STORM SLAVE: THE STORM PLANET SERIES: VOLUME THREE Page 14

  “No.” Her answer was sharp and fast.

  Quill fisted his hands at her answer. He thought she wasn’t going to meet with him. But she finally spoke.

  “At sunrise. The workers don’t come until after their first meal. I will meet you there in two sunrises. Oh, and thank you for this.” She held up the small weapon as she turned and hurried away. Within the blink of an eye she was gone.

  With his hands on his hips and a smile on his face, he left to let the guards join him. So she would meet with him again, but she needed control. Now he needed a cold shower.

  The rest of that day period and the next two were the longest he could remember. He filled them with helping his mother, by going back over the reviews of the screens of the negotiations. He looked closely at the faces and listened to the voices of those who were so far away.

  Then they both had the two screens up of both Arb and Senior Omega Priest. Finally Quill froze the two faces and enlarged them until there were only the eyes of each male showing.

  He heard the swearing from his mother. Her words were a stated fact. The evil eyes were the same. These males weren’t related and were worlds apart in the universe. Still their greed and hatred showed in their eyes.

  “Well mom, at least they won’t join up with each other. Both of these males hate so much, neither of them can think of sharing the power. They use others, but don’t share at the cost of their own people.”

  He turned and saw his mother agreed with his words. He also saw a great sadness on her face.

  “Your fathers have left us at such a terrible time. I love them, but I am like the rest of the universe. I don’t understand them.”

  “Well like them, I am going to desert you for a short time. But I also have the solution they left. The terrible solution that I had to come to the decision to use or pretend I didn’t understand. For this moment I have an appointment with a lovely female.”

  He didn’t wait to see the surprise on his mother’s face as he left. They had worked through the night in her rooms. He knew she was tired, as she had missed a lot of sleep. For him, he had many ways to sleep or relax or put health back into his body.

  Very awake and alert Elite Guards were waiting in the hallway. He knew they had already made sure that the area here was safe. Another group stepped up to escort him, as the Queen’s guard took its place by her door.

  It didn’t take him and his entourage long to reach the area near where he was meeting Mine. On his way to meet with his female he thought about the gifts he was sending to other leaders of world who had participated in the negotiations.

  Most of the gifts were simple, as a small mass of Threads was always gratefully accepted. But there were a couple of special gifts going to some unusual leaders. He had already sent something his fathers would appreciate to one special leader and now he had chosen another special gift for a war leader, that he felt sure the male would accept.

  As he moved to his special meeting, he was crossing to a small black ship that had been held up, not allowed to leave due to some complications because of their clearance reviews.

  With his Elite Guards he walked up to some tired disgusted looking warriors, who were glaring at the hint of sunrise over the water. It was still some time before dawn and his guards announced his arrival.

  Quill watched the off-worlders carefully as they pulled together. Instead of coming to attention, they drew into a defensive position and then one male stepped forward.

  “Sire, this is an honor.” He spoke politely enough, but he kept his hand on his weapon on his hip.

  Quill nodded and raised a hand at his own Guards, who took offense at the attitude. “I have looked at the reports on your ship and decided to override everything and release you today.”

  There was a shocked look on the warrior’s face in front of him and then the male remembered to show gratitude. He brought his fist to his chest. “Thank you, Sire.”

  “I also have a gift for your Leader.” Quill held out a long box. “I wonder if you would take it home with you and deliver it from the planet GigasVnee.”

  The warrior actually hesitated to take the box. Quill opened it and there was a sigh from some of the others in admiration. Lying on a black cloth was an antique sword. It was long and covered with beautiful scrollwork embedded with old thin Threads.

  Best of all, it might look old yet it still looked strong and impressive. The warrior in front of the Heir wanted to reach out and heft the sword. Still he knew it was for the leader and he resisted.

  “I will thank you for our Leader and deliver it with my own hands.”

  Quill nodded, closed the box and handed it over. He turned and left without any other words. Dawn was near and his body was singing.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The War Planet War….

  Arb was angry when a junior officer was allowed into his office.

  He had been spending days and nights getting a count on those he could use in an all out war against GigasVnee. By this he meant not the planets he had conquered or even his own warriors, but others out there that might join up. Some of these would join because they were afraid of his conglomerate.

  Others would hang onto the tale, contributing nothing and hoping to pick up on the leavings like scare birds in the farm fields. He would accept them for a while as they added to the bulk.

  Arb felt he had plenty of weapons. Still one in his position could always use more items for his armory. He had every researcher and scientist on what the green weapon was that had come off GigasVnee and blew away all the ships that were too close to it during the blockade.

  He was told over and over that there was nothing that they could make that could do that feat, except blowing an entire planet apart. He had killed so many of those people in those labs, that he was having to go to systems far away to get trained individuals to fill his research stations.

  Into all of these headaches, a junior officer was allowed into his office. It did give him something to think about. Did he execute the head of his guards or this junior officer?

