Chapter Seven
Camber held up her hand to signal Brogan to stop. They were coming up to the junction of two corridors. They had been taking their time, inching their way towards the space dock hangar.
It hadn’t been easy. One thing Brogan didn’t know was that as Map Keeper, she could picture spaces in her head and scan the space for the movements of others.
Her teachers told her it was called head mapping.
That was what she was guiding them with.
But since the close encounter with Brogan in the storeroom, her head mapping was clouded.
Touching Brogan made her feel like there was a shoal of miksoma eels inside her, and a jolt of electricity shot straight from her chest at the scent of Brogan’s neck when Camber put in the translator—she’d had biggest urge to both lick and scratch her nails down Brogan’s neck.
Camber hadn’t experienced anything like that attraction on such a deep level before. In fact she was quite innocent when it came to love and relationships.
From birth she was hidden, taken from place to place, and taught life skills as well as the normal things like reading, writing, and maths. But that upbringing also taught Camber to trust no one, to always run for safety.
That kind of thinking was difficult when mixed with adolescence. It made for an angry, confused, but innocent young woman.
Camber remembered finding some books in an abandoned library, in a distant land. They were romantic fiction, of lands and customs she didn’t understand.
She loved falling asleep at night wherever she was hiding, dreaming of that person, the one that would turn her heart and world upside down and fight to keep her safe.
Those books were at the bottom of her satchel, and she hadn’t thought about them in years.
She jumped when Brogan touched her shoulder. “Where to, Camber?”
This was why attraction was a bad idea. Her mind was cloudy, and she was distracted. Vorka had trained her to always be ready for everything, but this wolf was slowing her down, both mentally and physically.
“Wait,” Camber whispered.
She closed her eyes and tried to picture the scene and let her mind mapping work. Then Camber saw it.
“Behind that gun cabinet.”
Brogan did as she was told.
Camber had seen two Drazani coming down the corridor across from them. This was another test for Brogan. It would be so easy for Brogan to step out and hand her to them on a plate, but in truth Brogan could have done so before they entered the underground base.
The Drazani walked by, and she caught some of their conversation.
“Our brother guards have been ordered to Danus while we pick up a Derag Due and take them to find the Map Keeper.”
The other said, “A cohort of our guard would find her more quickly than a failed vampire bounty hunter. Is Danus under control?”
“We’ve to a keep a close eye on that planet…” Then their voices trailed off as they went through the door.
Camber turned to Brogan and whispered, “Could you hear what they said about Danus?”
“Yes, wait till we get out of here first,” Brogan said.
Camber nodded. She checked with her mind map and waved Brogan forward.
They eventually got to the ship hangar. The space was full of both small ships and cargo ships.
Brogan leaned closer to Camber so she could see much better. “Wow, this is like a sci-fi movie.”
“What’s a sci-fi movie?” Camber asked.
“You are living in it,” Brogan said flippantly.
Brogan would never have believed that the people she had seen living in an ancient, Stone Age world had the gateway to the stars and the gods hidden behind a piece of technology.
It was disgusting to use the people on Oipra this way.
Camber pointed to one of the smaller ships. It had the ramp down at the back, but the rest of the hangar was busy with workmen and pilots, and ships being loaded with ternite.
She knew this ship with the ramp was their one chance out of here.
Camber whispered to Brogan, “This is the one, our chance to stow away and get the ship past planetary defence.”
“The same two guards we saw are on there. I can hear them.”
“Two?”
“Not bad having a wolf to help you, eh?” Brogan said.
Camber rolled her eyes. “At least it’s much better odds for taking control of the ship.”
“I’ll need you to take these off, if I’m to overpower the soldiers,” Brogan said.
“No, if you’re such an alpha wolf, I’m sure you can help me take them out without two hands.”
“This is insane,” Brogan said angrily.
“Keep your voice down. You could be leading me into a trap,” Camber said.
