Finding Jess (First Wave) (8 page)

He wasn’t thinking clearly the last
couple of days; not since Jess seemed to pull away from him. He knew something
was wrong, that there was a reason she wanted to go to the planet. He couldn’t
explain why, but he felt like he was going to lose her. He resolved to watch
her very closely while they were on the planet until they were back on the
Adaria, or he found out what was wrong.

He walked into MedLab and pulled a
mission kit down. Laying it out on a table, he checked to make sure all the
items he may need were in it and repacked it. Without much thought he began
adding a few extra items.

*****

Jess curled up on her bed and tried
to rest, but her legs felt like they were on fire. She smiled at the memory of
walking fully upright for the first time since she could remember. The pain was
worth it. And Amun said that the pain would get better when her body adjusted
to the new bones he’d made; so she could easily deal with this discomfort for a
little while. It was much less painful than the ache in her heart at the
thought of Amun.

She had read on the comm that it
wasn’t unusual for a captive to latch on to their rescuer or caretaker; maybe
that was why she felt so strongly for him. But what did she know of real
relationships or feelings anyway? For all, she knew that was how all the
Valendran women felt all the time around any of the Valendran men. But if that
were true, why didn’t she feel that way about any of the other men? 

She rolled to her side and punched
her pillow in frustration. It was stupid even to think about this stuff when
she has so many other things to think about right now. Like getting hold of
Julou tomorrow and using the code word they planned on.

“Jess, are you feeling ok?”

Jess jerked upright at the sound of
Amun’s voice. Sitting up in the bed she turned to face him, hugging the pillow
she’d placed in front of her like a shield.

“I’m fine, just a little tired. I
should probably get some sleep since we’re leaving tomorrow.”

She really hoped that he would take
that as a clue to leave, but she should have known better. Instead of leaving,
he sat next to her on the bed and took her hand in his; his thumb rubbed the
back of her hand gently.

“I’ll give you something for the
pain; I know you are in and something to help you sleep as well. Now will you
please tell me what is wrong? Did I say something to hurt you? Or do something?
Please talk to me Jess. I care very much for you, and I hate that you’ve been
so distant the last few days.”

Amun hated the pleading tone in his
voice, but he was at his wit's end and was willing to beg if it fixed whatever
was wrong between them.

“The pain isn’t that bad. I can
handle it. And I’m sure I’ll sleep pretty well tonight, so there is no reason
for you to go to the trouble. Really, I’m fine and just need some sleep.”

The fierce scowl on his face as she
spoke let her know that she probably should have just let him give her the
medicine. She had to get rid of him though. Being this close to him, knowing
what was going to happen tomorrow was really bothering her.

“I’ll not allow you to be in pain
for any reason. And whatever you’re upset about is not enough of a reason to
suffer needlessly.”

He jerked himself from the bed so
suddenly that Jess ducked down to the bed instinctively and covered her head;
her body tensing, waiting for the blows. She knew he wouldn't hurt her; he'd
never even raised his voice to her; but some part of her couldn’t stop the
automatic reaction to try and protect herself.

Amun cursed loudly and looked at
Jess helplessly; afraid if he touched her right now he would only scare her
more. He didn't intend to move so quickly and frighten her; he’d just been so
angry that she’d rather be in pain than spend the time with him while he got
the medicine for her. By the One, it was no excuse to hurt her like this. Why
the hell couldn’t he do any of this right?

“Jess… Jess, please sit up Amalaya.
I would never hurt you, Jess. You know that. Please know that.”

Jess was so embarrassed she didn’t
want to get up and face him right now. She’d just proven why she could never
belong here with them. No matter how kind everyone had been to her, or how much
she learned she could never even pretend to be normal. She needed to be alone;
she needed to think. She willed her body to relax and slowly sat back up.

“Amun, it’s ok. I’m sorry. It was
just out of habit. Maybe the pain is worse than I thought. Could you please
give me something for it and to help me sleep?”

