The Alliance Boxset Books 4-6

Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Sula shook her head and groaned. Closing her eyes, she drew in a series of deep, calming breaths before she opened her eyes and gazed out of the window. She was having trouble focusing on the report in front of her. All she could think about was Destin.

“Open file Earth - 21589,” Sula requested, rising to step closer to the window so she could look down over the city.

“Authorization,” the computer responded.

“JSula voice authorization,” she replied.

“Authorization for JSula granted. File Earth - 21589 accessed,” the computer responded.

“List contacts of Badrick on Earth,” Sula requested.

“Documented contacts include the following individuals: Destin Parks – adversary. Recorded encounter available; Colbert Allen – allied. Recorded encounter available….” the computer began listing in a soft, feminine voice.

“Display recorded encounter with Destin Parks,” Sula murmured, turning to look down at the tablet she had placed on the long table in front of the couch.

The holographic image of a dimly lit room appeared. The image wavered slightly. Badrick must have been wearing it on his outer clothing. Sula had recently discovered a cache of the vidcoms hidden among the files Badrick had uploaded to a personal account file on Usoleum.

She wasn’t quite sure why he had decided to keep a record of his encounters. The only thing she could deduce was he’d wanted to use them for blackmail, or perhaps as protection. She had finally broken through the encrypted passwords he used, which had been a very delicate process because many were programed to auto-erase if too many unsuccessful attempts were made. As it was, Sula had lost close to a dozen of the files before she discovered a backdoor.

Her breath caught when Badrick walked down a long hallway. People lined the wide corridor. There were women with small children, more men and women cleaning weapons or working a variety of projects, and still others with bandages or sleeping on pallets on the floor. Each one stopped and stared at Badrick, their eyes filled with fear and distrust. There were a few times when Badrick paused and turned to face a human. Sula quickly discovered he only did it when he passed certain young females.

Sula’s heart broke at the exhaustion on some of the their faces. Badrick turned back to face the long stretch of hallway. Her eyes widened when she saw Kali walking down the hall with long, confident strides. This was a woman far different from the one she met at the wedding. Kali was dressed all in black, her hair was short and she had a weapon strapped to each thigh. Her face was a cool, expressionless mask.

“What is your purpose here, alien?” Kali demanded, stopping in front of Badrick.

Sula could almost feel Badrick’s gaze moving over Kali. She could see a faint flicker of disgust in Kali’s eyes before it disappeared. Sula lifted her arms and rubbed her hands up and down them when a shiver ran through her body. Kali’s hands now rested on the weapons at her side.

“I came to speak with the – leader – Destin Parks,” Badrick stated with a sniff of disdain.

“What is your business with him?” Kali asked, not moving out of his way.

“Maybe he wants to surrender, Kali,” a man standing behind Kali muttered.

“Hardly,” Badrick replied. “I came to negotiate assistance in the fight over this region.”

“What kind of assistance?” Kali demanded, her gaze narrowing on Badrick’s face.

“In defeating Colbert Allen,” Badrick responded. “I believe that is what this human rebel wishes to accomplish.”

Sula watched Kali’s face tighten when Badrick mentioned Allen’s name. She made a mental note to research everything she could about the human male. The two men standing behind Kali stepped forward in unison.

“You will wait here,” Kali ordered. “If Destin agrees to see you, your guards will not be allowed to enter the room.”

“I do not take orders from a female,” Badrick retorted.

Kali took a step closer to Badrick. Sula drew in a deep breath when she saw the intense expression in Kali’s eyes. Her hand moved to her throat and she waited for Kali’s reply.

“You do while you are here or you and your guards are dead,” Kali stated.

The image moved around the corridor when Badrick turned to glance around him. The two guards he brought with him were standing frozen behind him, guns pressed against their temples. Sula counted at least a dozen or more weapons aimed at the former Usoleum Councilor. Swallowing, she waited for Badrick’s response.

“My guards will remain here. I will let Parks decide if you remain in the room,” Badrick replied.

