Determinant -Guardians of Vesturon [3] (26 page)

“I am afraid here,” I whispered, admitting it to myself as much as to him.

“There is no need to be. You are safe with my men until I command them otherwise.”

“They don’t look safe. They look at me like they want to kill me.”

“That they do.”

“Then how can you leave me here with them?” My voice rose with panic.

“Because I trust them to follow my orders. I pay them handsomely for what they do. I offer them a secure place to live. You are safe here. They have strict instructions to make sure you are well cared for. Anything you want or need...just ask and you shall receive.”

Doubt dripped from my eyes.

He grasped my hands in his and explained, “January, I am a mercenary. Do you understand what that is? I am a hired gun. I sell my services to the highest bidder. I am not the good guy here,” he explained roughly. “My men are well compensated for what they do. They have been with me for a very long time. They follow my orders to a T. Do not waste your energy on worrying about your safety. In fact, for the time being, you are safer here than anywhere else in the universe.”

“May I ask you something?”

He nodded.

“If the Guardians can’t get your family, will you kill me in return?”

“Yes, I will do what I must.”

“If you kill me, will you feel remorse?”

“Yes. I have felt great remorse, though, for many other deeds I have committed so it will not be something new for me.”

“Will you at least be a bit sad?” My voice trembled with emotion. I should hate him for this, but strangely, I didn’t. I was more confused than ever.

“Yes, it would sadden me to have to kill you,” he replied in anguish as he rubbed the back of his neck.

I wasn’t comforted in the least by his words, and he knew it. He shrugged, rose to his feet and disappeared.

Jurek had been gone for several days, each of them seeming to last a week. His words came back to me over and over. I had no doubt he would kill me if it came to that. I stretched out on the sofa in an attempt to get comfortable. Rykerian’s words came back to me about shielding my thoughts. He said I needed to practice to become more adept at it. Deciding to give it an honest try, I began concentrating on that place deep within my mind.

I relaxed and let my mind roam. When I found that place before, it was with Rykerian’s coaxing. He said to hunt for the partition that I could raise. I remember it feeling more like a soft filter than a partition. I let the tendrils of my mind wander and sure enough, I could imagine the thing so vividly, it was like pulling a blanket over my brain.

It was a bit more difficult this time because I was alone with no one to test the strength of it. I forced myself to keep at it though. Knowing I was at least doing something that could potentially help me in the future kept me satisfied for a short time.

When I couldn’t take another minute of practicing, I arose and began to pace around the small room. I was as restless as I’d ever been. I stood for a moment in front of the iPad things. I really did need to find out what these were called.

Now that I knew one didn’t have to pound on them, I wondered what else they could do. I ran my fingers across the last one on the right, tapping gently on the surface of the screen.

Nothing happened at first but then the room was converted into a dining area, complete with a full meal sitting on the table. The food looked strange...it consisted of multicolored items that I didn’t recognize. The utensils were also odd. They weren’t the traditional knife, fork and spoon, but they looked similar.

I wondered if the food was edible for my consumption. What if it was poisonous to humans or Vesturions? I hadn’t thought of it before, but Vesturions and humans must eat the same things. At least they did when I was in their company at the Compound.

My curiosity got the better of me as I bent over and stuck my nose next to the food.

“Eww, that stuff smells nasty!”

No sooner had the words left my mouth, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise and I heard that familiar popping sound.

I spun around, grinning, and said, “Jurek! I’m glad you’re...” It wasn’t Jurek standing there. It was one of his men.

“Oh! I thought you were Jurek.” Then my anger sparked at his intrusion. Did these people never knock?

“Please make yourself at home,” I said sarcastically.

“Your tone does not match your words,” the man said gruffly.

“No kidding,” I replied under my breath. “Is there something you want? Do you guys never use the door? Have you ever heard of knocking before entering?”

He scowled saying, “You forget your place female! You are still a prisoner here and shall be treated as such.”

