Cindrac Read online

  Lanie looked at the glass-like container trying to decipher the alien language on the outside of the bottle. She knew it was hopeless but was curious to learn more about the stuff. Her mind was clearing by the second, and with the strange warmth spreading through her, Lanie’s hopes and confidence were rising.

  “Whatever this is, it’s good shit.” Lanie raised the bottle to Bob before taking another swig of it.

  The strange warmth spread throughout Lanie, and she swore it was opening up her mind and causing an odd calmness to consume her. Lanie reached out and grabbed what was left of Bob’s package of food and got rid of the rest of the plastic-like wrap.

  Breaking up the dense but moist bread-like food, Lanie piled it onto the floor for Bob before grabbing a package for herself. Exhaling a calm sigh, Lanie bit off the corner and chewed quickly. She was more than a little surprised that it tasted amazing.

  The texture was like a cake brownie, but the taste was more like a smooth fruity mousse. It wasn’t long before Lanie and Bob both polished off one of the packages and had split a second. When they finished eating, Lanie poured more of the red liquid in her hand for Bob, then drank some herself.

  Feeling much better and more hopeful than she had since this all began, Lanie smiled at Bob. “Now, we just need a safe place to sleep and hide until we figure out what to do.”

  Bob started to leave, and Lanie quickly stood. “Wait!”

  Lanie untied the blanket from around her waist and laid it on the floor. The cat watched with a strange smile on his face as she filled the blanket with packages of food and liquids from the container. She’d just grabbed a clear bottle when Bob made a hacking sound, and Lanie put it back.

  Thinking they had enough for a few days, Lanie cleaned up their mess and closed the container. Slinging the blanket of food over her shoulder, Lanie made a mental note of the box's location before following the cat through the maze of cargo in the room.

  An hour later, Lanie and Bob cuddled up on a pile of the softest and warmest furs she’d ever felt. She had no idea what kind of animal they came from, but they were large enough to make a bed for her and the cat.

  Bob had found the container full of furs in a dark corner of the cargo bay, and Lanie had quickly turned it into a fortress that included traps on the floor to let them know if someone was coming close to their hideout.

  Lanie stored the food and drinks in a back corner of the container, and after searching dozens of boxes, had gotten more weapons and added them as well. She’d also cleaned things up and put everything back the way it was so it wouldn’t be noticeable they’d been in the cargo bay.

  Lanie was grateful that she’d taken the extra measures when an alarm began to blare throughout the ship and a blue strobe light started flashing at what she believed were exits in the room. Scooting further away from the door of the container, Lanie looked through the dim light at Bob.

  “Thank you, Warrior cat, for giving me the chance to die on my feet.” Lanie felt no fear, only chillingly calm resolve. “At least I’ll be free when I do. If they find us, you run and hide. You’re smart enough to make it wherever they end up landing this thing.”

  Lanie couldn’t help but smile when Bob curled up in her lap and rolled onto his back. Rubbing the soft fur of his belly while she listened for any sound coming from the cargo bay helped keep Lanie from panicking. Until the moment one of her traps close by jingled a warning.

  Moving silently across the soft furs, Lanie darted out of the container and towards the trap that alarmed, pulling a weapon as she went. Bob followed her but quickly ran off, and Lanie prayed he went to hide as she asked.

  The soft sound of feet running towards her made Lanie duck behind a container and tightly grip the weapons she held in each hand. Hoping like hell they would work, Lanie came around the corner of her hiding place, aimed, and pressed the triggers.

  Lanie stood there, eyes wide as she looked at the splatter of flesh and green blood where the alien had once stood. Before she could grasp what happened, three more small grey aliens tried to rush her, and Lanie aimed before firing rapidly at the incoming threat.

  The other feet Lanie could hear approaching only moments ago had started to become more distant as the aliens retreated from her deadly aim. Lanie grinned at her small win and sent up a prayer of thanks for the six months of training she’d received when hiding out with a small backwoods militia.

