Tara The Great [Nuworld 2] (37 page)

Tealah had a monitoring device in her hands, and she pushed buttons and scanned

the area.

“The only frustration occurs when my orders aren’t followed.”

“Oh, did you give us an order?” There was that disgusting smile again. “Too bad

we don’t fall under your jurisdiction.”

Darius growled and Tealah seemed to focus even more on the equipment in her

hands. He started walking again.

“Why don’t you tell us about Tara’s vision?” Gowsky suggested and fell into line

next to him, leaving Tealah hurrying behind to keep up.

“She would be better at telling you what she saw, I’m thinking.”

“She’s not here.”

Darius stopped and glared at Gowsky. Of course, she’s not here. That’s why we’re here.

Gowsky’s smile disappeared, and he seemed to read Darius’ thoughts. His dark

chocolate eyes were searching and Darius didn’t like it.

“The vision showed her what their campsite looked like. She was also told there

was time to change everything she saw, but she didn’t know how much time, she

didn’t.”

“Told?” Tealah looked up from her equipment.

“The dog-woman speaks to her, she does.” Darius stared down into the almond-

shaped dark eyes surrounded by perfect, golden-brown skin. “She tells Tara what to

do.”

Tealah gasped and covered her mouth. He watched her kiss her fingers again. She

had to be Gowsky’s mistress. No man could work next to such a beautiful creature and

not take her.

“There’s time to change everything she saw?” Gowsky asked, and Darius turned

his attention from the girl, to stare at Gowsky. The Neurian leader met his gaze. “What

else did she see?”

“The Lunians are collecting fresh breeding stock, they are.” He stared Gowsky

straight in the eye and let his words have their impact.

“Breeding stock for what?” Gowsky asked.

“For themselves.”

Silence.

Tealah whimpered.

Darius noticed her complexion had assumed a green hue as she covered her mouth

and looked up at him wide-eyed. Dried leaves and small twigs cracked under their

boots as they neared the forest’s edge. “From what I overheard with my own ears, they

can’t have children, or they find the act of lovemaking so repulsive they’ve forgotten its

pleasures, they have,” he said this to the young woman, softening his tone as he did.

Tealah seemed unable to pull her eyes away from his face and her dark cheeks went

crimson. Gowsky, on the other hand, showed no offense that Darius spoke to the

woman in such a manner.

“So all the people kidnapped from our cities are to be used to help the Lunians

reproduce?” Gowsky looked outraged. “I can’t imagine a greater crime,” he whispered.

“There are cures for impotency,” Tealah spoke to Gowsky now, avoiding Darius’

eyes.

Darius reached forward to lift a low hanging branch and held it until Gowsky took

it. Looking ahead, he realized they’d entered the clearing. His light spread across

trampled field grass. As he scanned the area, he saw a yellow tapestry pulled tightly

over four slender silver poles. The poles elevated the cloth high enough that Darius was

able to walk under it without stooping over.

He stopped under the tapestry. At his feet was a round hole with a ladder

descending into darkness.

Chapter Nineteen

Tara studied the room from a large cage. She’d awakened some time ago to find

herself locked within the confining space, and now was trying to get her bearings. From

the strong dirt smell surrounding her, she guessed her cage sat inside a manmade

underground cave. The walls and ceilings were probably dirt, painted with a white

substance that seemed to be a clay mixture. It lightened the room a little, but other than

that, Tara wasn’t sure what purpose it served.

Wooden planks less than an inch apart provided flooring. She guessed this was also

a cosmetic addition. More than likely, they planned on using these facilities for a while

and wanted something easier to clean than dirt floors. Footsteps and voices in the

hallway told her the room wasn’t soundproof.

Tara wondered if this place would be the location the Lunians planned to inhabit on

Nuworld. Creating underground rooms like this one, with finished walls and wooden

floors, had taken time. The Lunians had been here longer than she realized. She

pondered how many Lunians were in this underground campsite. And where were the

other prisoners?

As for her personal cell, Tara could lie down on the cold metal floor with her feet

against one wall, and stretch her hands above her head without touching the other wall.

Long metal bars, about as thick as two of her fingers, stretched from floor to ceiling,

creating the sides. They’d been welded into the cage’s ceiling as well as the floor,

eliminating the ability to turn them. The bars were far apart enough that she could stick

out her arm to her shoulder, but no farther. Her leg could extend outside only as far as

her knee. A laser would slice through the bars easily enough, but she wasn’t surprised

to see her weapons were missing.

