Only two more weeks to go until Star Legend book five, The Dauntless, goes live on Amazon! It’s been a few months since we left Taylan Ellis still in search of her kids and Major Wright assisting in the attempt to take back the Britannic Isles. And let’s not forget the mythical hero intertwined in the stories of our two heroes.
If you missed the beginning of the story, avoid spoilers and check out book one, The Valiant, here.
Chapter Two
The cell door opened.
“Visitor for you,” said the prison guard sourly, making it clear he didn’t think she deserved visitors.
When she saw who had come to see her, she understood the guard’s attitude. She felt like a bratty kid who’d got what she wanted by throwing a tantrum.
“I’m getting a sense of déjà vu,” said Hans Jonte as he walked in.
“Thank God,” she said, rising from her bunk. “I’m sorry about—”
“Sit down. You aren’t going anywhere.”
“Huh? Why? I thought you’d come to get me out”
“You’re under the Britannic Isles’ law now, Taylan Ellis, not medieval Crusader territory. You can’t threaten the lives of hundreds of people and then walk out of prison because you know someone of influence.”
She slowly lowered herself to her bunk. “Damn. What’s going to happen to me?”
Tears started to fill her eyes. She blinked them away angrily. She’d come so far, done so much… “But I didn’t hurt anyone.”
“The two guards you assaulted might not agree with you on that,” said Jonte, pulling out the cell’s only chair from beneath a table and sitting down.
“But the grenade was fake,” she went on. “I was only using it to get people to pay attention.”
“You certainly succeeded.” Jonte leaned forward and rested his elbows on his spread knees. “It’s nice to see you, despite the circumstances.”
She nodded, mumbling, “You too.”
It was good to see him. In the time they’d spent together following their escape from Morgan and Dwyr Orr’s slimy son, she’d come to know and like the former head of the Secret Intelligence Service, but her mind was on her problems. The knowledge that Jonte wasn’t able to have her released immediately had come as a terrible shock. She’d achieved one aim only to fail her other, more important, one.
“I have to say, however,” Jonte continued, “a simple vidcall or mail would have done if you wanted to speak to me. Terrifying governmental staff and visitors to the Parliament was overkill.”
“I tried!” she protested angrily. “Don’t you think I tried? You don’t realize it, but your support staff surround you like an impregnable fortress, protecting you from ordinary people like me.”
“I wouldn’t call you ordinary,” said Jonte with a smile. “What could be so important you needed to commit an act of terror to speak to me about it? I’m guessing you didn’t only want to pay me a social call.”
“No.” She hung her head. “How long are they going to keep me here? Do you know? Do I have to go on trial for what I did?” The threat of a long sentence loomed. She’d already wasted precious days just trying to contact Jonte. She couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
“The prosecution service hasn’t decided yet. I promise I will pull every string I have to help you, but I’m not a miracle worker. Now this is the Britannic Isles once more, everyone is subject to the laws of the land. Taylan…” he reached out across the narrow cell to touch her knee “…why did you want to talk to me?”
Her tears flowed beyond her control, dripping onto her lap. “Money. I need money. I have to get to Australia, and I don’t have enough money to buy a ticket.”
He sat upright. “That’s it? That’s what all this is about?”
“That’s it,” she said bitterly. She’d spent all the money she’d earned as a Royal Marine getting to Ireland and buying passage to the West BI coast. The latter had been the greatest expense. Paying someone to risk their life to transport you to an invaded land was expensive.
“But when I was Mayor of Abertawe I gave you plenty of money.”
“And I gave it all to the Resistance. I couldn’t risk being caught with lots of cash on me when I was pretending to be a fortune-teller. It would have looked suspicious. Besides, do you remember the whole ‘nearly-being-hung-by-Morgan’ episode? Did you think I had my bra stuffed with Crusader notes through all of that?”
He snorted a laugh. “I didn’t really think about it, I have to admit.”
She drew her sleeve across her face and looked up. “You remember about my kids? I found out they’re probably in a Crusader camp in Australia. Now Orr’s ceding her territories to the Alliance, I don’t know what’ll happen to my son and daughter. I have to get over there and find them as fast as I can.”
“How can there be a Crusader camp in Australia? It was never under Earth Awareness Crusade control.”
“A friend of mine—Major Wright. Do you remember him? He was one of the officers with Orr and Arthur at the victory parade.”
“Yes, I know who you mean. I’d already met him in Jamaica. Not the most reliable BA officer ever.”
She frowned in confusion but ignored this tidbit to continue, “He uncovered a child trafficking operation while on patrol off the coast of Australia. The Crusaders were bringing children in from countries they’d conquered. As far as I know, no one’s found where they were taking them or what they were doing with them. My kids have to be there. I know it. I’ve searched everywhere else.”
“I see. Orr must have been laying the groundwork for another invasion. Have you checked the Reunite Directory?”
“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Of course I have. Do you think I’m an idiot?!”
One of the first acts of the new government, after re-installing a countrywide net, had been to create a site where separated families could post information to find their missing loved ones. She had scoured it several times daily without success. Wright’s tip was her strongest lead.
“All right,” said Jonte placatingly. “I was only checking.”
“Do you have children?”
“No, I’ve never been married. I…” Sorrow flitted across his features, then it was gone. “I don’t have any children.”
“Then you don’t know how I feel. I have to get to Australia, Hans, soon. Isn’t there anything you can do to help me?”
“Major Wright must have informed the Australian authorities about his discovery. I’m sure they’re doing all they can to locate the camp. As soon as they do, your children’s names will appear on the Reunite site. I can keep an eye on it and let you know if their names appear.”
“No! That isn’t good enough. I have to go to Australia. Who knows how long it’ll take the authorities to find them? They’re only little. They might not even remember their names anymore, not if the Crusaders have forced them to use new ones.”
The thought of Patrin and Kayla amongst the cultists, being indoctrinated with their weird beliefs and probably mistreated, caused sobs to well up in her chest. Her shoulders shook. Suddenly she was weeping uncontrollably. She’d been holding herself together for so long, focusing on her search, battening down her fear and despair, but she couldn’t control her feelings any longer. Jonte’s news that she could be convicted of terrorism and imprisoned for an unknown length of time had dealt the final blow.
She was dimly aware of him shifting from the chair to her bunk and putting an arm over her shoulders.
“I will do what I can,” he murmured.
Thanks for reading this latest snippet of The Dauntless! Read part three here.