  Lanie wasn’t stupid. She knew that all of this effort would be for nothing because, at some point, they’d either kill or overwhelm her. Like she’d told Bob, at least Lanie would die on her feet and not on an experimentation table, and that was a good enough win for her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Cindrac was pacing the aisle of the ship when Linq and Tanq got clearance to land. It took another ten minutes before they docked, and the bay door was opening. Cin was the first to jump out, and the elves followed with Gabe, Linq, and Tanq hot on their heels.

  Dar was striding across the docking bay towards them when he saw who was with Cindrac and stumbled. Catching himself, Dar continued until he met the group halfway. He was speechless and just stared at the elemental beings and the Madean.

  “Are we ready to leave?” Cin asked, bringing Dar out of his thoughts.

  “Yeah, what’s the plan?” Dar was still reeling from the sight of the beings in front of him.

  If the docking bay crews were any indication, Dar wasn’t the only one who’d never seen more than one or two elemental beings in their lifetime. To see seven, Cindrac, and the Gunnery Sergeant was a once in a lifetime event.

  “Let’s go,” Cin suggested. “I’ll explain on the way.”

  Dar led them to a battered-looking old transport ship on the other side of the docking bay, and Cin nodded in appreciation. The age and superficial damage to the vessel made it look more like something in use by the Consortium.

  Once inside, Dar went into the cockpit and gave the launch order before striding back to where Cin was pacing the aisle.

  “OK, we’re on the way,” Dar assured them. “What’s the plan?”

  “When we get to the outer edges of Consortium held space, I’m going to port us right outside the experimentation building. I’ll bring us back to this ship once we have Lanie,” Cin explained. “You’re going to have to get us out of the quadrant pretty quick.”

  Dar chuckled and patted the ceiling. “This thing only looks rough. The engine is top of the line. Where do I fit into this?”

  “You’re getting us out of there,” Cin reiterated. “I can’t change your appearance enough to keep you from standing out on the moon.”

  “I can,” Adamo offered with a shrug.

  Cin was getting ready to argue why Dar should stay on the ship when the giant walked over to the Elven Prince and bowed in respect.

  “I would appreciate that, Your Majesty,” Dar said.

  Adamo stood and faced the giant, eying Dar critically before placing his hands on Dar’s large forearms. The lyrical words spoken by the Prince were beautiful but undecipherable by any translator.

  Moments later, Dar was looking down at small arms covered in a scruffy-looking coat, and he was staring eye to eye with Adamo. Dar couldn’t help but chuckle at the change in himself as the Prince smiled and sat back down.

  “The glamour will only last six to eight hours before I must refresh the spell,” the elven Prince warned.

  “We should be out of there long before then,” Cin assured the group.

  If it took longer than that, the odds of Lanie still being alive when they found her would be slim to none and Cindrac refused to let that happen. Recalculating their arrival and his portal coordinates, Cin continued pacing the aisle until the pilot stated they’d reached the line of safety. They couldn’t go any further into the quadrant without alerting the Moon that they were there.

  Everyone stood and faced Cin. “Follow the plan. Remain cloaked until it’s safe to materialize.”

  When everyone nodded, Cin mad
e the portal in the air and jumped through. He’d expected it to be loud and chaotic but what he was hearing was unusual even for the lawless moon. Since the coast was clear, Cin had his nanites change his attire to something more suitable to where they were.

  The nanites had just finished when Gabriel came through, followed by Dar, then everyone else. All but Dar changed their appearance to mimic Cin’s and waited until he moved out of the alley before following.

  Swarms of laughing and grinning people headed towards the spaceport, and Cin’s group wondered what was going on when a huge man stumbled past them. Nearly falling, he grabbed hold of Gabriel to steady himself.

  “Sorry, brother!” the man grinned drunkenly. “I don’t want to miss this! We’ve never had a live one like this before!”

  “Like what?” Gabriel asked calmly, refusing to let go of the man.

  “One of the experiments got loose, and she’s killed nearly all the Mulvors!” the man laughed. “They’re trying to figure out how to get on the ship without the crazy bitch killing everyone or damaging the cargo.”

