Star's Storm: Lords of Kassis Book 2 (10 page)

“IF someone could squeeze through the narrow
tube AND cross the wire without triggering the alarms, then yes, I
guess it is possible to bring the system down long enough to get
additional support inside,” Armet said reluctantly as he looked
with growing unease at Star who was smiling.

“Then, we know how we will get in. Dakar, I
will need you and Armet. Jazin is hurt and I’m not big enough or
strong enough to carry him out. You know the inside of the prison,
Dakar. You will know where they are likely to be keeping him.
Madas, you will have to pilot the star ship,” Star said looking
excitedly from one frowning face to another to the last which had a
grin on it.

“No, little warrior. I will go with Dakar.
Armet is the better pilot. Once their defenses are down and we have
Lord Jazin, we will have to be able to leave quickly. The star ship
is capable of landing in this area,” Madas said pointing to a
larger area used for training exercises. “I am a fair pilot but we
need an excellent pilot who can come in fast and leave just as
quickly.”

Star looked at Madas for a moment before
looking at Armet’s tight face of disapproval. “She’s right. She is
strong enough to help carry Jazin.”

“No,” Armet said harshly looking at the
little human female in frustration even though he knew she was
right. “I promised I would keep you safe.”

“And you will,” Star interrupted, leaning
forward to place her hand on top of his. “By getting us out of
there safely. I can do this. You’ve been working with me and I have
a few tricks up my sleeve. Please, Armet,” she whispered looking
into his eyes with determination. “I can’t lose him. I love him and
I can’t lose him, not again.”

The muscle ticked in Armet’s jaw as he
stared into Star’s bright, light blue ones. His eyes moved to Dakar
who was sitting back with a grim expression on his face as well.
Their eyes collided with the unspoken message that neither liked
the plan but they both accepted it was the only way. His eyes
finally traveled to the huge female Tearnat who was sitting back
with a smug look on her face and a twinkle in her eye. If he didn’t
know better, he would swear she knew something that neither he nor
Dakar were aware of and that just made the muscle tick faster.

“I want to go over some strategies with you
before we drop your ass off,” Armet said in a low, gruff voice.
“You better not get yourself captured or killed. I swear, if
anything happens to you I will personally take that damn place
apart stone by stone. You are just too damn small and delicate to
be doing this,” he added under his breath.

Star squeezed the hand she was still
holding. “I may be small and I may not be as strong as a Tearnat
female, or even a Kassisan one, but I have a strength built on love
and determination to bring my mate home. I won’t fail and I won’t
die. I have too much to live for,” she declared in a quiet,
passionate voice. “Believe in me.”

“I do,” Madas said reaching out and laying
her slender, green hand on top of Star and Armet's hands.

“Oh Gods,” Dakar muttered in a dark voice
before laying his hand on top of Madas’ hand. “I do too. It is so
crazy it just might work,” he said with a disbelieving chuckle as
he watched the image of the fortress circle slowly in the center of
the table.

Star and Madas giggled like a couple of high
school girls at a classic car show with their boyfriends as they
listened to Dakar and Armet oohing and awing about all the
modifications to the star ship. One of the defense system upgrades
to it was the ability to deflect any type of radar from detecting
it. The second upgrade was the new engine design. Jazin was able to
develop an engine that was not only more powerful but also did not
release a heat signature. This made it virtually impossible to
detect and track. The last upgrade was the most important as it
would give them the advantage they would need when Armet came in
hot and fast – it had a cloaking device.

“Guys aren’t much different when it comes to
their toys,” Star said as she watched the two men talking excitedly
as they discovered another feature they had missed earlier when
they were exploring.

“Gril is the same,” Madas replied with a
shake of her head. “He understands the things he can touch, not the
things he cannot,” she added softly. “I miss him. I am not used to
being away from him for this long.”

Star reached over and touched her friend’s
hand. “Is he going to be upset with you?” She asked, biting her lip
in guilt.

Madas chuckled and looked at Star with a
mischievous look in her eyes. “I hope so. I like it when he is
upset.”

Star’s eyes widened at her friend’s innuendo
and she blushed, drawing another chuckle from Madas. “I never
thanked you for giving me hope,” Star murmured as tears formed in
her eyes.

