Gracie's Touch Zion Warriors 1 (31 page)

Gracie shrugged her shoulders again. “I’m not sure. Mohan said she thought the force of the explosion from the mother ship combined with being in hyper-space formed some kind of a rip in the fabric of time. I just know that until a few months ago I was stranded on an unknown moon hoping to find a way home.” Gracie added sadly. “Only to find out my home no longer exists. At least not the home I remember and knew.”

Krac handed the water bottle to Gracie and waited as she took a deep drink. “Why were you not afraid of me when you first saw me?” Krac asked suddenly.

“What do you mean?” Gracie asked puzzled. She handed the water bottle back to him.

“Most species fear me. I am not…all organic.” Krac said quietly searching for the right words. “I am an offspring of a human female who was breed with the Alluthan. We…are considered dangerous.”

Gracie stared at the tall figure in front of her with a frown
,
studying his features closely. “Well, I guess you have their coloring but that is about all from an outward appearance. The Alluthans are short guys like me.” Gracie studied Krac a little closer. “You look like a human except for your coloring
and maybe your eyes. You said you are not all organic. What does that mean?”

Krac looked away for a moment before he stared down into Gracie’s eyes. “We are called The Breed. That is what they used our mothers for.” Krac flexed his hands in front of him. “The embryos implanted in the females have living nano-bots in them. As the embryo grows so too does the nano-bots. We are half organic/half bots, like the Alluthans.” Krac said harshly.

Gracie studied Krac for a moment before she smiled and took a step closer to Krac. Laying a hand his arm, she shook her head gently. “You are nothing like the Alluthans,
trus
t me on that. I have met my share of Alluthans so I should know. You may not be all human but that doesn’t mean it is a bad thing. I’ve met a lot of humans, like Proctor, that are just as bad as any Alluthan. You are just different, kind-of like me.” Gracie insisted softly. “You are special.”

Krac looked down at the female he thought
he could easily use as
collateral damage if necessary and realized there was no way in hell he could follow through with his plan. Tightening his jaw, he
looked around the thick forest
for a moment before making a decision. He pulled the pack from his back and pulled out a small communication’s device.

“Use this to contact you
r
mate. If I’m not mistaken he should be here shortly. I left enough evidence for him to follow. Let him know where you are and to come get you. Take this as well. There is a rock overhang to the east. It will protect you until he gets here.” Krac said pressing the communication’s device into one of Gracie’s palms and the laser pistol into the other one.

“What about you?” Gracie asked confused.

Krac felt that unfamiliar twist to his lips again. Shaking his head, he reached out to touch Gracie’s cheek as she looked at him with a worried expression. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself, little Gracie Jones-Jeke. Now, go. I’ve got someone to kill and I don’t want to have to worry about you.”

Gracie bit her lip and nodded. “Be safe, Krac.” Gracie said standing on her tiptoes so she could brush as kiss along his jaw. “You are a good man even if you did kidnap me.”

Krac touched the spot Gracie kissed briefly before shaking his head in wonder. If his life wasn’t so dangerous and she wasn’t already taken, he would think seriously about just packing her up and taking her with him. Instead, he gave a jerky nod and took off through the forest moving at a rapid clip.
Gracie watched him go, noting he never looked back to make sure she headed to the east.

Kordon moved silently toward the man hidden in the brush. With one swift move, he slit the man’s throat and moved on to his next target. Rorrak, Malik, Ty, Cooraan, and his father were doing the same. The other Zion warriors were moving in on the troop transports which had landed further away. This group was the one guarding Proctor who stood in the middle of a small clearing obviously waiting impatiently for someone. Kordon let out the signal his area was clear. The only ones left were the ten men standing protectively around Proctor who stood still suddenly.

Kordon’s eyes narrowed as a large male stepped confidently into the clearing. The sun reflected off his dark silver skin. Several large scars marred his face which was frozen into a cold mask of indifference.

“Where is the package?” Proctor asked impatiently stepping forward.

Krac looked coldly at Proctor. “Where are my credits?” Krac asked in return.

Proctor pulled several large pouches from under his cloak. He tossed them on the ground in front of Krac. “
Now, where is the package?”

Krac looked casually around the clearing noting where each man stood watching him intently. His gaze moved along the edge of the forest pausing occasionally before seeming to freeze on Kordon. Kordon froze. He knew he was hidden but the big
bastard
seemed to know exactly where he was.

“The package is safe.” Krac said. Kordon could feel his hidden message all the way to his bones.

“I don’t care if she is safe. I want to know where she is. I’ve paid you the credits you demanded. Even for the brat she is carrying. Now, where is she?” Proctor spit out.

Krac tilted his head. “What do you plan to do with her?”

“Not that it is any of your damn business but I plan to claim her.” Proctor snapped out.

Krac’s eyes narrowed briefly. “I don’t think she is going to be too happy about that, especially with her being pregnant by her current mate.” Krac drawled out in a
n uninterested voice.

