Gracie's Touch Zion Warriors 1 (14 page)

“This was where Delaira said they were at last check in.” Douglen choked out as smoke and dust thickened the air.

Kordon nodded. “Check each section. Bran says the attacking force has some type of shield protecting them.”

Quan turned as another explosion rocked the mining colony. “Lead the way.” He said grimly to Douglen. He wanted to find Mohan and Gracie.

The three men formed a triangle, Douglen in the center as he knew the tunnels with Kordon flanking his left side and Quan his right. Each man moved silently. Douglen held up his hand. He motioned there were two targets coming towards them. Each man moved into a crevice and waited. When it was clear it was the attacking creatures and not some of the miners, Douglen opened fire with his laser rifle. The burst glowed brightly as they flashed over the shields protecting the creatures. The creatures kept advancing pulling up their own weapons. They moved side-by-side, seemingly unconcerned with the fact they were being fired upon.

Kordon gritted his teeth as he fired shot after shot just to watch them flare harmlessly in front of the creatures. He didn’t even flinch when one of the blasts from the creature’s laser fire ripped through his uniform cutting a deep cut through his thigh while another shot cut a path along his shoulder. Pain blossomed than faded as he pushed it away.

“Shit!” Douglen said as he went down on one knee.

“How bad?” Quan called out firing blast after blast as he moved across the corridor to cover Douglen.

“Through the calf.” Douglen bit out.

“We are just sitting targets here. We have no defense against them unless maybe hand to hand.” Douglen said as he continued firing at the creatures getting closer and closer to them.

One creature leaned over a boulder blocking half the corridor. Kordon watched as he pulled his arm back and slammed his fist into it. He did it four times before the boulder cracked into pieces. The damn thing must have weighed five hundred pounds or more.

“Shit!” Quan said. “Hand to hand is out.”

Kordon growled in frustration as the two targets walked through the remains of the boulder. There was nothing stopping them from killing all three of them now. Pulling his laser pistol up, he stepped into the corridor and walked towards the two creatures firing round after round. It was the height of insult that they did not even bother to return his fire. It was almost like they were enjoying the fact they could kill them at any time.

They were with
in
a few feet
of
Kordon when he raised his laser pistol at one of their heads with a cur
se. “Arrogant bastards! Zion w
arriors do not die without a fight.” Kordon said as he pulled the trigger again.

Kordon waited for the creature to finally respond to his presence. He didn’t know who was more surprised, him or the creature, when the creature jerked back a step before collapsing. Half of the creature’s head was missing. Kordon didn’t wait for the other creature’s response. He turned and fired.

Quan came up behind Kordon with a grin on his dirty face. “Why didn’t you do that in the first place?”

Kordon stared down at the two creatures frowning for a moment as his mind race through all the possible reasons their shields failed. Every one of the reasons pointed to one person – Gracie.

“Gracie.” Kordon said softly his head jerking up to look down the corridor. “It was Gracie.”

With an oath, Kordon began moving down the corridor more rapidly. His stomach began to twist at the thought of her being in danger. She had better have found a place to hide or he was going to whip her ass. Kordon turned when Douglen called out for him to go to the right. Kordon raised his laser rifle firing at the creatures in the corridor ahead of him without stopping. Quan was firing as well. None of the men slowed down. They simply jumped over the remains and kept moving. Douglen called out the next corridor should open into a small cavern used as a market. Kordon reached the entrance to it and stopped, pressing back against the wall to see if it was clear.

Overturned carts, shattered barrels, and trade goods littered the floor. Quan pressed against the wall across from Kordon and scanned the area. Douglen leaned back against the wall next to Kordon and grimaced. The wound in his leg burned and blood still trickled from it. He muttered a curse and ripped the sleeve off his shirt and tied it around the wound.

A slight sound to the left caused all the men to freeze. It was so soft, they almost missed it. Kordon nodded to Quan to move to the right while he would go around to the left. Kordon motioned for Douglen to hold back and cover them. Douglen nodded pulling his laser rifle up.

Kordon skirted the edge of the cavern moving slowly along the wall. He stepped over a small pile of broken dishes being careful not to step on any. He had the laser rifle pressed tight against his shoulder moving carefully back and forth as he scanned the area. Quan motioned he was going around a stall. Kordon gave a brief nod and continued around the back of another one. The noise came again…a soft whimper that was cut short. Kordon came around the side of the stall at the same time as Quan came around the one across from him. There was an overturned cart with a sheeting of colored cloth over it. Quan mimicked pulling it off and raised three fingers. Kordon nodded and moved into position.

On the count of three, Quan jerked the cloth off suddenly and Kordon swung around pointing the laser rifle downward. On the ground under the cart was a young woman with tears running down her face as she rocked back and forth. Beside her were the bodies of Delaira and Lara.

Quan cursed out loud. “Douglen!” He called out quietly.

Kordon knelt next to Delaira and pressed his fingers against her throat. He felt the steady beat of her pulse. Next, he pressed against the tiny throat of Lara. It took a moment but he finally detected a faint pulse.

Douglen came around the cart. When he saw his wife and infant daughter lying motionless a choked cry of grief escaped him. He moved closer, collapsing down onto his knees next to them.

“They live.” Kordon said softly looking around. Where were Gracie and Mohan?

Kordon turned his hard eyes to the young woman rocking back and forth. “There were two other women with her. They were not from your community. Where are they?” Kordon asked coldly.

