Page 25 of Caldar
From a hidden pocket in his boots, he removed a small capsule. With a crack, he dumped the contents onto his head. The chemical powder neutralized the dye in his hair, returning it to his natural gray. It would be better for the Suhlik to find an older—and presumably harmless—male.
Without his jacket, his tattoos easily identified him as Mahdfel. The intricate symbols were more than decorative. They were a shared language. Long ago, the Suhlik branded their captive warriors. They were marks of shame and resentment. Once the Mahdfel seized their freedom, they turned the same branding into a ritual of place and belonging.
He removed the stunner from the unconscious male and searched for hidden weapons. Nothing. The stunner would have to suffice.
Caldar leaned against the console, taking weight off his leg. It did not hurt, but it also did not feel stable. Even though falling over mid-fight would reinforce the notion of Caldar being old and harmless, his ego would not allow it. He would fight to the best of his ability, even if only briefly.
As it happened, he got off two good shots with the stunner before the guards overwhelmed him.
“This one smells like he has a female,” a male said. He twisted Caldar’s arm, driving him to his knees.
“That would explain his behavior. The creatures are not overly complicated.”
Caldar laughed, which earned him a knee between the shoulders and being forced to the floor.
“Continue to laugh and discover the consequences,” the soldier threatened.
It was hard to stop laughing. For all their posturing and air of superiority, the Suhlik were largely the same as the Mahdfel. The genetic manipulation they perfected in the Mahdfel, they used on themselves. As a result, Suhlik warriors came in two flavors: brawn and brains. If he was not overly complicated, neither were they.
“Stop laughing.” The knee pressed down harder. Caldar’s face smashed into the face, but the pain was inconsequential.
“Do not harm my mate,” Caldar said, his words garbled.
“He pleads but he is not desperate. You ignore his injury,” the other male said.
A foot pushed Caldar onto his back, then pressure was applied to the wound on his thigh.
He gritted his teeth to keep from screaming.
I must protect Sonia.The soldiers wanted a show. They needed to think they broke a Mahdfel warrior. If he must beg, then he would beg.
“My mate… Please, do not harm her.” Caldar’s words came out in broken gasps.
“The prisoner is not your plaything. If you break him, you will have to carry him to the doctor.”
“Stand.” Rough hands hauled Caldar to his feet. His head swam, and his leg barely supported his weight. Cuffs were placed on his hands.
He did not resist. He portrayed a docile male, willing to submit to protect his mate.
“I’m sure the doctor will have a use for you,” a guard said, shoving Caldar down a corridor.
SONIA
So, this was different.
Instead of being dragged out of the pod and tossed into a crowded cell with the other passengers, where they’d have a bucket of water, a bucket of gruel and a hole in the floor for waste to share among a dozen or more people—movies were pretty bleak—she got this. A hedge maze.
A freaking maze.
Sonia tilted her head back and stared up at the night sky. Well, she assumed it was a sky. There were stars against an inky black backdrop—very sky-like. The air was fresh, lacking the staleness of filtered air mixed with chemical perfumes to recreatesummer fields,beach summer,or anything else that sounded like a fancy candle. Not that she assumed the Suhlik were concerned about their hostages’ olfactory experience while in a holding cell.
A warm breeze dried the sweat off the back of her neck.
The sky looked real. The air smelled real. The breeze felt real. The chirping insects sounded real.
If she was still inside a ship, the space had to be cavernous. From what she understood about aerospace engineering—nothing—the larger the ship, the slower. Suhlik raiders needed a quick and stealthy ship. Tooling around in a ship with a hedge maze in a stadium-sized hanger just didn’t seem practical.
This had to be real. The Suhlik ruined her cruise, grabbed her pod, and dumped her on some random planet.