Jess hoped that if he focused on her
medical needs, he’d ignore what just happened and leave after he treated her.
She watched him quietly retrieve the items and walk cautiously back to the bed,
as if not to startle her again.

Amun couldn’t have been happier
when she’d asked for something for the pain. It had given him a few seconds he
needed to think. It was more than possible that the pain was making her more
susceptible to remembering the habits; she had used to protect herself when she
was injured. Even a constant dull pain could trigger her body’s response and
cause her to flinch like she had. 

It was human nature to try to
protect the part of your body that was hurt. Unfortunately, her legs were
impacting the majority of her basic body structure; her spine and legs. Both of
which were most likely radiating pain. He knew he should have stopped her from
pushing herself too hard earlier.

He walked slowly towards her after
programming the mediband with the appropriate doses of medication. Gently
taking her hand in his, he placed the new mediband around her wrist and watched
as her tense body began to relax. He could tell that she was embarrassed by her
reaction and wasn’t sure what to say or do to try and comfort her.

“Jess…”

“Please Amun, I’m really tired.
Please…” Jess hated the catch in her voice, which only served to embarrass her
further.

“I promise I will leave in a
minute. Jess, you know that what you had was a normal reaction. That same
reaction probably saved your life countless times. It was I that reacted badly
and shouldn’t have done that. You hold no blame in this.”

To prove his point he sat down next
to her on the bed and continued to hold her hand, not the least worried she’d
flinch again.

Jess had to stop herself from
shaking her head at him. She had never met anyone who had this man’s patience.
His beautiful eyes pleaded with her to listen to him and understand what he was
saying. It was so easy to fall into those eyes and do whatever he wanted in
order to please him. That’s how she’d let this go on this far; she’d fallen for
whatever it was that drew her to him like a magnet.

Amun could see that she was
listening to him; he could almost feel their connection reforming quickly and
continued before she could pull away again.

“Amalaya, do you realize that is
the first time that’s happened since you got here? Do you have any idea how
much bravery that shows? And you are the bravest person I know. There isn’t a
person among our people who doesn’t greatly respect you. I’m very serious
Jess.” He said when she snorted in a self-mocking manner.

“For our people, you are considered
a prisoner of war. The fact that they couldn’t break you, awards you the
highest respect. We have a few warriors who have been prisoners of war on the
ships, who can understand what you’ve been through. And they consider you one
of their own now, and would also like to meet you when you’re ready.”

Amun could feel their bond
deepening and knew that he had begun getting through whatever wall she had
started building between them. Until he saw her face fall as she choked on a
sob.

“Jess, what is it?” He asked
pulling her into his arms and holding her closely. He gently stroked her silky
hair as he pressed her face against his chest.

“No Jess, you’re wrong. After
everything they’d done to you, and knowing what they would do to you if caught;
you still risked your life every time you helped one of those other girl's get
away.  That took extraordinary courage Jess.”

“Tarvok Krustev is a tact team
leader; he’d been held by the Relians for almost a year. He wanted to meet you
the first day you arrived on board, but I turned him away while you were
healing. You should talk to him Jess; he thinks you’re an amazing female.”

Amun was wishing now that he hadn’t
turned the warrior away. Maybe talking to someone who understood what she was
going through is just what she needed to begin to heal the wounds that he
couldn’t with his skill. He’d talk with Scaden when he left here and see if he
could get Tarvok put on the teams going to the planet tomorrow.

“How did he survive? Where did they
keep him?” Jess asked curiously; she’d never seen any male captives.

“He was on a mission to another
planet, and their transport was attacked. He was the only survivor, by the time
he was rescued.” Amun told her what Tarvok had said to him.

Jess frowned; it had to have been
hard on the poor man to be the only survivor. At least, she had always had the
satisfaction of knowing that someone else had gotten away from the animals.

