She had run away!
It was clear that she had run away taking advantage of the fact that he would not have imagined such absurd nonsense. Zorack cursed even the last of his descendants. Had he let the girl run away after hours in a hospital weakened by a high fever?
Usually, he is not so distracted when doing missions. He also knew of the urgency to keep Angel alive and protected. Eloas's life depended on it. All that mattered was immunization so that the brother could resist the infection and leave the prison that the cryo-chamber represented. It was just a matter of capturing Angel and delivering those creatures to her. Only she just pissed him off.
It wasn't going to be that easy. Conscious or not, little by little the girl managed to break down all his protective defences. Control. The damn control didn't work. An edrian should show control over his emotions. They should never be demonstrated in public. Only it infuriated, irritated and attracted him.
No, it wasn't all that irritation. It was frustrating. The task was not going to be that easy. Never had any involvement with Angel been in his plans. And the practice proved to be another.
Why for all comets! It was her feminine way. It was female behaviour alternating an active or passive personality. Ah, with all the curses! The girl messed with him. He imagined the impossible!
It was not that in Édrin there were no passions or loves. Nobody lived alone, always had a partner. An individual's behaviour was a reflection of the environment in which he lived. At two hundred years old, he already had a lot of experience in situations like these. Only that girl ... The natives of that planet still practised the exchange of body fluids.
Without waiting, he began to experience the vilest of emotions. Jealous. She would be no different than the others there. Imagining Angel in the arms of another man was torment. Was this someone she had fled for protection?
Well, he had never appreciated the new customs either. Years living as a slave in the mines of N'Tirlay had changed his habits a lot. The holograms of virtual sex were hell. The sensation of touching soft skin was heavenly. A paradise that beckoned a hell of temptations.
The thought made him burn furiously. The society in his world was divided into castes. Everyone worked in harmony for the common good. There was no hunger. Ah, he knew it wasn't a perfect system, but it was still home. Or at least, it had been. The Empire of Orion and the Galactic Confederation ... Damn! This was all the fault of the hybrids! In Édrin only one city-ship had withstood the attack.
The Arcturians were being too uncompromising. Alpha Centaurans, Pleidians and Lirans demanded measures to protect that planet. It was going to be impossible to resist the way they used the technology without care. Contamination by the virus would reach terrible proportions in a few weeks. If it took all that time. The lizards in the Zairon system also agreed. Urodelos still housed greatly respected warriors who hunted Gargoyles. And others like the Dopterians ... Only the inhabitants of Gallion might resist. The Pisces Constellation still hoped not to arouse the interest of Ravencak and his creatures and remained neutral. And as for the ecturians ...
Gargoyles still retained the last time-travel devices not tracked by the United States government's protection systems.
Angel ... She didn't know any of that, or she could remember. Zorack revolted, even more, when he thought of the fate in store for him. He was a descendant of brave conquerors who had worked for generations for the Confederation. An heir to the Seven Towers of Édrin, a member of the Igneous House.
Certain habits were still intolerable. He knew that the breeding of his species depended on carefully selected embryos in his laboratories. There were genetic compatibility studies after DNA was collected after birth. In that way they had managed to map the genetic code of several species, eradicating diseases and deficiencies.
Hell if he knew about the damn girl. He hoped that she would fall into the clutches of some of the invaders and that she would learn good manners. Zorack clenched his fist even more furiously. When he got his hands on that unruly brat, she would be accountable to him. He intended ... He grunted with even more irritation to remind him of the vulnerable way she slept next to his body. The way she seemed to fit him ... Other ideas aroused his fury even more.
He was the captain of the damned ship. They were expected to accept their orders and decisions. What was wrong with him anyway? 200 years! And all he could think about every hour of the damn day was the dreams that made him burn. They were becoming too real. He looked unnerved ahead, refusing to pay attention to the illusory image of a sensual provocative Angel sitting there smiling at him. I was going to go crazy like that.
-She ... she ran away. - his comment was dry.
Again silence for a few moments. Zorack was not the man who was reputed to lose his prisoners.
-How did she escape, sir? - there was awe in the voice he asked.
