Conduit - M J Marlow (best short books to read txt) 📗

it into the corner and watched it shatter as it hit the metal. I made my way to the pool and sank into the water, sighing as the warmth eased the tension out of my muscles. Danger! I looked up as I heard a rumbling overhead. I looked up to see the roof of the cabin being ripped open. My mind screamed out to the allied Dyhazri and they ran from the vessel. I saw them watching as a metal clamp shot down and caught me around the waist and I was pulled up into another vessel. I watched from the cargo hold as the vessel below was vaporized. “They lost all value when they were bested by a mere female,” a male voice hissed from above me. I looked up to see a Vyrashtu standing there clothed in rich fabric; obviously someone of great rank among their kind. “So you are the Sylenni fledgling who has caused us all this trouble,” he said. He turned to his companion. “See that she is properly garmented and bring her to our quarters.” “Yes, Emperor,” the male bowed low. The Emperor left and his companion had me dropped on the ledge at his side. He clamped a lead chain and manacles on me and led me to the harem. A slave braided my hair in three with golden cords set with tiny bells. Two braids fell over my shoulders in front and the third fell down my spine. Anklets and bracelets set with the tiny bells were put on my body. The slave brought me a length of gold and fashioned a garment out of it by clever wrapping and folding. A belt of gold set with the same tiny bells was placed on my hips. “That is much better,” the Emperor smiled when two guards brought me to his cabin. “Now you look every inch the queen.” He pointed to a pile of pillows beside him. “Come sit with me, pretty.” “And if I don’t? “Then you can join the other oddities in the cage,” he said, nodding to an immense enclosure in the corner of the cabin. I saw several other females of various races inside. “I do not force my pets.” “I have allies,” I shot back at him coldly, even as I sat down as he had asked. One of his tentacles moved up my leg and I shoved it away, my eyes blazing in anger. “They will come for me.” “I am counting on that, little one,” the Emperor smiled at me. “You will be a pampered pet until they join us. And then you will watch as I have them slowly executed and prepared to be the main dishes at a feast.” “Why?” “As an example to your people, little one,” the Emperor replied. “I leave your mind free so that you may call to them. It doesn’t matter if you tell them not to come for you. When your mating cycle begins, your mates will be driven to respond.” “They can’t come,” I told him. “Their ship is broken.” “Is that what they told you, little one?” The Emperor laughed in delight. “You are such an innocent.” His eyes ran over me. “I must admit, they created something quite exquisite in you.” He indicated the food and drink. “Please nourish yourself, my pet. I would not have you grow ill before the reunion.” He saw my expression. “If you do not feed yourself, I will have you netted and force fed.” I could see he meant it. So I ate and drank until I was full. Then he pulled me to the cage and opened the lock with his retinal scan. He pushed me inside and left me to meet the others. I saw them looking at me with a coldness I did not understand. One of them, who looked like she had cat ancestry looked at me hungrily. I found the cave that had been set aside for me, and sat with my feet over the edge to put my mind to the matter of sabotage. I could see we were still above the Earth so I had someone damage the engines as I had the pilot head to the ground. I buried myself in furs as we struck and felt the pain and terror in several minds. The Emperor unlocked the cage and pressed a box in his hand. I was pulled out of my cave until I was on my knees in front of him. He slapped me across the face and the guards with him grabbed me and forced me after him. “You are far more trouble than I am willing to allow,” the Emperor said as I was strapped down on a surgical table. “I am going to have to damage your mind now.” He nodded to the med tech. “Dampen her abilities. Leave her docile and with the basic urges. Her mates will appreciate her mating instinct remaining intact.” “No!” I screamed as I felt the drugs entering my veins. I saw the surgical implements springing up as the program began. I could not allow this! I used all my strength and sent them flying. I pulled free of the straps and ran for it, as the guards fired at me. “Don’t damage her,” I heard the Emperor order. “She must remain intact!” I kept going, my mind telling me how to dodge to avoid pursuit. I found a view port and smiled as I saw that I had crashed the imperial cruiser where the original scout vessel had been. I called out to those minds who wished to be free of the Emperor for aid and felt them running interference for me. I was in the cargo hold when the guards finally cornered me. They had me on my knees, my wrists bound in front of me when the Emperor arrived. They yanked me up and he slapped me across the face. He slammed the null