Amun could tell that she was
calming down, their bond almost completely healed. Maybe Tarvok was exactly
what she needed right now, he thought as he tried to tamp down the brutal flash
of jealousy. It tore at him to think she needed another man to help her because
he couldn’t. However, he knew he had to do anything he had to in order to help
her. He’d talk to Tarvok after he spoke with Scaden and find out what he could
do to help her as well. 

He held her quietly in his arms
until long after she’d fallen asleep. He laid her gently onto the bed and
tucked the blankets around her still too thin frame. Staring at her beautiful
face, he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her cheek then turned and left
the room with determined strides.

Chapter
Seven

Jess stumbled into Amun for what
felt like the tenth time. He’d warned her that the slight gravitational
differences between the ship, and the planet would wreak havoc on her new legs
for a little while, but she hadn’t realized what a struggle it would be to walk
correctly.

Amun smiled down at her as he
helped her steady herself, Tarvok guarding her back. The man hadn’t left her
side since they had left the Adaria. He had been surprised at how relieved he
had felt when Tarvok and Jess formed some sort of immediate silent bond with
each other when they met. He had expected to feel jealousy or rage, but the way
she had calmed and relaxed in the man’s presence had made him grateful that she
felt some peace from the memories that were eating at her. 

Niklosi and Reven had assured him
that it was a short walk to the house from the road to where they were meeting
Julou; but it had seemed like forever for Jess. He had been thankful when no
one had mentioned the slower pace they had set while Jess adjusted to the
gravity. He had expected her to have a little more time before the meeting, but
they had set it up for the same night they arrived on the planet, and Reven
wouldn’t change it.

He held Jess’s hand as she
continued ahead toward the dim light they could see around the corner of the high
foliage path they were walking through. They passed members of the forward team
who’d arrived before them to make sure the area was safe, as they entered a
large clearing around a one-story home.

Amun stiffened at the sight of the
large alien who had slashed Jess’s throat and fought the urge to rip him apart
with his bare hands. When Jess left his side and started towards him, the only
thing that stopped him from following was Scaden’s hand on his arm.

“Let it go, my friend. From what
Cari has said, he was nothing more than a father figure to her.” Scaden held
tightly to Amun while Jess was enveloped in the large male’s arms.

“It is so good to see you girl! And
look at how wonderful you look!” Julou said beaming at Jess. He was amazed and
delighted at the transformation in the girl’s body. He had hoped that the
Valendran’s could heal her, but had worried that the damage would be too much
even for their technology.

“Are you well Julou?” Jess asked
stepping from his large arms, so she could scan him for injuries. She and Julou
turned at the sound of a throat clearing behind her.

“I apologize for my rudeness High
Councilor Torenson. I truly thank you for what you’ve done for Jess, she looks
wonderful.” Julou couldn’t contain his smile as he gave Jess another quick hug
before stepping up to Ivint. He crossed his right arm over his chest and gave a
slight bow of respect. Ivint nodded his head at the gesture.

“It is nice to meet you Julou. Jess
has been quite the champion of yours.” Ivint smiled at the obvious affection
between Jess and Julou. He felt much more confident in this meeting knowing
that the man cared enough about Jess that he wouldn’t want her in danger.

“Jess has always been someone’s
champion, but her own. She has a beautiful soul that has been the only light in
the dark for some of us these past few years.” Julou’s words caused a heated
blush to break out on Jess’s face, and she ducked her head slightly.

“I can truly see how that would be
the case. She mentioned that you know where we can find our brother Banatar
Demetrios. Did my old friend look well the last time you saw him?” Ivint asked
directly. The breastplate had been bothering the hell out of him since they’d
begun walking to the house. He couldn’t describe what it was; it wasn’t an itch
or a pain. It felt almost like a slight electric tingling throughout the piece.

“I figured that you’d want some
confirmation that I actually had met the man, so I went ahead and drew a
picture of him for you. I’m not much of an artist, but it does look like him.”
Julou reached slowly into his back pocket and pulled out a thick, rolled-up
piece of paper and handed it to Jess and gestured to her to give it to Ivint.
He carefully made no threatening gestures that might alarm the highly alert
team that was surrounding him and the four men he had brought with him.

