Cindrac Read online

  “Ahh,” Adamo nodded his head in understanding. “We’re not going in weapons blazing. This mission will be subtle.”

  “Exactly,” Cin agreed. “I have no desire to start a war on the moon. I’ll disable any technology in the building. We just need to be prepared for any old techniques they may be employing. If we do this right, we can be long gone before they even realize we were there.”

  “I’m almost disappointed,” Linq shouted from the cockpit. “But I like living too, so I won’t complain.”

  “If we’re going in undercover, we’ll have to pass through their technology scanners,” Kace warned Cin and Gabriel in particular.

  “I can hide our nanites from the scanners they use,” Cin stated confidently. “Gabe and I will be fine.”

  Gabe nodded, trusting Cin’s word. “How many raiders guard the building? If they don’t use much technology, what weapons are we facing?”

  “They use the best technology in their spaceport to keep out any trouble, and they’ve got a shield, stolen from Betaria decades ago, surrounding the Moon to repel attacks. None of that will have any impact on our mission. I will port us there.” Cin’s announcement surprised everyone.

  “You’re starting to take the fun out of this whole thing, Cin,” Tanq complained.

  “I like it.” No one argued with the Madean.

  “So, we go in our energy forms and materialize when safe, to get into the building?” Adamo was sure that was Cin’s intention if he wasn’t looking for a war.

  “Exactly,” Cin agreed. “Invisible or energy forms until it’s safe to materialize. I will get us into the building, but we’re most likely going to need to fight to get Lanie out. Once we have her, we port.”

  “That means we can’t use any weapons of technology,” Kace stated the obvious.

  Cin nodded. “It’s all hand to hand and bladed weapons. The moon uses sound technology to sense any weapon discharges.”

  Everyone turned to Gabriel, who was about as technology-based as you could get with his nanite weapon and armor systems. The Gunney grinned and commanded his nanites to form a sword in one hand and throwing knives in the other.

  “We’ll be fine.” Gabe grinned at the surprise on the faces of the other warriors. “Why is the Consortium so paranoid? It sounds like they’re more worried about their own than LAW busting down their doors.”

  Adamo snorted. “They are. The Consortium consists of the worst monsters in the universe. The only reason they’re in the Consortium is that they can do whatever they want within the safety of their numbers.”

  “The worst are biding their time and amassing support to take over at some point,” Linq laughed. “They kill one another as much as they do anyone else.”

  “Do not be overconfident,” The Madean warned. “If you attack one member, the others will put aside their differences to fight as one against you. Their first loyalty may be to themselves, but their second is to the Consortium.”

  “So, are we porting directly into the building?” Gabe wanted to concentrate on the plan.

  Cin shook his head sadly. “We can’t. The experimentation building is secured with a tech shield. I can get you, and I passed the shield, but I can’t penetrate it for a port. Once inside, I can disable everything and port us out.”

  “Is it me, or does that make no sense?” Linq chuckled.

  “The shield isn’t connected to anything,” Cin explained. “If it was, I could remotely access it by those means, but everything they use is a single point system. I have no way to access it except by physically going to the shield’s computer system. Most everything on the Moon is like that.”

  “Damn, now that’s paranoid.” Gabe was surprised and a little impressed at the forethought of the Consortium.

  “That’s what makes the Consortium so hard to defeat,” the Madean agreed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tearing apart the kitchen, Lanie was desperate to find anything resembling a recipe or cookbook. She wanted nothing more than to prove to Cindrac that she could help him but couldn’t even make an edible meal.

  Refusing to give up, Lanie was digging through the pots and pans when a strange blue glow lit up the whole living room and kitchen area. Wondering if it was a helicopter on the way to the cabin fire, Lanie moved into the beam of light and instantly regretted it.

  Suddenly paralyzed, Lanie was fighting with her mind trying to break free as the beam dragged her to the balcony. Terror gripped her, and Lanie screamed in fear, but nothing came out of her mouth, scaring her even more.

