“I was. But there is no stopping the future. My nieces and nephews have taught me that.”
“I have sent Morpheus to retrieve her.”
“Good. I heard in the reports that there was an Arietan ship, camouflaged and likely nearby. It will do us good to have it destroyed before Ramses comes. The Arietans are not merciful when it comes to smaller sects transgressions.”
“Certainly,” I responded.
“Now, now, Kronos. You mustn’t worry about this mate of yours. Let’s separate the prisoners. Keep your mind busy before Morpheus returns.”
“Yes, your highness.”
Dhara rolled her eyes.
“My brother is the one obsessed with the title. I’d prefer you call me Admiral, or Captain while we’re in battle. We all die the same, princess or not.”
I followed Dhara back onto the bridge. We boarded the Taurean ship. There were two nurses, covered in veils and shuttered in a closet in the bowels of their ship. The Captain of the ship and his crew refused to speak to us. They stared with cold reptilian eyes as Dhara marched them all to theteleportation room to take them prisoner. They didn’t trust telepaths and rightfully, they feared our ability to attack their psyches.
Dhara and I were not interested in their thoughts. While I was on their ship, we searched for clues as to where they might have taken Jess. Tiss ran a tight ship in my hours long absence and by the time I returned, she informed me that not only were we closer to Earth, but Morpheus’ shuttlecraft was twenty minutes out. She couldn’t tell me if he’d found Jess or not.
Dhara fired on the Taurean ship. The ship exploded, the aftershocks reverberating through our sector. When she was finished, there wasn’t even debris, nothing they could salvage to build back. Morpheus’ ship arrived and I rushed to the teleportation room, eager once I heard there were seven to teleport over, four more than we’d sent.
“Send them over,” I commanded our teleport engineer.
The seven materialized. The three I’d sent on the mission, two Taurean nurses, and two Arietans.
“Where is she,” I asked, my jaw already clenching against my will.
“I’m sorry, brother,” Morpheus said, “She appears to have escaped.”
“Escaped?”
“She got away from the Taurean nurses and stole a small spacecraft.”
I should have known that the human plucky enough to hold a knife to my neck would have found some way to get away. But now, she was worse than stuck at the hand of the Taureans. She was in space — a vast expanse of blackness — and I hadn’t a clue where to find her.
“She doesn’t know how to fly one. They must be lying!”
The Taurean females avoided eye contact. I came close to them, holding their chins and forcing them to look in my eyes.
“Tell me where she is,” I growled, my eyes glowing with anger.
They shook, but they wouldn’t speak.
“Morpheus, why won’t they answer?”
“We questioned them extensively. They refuse to open up.”
>
>
I nodded.
“Very well.”
Morpheus led them off the pad. The women continued to shake and the Arietan males followed with heads held high, horns nearly brushing the ceiling. They were giant brutes. They hated telepaths more than the Taureans. How it must hurt their pride to be held captive on our ships.
“Morpheus, take the prisoners to the brig. I will question them myself.”