Randor immediately stepped up to
Ivint’s side as he unrolled the picture, so he could look at it. The drawing
was an exact replica of how Banatar had looked the last time he had seen him.
The alien's drawing showed an amazing talent, the detail so perfect it almost
looked like the curved mouth was going to speak. He nodded quickly at Ivint and
then stepped back.

“Do you know how we can contact
him?” Ivint asked rolling the picture back up again. He needed something to do
with his hands, so he wouldn’t be tempted to rub the armor on his chest in an
effort to alleviate the tingling.

“I know how to get in touch with
one of the girls whom Jess helped escape. She was the one who told Jess about
Banatar while she was held captive. She said that she works for Banatar and can
make contact with him. I’ve already called her and told her about you, and that
you would most likely want to see him for yourself. She’s supposed to call me
back shortly with an answer.” Julou pulled a cell phone slowly out of his front
pocket and showed it to the men around Ivint. Julou looked around nervously,
something was wrong here. He could feel it.

The only warning they had was a
bright flash that shot through the darkness toward them. Jess watched almost in
slow motion as the light struck Ivint in the back, throwing him forward several
feet on to ground in front of her. She saw him start to pull himself to his
feet when Reven threw his body over the top of his, flattening him back onto
the ground.

Tarvok grabbed her hand and dragged
her to the ground next to Ivint, placing his body in front of hers and looking
towards the direction the blast had come from.

“You stay the hell down and keep
Jess safe; you hear me?” Reven said angrily to Ivint.

“Did you see that Reven? The bolt
didn’t even hurt me! The breastplate absorbed the blast!” Ivint said excitedly.
That blast should have torn a hole through his body big enough to cut him in
half.

“Yes I saw it. It may not work
again so we’re not taking any more damn chances. I told you this was a bad
idea! I want you to take Jess and port now! Report!” Reven said into the comm.

“Sir, we’ve not been able to locate
the shooter. The High Councilor, sir…” The voice trailed off.

“The High Councilor is fine. But he
won’t be if that shooter tries to take another shot at him. Find him!” Reven
looked around the area and looked for a safe place to hide Ivint, Jess and
Gibly, who had been uncharacteristically silent since they arrived here. He
gave silent thanks to the One for that.

“I told you to port Ivint! This
isn’t time for games!” Reven whispered angrily.

“The port stone isn’t working
Reven; they must have put a shield over the area after it was cleared. We’re on
our own, unless we can find the device and neutralize it.” Ivint replied with
frustration. That meant that the comm’s would not reach anyone outside of the
shielding device.

“Get them to the house, I’ll
provide cover.” Julou told Reven, wanting to get the Valendran leader and Jess
to safety. He didn’t want their leader’s death on his hands, and he loved Jess
like his own child.

Reven had no idea what was in the
house, if it was a trap, but they are out in the open and defenseless right
now. He had to take the chance on the house. He nodded his head to Julou, who
spoke to his men and turned his attention towards where the pulsar shot had
been fired.

Jess looked around Ivint to find
Amun; she finally spotted him crouched on the ground behind a fallen log near
the entrance to the path back to the SUVs they had driven there in. He looked
like he was in a heated discussion with Scaden, who was behind the log with
him. She was relieved to see that he looked unharmed, as did Gibly, who was
pacing between Scaden and Amun.

She listened as Tarvok ordered his
team to close in on the cabin and prepare to launch cover fire. His dark-green
eyes stared at hers for a long moment, and somehow she knew what he wanted to
know. Shaking her head, he nodded his back. She leaned her head against the
ground in embarrassment and anger and waited for Tarvok to pick her up and
carry her into the house.

