Once in the docking bay, they were stopped by a pair of massive Scourge guards.
“Halt—where are you going?” one demanded.
“Out of my way!” snapped the doctor. “I have been ordered by the AllFather himself to take this human female out in the Kindred vessel and do some experiments on her.”
“Experiments?” the guard frowned suspiciously. He seemed to be more alert than most of the gray-skinned zombies Torri had seen aboard the huge ship.
“You heard me,” the doctor snarled.
“But…no one is allowed near the Kindred ship. The AllFather’s son, Xairn, said so,” the guard protested.
“These orders don’t come from Xairn—the come from the AllFather himself!” the doctor exclaimed. “Now, will you let me by or do you wish to question his authority? Perhaps you’d like to go tell him you think he’s a fool and you believe his judgment is lacking?” He narrowed his red eyes menacingly.
“No! No, of course, not!” The guard’s gray skin went pale and he stepped aside hastily. “Please don’t tell him I said anything like that, Doctor!”
“I won’t, so long as you don’t harass me any further. Make certain we’re not bothered during take-off—my experiments are very delicate and must not be tampered with,” the Scourge doctor snapped.
“Of course, of course.” The guard nodded as the doctor dragged Torri through the docking bay and right back to the ship where she and Vic had so recently been fighting for their lives.
A drying puddle of blood on the metal floor still marked where the big Kindred had fallen and Torri felt tears stinging her eyes again.
“Oh, Vic,” she whispered as the doctor pushed her into the silver Kindred ship. “Vic, I can’t believe you’re gone!”
“I’m not, sweetheart,” the doctor said. Closing the door, he turned to her and his eyes turned blue once more. “I’m right here with you,” he told Torri, speaking in Vic’s voice. “But you’ve got to trust me—I’m going to keep this form until we’re free of the Fathership.”
“Oh, Vic!” Torri felt joy and relief and disbelief overwhelm her all at once. “Oh my God—I can’t believe you’re alive! I saw you get killed!” she exclaimed.
“The Goddess sent me back,” he said grimly, starting the ship. “We have to get out of here, Torri—the Scourge are almost to Earth’s atmosphere. And once they reach it, they’re going to start killing.”
Then he gunned the engine and the sleek silver ship shot straight up and then forward, zipping out of the maw of the Fathership like a dragonfly escaping from a crocodile’s mouth.
They were free and clear, but could they stay that way? And would the Kindred get to Earth in time to save it?
Torri didn’t know.
Fifty-Two
Vic noted grimly that they hadn’t escaped a moment too soon. The blue and white ball of planet Earth was just ahead in the viewscreen. It was only the size of his thumbnail at the moment but it was growing ever larger and the Fathership was right on their tail.
“I’m going to try to contact the Mother Ship as soon as we’re far enough that they can’t jam our transmission,” he told Torri. “Are you all right, sweetheart? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” he added anxiously, looking her over. He was asking both because of the tear tracks on her face and the fact that she was completely naked.
“Hurt me? Oh, no—no, they didn’t,” she said, clearly seeing the worry in his face. “I think they took my clothes away just to demoralize me,” she added.
“Well, your duffel bag is still here if they haven’t taken it out,” Vic told her. “You’ll probably want to get dressed before I get Commander Terex on the com-link.”
“Oh yes—yes of course.” She blushed and tried to cover herself. “I just still can’t believe it’s you!” she blurted. “I never thought I’d see you again. I was sure you were dead.”
“I was,” Vic told her. “I told you—the Goddess sent me back. For you and also to save your planet.”
“Let’s hope we can.” Torri looked worried.
“It all depends on how quickly the Mother Ship can get here,” Vic told her. “You go change—I’m calling them now.”
Torri hurriedly stood up, but then she bent down quickly and kissed him on the lips.
“I love you, Vic,” she said, looking him in the eyes. “I realized that after…after I thought I lost you. And I was so afraid I’d never get a chance to tell you.”
Vic smiled at her and kissed her back.
“I love you too, sweetheart. Now go get some clothes on—we’ve got some fast flying to do and you’ll need to be strapped in,” he told her.
Torri nodded and went to go find her clothes.
The minute she was out of the view of the com-link’s view screen, Vic punched in the coordinates for the Mother Ship. He had to get Commander Terex on the viewscreen and tell him they were out of time—that the Fathership was almost to Earth’s atmosphere.
But there was no answer.
Vic tried again and the again but each time, his call failed to connect. He frowned in concern as he stared at the blank viewscreen.
Where was the Mother Ship?
Fifty-Three
Thankfully, Torri’s duffel bag with her clothes and the remaining jar of her Nana’s cinnamon apples was still in the ship. She pulled on some underthings, a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a sweater. The Scourge guards had taken her shoes, but luckily she had packed an extra pair of those, too. Always be prepared for anything, Nana had taught her, and as usual, her advice came in handy.
Still feeling a little surreal—like the past few hours had just been a terrible dream—she came back to the front of the ship, only to find that they were orbiting just above Earth.
Vic glanced up at her.
“Oh good, you’re back. Strap in, sweetheart. We’re about to enter Earth’s atmosphere as soon as the Fathership does.”
“We are?” Torri looked at the viewscreen, where the huge black ship was just coming into sight. “Have they, uh, figured out your little deception yet?” she asked.
“I got a call from them while you were in the fresher, getting some clothes on,” Vic told her. “I assumed the Scourge doctor’s visage once more and assured them I was still ‘conducting experiments’ and I would meet up with the Fathership soon. It seemed to satisfy them for now—but the deception will be over as soon as they find the real doctor’s body,” he added grimly.
Torri shivered when she realized that the disguise he’d been using was taken from someone he had killed. But she was sure it had been a necessary killing—there was no other way to escape the Fathership. And after all, the Scourge had killed Vic first.
That thought and the memory of her terrible grief at his loss made her want to wrap her arms around the big Kindred and hold him close, but this was clearly not the time or the place. There would be time later, (she hoped,) to talk about what had happened, how he had escaped and most especially, how he had come back to life.