Quan was moving around the area overturning carts and looking in stalls. He was calling out loudly for Mohan to answer him. When he received no answer, he roared out in rage stomping back towards them.

“Where are the two females that were with Delaira?” Quan snarled out reaching down to grip the woman by her arms.

The young woman cried out and moved back shaking her head. “The one that looked like a cat told me to stay with Delaira and Lara. She said to stay here that someone would come to help us. I don’t know where she went.” The young woman sobbed.

Douglen leaned down over Lara pulling her tiny body against his broad chest. He closed his eyes a moment as if he was focusing deep inside himself. When he opened them, Lara’s multi-colored eyes stared back at him and a small grin twisted her lips.

“Delaira put Lara into a sleep to keep her quiet.” Douglen said softly brushing a shaking hand over his daughter’s hair.

Douglen looked at the young woman sobbing quietly. “Mia, there were two women. Which way did they go?” Douglen asked quietly but in a tone that told Mia she had to answer him.

Mia looked up at Douglen as if in a daze. “There was only one. The…the one that looked like a cat. She said something about going after a Gracie. She told me to tell Kordon Gracie was trying to stop the attackers. She was going to their ship. Then, she left me. She left me hidden and told me to watch over Delaira and Lara.”

Kordon stood aboard the
Conqueror
looking out through the front viewport. In reality he didn’t see anything. Shortly after the shields on the ground force of the invading Alluthans’ failed, the shields on their fighters began failing. Two supply ships lifted off and were able to escape but all the others were destroyed before they ever left the small moon. Bran was doing a sweep of the surrounding space looking for energy signatures from the supply shuttles but it appeared whatever type of shield they used blocked it from appearing on the
Conqueror’s
scanners.

A thorough sweep of the mining dome showed extensive damage. Eighteen men, ten women, and four children were killed during the invasion. Forty others were wounded. Gracie and Mohan were not among any of the groups: survivors, wounded, or dead. That left just one other option…they were among the missing. The creatures captured four women, six counting Gracie and Mohan. Quan stood beside Kordon silently. The only way of knowing the effect of their findings on him was the muscle clenching and unclenching in his jaw.

“Sir! I’m receiving a cryptic message from a signature source belonging to the Alluthans.” One of the communication’s officers called out.

Kordon and Quan both swung around. “Patch it through to my office.” Kordon gritted out harshly.

Kordon quickly entered the password and a scrambled holovid came on. A message flashed briefly. It was a question written in an ancient language.

Whose touch?
The message flashed.

“Gracie’s.” Kordon murmured. The minute he said Gracie’s name the image cleared.

Kordon’s throat tightened as he took in the dirt and blood stained face of his life mate. Her vivid green eyes stared back at him sadly but with a quiet determination. It appeared she was inside one of the alien’s supply ships.

“This is Gracie. Kordon, I hope you get this message.” Krodon watched as Gracie drew in a deep breath. “I…There is a computer in my bag in our room. It has a copy of everything about the Alluthans that I compiled back on Earth. I left the information with Adam just in case it was needed but Mohan told me it was never found. I am guessing it was destroyed in the battle. It will help your people decipher their language. It also contains ways to deactivate their shields. I guess them being solitary creatures is a good thing as they don’t know I know their systems.” Gracie blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and paused for a moment as she programmed something on the console. “Anyway, I’ve programmed a signal you should be able to follow to the mother ship. I was able to take one of the supply ships.” Gracie let out a dry, bitter laugh. “I swear I will not die in one of these damn things if I can help it! On the computer is information about the way the Alluthans’ function. They are half organic, half robotic. This is why they need replacement parts. Their minds are sync with each other. If you cut off the head, the rest will die. Their head is the mother ship. I don’t know if I can do what I did before but I am going to try to upload a virus that will shut them down.” Gracie’s eyes filled with tears but none fell as she continued. “I am also going to upload a self-destruct program. Kordon, I believe this is why I didn’t die the first time. I…I think fate knew I wasn’t done. If you get this message I want you to know I love you.” Gracie said softly. Gracie’s throat worked up and down before she finished. “This is Gracie’s Touch saying...goodbye.”

Kordon stared at the stilled image of Gracie on the screen. His fists were clenched so tightly his fingers were numb. The blank mask on his face hid the devastation her words wrought inside him. Quan stood with his back to Kordon. His shoulders hunched and his head was bowed. Neither man spoke as they each played out their own private nightmares.

“Kordon.” Bran’s said as he entered Kordon’s office. Cooraan was right behind him. “We’ve got a signal.”

Kordon stood up as a cold rage filled him. This was not goodbye. He would not let Gracie sacrifice herself again. He would not let her face this alone.

“Gracie has information on her computer in our living quarters that she says will help us. Cooraan, it is on the floor next to our bed. Get it and get the information deciphered immediately. I know Mohan set up a program to translate between Gracie’s language and Confederation Standard. Cooraan, I also want you to go over the programming she has that will deactivate those bastard’s shields. I want every last one of them dead.” Kordon said coldly before turning to Bran. Cooraan gave a quick nod and left. “Bran, I want you to follow those bastards so close we can smell what they ate. Do not destroy any ship; especially supply ships, without my expressed permission. Disable them if you have to but do not destroy. My life mate and Quan’s are on one of them. I will bring Gracie and Mohan home.”