“That is what you get for thinking. As soon as I have her I will terminate the brat she is carrying. With a few drugs, she will do whatever I want. By the time I return to Earth, it will be my child in her belly and my claim on her.” Proctor laughed.

Krac’s mouth tightened dangerously. “Are you really so fucking stupid you think her mate, a Zion warrior, will let you get away with this?”

Proctor froze as if noticing a change in Krac’s voice. “It will be too late for him to do anything. Kill the bastard. He is no longer needed.” Proctor said coldly stepping back behind two of his guards as he gave the order.

Krac moved lightning fast pulling his laser pistol and shooting the two guards. Rolling to one side, he ignore the flash of pain th
at
struck his leg as he eliminated two more. Proctor was screaming at the men to kill Krac at the same time as he realized the men behind him
were under fire from the forest
.

Turning, Proctor pulled one guard in front of him just as Kordon leveled his laser pistol at his chest. T
he man jerked as the shot meant for
Proctor struck him instead. Proctor took off into the forest as his men pulled in a tight circle trying to return fire. Kordon fought back a curse as Proctor disappeared. He ducked for cover behind a tree as laser fire exploded all around him.

“Get Proctor! The bastard is up to something.” Kordon growled out into his comlink.

“More of those bastards are pouring out of the transport.” Cooraan growled back. “Bran, Gracie is on the moon. Blast the damn ships into a million pieces.”

Kordon heard Bran’s command to fire at will on the four ships in space. His father was ordering the troop transports to destroy the ones that had landed. Kordon saw the silver bastard who took Gracie move into the forest out of the corner of his eye.

“He’s mine.” Kordon snarled out to Malik and Ty as they came up next to him. “Cover me.”

Kordon took off knowing his brothers would cover his back. Firing as he wove in and out of the trees he broke into a faster run once he was clear of the firing. He stopped to listen a few times and to check for tracks to make sure he was on the right trail before continuing after the assassin. He jerked around when a large silver arm came out suddenly to grab him. Kordon whipped around locking grips with the huge, silver man.

“Keep quiet.” Krac whispered. “They have her. The bastard hired another assassin.”

Kordon looked into the dark eyes of man in front of him before nodding once. He opened his grip to let Krac know he understood the man was calling a truce. Krac nodded and showed four fingers.

“Damn stubborn female.” Krac growled out softly as he watched Proctor slap Gracie across the face. “She was supposed to hide
until you came for her.”

Kordon looked over in surprise at the sound of anger and frustration in Krac’s voice. “You told her to contact me?”

Krac nodded. “I didn’t want her to get hurt. She’s….special.”

Kordon felt a flash of jealousy flare at the sound of affection in the man’s voice. “She is mine.”

“I know. She corrected me when I called her Gracie Jones.” Krac sent a twisted grin at Kordon. “Let’s kill each other later. Right now, we need to kill the bastard who just hit her. I’ll take out Proctor and the two on the left. You take out the three on the right. Be careful of the one with the
green skin
. He is a known assassin from the Triblade system.”

Kordon gave a brief nod before moving off to the right. He circled around the group silently. On the far side was a set of rocks. He would need to work his way up them so he would have access to Gracie who was pulled back against the rocks.
Sweat ran down his face as he moved. At one time he froze when he heard the assassin call out for the men with him to be quiet. It was several minutes before they started talking quietly again and he could move.

Gracie sat holding her heated cheek in the palm of one hand while the other lay protectively over her belly. She didn’t say anything. She was mad as hell that she had gotten caught. The creature that caught her may have walked on two legs but that is the only resemblance to a human she could see. She guessed it was a male from the way it acted but she couldn’t really be sure. It surprised her as she tried to follow Krac. She wanted to make sure he was okay. She had set the communication’s device to send the signal she used before with the Alluthans. She figured Kordon would recognize it immediately.
The creature that caught her had destroyed the device shortly after he captured her.

“What do you mean there is no reply from any other the ships? Surely you have your ship?” Proctor said desperately.

The creature made a series of sounds Gracie couldn’t understand but evidently Proctor did. “I’ll pay you as soon as you get me to the nearest spaceport. I don’t have any more credits on me. I gave them all to that other bastard.” Proctor replied.

The creature made several more sounds. “Fine. Kill the other bastards or leave them here. I don’t care. Just get me and the female to the nearest spaceport and you’ll have your credits.” Proctor promised waving his hands wildly.

The other men standing next to Proctor moved restlessly keeping a wary eye on the green-skinned assassin.
Gracie bit down hard on her lip as she watched all
four
of them drop almost as one. The green-skin assassin looked at Proctor and made a series of hissing noises.

Proctor looked at Gracie briefly before nodding. “You can do what you want to with her before I take her.”

Gracie wanted to scream as she watched Proctor turn towards her with a glare of hatred. “If you try anything I’ll personally cut that brat out of your stomach.”

Gracie didn’t say anything. She just nodded as Proctor reached down and jerked her into a standing position. She looked at the green skinned creature as it made a disgusting sound at her and shrunk back instinctively when a long tongue came out and ran over its lips.