Kali stepped back several steps before she turned on her heel and strode down the hallway. Sula waited in tense silence, fascinated by the scene in front of her. The corridor that had been teaming with activity minutes earlier was now absent of anyone not pointing a weapon at their alien visitors. Sula could hear Badrick’s heavy breathing.

Sula frowned when a man came down the corridor instead of Kali. The man stopped in front of Badrick, looked him up and down, then motioned for Badrick to follow him. Everywhere Sula saw a face, she saw the same look of hatred and distrust. She had never been on a newly acquired world before, so this was a new experience for her.

“Badrick,” a deep voice greeted.

A wave of recognition swept through Sula and she crossed over to sit on the couch. Her gaze was glued to Destin’s face. Reaching out, her fingers paused just a breath away from his image. She ached to touch his face.

“I am pleased that you ordered the female to allow us to speak in private,” Badrick murmured in approval.

“What do you want, alien?” Destin demanded, keeping the desk between him and Badrick.

Sula could just imagine Badrick’s expression, or at least the one he would like to give Destin. She had faced Destin when she first arrived and remembered how terrified she had been at the icy hardness in his eyes and voice. Yet, even then she’d been attracted to him, which caused a great deal of confused and conflicted thoughts long after they parted.

“I have a… what is the word you humans use… a proposition for you,” Badrick replied with a wave of his hand. Sula noticed a glimmer when he did it and paused the vidcom for a moment.

“Enlarge area around the hand,” she ordered, waiting. “Enlarge. Capture image and run analysis with detailed graphics. Return to normal and continue playing.”

“What kind of proposition?” Destin asked.

“If the fighting does not cease between you and the other human, I will not be able to protect this area any longer. The Trivators have already expressed a desire to end all conflict so rebuilding can occur. Their Chancellor, a Trivator named Razor, is already on his way,” Badrick said in a calm, almost bored tone.

Sula caught a glimpse of Badrick’s finger running along the edge of the desk in the vidcom. He turned his hand over and she saw the line of dust along the tip before he wiped his finger clean and his hand disappeared from view again. Her gaze returned to Destin’s face.

“If he comes, we’ll deal with him just like we have every other alien that has set foot on this side of Chicago,” Destin replied in a clipped tone.

“I find you humans rather amusing. You say such things without realizing how… inadequate you really are against the powers of the Trivators,” Badrick replied with a loud sigh.

“What’s your point, alien?” Destin demanded, crossing his arms.

“Razor is the last resort. He will destroy the city, leaving nothing. The Destroyers will flatten it, scanning for any life form and eliminating it without mercy. The Trivator will annihilate all life-forms from this city – but, there is a way to prevent that,” Badrick stated.

Sula’s fists clenched at the smug tone in Badrick’s voice. Oh, how she wanted to put her fist through his face. It was a good thing he was dead or she would’ve killed him.

“And this is where you tell me what your ‘proposition’ is, I take it,” Destin remarked, dropping his arms to grip the back of the chair.

“Yes,” Badrick replied. “I propose supplying you and your followers with alien weaponry and support. If you were to defeat Colbert Allen and regain control of the southern half of Chicago, I could convince Razor to ignore this… region. You would deal directly with me.”

“And, what do you want in exchange for supplying us with this support?” Destin asked in a voice that chilled Sula’s blood.

“Don’t,” she whispered, already knowing what Badrick was going to say. She shook her head. “Don’t, Badrick.”

“Human females – within a specific age range and healthy, of course. Those that are not within this range would be of little use to me. Females like the one that greeted me would be sufficient. Though, that specific female would need to be retrained,” Badrick said.

“Why?” Destin asked, staring at Badrick through narrowed eyes.

“The universe is about credits, Mr. Parks. Healthy human females would bring a large number of credits. Your world has a plentiful supply of them and this….” Once again, Badrick’s hand waved into view. “Their lives would be no worse off than what they have here. There is a shortage of females in space. Business is about supply and demand. You supply me with what I need and in return, I give you Chicago. As I stated, I would start by taking a retainer of the dark-haired female that greeted me. In return, I’ll have a shipment of weapons delivered to you by tonight.”

