As promised, here is the next installment a little more quickly than I've been posting, and a little shorter. Without further ado, let's see what happens next!

Chapter Seven

"Commander! You must come immediately!" An urgent voice came from the other side of the force field.

Drex raked his hand through Warren's wet hair. "I'll be back and we'll pick up where we left off," he said with a sadistic smile and the Turzent left as soon as the force field dropped.

Warren watched Drex leave through a haze of pain. He also felt something else – an emotional presence. Ztar! He didn't question how it was possible, Warren just accepted that Ztar's connection with him defied the psychic dampeners.

Sukja crawled toward the doorway to his cell. Archangel was breathing heavily and trembling violently from whatever Drex had been doing to him.

"Archangel, can you hear me?" Sukja asked gently.

At first there was no response, but Sukja waited.

"Yes, Sukja," Archangel's voice was raw and raspy when the reply finally came.

Warren felt his body begin to deal with Drex's abuses as he lay quietly and focused his mental senses on Ztar. Warren didn't want to say anything to Sukja yet in case their conversations were being monitored. There was no telepathic link with Ztar, it was purely emotion. One emotion – rage!

Within a couple minutes, the sound of weapons fire could be heard echoing down the hallway. Warren sat up slowly against the residual pain and looked at Sukja. "He found us. We need to be ready," he said as he started pulling on his tattered clothing once again.

###

Lar had decided a stealth approach was already not an option as shuttle sensors indicated they had been detected the moment their crafts had come into sight of the compound. As soon as their shuttles touched down, they were under attack. So much for starting things off with negotiating a release, the security head bemoaned. Fast and hard was now their best option. Kidnappers usually don't kill their prisoners without giving warning and Lar was gambling that would be the case this time as well. If an opportunity was presented to negotiate, they would do so.

Ztar allowed his rage consume him. He would neither show mercy or hold back. The interior of his shuttle nearly crackled with the Emperor's building energy field and mental force. Security officers laid down fire as the shuttle door opened. Ztar didn't wait, he spotted three of terrorists through the cockpit window. In a single mental bolt, he slammed into the minds of the three men – shredding their consciousness. They screamed as they dropped dying to the ground. His rage shielded Ztar from most of the backlash he usually felt when he killed telepathically.

Ztar had taken one critical piece of information from the men before they died – where Sukja and Archangel were being held.

'Lar, the far side of the largest building. That's where they're keeping them!' Ztar telepathed to the security chief.

With the shuttle doors opened, Ztar's security officers spilled out of the three shuttles. Weapons fire came at them from several points.

"Emperor, stay inside, we'll get them!"

"Not on your life, Lar! I'm taking these bastards down myself!"

"Then stay with me and Gragne." Lar knew it would do no good to argue with the Emperor.

Ztar nodded, but was already shimmering in the doorway of the shuttle and Lar knew what was coming. Ztar laid in an energy blast in the direction of two gunmen firing at the shuttle. Bodies and what they had been using for cover flew backward with lethal force.

Shots were coming at them from various directions, but Ztar was focused in one direction only, the main building. He would let nothing stop him from reaching his target. As they ran toward the structure, Lar and Gragne provided the cover fire Ztar needed to do his work. Wherever Ztar touched a mind, he tore it open and sliced through without mercy. Most didn't even have time to scream. When multiple attackers presented a good target, Ztar hit them with an energy blast so powerful it shattered bodies and any other objects in its path.

Lar watched in awe as Ztar unleashed his abilities – nothing held back, no restraint. He had never witnessed Ztar so powerful. Lar wasn't sure Ztar even knew he and Gragne were there any more, but the two men continued to protect their Emperor from the unexpected.

Ztar's felt his power grow as he left a path of death and destruction toward Sukja and Archangel. His abilities were not lessening with the expenditure as he would have expected. Their power flooded him. He hadn't felt this way since the augmentation when the mutations forced upon him by the scientists manifested and his natural abilities were suddenly triggered. That day years ago, his powers were wild and untrained and he had no idea how to wield them except at full blast. There was no subtly in the damage he inflicted on the people that had caused him the overwhelming pain that had wrenched his body. He simply lashed out and people died. Today was different – he wielded his powers with precision and the devastation was awe-inspiring and frightening.

Ztar homed in on the exact location of Archangel and Sukja as they approached the building. Ztar had ripped from the minds of his victims the name of their leader – Drex. Ztar would save his best for that one!

Imperial security had already blasted down the front door as Ztar approached. A pre-emptive energy blast through the entrance took out another gunman. Down the main hall and around a corner and the cell block was visible. When Ztar scanned the cells, he got nothing – the dampeners were still on. The empathic signals, though, told him that they hadn't gone far.

