down, covering her with his body. When the world stopped rocking, he sat up.

“Jeez, we have got to talk about a diet,” she complained. “I could barely breathe under you.”

“I apologize. What was that?”

“Kyle sealed the entrance. Hopefully, a few of those bastards got caught up in the rock fall.”

“With an explosion? He could have killed us all.”

“Give me some credit. Is he always a glass half-empty guy?” Kyle asked.

“Yep,” Willa and Rye answered together.

Hours ticked by, eating at him. A communicator beeped and Rye answered.