Page 10 of Subchief Flander

When she woke, she was tied up completely with ropes. Hel began to work on those ropes while she tried to figure out where she was and who had managed to capture her. There was no one around, and she was in a small room. It smelled musty, which was common in unused rooms. Without seeing more of the building, there was no way to be sure of where she was. Hel thought they had made a mistake because the Majuri would search for her. Few people knew that every warrior had a tracker implanted in them once they passed their training. Finding her wouldn't be difficult.

When they caught those who had taken her, they would be hard on them. That's why few of their enemies tried to capture a warrior. Warriors expected to die in battle, but to be abducted, they considered that an insult to their kind. These people didn't realize what they had unleashed upon themselves. Hel still didn't plan to wait to be rescued. She was working on her ropes when she heard the door open. Pausing, she waited to see who had taken her. Hel almost gasped when she saw her captor.

“Darian? What did you do?” She asked.

“They took you, so I got you back.”

“They'll come get me, and they will destroy anyone that had anything to do with taking me. You must let me go.”

“Remember when we were younger, and we talked about how we would always be friends. They took you and your siblings, and I couldn't do a thing. Things are different now, and I've saved you. You're safe here. You don't have to worry," Darian explained.

“I've always been safe. You're the one I'm worried about because they are going to come after me, and they will kill you and anyone who helped you. They don't tolerate abductions of their warriors.”

“Are you telling me that you're one of them? They've brainwashed you because there's no other explanation.”

“We all make the best choices that we can. When we were caught, they gave us some choices. My choice was to divide my time between learning to be a doctor and being a warrior. It was better than being in Purgatory and being hunted constantly. I'm not sure why you stayed here. This is not a good place to be right now.” Hel mentioned.

“This is our planet; this place is home. Where else would I go? These others that came here need to leave. We don't need them or want them.”

“I don't believe that's going to be your choice. We are just pawns on a chessboard. Others make the major decisions. If you let me go and I get back quick enough, maybe they won't come after you.”

“You really want to go back? I thought you wanted to be free of them.” Darian observed.

“The truth is that we will never be free of them no matter what we do.”

“You're not the girl I used to know. They have changed you. Take some time and think about what you really want.”

He turned and left, leaving her to think about what he had said. She didn't need to think about it because he had no plan. Even if he did, he didn't have the resources to defeat the Empire. She didn't know anyone that did. Hel got back to working off the ropes around her hands. If he really thought that she wanted to come back, why had he tied her up so well? Deep inside, he had to know that there was no going back. Purgatory would never be where it had been before the Grabber attack. Nothing would have been left had the Majuri warriors not descended upon the planet and driven the Grabbers away.

Darian had to know it was the truth, but now that the Grabbers were gone, he wanted to eliminate the Majuri, too. She also wished for the old days when the emperors would have saved the planet and then turned it back over to the population, asking only for a trade and defense agreement. Those days had gone when the previous Emperor had died, and this one had taken over. He was not a credit to his line and never would be. Hel felt that one of the ropes was loosening, and she continued to work on it. Her blood soaked into the rope. That would help make it slippery. Eventually, she would be able to work herself free.

It was her hope that he would give her a reasonable amount of time so that she could escape. When they saw her, most males thought that she was defenseless, and she had been taken easily enough that he would probably continue to believe that. She was upset that she hadn't been able to put up a fight because she was a warrior. Hel had not even seen it coming, and no one had expected it. Her squad would be upset not only at her but also at themselves for allowing this to happen.

Chapter 4

Gone and Back

Flander looked around and couldn’t see Hel anywhere. He could only hope that the crowd had swallowed her and that she would work her way free. A few minutes later, he realized that that wasn't the case, and his mate was gone. Her name left his lips in a blood curdling scream that immediately made everyone stop and look at him. His squad immediately realized how serious this was and began to herd people on the ship in large numbers, hoping she would be among them. That wasn't the case, and there was no choice but to order the robots on board and head back to the ship.

With just his squad, there was no way that they could roam the planet without getting killed or captured. It was a serious matter that needed to be brought to Ranni’s attention. He was sure the sub chief would mobilize many of their forces and begin sweeping the planet until they found her. Gods help whoever had taken her because the Majuri would show them no mercy. If he had been the one who had found them, he would have destroyed them, and he didn't care who it was.

When they docked with the ship, he left Jaird in charge and immediately headed to Ranni’s office. He didn't find him there, so he went to his quarters and knocked on the door. It took a few moments for the boss to arrive at the door because he had been busy.

“Hel got separated from us because we were overwhelmed by people wanting to go to the new base. She's gone. We couldn't find her and had to leave. Jaird is in charge of getting therefugees to the new base, but I want to lead a group of soldiers to look for her.” Flander explained.

“No. We will set the ship to scan the surface until we find Hel, and we will not go back until we do. It is possible that they took her off the world. You need to go eat and rest because I may be sending you down there at night to recover her," Ranni decided.

Flander was unhappy because he worried about what was happening to his mate while they were waiting. He knew it was the logical choice for a leader and the choice made in the past under these same circumstances. That didn't make him feel any better, but he had no choice but to follow orders. His mood was not good when he hit the cafeteria, and everyone jumped out of his way. There was no way any one of them had heard about what had happened yet, but they could gauge his mood by the look on his face.

He forced himself to eat his food to have the energy for what would happen. Even though he was hungry, his food tasted like sawdust. Once he was done with that, he went to his quarters, where he took a shower and lay in bed thinking about what had gone wrong and how he could have prevented it. He must have fallen asleep at some point because his radio buzzed and woke him. He was sure they must have found her.

"Come to my office," the boss said.

Flander dressed and headed to Ranni’s office. “Did you find her?”

"No, she found us. She said she got carried away in the crowd, caught up in a gang war, had to hide out until it was over, and then headed back to see if we sent someone to find her," Ranni infirmed.

“Where is she?”

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