  “Your Greatness, I bring you a gift from the Heir of the Throne of GigasVnee. He placed the box in my hands directly.” The officer was down on one knee, head bowed and a long box held out before him.

  Arb sat quiet for a moment, just wondering when the box was going to blow up and take out this entire office? Nothing happened.

  “Captain.” It was the loudest voice Arb had, as he called the leader of his guards.

  The side door flew open and the man he had called rushed in, followed by several dull black uniformed guards. The Captain knelt.

  “Have this man executed, along with every male in your staff including yourself that allowed a bomb to be brought in my presence.” Arb sat back in his large chair and waited.

  Still on his knees, the Captain first pulled out and offered a long knife. “Sire, the item in the kneeling ship’s Captain’s hands is a gift from the Heir of GigasVnee. It has been scanned, dipped in acid fog, and the box and cloth removed and the item placed into a new container while the other items were tossed out in space.”

  The man’s hands were beginning to shake holding out the knife. “We had psychic lab techs read it and even brought in your own priest. It is a clean item.”

  The leader of this war planet sat for a long moment. “Did you say this was a gift from that son of the Twins of GigasVnee?”

  Without moving from his kneeling position the Captain answered. “Yes Sire. I am the Captain from the ship that was held for a short time on GigasVnee.”

  Arb got up and walked around the block of stone that was his desk. “Tell me Ship Captain. You saw the bastard of the Twins?”

  This trained warrior was using every muscle in his body not to move as he strained to hold out the box. “We were being delayed for nothing. We felt it was on purpose, perhaps as an insult to you or our faction. We did not sleep or rest, just stood next to our ship with our weapons near or on us.”

  This
male wasn’t going to show fear at his first time in front of the top leader of his planet. “We took turns cleaning our weapons and eating and relieving ourselves. Suddenly it was drawn to our attention that a group of GigasVnee’s Elite Guards was approaching. These were the top, rare ones that we didn’t see very often.”

  He was stopped by the voice of the leader. “Stop and stand, both of you. Perhaps you will both live on this day. Now Ship’s Captain, continue. But make sure you get each and every detail clear.”

  The male holding the box got up trying to not allow his stiff muscles show. He maintained his grip on the box, but lowered it to bring it against his belt. He felt this might show his faith in the fact that the gift was safe.

  “Sire, I will tell as it happened. Out of the guards a tall young man stepped forward. He was amazing looking, handsome but what drew your attention were his eyes. They were fractured green and black as if they might be crystals and not flesh. He spoke with a firm voice. His first words were, I have looked at the reports on your ship and decided to override everything and release you today.”

  The male shifted just a fraction and then continued. “We were taken by surprise, as we recognized the royal male and as the words sank in. We were going to be able to leave. I remembered to salute and thank him. I was glad I didn’t show my disdain for someone from than planet, as his next words astonished me. He said I also have a gift for your Leader.”

  The Ship’s Captain looked down at the box in his hands. “Then he said, I wonder if you would take it home with you and deliver it from the planet GigasVnee? The Heir held out a long box and I wasn’t exactly sure how I should react.

  Then the Heir opened the box to show me what was in it. I was amazed and felt I should bring it directly to you. I did thank him in your name. I know that was presumptuous, but perhaps when you see the gift you might have leniency on me for being so bold.” The Ship’s Captain decided he wouldn’t mention the fact that he had really wanted to touch the sword within the box.

  Arb sat with his ass on the carved stone desk. He was letting these words sink in as he looked at the male in front of him. “There were no more words?”

  “No Sire. We loaded and were told we could leave immediately. We put the box within a containment area in the rear of the ship, expecting it to blow up as we reached outer space. When we reached our own system, we contacted Control Headquarters and was told to hold so that the safety of the item could be examined.

  As ordered, we jettisoned the box and cloth within and kept the item until a separate bombproof container could be delivered. The powers that be, ran all the tests that the Captain of your Guards has listed. I fought tooth and nail to still deliver the item in a new clean box as I promised the Heir.” Again he went down on one knee and offered the box.

  Arb would not show less bravery than this male. He walked over, took the box and placed it on the desk. He just looked at the box and spoke without turning. “What is the name of this heir?”

  The Ship’s Captain was now needed and had the answer. “Sire, his common name is Quilliam Devi GemC’him.”

  “So, you have seen this gift?”

  “Sire, several of us have seen it, and all of us have desired it.”

  With those words, Arp opened the box. Yes, they would all desire it, but he had it. He would not touch it in front of witnesses. He still didn’t turn.

  “You both may leave now. Ship’s Captain, you did well and I will remember.” He waited until he heard the doors close. His own instincts told him he was now alone.

  He carefully took only one hand to grasp the handle of the sword and pulled it out. He turned, swinging the balanced war weapon that his ancestors would have used with pride.

  He swung and turned and lunged until he worked up a sweat. Finally there was a tap at his door. Gods, he really wanted to run that person outside his door through with this beautiful weapon.

  He placed the sword back in the box, but left the box open.

