Are you sure, Lina? What happens if he turns on us?” Bailey asked, biting her bottom lip.

“Of course she is sure! Lina always knows what to do,” Mirela retorted before she grimaced and added under her breath, “most of the time.”

“Ha-ha,” Andy replied, sitting back against the wall and stretching out her legs. “What’s the plan, boss-lady?”

Five faces turned to Lina, their eyes watching her with anticipation. Gail and Mechelle, Mirela’s twin sister, sat silently contemplating what she had told everyone. Gail was the oldest of them all while Mechelle was the youngest, even if it was just by five minutes.

“His injuries don’t change the basics of the plan too much. We get him out, doctor him up as best we can, and make him take us home,” Lina said.

“Well, that should be easy enough,” Mirela replied with a roll of her eyes.

Gail snickered. “Be careful, Mirela. You might end up carrying this Trivator by his feet,” she warned.

Mirela tossed her head. “It would take all of us to carry out one of those guys. I don’t know about you, but I clearly remember them being big, muscular, and….”

“… Cute,” Mechelle interjected, trying not to grin.

Mirela shot her twin a glare. “I never said I thought they were cute,” she hissed.

Mechelle smirked. “No, you didn’t. You whistled and said—”

“Okay,” Lina cut her off. “Let’s get back on topic and plan how we are going to get him out of his cell, past the guards, out of the building, and down into the access ducts without everyone on the Spaceport seeing us,” Lina ordered in a slightly exasperated tone.

Andy leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. Lina could tell when the other women realized that this was probably their only chance of ever getting home. They had been lucky so far, but luck didn’t last forever. Out of the eighteen women who had been abducted and spirited away from Earth by the alien ship, they were the only ones who had managed to escape.

“We’re listening,” Andy said in a quiet voice.

Lina looked around at the hopeful and determined faces. They had been through a lot together. Some of it good and some of it bad, but they had survived. Taking a deep breath, Lina motioned for everyone to gather around in a circle. Kneeling, she used the dirt on the ground as a drawing board.

“This is what we are going to do,” she said in a determined voice. “I’m not sure he can walk, so I’ll need one of you to go with me.”

“I will,” Andy volunteered immediately.

Lina nodded. “Mechelle, I want you to be ready at the entrance to the tunnels. We’ll be coming in hot and heavy and will need to disappear fast. Mirela, I want you and Bailey to have a cart with a cover ready.”

Mirela looked grim for a moment before she nodded. “There are a couple places where I can borrow one,” she replied, using her fingers to place imaginary quotes around the word ‘borrow’.

“Where do you want us to meet you?” Bailey asked, leaning forward and staring down at the roughly sketched map of the building.

“The building across from where they are holding the Trivator is empty. It has a chute that was left over from whatever they made there. The chute is located on the opposite side of the building. That’s how I’ve been going in and out. I put a metal plank across from one roof to the other and crossed here. I guess they think because this is a Spaceport, no one would come in from the top. Anyway, there are no guards on this building because it is empty and none on the roof of the other one,” Lina explained for the benefit of those who had not been in on the details of her scouting mission.

“What about cameras?” Gail asked.

Lina shook her head. “None that I could see. It is like they moved in and didn’t bother with security except for hiring a bunch of moron guards. The main guy is a Waxian and is scary as shit. I’ve seen what he can do. It surprises me that anyone would be stupid enough to work for the man. I get the feeling the life expectancy of a guard isn’t very long if you mess up,” she explained with a look of distaste on her face.

“God, I hate the Waxians. They aren’t as easy to kill as the Armatrux,” Andy groaned.

“Yeah, I think we all do,” Gail replied.

Lina nodded and continued. “The chute leads to an empty section on the top floor of the building. I’ve been crossing over and moving through the building using their ventilation and drainage accesses. Anyway, the chute comes out on this side alley. One end is a dead end, and the other leads to a larger alley that leads to the main market area. It is a dark and seedy section. Place the cart under the chute and stay in the shadows. Andy and I will get him out of the building, up to the top floor here, and shove his ass down the chute. He falls in the cart, we come down next, you cover him up, and move at a normal pace through the market while we take up positions on each side to cover you. We’ll do it during rush hour when the market is chaos, which is in six hours,” Lina instructed.

“What do you want me to do?” Gail asked.

Lina smiled and nodded to the blaster strapped to Gail’s side. “You’ll be undercover. I need you to cover our backs. Fall back and keep an eye out. If those Waxian bastards discover we’ve taken their golden egg, they are going to be pissed. You are the best shot out of all of us, especially from a distance. I’ll need you to take them out if we are discovered,” Lina said with a grim expression.

“I won’t miss,” Gail promised.

“I have one question,” Mechelle said, frowning at her.

“What’s that?” Lina asked.

Mechelle rubbed her chin. “If he can’t walk, how are you going to get him across a metal plank nearly five stories up?” she asked.

Lina had hoped no one would notice that tiny detail. She glanced at Andy, who shrugged. Somehow they would get him across. Lina’s eyes strayed to the bag in the corner.

“Bailey, what kind of drugs do you have that might help us?” Lina quietly asked.

* * *

Pain radiated through Edge’s arms. His guards had left them shackled behind his back. The discomfort had finally pulled him from his restless doze. His head still ached, but it was back to the steady throb that he had been living with for months now.

