24. Chapter 24
Morning came, and the mood was subdued as the khadahrs and us human women, sans Amber, assembled away from the camp. More logs had been chopped to sit on, and a large flat rock had been evened to serve as a table. It was filled with bread, meat, and vegetables, as well as several waterskins, but nobody made a grab for it. We all listened for screams of pain that never came as Amber took Carl deeper into the wildlands to interrogate him by herself. It was meant to confuse the scientist. Maximize his terror, and I was glad I didn't have to watch what she did to him.
Matt sat apart from us as usual, bent over a journal he was writing in, making me think of the pamphlet and what IC and Weidenhof had done to him. Anger against Carl sparked inside my stomach. I knew it was over the top and probably only a response of my mind, but there it was. Carl was the root of all this evil.
And yet, without him , my mind reminded me, you wouldn't be here. With Ghan-Zahr .
Footsteps announced Amber's return before she came through the brush. My eyes scanned her body and her clothes, but there was no trace of blood. Either she had cleaned up after, or the interrogation had gone smoother than anticipated.
Dzur-Khan stood to embrace his mate before Amber turned to us to tell us what she had found out. Gwyn, who spoke Vandruk the best, translated for the khadahrs who didn't understand English.
"Here's the gist of it," Amber started, remaining standing and walking up and down the side of the long stone table, "IC kept quiet about the Vandruks because they feared the program would either be shut down by human rights activists, or other countries would demand a slice of the cake. During the last few years, their research has been solely focused on creating weapons like polymer guns and the flammable gas grenades they used recently. That's not all, though"." She raised a hand as muttering took over the group.
"Remember the part in the pamphlet talking about the birds in the sky?" Amber didn't wait for a response. "Well, it seems IC is getting ready to produce some plastic drones to send over."
"We can't let that happen," Jenna cried.
"Drones?" Dzur-Khan asked his khadahrshi.
"They are like birds, but someone controls them and makes them fly where they want so that humans can watch what they see," Amber explained. "They might even be able to throw bombs."
"What is their plan for Vandruk?" Tzar-Than called over the ensuing rumble.
"The plan before Tzar-Than showed up was total annihilation of the indigenous people"." An outcry rose up and interrupted Amber until Dzur-Khan restored quiet and waved her on to continue. "That plan, however, changed when they realized that Tzar-Than was on his way. They didn't know when he would arrive, but Matt's chip recorded all of it."
"How does that chip work?" I interrupted.
"In essence, it records everything Matt says or sees, and whenever the portal opens, it downloads into an IC computer to be pored over by the IC teams."
More questions hovered on the tip of my tongue, like what kind of material had been used since metal didn't survive and where the data was stored. There wasn't a cloud here on Vandruk. For the moment, though, I filed it away, needing answers to other, more important questions, like how they had thought they could wipe out an entire species without anybody on Earth finding out about it and, most of all, why?
Why not just simply tell the people on Earth that there was life on Vandruk?
The answer to that question came to me immediately: greed. There was an entire planet for the taking. Legally, it belonged to IC since they had discovered it, but only if there weren't any other intelligent lifeforms on that planet.
"So they were willing to shut the entire program down?" Gwyn asked. "I can't believe this."
Amber shook her head. "They never intended to shut it down. They had enough money from investors to keep going without the government involved. They wanted it officially shut down but were going to keep it running. They actually panicked when Tzar-Than was on his way." "
"I don't understand"." Jenna looked confused.
I did, though. "So that was when they decided to make the Vandruks the bogeyman."
"Bingo"." Amber's expression was grim.
"Boogeyman?" Tzar-Than asked.
"The bad guys, the ones who killed all the women they had asked for"." Amber gave Tzar-Than a long, meaningful look. "The ones who killed the science team they had promised to keep safe. The ones who attacked, killed, and tried to come violently through the portal"." Her eyes moved to Ghan-Zahr. A shudder moved through me. "The ones who sent an assassin through."
"Making the humans hate the Vandruks and support a full war," I finished.
"You taking Carl and Rachel played right into their hands." Amber was still focused on Ghan-Zahr. "I'm willing to bet that visuals of that kidnapping have gone viral. It's not only Vandruks killing our expedition teams and volunteers; now it's Vandruks coming through the portal, abducting and killing humans."
Silence followed as everyone present allowed their minds to catch up with Amber's words.
Gwyn interrupted the silence. "What happened to the women and science team we sent back?"
"They're being held prisoner on IC grounds until they're ready to show their bodies to the public, to stir up a frenzy," Amber replied matter-of-factly.
I felt myself blanch. "We need to go back. We need to tell them the truth. We need to rescue those people."
"Nek, Rachel"." Ghan-Zahr's hand encircled my arm as if I was about to break into a full-out run back to the portal.
Amber's eyes locked on mine, and an unspoken message took place.
Are you in? she asked.
