Brought the Stars to You (10 page)

"We might need it for later," he muttered. Moving back
to her, he held out the clothes then looked at her bleeding back,
"Hold still, I've... I've got a medical kit for this." His
voice was shaky, a bit troubled by the whole scene. The worry for her
and what was done to her, the murder he had just committed. It racked
his mind and conscience, but first and foremost was still her
welfare.

She nodded, reaching to pull her tentils out of the way, "We
have to hurry," she said softly, "Just... enough to make it
so I won't slow us down," she swallowed down her own guilt and
nausea. "He was right. They'll hunt us, Kieren. They'll know,
when I'm missing, that it was you. If you leave now... I'll tell them
I did it."

Kneeling down behind her, he reached to his pockets, pulling out a
tiny packet. With a press of a button he unfurled it and applied the
device to her lower back, sealing the wound and staunching the flow
of blood. She shivered lightly at the rippling of the muscles and
flesh as he mended her, chilling her slightly with the intensity of
the sensation before it ebbed slightly.

Shaking his head to her words, he rose up and turned around, "No,
Ardanna. I couldn't do that, even if I wanted to." He crouched
at the corpse of the man he killed, tearing off his undershirt, then
rooting through his pockets quickly. Using the torn shirt to wipe
away the excess blood that coated her, he tried not to retch at the
sight of the murdered man. "And I won't," he concluded,
tossing away the blood caked rag.

"There's a back entrance. They use it only for high ranking
members... if we go out that way, there may be others of his party.
You'll have to act cocky. Confident. Tell them you purchased me for
the night, wink if you have to. They probably won't know me from
another Phhia... hopefully," she added on softly. "Unless
you know of a better way."

"I'll do whatever I have to," he said sternly, "Get
ready, Ardanna. We'll go as soon as you're dressed." Running a
hand back through his hair, he paced a bit, trying to think. Feeling
the weight of the gun in his robes he looked to her, "I wish you
had somewhere to hide a weapon," he said in frustration before
moving to the door.

She gave an uncharacteristically bitter laugh as she pulled her
gown on overtop her body, still quite underdressed, but she looked
enough like a streetwalker that it would make due.

Composing himself again, he moved around her, activating the door
fully as he pushed out, "Follow me," he said softly, as if
pleading with her. Moving out, he reached back to take her hand and
began to guide them through the corridors. "Tell me which ways
to take," he whispered.

She nodded, her demeanour adapted to one of a cowed dancer being
led out the backdoor for sex. She gave the directions under her
breath, leading with tiny squeezed of her hands as she walked quickly
in her high heels, her eyes downcast all the while.

Turning a corner, they rounded to a long hall, the final exit in
sight. Between them and it, however, stood the manager speaking with
his bulbous headed guard. The two turned and looked at them, taking
sight of Ardanna, eyes wide in shock. "Traitorous--" Before
the stern man's curse was finished, however, Kieren shot out his hand
and repelled the two.

Kro'gier went flying back into his office, while the guard found
himself slammed against the wall with enough force to crack his skull
and knock him unconscious as Kieren continued to pull her along
uninterrupted.

Passing the office Kieren waved his hand and the door shut.
Stopping but briefly to pull his sword from his robes he stuck the
searing tip into the locking mechanism, welding it in place before he
deactivated it once more and continued on. "Let's go," he
said, his soft voice trembled a little with a mix of determination
and worry as he took them to the final exit.

Her own anxieties ate at her mind as she struggled to focus on the
escape. "Yes, Sir," she said softly, safe in the façade.

The exit was sealed shut, no lock in sight. Whatever operated it
was quite hidden to keep the imprisoned women safely trapped. He
looked at it, studying it a while with some desperation before he
released her hand. All quiet, he took a moment to concentrate.

Heart thudding loudly, the rushing blood filled her head, concern
marring her beautiful face. She looked over her shoulder briefly at
the hall behind him, uncertainty flooded her. They were both going to
die. There and then.