His body was stiff from lying on the cold floor. Somewhere in his mind, he knew he should sit up, but he didn’t have the strength. He kept his eyes closed. In the darkness, it didn’t matter. He could see, but there was nothing to look at except the shadowy creatures that danced in his mind and along the walls.

Behind his back, he moved his fingers and tried to focus on counting. He could feel the claws of whatever beast they had poured into his blood this time tugging at him. Sweat beaded on his brow despite the cold.

The fire was heating up inside him, and he began to shake again. His reaction to the drugs was getting worse. He jerked his arms against the restraints in an effort to reduce the discomfort. As the fire grew to a fevered inferno, he twisted around and struggled up until he was on his knees.

Edge started shaking and his sweat poured out until a light film coated his entire body. His skin crawled with the imaginary insects. An agonized groan escaped him as the feeling of being eaten alive grew. The fireworks in his brain began to explode again, flashing colors at a sickening speed.

Gasping for air, he bent forward and rested his forehead against the cold floor. He squeezed his eyes closed to prevent the burning tears from escaping. He was dying. He could feel it, but he wasn’t allowed to. The voice… The voice had told him he wasn’t allowed to die. She needed him. She had found him, and she needed him.

Who had found him? another part of his brain demanded.

My Amate, the other part answered.

Edge knew his grasp on reality had finally snapped. There had been no voice answering his plea to the Goddess for death. It was a cruel hoax. The voice had been another trick to test his strength.

Straightening up, he parted his lips to shout his denial. He would never give the Waxians what they wanted. He was a Trivator warrior. Death before dishonor.

“Back up,” a soft, feminine voice ordered.

The sound broke through the confusion, calming the chaos. A shudder ran through Edge and he opened his eyes. Along the far wall, he saw the insects that had been crawling over his body disappear.

“Goddess, I swear I will resist,” he whispered. “I will die a warrior.”

A barely audible sigh from behind made him frown. “Yeah, well, tell your Goddess to put your death on hold, sweetheart. There won’t be any dying today if I have any say in the matter. Now, back your ass up to the wall behind you so I can see if I can get those damn wrist cuffs off you. It’s going to be a bitch doing it from this angle,” the voice demanded.

Edge tilted his head to the side. His frown deepened as his confusion grew. Shaking his head, he was rewarded with a wave of dizziness. Falling backwards, he grunted and stretched his legs out in front of him while he rested his head against the wall behind him.

“Why are you testing me like this?” he asked, closing his eyes again.

A soft snort answered him. “Welcome to our world, sweetheart. Life is all about the tests - seeing who passes and who crashes and burns,” the voice replied. “Can you walk?”

Edge was about to reply when he felt a movement against his skin. A shudder ran through him, and he started to shift to the side when he felt slender fingers wrap around his left wrist. Warmth poured through him. This wasn’t the heat of a few minutes ago, but a soothing warmth that chased away the insects.

“Goddess?” Edge whispered in awe.

This time a chuckle answered him. “Darling, you can call me anything you want as long as I don’t have to carry your ass out of here. That would make my life a lot easier. It might even give this harebrained plan a slim chance of success. As it is, we’ll all probably be meeting up with this Goddess of yours for drinks by dinner time,” the voice replied.

“I do not know if the Goddess drinks, or eats,” Edge replied, feeling several tugs on his wrists.

“Yeah, well, I’ll have to make sure I bring a few cases of beer along then,” the voice muttered before uttering a long string of curses that had Edge opening his eyes again in surprise.

“You have very colorful language,” he stated.

Another soft chuckle echoed behind him. “So I’ve been told,” she replied.

The sudden release of pressure on his arms took him by surprise. He slowly pulled his arms around, wincing at his protesting muscles. Bending his elbows, he rotated his arms until the feeling began to come back. Flexing his fingers, he suddenly twisted until he was lying on the floor, facing the wall.

A tiny red light shone from the hole where the grill had been. His top lip curled and he snarled. If the Waxian thought giving him hope would break him, he would show the man he had made a serious mistake.

“Well, you’re still fast, but that doesn’t answer my earlier question,” the voice hissed.

Edge tried to get a look at the face in the depths of the hole, but the red light was shining in his eyes. A low growl shook his frame. He wanted to reach into the hole and drag out whoever was within by their neck.

“What question is that?” Edge demanded, curling his fingers into a fist.

The red light wavered for a brief second, and Edge could make out the delicate lines of a very feminine face. The woman stared back at him, as if she, too, was assessing his features. Her dark brown eyes locked with his in a silent battle.

“Can you walk?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said, hoping it was true.

A small grin curved her lips. “Good, though if you can run, it will be even better. Expect company in ten minutes,” she replied, turning off the light.

Edge heard a soft scraping sound on the other side of the wall. Unsure if he had imagined what had just happened, he shot his hand out and he stuck it through the opening. He reached as far as he could and felt around the other side.

Then he pulled his hand back, and slowly pushed up until he was in a sitting position again. His gaze ran over his arms while he used his fingers to trace the raw circles around his wrist where the restraints had been. Reaching down, he picked up the metal cuffs in his left hand. His grip tightened around them.

Can you walk? Can you walk? Can you walk?

Her words kept repeating over and over in his head. Unsure, he braced his free hand against the wall and pushed up off the floor. His legs trembled, and he fell against the smooth wall of his cell. Gritting his teeth, he forced his legs to straighten until he was standing.