"Emperor, they're outside and heading for their shuttles!" Lar said when his men outside commed.

Ztar immediately refocused on getting between the terrorists and where they were heading, with Lar and Gragne close behind.

###

When things had quickly and obviously turned very bad for them, Drex ran back to the cell block with J'faird and two others. Grabbing and binding their hostages hand's behind their back, they headed out the rear of the building, using Sukja and Archangel as shields. Drex had Archangel. J'faird took Sukja. They would take no chances on being easy targets.

Drex yelled at the Imperial forces. "Stay back! Anyone moves and these two die!" Drex kept his weapon against the back of Archangel's head.

Lar's men didn't move, but kept weapons aimed at the targets. Hostage situations were always tricky.

Drex and company moved past the main building and turned the corner toward the building housing the shuttles. Ztar emerged from behind a small outbuilding, positioning himself between the terrorists and their destination.

"You are a fool, Drex. Do you really think you'd get away with this?" he asked calmly.

"Stand down, Ztar, or we'll start with Archangel! I'm betting my trigger finger is faster than anything you can throw at me – physically or mentally!"

It was indeed possible that Drex could kill Archangel before Ztar could kill him with a mental blast. It was also possible that Drex was psychically sensitive and able to detect any mental intrusion. Ztar would not gamble with Archangel's life on either point. They would do this the old fashioned way. So Ztar simply stood, his guards behind him, smiling what he hoped was a confident and intimidating grin.

'Ztar?' Warren reached out.

'My Archangel!' Ztar touched back.

Warren quickly sent Ztar images of what he wanted to do. It might just work. Ztar mentally nodded in agreement. This needed to be a coordinated effort between him and Archangel and pulled off with split-second timing. No room for error. Ztar mentally informed Lar how things were going to go down.

"That is true, you could kill Archangel before I kill you, but you would still be dead," Ztar explained as if talking to a simpleton.

The small group of terrorists tightened up, as anticipated they would, coming to a full stop several yards from Ztar. Warren knew J'faird and Sukja were behind and to the left of Drex. He'd wait for the right moment – for Ztar's signal.

"But I'll have taken from you what you hold most dear!" Drex said with seeming pride, repositioning the phase weapon against Warren's head to emphasize his point.

"I think you put more value on my whore than he's worth. There have been many before him and there will be many after him," Ztar said without emotion. He hated the words as he spoken them, but he wanted to rattle Drex just a little.

"This one is special to you!" the terrorist replied with conviction.

"I think your intelligence reports are flawed." Ztar replied coolly.

"You don't lie well, Emperor," Drex smiled. "What other whore has risen to Imperial staff? No, this one is special or we wouldn't still be standing here talking. Let us pass to our shuttles, now!"

Ztar smiled one of his condescending grins. "Drex, you are so caught up in the old ways. Your views of what is proper do not apply to my Empire. I make my own rules – not Emperors from times long gone. In my Empire, Imperial staff is whatever I please it to be. If I wish for my bedmates to be staff, that is what they will be. That doesn't make this human any more special than the ones to follow him. He is simply the first and it amuses me to call him Imperial staff." Ztar shifted his stance to one more reflective of boredom with the situation. "He still does in bed whatever I wish and follows my every command. I use him for my purposes and when he no longer pleases me, I will find another who does," Ztar continued. "So if you kill this one, it will cause me to search for another, true. But when you're Emperor, you have your choice of bedmates."

"Then I should kill him now and get this over with!"

"By all means, let's end this," Ztar agreed.

He read the subtle mental change in Drex's conviction in the worth of his hostage. It caused Drex to hesitate and momentarily lose his mental focus ever so slightly.

Warren felt the signal from Ztar. In a sudden, sharp move, Warren pulled himself down quick and hard into the Drex's knees. Drex lost his balance and his grip on Warren as he was pushed backward and struggled to regain his footing. Warren twisted and dove toward Sukja.

Within a split second of Warren breaking Drex's hold, Ztar lashed out at the terrorist's mind. He locked it down hard, and squeezed.

Warren's head and shoulder connected with Sukja's legs in a sideways blow. Sukja's legs flew out from beneath him and he descended hard to the ground, robbing J'faird of his shield.

At the same instant, Ztar blew through J'faird's mind, killing him quickly. The Imperial security forces took out the remaining two terrorists. Lar quickly directed his unit to do a thorough sweep of the grounds and buildings.