“Bloody hell. Let’s go, then, to our early deaths.”
Camber ignored Brogan’s sarcasm. “You can hear footsteps or talking. Tell me when it’s clear to go.”
Brogan sighed and pushed in front of Camber.
“Such a gentlewoman, Wolf.”
Camber was thoroughly annoyed. Why did she even get hot over this wolf?
Brogan held her hand up and held and held. “It’s too busy,” Brogan whispered.
“I might be able to help,” Camber said.
She rummaged in her satchel and took out a ball made of a black rubbery substance, and a small catapult. It had a viewfinder on the handle, allowing her to aim towards the furthest wall.
Camber made her shot at the door where goods were being brought out and transferred to cargo ships. The substance exploded beside the door and knocked over a shipment of ternite. It created the diversion they needed.
While many of the ground crew ran over to investigate, Brogan waved them on.
They crouched but walked as fast as they could up the ramp. Camber touched Brogan’s shoulder and signalled to let her lead the way again.
She knew the layout of these transport ships. They had an equipment locker at the back for weapons, environmental suits, and the like. If they could get to that gear, they had a chance.
The two Drazani guards were engaging in pre-launch routines. The engines were on and covered the sound of their feet, scurrying to the back.
“Hurry up, idiots,” one soldier said, showing impatience with the clean up happening in the hangar. “We have a schedule to meet.”
Camber opened the locker door, and they both went in.
Brogan and Camber had been in the small, tight locker for fifteen minutes before the transport got off the ground.
“What was that stuff you shot at the wall?” Brogan asked.
“A sticky compound that causes small explosions. It’s been really helpful to me in the past.”
Brogan gave her a half smile and shook her head. “That really is a bag of tricks you have, isn’t it?”
Camber had a self-satisfied look and smile on her face, and it really annoyed Brogan. “Just part of the Map Keeper’s tools.”
“Of course.” Brogan rolled her eyes.
Why was it that she had found this woman’s scent intoxicating, whose touch burned her neck and cheek? A woman who also kept her under lock and key.
Brogan thought she really had been alone too long. She clearly ached for some no-strings fun, but at the moment that didn’t seem likely.
“Brogan, I need you to listen with those big wolf ears and tell me when the base gives the transport clearance to leave and we’re above the atmosphere.”
Brogan tried to stretch out her long limbs.
“And would you stop trying to push me out of the locker. Why do you have to be so tall, anyway?”
Brogan leaned into her and whispered, “Because I’m a dominant wolf, sister of the Irish Alpha, big and strong enough to protect my pack and mate.”
She could see Camber’s cheeks go pink. Feeling a little hot, Map Keeper? Brogan thought.
Camber brought her fingers to her lips and shushed her. Brogan sighed.
She felt the ship lift off. It was an unnerving feeling. She didn’t even particularly like flying in planes, and here she was lifting off and heading to the upper atmosphere and beyond.
Her little niece Orla would have loved this. She was obsessed with space and aliens, but the aliens she read about and watched on YouTube were the greys—short, grey skinned, with big black eyes.
She had yet to meet one like that here—just Drazani guards, which were grey skinned but big and chunky, built like rhinos. And an infuriating Map Keeper.
After a few minutes she heard over the comms, “You’re cleared to leave, transport five.”
“Thank you, base.”
Brogan nodded to Camber.
Camber took one gun from the locker and handed it to her, but Brogan didn’t need a gun.
She signalled to Camber to follow her.
“Wait—” Camber couldn’t even finish her whisper.
Hell’s wolf, Camber shouted inside her head.
She watched as Brogan opened the door slowly and crept her way up behind one of the soldiers and, in a flash, twisted and broke his neck.
“Stop,” the other soldier shouted and tried to get his weapon, but Brogan was much too quick for him.
Camber watched as Brogan threw the chain between her cuffs around his neck. Her face shifted, her eyes went yellow, and her strength was immense.
