Gleas drove us around and out from under the electrical storm, much to everyone's relief, then she came to a stop. Before anyone could ask why, I took out piles of old clothes for us all to change into.
“I hope these aren't the clothes you meant when you said you had new clothes for us.” A woman said.
“Did I say that?” I asked with a grin and she sighed.
Once we were changed, Gleas made another three hour drive over the surrounding lands. By the time she was done, we were all completely covered in dirt.
“Goddammit, put me back in the training camp.” One of the men complained when we drove towards the nearby town.
“Yeah, you're not going to want to do that.” I said.
“What? Why not?” A woman asked.
“You'll see when we get back to the room.” I said cryptically.
We arrived back at the hotel and went into the lobby and were met with a lot of laughter.
“Your dirt multiplied!” The woman at the desk laughed.
“Ha ha ha!” I laughed. “We finally found the people we were looking for.” I said. “Is there any chance we can get extra cots sent up?”
“Of course, sir.” The woman said and did a bit of typing.
“I'll pay the extra fees for the occupancy extension as well.” I said and slid a five hundred credit chip across the desk to her.
“Sir, there's no need for...”
“Don't worry, we'll be calling for meals in about an hour.” I said. “There's no way we're all going to fit in the tub at once!”
“Not even our grand tub can hold ten people at a time.” The woman took the chip and laughed. “Try not to have too much fun, sir.”
“I doubt any fun will be had with so many witnesses around.” Simone said and gave the woman a wave. She waved back with a warm smile and we all went to the elevator and went to the top floor.
“Are you kidding me?” One of the women asked as the elevator doors opened and revealed the top floor suite.
“Nope! The whole top floor is the suite!” Simone said and walked in like she owned the place. “Hunter, Gleas, and I are washing first.”
The prisoners gave me pointed looks.
“We really are only washing.” I said. “We're on mission right now, so no sex.”
Emari caught the qualifier right away and her eyes went to Gleas, who blushed a little.
“Don't break anything.” I said a bit sternly to the other prisoners.
“We'll need about fifteen minutes.” Simone said and the three of us went to the large bathroom, shut the door, and quickly stripped and added our clothes to the dirty pile. I was efficient in my washing of both women and Simone teased me a little by moaning at every intimate touch. I ignored it of course. They both washed me and we were out, dried off, and dressed in just under fifteen minutes.
“That seemed like a waste of a great opportunity.” Simone said with a smile as we left the bathroom.
“Tub's free and refilled.” I said. “Oh, and the shower's free. That could fit ten people inside, easy.”
“Then why didn't you take a shower?” Emari asked.
“I promised someone important to me that I would bathe and think of her.”
Emari looked at Simone and Gleas and knew I didn't mean them. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”
“You have no idea.” I said with a chuckle and waved to the bathroom. “Ladies first.”
“I'm taking a bath.” One of the women said and was barely inside the bathroom door and had stripped off and tossed her dirty clothes onto the pile. “Oh, my!” She exclaimed as she slid into the tub and the bubbles covered her. “This is so nice!”
“Now you've convinced me to try it.” The other woman said and walked in. “Emari?”
“Shower for me.” Emari said and I handed her three nice outfits for them to wear when they got out, then she entered the bathroom and shut the door. They were out nearly thirty minutes later and looked like new women.
I let out a low whistle. “Looking good, ladies.”
“Hunter, geez.” Simone swatted my shoulder. “Ease off on the charm. They might take it the wrong way.”
“They saw me kill a whole bunch of people.” I said with a chuckle. “I could dance around naked right now and they wouldn't take it the wrong way.”
“That's the truth.” One of the women said. “Your methods were effective; but, they are too brutal for my liking.”
I leaned towards Simone and whispered loudly. “She's already forgotten that I had to be stealthy about it and couldn't do what I wanted to do to them.”
The woman's face looked surprised for a moment, then she frowned as she thought about what I would have done if I didn't have to be stealthy.
“Oh, that reminds me.” I said and walked over to the console at the side of the room and sat down. I stayed there and typed for a few minutes, then smiled and hit execute. “There we go. No more camp.”
“Wh-what?” The woman looked at me in surprise.
“The buildings were wired with explosives.” I said as an explanation. “If the camp was ever discovered for what it truly was, they would detonate them and remove all evidence that the camp existed.”
“N-no.. no...”
“Yeah, now you know why we were being stealthy. If we had tried to storm the place...” I made an expanding motion with my hands. “...kablooie!”
All of them sat down in shock and Simone called the desk clerk to send up ten meals.
“The men should get cleaned up as well.” Emari said when she recovered. “Hunter. Clothes please.”
I took out four outfits for the men and they went into the bathroom. Apparently, they were used to having group showers and were back out just in time for the meals to arrive.
“Thank you so much.” Simone said and gave the woman a quick hug to press her breasts against her.