helmet on my head and I collapsed as the shock of it closing my powers down hit me. The guard to my left suddenly fell with a groan of pain and I fell to the deck. The Emperor yanked me up by the hair and turned to face my rescuers. All five of them stood there, armed and enraged. The Emperor wrapped his tentacle around my throat and I felt something pierce my skin. I screamed as my blood flowed down my body, staining the garment I wore. “Stand down,” he hissed, “or the fledgling bleeds to death as you watch.” I raised my hands to hit him and his other tentacle arm bit into my wrist. “How long before she loses so much blood you cannot help her, Sylenni princes?” “Don’t let him win,” I choked out past the pain and weakness. His grip tightened even further and I was choking on my own blood. I was losing consciousness and I wasn’t certain I saw what was happening. Wainwright and his men moved in behind my mates and it was Wainwright who took the decision out of my mates’ hands. He raised his gun and shot the Emperor in the eye. He fell back, still attached to me and I fell on top of him. My mates were at my side immediately. They removed the tentacles from my throat and my wrist and they cleaned and sealed the wounds. Bindri picked me up in his arms and held me as other princes faced the Dyhazri warriors coming into the hold. I shook my head as they raised their weapons. “No?” Bindri heard my mind and looked at the others. “Our little queen says they are allies, brothers.” My mates stepped aside and the gathering throng came to kneel in front of me, bowing their head. “Our queen has drawn them back to her.” He looked at the others. “What have we awoken through her?” “Hope,” Ashad smiled and went to his knees as well. Bindri held me in his arms and kissed my forehead. “It is the teachings, brothers. Do you not remember? Through her, shall all beings know peace.” It all happened in slow motion then. I heard Bindri cry out in pain and saw that the Emperor had wrapped a tentacle around him and was driving his claws into Bindri’s back. He yanked me away as Bindri fell and backed away with his tentacle around my throat, another tentacle around my waist, pinning my arms down. Before anyone could get to me he had me in an escape craft and we were in the air. He shoved me into a chair and I was clamped down. “You will unify no one, little queen,” the Emperor hissed as he headed away from the valley. “Get this vessel repaired!” Ashad ordered. “We go after her!” He watched as the others ran, and he was filled with wonder. He felt my mind in his and the others and knew they could see into the chained Dyhazri minds as if they were open wide. He knew they all needed this ability; but he hoped I had not handicapped myself. I assured him I was not lessened in the sharing. I also asked him to remember their young and leave someone back to keep watch on them. He knew none of them was willing to be parted from me, so they played an ancient choosing game and it was he who was forced to remain behind. “You must not rest until this vessel is spaceworthy,” he told his brothers. “You have to free her before the Emperor buries her so deep we never see her again.” * I was kept sedated and my body weakened; leaving my mind to float free. The Emperor brought us in to a landing in the desert. He took me down into another hidden base and had me placed in a cage that hovered and followed him like a trained pet. He went to his quarters; a cave-like room that held an immense heated pool in it. Along the walls, designed to appear like a cliff face, were caves for all of his favorite pets. He showed me the one I was to occupy and I saw it held a nest like the tower. He obviously liked his pets to be comfortable. He watched from the pool as his handler put a collar around my throat and shoved me inside a cave on the lower level. A glass wall shot down to seal me inside. “They will rally to you now, little bird,” he frowned. “If I kill you, they will still fight. If I keep you alive, they will still fight. If I let you go, they will still fight.” He looked at me. “I am at a loss as to how to proceed.” “You could change your ways,” I told him bluntly. “The galaxy is large enough for us all to live together, Emperor.” “I want it to be under my control,” the Emperor replied. “If I keep you as a symbol, will you allow me to be the power behind your throne?” “No,” I shook his head. “I do not want to rule. I want simply to return to my mates, raise my young, and live in peace.” I looked at him curiously. “Don’t you have females of your own kind? Children of your own?” “Of course I do,” the Emperor replied. “It is for them that I do this. They must have worlds to rule when they are of age.” “Have you asked them if that is what they want?” “You are a curious female,” the Emperor shook his head. “How could they not want what I offer them? They are of my blood, of my kind. It is the Vyrashtu way.” He pressed a control and I was sedated. “Sleep well, little one.” I woke up to see the Emperor pouring out two goblets of liquid. He set them aside and waved his tentacle.