Warren was on his knees and Sukja on his side on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Warren asked Sukja. The Ozjaerian nodded as Lar and Gragne moved in to release Sukja and Archangel's bindings.

Ztar had the target of his rage and he wasn't about to let him off with a quick death like the others. This was the man who had planned the attack and tortured Archangel. From Drex's mind, Ztar ripped from him the reasons, his informants, fellow conspirators, and other information. Drex was on the ground, hands holding his head as Ztar stole information without regard to the pain and damage being done. Drex screamed in agony. One of the Imperial guards snatched away the terrorist's dropped weapon.

Ztar approached Drex, smiling down viciously. "Perhaps you regret your foolishness now?!"

Drex screamed as Ztar sliced through his mind again. The terrorist's body shook violently from the assault.

"You will not die quickly, Drex. I know everything you did." Ztar poured molten lava over Drex's mind. The terrorist curled up on the ground, screaming again.

Warren looked at Ztar. His body was shimmering and Warren knew what was coming. The energy field left Ztar's body and flowed over Drex, but this was not a lethal assault. This was intended to cause excruciating pain. Drex continued to scream from his fetal position in the dirt.

As much as Warren wanted to see Drex suffer, this was torture and Ztar would come to regret his reversion to cruelty, or at least Warren hoped that would be the case.

"Ztar, stop!" Warren called out both aloud and mentally.

Ztar up at Warren, his eyes narrow and filled with wrath. "He will pay for what he did to you!"

"If vengeance is to be had, it is mine, not yours!" Warren demanded.

"He must suffer as you did! More than you did!" Ztar was firm in that belief.

"Drex must pay for what he did, yes. But not like this! You are better than torture, Ztar. This is not right no matter what he has done."

"He deserves this! He brought it upon himself!"

"Ztar, don't do this. You are better than him! Show me that you've changed. That you've left that part of you behind!" Warren pleaded with Ztar. Torture was never justifiable – ever!

Ztar looked at the man lying at his feet whimpering. His mind flashed back to the second night Ztar was with Archangel, four years ago. Archangel had laid whimpering in the same way as Drex – body and mind beyond what it could endure. He closed his eyes against the memory. What had he done that night? How could he have been so cruel? Archangel deserved so much better. But the man that had so abused Archangel no longer existed; at least that's what Ztar had been telling himself for three years now. Was he wrong? Had he not changed as much as he had thought?

Opening his eyes, he looked at Archangel sitting on the ground. With everything he had been through at the hands of the terrorists, Archangel was begging for mercy for his torturer. This unique human who reawakened his gentle side, who was the reason Ztar knew how to care again, was asking Ztar to not revert back to four years ago. Ztar realized in that moment that if he didn't stop now, he risked undoing all the good Archangel had done. Ztar began to sicken with the knowledge of what he was doing to Drex. He couldn't finish what he started; not and be able to look into Archangel's beautiful face again.

He sighed and signaled Lar to take the terrorist leader away.

Ztar was with Archangel in an instant, taking him into his arms and holding the human's head against his chest. Emotions flooded him and Ztar began to weep quietly, clutching Archangel tightly. Then he moved Archangel away from his chest and looked down into the face of the human he loved. He brushed the matted hair away from his face. There were no words he could say to erase what had happened over the past many hours. All he could do was send calming feelings through the human.

Warren allowed Ztar to soothe him. He actually welcomed it – let the feelings push away the horrors.

Ztar grabbed the Ozjaerian's hand and held it tightly. He looked at his attendant – his faced badly bruised and his lip cut and swollen. Ztar realized just how much he meant to him. Sukja had stood next to Ztar for all the many years no matter what Ztar had done. He loved this man. Not like he loved Archangel, but as a steadfast friend.

"Archangel protected me, Ztar," was all Sukja could manage as his voice choked with sobs.

"I couldn't let them hurt you, Sukja. That wasn't a choice," Warren stately simply.

Sukja put his hand on Archangel's shoulder and looked at him as tears ran down his face. "There is always a choice, Archangel. You could have let them do with me as they pleased and spared yourself. As always, you chose self-sacrifice. I'm not sure I deserve that, but know I will be eternally grateful."

The three men sat on the ground for while Lar and his unit went about their work. Within a few minutes, Lar walked tentatively up to the trio. "My Emperor, you should go back to the palace now. We will finish up here."

The trip back to the palace was made in silence, Ztar still holding onto Archangel and Sukja sitting close.

###

The evening of the kidnapping Archangel and Sukja spent in the palace infirmary with Ztar's personal physician attending to the two men. Archangel had fully recovered from his physical injuries by the time they landed at the palace, and Sukja would recover from his minor injuries in a few days. The emotional traumas would take far longer.

