Serpent of the Abyss by S.J. Sanders

Chapter 43

“Lori!”

Vi’s voice snapped Lori to action, adrenaline and excitement racing through her blood. Followed closely by icy horror as Kehtal surged forward at the same instant with a deadly shriek.

“Kehtal, no! Stop!” she shouted as she grabbed the end of his tail and pulled with all of her strength.

Although she tried to dig her nails into the scales at the same time, his tail pulled free too fast for her to maintain a grip on it. He had darted forward at an impossible speed.

She heard a scream and masculine shouts of fear. Her heart jumped. She knew that there was no way that he could bring himself to a complete stop in time before he hurt someone. To her surprise, and relief, Kehtal swerved at the last minute, colliding with the wall of their cage. She winced as the loud sound of impact vibrated through their cell.

“What the fuck, Lor?” Vi panted as she, with Eddie’s help, slowly edged around the fallen Seshanamitesh and entered the cell.

“Sorry, Vi, one sec!” Lori shouted as she dodged her friend and went running to Kehtal’s side, her concern for him outweighing her relief at seeing her danger buddies once more. She caught a glimpse of Vi’s shocked face as she streaked by before dropping to her knees beside him.

Skating her hands along his tail and back, she felt for a sign of anything different that could indicate a possible injury. She wasn’t a doctor, but she hoped that the muscle groups in the back were similar enough that she could at least feel for anything irregular.

“Kehtal, are you okay?” she whispered.

A low groan answered, and then his wings and tail shifted, his wings snapping closed against his back and his tail coiling beneath him as he pushed up from against the wall. His gavo flicked slightly, his crests flattening totally before expanding upright once again. His chest expanded with a breath, and then he whipped around, citrine eyes glittering as Kehtal possessively dragged her up into his arms, growling as his eyes narrowed on the two men in the room. She patted his chest soothingly.

Wait, two men? Lori blinked against the low green lighting and picked out Eddie and a man she would never have expected to see.

“Mister Everly?”

The Darvel Representative gave her a wan smile. “Delighted to see you again, Ms. Straford.” He gave a nervous glance toward the door. “As much as I appreciate you keeping your friend from killing us, we really need to hurry this along and get moving.” His concerned look focused in on Kehtal. “Is he a problem?”

Lori wrapped an arm around Kehtal’s bicep even as the male’s growl grew louder. She knew for a fact that Kehtal could not understand Everly, or anyone else in the room for that matter, but the way that Everly gestured to him definitely let the Seshanamitesh know that he was talking about him.

“He’s fine,” she assured them. “He’s one of the Seshanamitesh who’s been caring for me down in the caves.”

Vi let out a slow breath. “Okay. He’s definitely intimidating though. If he could not glare at us like he wants to rip our heads off, I’d feel much better.”

“Ease up,” she murmured to Kehtal. “That’s Eddie and Vi. They’re my team… my friends. Everly over there is helping to get us out of here.”

The male’s body shuddered as he let out a deep breath, the tension draining from him. He didn’t let her go but she wasn’t going to quibble over a tiny detail like that. Kehtal’s eyes blinked, but his gaze never left Everly as he lowered his head slightly in gratitude.

“All right, so what’s going on now and why are you helping us?”

Everly gestured frantically to the door. “I will explain on the way. Right now, we need to get out of the classified lab while the officials keep busy evacuating the uncontaminated, otherwise we’re going to be stuck here for a good long time when they remote seal it.”

“Shit,” Lori whispered. Leaning in against, Kehtal she explained to him what Everly said and the male’s eyes widened with understanding.

“Contaminated?” Eddie barked, but Vi shoved on his arm, pushing him out the door of the cell.

“Ask questions later,” she hissed. “I’m not getting buried alive in this place for anyone.”

Lori couldn’t agree more. She gave Kehtal a pat on his shoulder to get his attention so she could instruct him to follow them, but it turned out that she didn’t even need it. The male slipped out of the cell right behind the smaller humans running in front of him, his shifting gavo the only sign of his wariness as he kept up with ease.

Everly looked back over his shoulder. “As soon as we get to the upper level, we will be safe. There’s a weapons storage unit there where we can arm ourselves. I believe that is also where they stored your… ah, friend’s spear.” Arriving at another doorway, he slammed his hand against the keycode pad, his opposite hand twitching with impatience at his side as the panel scanned his bio-signature.

“I won’t be able to help you any further once we get to the upper levels, but I suggest you take your weapons and head outside. The dome is breached, thanks to your friends—not unjustly, I will add. I objected to Darvel and United Earth’s plans from the start. I wanted to cooperate with them, but the brass didn’t agree.” His lips turned downward in a grimace of disgust. The moment the door slid open, he ran through, still talking rapidly to them. “In any case, most of the guard and citizen personnel will be too busy loading the transports to intercept you, but the further distance you put between yourselves and them, the safer you will be.”

