Ovation (Galaxy Circus #9)

Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Brannock

W e leave Lila at the Adams’ family home and split up in the morning. We know she needs time with her grandparents without any interference from any of us, so we use the old divide and conquer creed to finish up all the jobs that need to be done before the ship leaves Skarr tomorrow.

Link and Xavier spent the night looking after the twins and making sure Liliana was okay when she first woke. Now, after a nap, they are returning to the ship to finish welcoming the rest of the crew and performers. Nikos, Echo, Maxsim, and Caspian are spending the day purchasing play equipment and supplies to create a kid friendly environment, as well as buying school supplies Link requested. The Adams have made it known that the ship will now be family friendly, and crew and performers with families are welcome to bring them aboard if they wish. Kinga and Andre are in charge of keeping the children occupied. I do not envy them that job in the least. The three kraken babies are taking a little time to get used to being separated from their parents, while the two merbabies aren’t as concerned, not having the undivided attention from all of their parents for months on end. When they asked if I would like to join them, I quickly came up with a random excuse as to why I couldn’t. I love our babies, but they are exhausting.

Ghosie is finishing up the auditions with Susie and Magenta’s help, leaving Silac, Tirrian, Saxon, and myself to make plans to rescue Chloe once we get back to Earth. Saxon and I take point, as we are both familiar with the layout of Area 51.

“Chloe is being kept in a different area than the containment cells the Adams usually collect detainees from,” I tell him as he brings up a map of the facility in the war room of the big ship. This is the best place for us to plan because there is enough room for us, as well as all the information we need with the touch of a button. I frown as I study the schematics of the facility and jab my finger at it.

“This is missing a whole wing. Obviously Smith is hiding this from you. There is a door here” —I point to where it should be— “and there is a whole wing of cells that are more like living quarters. The beings kept there are used as breeding experiments. Smith is hoping to breed his own army of aliens to do his bidding.” The room is silent, and I look up and see the four of them gaping at me with wide-mouthed shock.

“Seriously? And you didn’t think to tell us this before?” Tirrian growls, smoke drifting out of his nose.

I shrug my shoulders. “It hasn’t been relevant until now. There was nothing we could do about it until we prepared to go back to Earth. The Adams were not going to detour from their goals of fixing John and then retrieving their wife from stasis,” I say blandly, not feeling guilty in the least. My own child is being held captive, and I still knew it wasn’t going to make a difference to them. I do understand though, because I would have felt the same way in their place. After all, as far as they knew, I was a detainee who had committed a crime.

The dragon continues to growl at me, and I lose my shit, slamming my hands down on the table and glaring at him, my spines bristling with my mood.

“Don’t forget that my daughter is locked behind those walls. They want to breed her. Believe me when I tell you this has been harder on me than anyone else.”

Tirrian closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before opening them and giving me a nod. “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry. Please forgive me, my friend. The thought of forced breeding is a trigger for my dragon for some reason.”

“It’s a trigger for all of us.” Silac shudders. “Heck, I can relate. Being forced to marry Kinga was the same kind of violation. Thank fuck for Lila.” He grabs a pen and draws on the tablet on the table, adding the wing to the diagram and labeling it, as well as circling the access door.

“Okay, so we need to get through that door. It shouldn’t be a problem. Xavier should be able to teleport us all in there, but it might be a moot point. Once we take over the facility and round everyone up, we can just force Smith to let us in and free the captives.” Saxon shrugs like it’s no big deal, and normally, he would be right.

I shake my head. “Smith has a failsafe on that wing. The second he expects an incursion, he will press a button, releasing a toxic agent which will kill everything inside that wing of the facility. If he can’t have them, no one can.”

“He’s going to suspect something the minute we return earlier than planned, isn’t he?” Tirrian looks to me for confirmation, and I nod.

“I would guess so. There is no reason for us to return to Vegas since you already did those performances. If the circus was going to resume its tour, it would be in Asia.”

“Okay, so we need to provide a decoy for him. We will need to set up to perform in Singapore while the rest of us plan a sneak attack on the base,” Silac suggests.

“Smith will still be on high alert. It doesn’t make sense for you to return too quickly, and he will be suspicious and quick to pull the trigger,” I warn them, my panic about my daughter’s safety making me anxious.

“Hey, easy, man.” Silac grabs my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. “We have the warlock. There is nothing Smith can do to us that Xavier can’t counter. He is only human.”

Before I can reply, the door to the war room opens, and the Adams brothers enter. “What are you doing here?” Saxon asks in surprise. “We thought you would be doing the family bonding thing this morning.”

William claps Saxon on the shoulder as John and Eric take a seat at the large conference table, looking at the schematic we have displayed. “Liliana asked to speak to Lila alone. We wanted to talk to Brannock about something.” He looks at me, and I feel my eyebrows jump in surprise.

“Oh?” I ask, curious about what they want.

