Hope (Other World Protection Agency Book 1) (14 page)

       
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Tara watched as she pushed her too
big sunglasses back up her nose to hide her flashing eyes.

“Why would we need a military?”
She was trying for nonchalance, but fell short of pulling it off.

“A military would help you to
take your planet back.”

“Tell that to all the men and
women who are dead. They may disagree with you.”

“Point noted. No matter what you
think, the Demos will eventually find you down here. When they do, if you’re
not ready to fight, they will destroy you. Children and all.” Tara pushed the
point home using it like a sword to find her weak spot.

“I have been wondering why you
and your friend were stumbling around my neck of the woods instead of finding
your way to the only open gateway in this vicinity.” Tara smiled hearing the
anger in Ariel’s voice.

“We were looking for you. Thank
you for finding us. That made it so much easier.” Now they were getting
someplace. Hopefully the anger Ariel was feeling wouldn’t make her refuse their
help.

“Why?”

“If I knew the answer to that, we
would have left already. Why didn’t you kill us?” She wasn’t buying the whole you
were nice to me as a child story.

“You died to protect this. The
underground city. Not just this one, but all of them. In the process of your
dying, you saved my cousins lives. Told them they had been born for such a time
as this. Because they lived they saved my life. When they died they reminded me
that it had always been me. I just needed to wait until I saw hope one more
time. That would be you correct?”

Tara nodded, but said nothing. They
were now sitting down at a small food vendor. Paul had ordered for them so she
took the time to eat and avoid answering out loud. Time was running out. She
needed to put all the pieces together.

She turned at the sound of
running feet. There stood a teen about fifteen. Her hair was matted to her head
in sweat. It was obvious she had just run full speed from somewhere and the
panicked look in her eyes meant it was not for fun.

She nodded respectfully to Ariel
and waited.

“Speak.”

“The Demos have found one of our
underground entrances. The one in town.”

Tara looked into Paul’s eyes and
nodded. This fight had to happen sooner or later and sooner seemed to be the
way things were going. The Demos who had found the entrance would have to be
dealt with. Killing was so not on her resume, but they had shown a complete
willingness to kill her. Or at least torture her. She sat still watching Ariel.
She had to be the one to make the decision for war.

“Seems I am to be infected by the
plague of hope you carry with you. Instead of calling for a retreat we will
defend our doorway.” Ariel stood with her two protectors and began to run down
the hill.

Although Tara had no sense of
direction underground she did know The Hill District. Down could only mean a
few things. They were headed to town, she was sure of it. They had already been
half way there. Ariel gave the signal to stop, leaving them roughly a half a
block away from the Demos if the sound of their voices could be trusted.

The area they were in was very
congested and looked like part of an old subway system. There were wide open
platforms and other sections that had been used for storage, out of the sight
of the pedestrians. They moved quietly, staying hidden in the area behind what
was once the tracks until they could see the Demos. They counted seven figures.

“Should we tell the commander we
found something?” The first voice hit Thea’s ears making her want to sigh. Here
we go again.

“Let’s see where it goes. If we
find something worth reporting we may end up receiving an award from Tayrel. If
on the other hand this leads nowhere.” The Demos shivered as the thought sunk
in.

The sound of that voice sent an
icy shiver down Theas back. It did not matter. She couldn’t catch a break. Motioning
to Paul they moved a little closer so they could get a better look.

“Are you sure you want to come to
the attention of Tayrel?” This came from a Demos with white hair. “I have heard
that is it is much better to stay unnoticed, no matter how glorious your news
is.”

“That is why so few of you
advance through the ranks. You are all too scared or hopeless to see that there
could be more for you.” He said this with a taunt as if it was an old argument
between them.

“Jonis, you will find that you
are headed towards an early grave.”

The white haired Demos gave the
word for them to move on and explore some more.

“You will not regret this.” Jonis
said with a smile as he headed out.

Their small group watched as the
Demos moved out exploring the space in front of them, going in the wrong
direction. At least moving away from the sub city of The Hill.

“What now?” One of the totally
silent protectors said.

Tara nearly jumped out of her
skin when she heard that deep bass voice. She had begun to think of them as mute,
but obviously at least one of them could speak.