He radiated hostility and my palms quickly became damp with sweat. Did I dare think that he wouldn’t harm me?

“Fear not female. I know when and how to follow orders. I am Tak and I have come to offer you sustenance. I do not believe you should eat what you have brought forth using the transmuter.”

“Huh?” I was lost in the weeds here. Transmuter?

“Yes, transmuter,” he said, indicating the iPad look a-likes.

“Ah, I didn’t know that’s what they were called. Yeah, that stuff looks pretty disgusting. What is it?”

His faced turned a mottled shade of red before he answered in a scathing voice, “That ‘disgusting stuff’ is considered a fine delicacy to my species!”

“Geez, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it as an insult. It just smelled bad to me.”

“As you smell bad to me, human!”

I smelled bad? I just took a shower. How could I smell bad?

“You cannot wash away the odor of your species, human,” he spat. “It is inherent to you...like that of a stinking beast!”

“What? I smell like a stinking beast?”

“That is correct! A stinking beast of the worst kind.”

“Of all the rotten things...well I don’t think you smell so good yourself. How can you with that rotten food you eat?”

And so it went. We continued to insult each other until I gave up.

“Will you just get me something to eat that won’t kill me?”

He moved to the transmuter and moved his fingers across the screen so fast, I could barely track them. The nasty food on the table vanished and was replaced with a yummy looking pizza. My stomach immediately growled and I wasted no time in diving into it. It was delicious. For aliens, they sure could make an awesome pizza.

“Mmm, thanks,” I said around a mouthful of food. He stood like a statue, not even blinking. After a few minutes of that, I finally uttered, “Would you stop looking at me like that? It’s completely rude you know.”

“I care not.” That was it. No more explanation.

“Don’t you ever blink?”

“It is not necessary.”

“But why not?”

“We are energy beings. This form is simply a variation of ourselves so blinking or even breathing for that matter is unnecessary.”

I’d never get use to this stuff. Just when I thought I had my brain wrapped around something, I’d get hit with another curve ball.

“What is this ‘curve ball?’”

I shrugged. “Nothing. It’s just a saying. It means something like a surprise.”

He grunted.

“If you’re just going to stand there and stare, you might as well have a seat.”

He cocked his head in that strange, jerking way that Jurek did all the time and his eyes drilled into me.

“Why would you invite me to your table when you dislike me so?”

Okay, I so wasn’t expecting that.

“I don’t know. I guess because it’s the polite thing to do.”

“Why do you want to be polite?”

“What is this? Fifty questions? Either sit down or leave. You know you can join me if you’d like. I’ll never be able to eat all of this.”

When I looked at him, I nearly died laughing. The look on his face was so comical I couldn’t help myself.

“Why are you laughing at me?”

“Because you look like you just swallowed an entire lemon!”

“I do not understand.”

“No doubt. Look, have a seat and share my food, okay? It’s very uncomfortable for me to eat with you staring at me like that.”

His movements were stiff and awkward, as if he was unfamiliar with sitting at a table.

“You are correct. I am unfamiliar with this. My species eats in private, as we do not think it is something to be shared. Much like bathing. It is a bodily function that is done alone.”

“You all think eating is like bathing? That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard.” I stuffed my mouth again with another huge bite of pizza.

I picked up another piece and offered it to him. “Here, try some.”

He scrunched up his face in distaste, like the pizza was something putrid and disgusting.

“I’m telling you, it’s the greatest. You don’t know what you’re missing.”

He continued to shake his head in disgust.

“So, why did you pop in? Was it to feed me?”

“That is correct. I was left in command with orders to care for you and when I saw you had created sustenance, I knew you could not eat it. So here I am.”

Interesting. How did he know I created this meal?

“It is easily seen when you activate your transmuters,” answering my thought.

“So what else can these things do?”

“Mostly what you have used them for already. We are short on space here so each room has transmuters to enable one room to become many.”