I am , I replied, as a knot of guilt formed inside my stomach.
"What are you planning?" Dzur-Khan was instantly at Amber's side.
"If we want to save those people and tell the world what is happening at IC, Rachel and I need to go back."
"Nek!" Ghan-Zahr and Dzur-Khan yelled in unison.
"Listen"." Amber placed her palms soothingly on Dzur-Khan's chest. "Everybody knows who Rachel is. She's the one who has been abducted. Plus, she is a reporter. They will give her the airtime we need."
"She'll never make it through IC." Ghan-Zahr exploded. "They will lock her up like—"
"That's where I come in," Amber replied coolly.
"Out of the question"." Dzur-Khan's voice was icy.
"No worries, you big guys get to come too"." Amber smiled slyly. "Plus, we'll keep Carl in view of the portal as leverage."
Everybody seemed to be talking at once, and I felt like I was inside an old-fashioned camera lens, slowly zooming out. The sound of voices pounded against my ears, and my heart hammered inside my chest as my mind tried to figure out what I had just committed myself to. I was a reporter, not a mercenary or a soldier. I had never faced life-and-death decisions until I got involved with IC and Vandruk, and here I was, committing myself to what could well be a suicide mission.
"Rachel," Ghan-Zahr yelled, and I realized I was swaying on my feet, and my eyes rolled back in my sockets, not in a good way this time. I heard my blood rushing in my ears as dark spots danced behind my closing lids.
Strong arms grabbed me before I crashed to the ground. "Rachel"." Ghan-Zahr's voice was like a lifeline I clung to so as not to lose consciousness.
"Easy, breathe deep in and out"." Amber was by my side as well.
I did as she said, taking a breath in and a breath out. I blinked a few times, and slowly, sounds returned to normal around me.
"You all right?" Ghan-Zahr was still holding me up. Gwyn handed me a smaller version of a waterskin, and I took a deep sip. The liquid burned down my throat, and it definitely wasn't water. It heated my body from the inside out but also brought me back to my senses.
Still a bit wobbly, I leaned on Ghan-Zahr. "I'm all right, thank you."
Just for good measure, I took another sip of whatever version of alcohol the Vandruks had come up with.
"Careful with that stuff," Jenna advised.
I hated being the center of attention, but that couldn't be helped. Ghan-Zahr directed me to a log and sat down with me, hovering next to me like a mother hen. I leaned against his strong frame, grateful for his support.
"There's no reason for the gallies to go. Matt said he's going to blow the portal up, and that's it." Dzur-Khan glared at Amber.
"They'll just build a new one. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but they will build a new one," Amber prophesized, and I knew she was right. "We need the public's opinion on our side before IC can convince them otherwise. And we need to do it now."
A flame of heat seared through me. "Oh shit."
Amber stared at me. "What?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't think of this before, but…" "
"Out with it," Amber encouraged while Ghan-Zahr glared at her. I petted his hand, telling him it was all right.
"When I checked IC's records, I noticed they bought a large amount of land on the Island of Port Louis."
"Fuck!" Amber exclaimed.
"What?" Gwyn asked.
"Port Louis is in the middle of the Indian Ocean," Jenna exclaimed.
"I still don't understand"." Gwyn looked between us while the khadahrs seemed just as confused.
"If you dug a long hole through the center of the United States, all the way to the other side, you would come out in the middle of the Indian Ocean."
"Oh," Gwyn got it. "You think they're building another portal there?"
"If the portal in Denver came out here on Vandruk, it stands to reason that another would come out on the other side of Vandruk." Jenna nodded.
"But nobody knows what's on the other side"," Gwyn pointed out.
"If they come out in the middle of the ocean, all the better," Amber exclaimed. "It would give them time and opportunity to build their FOB—Forward Operating Base."
"But that means that closing the portal is for nothing"," Gwyn stated. "They will just build a new one."
"Not if we can sway the public's opinion and make sure they will stand against it"," I agreed.
"We're not going to allow gallies to fight our battles"." Tzar-Than crossed his arms over his chest.
"As I said, the more of you big guys wanna come, the merrier," Amber challenged, "because first we need to go through IC."
She pivoted to me. "Do you think reporters are still out there around the perimeter?"
My brain was still a bit confused, but Amber's question was an easy one. "At least one or two reporter teams from different stations"." I nodded. "This is still too big, but you're right; we need to act quickly."
I gathered my wits and turned to Ghan-Zahr. "Do you remember yesterday when you said you would do anything to take the pain from me not being able to say goodbye to my family?"
His nod conveyed all his trepidation and foreboding. I was aware that I was guilt-tripping him into something he didn't want to do, but Amber was right; the public needed to be informed of what was happening, and I was the best person to do so. "This is not only my chance to tell the world about Vandruk and your people. This is also my only chance to tell my family that I will be all right."
"Rachel," he groaned, but I knew I had won him over.