At first, Ztar would not leave their sides. He didn't care in the least that he had house guests who had arrived for the reception. If they didn't understand his need to be with his attendant and companion, they weren't worth his time.

"My Emperor, you need to at least spend sometime with your guests. They have come far to be here," Sukja insisted from his infirmary bed.

"They will keep," Ztar insisted, sitting in a chair between the two most important people in his life.

"Sukja is right, Ztar. Go to your guests. Sukja and I will be fine," Warren injected.

"My place is here!" Ztar was firm.

"You're being stubborn," Warren pointed out. "There is nothing for you to do here, except make Sukja and me upset that you're ignoring our guests."

Ztar studied each of men carefully before answering. "The last thing I want to do is cause you to be upset, but I suspect you are manipulating me into doing exactly what I don't want to do."

"You are Emperor, and at times that means putting your personal needs aside. This is one of those times," Sukja said matter-of-factly. "Archangel is right, there is more nothing for you to do right now. We will be released soon to our chambers. You can come by to check on us before you retire."

The drugs given to both victims were taking the edge off the emotional pain quite effectively and making them drowsy. Sukja knew at least for tonight, he and Archangel would likely sleep dreamlessly. Tomorrow, though…they'd deal with that tomorrow.

Ztar finally relented and left the infirmary to perform his Imperial duties with a heavy heart.

###

Warren cried violently for a long time in the dimly lit shower in the very early morning hours, hugging his knees to his chest in the corner on the floor. He had already taken one shower before collapsing into bed a few hours earlier despite being nearly unconscious from the sedative. Upon waking, though, the need to cleanse himself again had been overwhelming, just like it had four years ago on the Mi-Lartui the first time Ztar raped him. He felt vile and dirty.

While Warren had taken the sedative before retiring, he did not take the second drug prescribed by the physician to ease emotional distress. Warren never liked drugs of any sort – sometimes they reacted badly to his physiology. But now memories of what he'd endured forced their way through the mental blocks Warren thought he had erected. Without mercy, they bombarded him. It was almost worst than the rapes and torture themselves, certain scenes playing over and over. He couldn't stop them.

Finally in desperation, he crawled out of the shower and to where the drugs sat on the vanity. With shaking hands he down two of the capsules and then sat wet and nude on the floor in the bathroom, too weak to move any further.

The images kept coming, one after the other. The smell of alcohol and the feel of the damp, dirty pad beneath him. The men's hands on his body, over his wings. The pain of them inside him. The slow, agonizing torture by Drex. The laughs and crude remarks. He put his hands over his ears in an attempt to shut out the laughs. Wrenching sobs racked his body again.

Suddenly, someone was standing in the dark doorway of the bathroom. Fear gripped him and he gasped. Warren was back in his cell and yet another visitor had come calling. He shrank back, pressing tight against the vanity. But instead of hurting him, this visitor knelt down and took him in his arms. A warming feeling flooded his mind – soft, gentle, soothing, filled with compassion. Warren grabbed the source of the comfort to escape the horrors bombarding him. Then he felt them melt away. He wrapped his arms and wings tightly around this gentle visitor. Warren felt safe and protected.

###

The Emperor had finally drifted off to sleep from sheer exhaustion, knowing both Archangel and Sukja were also sleeping. Ztar had been most worried about Archangel not resting through the night. Knowing his patient's unusual physiology, the physician had given Archangel a powerful, time-released sedative he had thought would keep the human out until morning.

Suddenly, Ztar was yanked awake. The empathic pain was like a knife through his mind. Archangel was in crisis. Within moments, he was in Archangel's chambers. He saw the human sitting on the floor, wet, sobbing, and shaking violently. He gathered the human to him and telepathically soothed Archangel's mind. Then he suppressed the horrifying memories overpowering the human's ability to block out. Ztar held Archangel until the shaking and crying ceased.

Glancing up, Ztar saw the open drug container. Probing Archangel's mind, Ztar found he had indeed taken two sedatives just a few minutes earlier. Ztar was relieved. The drug would soon take hold and Archangel should sleep dreamlessly for a few more hours.

Archangel clung to him. The wings came forward and enveloped them as the two men sat wrapped together. In a little while, Ztar felt Archangel's body relax as the drugs did their work and he fell asleep. Ztar carried the still wet human to the bed and he crawled in next to Archangel. He covered them both in the blankets and drew the human near. Ztar would not leave Archangel again until he woke.

