Ovation (Galaxy Circus #9)

Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

Lila

A manda and I release the rest of the captives in the second room, while Zeydan and Sanshia have a quiet conversation. I don’t interrupt them, because we can take care of introductions later. I’m pretty sure they are exchanging stories, but every now and then, I feel eyes on me.

We herd the tearful, relieved captives into the first room so they can be escorted to the ship. Silac, Link, Musette, and Mehira all transported down to the facility. I guess they must have been read into the mission. Well, that isn’t a bad thing, since we need all the help we can get. There are a lot more captives than we guessed. In most of the rooms, there were “couples.”

“Hey, what are you two doing here?” I ask my guys as they swoop in and give me relieved hugs.

“I came down to transfer all the information, and Link is here to assess the two pregnant women and the woman with the infant who are in the next two rooms,” Silac explains, moving back to the computers. I’m sure nothing they have here is so hi-tech he can’t hack into them, so I turn my focus to my cyborg.

“How do you know about them?” I ask him. We haven’t gotten that far yet, and Amanda hasn’t said anything.

“One of the other captives in the first group said I should come down, and that one of the pregnant women is due to give birth any day,” Link says, gazing at the group milling around.

Musette and Mehira are gently guiding them toward the other half of the facility to transport to the ship.

“Oh yeah, she sure looks like she’s going to explode at any moment. It’s Zeydan’s sister, Sanshia.”

“The goddess of fire?” Tirrian must have heard me with his shifter hearing, and I cringe, wondering how many more of these people just heard me announce that.

Shit. I look around, but most of them are occupied with their own trauma. “Yes.”

“Saxon told me she’s been raped repeatedly. I’m assuming the child is a product of that?” Link asks quietly, his eyes dark silver with concern.

“I don’t know, but I would guess so. Look, at the moment, the priority is getting everyone out safely. We can worry about anything else after that,” I suggest, and he nods and then gasps.

I turn around, and Zeydan is supporting his sister as they walk toward us. Her hand is on her belly, and she is panting. Seeing her is really a kick in the teeth, because she looks so sick. I want to put my hands on her and heal her, but I don’t have that kind of experience. I’m hoping Mark and Aarin will be able to give her what she needs.

“She’s in labor. I think the surprise of seeing me triggered it,” Zeydan calls, and Link jumps into action.

“Let’s go. We need to get her to the ship stat. She’s malnourished, and I want her on an IV as well as a pain killer before I can assess the labor. Pick her up and carry her,” he orders Zeydan, who obeys without argument.

“Can she transport in labor?” I ask, and Link flinches.

“Fuck, no, she probably shouldn’t—not this far along and not in active labor. When you did with the krakens, there was no worry you would go into spontaneous labor.”

He looks around the room, blanching at the cold, sterile area. “Okay, get her on one of those beds. Let me check their supplies.” Link points at the bed, which looks more like a torture table than a birthing bed, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Zeydan carries his sister over there and lays her down, and Link starts searching through cabinets.

“Matthew,” I call, getting the scientist’s attention. “We need your help. Can you assist Link and show him where your birthing supplies are? I assume these labs are equipped for births, considering that was the whole purpose of this section of the facility.”

He quickly agrees and hurries over to show Link the supplies.

“Melissa is a midwife. Can someone go get her? She has helped most of the females birth their young,” he tells me, and I assure him we will do that.

I watch as Link squirts gel on Sanshia’s stomach and prepares to give her an ultrasound. Zeydan holds her hand and pushes her hair back from her sweaty face. He’s such a good male.

“Brannock,” I call him over, gesturing for Xavier and Saxon to join us as well. “Right, the third room is going to have to wait. We need to get to the child soldiers. Link needs the midwife’s help.”

Brannock perks up, and his spikes bristle with what I’m assuming is anticipation. “Finally,” he murmurs, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

“Xavier, go in first and check out what we are dealing with. There are supposed to be a couple more caregivers in there, but I’m not sure about guards. Once we know what we are dealing with, we can formulate a plan. Not one of those children will be hurt, even if they start something.”

Tirrian approaches us and hands out guns.

“What are these for?” I ask him, horrified at the idea that he wants us to shoot the young ones.

“They contain tranq darts just in case. Child dosages. There are two areas—one for children under five, and the other for those older than five. The children under five should be easy to subdue, but the ones over five won’t necessarily be as easy. Remember, we don’t know what species these kids are, and even though they say they are all under ten, remember a lot of them age quicker and could appear older. Don’t hesitate to sedate them, and we can sort it all out when we get them to the ship.”