“Get outside, got it,” Lori agreed.

“Wait, why can’t we go too?” Vi shouted, less than two steps behind the representative. “I don’t want to get stranded on this damn planet.”

Lori’s lips thinned. She already knew the answer to that one but didn’t have the heart to break it to her friend. Thankfully, Everly addressed it, rapid-fire.

He shook his head. “It’s too late. If you breathed the air at all outside of the dome, even through your filtration unit, you have been contaminated with the air and your cells have already begun to dangerously mutate. You are dependent on the natural gases of this planet. It’s why Mr. Wik got sick when he attempted to leave.”

“Son of a bitch…!” Eddie hissed.

“The secret to surviving on this planet is the increased mutagens that were found in Ms. Straford’s blood. Until I can work out a return team with Darvel that won’t aggravate the locals, you are going to have to keep your exposure to the outside as limited as you have been.”

“Explains the weird fucking shifts,” Vi grumbled as they raced up the remaining distance of the steeply inclined corridor to the door at the end. Leaning one shoulder against the wall while Everly set to work on the lock, she swiped a hand over her face. “Fuck me. Fuck all of us.” She stared over at Lori. “I’m sorry, Lor. This is shitty as hell knowing I’m going to be stuck here for the rest of my life, but at least it’s not as bad as it could be. I’m a grunt. I know you had big plans, though.”

Lori shrugged, her embrace tightening around Kehtal. “It was all a ruse. I never was going to leave here. That job they promised didn’t exist.” She sighed, her lips curving in a wry smile as she leaned her cheek against Kehtal’s shoulder. “It’s not so bad for me. I have my mate.”

Vi choked, her eyes widening. “Mate?” Her eyes slid to Kehtal, horror and curiosity on her face. “Him?”

Kehtal turned his head so that his cheek pressed against the top of her head. “I do not know what the human is saying, but she is looking at me strangely.”

Lori chuckled and gave his chest another pat. Something settled uneasily in her chest. If Darvel and United Earth pulled out, leaving their human and alien crew on Seshana, there was a chance of Kehtal or Daskh mating with Vi once she became comfortable with them—or another human there. The thought made her feel ill. Lori knew she shouldn’t be feeling that way. That she had no right to be possessive over either male when she was mated to Slengral.

“I think she doesn’t want you for a mate,” she teased.

He bristled, the muscles under her tensing. “I do not want that female. Tell her that I am sorry, I am for another. She has nothing to worry about.”

Her smile widened, and she rested her cheek against his chest. She didn’t know why the sour note in his voice at the idea of mating with Vi made her happy. Vi was a beautiful and strong woman, and a good friend. A friend who was staring at her in a perplexed manner.

“No, Kehtal isn’t my mate,” Lori reluctantly informed her. “My mate is outside. Kehtal is a good friend who managed to get captured when he came looking for me, but he said to assure you he’s interested in someone else.”

A sly look came over her friend’s face as the last door opened and they hauled their ass through. “Well, hey, I guess I couldn’t knock the alien loving once I got used to the idea. You sure seem to be happy with it, but somehow you two are looking a hell of a lot closer than just friends.”

“Well, hell,” Eddie chuckled. “It does seem like it would have some interesting opportunities. I can’t say I’d mind a lady who could strap me down like he looks capable of.”

Lori’s cheeks reddened as Everly, arriving at an enormous sealed locker, looked back at them.

“Although interspecies relations are against United Earth’s and Darvel’s policies, in this particular situation I would encourage it. You will live longer, healthier lives if you can complete the mutation. Mating seems to be the easiest way around it. Because of this and the health hazards, I will be approaching both Earth and Darvel with the plans to leave M285 as an independent planet in the coalition and to serve as an exception on our interspecies bans.”

Operating the bio-locks on the doors, Everly swung them open and pulled several plasma rifles from inside, handing them out to them before straightening his suit jacket nervously before plucking something out of his breast pocket. It was a small datapad. He ran his fingers over it, engaging with the colony systems.

“Here is where we must part,” he said grimly, his eyes lifting and meeting Eddie’s. “Mr. Wik, given your cool head, intelligence, and long contract here as one of the few surviving members from the early teams, I would like to surrender control of the colony to you until such time that the colony at large decides to change that. Please place your hand here so I can code everything to your biometric signature. Hurry, please. I do not have much time before the last shuttle leaves.”

Eddie, staring speechlessly, immediately flattened his hand against the screen, and a light surrounded its perimeter before flashing green. Everly smiled and handed the datapad over.

“For you, sir. Trust me when I say I will be in touch. Despite the fact that my interests did not align with the way that things were conducted in this matter, I still serve the corporation’s greater interest.”

