Chapter 14
Two hours later
“Where the fuck did they take her?” Corey demanded as he slammed the door to the locker room where they had tracked the man who took Nix. This was the second locker room that they had come to. They had been tracking the ones that took Nix for over two hours, and every time they thought they finally had them, the group of resistance rebels would evade capture. It didn’t help that the bastards had led them in the wrong direction more than once. He had to admit the rebels were experts at evasion. The deeper they traveled the tunnels the harder it was for them to be found. Drastan technology wouldn’t do a damn thing if they kept going deeper into the back maintenance corridors.
Corey had had no idea there were so many hidden turns and he had lived in these tunnels for years. When living in the tribes, it was safer not to travel too far away from the others and take only known routes. Each time that they had to backtrack too away critical time they needed to find Nix and it could cost Nix her life. He glared at the Drastan warrior with frustration.
“Our infrared heat sensors registered body heat signatures from at least six people. It still resonates here.”
“What does that mean?” Corey wasn’t familiar with the equipment the warrior was using.
“Their residual traces indicate we must have missed them by maybe twenty or thirty minutes.”
Corey wanted a more definitive estimation than that. “What do we do now?”
“We can track the residual heat signatures through the passageways, but they will fade quickly, so we need to follow them immediately. This should lead us to them as long as nothing interferes with our readers,” Warrior Davens said.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Corey asked impatiently.
“I’ll have my warriors with heat sensors move in either direction to pick up the signatures and confirm their heading.”
Corey figured that if they went further below in the tunnels those heat signatures would be harder to pick up. “Good, let me know which way they’re going and we’ll try to figure out their intended destination in the tunnels and cut them off. Commander Estro said that Senior Commander Drake Bond is already visiting at the next tribe over and wants to join us in the search.”
Sr. Commander Bond had come to Earth to find out why Commander Estro was spending so much time on Earth with the fleet. The warriors he had trained with whispered their suspicions that Bond was supposed to remove Estro from his command, but that hadn’t happened, not yet. Bond primarily seemed to be working with Estro to speed up the process for the Drastans departure from Earth. His presence was something they all had to accept and deal with until his true intent was revealed. Corey didn’t care about any of the Drastan politics. He was loyal to Commander Estro but if this Sr. Commander Bond could help find Nix, that’s what mattered the most to him. He’d accept help from anybody if they could bring Nix back to him.
Warrior Davens spoke into his communicator, directing his warriors on the search. When he finished, he turned back to Corey. “There’s no blood or signs of a struggle. The fact that we haven’t found a body yet should be good news.”
Corey walked around the locker room, shaking his head. “If the leader of the resistance is behind this, and he killed her he would have placed her body where we would have found it. Since we haven’t found a body that means either it may not be the head of the resistance behind this or they could be holding her for ransome at a later time.” Corey didn’t want to think of the unmentioned alternative. He just wouldn’t go there.
“What type of warrior is Lt. Saber?”
“Nix is strong, smart, and one of the best warriors I have ever had the pleasure of training with. Her best and worst asset is her strong will.”
“How is being strong her worst asset?”
“She will challenge the ones that took her and that will put her in more danger.”
“You don’t have any idea who the leader of the resistance is?” Warrior Davens asked.
“Me and my fellow trainees on the command ship worked up a profile on the resistance leader to try to figure out who he was and what motivated him. He had taken on different identities to keep anyone from finding him so the profile was pretty much all we had to work with. The profile persona prided himself on being strong and brilliant. He will find it thrilling and powerful to be able to break someone like Nix. He’ll want to conquer her and to try to own her.”
Davens stared at Corey with horrified understanding. “Every minute that she is in his clutches means that there’s less chance of her getting out of this unharmed. From what you told me about her, she may risk her own life to get away from him.”
Corey nodded. “Nix will collect intel then look for a way to escape. She would fight to the death rather than submit. She’ll take out as many as she can but she is outnumbered or she would have escaped by now.”