###

Morning dawned hot and arid; a typical Imperial Valley mid-summer day. Ztar rose up on one elbow and watched as Archangel began to slowly wake.

"I'm here with you, my Archangel," Ztar whispered. Given how traumatized he was, Ztar didn't want Archangel to be momentarily frightened by another body next to him.

"Ztar?" Warren asked to be certain it was the Emperor. His tongue felt thick and words were hard to form.

"Yes, my Archangel. You are safe."

Warren slowly opened his eyes to the sound of Ztar's voice. His mind felt mushy and his vision was blurry.

"We're home?" He asked just to be sure he wasn't hallucinating or dreaming; that he still wasn't in the cell.

Ztar heart swelled at the words "we're home."

"We're home and safe." Ztar gently brushed aside the stray hair from Archangel's face. The blue eyes were dull and lifeless, maybe not even completely focused.

Warren closed his eyes again. Thinking was difficult, but it seemed he was back in his chambers. He let that sink in. But if it was a hallucination, he welcomed it.

"Found us." It was statement to confirm he was interpreting the situation correctly.

"We did, remember? And Sukja is also safe. We're at the palace," Ztar reassured, stroking across Archangel's forehead and hair as one would soothe a child.

Warren felt his mind beginning to clear. He was at the palace, safe. Sukja was safe. Ztar was in the bed with him. Light filled the room. It was morning. He took a deep breathe and exhaled slowing and opened his eyes again. Ztar's face was above him.

"Thank you." He meant it. The man had likely saved their lives.

Ztar simply smiled down at Archangel and brushed his hand over the blond waves again. Would his Archangel survive this? He prayed that would be so to the gods he hadn't prayed to in a very long time.

At that moment, Ztar felt Sukja stirring in the part of his mind he had kept in monitoring mode with the Ozjaerian. He didn't want Sukja to wake alone either.

"I'm going to go to Sukja now, Archangel. He's waking. I'll be back."

Warren nodded. It was a good idea.

Ztar rose and left the room through the front entrance. Warren stayed in bed and closed his eyes again to drift. A few minutes later, Ztar returned with a still groggy Sukja in tow.

Warren sat up slowly as Sukja approached the bed. The two men embraced when Sukja sat down.

Shock is an amazing thing. It had gotten them through the hours after the kidnapping, and now it was like they were seeing each other for the first time since the rescue; as if the previous evening in the infirmary hadn't happened.

Ztar sat at the foot of the bed, watching the two. So much to deal with in the coming days and weeks. And right in the middle of the biggest Imperial event Ztar had ever planned. All because some supremacy terror group wanted to disrupt his plans. More investigation would be needed, but Ztar had pulled much information from Drex's mind about the plot, the reasons, and the people involved. The leaks regarding the announcement needed to be found – they were likely right in the palace.

The radical group wanted to make a point that moving to a more democratic government was the wrong direction for the Empire. They had hoped to force Ztar to recant the formation of a new constitution. Barring that, he had planned to least make Ztar question or postpone his decision. It had been the first of many plans the terrorists had envisioned to disrupt the change in government.

But while the terrorist knew of Ztar's telepathic prowess, they hadn't known about his strong empathic abilities, especially where Archangel and Sukja were concerned. Thus they hadn't believed they would be found, at least not so quickly. Ztar had long ago decided to keep some of his abilities close to his chest, and it had paid dividends with this single incident.

An afterthought to the kidnapping was Drex's desire to inflict an emotional wound in the Emperor, and what better way than through raping and torturing someone Ztar loved. Drex's choice of Archangel came from his disdain that Ztar had named Archangel to the royal court. That smacked retroist of the type Rja associated with outside the palace. That possible connection needed to be resolved quickly. Lar and MI were already working on whether or not the housemaster had any knowledge of the plot. Another name had already surfaced from Ztar's palace staff – Tarric. A possible terrorist connection there to be investigated. Both staff members were in custody in the palace brig.

As Ztar watched Sukja and Archangel embrace, a surprising sense of peace came over him, in spite of what they'd all just been through. In that moment, he felt his life was complete. Sukja, an old and dear friend and mentor, who had loved and believed in him despite all of the wrongs Ztar had committed over the years. That faith had slowly, methodically led him to be the man he had now become.

Archangel had reawakened parts of Ztar that were long ago repressed and nearly forgotten – the caring, loving, gentle parts. While Sukja had guided and molded his mind, Archangel was saving his soul.

Ztar smiled warmly at the two men. They looked back at him with questioning eyes.

"I love you both," he said, his heart full, but in incredible pain.

###