She’d never met a wolf like this. So determined, so strong. Despite the cuffs, could Brogan still have grabbed her and done what she wanted?
“Camber?” Brogan said. Camber shook herself from her thoughts.
“What?”
Brogan was dragging a Drazani body towards her. “Put down that gun before you kill one of us.”
“You should have waited for me. Not tackled them alone,” Camber said.
“Yeah, I’ll wait on the Map Keeper to deal with these soldiers bigger than rhinos.”
“What’s a rhino?” Camber said.
“It doesn’t matter. There’s more than enough for you to do.” Brogan held out her hand and helped Camber up.
Camber put the gun away, and Brogan dragged the bodies back and secured them in the locker.
“Brogan?” Camber said.
“What?”
“Do you want to see what makes the Abnobians so immoral and hated by all who stand against them?”
Camber beckoned her over to the viewscreen at the front of the ship. “What do you see, Wolf?”
She watched as Brogan’s eyes took in the whole of the planet. One part of the globe was dry sand, and no green to be seen, apart from the small blue salt water sea that they had sailed upon.
The other side of the planet was blue, green, and lush.
Brogan had a shocked expression on her face. “There’s green and blue everywhere.”
“Yup, forests, fresh water lakes, farmland full of vegetables and animals.”
Brogan shook her head and sat down. “Everything you could want for a world and its people.”
“Those Oiprians we mixed with and the boatman all have to beg and grovel to their so-called gods for food and water. A lot of the time they go hungry.”
Brogan turned to her. “Why don’t you people tell them it’s all a sham?”
“It’s been tried in the past. Most of them don’t believe us, but some have risen in rebellion, it’s been squashed, and water and food have been shut off. Famine came and ravaged the population, and the Oiprians begged the gods to come back, and in time they did, with an even harsher regime.”
“And you and your friends fight these people?” Brogan asked.
“We do, to the best of our abilities, but we are few in number,” Camber said.
Brogan rubbed her forehead, but it was hard with the cuffs on.
Camber sat at the ship’s controls. “We better get moving before they notice their ship is missing.”
“Well, go—I did the physical stuff, now you’re the pilot,” Brogan said grumpily.
Camber looked at her quickly. “I’m not a pilot. What made you think I was a pilot?”
Brogan looked more than grumpy now—she looked angry. “Well, maybe it was your whole plan to get through to the Abnobian hangar and steal a ship. What did you expect to do once we got hold of this thing?”
“Calm down, Wolf. I know general things, like how to put on the autopilot, and then I have faith I’ll go to the right place. It usually works,” Camber said, running her hands over the buttons.
“Usually? That’s great. By the Great Mother, how did I end up in a spaceship, with silver cuffs on, relying on someone who can’t pilot a spaceship?” Brogan hit her forehead on the panel in front of her.
“Don’t panic.”
Camber got a small computer pad out of her pocket. “The Abnobians use programmable matter, as I told you. That I know. I’m just trying to check my notes that show me how to activate it.”
Brogan threw her head back on the headrest in frustration. “A how-to manual at this moment isn’t good.”
Camber waved her away. “Just give me a second.”
“Transport five, is there a problem. Do you need assistance?”
“Fuck. What now? They’ve noticed us,” Brogan said in panic.
Camber hovered hands over pilot controls. A golden light enveloped her hands.
“One more second.”
“You said that thirty seconds ago.” Brogan said. “Do something.”
“So it’s this symbol to the right.” Camber swept her hand in the shape of an infinity symbol. “Now I’m in autopilot…”
“Transport five, please respond.”
“Camber, we’re about to get shot out of the sky.”
“Now I enter the destination and—”
Brogan slammed back against the seat and rolled onto the floor. “Fuck.”
Camber chuckled. “Sorry, I should have warned you. But we’re on our way to a safe little space I know.”
Brogan dug her hands into her hair. “This is going to be a nightmare.”
Camber laughed.