  Gabriel chuckled and pushed the man into a group of others who shoved him further into the crowd. He followed Cin and the others back into the alley so they could regroup. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the experiment gone wild was the Lanie that Cin was looking to find.

  The blood that drained from Cin’s face when the man first spoke had told the entire group that their somewhat simple mission had quickly devolved into a nightmare for all of them. Mostly for Lanie if they couldn’t get to her soon.

  “Can you get us to their spaceport?” Adamo asked calmly as if the man were in the middle of an enemy moon regularly.

  Cin was already pulling up the plans in his mind. The moment he found an area they could appear without being noticed, Cin created another portal. Jumping through first, he made sure it was safe for everyone else to come next.

  While his team came through the disc, Cin listened to the commotion outside the mechanical room. From the sounds of it, Lanie was doing a hell of a job holding off anyone who tried to enter the cargo bay of the Mulvor ship.

  Right now, the mostly drunk or high crowd was having fun at the expense of those trying to get on the ship. Cin knew, at some point, the humor would fade, and Lanie would be in terrible danger.

  “Does it surprise anyone that Cin’s lady is such a badass she took out a Mulvor ship and is holding off the mob on Raider’s Moon?” Tanq laughed.

  Cin blushed when everyone seemed to agree that Lanie must be perfect for him. He had to admit that he was damn proud of her courage in the face of what happened to her. It was while he was scanning the area, trying to contact the nanites he’d left inside Lanie, that Cin was shocked.

  “Oh, fuck! Bob’s here too!” Cin announced, a little shaken by the news.

  “What’s a Bob?” Osin asked with a curious tilt of his head.

  “It’s my damn cat!” Cin growled, thrilled that Lanie and Bob had one another but pretty pissed off over their situation.

  “Now probably isn’t a good time to make a joke about you having lost all your pussy, huh?” Tanq looked around at the others, who were all glaring at him. Linq punched him in the arm.

  Gabe snorted to cover his chuckle and turned to Cin with a straight face. “How about we pretend to be raiders and volunteer to go in next? Surely, you can find a way to keep your cat and your woman from killing us once we get in.”

  “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m just going to use my glamour and walk right in. I’m not asking anyone for shit.” Niama walked to the door, threw it open, and was invisible before it shut behind her. The elves, Cin, and everyone else followed quickly.

  It was apparent that walking right in would be a stretch when the door, to the docking bay of the Mulvor ship, was lined with Consortium raiders.

  They didn’t need to look far for Niama when they saw several raiders being violently shoved into one another, causing fights to break out among the multitude of people blocking the entrance to the Mulvor ship.

  Cin moved with Dar to keep the man safe before launching them over the heads of a few raiders and landing just inside the ship. Dar stifled a chuckle at the fight that was breaking out between the man he’d accidentally kicked in the head and the guy beside him.

  With no weapons fire to direct them, Cin followed the nanite signal in Lanie to find her. He was shocked to see the arsenal of weapons surrounding her behind a hastily erected barricade.

  “Lanie, don’t panic, it’s Cin,” Cin whispered.

  Unfortunately, he scared the hell out of her, and Lanie let off a couple of bursts of fire before someone grabbed her arms behind her back. Lanie began to fight and scream when Cin allowed his nanites to turn him visible.

  Lanie stopped struggling and watched with wide eyes as Bob ran across the floor and jumped into Cin’s arms, rubbing himself all over the man in excitement.

  “Will you be calm, Lady Lanie?” a sweet, lyrical voice whispered in her ear.

  Lanie nodded her head, and the moment they let her go, she turned and sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of the stunning elven woman smiling at her.

  “I’m Niama. We came to help Cindrac rescue you, but you seem to be doing quite splendidly on your own.” Niama’s tinkling laughter made Lanie smile.

  “I’ve lost my mind, haven’t I?” Lanie laughed nervously. “First, the cat, now elves, and Cindrac?”

  Cin moved over to Lanie and pulled her in for a hug. “No, baby, we’re really here. But we have to get out of this place.”