The captain imagined twisting that slender neck with pleasure. Or else ... Much more suggestive things crossed his mind. he managed to idealize the image of Angel lying on the bed, her hands tied while he listened in ecstasy to the sighs while making ...
- Try to map her genetic code around the neighbourhood again, Bash. It is impossible that it cannot. Activate the mechanisms of bio-organic reading. Do what you need, but do it!
-The system is currently a bit overloaded while fixing the radiation core ...
-Curse! - Zorack complained given the bad mood.
Did anything on the ship work? And his little fugitive made him suffer in misery. Perhaps he could find another lover and escape the fascination that the girl awakened in him. Maybe one with green eyes just like ... Zorack swore angrily.
-Tell me that the protective shields still work at least! And that triggered the camouflage system.
-Ah, they work, sir. Scarlet adjusted them. She has a way with her hands. No human will pay attention. I chose one of the types of transport used at that time. nothing for sure very flashy.
Zorack shook his head. Scarlet ?! Curse! She was not quite what she could call a companion, despite sharing a common life with him. Scarlet would never tolerate that girl. Perhaps it was time to put an end to her pretensions. Max kept surrounding Scarlet with provocations without arousing his interest. That alone had led Zorack to accept her presence on the mission.
The captain's eyes darted around the field in dismay. Where the hell did the girl go? She would naturally seek help. Zorack thought about his years at the Confederacy academy and the temerities of his age with a smile on his face. Who would the girl ask for help there? She did not have such close relatives apart from the adoptive parents who were almost always absent.
The planet was about to be invaded and everything the girl could think of was a goddamn hallucination. well, he would show her that he was not one. It could very well give vent to damn wishes and make the mission more enjoyable. Even so, he hesitated, afraid of being caught up in her foolishness and ways. Again. It was always like that in Édrin.
An invasion and she intended to take a math test? When the K'Aldriants arrived ... The school! She said she had something to do there. It was exactly where he was going to find her.
If he was a carnivore ?! He could gnash his teeth when possessed. And also make some exceptions to your diet.
Worse were her looks. The girl tried awkwardly to disguise her awkwardness. Zorack shook his head thoughtfully. The habits there were so different ... It even looked like N'Tirlay! She certainly had had her loves.
Why the hell did Angel refuse to believe everything? What evidence did he need most to convince himself of what he said?
He could still remember the desperation with the girl burning with fever and did not like it. The sleepless night was another surprise. Never before was he allowed to sleep with any female after any sex. No intimacies. Only with her ... It was her hell.
He hated, even more, to admit that he had very much enjoyed waking up with Angel in his arms. He couldn't remember feeling that good in a long time. Rays! Slavery should have shown him that weaknesses like those were intolerable.
How could she overcome her fear? He had done everything he shouldn't have done. Tell the doctor the whole truth about what happened then! If she didn't survive ... Her high, insistent fever was something to exasperate!
There was a bio-organic chip that everyone had when they were taken prisoner by the K'Aldriants. Even in his fury, Zorack had never imagined that this creature would have been selected by them, knowing that Ravencak was looking for it.
What about abductions? What other protocols were there violated by the Federation itself when submitting the girl to experiments? Was it a form of defence for them that scientists sought when testing Angel, mapping his DNA? Or else a biological weapon?
Naturally, he would have trouble winning her trust.
It doesn't ... hurt ... don't cut me. Take the tubes and needles ... I don't want to ... please ...
That low, feminine voice during the delusions made him furious. The glazed eyes of terror made his insides turn. Why they had done tests and experiments with the consent of Édrin's advisers. With frustration, Zorack wondered what kinds of tests could submit a girl this young.
He was beginning to believe that it was a miracle that Angel did not have a hysterical crisis before him. Her fragile and vulnerable image aroused contradictory emotions in him. She woke up demons he preferred to forget.
They were the same symptoms as Klaus's just before he died.
What the hell is this?
Started. Curse! It's too late! We need shelter! Now!
What ... what started?
The end. They arrived.
Somehow he and Angel had survived Édrin's destruction without anyone waiting. The girl's skill in her anger and fear had set the rest of the ruins of the huge, ancient construction of the Towers afire.
That was the power that Ravenack sought.