Prime Imperative (The Prime Chronicles Book 3) (32 page)

Chapter 20

Officer’s Lounge, Alliance compound

“That dickless bastard!” Mel fumed. “That fucking, scum-sucking, slime creature’s hind end.”

Bria had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Mel did have a unique way with words. But, in truth, there was nothing amusing about this situation. Bria, however, was relieved at how quickly her sister-kin had agreed with Susa’s observations and Bria’s deductions.

“The
apayebo
made you bleed?” Nadia growled. The Terran blonde’s buzz-saw rumblings reminded Bria of Iolyn’s and his brothers’ at their maddest. Her sister-kin had gotten stuck on the violent sexual abuse Tenar had perpetrated against Susa, while totally ignoring Tenar’s—plus any number of unknown accomplices’—other crimes against women, unborn children, his own family, and the Prime people as a whole.

Bria understood and shared Nadia’s anger. Men who abused women were pond scum.

Susa looked from Nadia then to Mel and then finally at Bria. “Yes. He also threatened me with worse injuries if I told anyone why I was incapacitated. He always made sure I didn’t scar. He didn’t want to leave physical evidence.”

“Please tell me you documented your injuries in some way,” Mel pleaded.

Mel was thinking along the same lines as Bria. They needed some written or visual proof of any of Tenar’s bad acts in order to start the dominoes falling and destroy his bigger end game.

Susa went pale and remained silent for so long that Bria answered for her just in case the other two were so involved in their own emotions they hadn’t read Susa’s. The woman was scared and even more embarrassed, but underlying it all was a sense of vengeful satisfaction.

“Oh, yes, she did.” Bria picked up Susa’s cold hand from where it lay on the table and gently squeezed it. “What did you do? Did you get someone to take the pictures of the damage to your body?”

Susa nodded. “I also…” She shook her head. “You’ll think…”

“Susa,” Bria said, “we aren’t going to judge you. You did what you did to protect yourself.”

“I have videos of him abusing me. He threatened to kill me if I didn’t keep my mouth shut about the hormone therapy. And…he called out ‘Lorinda’ when he climaxed. Every time. I guess I look like her.”

“Damn, Iloyn is going to go ballistic,” Bria muttered.

“We need to see the videos.” Mel’s voice was flat and tight as if she had to bottle up some strong emotion. “What else is on them?”

“Just Tenar and me.” Susa added quickly, in a pleading tone, “I never took videos of any of your men, or any other man. I swear it.”

“We believe you.” Mel’s voice held relief as she patted the woman’s trembling hand.

“If you’re embarrassed, ashamed, don’t be.” Nadia rubbed Susa’s shoulder. “I would’ve done the same thing.”

“Really?” Susa asked.

“Well, that and taken his balls off with a rusty, extremely dull battle-blade,” Nadia added with a shrug, “but I’m Siberian, and we’re mean.”

Everyone laughed including Susa.

“So, how did you set this up? Do you have tech expertise?” Mel asked.

“No, but Gillea, one of the sex surrogates, was an IT Security engineer before her
gemat
died. When she chose to have a sex life as a surrogate, she was fired from her job.” Susa’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “Gillea wired our houses to make them more secure. When she realized what was happening to me and some of the others, she installed video cameras which were voice activated to turn on at the mention of certain phrases. I only used it with my known violent clients. I can’t speak for the other women.”

“
Known violent clients
?” Nadia’s aura flashed red and gold, but her voice and face remained calm. “There were others besides Tenar in the Caradoc family who hurt you?”

Susa nodded. “But they’re dead now.”

“Darga was one, wasn’t he?” Bria strained to keep her voice calm and her face expressionless when all she wanted to do was let loose with the Caradoc battle cry and go after everyone who'd ever harmed Susa.

“Yes, and Luka Nabann, Beria’s husband, was the other,” Susa said. “He was so dominated at home that he liked to take his anger out on me. He was always sorry afterward.”

“Pathetic worm,” Mel cursed.

Nadia fisted her hands as if she wanted to choke somebody.

When Bria could trust herself to speak without snarling, she said, “After all you’ve gone through, I can see why Jump Station Charybdis would seem like an idyllic get-away.”

Nadia stiffened and turned shocked eyes toward Susa. “You’re going there?” When Susa nodded, Nadia added, “Why, in all that is holy, are you going there?”

“My cousin Borac and his family live there.”