Tara hated being unarmed. She hated the feeling almost as much as she hated

feeling confined. Aggravation set in when she realized she couldn’t escape, and had to

simply wait until her captors decided to pay her a visit.

Tara guessed an hour had passed since she first awakened. She’d finally settled on

the cage floor, leaning against one of the walls as she listened to people roaming the

hallway outside.

“Well, I see you’re awake now.” A tall thin, pale man opened the doors and smiled

a yellow-toothed smile. “I brought you some company. Your kind don’t seem to take to

her too well.”

“This one is so damned timid; she probably won’t make it through the night.” The

shorter Lunian, who had followed the guard into the room, scanned the exterior of the

cage as he spoke. “Maybe she will be a distraction for you, so you don’t try to damage

our cage.” The man laughed and gripped one of the bars.

“You ask me, she’s too pathetic to be good for much anyway,” the guard said.

“Even if she didn’t fight the take, she probably doesn’t have the life in her to carry a

fetus.”

He pushed forward a small-framed beautiful Neurian woman. Tara thought she

looked vaguely familiar and assumed she was one of those who had accompanied

Gowsky. Please tell me this doesn’t mean Gowsky’s been captured.

The two Lunians carried a long thin pole she recognized from her vision. They both

watched Tara like a hawk as one guard gripped the Neurian’s arm in one hand, while

struggling to open the lock with the other.

“No tricks now, okay?” He pulled back the woman and released the lock. “You

know what these sticks can do?” He held the stick toward the woman’s chest, and her

brown eyes opened wide. She cowered from fear.

Tara’s blood boiled. “I know what that stick is,” she said as her muscles tightened.

“I assure you the only way I will move is if you use it.”

The Lunian holding the woman tightened his grip on her arm and slowly pulled the

lock off the bars while watching Tara. “Don’t you move now, hear?” Then he paused.

“How do you know about these sticks?”

“I saw them used in my vision,” Tara muttered, hoping to distract the men.

The tall man stared at her, then broke out laughing. “Your vision, huh? Oh, that’s

right boys, their god speaks through her. Remember hearing about that?”

The pair laughed, their sticks coming dangerously close to touching the Neurian

woman.

Tara’s body jerked and they stopped laughing.

“Down, girl.” The one who’d been speaking pointed his stick at Tara. “Unless you

really do want to find out what they’re capable of doing.”

“I saw them used in a room full of naked women,” Tara said. “They were used

again after several women were washed with hoses before they were taken upstairs to

be bred.” She looked at the men with revulsion before glancing at the girl. The poor

thing was literally shaking, not a warrior at all, probably some type of scientist. “Touch

her with that thing, and I’ll find out for myself if your sticks are capable of killing.”

The tall guard opened the cage quickly and threw the Neurian inside.

Tara caught her in her arms. She held her tightly as the woman started crying. “Tell

Polva I want to talk to her.” Tara watched as the man locked the cage.

“Polva?” The man turned at the door. “What makes you think she’s here?”

“Just tell her I have a right to know the woman who wants to raise my baby.”

The man snorted and slammed the door.

“I’m sorry, my lady.” The young woman pulled away from Tara and wiped her

face. “I’m sure I seem pathetic crying like this.”

“Call me Tara,” she said. “And it’s understandable.”

“I’m pretty sure Lord Darius and Dorn got away,” the woman offered.

“Got away from where?”

The young woman didn’t answer, but instead reached inside her shirt and slid free

a flat piece of equipment. After glancing at the door, she used it to scan Tara.

“There,” she said, pointing to Tara’s arm. “A monitoring device of some kind is

under your skin.”

Tara felt her arm and, sure enough, on her right forearm, directly under the skin,

was a small circular device. She rubbed across it, realizing the only way she could

remove it was to dig it out.

Tara studied the interior of the cage, then sat and braced her legs against the bars

alongside her. The Neurian watched.

“You may not want to look,” Tara said.

“I have a medical degree,” the woman said and squatted next to her. “Here.” She

pulled a small tool from her pants pocket and flipped it, producing a small sharp blade.

Tara smiled. “Wow, they really didn’t search you, did they?”

“At times, it’s an advantage to not appear a threat.”

Tara noticed an odd expression on the Neurian’s face but dismissed it so she could

focus on removing the disc. She pushed against the bars of the cage with all her

strength, bracing herself for the pain. Placing the tip of the blade next to the disc, Tara