Page 4 of Chieftain
Afterward, there was only darkness.
Chapter 2
Khaion
"Chieftain?"
The voice held a tremor of uncertainty, drawing my gaze. The crewman looking at me uncertainly was among the youngest of my warriors, a recent transfer from the Eridani system.
"Speak." My gaze didn't leave the screen. The shimmering pinks and hues of gray and brown made Saturn's rings a swathe of color against the blackness of space.
"The ship has moved out of Earth's orbit."
My gaze flickered to the young warrior. It would take time to train him on how the command deck of my ship worked. "How long did it linger?"
"Over two imera Chieftain."
"Dayswarrior. On this ship, we use human methods of measurement and time." I scolded him but was careful to keep my tone gentle. I wanted the respect of my warriors, not their fear.
"Why Chieftain?"
The young warrior, Bartuk, flinched under my intense perusal. I could tell his question was not insubordination, merely curiosity.
"It is the Vaktaire directive to protect the inhabitants of planet Earth." I stood, opening my arms wide to indicate thesix other warriors on the command deck, feeling my chest swell with pride at the accomplishments of my crew. "We learn the major Earth languages and customs to aid our mission."
Bartuk gave a curt nod, stepping back to his station.
"Scans?" I directed this question to Jutuk. My navigator's console was closest to the massive screen, giving a broad view of the galaxy. He and I went through the academy together and served in the same troop during the Romvesian-Vaktaire skirmish.
I heard more than felt the ship move, and the image on the screen flashed pure black, then narrowed on Earth's faint blue, green, and white in the distance.
"One ship," Jutuk grunted, his thick claw-tipped fingers flying over the controls as his tan lips twisted.
"Trogvyk or Ulkommanian?" I moved closer, squinting at the screen as though it would help pinpoint the ship among millions of stars.
"Trogvyk," Jutuk said with no small measure of relief in his voice.
I released a held breath, feeling my own swell of relief. The memory of humans dissected by the Ulkommanian terrorized the edges of my mind. The Trogvyk were slavers which was bad enough, but I'd never pulled an eviscerated body from their hold.
"Any information on the humans?"
"Our drone scanner detected at least six human bio readings while the Trogvyk orbited the Earth." Charick, my Sage and second in command, stepped to my side. "Since leavingorbit, we've tracked four cruisers breaking away from the main ship—my guess is each held a human bound for sale."
"Were trackers deployed?" I asked, bristling. Our success rate was based on rescuing humans while still in the Earth's galaxy. Humans called it theMilky Way—a rather silly moniker.
"Of course, chieftain," Charick was unfettered by my mood. His face was calm. His only movement was shifting the long dark braid over his shoulder. "All four attached, although we won't be able to pinpoint the trajectory until they move through the wormhole. I've communicated the tracker information with our brother Vaktaire."
I glanced over my shoulder as though I could see through metal and space toward the swirling black hole located just behind Pluto that changed all our lives. Before that, the Earth was too far away and far too primitive for any in the seven-galaxy Planetary Alliance to attempt regular sojourns. Two hundred years ago, that changed when a supernova in the Reinaald nebula opened a wormhole and made the exploration of this galaxy easier. Technologically lax and primitive—compared to the rest of the universe—Earthlings were an exciting find for those species who thought nothing of enslaving and torturing others.
We Vaktaire trained from birth to protect those weaker than ourselves, including most of the known galaxies. This was my hundredth eros—year—protecting the Earth, a job for which my species was well-suited. Thousands of Earthlings owed their lives to my kind, knowing nothing more of their abduction than the bad dreams lingering from a memory wipe.
"Jutuk takes us to the dark side of Saturn. We will await the Trogvyk ship there." I gave the order, returning to my chair. The woven metal resembled intertwining branches of the Vaya, the sacred tree of my planet, and was mounted on a swivel, so I could shift my attention anywhere on the command deck within seconds.
My ship, the Bardaga, was the pride of the Vaktaire fleet and the largest ship of its kind tasked with protecting the Earth. I commanded a crew of three hundred warriors and could house that many prisoners and rescued humans aboard if needed.
"Do we attack?" Daicon, my battle chief, eyes sparkled at the hint of a skirmish. The long scar on his cheek made his grin slightly lopsided.
"We will ambush the slavers with our tractor beam, board the ship, rescue the remaining humans, and fill our prison with the slavers." I noticed the excited flicker over my battle chief's face as his hands touched every blade and gun hanging from the thick black belt at his waist.