  While Lanie stared at the disc-shaped UFO, her heart was beating out of her chest as the blue beam lifted her off the ground. She soared through the air towards the ship, her mind numb with terror, and Lanie screamed nonstop for help she knew would never come. Before she even entered the craft, Lanie had blissfully passed out, imagining a gray tail flicking in irritation.

  Suddenly Lanie jerked herself into a sitting position and looked around the empty cage she was in, having no idea how much time had passed.

  Unsure what to do, Lanie stood on shaky legs and moved around the bars of the cage, looking for a way out. The last thing she wanted to do was call attention to the fact that she was awake and bring her captors to her. Lanie remembered the UFO and her abduction in stunning clarity, and the thought of seeing the aliens responsible scared her to death.

  When Lanie had yanked on every bar in the cage at least three times, and none would budge, she collapsed back on the bed she awakened on. Any hope she had of being rescued evaporated, and Lanie cried for the life that was truly gone forever this time.

  Lanie knew what happened to her, though she’d never believed Jason all the times he’d threatened to have her abducted if she didn’t stop running from him. Jason had warned her repeatedly that his family’s connections extended far beyond her imagination and had hinted at aliens.

  At the time, Lanie had thought he was lying to frighten her into staying with him. Now she realized just how useless it had been to fight for those eleven years. She hadn’t been free from the moment Jason had come into her life, and even in death, he was determined to make her suffer.

  Feeling hopeless and alone, Lanie curled up in a ball on the bed and cried for the future she lost eleven years ago and the one she’d never have with Cindrac. For the first time in all those years, Lanie just wanted to get it over with and die.

  A flash of gray shimmered through Lanie’s tear-filled eyes, and she sat up, quickly wiping away her tears to see better. Seconds later, the furry creature was curled up in her lap and purring loudly.

  “Oh, Bob!” Lanie burst into tears and tried not to squeeze the cat too hard. “How did they get you too? Cindrac’s going to be so mad at me.”

  Bob merely purred while Lanie soaked his back with tears and trembled with fear. When she was finally done crying, Lanie used the blanket's edge to try and dry Bob’s fur.

  “I’m so sorry, Bob.” Lanie struggled not to cry again. “It’s my fault they took you too. Cin’s never going to forgive me for this.”

  Bob stood and rubbed himself against Lanie’s face and purred even louder. She sniffed back more tears and pet the cat before remembering that she hadn’t seen him when she first woke up.

  “You wouldn’t happen to know a way out of here, would you, Bob?” Lanie was shocked when the cat jumped off her lap and smoothly went through the bars.

  When Bob stopped and sat facing her from the other side of the cage, Lanie stood and walked towards him, daring to hope a cat could help her escape. As she watched, Bob moved to the other side of the room and rubbed up against a wall until Lanie noticed the small seam indicating a door.

  “Good boy, Bob!” Lanie whispered, shocked the cat was so smart. “There’s a door, but how do I get out of the cage?”

  Bob stretched dramatically, put his front paws near the seam in the wall, and reached up as far as he could. Lanie’s eyes frantically searched where he was reaching and finally saw what looked like th
e same kind of hand scanner she’d seen at Jason’s Senator Aunt’s home.

  Lanie sighed in frustration. “Hand scanner, isn’t it?”

  Bob seemed to nod as he put his front paws back on the floor and looked at her with his intense green gaze.

  “OK, so there’s no way out of the cage or the room because of the hand scanner.” Lanie moved back to the bed and plopped down. Her hope was bleeding from her.

  Bob stood and meandered his way back through the cage and jumped on the bed beside Lanie. When he nuzzled her hand, Lanie started to pet the animal, figuring Bob might be scared too. She didn’t blame him.

  “Cin’s going to be sick with worry for you,” Lanie whispered, fighting back her tears again.

  Bob nuzzled her cheek, and Lanie had to smile at the cat’s seemingly unshakable happiness. The poor thing didn’t realize how hopeless their situation was, and Lanie was afraid for the innocent creature that got caught up in her nightmare.

  “I’m so sorry, Bob,” Lanie whispered.

  A slight hissing sound had Lanie pushing Bob to the floor. “Hide!”

