A Slave to the Servants Ch. 30

The transports around us roared to life. I chanced a glance around and saw Damien and his Brothers on a transport. It relieved me that we were all being taken. I feared these angry men would just leave my loves here.

We took off down a passage across from the one we'd come from. I was just as scared today as I had been the day prior. These machines roared through the narrow tunnels.

I focused on the things I'd seen at the corners of the transport. Thom noted my attention.

"These are weapons," he told me proudly. "I cannot show you how they work right now and you may not understand. They project powerful focuses of energy. The energy can tear a hole in rock walls. We developed them in case we ever have to fight the slaving women."

They'd developed guns. I smiled at Thom and marveled at what the men had done. Sneaky little devils were free to do anything they wanted and they built weapons. Men would be men on any planet.

We traveled a long way and suddenly one of Thom's brothers started to pace. He touched his head and his teeth were down.

"Sit, Brother," Thom demanded guiding the man to a stack of pallets. "We will be out of the field soon enough."

"What field?" I asked watching the man continue to cringe.

"The women have something at the far edge of the mountains designed to stop us from crossing out of them. It disrupts our bond with our Brothers. We could never walk through it above ground. In the tunnels only certain men still feel it. My Brother is one of them," he said wincing slightly himself.

I watched the men and soon surmised we had left the field when they all relaxed again.

We flew for a long while in the twisting tunnels. The men seemed to know this route well and flew through it confidently. Often we came to splits in the tunnel and the men never hesitated which direction to go. This was a well traveled path.

Abruptly the transports came to a halt. The call came back and the men were instructed to switch the transports. I was confused as I watched the Brother doing the driving start moving levers around.

The roar inside the cave died away swiftly. That loud growl I'd finally gotten used to faded away and the quiet hum of the solar craft was left. I turned and looked at Thom who was grinning broadly.

"We must stay hidden here, speed is not as important as stealth. All of our transports run on ore and stored solar power. Depending on where we are dictates which we use," he said.

I saw the man on the lead transport throw a lever embedded in the wall. The stone ceiling moved and shifted above him. Bright light came through the opening and I prayed this awful ride would soon be over.

As the transport lifted into the sky I noted a man at each gun on the transport. They swiveled the barrels around as they raised into the light. Each transport rose the same way, with the Brothers each manning a gun.

"Come, Rachel," Thom commanded, "you stand by me. I'll show you how to work this machine. Ruth, you stand with my Brother Thad. Fuji stand near Brand."

Our transport came to the opening in the rock and rose slowly. I blinked and squinted in the bright light as Thom explained what he was looking for. Racks liked to attack here as did other creatures. To fire the weapon he only had to squeeze the place his hand was wrapped around. It was a very simple system.

We rose into the sky and I was struck dumb. Freedom looked different from anything I had ever imagined and the power of it took my breath away.