Distant Shores - Marco Palmieri [86]
Krozar glared indignantly. “You are very mistaken,” he said… but his entourage didn’t look convinced. His officers and bodyguards were casting nervous glances in his direction.
“You are zola now,” said Zolacroy, spreading his arms wide. “We were alerted that you were in need of deliverance.”
“Alerted?” Krozar said suspiciously. “By whom?”
At that, Zolaluz tugged on the sleeve of Seven’s cloak. “That’s our cue,” she whispered. “Come with me.”
As they separated from the others, Seven saw that a crowd was gathering. With so many bodies around and every eye focused on Krozar, it was easy to slip away unnoticed.
As she and Zolaluz hobbled off on their crutches, Seven heard Krozar shouting behind them. “I’ll ask again, zola! Perhaps this gun at your head will loosen your tongue! Who alerted you?”
“Colonel Ulo,” said Zolacroy, and a murmur rushed through the crowd.
“There ought to be some fireworks now,” said Zolaluz. “Colonel Ulo is his second in command.”
She was right. By the time the two of them reached their destination, gunfire had erupted… not the systematic shots that might signal the execution of the four zolas whom they had left behind, but the chaotic exchanges of a militia at war with itself.
The distraction had its desired effect. As Seven and Zolaluz approached a windowless building, both soldiers who were posted at the entrance bolted off in the direction of the shooting.
At the doorway, Zolaluz hesitated, listening. “There are three men with your captain,” she said. “They are in the back room.”
So close to her goal after days of waiting, Seven ached to press forward… but Zolaluz continued to linger at the threshold. Seven frowned, wondering if she had detected some fresh danger that would complicate the rescue.
Then, she noticed that Zolaluz was holding onto the onyx pendant, and she thought that she understood.
“Your parents were here,” said Seven. Swinging her crutch over the threshold, she began to move past Zolaluz. “You are not required to go inside.”
Silently, Zolaluz pushed past her.
Inside, the walls were hung with implements of torture… and the dirt floor was strewn with Hazari technology salvaged from the crash site. Spotting Janeway’s combadge on a worktable, Seven snatched it up; someone had cracked open the outer shell of the device, which was why the calls from Seven’s own combadge had gone unanswered.
Light shone from beneath a closed door, and Zolaluz approached it. “Oshozola,” she shouted. “The oshozola has come for one among you!”
There was movement behind the door, and then it swung open to reveal two soldiers with rifles raised.
Zolaluz leaned toward the men and inhaled deeply, snout twitching. “One among you is unclean,” she said solemnly.
“Go away, zola filth,” snarled one of the men.
“We have come for Lieutenant Aglar,” said Zolaluz. “We have been summoned to accompany him to Bahuzola.”
Surprised to hear Aglar singled out by name, the men looked at each other.
Zolaluz seized the moment. “Aglar!” she howled, staggering toward them. “Do not resist the oshozola!”
Throwing herself forward, she tumbled against them, pushing them back through the doorway. Well enough to do without the crutch, Seven tossed it aside and rushed after them.
As she charged forward, Seven caught a glimpse of Janeway, shackled to a chair, head slumped forward… and Aglar, standing over her with some kind of instrument in his hand.
Zolaluz kept one soldier occupied on the dirt floor, wrestling for his gun… but the other man had stayed on his feet and was swinging his rifle toward Seven. With cold efficiency, she grabbed the barrel and wrenched the weapon from his grip, then plowed the butt of the rifle into the side of his head.
As he dropped, the other man untangled himself from Zolaluz and leaped up, firing in Seven’s direction. The shot missed and she dove at him, slamming her shoulder into his chest and driving him back into a wall.
It took only an instant for