“Before we get into that, what’s going on here?” Eric gestures at the schematics before rubbing his hands together gleefully. “Are we planning the attack on Smith?”

“Yes. We are just trying to work out the logistics.” I explain what I just told the others, and the brothers exchange one of those glances that I know drives Lila mad. I’m almost certain the three of them can speak telepathically.

“We may have a solution to that problem. We now know that Agent Smith is a member of the Syndicate,” William announces, and some of the things I overheard him say finally makes sense.

I nod. “Yes, I can see that. Recently, he became even more smug and gleeful, and he bragged about having some very good friends in very high places. He said it would allow him to become a very important man on Earth.”

“Agent Smith is the reason our wife gave up the location of the orb,” John states before the three of them tell us their wife’s tale. I know I’m not the only one of us who is stunned with the information. “She said that Vivax told her about all the aliens he is holding for his breeding experiments and that they would start executing them one by one starting with the children unless she told them where they were. They also said they would take Lila because she was powerless and add her to the rotation.”

My mouth drops open in horrified shock at the thought of them killing my daughter.

“Liliana caved, not willing to risk that they would go through with the threat. She decided that we would be able to protect it, even if the Syndicate knew, especially with all the powerful people aboard the ship,” John explains, waving his hands around in agitation.

“Although she had no memory of why, she was the one who organized to have the powerful children of the ruling families of Westalin, Aquilia, Vilax, and Fluxx on our ship. She said she had a vision. Although she was drained of her goddess abilities and reincarnated as a Skarrian, one of her gifts was occasional visions. She thinks it was her powers trying to return to her, especially because she was so close to the orb for so long.” William is looking at the blueprints of the base where Silac added the new wing to the drawings. “What’s this?”

I share the information with them, and Eric slams his hands down on the conference table much like I just did. “We need to kill that rat.”

“We were just saying we need to find a way to get him out of the office, but he barely ever leaves,” Tirrian says, and William smirks.

“What if he is summoned to a Syndicate meeting in space?”

“Huh?” Silac sounds confused, but Saxon’s eyes widen, and he nods his head before turning to me.

“You still have that communication device we confiscated from the Madovian?” he asks me, and I nod.

“Yeah, I continue to send false reports. No one knows she didn’t survive. I keep telling them I’m lying low until the circus is recalled.”

John rubs his hands together with glee. “Good. It’s time to send a message saying you have been recalled and are rejoining the circus. Say you have a lead on where the orb is being kept after your nest mate used her powers of persuasion on Dylan.”

“Then a few days later, you are going to message them and say you found the orb and arrange a meeting, telling the Syndicate you want more money or something. The Madovians are a greedy and mercenary race, so it won’t be out of the ordinary.”

“But then what?” Tirrian asks, smoke drifting out of his nose as his wings rustle restlessly against his back.

“Then the Syndicate will gather to squabble over the orb, getting them in one place, and we can take them all out in one fell swoop and rescue all of the detained aliens in Area 51.” My heart starts to race with excitement. This plan could actually work, and we won’t have to risk anyone’s lives.

“And let me guess, you’re going to let Lila change into her Madovian form to spring the trap.” Tirrian crosses his arms and glares at us.

“She wouldn’t want it any other way.” Saxon tries to placate him, and Tirrian growls.

“Of course she wouldn’t, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“We will send a couple of you with her. She can parade you around on leashes. You know how Madovians like to do that. Xavier can glamour you to look different, but they won’t even blink at her having a man or two by her side,” William suggests.

“Probably you and Silac. Both of you are reptiles and ideal breeders for a Madovian,” Eric points out sneakily, and it has the desired effect. We all watch as Tirrian visibly relaxes and the smoke stops pouring out of his nose.

“How are we going to manage both incursions at the same time though? I doubt Lila will want to miss the one on Earth, and I’m certainly not going to. The circus pod is the only one that can land on Earth. If anything else tries, it will get shot out of the sky,” I point out, voicing a possible problem.

“That can’t be true though. Aura got those Jelliads onto Earth somehow,” Eric replies, and William sighs.

“I suspect they teleported them down, which isn’t beyond the realm of possibility from a cloaked ship in space. We will use the big ship to do the same thing, but we need to start the setup process so if there are any spies that manage to slip through the cracks, they will think it’s just a circus show as normal.”

“If we don’t teleport directly to the base’s landing platform, they won’t even know we are there,” Saxon says, but I shake my head.

“They have infrared sensors covering the outside of the base, and all the cameras inside have that capability,” I warn them, but Tirrian just smirks.

“I’m pretty sure our warlock can take care of all those things.”

“That’s true. Smith has never managed to capture one despite trying to. He desperately wanted to keep Xane, but he knew that would probably be an error in judgment. What about Smith? How are we going to get him to leave the base?”