  Lanie was just starting to believe she’d get out of there alive when she saw a man peeking out from behind a container. He was aiming at Cindrac’s back when Lanie pushed Cin away with all her might and fired her weapon.

  There was a deafening sound of weapon’s fire before Cin yanked Lanie behind her makeshift fort. He was patting her down and searching for injuries while the elves and other warriors held back the sudden wave of Consortium Raiders attacking them.

  The raider’s amusement ended when Lanie’s death count had increased, and they were now conducting a full out assault on the cargo bay. Looking around at his scattered warriors, Cin knew they’d have to fight to get out.

  “Get Lanie out of here!” Adamo called out as he fired arrows, one after another with deadly precision.

  “We’ll provide cover!” Gabriel shouted before covering himself with his nanite armor and rushing towards a group of raiders with weapons blazing.

  Lanie took a massive swig of the red liquid drink and smiled at Cin. “I’m starting to like this dream now!”

  Cin watched in horror as Lanie ran out from behind the container and moved towards the cargo bay doors, firing both weapons.

  “What the fuck?” Dar looked at the bottle Lanie dropped in stunned horror. “She’s been drinking sand dragon blood?”

  The elves and elemental brothers laughed at the news while Cin ran up to where Lanie was firing beside Gabriel. Dar recovered from his shock quickly and joined them. Everyone figured if they made enough of a dent in the raider numbers, there would be a lull in fighting that would allow them to escape through a portal.

  Thirty minutes later, the stack of raider bodies in the doorway had become a barrier of sorts that the bastards were using to hide behind while firing on Cin and his team. At this point, Cin knew they needed to get out before the Consortium blew up the ship to end the siege. He was surprised that the raiders hadn’t done it already.

  Sending out his nanites into the ship, Cin seized control from the cockpit's remaining Mulvor. He was closing the cargo bay door as he launched them out of the spaceport. Holding tightly to Lanie to keep her from falling, Cin forced the ship out of the moon’s orbit.

  Several raiders that had made their way inside the cargo bay before the door closed were quickly dispatched, and the room searched. Knowing they didn’t have much time before the raiders pursued them, Cin threw up a portal.

  “We need to go before they
blow this thing,” Cin warned.

  Unwilling to let her run away again, Cin picked up Lanie, called Bob to him, and jumped through the portal. In less than a minute, everyone was safe on Dar’s ship and checking one another for injuries while Bob wandered around his new accommodations.

  “What was that shimmering thing?” Lanie breathed out as she looked around the comfortable looking ship. “Where are we now?”

  “We’re on my ship,” Dar said as he headed into the cockpit to speak to the pilot. “Get us out of here quick.”

  Cin wasted no time using the nanites he’d left in Lanie to disable the chip put inside of her by Jason McMaster. Without that, the Consortium would never be able to find and abduct her again.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, Cin gently pushed Lanie into a seat and ran a scan to check her vital signs. He was a little surprised when Dar came back and sat in front of them with an intense look on his face.

  “Lanie, I’m Major Dar Vacanow of the League of Aligned Worlds.” Dar saw that his words meant nothing to the poor little human, who was clearly in shock and lucky to be alive and unharmed.

  Ignoring Cin’s puzzled look, Dar continued. “Lanie, that red liquid you were drinking is called sand dragon blood.”

  “Am I going to die?” Lanie wouldn’t be surprised. That was her kind of luck, even for a dream. “Bob drank it too.”

  Dar tried to control his surprise and anger and forced a smile for the warrior female.

  “No, Lanie, you’re not going to die. In fact, you,” Dar grimaced at Cin’s cat, “and Bob was gifted by the sand dragons as a warrior of worth.”

  Gabe whistled. “Damn, I feel a little less special knowing the stuff gifted a damn housecat.”

  Bob hissed at the Gunney, and Cin was trying to figure out where Dar was going with all this. Cindrac was familiar with sand dragon blood, had received its warrior gift himself, and didn’t see why Dar was making a big deal about it.