I guess the guys had been busy. Not only have they been moving captives, but they also grilled them for info too.

“Let’s go.” I can feel Xavier’s impatience to get to the children. It’s as great as Brannock’s. Even though he has a fearsome reputation as the mighty warlock, he also has the biggest, softest heart and is a sucker for kids.

We let Brannock lead the way, bypassing the other breeding block and heading straight for the soldiers’ ward. This door is reinforced and has handprint access as well.

“Are the staff locked in with the kids?” I growl as Tirrian returns for Phil’s hand. When he gets back to us, it looks a bit worse for wear. It’s been discarded on the floor a number of times now. There’s no way to reattach it no matter how good my healing powers are. Someone must have stomped on it, because a couple of the fingers look broken.

Now that the power is back on, the rooms are no longer sealed shut, so Xavier turns to mist and creeps under the door. I expect him to return within seconds, but he doesn’t. Brannock starts to pace back and forth, and his form flickers.

“Uh-uh.” I clamp my hand on his arm and give it a shake. “No berserking out on us. We don’t have time or another body for you to mutilate. Take a deep breath in then breathe it out,” I order as I push feelings of calmness and serenity on him. It works, and his body relaxes slightly, his form no longer flickering.

“Not long now,” Saxon tells him, patting him on the shoulder.

Brannock breathes in and out again as Xavier’s mist floats back under the door, and he reforms with a frown on his face.

“Is everything okay?” I ask him, and he cocks his head to the side.

“I’m not sure,” he replies.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, and he waves a hand at the door.

“It’s weird. It looks like they don’t even know the facility is under attack. The children are all in their beds. It’s dorm style, with two different areas separated by age like you told us. There are five staff members in there— three women and two guards. The women are all asleep in their beds. Two of them are with the younger children, and only one is with the older ones. The guards are playing cards. All of them look none the wiser. Could they be on another generator?” he asks Brannock.

“What if they are on a different system because Smith didn’t want to lose his prized soldiers if he had to hit the kill switch?” Saxon suggests.

“That makes sense,” Tirrian agrees. “Do we think the women are hostiles? Are we going to take care of them?”

“No!” I shout. “We need the midwife, and I say we incapacitate them and scan their minds before we kill anyone. We may need their help. If they are the only contact the children have had since they were removed from their parents, then we’re going to need them.”

“Lila’s right. The women didn’t have any weapons that I could see, and I took care of the guards already, so let’s move, shall we?” Xavier waves at the handprint scanner, and Tirrian puts Phil’s hand against it with a sickening thump.

The door opens, and he tosses it to the side once more.

“Hey, we’re going to need that one more time,” I remind him, and he grimaces but picks it up and tucks it into one of the pockets on his armor.

We creep through the silent ward, looking around in surprise. The main room is set up like a classroom, but there is a play area on one side with a TV and a gaming system as well as books, blocks, and other assorted toys. On the walls are educational posters showing the alphabet and numbers, as well as posters of foreign countries. I guess they were learning something other than how to be good soldiers. At least that’s something. We follow Xavier, and he takes us to a kitchen. The large dining table, which has the two guards slumped over it, would sit maybe twenty-five people.

“They have this many children?” I whisper, and he nods. “Damn it, hopefully all of their parents are out there, and we can reunite them.”

“Hopefully their parents want them,” Tirrian mutters, and my stomach sinks.

Past the kitchen, there is a hallway with three doors. “Young kids, slightly older, and bathroom,” Xavier says, pointing out the corresponding doors.

“Let’s go in and get the younger ones first. You said there are two women in there? They should be able to help us, right?”

We go to the left door and push it open.

“Freeze. Don’t come any closer,” a woman hisses, and we hear the sound of a safety flicking off.

Xavier forms two balls of light in his hands and tosses them into the air before erecting an invisible shield in front of us in case she gets an itchy trigger finger. Hopefully the bullet isn’t one of the special ones, which can nullify magic and pass straight through.

“Easy,” Brannock says. “We’re the good guys and have come to break you all out.”

“Oh, thank God,” she sobs and lowers the weapon.

“I’m Lila Adams from Galaxy Circus. We have released all the adults and transported them to our ship. We’d like to reunite their children with them, if possible.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Hettie,” she hisses, and her friend sits up. I guess she was just pretending to be asleep. “Wake the little ones and get them dressed.”

“No time, we just need to get them out of here. We can come back for things later,” Tirrian says, and I bite my lip.

“Maybe grab their most special things now.” I glare at him, daring him to contradict me. I know he’s going to torch this facility as soon as we are clear.

