Dwynwen Strong and the Tornado Crew were a discreet distance from the Concord Hotel where Merionwen was being held prisoner and exchanged ideas on the best plan to rescue her for about forty minutes before Malena and Shiyne exchanged thoughts and the former said
“Ok the plan is this”
Malena went on to explain
“Lyris and Zerrad you take Dwynwen back to the Tornado
and get the ship ready to leave, which we might need to do in a hurry”
Parse, Terrel and Ferro will go with you, Parse get
the Stroller equipped, you know what we need, comms and Pulsar Lasers, the small concealable ones
not the cannons, Terrel, get your medical kit just in case, and
then get back here double quick, Ferro, you know what you need to do.
While they waited for the Stroller to arrive, Malena
Endia, Shiyne, Asti Alegionaris and Ambor Etra kept the Hotel under
surveillance and discussed in more detail how they were going to execute the
plan.
They looked an unusual quartet, Malena in the
human form of a tall slim
brunette, with olive skin and hazel eyes, giving no hint of her feelings of
anxiousness, the tiny figure of Shiyne who was completely bald, with cerise
coloured skin and purple eyes, which were closed as she scanned the Hotel
again, Asti’s slight figure, only five foot tall, with short
platinum hair, ivory skin and silver eyes, who was looking about her furtively,
and the assured figure of the
Andraxian, Ambor, with jet black hair and the typical Andraxian opaque grey green skin
which darkened or lightened depending on their mood, as she was in a heightened
state of excitement she was luminescing.
Apart from
surveillance they also started to prepare for the rescue and the first thing
they had to do was to secure a laundry trolley because Mal was going to change
into a Melmanc and push the trolley with Shiyne hidden inside because no one
would look twice at a Melmanc pushing a laundry trolley.
Melmanc’s were a
race of Dwarfs, immensely strong with an unquenchable work ethic, and there
wasn’t a Hotel in Clarissoss that didn’t employ Melmanc’s.
Malena was an
Obgaron shape shifter, and in her natural Mercurial form of liquid silver glass
she looked very different to the tall slim brunette human, and even more so to
the Melmanc she was going to become.
As an Obgaron shape shifter she could transform at
will, but she could only shift into a being she had touched.
Only the briefest moment was required and then it was
in her memory banks and could be recalled when required.
She could also manipulate that memory and add or
subtract from it for example in her everyday life she chose to take the form of
a 27 year old human whom she met on a remote mining colony when she first
entered Legion space, but she chose to be the human girl and wear clothes on
that form but it wasn’t necessary and for the rescue mission she chose to
simulate her clothes in case she needed to shift, it would have looked very odd
indeed if the Melmanc, who were very drab dressers, was wearing her clothes.
So, the
first thing Malena did when Parse pulled up in the Stroller was to go inside
and remove her clothes.
Once the rescue
party were armed they left Parse and Terrell aboard the stroller and headed for
the Hotel and once safely inside they went to a quiet spot were Malena
transformed.
“Ok let’s go” she
said as they left their place of safety and a few moments later they had
recovered the earlier acquired laundry trolley.
“What a brilliant
idea” Asti said “I’m not sure even Merri would have thought of that”
“I’m sure she
would” Malena said “get in Shiyne”
The Vann telepath
sat in the laundry trolley completely covered by a bedsheet, apart from her
cerise fingers which were gripping the edge of the trolley and the top of her
head, as she peered over the edge.
“Ok get down and
hide” Mal said and once she was sure Shiyne was safely hidden she pushed her
towards the lift, and once she had checked that the coast was clear she pushed
the trolley into the lift that Ambor had secured.
As they travelled
up to the 14th floor Shiyne had emerged from beneath the bedding,
closed her eyes and performed a telepathic scan.
“I’ve got her!”
she exclaimed “She’s conscious”
“Is she ok?” Mal
asked
“Yes, she’s
confused, because she doesn’t know where she is” she said and then she laughed
“And she’s angry because she’s tied up”
“But she’s ok?”
Asti asked
“Yes” Shiyne
assured her
“How many people
are with her?” Mal asked, so Shiyne closed her eyes again and a moment later
she looked at Mal with her purple eyes wide open and exclaimed, “She’s on her
own”
“What?” Asti
exclaimed “No guards?”
“None” she
confirmed
“What about
adjoining rooms?” Ambor asked so Shiyne closed her eyes once more and expanded
the scope of her scan.
“Room thirty-six
is empty” she said without opening her eyes and then she smiled “thirty-two is
occupied but so are the couple in the bed”
“We couldn’t be
that lucky, could we?” Malena said
“I’ll take all the
luck we can get” Asti retorted
“Me too” agreed
Shiyne
“Ok then get going
before they get back” Ambor urged
The plan was for
Malena, as a Melmanc, to push Shiyne in the trolley to room 34, as no one would
give a second thought to a Melmanc moving laundry, and once there they would
gain entry either by, ruse, Shiynes telepathic ability, or failing that brute
force, hopefully with the abductors being absent, gaining entry would be
simple.
Once inside they
would get Merri into the trolley and return the way they came.
So as soon as the
lift doors opened Shiyne hid under a sheet again and Malena pushed the trolley
out and then along the corridor and left Ambor and Asti to
secure the lift for their escape.
Unfortunately, the low numbers were nearest the lift,
so they had to trundle the laundry cart some distance before they reached room
34 and Malena was relieved when they got there, but that was only half the job,
she would have two in the trolley for the return journey.
She stopped the trolley and whispered to Shiyne
“Is it still all clear?”
And a moment later Shiyne’s muffled voice replied
“Yes, all clear”
So, using a tool Lyris had given her, she punched out
the lock and the door flew open.
A few moments
later she had pushed the trolley into the room safely away from prying eyes.
“We’re in” Malena
said and closed the door as Shiyne sprang out from her hiding place from
beneath the bedsheets, then they both drew their weapons, Shiyne checked the
bathroom and then they went deeper into the room, but the sitting room was
empty, so they proceeded into the bedroom and found Merri laying bound and
gagged on the bed, in a state of agitation.
“It’s ok Merri
we’ll soon have you out of here” Mal said and quickly loosened her gag
“What’s happened,
where am I?” she asked
“You were
abducted” Shiyne replied as she began untying her feet
“Why? I’m on
holiday” she retorted indignantly
“It wasn’t you
they were after” Mal replied and freed her hands
“That should make
me feel better, but it doesn’t” Merri snapped but then the penny dropped
“Oh God is Dwyn
ok?”
“Yes, she’s fine,
we’ve got her on the Tornado” Mal replied
“Thank God” Merri
exclaimed and then the three friends hugged.
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