“You mean there’s someone on Darvel’s board who’s supporting your decision here?” Lori asked.

He nodded. “Of course.”

“Of course there would be,” Vi muttered bitterly. “No one from Corp does anything out of their goodness of their heart.”

Every smiled down at her apologetically. “It is the nature of things. Just know that there are people in your corner who will work with you and the…ah, Seshanamitesh, if I said that correctly.” He glanced over at Lori for clarification. At her nod, he continued, “There are still important minerals and ores necessary for United Earth’s growth, and because of that we can’t entirely give up on the planet. But it will now be decided by the Seshanamitesh now that the coalition has become aware of their presence. We are trusting the colony to work on building relations with them.”

“Great,” Eddie mumbled as he checked his rifle. “You’re leaving it to me to convince a hundred workers who have lost friends and loved ones to the serpents that we now have to work with them. No offense,” he added with a glance toward Kehtal.

Lori frowned but she got it. Emotions were going to run high for a while and there would be some resistance.

“That too is within the nature of things. We have every confidence that, with your charm, you’ll pave the way. Fortunately, as your mechanics and tech team were also exposed, you will have them here to help you keep this place running and operational,” Everly said, his shoulder lifting with another apologetic smile. His smile falling, he glanced down a corridor to their left that would take him to the docking bay. “Well, I’m off. Good luck to all of you. And please, get yourselves outside as soon as possible.”

With that he hurried away, and Lori stared after him with her tongue glued to the back of her teeth. Everything felt more real, more charged now that he was gone.

Kehtal’s grip tightened on her for a moment before he reluctantly put her down so he could strap on his velkat. She used the opportunity to check and charge her own weapon. She was immensely grateful that orientation had included firearms training for emergency situations or else she would be useless. He gave her rifle a curious glance, following her movements before grabbing a rifle for himself. Sufficiently armed, he hissed.

“We must leave. How do we get out of here?”

Lori nodded. He was right.

“Eddie…”

Eddie looked over at her with a smile that betrayed little of his nerves. “I’m on it, kid. It won’t be the first time I’ve been in a combat situation, not since they retired me after needing too many cybernetic parts and adjustments to be worth putting in the field anymore. Let’s just hope we can get out of here without needing these too much.”

He patted the rifle at his side and set out at jog.

“Come on, let’s get going,” he hollered out at them seconds before he took a corner.

“Damn, he’s quicker than he’s let on. Fucking old cyborg,” Vi muttered, and she raced after him.

Lori didn’t have to say anything to Kehtal. He shot forward the moment she started running. She knew that it frustrated him to go slower, but she was grateful for it. She didn’t want to be picked up and carried. They all needed to be able to protect themselves and each other. As easy as it would be for him to snatch her up and leave the humans behind to fend for themselves, somehow, he had realized that she needed to stay with her team. He didn’t make any effort to separate her from them.

Taking the corridors as quickly as they could, they were nearly out of the common building when gunfire erupted. Kehtal whirled around, his wings shooting out protectively as he flattened her behind a wall. The plasma bursts sailed by their shelter. Both Vi and Eddie leaned out to exchange shots, leaving Lori growling in frustration that she was useless pinned under Kehtal.

“Ms. Straford, I suggest that you and your friends come out immediately!” Patricks shouted out from behind cover. “You have nowhere to go. I assure you that a quick execution will be far more preferable to any other options that await you.” The sound of weapons recharging met her ears. “In accordance with colony evacuation mandate 26-C, all experiments carried out at a United Earth facility must be destroyed prior to evacuation. You will not be making it out of here alive, one way or another. Neither you nor that thing. Come forward now and your friends will be allowed to live whatever life they have left on this rock.”

Lori swallowed, looking over at her friends. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want her baby to die. She hadn’t even told anyone, not even Kehtal, wanting Slengral to be the first who heard. But could she really sacrifice her friends just so that they could have a future?

Vi shot her a stony look. “Whatever you’re thinking, Lor, don’t. You are not going out there.”

Eddie nodded, his expression tightening with anger. “We’ll get through this.” He glanced down at the comm, pulling up a list of shuttle departures. Lori could barely see it, but what she could see affirmed that there were only a couple of shuttles that had not yet departed. Up ahead the terrible sounds of something trying to hack through a sealed door echoed down the corridor. The impacts were too loud, too big and too furious to be a human crew trying to break through. Eddie closed his eyes for a moment and blew out a breath before shouting back.

“Commander Patricks, if you don’t leave now, you won’t have another opportunity to catch a shuttle off the rock. All codes have been transferred to me. If you miss this window, there will not be another. Raza colony has now been scheduled to lock down in ten minutes.”

