Page 179 of Alien Haven

“You…you knew…how did you know?” Ilid spluttered.

“I’ll tell you in a moment.” Dolgra’s com buzzed again. He turned up the volume so all could hear a rough voice speak. “Safe acquisition of hostage and suspect confirmed. The Matara is bruised but otherwise unharmed. Medical is attending her now. We’ll bring her and your prisoner to you as soon as our head medic has cleared them.”

“Thank you, Captain. You have our gratitude.” Dolgra grinned at Groteg, who didn’t return the smile. “Excellent job, Chief. I commend you and your men for pulling off a flawless operation despite the surprises the perpetrators pulled. You’ll get full credit for capturing the Mercy-New Bethlehem operatives.”

“Flawless operation?” Detodev couldn’t contain a growl. It trickled through as his suspicions grew. “Charity being abducted and bruised is hardlyflawless. You were phased and present at the theater, waiting for the bastards to grab her, weren’t you?”

“Wait. You used her as bait?” Ilid was red-faced as Mitag gasped and snarled a few choice foul words.

To his credit, Groteg winced at the accusations. He took care to speak their names respectfully. “Detodev, Ilid, Mitag, she decided on her own to go to the show. We took advantage of the opportunity she insisted upon. We had every intention of keeping her antagonists from her. We were simply hoping and waiting for them to reveal themselves. The fire and the danger it presented to so many disrupted those plans.”

Dolgra added, “We had no idea who was behind the attempts to abduct Charity. Despite our best efforts to uncover who might have gotten on Haven on behalf of the Earthtiqueagenda, Wilkes and his friends’ bona fides were impeccable. Only O’Neal, aka Kelly Kirk, failed to adequately cover his tracks.”

“In the end, we could only hope Charity’s presence at the theater could lure her hunters from hiding,” Groteg explained. “We phased and watched her carefully.”

“Our mistake was thinking your group would be attacked leaving the restaurant, theater, or club. We had no idea the Earthtiques would risk so many lives trying to take her.” Dolgra scowled.

“If it hadn’t been for a couple of men I sent to check for activity backstage, we wouldn’t have caught a few of the attackers pouring accelerant and setting the blazes.” Groteg’s frown deepened. “We had to stay behind to capture those we could and save the people in the theater. Once enough of my and Connelly’s men showed up, Dolgra, I, and my squad followed you here. Fortunately, we’d put a tracker on Mitag’s shuttle, so we were able to find you quickly.”

“I’d put a phased marauder on standby the moment we decided on this operation. I realized anyone who grabbed Charity would try to get her off Haven immediately,” Dolgra added. “It was ready to snag any ship leaving the area. The instant I had a firm takeoff location, I reported the escape craft’s identification and likely trajectory to the marauder’s captain.”

“Thanks to your help, the Earthtique agents have been captured.” Groteg snarled at the humans who were beginning to groan and stir. His men had already cuffed them. At a nod from their superior, they ordered the hovercuffs to lift the men and float them out to where the enforcement shuttles no doubt awaited.

“You haven’t gotten those who hired them,” Detodev pointed out. “Those who’d continue to send assholes after Charity.”

“They’ll give us names,” Dolgra vowed. “They’ll be placed in the custody of the fleet’s spy division, not local law enforcement.”

“Which means what, exactly?”

“Matara Charity resides on Haven, which is in Kalquorian Empire space. We can interrogate the prisoners according to our standards, not the Galactic Council’s or Haven’s.”

“GC standards are moot anyway, seeing how we’re at war with the Darks, which have taken control of it,” Ilid muttered. Detodev could see he was a long way from letting Dolgra off the hook for Charity’s near-abduction.

“We’ll get Wilkes and his cohorts to confirm they were acting under the orders of Mercy’s and New Bethlehem’s leadership.”

“Which does what? Dark-controlled GC won’t do anything against them.”

“We can petition our allies to enact embargos until those responsible are booted out of power. It’ll hurt, maybe enough to make a difference.”

“The best news is, we have the perpetrators. Charity doesn’t have to leave Haven now.” Groteg finally managed a hint of a smile.

Detodev’s heart lifted at Groteg’s assertion. He saw Ilid and Mitag brighten as well. Though the immediate threat had ended, as a protective Nobek, he couldn’t resist bringing up a matter of concern. “Though it’s difficult for more Earthtiques to come here, especially thanks to the protocols in place to ward off the Darks and the viruses, there may be others already present elsewhere on Haven. This isn’t over.”

“It’s possible, but we caught Wilkes. There’s a good chance he knows who any additional threats are. If he does, I’ll get them from him.” Dolgra’s fanged grin was brutal enough to send a shiver down even a Nobek’s spine.

“In addition, she has you three along with me to watch over her. You all proved yourselves up to the task,” Groteg added. His expression of pride, aimed specifically at Detodev, filled the younger Nobek despite his anger.

* * * *

The marauder’s shuttle had barely settled in its landing spot at the spaceport near Sunrise when Charity surged toward the hatch. Inwardly, she cursed the shakiness of her legs. Steadying them through pure will, she forced them to hurry.

Recovery from a Kalquorian shockwave was known to be a painful ordeal, but she’d been spared the hours of agony. The marauder’s medical department had kept her sedated and anesthetized until the effects had worn off. She’d had the grim satisfaction of hearing from a flirtatious Nobek security guard that Wilkes hadn’t been afforded such kindness in his containment cell. The bastard had received a small but brutal dose of the justice coming to him.

She was wobbling not from her ordeal, but in her eagerness to return to Haven. Planet Farm Hell had become her unlikely paradise thanks to the amazing people who made it their home. She was impatient to get to them.

She’d have run down the ramp if she could have trusted her legs to not faceplant her to the port’s floor. She needn’t have worried. Ilid, Detodev, and Mitag would have caught her. They raced to claim her the instant she appeared in the shuttle’s opening. The trio shouted joyously as they lifted her in the air, swung her about, and took turns hugging her. Even Detodev’s face was alight as he welcomed her home.

Home. Charity had come to realize the word referred to those who held her heart, rather than the location where she put down roots. Gazing into those handsome, wonderful faces, shedreamed she’d be on Haven long after her enemies gave up on capturing her.

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