  The cat ran under one of the other bunks just as the door opened. Around three feet tall, a small gray alien moved into the room, close to the cage's bars. As it came near, Lanie scooted further back on the bed and stared in horror at something out of her nightmares.

  The creature’s lips never moved, but Lanie heard its voice in her mind. “You are to be told that you were sold for experimentation. You will not live beyond another day or two at the most. Senator Patrosi and her family send their regards.”

  The alien's words weren’t what had Lanie screaming, “No!”

  Bob flew through the air and latched himself onto the back of the alien’s neck. With claws and teeth tearing at the creature, green blood was flying, and the alien stumbled closer to the cage as he tried to grab hold of Bob.

  Rushing from the bed, Lanie reached through the bars and grabbed the alien around the front of its neck, trying to avoid the cat’s claws and teeth at its back. She tried not to think about what they were doing, pulled the creature closer to the cage, and squeezed as hard as she could.

  Lanie’s longer arms allowed her to avoid the creature’s smaller ones as it fought against her with one four-fingered hand and tried to stop the cat with the other. Time seemed to slow for Lanie, and she had no idea how long she’d been holding the dead alien until she heard a loud, squishy plop.

  Looking down, Lanie let go of the alien and threw up on the floor, trying not to look at the hand Bob had severed and was dragging towards her. Gaining control of herself, Lanie ignored the alien body and watched Bob drop the hand in front of the cage a few feet away from the creature.

  Moving to the cat, Lanie saw Bob stretch himself out, his front paws sliding up the bars of the cage. Lanie shook her head in wonder at the intelligent animal and stuck her hand through the bars a little further up from Bob’s feet.

  Lanie’s face curled in disgust when she looked at the alien hand, oozing green blood from where Bob had bitten it off. The cat’s paw shot out and pushed the severed appendage closer to the cage.

  Taking a deep breath for courage, Lanie grabbed the hand and slapped it against what she hoped was the cage's hand scanner. When nothing happened, Lanie looked down at Bob and saw him turn his back to her.

  Looking at the severed hand in her own, Lanie saw she was putting the back of it on the scanner and not the palm. Turning it around, she tried again and nearly cried when the cage popped open. Running outside of her prison, Lanie was going to drop the severed appendage when Bob moved to the room's main door.

  “Shouldn’t we find some weapons first?” Lanie was terrified of what was on the other side of the door.

  Bob merely yawned and stretched himself against the wall with the hand scanner attached.

  “OK.” Lanie took a deep breath and placed the hand against the scanner.

  Bob immediately ran through the open door, and Lanie hesitated only a second before following the cat. She looked down both ends of the hallway, struck by how everything was exactly the same.

  “Where are we going, Bob?” Lanie whispered, trying to stay close to the wall of the metallic hallway.

  The cat didn’t stop, and Lanie continued to follow him, holding onto the severed alien hand in case they needed it to open any other doors. They hadn’t gone too far before Bob stopped in the middle of the hallway and faced the wall.

  Looking both ways to make sure no one was coming, Lanie knelt beside the cat and scanned the wall to see why Bob had suddenly stopped. It didn’t take long to find the small access panel.

  Lanie put the hand on the panel, and it opened, revealing what appeared to be an air duct system. Figuring it was as good a place to hide as any until she could decide what to do and maybe get back home, Lanie pushed Bob inside.

  “I have to clean up the floor,” Lanie told the wide-eyed cat. “The blood trail will lead them right to us.”

  Lanie left Bob in the air duct and ran back down the hall to the room with the cage. Rushing inside, she grabbed two blankets and went back outside. Lanie dropped one to the floor and used her foot to clean up the green drops leading down the corridor to the duct system.

  Bob moved out of the way when Lanie threw the dirty blanket inside and crawled into the duct system next to the waiting cat. She barely stopped the scream that came up when the access door slid shut. Trembling from fear and a resurgence of hope, Lanie took several deep breaths before turning to Bob.

  “Where do we go from here, baby?”