“Are we really in outer space?”

I looked at him and almost fell out of my chair when I noticed his response.

“Tell me you did not just roll your eyes at me!”

“You are exasperating. Why do you ask such silly questions?”

“They are not silly. I have never been anywhere in my life besides South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia before a week ago and you say I’m being silly. What did you expect? I’m sorry I’m not acquainted with space ships and fancy space stations or whatever this place is!” Okay, I was back to feeling like I was twelve again and having a bickering contest with another twelve year old.

Silence stretched between us and he eventually nodded sharply once and said, “Yes, we are in deep space, in our headquarters. I cannot tell you more due to security reasons.”

I stared back at him when his actions shocked me. He extended his arm and pulled me by my hair. He took his hand and twisted his fingers around it, rubbing my hair with his other hand. Then he pulled it to his nose and smelled it.

“What are you doing?” I asked suspiciously.

“I had a desire to touch and examine your hair.” He said it like he would if he wanted to touch a piece of wood. This was a highly unusual man.

“Why?”

“The females of our species have no hair and I wanted to satisfy my curiosity. I have never touched this before. It is very interesting. I can understand why your males like it so.” As soon as the words left his lips, he released me.

“You people are very strange.”

“You are replete?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. The pizza was great. Thanks.” I looked at the remaining pieces and when I lifted my head, he was gone.

These strange beings were beginning to evoke feelings and emotions in me I wasn’t sure if I wanted to examine. I was beginning to like them. Really like them. That scared the wits out of me since they wanted nothing but to kill me. It also made me positively nuts...as in insane. How could I like a group of weird mercenaries that would kill me whenever they wanted?

Maybe because even though they were a gruff bunch, they had been almost kind to me. Jurek certainly had. And this Tak...while he was intimidating, he had odd softness about him. Like the way he looked at me when he was touching my hair.

Dear God, I hope I wasn’t falling victim to Stockholm syndrome. I bristled at the thought while I examined my feelings and emotions. No... I didn’t think that was it. I didn’t feel a deep emotional bond with them; I simply
liked
them. They were unusual and totally weird, but they interested me. ‘Kindred spirits’ came to mind. All the kids in school would often tell me how weird I was or talk about me behind my back. I felt connected to these strange beings because of that. Like me, they didn’t fit in.

*****

One week later my mindset had made a one eighty degree turn. I was going stir crazy. Jurek hadn’t returned and I had walked the floors for hours on end. Everyone who answered my call had denied my requests for permission to leave my quarters. I tapped the giant window repeatedly but they had all ignored me. That I was being a major pain in the butt was an understatement, but it was cruel to leave me hanging in here, with no communication from anyone. The last time I had tapped the screen I was told they would only respond henceforth in the event of an emergency! Of all the...

I caught myself running my hands through my hair and stopped. The action itself was so like Rykerian, my thoughts immediately turned to him. Who was I kidding? I had done nothing
but
think of him.

The gravity of my situation slammed into my gut. I prayed the Guardians would be successful at freeing Jurek’s family. I couldn’t bear to think of the alternative. After becoming quite fond of Jurek, I wondered if he could go through with his threats. I knew he was very fond of me, but his family’s lives were at stake. He did say he would stop at nothing to see them released.

Oh how I wished I knew more about this whole ordeal. The information I pieced together was that Jurek had been coerced by the Xanthians to release the virus on Earth. I wasn’t sure how his father and sister had been captured. He did mention to me that his father was not Praestanus, but from a different planet. Therefore he had no special powers and his sister had no special powers either. I knew Jurek was a mercenary by trade and that was how his association with the Xanthians had developed. Maybe the Xanthians discovered where Jurek’s family lived and kidnapped them. But Jurek never mentioned his mother. Where was she and why didn’t she help? Maybe she was similar to my mother. Maybe she hated him.

I threw myself across the bed. All these random thoughts were making my head spin. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples and felt myself drifting.