Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
“I’m sure they can’t risk a direct attack—the Father Ship and the Mother Ship are too evenly matched. They’d blow each other out of the sky,” Davrik said thoughtfully.
“Exactly. Commander Sylvania says the only way would be infiltrating the Father Ship by stealth. But none of the Kindred look anything like a Scourge and our ships don’t look like theirs either, so there’s no getting aboard.” Lan’ara sounded hopeless.
Davrik frowned.
“No, none of the Kindred here look like a Scourge, but I do,” he said slowly. “I’ve been mistaken for one of those bastards again and again ever since I got to this universe. And my ship has disguise tech—it can look like just about any kind of vessel I want it to.”
Lan’ara looked up at him with hope in her eyes.
“Davrik…what are you saying? You’re not offering to—”
“Infiltrate the Scourge ship? Yes, I am,” he said, nodding firmly.
“But…but you’d be risking your life! And for a human you don’t even know,” Lan’ara exclaimed.
“So what?” Davrik shrugged fatalistically. “If Sonya doesn’t want me, my life isn’t worth living anyway. And maybe if I do this—if I go to rescue a human I don’t even know, as you put it—she’ll see that I’m not some greedy bastard who only came here to find a replacement for the wife I lost.”
“I want to come with you,” Lan’ara said earnestly. “I feel the same way—if what I did to Nate kills him or incapacitates him for life, then my own life isn’t worth living either. And if I can at least get his little sister back for him, maybe he can someday, somehow forgive me.”
“Come on then!” Davrik surged to his feet, determination coursing through him. He had a purpose again—a reason for living. He would help Lan’ara to save this human girl. And if he lost his life trying to do that, so be it.
If Sonya didn’t want him, he didn’t care if he lived or died anyhow.
FIFTY-SEVEN
LAN’ARA
“All right, I have the two of you wired so that we can hear what happens and locate you if need be,” Commander Sylvania said. “Though I have to be honest—if you get captured, I’m not sure if we can rescue you.”
“We understand that,” Lan’ara said firmly. “We still want to go.”
“Very well.” Commander Sylvania nodded. “How are the ocular inserts working for you, Commander Davrik?”
“They feel all right.” He blinked rapidly as Lan’ara watched. “Did they move any?” he asked her.
Lan’ara shook her head. The ocular inserts were thin pieces of film which fit over the big warrior’s entire eyes and caused them to have the Red-on-black appearance of Scourge eyes. With the inserts in place and his great height and pearly gray skin and black hair, he really did look like one of the enemy. He was wearing an all-black uniform that had been taken off a fallen Scourge warrior, which completed his disguise.
“And how are your manacles?” Commander Sylvania asked Lan’ara. “Can you get out of them easily if you need to?”
“Yes, of course.” Lan’ara twisted her wrists in just the right way and the fake manacles popped open. The idea was for her to play Davrik’s prisoner—he would be pretending to be a scout who had gone out looking for new prey for the Scourge and he was bringing her back to the Father Ship for the approval of the AllFather.
Though hopefully we can just get Madison and get out, without ever having to see him, Lan’ara thought with a shiver. But she was committed to this venture now—she was going to save Nate’s little sister or die trying.
“You’re both really sure you want to do this?” Commander Sylvania asked for the sixth or seventh time. “If you wait just a little while, we might have our new weapon ready to go—the ESR—Emotion Sonic Resonator will be formidable against any enemy—if we can find the right one to wield it. One of our human scientists, Karl, is working on it with his mates, Loves Deeply and Locks Tightly.”
“We really can’t wait, Commander,” Davrik said firmly. “The human female might be mind-raped if we leave her in the clutches of the Scourge for too long.”
“Besides, we’ll just slip in and nab her and slip back out again,” Lan’ara said, hoping that what she said was right. “The Scourge won’t even know we’ve been there!”
“From your lips to the Goddess’s ears,” Sylvania said and sighed. “Very well then—go and may the Mother of All Life go with you and bring you success.”
“We pray it will be so,” Davrik said formally. He looked at Lan’ara. “Are you ready?”
“Ready,” she confirmed, fastening the fake manacles back around her wrists. She looked at Commander Sylvania. “Nate—” she began.
“Is resting quietly,” her CO assured her. “He’s in a sleep so deep it’s almost unconsciousness—he won’t even know you’re gone. As long as you get back here safely and quickly,” she added.