Destin slowly walked around the desk. Pride flooded Sula when she saw Badrick take several steps back at Destin’s approach. Unconsciously, she rubbed her left fist with her right hand.

“If you so much as set one foot back on the north side of Chicago, I will slit your throat. Every man, woman, and child are under my protection. In fact, if I find out you’ve touched one hair on the head of any human woman; I will hunt your ass down and stake it to the tallest building still standing and leave it to rot. Tim! Jason!”

“Yes, Destin,” Tim said, appearing immediately in the doorway.

“Toss this piece of alien trash and his comrades over the wall and make sure none of them come back. If he tries anything, kill him. If he even looks at a woman, kill him. Do you understand?” Destin ordered.

“Oh, I understand, alright,” Tim replied in a grim tone.

“You have made a vital mistake, Mr. Parks,” Badrick hissed out, stumbling when Tim grabbed his arm and he jerked it free. “Chancellor Razor will level this city and everyone will die anyway.”

“Get him out of here,” Destin ordered again with a jerk of his head.

Sula watched as Badrick and his guards were roughly escorted away from the building. Whatever had happened after they stepped outside was lost when he cut the recording. She sat back, her stomach churning with nausea.

The thought of what must have happened to the women that Colbert sold to Badrick was too much for her. Rising off the couch, Sula hurried to the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before she threw up. Her legs shook and she sank down to the cool tile, her hand braced on it to keep from falling over. She groaned softly, gave up, and slid down until her forehead rested against the cool tile.

“Eighteen…,” she whispered, blinking back the tears in her eyes. “Eighteen females are still missing.”

Sula closed her eyes. Her mind swirled, replaying the vidcom over and over. There was something bugging her, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Rolling onto her back, she pressed the palm of her right hand against her forehead.

“What am I missing?” she whispered, thinking about each part until her eyes snapped open. “The ring… I have to locate the ring!”

Sitting up, Sula grabbed the edge of the counter and pulled herself up. She quickly rinsed her mouth and cleaned her teeth. A shudder went through her when she saw that she was so pale, she looked almost as white as her hair. Wrinkling her nose, she shook her head and reached for the towel hanging on the bar next to the sink. She wiped her hands and mouth before pushing back her hair. Her color was slowly coming back.

“You have to pull yourself together, Sula,” she firmly told her reflection. “You are Princess Jersula Ikera of Usoleum. You have a duty and a responsibility to your people and to the women who were under the protection of the Usoleum government to find and return those women to their world. You will not fail!”

Nodding her head, she gave herself one last, quick assessment. Good enough, she thought. She did not have time to be ill. Over the next few days if she felt ill again she would take a transport over to the medical unit on the Trivator’s base and have the healer give her a booster to help prevent her from catching another horrible virus. Until then, she would have to be careful.

“Now, to see if the ring is what I think it is,” Sula whispered, replacing the towel and walking back to the living room.

Within minutes, she was gazing at the three-dimensional image the computer recreated. She scanned all the documentation pertaining to Badrick’s remains. No ring was mentioned in the inventory of his personal belongs. She opened an image of his body laid out on a long metal table, and turned it, trying to focus on his hands, not the puncture wounds that riddled his body. She had to close her eyes and focus on her breathing to keep the nausea from overwhelming her again before she could continue. Opening her eyes, she carefully examined his hands. They were bare.

She finally closed all the files, accessed the communications array set up around the planet, and sent a message to her brother. It would take hours, if not days for him to receive it, but she wanted him – and her parents – to know that she was making progress.

Once she was finished, she quickly returned to the bathroom to refresh herself before gathering her tablet and her baton. She needed to find Destin and inform him of what she suspected. It was imperative that she return to the quarters that were assigned to her at the former US Army National Guard building – the quarters that once belonged to Badrick.