Nadia relaxed. “That’s okay then. He’ll keep you safe. His family is precious.” She cast a sly look at Bria. “Bria’s brother Damon is a hottie and a half. And if he isn’t to your liking, she has five other brothers on Gliese 581C, which is a really nice, peaceful place.”

Susa laughed. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Oh, and I’ll be sure to tell Bria’s brother you thought he was a hottie.”

Nadia grinned at Bria’s groan.

“Okay, enough gossip and matchmaking,” Mel snapped. “What in Balcon’s Balls are we going to do about Tenar? Bria, you’ve put forth a serious…and logical argument in the case against Ilar’s brother. But we need proof, not just your deductions and gut instincts.”

“I’ll be happy to give you the video discs so you can discredit Tenar,” Susa said. “I have the originals, verified by both myself and Gillea. They are in a lock box under my bedroom floor.”

“I don’t want to be in the room when our men see those,” muttered Nadia.

Susa nodded, a dark look on her face. “Probably a good plan. The Premier and your men are good men. Honorable men. There are other things Tenar said which I haven’t told you, can’t say aloud. You have to look your mother-kin in the face. I’m not sure even your men or the Premier want to hear some of the vitriol coming out of Tenar’s mouth.” She paused and then added, “And Tenar often ranted and raged about topics which now make sense in light of what Bria has conjectured. But you need to see…and hear the videos for yourselves.”

Bria leaned over and hugged Susa. “You’re very brave to help us. Now, you’ve had enough emotional turmoil for today. We’ll take you home, retrieve the discs, and give them to our security team to take to the Premier. We’ll also make sure you have a guard from Gold Squadron until you leave for the jump station. Then we
gemates
will go to have tea at Tenar’s home.”

This would be war on a different level. A war of wits and truth against deviousness, dark secrets, and lies. With Mel and Nadia by her side, Tenar had no chance.

“We’re still going to tea?” Nadia asked.

“Sure. Why not? We have to get a sense of his guilt, don’t we?” Bria said. “Plus, I still need the texts he promised me. I think we’ll find he redacted and rewrote history since the time of Ilar’s ascension to the leadership and maybe even farther back.”

Mel added, “We can compare his revisionist writings against those my parents placed into the escape pod with me and to the living memory of Elders who aren’t in Tenar’s pocket.”

“I see tea as a scouting mission, Nadia,” Bria explained. “I can ask pointed questions. Then the three of us can testify as to his emotional reactions and his truthfulness.”

“That’s right,” Mel said. “Legally, a battle-mate’s testimony is considered admissible even without anything else to back it up but her empathic truth-sense. With three of us reading him, plus what’s on Susa’s tapes, we can begin to build a circumstantial case. The irony is he doesn’t believe in battle-mate telepathy or empathy. And it’ll be battle-mates who’ll take him down.”

“I agree with all that. I wasn’t implying I didn’t want to go. I do,” Nadia said. “But if we’re going to send Susa’s discs to Ilar with V’niko and A’nan, then what guards are we taking with us? Our men would have a fit if we don’t take guards.”

“Good point, Nadia. How about the Jod brothers?” Mel suggested and then looked at Bria. “They did a good job when Nadia dealt with mercs on Tarn and a giant worm on Ursa 345.”

Nadia visibly shuddered. “Ugh, don’t remind me about the giant worms. But I agree, the Jods are a good choice.”

“Good, that’s settled,” Bria said. “Call them now, Mel, and have them meet us at Susa’s. We can fine-tune our approach on how to get Tenar to reveal his guilt while we drive.”

Bria and the other women stood and walked out of the Officer’s Lounge. V’niko and A’nan joined them at the doorway. The large warriors had speculative looks on their faces. Volusians might not have empathic abilities, but they could read body language. With their hands on their weapons and hyper-alertness in their stances, they closed in on their charges.

“Are we keeping our minds open to our men while we’re in Tenar’s home?” Mel asked.

“Yes,” Bria said, “but only
after
we get there. If they touched our minds now, they’d try to stop us. And I don’t see any other way to get Tenar to incriminate himself. Plus, he obviously thinks women are lower life forms, so he won’t be suspicious and will be more open with us than he would our men or Ilar.”

“May I say something?” Susa asked.

“Sure.” Bria turned toward her.