  Lanie didn’t want to think about how stupid she sounded talking to the cat about escaping. A part of her even wondered if this was all a dream or delusion, but Lanie’s fear was all too real, and it propelled her to crawl behind the cat.

  Dragging the severed hand behind her on top of the dirty blanket, the clean one tied around her waist, Lanie let out a huff of relief when Bob finally stopped. The space was too small to sit up, and Lanie just laid on her side and looked at Bob’s green eyes.

  “Are we there yet, Buddy?”

  Bob scooted back a little bit, revealing another small access panel. Hoping she wasn’t making a mistake trusting a cat that might be a delusion, Lanie pulled up the blanket with the alien hand and pressed it against the scanner. Bob shot through the open doorway and stood several feet away.

  Peeking out cautiously, Lanie was a little surprised to see what appeared to be a large cargo bay. She slid out of the access panel and wrapped the alien hand back in the dirty blanket to prevent it from dropping any blood on the floor.

  Standing up, Lanie looked around the large football field-sized room. She knew they were still in the UFO by the curve of the ceiling and edges of the room. There were containers made of wood, metal, glass, and what seemed to be plastic stacked all over the extensive space.

  “Oh, Bob, this is great.” Lanie was more than impressed with the cat, delusion or not. “Can you find me a weapon, food, and water?”

  Lanie had said the last jokingly and was surprised when Bob took off. Thankfully the cat didn’t go so fast that Lanie couldn’t keep up, and moments later, Bob was standing on top of a heavy-looking plastic container.

  “This one?” Lanie studied the outside of the oblong box, trying to figure out how to open it.

  Seconds later, Bob jumped off the container as Lanie opened the lid and looked cautiously inside. Pulling out one of the alien-looking weapons, Lanie easily recognized a trigger when she saw one.

  Palming the odd, metal gun-shaped weapon, Lanie got used to the feel of it in her hand before trying to aim it. Knowing now was not the time to be firing the thing, Lanie stuffed it and two more into her pants' waistband before reclosing the container.

  It had barely snapped shut before Bob was taking off through the warehouse again. Feeling a little better now that she was armed, Lanie followed the cat to a tall box that felt cool to the touch. She was trying to figure out how to open it when Bob did a double paw slap at t
he side.

  Lanie’s eyes grew wide when a swirling mass of cold air fanned out of the container, and Bob disappeared inside. Moving closer to protect the cat if necessary, the freezing fog dissipated, and Lanie stared at the liquid and packaged contents inside.

  “None of this looks like our kind of food and water, Bob,” Lanie whispered, shaking her head at the strange contents.

  Instead of moving away and onto something else, Bob batted at a bottle of red liquid until it crashed to the floor, spilling its contents. Lanie jerked back just in time to avoid being splashed with the stuff and was too far away to stop Bob from licking it up.

  “Bob, no!” Lanie tried to shoo the cat away from the stuff, but he squatted down and continued to lap it up.

  Lanie watched the cat for several minutes until he finished licking up the red fluid from the floor. Thirsty and hungry, Lanie knew she’d have to do something soon and waited to see if Bob had any ill effects from the strange substance.

  The cat licked his chops for a moment before moving back inside the container. It wasn’t long before Bob had pushed out several packages and batted another bottle of red liquid.

  Figuring she could try the stuff and maybe survive long enough to fight until the death, Lanie grabbed a bottle. Bob stopped pushing at the packages on the floor and stared at Lanie to encourage her to drink the stuff.

  With nothing really to lose, Lanie closed her eyes and poured some of it into her mouth. Part of her fought against swallowing the strange fluid, and Lanie ended up sputtering before choking it down.

  Scrunching her face, Lanie was surprised at the burn before the liquid sent a warm rush coursing through her. She was trying to figure out if she liked it or not when Bob tore open a package, and crumbs went all over the floor. The crumbles resembled a cookie or dry bread before Bob vacuumed them up.

  The cat pushed a similar looking package closer to Lanie before using his claws to tear at his own. When Bob had made more crumbles, he devoured them. Lanie knew what he was telling her, the food was safe to eat, but she was still trying to figure out the strange fluid.