Chapter 16
Corey was waiting at the subway exit for Warrior Davens to return. Voices coming from the right caught his attention and he turned to watch as Liam and Quinn Estro walked up, accompanied by a third man who he assumed was Sr. Commander Bond. Liam made the introductions.
“Warrior Corey Nash, this is Sr. Commander Bond.”
Corey shook hands with the commander who was assessing him. “Thank you for coming.”
“How goes the search for Lieutenant Saber?” Commander Bond asked.
“We believe we are less than twenty minutes behind them. They’ve tried to mislead us quite a few times but Lieutenant Saber was able to leave clues behind to help us track her.”
“What kind of clues?” Liam asked.
“Her blood was found periodically through the corridors where we were tracking their heat signatures. It helped greatly to point in the right direction.”
“Her blood?” Sr. Commander Bond looked shocked.
Corey nodded. “She’s a very smart warrior, she left small amounts for us to find. Some on the walls, a few drops on the ground. Once she even used her blood to make an arrow to point in the direction that they took.”
“Why are we at the exit for the subway station? I would have thought they were taking her to another tribe, or maybe even a dome,” Lieutenant Quinn Estro asked curiously.
“Her blood trail and heat signatures have led us here. I believe that they went aboveground.”
All three of the Drastan men looked at one another in confusion. Liam shook his head in denial. “That can’t be right. Why would they go aboveground when it’s still so contaminated with radiation? Nothing grows up there.”
“I have an idea but I would need for you to answer me honestly.” Corey had a suspicion that the reason they had been sent to the tunnel construction sites hadn’t been fully revealed to either him or Nix. The Estros were holding something back and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
Liam stiffened, but responded with a question of his own. “What have I not told the truth about?”
Oh hell no, Liam wasn’t getting out of having to answer him. His secrets could cost Nix her life. Corey stepped toward Liam, determined to get the truth. “We were sent here to check on the construction sites. Is that right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Liam answered, but there was hesitancy in his voice.
“It was more than just doing a check up on the progress. What was really happening at the construction sites that you wanted us to investigate? Don’t you think we would have been better prepared if we’d known what we were looking for? Was this whole thing a set-up?”
Liam was silent. That was definitely telling. Corey was frustrated that Liam would still hold back information even after Nix had been taken. Apparently he wasn’t the only one frustrated with Liam’s refusal to answer.
“Captain Estro, answer the question,” Sr. Commander Bond snapped.
Sighing, Liam ran a hand through his hair. “We had reports that some of the materials and equipment were going missing. It started with just one or two tribe locations reporting missing small amounts, so we thought it was just miscounting or misplacing. Then it started spreading to more and more tribes undergoing construction. The amount of supplies missing increased and even more equipment was being taken. What confused us the most was that no one seemed to see anything, and even the security feeds we set up had moments of blurred or fuzzy images. My father, Commander Estro, met with his strategists, who advised him to keep this quiet until it was confirmed by someone we trusted implicitly—you and Lieutenant Saber were to be as unbiased as possible.”
“Why not just tell us this from the beginning?”
“The strategists didn’t want to taint your investigation.”
“In other words, they didn’t want to believe that humans could be stealing equipment out from under your noses. It would be an embarrassment to them if it got out. It might also inspire others to steal.”
“Yes.”
“We should have been made aware of what we were getting into. The resistance rebels are not just trying to stop progress on the tunnels and tribal living quarters; I believe they are trying to build a base aboveground.”
“What? Why would you think that?”
“While we stopped at a couple of tribes, I got information that workers were being taken aboveground for work they were told was top secret. I was also told that some of the air purifier systems had gone missing and had to be re-ordered from the command ship. Those supplies and equipment were clearly being put to use elsewhere, and I believe that the resistance leader is using them to build a base somewhere above ground.”
Quinn looked disbelieving. “Why not build a base below ground where it’s safer?”
Corey shook his head, “We have been searching for the resistance in the domes and the tunnels. The one place we’re not looking for them is…”
Liam finished for him. “Above ground.”
“Exactly. It’s the one place none of us would expect them to be. With the supplies, equipment, and especially the air purifiers, they could easily build such a place. It would be hard to find it to because of all the radiation.”
Liam paced back and forth. “It would have to be close enough to walk to. They wouldn’t be able to survive walking long distances in the radiation.”
“Unless they took body suits to protect them,” Quinn muttered.
“But we haven’t had missing suits reported, and we’ve made a rule to not keep extras around while working the tunnels,” Liam responded.
Warrior Davens approached and Corey introduced him to the other three men. “Warrior Davens has been extremely helpful in the search for Nix...Lieutenant Saber.”
“The above ground transport is here and ready to go.”
“Great, have the warriors you sent ahead caught sight of them yet?”
“No, but they are keeping track of their coordinates in case the storm comes back this way and clears out their tracks. The heat signatures are no longer showing up aboveground.”
“What about the blood trail?”
“They reported that they have not found any new traces of Lieutenant Saber’s blood.”
Damn, he hoped they found her soon. The longer she was in the hands of this guy, the worse the chances were of them getting her back unharmed. He would get her back alive; he wouldn’t settle for anything else.
As they went up the stairway to exit the subway station, Liam pulled him to the side, away from the others. “Corey, how did this happen? How did she get taken? Why weren’t you with her?”
“I take full blame. I should have been with her. Nix insisted on talking to the medics about treating one of the guys that had attacked us the first day. She wanted me to talk to the tribe leader to get a feel for anything unusual. We split up.”
“I don’t understand why you didn’t immediately notify us that you were attacked.”
“We had been attacked while above ground and were out in the open when a radiation storm came through. Nix had just sent the shuttle to a different location to keep anyone from stealing it when the attack began. The storm interfered with our communicators. We also lost our only computer during the storm. We had to walk to the city when the storm was over.”
“Why didn’t you go to the dome?”
“There was a chance that our attackers were watching the domes, expecting us to show up there for aid. We decided we couldn’t risk it, so we headed for a different end of the tunnels than we had planned to visit. We felt that we should try to continue on with our mission while keeping our eyes and ears open for any information about the resistance attack. We lucked out that someone reported hearing about a man seeking healers for injuries similar to those that of one of our attackers. We went immediately to question the man. The rest you know.”
“One more question.”
“What?” Corey asked, impatient. He wanted to get back on the road to tracking down Nix.
“What the hell happened between you and Nix? I can smell her all over you.”
Well, fuck! He’d forgotten about the heightened Drastan sense of smell. He hadn’t planned on exposing their relationship just yet. Not until he was actually sure that he and Nix were on the same page about what they had. He wanted a real relationship, but did she? Did Nix want him too? He couldn’t afford to think about any of that until they found her, though.
“We’ve been attracted to each other for a while. Something did happen, but that’s between me and Nix, and it can definitely wait until we get her back.”
“Here’s a warning, then, Nash: I won’t allow you to hurt her. She’s family to me, like a sister.”
“I don’t want to hurt her, but I’m not about to tell you my feelings for her before I have a chance to tell them to her.”
Liam growled, clearly not completely satisfied with Corey’s response, but he nodded sharply and moved toward the transport waiting for them. Corey worried that Nix would try to escape, or worse, take on the men who had her. So far, their sensors read eight heat signatures. Nix was a great fighter, but there was no way she could take on seven men on her own.
He whispered low, “Hold on, babe, we’re coming for you. Please be careful.”