“If she is harmed, it will be an act of war. Commander Estro will not let that stand,” Warrior Davens growled out.
“I know. The resistance leader doesn’t care anymore that his actions could cause the very thing he fears the most—Drastans taking control of Earth.”
“He is completely irrational! That’s never been our intention,” Warrior Davens insisted.
“Obviously it doesn’t matter to him or his followers. Tell me, if this is not resolved quickly and Nix doesn’t survive, what will happen besides an all-out Drastan/human war?” When Davens refused to answer, Corey answered for him.
“I’ll tell you what will happen. My people won’t stand a chance against Drastan weapons or your well-trained warriors. You already outnumber us. Any war would mean many human deaths and it would severely cripple our military force. On top of all that, Commander Estro will have no choice but to take control of our planet in an attempt to subdue any other resistance. My people would no longer be in control of their own destinies and will become even more dependent on Drastan good will. Humans will resent the Drastans even more than they do. More skirmishes would arise causing more Drastan control.”
The silence was telling. Thinking about all the ways this incident could send Earth and Drastan relations spiralling out of control ultimately meant nothing to Corey, though. When it came down to it, the only thing that he cared about was getting Nix back safe and sound. At some point, somehow, he had fallen in love with her, and now it was clear, if something happened to her, it would destroy him. This resistance leader better hope someone else found him before Corey, because he was going to end him for daring to even look at her, let alone touch her.
His communicator beeped he tapped it to answer. “This is Warrior Nash.”
“What’s happening with the search?” Commander Estro demanded.
“We’ve found heat signatures and are using those to track them. Warrior Davens believes we’re only about twenty or thirty minutes behind them.”
“Notify Sr. Commander Bond, he’s on his way to join your search. Also, Quinn and Liam will be joining you as well.”
“I’m not sure it’s necessary to have them come down. It will draw more attention to the situation.”
“Nash, this isn’t a search for just any of my warriors. Nix is a part of my family. I would be there myself, but I have issues to deal with on board that I can’t get out of it at this time. I’m sending those who feel the same way about Nix as I do. Keep me updated.”
“I hope to have good news for you soon, Commander.”
“Have you seen signs of a struggle or torture?”
“Not yet sir.”
“There’s no body.” Commander Estro stated rather than ask. Corey answered him anyway.
“No.”
“I know Nix. She will put up a fight to escape, even if it means she is killed in the attempt to flee.”
“I know.”
“I will kill him!” Commander Estro growled out making their connection crackle.
“Not if I get to him first. The moment he took her, he signed his own death warrant, and I plan to deal that punishment out myself,” Corey swore.
“Keep me updated and tell her that we want her home. No matter what happens, she needs to come home to us.”
“I’ll tell her when I find her.” Corey ended the communication with frustration. He refused to even consider that he wouldn’t find her. He had to.
He remembered finding Maggie after she had been attacked. It was horrific. Maggie had only been fifteen, so young and spunky. It never should have happened.
Corey had thought that he had never felt more helpless in all his life than when Maggie had been attacked… until now. It felt like he was reliving that time again; another woman he loved had been taken and could be suffering the same fate as Maggie. That was unacceptable. All he wanted to do was find her and protect her.
When Warrior Davens left him alone to go speak with some of his warriors, Corey kicked the nearest locker as hard as he could, anger and frustration eating at him. He had to keep it together. It wouldn’t help Nix if he lost it and went crazy destroying everything in sight. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He repeated the action until his heart rate slowed and he felt calmer.
A few minutes later his communicator beeped, he hit the button to answer. “This is Warrior Nash.”
“We’ve picked up their trail traveling east,” Warrior Davens reported off.
“Very good, I’m on my way. Make sure to have someone notify Sr. Commander Bond as soon as he arrives.”
“Yes sir.”
Corey looked around once more before whispering out loud, “I’m going to find you, honey, just hang in there. Please stay alive, no matter what you have to do. Stay alive for me.”