Ariel Laughed. “They both speak
quite elegantly. They simply prefer to wait until we are alone before they
voice their concerns. The fact that they have chosen to speak in front of you
means they approve of you. That is a high honor coming from them.”

Tara smiled at both the
protectors noting how handsome they were. Then she waited for Ariel to answer
the question.

“We have to go after them. They
are in no danger of finding us, but they will find others who may not be
prepared for them.” With a sigh she took off after them.

They followed them staying far
enough behind not to be noticed, but see them. It soon became obvious that they
were going to have to engage in battle. They were not giving up and soon they
would find a sub city.

“Stop.”

This had come from the silver
haired leader. His command to stop had not only halted his army of five Demos
and two other aliens. It had also halted their party. They stood still blending
in with the shadows and barely breathing.

“Someone is following us.” They
all moved out and looked around finding no one.

“I don’t see anyone.” Jonis came
up talking in a hushed tone of voice. He sounded like a character in an old
movie humoring the Demos in front of him. He stood with one hand on his hip,
daring the leader of the Demos army to prove him wrong.

“It surprises me many times over
that you’re still alive.” The leader stated in a calm voice.

“That’s because I do not stop and
look for things that are not really there.” Jonis’s voice had risen louder with
each word.

 Ariel nodded. It was now or
never. They attacked with weapons that Ariel had been able to provide. Tara was
sure she had opened a doorway and simply grabbed them.

The Demos immediately met the
threat head on. The clanging of weapons could be heard as the fight raged on.
Jonis and his brother had not drawn weapons. They had turned tail and started
to run. The more Tara watched them trying to slither their way out, the more
she became convinced that the real threat was in those two. Breaking off she
followed them.

She didn’t know why, but after
all these years her senses were sharp and she knew enough to follow her
hunches. Silently she stalked them through the tunnel they were now running
down. Definitely a subway station she thought. They stopped waiting for her to
come into sight.

“Stop or we kill you. Better yet,
give up. You are alone and we are deadly enemies to have.” Janis said with a
cocky grin.

“I saw how deadly you were when
you turned tail and ran.” Tara taunted with a small laugh.

“A deadly enemy is one that lives
to fight again.” Jonis replied with that same grin that said I am in charge
now.

“Then your time of deadliness has
come to an end.”

“Listen brother, an Earthling
threatens us.” The other brother spoke. “Do you know who we are? We are the brother’s
Dacian. Apart we are dangerous. Together we are unstoppable.”

“Do you know who I am?” She came
out of the shadows and heard them gasp as they finally saw her. “I am Taraja. The
very name means hope. I am more than just hope. I am the hope of multiple
timelines. I am the thing that makes the Demos shake. Within me lays not only
the future of my world, but the future of the galaxy. Boys, you do not scare
me.” She would examine all that had just poured out her mouth later. But right
now she had a battle to fight.

The short one ran to her with a
battle cry, blocking her sword thrust and knocking her down with a jab to the
stomach.

“You are the mighty hope of multiple
timelines? They should shake in fear.” Jonis mocked her as he got in a blow,
once again toppling her after she had just risen.

“Brother, do we bring her in dead
or alive?” This had come from the smaller one.

Taking one last look at the sword
she dropped it. It wasn’t helping her at all. She sure could use that Saturday
surprise right about now.

“Ready to give up?” Jonis looked
pointedly at her dropped sword and then back at her.

“Sure boys. Why don’t you come
and collect little ole me?” She gave them her most innocent smiled and sent out
a mental ‘help me’ plea, followed by a prayer because you never knew who was
listening.

They approached her cautiously.
As they got closer, she could almost feel the confidence radiating off of them.
They had her now and they knew it. Jonis raised his sword in case she tried to
give them trouble. His brother reached for her.

She raised her hand knocking the
brother’s hands away at the same time sending a searing heat down the sword
Jonis held. He cried out in a high pitched voice and dropped the melting sword.

“That’s better. Now what were you
saying Jonis?”

They stood watching her,
wondering what to do. Finally Jonis reached in a pocket for his communication
device. It promptly melted.

“Now that’s not fair. Two against
one seems rather one sided to me, so we wouldn’t want to add company.”

She watched as their eyes met.
They were communicating and planning.

“Boys, I really don’t want anyone
to get hurt.”