  “Enter and it had better be important.”

  His Captain of the Guards stepped just inside the door. “The Linells just sent word that they aren’t going to get into any war.”

  Arb took a deep breath, trying to control his anger. At this point of time he couldn’t destroy the Linells, even though they were only on one planet and a couple of moons.

  He looked up behind his desk and on the wall was a ledge that held some of the new weapons that the lab techs were trying out in the field. It would be the perfect display area for this sword.

  “Send me details on the number and exact location of Linells. Leave.”

  He looked again at the sword, running his fingers down the Threads imbedded in the filigree engravings. What was behind this gift? What harm could a boy do, a bastard born of a slave from one of the Twins?

  Well, he would display the sword and let others guess as to its meaning. For now he had the unfortunate duty of going to kill one of his favorite wives. She had given birth to a son and for that he was grateful, but to let her live and make the boy soft with her love was not acceptable.

  He laid the sword down, as no blood would touch it yet. He wouldn’t want to take the time to clean all its details.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Two Minds at Peace in War….

  Baloko looked behind and at his assistant that was always behind and at the left, juggling several tablets. Many were surprised that the Commander of the troops for GigasVnee had suddenly taken on a female warrior from off world as an assistant.

  The doubts and whispers soon disappeared when she hit the workout sections with all the rest of the troops. The first couple of soldiers who accepted a challenge from her were soon patting out, as her smaller frame had them down in an unbreakable hold.

  Eventually, enough of them got too many bruises and the rest showed her respect. They gave her room to work out and watched in amazement, as she threw knives at targets, never missing.

  She had two knives concealed on her body that she threw from any position. She would run, jump, tumble and lie prone. She even frightened a couple of workers as they passed by. Each time one could hear the clear tone of the knife hitting the center of the target she had chosen.

  There was something else that the higher-ranking officers noticed. She was very good at her job. It seemed like she read Commander Baloko Sachim’s mind. As they walked through the immense hanger and work area at the entry of the cave, she would hold out information before he asked.

  Baloko was looking at the place where the war planet’s single ship had been sitting. It was empty now, as it had been released at the orders of Quill. Baloko needed to talk to the Heir to find out what the whole ruse was about.

  No one from Arb’s planet had attended the negotiations with the Slave Queen. All they did was stay close to the small black ship and take turns cleaning their weapons. He had ordered food and drinks to be supplied to them. It was reported back that they did use what was supplied.

  Having them watched closely, both by his own troops and by floating some lens, he decided they must use their own facilities for personal needs. Surprisingly, they didn’t work out or exercise. As warriors, he expected them to have routines that would keep them in shape. Perhaps they also did this inside their ship, keeping their moves a secret.

  “I need to talk to the Heir about this missing ship.”

  “Noted, sir.”

  Baloko took a second to look down a Joo. A feeling of warmth filled him. He had almost lost her after gaining her submission. She had fought the killer that was loose within the Royal Cavern all alone. The killer had almost taken her life, but she had given them his DNA before she found the most amazing way to escape the killer who wielded a deadly wound.

  Quill had used one of his amazing talents and kept her alive, as they found her buried in dirty clothes. His brilliant female had fit her small body into the dirty clothes dump in her bathroom, to be tumbled down floor after floor into a deep pile on the bottom of the cleaning area.r />
  He remembered back to what had led up to having her as his assistant and the first time he had shown her to his small working apartment.

  After watching her for days in a medical coma in a med center, he could hardly accept to be away from her. During that time, he spent every sleep period at that bedside. He ate there as he watched the tubes in her body. He walked through as his body needed a normal function and he used the inside of the door to do his exercises against.

  When the med team told him she was strong enough to release from the coma, he was there so that she could see him when she opened her eyes.

  He heard her first words over her dry lips.

  “I live for you.”

  His response was proper. “I live to take care of you.”

  It took him a month to let her recover. A month that at least he was busy enough to keep his mind at work and his cock under wraps. He was fine until he took her into the smaller apartment he had near the office where he had control of the troops.

  Baloko was taking her on a tour of his work area. He had shown her the areas where the troops practiced and told her she also could work out there when she felt up to it. He showed her the balcony where he stood to watch over the troops and she leaned against the thin strong metal as if feeling him doing the same at some time.

  He stood a little behind her, but still at her side so he could see her profile and her lively eyes moving over everything. He took her to his office and her curious fingers touched what he had handled. No one, except a low trooper who followed the auto bots, ever touched his items.

  “Sir, may I speak?”

  “Of course, my favorite one.”

  “Sir, you have not come up to sleep with me. Where is it that you have your bed?”

  Oh, that made the guy below the waist perk up. He had been careful around her, wanting her well and safe. He had left her in a closer apartment with guards.

  He turned and walked through his office and down a short hallway. He didn’t check to see if she followed, knowing his sub would not be far behind him. He walked to the door of his converted apartment. Letting Joo go in first, he went in and closed the door. Turning from locking the door he lost his breath.