She knew she’d never make it as
quickly as the rest of them and would only put them in danger if they had to
wait with her while she tried. She lay quietly while the men planned their run
into the house for cover. Then everything became a blur of yelling and shots
being fired.

One moment she was on the ground
and the next she was lying on a wooden floor in the dark with Tarvok covering
her body with his own. She listened to the heavy breathing around her as her
eyes adjusted to the darkness.

“Did anyone get hit?” She heard
Amun ask from somewhere not far away and to her left.

“I’m fine! Everyone else ok?” Ivint
said with much more enthusiasm than she would normally expect in a situation
such as this.

“When this is over my friend, we
will meet in the sparring room over the new gray hairs you’ve given me.” She
heard Reven say from the direction that Ivint was in.

There was a chorus of affirmatives
that there were no injuries, before Reven got back on the comm.

“We need a report!”

There was nothing more than silence
for long moments, while everyone waited tensely for a reply. When it finally
came, it was much more chilling than they expected.

“Your teams are surrounded and
disarmed; and you cannot port with the shield in place. You are to step outside
with your hands and weapons raised within two minutes, or we will begin
shooting your men.”

The stream of curses that rent the
air made Jess very grateful it was dark enough that they couldn’t see her
blush.

“I knew this was a trap!” Reven
growled.

“Don’t look my way; all my men are
in this room. If I hadn’t seen the High Councilor take that first hit myself, I
would have thought it was you guys. I don’t know who the hell that is or how
they found us. That voice sounds familiar though, but I just can’t place it.”
Jess heard Julou growl back at Reven.

“What do you want us to do Reven?”
Scaden asked from beside his father.

“We can’t let them get Ivint or
Jess. Where the hell are you going?” Reven demanded scrambling off the floor
after Ivint.

“I am going outside before they
start shooting my men. Tarvok, you keep Jess in here until we know what is
going on.”

Jess saw Ivint’s shadow in the open
doorway before he disappeared outside. With the door open and the light from
outside shining through she could see more of the room and watched as all but
Tarvok and Amun followed Ivint out of the door with their weapons raised. She
couldn’t figure out if they were brave or stupid.

Amun crawled over to Jess and
watched in fascination as a deep look passed between Tarvok and Jess. He could
swear they were communicating in their own way and felt a small pang of
jealousy. Holding her hand in his, he turned his attention to what was going on
outside.

The men had formed a circle around
Ivint and watched guardedly as a group of twenty came out of the woods to
surround them. Dressed completely in black from head to toe, their features
were entirely hidden; only their eyes appeared out of the slits in the
balaclavas; they were wearing.

It wasn’t until their weapons were
seized that they watched a lone man come out of the same path to the road that
they’d used earlier. When he came into the light, Randor immediately tried to
step forward and was pushed back roughly by two of the men.

“Banatar? What the hell is the
meaning of this?” Randor yelled at the approaching man.

“Randor?”

“Yes, you fool! Damn it man, you
almost killed the High Councilor with that pulsar blast!”

“What are you talking about Randor?
What are you doing here?” Banatar growled angrily as he parted his men to stand
in front of Randor.

“This is Banatar? What is the
meaning of your firing upon your own like this? You could have harmed that poor
female inside!” Ivint huffed down at the man indignantly, the two guards trying
hard to hold him back from Banatar.

“Ivint Torenson? This isn’t
possible! How did you get here? Were you taken hostage?” Banatar looked at the
men with Ivint and Randor with confusion.

“Banatar, they came back. They
found us. Finally. We’ve been looking for you and the others. These are all our
people from Valendra.” Randor told the startled man.

“What?” Banatar asked stumbling
backward, looking around at the men in their group.

“Banatar, I am truly High Councilor
Ivint Torenson. This is my son Scaden. My combat commander Reven Debreskii…”
Ivint proceeded to introduce each of the men in their group to the shocked man.

“By the One… get them under cover!
Return their weapons and get me that sniper now!” Banatar began shouting orders
as his men began herding the group into the house at a fast pace.