“Okay, but make it quick. I’ll get the girls to help. We’re going to need it,” he says as the fifteen small children start to wake up. Most of them look at us with wide-eyed amazement, but one or two start crying.”

“The older children will help. I’ll go wake them,” the woman with the gun says.

“Are you Melissa?” I ask her, and she nods.

“You are needed in the first cell block. One of the women is in labor.” I don’t use her name in case that isn’t what she goes by.

“Oh dear. Poor thing. She hasn’t been very well during this pregnancy at all.” She hurries away, and Brannock grunts and looks around.

“I bet it’s doing to her body what it did to my wife’s, but she managed to withstand it because she’s a goddess.”

“I would say that is a pretty good bet,” Xavier replies as Hettie starts to gather the children.

“Can you see Chloe?” I ask my Aaz’axian, but his face falls, and he shakes his head.

“Maybe she’s in with the older ones. Let’s go wake them,” I suggest, giving his hand a squeeze.

“I’ll stay here and supervise this group,” Saxon tells me, and I give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Shout if you run across trouble.”

The four of us move to the next room. The woman in this room is fast asleep, and I don’t want to startle her, but there aren’t many other options. I flick the light on and stand in front of the guys. I, at least, look human, and the other three aren’t even close, but then maybe that isn’t a bad thing.

There looks to be ten children in this room, and all of them are awake and alert the instant the lights turn on.

“Who are you?” A boy of about ten jumps to his feet and puts his hands on his hips, placing himself just in front of the rest of them.

“I’m Lila, and we’re breaking you out of here,” I tell him.

He frowns. “Does Smith have a mission for us?” he asks, and a sob escapes the mouth of the silent guardian. She slaps her hand over it when my eyes move to her.

“No. Smith is never going to be involved in your lives ever again,” I promise him.

This causes his frown to grow even deeper, and the children behind him mutter amongst themselves, but the guardian gets to her feet.

“Oh, bless you! That man is evil and his plans for these children are just as bad.”

“Gather your things. We won’t be coming back, and anything you can’t carry will be replaced,” Xavier tells the group of children, who amazingly don’t argue, just follow orders like good little soldiers. My soul weeps for them.

“Why should we go with you?” the boy demands, and I have to admire his stubbornness.

“Because your parents are already on our ship, and we are going to make sure you can be together again and be children, not soldiers,” I state plainly.

“We’re going to sea?” one of the other boys asks, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “I’ve never seen the ocean.”

I wince. “Actually, when I said ship, I meant spaceship.”

His lips purse, and his eyes bug out. “We’re going to space? Oh, I’ve never done that either.” He starts to shove things into his backpack quicker, and I stifle a smile.

“Chloe?” Brannock calls as he studies each of the female children. “Where’s Chloe?” he demands harshly, and his form starts to flicker again.

Both Xavier and I put a hand on him and push calming vibes into him.

“Chloe? What do you want with her?” The head boy crosses his arms and widens his feet, his body tense with aggression.

“Easy, son, this is Chloe’s father. He’s been looking for her,” Tirrian tells the boy, and this time, he doesn’t stay calm, his eyes widening too.

“Her dad? She said you would come and you would rescue us all. She’s in with her foster parents. They just had a baby, and Smith promised if she behaved, she could spend some time with them for a few days. That should be in the last cell block before here.” He gives up the information and starts to pack his own bag. Obviously, he trusts Chloe and Brannock by association.

I heave out a sigh of relief. This has been a lot easier than I anticipated. Thank goodness we didn’t need the sedatives.

“Once you are packed, can you help with the little ones?” I ask, and the children are quick to agree.

“How have they all stayed so well natured?” I muse, and their guardian hears me.

“I’m Francine. Smith didn’t have a lot to do with them day to day. It was mostly me and the other two ladies. He would come in once a month and spout off propaganda, which basically went over most of their heads, so we raised them normally, schooling them and letting them be kids before he could turn them into super soldiers. We wanted to instill some kindness and good morals into them.”

“Well, you have done an admirable job.” I squeeze her hand.

“What’s going to happen to us now?” she whispers.

“Don’t worry, we will protect you. We can arrange for you to start new lives anywhere in the world or you can come with us if you want. If you decide to stay on Earth, you will need to have the fact that aliens exist locked in your mind. It won’t hurt you, you just won’t be able to talk about them.”

“I’ve always wanted to move to Australia, and that’s fine, I understand why.” She goes back to her packing.

Finally, we have all the children organized, and we herd them through the complex. Xavier, Tirrian, and Saxon go with them, while Brannock and I stop at the final breeding block to release all of these captives.