“You need to take more guards.” Susa looked at the two Volusians, who were now openly listening to the women’s conversation. Both men wore grim looks on their rough-hewn faces. “The video evidence has been safely hidden under my floor for years—it can stay hidden for a few more hours. That way you can take these nice big Volusian warriors with you. I know the Jods, and while they are typical Prime warriors, they are not equal to the caliber of the Caradoc men or these two.”

V’niko interjected, “I don’t know what you are planning, Bria. But this woman makes sense. And I do not want to answer to any of your
gemats
. They made it very clear what they expect of your guards. If you so much as shudder with fear, they will emasculate us.”

A’nan nodded, his expression solemn and dark.

Bria looked at Nadia and Mel. “Well, ladies?”

“We’ll take V’niko, A’nan, and the three Jods—plus we’ll weapon up,” Mel said. “We’ll still meet at Susa’s. I’ll have the Jods bring us laser pistols, battle-blades, and a few other war toys. We’ll hide our weapons in tote bags. If Tenar asks us about the totes, we’ll say we brought them along to take home some of the books with us to study at our leisure.”

“And I will give you one standard hour to get to Tenar’s and make nice before I call Wulf and tell him about the video discs, your deductions, and your plans.” Susa held up a hand, silencing their protests. “You already agreed to be open to your mates. So, this is just a safety precaution. They’ll want to see the discs as soon as possible, and my house is closer to Tenar’s than the Alliance buildings and your homes—just in case you need more warrior backup.”

“This woman makes much sense,” V’niko said. “We do it this way, or A’nan and I will render you unconscious and take you to your men.”

A’nan nodded his agreement with his partner’s threat.

“Fine. Then it’s a plan.” Bria looked at everyone. “Let’s move. We don’t have much time to take Susa home and then get to Tenar’s by tea time. I don’t want to be fashionably late.”

Chapter 21

An overlook near Tenar Caradoc’s mountain estate

Tenar Caradoc’s estate was a formidable fortress. The buildings and the surrounding wall appeared to be part of the mountain upon which it was situated. There were crenellated towers at the four corners and a formidable-looking gate at the entrance to, what looked to be from Bria’s vantage point, a stone courtyard.

The location was starkly beautiful. Craggy rocks surrounded the residence. One of the many waterfalls the area was known for flowed from under the fortress’s foundations down the side of a sheer vertical mountain wall into a tributary of the main river which flowed to Cejuru Prime’s world ocean. The ocean itself could be seen in the distance, a glistening body of turquoise blue.

The extensive gardens found at Ilar’s home were missing here. All trees and foliage had been cut away from the area around the battlements encasing Tenar’s home. There were no feminine touches anywhere. The atmosphere was of a harsh masculine strength. No softness could survive here. It would be quickly smothered by the weight of the heavy stones and cut to shreds by the sharp angles.

“This reminds me of places found in the wastelands of Siberia,” Nadia said in a hushed tone as the three women stood on an overlook about a kilometer away from their destination. V’niko, A’nan, and Bre, Cas, and Cred Jod formed a protective circle around them as they stood between the women and anyone coming up the road behind them. “The same places where we now speculate the Prime landed and made their home on Earth before Terrans fully emerged from their caves and began to build cities.”

“What the place is…is bone-chilling.” Bria shuddered. “I wonder why everyone thinks it’s so beautiful.”

“No one said Tenar’s home was beautiful,” Mel pointed out. “They said his view was beautiful, and it is. But as a soldier, I can appreciate the utilitarian beauty of the design. You could outlast a siege in such a place.” She scanned the area. “I imagine early Caradocs gained much power and respect because of such prized properties. The only reason Ilar’s current home is so different from Tenar’s is because Lorinda made it so.”

“And Lorinda is the key to Tenar’s treachery,” Bria said. “If the mating had gone the other way, his home might also have had gardens and the softness a women brings to her surroundings.”

Fanciful as it might seem, Bria could smell the acridity of Tenar’s treachery on the air. Feel it in the simmering hatred built into the very walls of his fortress. See it in the cold and utter bleakness of his residence. He had nothing to lose in killing off the Prime hereditary line. Tenar had already lost all that meant anything to him. When he’d lost Lorinda to his older brother, he’d gone quietly mad.

“Tenar’s plot reminds me of the plays of the Terran called Shakespeare,” whispered Nadia. “Family dynastic tragedies. The villain hides away in his mountain fortress. He plots and plans his revenge. When Ilar gained his first heir, the villain re-entered society, mouthed peace and forgiveness, and put his plans in place, waiting for them to fully blossom.”