A deafening silence fell, only the sounds of whoever was beating at the door filling the air between them. Patricks cursed, no doubt verifying on his comm that Eddie wasn’t lying.

“My access is blocked. Who turned over the command codes to you?” he snarled.

“Not really the point right now,” Eddie drawled. The sound of metal screeched as it was pulled away. “But it sounds like you best make a decision quick, before our guests make it the rest of the way in.”

“Do an emergency lockdown of this section. Now!” Patricks bellowed.

“No, I don’t think I will.”

“You idiot, they’ll kill you too!”

“Not with me and Kehtal here, they won’t,” Lori interrupted. “Between you and me, I really hope they go through you first.”

The sound of boots echoed up from the direction they came. Guards were coming up from the docking bay rather than loading into the last shuttle. Lori shot a panicked look at Eddie, and his face set into grim lines.

They were surrounded.

They dropped their weapons. Even Kehtal when she hissed at him to do so, despite his reluctance to part with it. That didn’t make him any less deadly, however. He eyed the approaching humans, the tip of his tail stiffening, his wings spreading.

Guards closed in behind them, rifles raised, and Patricks chuckled as he stepped out from his guards and strode over to them. Another terrible screech of metal and then everything silenced. Lori’s breath caught.

Patricks smirked. “Seems there’s still some loyalty here,” he observed. “Now that your serpent rescuers have been dealt with, I’m taking charge of this situation again. Killing you four is going to be a personal pleasure. And mine alone.”

His weapon rose, and Lori caught a whisper of sound as the rifle armed. She stared at the end of the rifle, her arms crossing protectively over her belly knowing that it would do no good to protect the new life growing inside of her.

There was a flurry of movement, and men screamed as they were torn backward off their feet just outside of Lori’s line of vision. Patricks’ weapon discharged, the shot going wild as he turned to confront the threat behind him. Kehtal growled, his arms sweeping once more around her, drawing her protectively against his chest as he whipped out his velkat with his free hand and ran it through the nearest guard’s chest.

Blood poured from his wound, and he slumped, falling to the floor as those around him scattered, running back toward the docking bay. Lori smiled at their retreat, but she knew that the danger wasn’t over yet. Her head whipped back around to Patricks. Sneering, he angled his rifle at her and took aim, his eyes burning into her.

A dark body crashed into him with a fierce shriek, the coils of the Seshanamitesh’s thick tail wrapping around him as he pinned Patricks to the ground. Facing his certain death, the commander screamed, his rifle firing into a wall as he brought his arms up to defend himself. Lori’s eyes widened as the male rose above the human, his head lifting as he straightened, his expression grim and wings spread.

Slengral stared down, his eyes glowing like fire, his velkat rising in his hands before plunging deep into Patricks’ chest. The commander’s body jerked, blood gurgling from his mouth, and it pumped out from the cavity punctured through his chest. Slengral stared down at him dispassionately as Daskh joined him, the formidable male a startling deep burgundy, glowering at the commander as his body spasmed. Silently, Kehtal carried Lori over to their side.

Immediately, her mate bristled, his eyes taking in Kehtal’s possessive embrace despite the look of approval that filled Daskh’s face. Lori wondered at it but remained silent, her attention focused on the strange confrontation between Slengral and the male holding her.

To her surprise, Kehtal didn’t shrink from him or defer to him in any way as he had in the past when it came to her. Instead, he met Slengral’s eyes with a low hiss that seemed to convey a lot more than what her translator offered. Her mate’s expression hardened slightly, but rather than attack, his posture relaxed, his arms going out to collect her.

Kehtal’s crests flicked, and he inclined his head in agreement. Gently he rubbed his cheek against Lori’s head. and she hugged him close, ignoring the way her mate’s eye fastened on the exchange. There was no hostility, or even anger in his eyes, just watchfulness and curiosity. Although she wasn’t sure how to interpret it, she was relieved. She couldn’t pretend that she didn’t care for Kehtal any more than she couldn’t pretend that she didn’t care for Daskh.

Finally, she reached out to her mate as Kehtal handed her over. Slengral practically curled his large body around her, his wings cupping around her. Holding her tight to him, he breathed her in, and a soft, affectionate hum passed between them. Lori’s eyes misted, and she hugged him tight. She didn’t need the words to know that he loved her and missed her.

“Ashlava,” he whispered. “Finally.”

When he folded back his wings again, he turned just so Daskh could greet her and reassure himself that she was well. The gesture surprised Lori but she smiled at her mate in silent thanks as Daskh buffed his knuckles against her cheek and bumped his forehead against hers, his nostrils flaring and mouth parting as he took in her scent and taste. After a moment he reluctantly drew back, his eyes fastening meaningfully on Slengral.

She had no idea what was going on, but it was to remain a mystery for the time being because her mate grunted and carried her away.