“I suspect he has a way. Liliana said that he and Vivian struck a deal when he gave up the information on the alien children, which allowed him to attend the Syndicate meetings in person. She said Vivian was furious, and that he’s a disgusting slug of a male and she would kill him if she could, but he actually has something she wants.” John takes a seat at the table. The three Adams men are restless and have been standing this whole time, ready to get some revenge on behalf of their wife.

“Did Liliana say what that was?”

Eric shakes his head and drags his hands through his long hair in agitation. “No, but she was simultaneously pissed and smug about it. I can’t wait until we can take care of her.”

“And how are we going to do that?” I ask him, and they exchange another one of those maddening looks.

“It won’t be easy, but Liliana knows a way,” John says vaguely, and I feel a prickle of anxiety.

“First you need to deal with Area 51, and then you can use a shuttle and rendezvous with us at the location of the Syndicate meeting. We will go ahead and scout for the best place,” William instructs, and Saxon’s eyebrows jump.

“Aren’t you coming to Earth with us?” he asks, and the men shake their heads.

“No. Congratulations, you all just became equal owners of Galaxy Circus. We are retiring.” John sounds practically giddy with excitement while my mouth drops open in shock. Lila’s other mates look just as surprised as I do.

“You’re retiring?” Tirrian repeats, sounding bewildered.

Eric scoffs. “You didn’t think we were going to waste any more time now that we have our wife back, did you? Heck, we’re still young, and I want to spend the rest of our years enjoying life while not being in a constant state of worry. At least you guys will have it easy now that the orb of power is going to be dealt with.”

William and John glare at Eric as he drops another bombshell. “Orb of power?” Ghosie asks.

“We haven’t gotten that far with all of them yet,” William tells his brother, who just casually waves him off.

“Pfft, it’s not like they are going anywhere. Even Brannock, who hasn’t completed the mating ritual, is in it for the long run. Anyone can see that.” He turns his attention back to us. “Long story short, the Adams family ended up with the orb of power at the end of the war. The circus guards it, and Liliana, who was the goddess of life, is going to use it to get her powers back and deal with Vivian who was the goddess of death. We just need to track down the other elemental gods. I’m not sure how we are going to do that.”

He drops that bombshell casually, and although I’m still in shock and I can see that Tirrian and Silac are too, Saxon doesn’t look as surprised. I’m guessing he probably already knew about the orb. He has been mated to Lila almost from the beginning, so I’m sure it’s already come up in conversation.

“That has to be why my father was so insistent that someone from our family needed to be in the circus and why so many royal families have offspring performing in the circus.”

“Yes, Liliana was insistent many years ago that we needed to foster good relations with some of the bigger races. She claims she didn’t know why at the time, just that she had a vision that insisted it happen. We think it was so Lila would have all the protection she needs against the Syndicate. Let’s face it, no matter who the members are, none are going to be more powerful than the ones she has in her harem,” John says, confirming what Link suspected.

“Okay, we will come up with a plan, discuss it with the rest of our family, and let you know. We have that one stop at Vilax that we can’t avoid. Lila insists we go forward without anything hanging over our heads, and that is the last problem we need to deal with,” Tirrian informs the three men.

“Yes, and then we’ll head directly to Earth. I think Magenta would be the right person to put in charge of organizing the circus in Asia while we make our stealth attack on Area 51.”

“No alien gets left behind, and you need to make it crystal clear to the authorities that they can’t let this happen again. We will install one of our own at their base to coordinate with them. No more human liaisons,” William says firmly, and we nod.

“Agreed. I actually have a friend who might be interested in the position—obviously not the one who sold me out. He will be dealt with while we’re there, I’m almost certain he didn’t get what he bargained for and ended up in captivity with a collar around his neck like I had. Another one of my teammates would be the perfect fit. He’s as tough as nails but has the right kind of compassion and isn’t judgmental, so he would judge a person by their actions, not their species.”

“I think you need to coordinate with Aura once you get underway. They will want to take back the Pleasure Inn from the aliens Smith installed in there. Stay out of that, it’s none of our business, and they can take care of that mess themselves. We have too much on our plate to get involved,” Eric instructs.

“And with their combined powers, they should have no trouble overthrowing their enemies. They wouldn’t have been able to even get that far if Mark and Susie hadn’t been involved last time. Xane should have just fogged their minds and sent them on their way,” William grumbles, and I cough uncomfortably.

“That was my fault. I had that collar on and had to do what Smith demanded. He threatened to unleash my berserker side if they didn’t cooperate. They did what they had to in order to protect their clients and staff.”

“Smith will go down, I promise. Let’s see how brave he is when he’s faced with a wrathful mate posing as a Madovian. I bet she eats him right up.” Tirrian snickers, and Silac blanches.

“Let’s hope that’s all she does to him.” The rest of the men wince at the thought of what Madovians like to do to men, but to be honest, that would be the perfect karma for a man hellbent on breeding his own army.