If Madas hadn’t come to her, she would have
never known what had truly happened to Jazin. He would have been
left to die at the hands of Tai Tek and no one would have been any
of the wiser. He might still die but Star refused to believe that
she could come so close to finding him and he not survive. He had
to be alive. She touched her chest, feeling the steady beating of
her heart and drew strength from the thought that it still beat
because his did as well.

“It was the Gods who gave you the guidance
that you needed. I am merely their messenger. Plus, I was ready for
an adventure. It is not fair that Gril gets to have all the
excitement. It will do him well to remember that I am a warrior as
well. Your mate will learn that about you too, little warrior. You
were right when you said you might be smaller and more delicate but
you have a strength inside you that one does not often see, even in
the biggest, fiercest warrior. Your heart will guide you in your
journey,” Madas stated confidently. “I consider myself fortunate to
call you my friend and to stand beside you in battle.”

Star rose up out of her seat and flung her
arms around Madas’ neck, holding on tightly as she hugged her
friend. Madas was truly the first person, or species, besides
Walter that made Star feel like she was just as big and strong as
everyone else. She buried her face in Madas’ soft neck before
leaning back and giving her unusual friend a kiss on her silky
cheek.

“Thank you again,” Star whispered looking up
into Madas’ dark eyes. “I’m glad you are my friend.”

“It is my pleasure, little warrior, it is my
pleasure,” Madas replied, smoothing a strand of soft blond hair
back behind Star’s ear.

*.*.*

“Focus, Star,” Armet growled out as he and
Dakar circled her with a set of training laser swords. “If you are
found, you will more than likely have more than one warrior coming
at you. You need to know how to defend yourself.”

“Yes, but why do I have to only defend
myself this way?” Star asked in frustration as she shook off
another sting from where Armet’s sword had struck her shoulder.

“We are trying to teach you how to defend
yourself against one or more aggressors at the same time,” Dakar
bit out. “You would be dead half a dozen times by now,” he snarled.
He glanced at Armet in frustration. “There is no way we can let her
do this, Armet! She is going to get herself caught or killed.
Either way, she poses more of a danger to Jazin. If she is captured
they will use her to get whatever information they want out of him.
If she is dead, Jazin will soon follow.”

Star turned and attacked Dakar.
To hell
with them,
she thought savagely. She didn’t have time to learn
how to fight the way the warriors were trained to fight. They spent
years learning. She had a few days! Well, she would should them
some of the ways a circus performer learned. More than once, the
performers had been on the receiving end to a few rowdy townspeople
who thought it would be fun to pick on the ‘freaks’. Even Walter
knew a thing or two about how to fight. It wasn’t always fair and
it wasn’t always fancy but it worked.

Star used her strength, her agility, and her
natural athletic ability to guide her through strike after strike.
When the men started fighting back in self-defense, she used the
layout of the room to help her. Running at Dakar, she tucked down
bringing the laser sword across the front of his legs. As he fell,
she did a one handed flip over him slicing the sword across his
neck before flipping gracefully in an arch and rolling behind Armet
and slicing him twice, once across the back of his knees and the
other across the back of his neck.

Star rose as both men gasped at the stinging
shock from the laser sword. “I will be going and I will get Jazin.
No one, and I mean no one, is going to stop me,” she hissed out
coldly.

Armet rolled onto his back and grasped the
back of his neck which was burning. “You have your sword turned up
to full power, don’t you?” He croaked out. “Because I have to tell
you, this hurts like a….” He stopped and looked at Madas who was
laughing at him and Dakar.

“I told you. She is the warrior from the
Prophesy and not to underestimate her,” Madas said smugly. “I was
the one who turned the power up. You both needed to know what she
was capable of.”

Star looked down in dismay. The two
warriors’ faces were twisted in pain. “Did I really hurt them?” She
asked looking at Madas in question.

“No, they will be fine in a few minutes. You
just showed them that there are many ways a warrior can fight.
Come, let us go through the items you will need. I have made some
explosives for you. One of them is unique to the Tearnat. The
powder in them will knock everyone out for several hours. It is
important that you do not breathe it in. I want to go over with you
how it works,” Madas said as she drew Star away by the arm. She
turned as she reached the door to cast one last look at the men who
were now sitting up. “Now, I will show her how to fight like a
Tearnat.”