“I do.” This came from Jonis. “I
was going to take you in alive, but not now. Now I want you dead. Why don’t you
be a good little human and die.”

They rushed her with a deadly look
in their eyes. The way they moved showed they were in sync with each other. They
had obviously spent their lives together. She didn’t give herself a chance to think.
She simply acted. Her body knew the moves. She had been doing them for years,
defending herself against Raimel. The fights with him had been child’s play compared
to what she was up against now. She ducked down, swung a leg out for a kick and
set herself up for another move.

For the first time ever in her
life she felt deadly. That feeling of being deadly might not have bothered her,
if it had ended there. She found that she could see the moves they telegraphed
just before they swung or kicked and she was able to counter them. She had let
several openings pass even though she could have ended the fight. She finally
admitted the truth. While she was fighting for her life she was also playing
with the brothers. Allowing them to think they would win. Maybe she wasn’t the
nice little girl she pretended to be.

Tiring, she brought the fight to
an end. She jumped up on Jonis and with someone else’s strength, she broke his
neck. Then she turned to face his brother who was looking at Jonis in
disbelief.

“You killed him.” The incredible
look on his face was like he was waiting for it to be a joke.

“I’m sorry. We can stop this
right now.”

“Sorry? You’re sorry? You killed
my little brother and all you can say is sorry?” A look of absolute rage came
over his face and he attacked.

He was good, Tara admitted in
fact he was much better than her. He moved with cold precision, but his rage
was boiling over. He was having a hard time containing it. It was the only
thing that might allow her to win the fight. She waited until his rage broke
through. Then she planted her foot against his windpipe just like Raimel had
done with her one day, almost killing her.

Tara stopped and looked at the
two dead brothers. How could she be hope? Did hope kill? She dropped to her
knees and silently let her tears of regret flow. She no longer felt deadly or
even in charge. The guilt of taking a life, even a life that would have taken
hers, weighed her down. The knowledge that this battle had only just begun sunk
into her, making her shoulders shake harder and her tears flow faster.

That was how Paul found her, on
her knees weeping silently. He pulled her up and just held her.

 She wanted him to love her. The
thought was so fleeting and so far away she just let it go. Forget him loving
her. Could he just be her friend? Could he understand why she had to kill them?
Was he capable of seeing her as a woman and not a killer? A taker of a life,
two lives actually. She buried her face deeper in his, just in case this was
the last time he held her.

“Hey, I see these two clumsy oafs
fell and broke their necks.” She came up ready to argue before she saw the
smile on his face.

“I told them to be careful, but
they must not have heard me.”

“Well you can tell me all about
it after we get home. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Paul took her hand and started
the walk back. The residents of this planet would have to clean up the bodies.
They walked in silence. It was nice. The walking hand in hand just like friends.

          “Where are the other
two?”

          “Back there. You will
need a cleanup crew.” He pointed behind them. “What happened with the Demos
here?”

          “Seems some of them
wanted to live and others had a death wish.” Ariel’s glasses were nowhere in
sight and her green eyes were practically glowing.

          “You let some get
away?” Tara spoke not liking the sound of that.

          “Maybe.”

          Both of Ariel’s
protectors glared at her. Tara had never seen anything like this. Maybe they were
more than protectors. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she looked back
at Ariel waiting for an answer.

          “We absorbed them.”

          “Excuse me?”

          “Not all Demos are bad
and on occasion we absorb a few into our society. Sometimes they go back and
work for us like a mole or a spy. Sometimes we send them off to live
elsewhere.”

          Tara nodded as if she
agreed with that decision. All Demos were bad, but they would learn that on
their own. “We need to leave. That came out harsh, but we need to get back to
our own timeline.”

          “I know. We are not far
away from the portal.” Ariel turned facing the direction of the portal.

          “I can feel it. Shall
we go?” Once again they followed Ariel as she moved off in the direction of the
portal.

          There was something
about her eyes was all she kept thinking. Tara knew she had better figure it
out now, because they were running out of time. She remembered her. In her
world she was different looking, but the eyes were a dead ringer. They had
captivated her the first time she had seem them. They spoke to her. Made her
want to take action. She had wanted to do something with those eyes, but the
overwhelming sense of not yet had stopped her younger impulsive self. Now was
the time. She was sure.