“You did that on purpose.” The desk clerk said.
“Consider it a tip.” Simone said with a grin.
“If that's the case, then I got two.” The woman grinned back and looked at Simone's erect nipples.
“Oh!” Simone fake gasped and covered them. “Get out of here!”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The woman laughed and stepped back into the elevator. “The cots will be sent up next.”
“Thank you.” Simone said and the elevator doors closed.
“I don't even want to know what that was all about.” Emari said and both Gleas and I laughed.
We all ate our meals and then the cots arrived. The men were set up in the living room and the women were set up in the bathroom, that way they had a door between them and everyone else. It could also be locked and that gave them a level of mental security that they didn't know they needed.
The next day, I gave everyone enough clothes for travelling, that way they weren't dependent on me for it, then we checked out of the hotel. I paid what they considered a very high fee and what I considered well worth the large tub baths, and I told them so. They thanked me for using their hotel and I thanked them for letting me track dirt through their hallways and didn't complain about it.
We all had a good laugh at that, then we left and piled back into the off-road vehicle. We were all in a good mood after a full night's sleep that no one complained. Of course, Gleas made sure to stick as close to the main roads as possible and the ride wasn't as rough or as dirt-laden as it usually was. We arrived back at the landing port that evening and didn't bother getting changed or washed before we boarded the small freighter.
“Farrah!” A crew member exclaimed and held a hand out to be slapped. “Are you going to show these hacks how to fly or what?”
Gleas chuckled and slapped the offered hand. “You know it!”
“We'll see you after your shift.” I said and handed our booking reservation papers to the crew member.
“Oho! It's you! You're even early.” He said happily. “Get aboard and we can get out of here with the rest of our cargo and get back on schedule.”
I led everyone onboard and they were surprised when none of them were asked for papers or scanned with a security scanner. I took them to the compartment with the five bunk beds in it, or ten beds, and it would be just enough for us if no one shared.
The people I rescued were more than happy with the sleeping arrangements, considering they pretty much slept on the floor while they were captured. Two weeks on a bed wasn't going to bother them at all. When told about the shower conditions, they laughed and informed me the shower and bath they had the night before was the first they had this week. Waiting three days was nothing.
Gleas flew the freighter up and out of the atmosphere like a bird spreading its wings and the crew actually applauded her when the control tower complimented the ship on a perfect take off. That night, I slept alone, just in case someone had the idea to try anything. Of course, I had Emari in the bed next to me, Simone in the bed above me, and Gleas above Emari. I took the chance to cover us in a Presence Barrier and we all slept well.
The next two weeks passed by fairly quickly. It was probably because as time passed, we were farther and farther away from where they had been held prisoner. When we came out of hyperspace in the Dizahl System, Simone, Gleas, and I let out a sigh of relief. The freighter docked to the station and the crew said their goodbyes to Farrah and were sorry to see her go.
“Don't worry! I'm sure we'll have more cargo requests and I'll see you then!” Gleas said, and that made them happy. We walked to another part of the station and I activated my wrist com and entered a special code.
“Baby Bird to Nest.” I whispered. “The chicks have returned. I repeat. The chicks have returned.” I received a double click in response and nodded. “Let's get to the temporary dock.”
We all made our way there and waited for our ride to show up. Ten minutes later, Adona floated into view. One of the men commented on the beautiful ship passing by, then the ship slowed down, rotated and docked. He was shocked that it was actually our ride. The main hatch opened and on the other side was everyone.
“HUNTER!” Hailey yelled and I felt a pulse of Presence from her as she ran over to me.
“Hey, beautiful.” I said and knelt to give her a hug and a quick kiss.
“You smell awful.” Hailey said happily.
I laughed. “We all do after two weeks of occasional showers.” I said and stood. “Everyone get on board and we can finish the greetings on the way.”
They all agreed and we piled onboard Adona and I invited everyone up to the observation deck. Hugs and a few kisses were exchanged, and for some reason, I had somehow greeted Simone and Gleas as well. They both gave me wicked smiles and I shook my head at their antics.
“Hunter, is that where you live?” Emari asked as she stared out the window at the large space habitat we were approaching at a crawl.
“We own it!” Hailey said excitedly.
“Excuse me?” Emari looked at Hailey. I couldn't have heard her right. She thought. You either rent the space or buy an apartment attached to it. No one can own a whole space habitat!
“We bought it with the salvage money. It's all ours.” Hailey said. “It's our home.”
“We actually traded two-thirds of a fleet's worth of salvage for it instead of selling and buying; but, Hailey's right. It's ours.” I said.
Emari fell silent at the realization that I had bought my own space habitat.
“Once we dock to the station, I'll assign your rooms here on Adona. You can get cleaned up and then you can report to the medical bay for a full checkup.”
“I'm fine.” One of the men said. “I don't need....”