“Great,” Armet muttered as he rubbed the
back of his neck again. “Just great.”

*.*.*

“These are small but they are very potent,”
Madas said as she showed Star several small, round balls that
looked like they were made out of clay. “If you throw them, they
will break and a dust cloud will be released. The dust is pollen
from a plant found near my village. It is used mostly when someone
is injured and needs to be put to sleep so they can be healed. It
can also be used to help incapacitate our enemy without killing
them. The only thing that can protect you is this,” Madas said
pulling a small woven mask of plant fibers. “This is a natural
absorbent for the pollen. If a warrior tries to use a filtering
mask it will not work, the pollen is so fine it still finds its way
through the masks. It might not stop them totally but it will slow
them down.”

“I look like a ninja,” Star said with a grin
as she put the woven mask on. “It is so light it’s like not having
anything on!” She exclaimed in surprise.

Madas chuckled. “That is why we like it.
Otherwise, it would restrict our breathing.”

“Here are the weapons you had me pick up
from Lady River,” Madas said pulling out the small crossbow that
Star excelled at using, in addition, to several small throwing
knives. “She said she would give us a one day head start before she
told her mate. She is not aware that this star ship is faster than
even the Kassisan warships. Still, I am sure they will be here to
support us by the time we have need of it.”

Star looked at Madas puzzled. “Did you tell
them where we were going?”

“No, but between Gril, Ajaska, and Torak I
am sure they will be able to discover our location,” Madas assured
Star. “Do not worry, little warrior. I would not risk your mate. I
suspect if Tai Tek feels there is a possibility that his prison
base had been discovered, he would have already killed Lord Jazin.
It is better that only a small group are aware of what is happening
until he is safe.”

Star nodded in agreement. “I hope you are
right.” She looked at the small three-dimensional image of the
fortress and sighed. “I hope you are right,” she repeated
quietly.

*.*.*

Jarmen lowered his head as he walked by a
small group of guards. The small device attached to his cloak
rendered him invisible to the eye for the most part. The only thing
that could still be seen were his glowing eyes, a left over from
his days in the Mendes Research labs where he had been created. He
pressed along the side, sucking in his breath when one of the
guards staggered slightly, almost running into him. He might be
invisible but he could still be felt. It had taken him longer than
he expected to gain entrance to the prison. He had landed his small
transport several kilometers away and hiked closer to the fortress
four days before. He had camped just outside the dead zone, trying
to figure out how he was going to get in. His luck changed on the
morning of the fifth day when a small group of guards had driven a
series of transports out through the entrance to discard waste in a
nearby ravine that had broken open probably a thousand years ago.
He waited until the last one backed up before grabbing a
maintenance grip and holding on for the journey back to the
prison.

He had searched section after section, level
after level for where his friend was being held. He had almost
given up until he rounded a corner and almost collided with Tai
Tek. If one of the guards hadn’t called his attention at the last
minute, Jarmen would now probably be enjoying the bottom of the
deep ravine with the trash.

He had followed Tai Tek for almost an hour
before the traitorous councilman finally made his way down to
Jazin. Jarmen closed his eyes and cursed silently as his friend was
tortured. There was nothing he could do to prevent it. He had been
unable to follow Tai Tek into the room because of the number of
guards standing in the way. The coward never went anywhere with
less than twenty men surrounding him. It was only after he left
that Jarmen was able to sneak into the cell and release his friend.
He regretted he could not do more. He had slipped a dissolvable
pain patch on Jazin but he could do nothing else until the huge
Tearnat arrived with Torak’s and Ajaska’s forces. He had been
shocked when the female mate of the Tearnat Leader had not only
recognized him but told him things she shouldn’t have known. It was
only her insistent demands that Jazin hadn’t been killed that had
finally gotten through to him. He had done a little research and
discovered the real video surveillance from the Uri Spaceport
docking bay that Jazin had refueled at but had been skeptical until
he had shown the video to the female. Once he saw the evidence for
himself, he had contacted the female again and given her the
prototype he and Jazin had been working on so it could be used to
rescue Jazin. He knew only a small, stealthy team of warriors would
be able to save Jazin before he could be executed. In the meantime,
he would do what he could to help his friend survive until the
warriors arrived.