Eyes shut, Kieren pressed his hands together and focused his will
upon the door. A lifetime of training wouldn't allow a mere door to
keep him from saving the woman he loved, he knew it. The metal
groaned under the power of his abilities, the moment going on long.
It resisted the bending of reality, so well built and sturdy as it
was. Time dragged on and he seemed to make no headway, the metal just
groaning and bending ever so slightly to him.

"We need to try another way," her words were panicked,
her breathing shallow and quick. They were trapped, and her body
ached.

His own sense of impotence rose with the sound of her voice,
helping break his focus and replace it with a new impassioned
determination. With a growl, he opened his eyes and glared at the
door. Sparks shot from his hands, flesh and metal sizzled. Finally
his rage gave him the power over the nanites in his blood that fueled
'the Balance', tipping the scales to pull it open, parting the way
for them both.

Letting the emotions go, he breathed heavily, fumbling for her
hand, "Let's go," he said weakly, a few more meters leading
them to the back lot for VIP entrance.

Looking around at the night sky, she was filled anew with worry
and apprehension. She daren't speak her concern for fear of being
overheard, but she laid her trust at his feet.

There were two more of the loutish Gumean guards, and across from
them a vehicle no doubt used to transport the Admiral, flanked by two
heavily armed bodyguards. The Gumean's had heard the noise of the
door and held weapons at the ready, looking at the pair with a
confused gaze.

Motioning his hand at the two guards, he spoke in as steady and
even a voice as he could, reaching with his command of the "Balance"
to manipulate their thoughts. "I'm just taking my newly bought
slave with me. But those men over there look like they need to be
investigated..." he bent the Balance to his will on them both,
but the two guards merely stared at the pair, then each other,
blinking and unmoving before grunting at them.

Her eyes were downcast, and she didn't even really see the scene
laid out before her, just the stairs beneath her feet. She quivered,
and didn't resist it, knowing that a slave would quiver. She chanced
a look up with just her eyes, feeling bile raise in her throat as she
saw all the guards, her hope leaking from her.

The two guards didn't do as Kieren had hoped. Their minds resisted
his attempt to beguile them and he grew frustrated, near panic. There
were so many, and though he was confident he could fight them all and
survive, he had to protect Ardanna while doing so, and the guilt of
killing more...

Anger swelled up in him at what he was forced to do because of the
evil of others, and he glared at them both, attempting again, "Go
inside and see for yourselves! Their boss is causing all sorts of
damage!" The two were once again unswayed, and with an annoyed
cry Kieren pulled out his laser weapon and cut down both with a
single sweep of his blade, severing one's head and cutting a path
through the others torso.

Her eyes widened at the violence, her breath taken for a moment,
silent. Still. Invisible. She had never known such intense emotions,
and her eyes watered with anguish. He had spent all of his life
mediating, finding the balance in himself to master and maintain an
ancient gift of technology in his blood that he didn't even
understand, yet she'd unleashed this in him.

The pair of guards, though they wore helmets, seemed shocked by
the sudden outburst. They lifted their rifles and took defensive
positions, though neither one fired. Either through sheer confusion,
a desire not to get involved in another groups affairs, or the simple
surprise at a Fiato before them made them take pause. With his gaze
upon them squarely, Kieren began to lead Ardanna away from both the
guards and the club at a steady pace.

She moved, eager to be gone from that place, her hand sweaty in
his grasp. She was completely shocked by the situation that had
befallen her that night, at the atrocity of the Union's Admiral, at
the wordless cruelty of the manager and the others that worked in the
business. She was devastated and allowed no time to grieve or mourn.

The pair didn't manage to make it very far when the helmet-muffled
voice of a guard cut in, "Halt there! What w--" Before it
got further Kieren ducked, dragging Ardanna down low as he tossed his
lase-sword, the weapon spinning in the air as a couple gun bolts went
flying over them.

Before anything more could be done, the two guards were struck
dead, and the blade was returned to him. At the continued atrocity he
could barely keep down the mix of anger and self-loathing. "We've
got to go," he said needlessly, turning back. "Let's take
his vehicle." It pained him to talk with all that had happened.
All that he had done.