“I wasn't asking.” I said and the man narrowed his eyes at me. “I know you don't like someone telling you what to do, so that's just too bad.” I said. “I'll also remove the suicide charges from your skulls.”
“Why didn't you just say that first?” The man asked, perturbed.
“I wanted to see how much of a jerk you were.”
“You're the one being a jerk.”
“Me? The man that entered a secret training camp and rescued you at great risk to himself? Who then killed everyone that hurt and tortured you? Who blew up that training camp and got you away from the planet?” I asked. “Yeah, I'm the jerk. I keep offering help to people that believe they don't need it.”
None of them said anything in response and I sighed.
“You're not going to take my offer to sneak you away, either.” I shook my head. “I can't believe you are that stupid to want to stay anywhere near The Order and risk being captured again and killed.”
“It's my life. I can do what I want with it.” The man said.
“No, it's my life. I saved it.” I said and he was surprised when the Presence didn't waver. “Don't look surprised. They were going to kill you at that camp. That's why you were sent there.”
Emari gasped and I turned to look at her.
“Yes, that's why the guards tried to do that to you.” I said. “You wouldn't be around to file a complaint about it afterwards.”
Emari closed her eyes and a few tears came out.
“Shh. It's okay now. I found you.” I said and took her into my arms. I hadn't hugged her since I was eleven and I had to look up to see her smiling face. Now she had to look up at me to see mine.
“Hunter...”
“Yes, I've been planning to look for you ever since they took you from me.” I said. “What are the odds that the Presence would lead me right to you, during the very first and most difficult mission I've ever been on to start tearing down The Order?”
“You... shouldn't seek revenge.” Emari said, barely above a whisper. “Not for me.”
I reached up and caressed the cheek of her face. “I have lots of reasons to do it.” I said and leaned down slightly to give her a light kiss on the lips. “You can't have vengeance without some revenge.”
Emari looked deep into my eyes. “Hunter, what happened to you?”
“I'll tell you all about it, right after we all clean up and you get healed.” I said and let her go as Adona turned to dock at the station. “By the way, you're first.”
No one argued about her going first, since they all knew how important a guardian was to a developing child. Losing a guardian before their time was supposed to come to an end, must have been devastating... for the both of them.
After we docked, I assigned rooms on Adona for them to stay in. There were just enough for them to stay in and not have them take the other rooms that people used when onboard. Emari got the one next to mine and Hailey's, of course. We all washed up and I went over to Udelis and borrowed the med-bot that wouldn't answer to anything else except Herbie.
I was tempted to call in a medical technician to do the procedure; but, then I'd have to let them in on why I had seven people with explosive charges in their heads that were designed to kill them if they tried to escape or didn't listen to their captors. I didn't want the hassle, so I was Herbie's assistant and he performed the procedure. We ran Emari through the full medical scanner and received a detailed medical scan, then transferred her to the operating table.
“This shouldn't take long.” I told her and took her hand. “Then I'll heal you.”
“I'm fine.” Emari said with a weak smile and I chuckled at the waver in the Presence.
“You will be.” I said and used Presence to put her to sleep. “All right, Herbie. Let's get to work.”
It was surprisingly simple for a precision medical robot to perform the procedure of cutting open her skull and carefully removing the foreign object that was lodged in her brain. I used Presence to ease the tissue out of the way and protected it from potential damage, then moved it back together and healed it. The skull was a little more difficult, since it was hard bone and part of it had to be cut away for the hole, so that took me a few minutes to reform and solidify as if there was never a hole there.
Herbie put the skin back in place and I healed it to remove the old and new scars, then all that was left was a bare spot to show where it had been. With the official procedure done, we moved on and used the medical scan to repair all of the damage she had received over the years. It took several hours to repair everything and heal her up properly. By the time I was done, I had expended a lot of Presence and Emari looked almost like the Emari she was the night before she was taken from me.
I transferred her over to one of the beds and tucked her in. “Thanks, Herbie.” I said and the droid beeped at me. “We've got six more to do, so we're going to be busy for the rest of the week.”
Herbie splayed its tool appendages in acceptance and I chuckled.
“I'll take you back to Udelis until tomorrow.” I said and we walked over to the door of the medical bay to see six anxious people and one very happy teenager. “She'll be asleep for a day or two, so you can go in to visit. Just don't crowd her.”
The six people went in to check on her and to see if she was okay after the procedure.
“You got her back.” Hailey said.
“I did.” I said and knelt on one knee. “Thank you for having faith in me.” I said and tapped my temple. “I could feel you encouraging me the whole time.”
Hailey giggled. “I'm getting better at it.”
“You really are.” I said and hugged her as I picked her up. “I'm just putting Herbie back and then we can go grab something to eat.”
“Don't you want to stay and watch her?” Hailey asked with a smile.
“I am watching her.” I said and smiled back.