She nodded, having recovered from the quick duck and the
adrenaline rush that accompanied the motions, her body absolutely
riddled with pain and uncomfortable feelings. She scurried after
Kieren towards the vehicle, "We need to get off this planet,"
she said quietly, just as needlessly. This planet wasn't big enough
to hide from the biggest cartel upon it.

Pulling upwards one door to open it for her, he dashed around to
the other side, getting into the driver's seat. Forgetting something,
he looked to the corpse of one guard, using his powers to pull the
activator from him before starting it up. At that moment he looked to
her and felt another twinge of pity. She had spent her whole life in
servitude. How foreign such an escape must be to her. "I have a
ship," he said simply, swallowing, "it'll do... for now."

Even in the midst of such pain and anguish for both of them, she
still couldn't help but feel impressed at such a claim. She shook the
thought away as she nodded to him, "It will have to." She
swallowed, looking at him sadly, "I'm so sorry, Kieren."

Shaking his head he began to pull the vehicle out of the lot,
taking off and heading towards the landing pad where his ship
awaited. "You've nothing to be sorry for." He meant that.
And as awful as the night had been, how far he had fallen in defence
of her and the acts he had to do to protect her, part of him was
glad. Now they could be together.

She never wanted to have dragged him into this, to have forced his
hand so. She thought of the coldness in her words back in the suite
and nearly shivered from the harshness of them. Even though the man
had brutalized her, she still never wanted any of this to have
happened. She would have chosen to start the night over again.

He drove the rest of the way without a word, arriving at the
landing pad where his small vessel awaited. It was nothing glorious,
but it was a fast and well-built thing, used by the Fiato for small
missions such as his.

Getting out, he moved around, activating his ship by remote, the
loading ramp lowered before them as he went to help her out of the
vehicle.

Taking his offered hand, she had been just as introspective on the
trip. She looked at the ship with a small amount of awe and wonder
despite herself, despite the situation, despite her sadness. She
smiled at him, her face still lined with worry, though she tried to
mask it, "It's wonderful," she said softly.

Her awe at the sleek little vessel surprised him, though he
remembered her life so sheltered and restricted. It made him happy to
share with her things at the same time it angered him to think of the
injustices committed against her.

Squeezing her hand in his he managed a smile and led her up the
ramp, "It's just a small vessel, used by my order for lone
Masters, or with a Student-Knight in tow," he said, entering and
pressing a button to close up behind them. "So it'll do for us
both." The place inside was small, barely enough room for them
to stand straight with only a few inches to spare.

The back had two beds, a chest beneath each, and in front a single
seat at the controls. Whatever supplies there were, were kept in the
containers beneath the beds.

"Is this where you've been resting?" she asked finally
after moving in, looking around the small ship with wandering eyes.

"No. I've been staying at a place near the club," he
said, "I didn't want to lead anyone who might be following me
back to my ship every night."

"Where will we go, Kieren?" her voice sounded so small,
so frightened.

Moving into the front seat, he pulled his robe around him and
began to activate the ship, the engines started and the control board
lit up. Smiling back to her a moment, he found a bit of serenity in
her face, "I don't know, Ardanna. Anywhere but here will do for
now though."

With that he lifted the ship up, the landing gear retracted as
they began to turn and rise into the heavens.

Her hands reached out to her side, trying to steady her from
anticipated movement, uncertain of the feeling of flying. Guiding the
ship up out of the planet's atmosphere, the ride was smooth, the
small craft quite stable. She looked rather foolish, dressed in her
heels and yellow night dress, her blue skin contrasted against it.
"Kieren..." she started, but then trailed off. She didn't
know what more she could say. She swallowed, her eyes holding back
her tears, "Thank you," she finally said.

He both smiled and choked up a little. It was what he wanted,
truly, and he felt freedom was best for her, for anyone, though part
of him felt guilty for taking joy in such a bloody, terrible night.
"You owe me no thanks, Ardanna. Take a seat. Relax. When I get
us out of the system I'll come back and see what I can do to help."