Somehow, Otas had convinced Hillas’s guardsmen to follow him and gain control of the core ship
Grax
, putting himself at the helm of a planet-killer. But that wasn’t Otas’s only weapon in his arsenal.
“How about the toxin?” Talla asked the room. After all, that was what had caused the recent events. “Has any progress been made on an antitoxin?”
“Since we cannot connect to the
Grax’s
systems,” Nalea replied, frowning. “We can safely assume Otas does not wish to share the antitoxin. But he also can’t make a move while under the watch of the
Artox
and
Evo
. They desperately want to land to support us Earthside, but they understand the importance of their mission. We’ll get to Otas when we can, and we’re working on plans to infiltrate the
Grax
, but you are all aware of the power of a core ship. We cannot afford to lose any more souls.”
Roden came to his feet, bringing all the attention to him. “That brings us to our mission. We are no longer Draeken, or Sephian, or human,” he said, looking at each contingent in the room. “We are the Resistance. And we plan to resist death and imprisonment and segregation to the end. We will take the best approaches of each race and lead Earth into something better, stronger.” He held up a fist.
“I will not declare war on my own people,” Jax called out. Ace patted Jax’s shoulder, and words of praise echoed his words.
Talla glanced over at him and frowned. Hadn’t he essentially done that when he helped Etzee’s residents?
“I’m not asking you to, Captain Jerrick,” Roden said. “We have two objectives.” He raised a finger. “First, find an antitoxin. We can’t simply sit back and wait out the toxin, especially since these things have been historically known to change and adapt. It could take months, and the people of Earth may not have that long, but we do. Right now, we’re the only chance Earth has. We have people working day and night on this, but we need more help.”
A knot of anxiety formed in Talla’s stomach. She’d sat in early meetings with Roden when they’d first analyzed the toxin. When Roden asked when they could design an antitoxin, the med-tec at the time had said, “Never. It’s impossible.” Had things changed, or was Roden simply giving them false hope?
“That brings me to our second objective.” Roden raised another finger. “Build our ranks. With the toxin out there and with the U.S. firing on us every minute of every hour of every day, the
Striga
will remain our base of operations for now. It’s safer than anywhere else on Earth, especially from the Omega toxin.
“We’ll run search and rescue missions every hour to find survivors and new recruits. Out of six hundred eighty-five residents on Etzee, only two hundred fifty-one remain. Already, hundreds, if not thousands, of humans have trickled into what’s left of the Etzee to join us in response to the attacks — most likely they think by joining us they won’t get sick, but we’ll take support any way we can get it. This ship can support sixty thousand and we have fewer than two thousand aboard right now, so capacity will not be an issue for some time to come.
“Blockades between the Etzee and the
Striga
are a problem,” Roden continued. “The human supporters settling at the Etzee can’t get to us safely, and we can’t get to them without getting fired upon. So we’ll drop supplies every day and watch their situation. There’s plenty more supporters out there who are on their own and need us to pick them up. Our first priority is to bring more scientists, soldiers, and medical personnel on board.”
Sienna leaned forward in her chair. “I don’t always agree with you, Roden. And everyone knows I don’t trust you, but for this one time, you have full Sephian support.”
Talla leaned back, taken by surprise by Sienna Wolfe’s comment. If Sienna could put her hatred aside for peace, maybe they had a chance with the Sephians after all.
Ace and Jax had been whispering to each other, drawing Talla’s attention. Jax spoke first. “This is a solid plan. How do we help?”
Roden smiled. “Excellent question. Everyone in this room is a Draeken guardsman, a human officer, or a member of a Sephian trinity. You’re leaders, and that’s what we need to pull together our three races. As of today, you will each be assigned a team of recruits. Wync and Legian have been going through the roster to divide all able-bodied people on the
Striga
into teams. Each team will be comprised of all three races, though Draeken outnumber Sephians, and Sephians currently outnumber humans right now. Some of us have been at war against each other for decades, and many of our human recruits won’t have any military training. So it will be a challenge getting them to work together. Your team roster will be delivered to your sanctuaries within two hours.”
Nalea came to her feet. “Bringing the races together won’t be easy, but there’s no other option, not if we want to survive.” She took Roden’s hand, and they left the room before anyone could ask questions.
Talla stood when Laze did. He looked exhausted already. “I’m heading back to my room for a nap,” he said. “Stop by later?”
She smiled and gave him another hug. “Of course.” She watched Laze limp out of the room, not moving until he was through the door. By then she realized only the humans were left. In a sudden hurry, she walked past them.
A warm hand pressed against her back, and she turned. Ace was smiling. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to use my shower, and was hoping you’d show me.”
She pulled away. “Seriously, Ace. Do you shamelessly flirt with every female?”
Ace shrugged. “Yup. And doubly so on the pretty ones.”
“You’re hopeless.”
He continued to watch her, smiling.
“And the answer is and always will be ‘no’.”
He pouted, and then shrugged with a grin. “All right, but you can’t blame me for trying.” He glanced over his shoulder, then fist-pumped her. “See you around, Talla.” He tried to jog but grabbed his chest, and then strolled ahead and joined up with the trio of humans several paces ahead of them.
Talla kept walking, focused on ignoring the man at her back. Until she realized it was impossible. She turned on him, and Jax froze as though he’d been caught. “Did you mean what you said? About last night?”
He bristled. “Listen, Talla … ” He sighed, and ran a hand through his short hair. “We were drunk and — ”
She narrowed her eyes. “And what, Jax?”
“And it never should’ve happened.”
Guilt stung Jax’s veins like lightning and pounded his heart like thunder when he left Talla standing alone in the hallway. He quickened his pace, not fast enough to make it look like he was running from her, although that was exactly what his spineless asshat-self was doing.
That it was for her own good did little to ease the fact that he felt like a stinking pile of dog shit for using her. He’d used her, plain and simple. Last night he knew she was there for more than just sex. He’d seen it in her eyes. She’d lost her brother and was looking for someone to distract her from the pain, to fill a hole.
Enter Jax. Asshole of the year.
He’d distracted her, all right. And while he could keep telling himself that he did nothing to lead her on, at the very least, he’d done nothing to
not
lead her on. They’d both wanted sex. And that’s exactly what they got.
He wanted to put the blame on Ace for amping up an already scorching need, for putting the heat in Talla’s eyes, but the truth was, Jax had been fantasizing about taking Talla for two years. The little push was all he’d needed to finally discover that she was every bit as good as he’d imagined.
That she wanted more wasn’t Jax’s problem. He couldn’t give her what he wasn’t capable of giving. Better to have her think him an ass now rather than break her heart a month from now.
Jax had been so deep in thought, he hadn’t realized he’d caught up with Ace until he was upon him.
Ace studied him but said nothing, his lips tight.
“Just get it out, already,” Jax said, knowing that familiar sulky expression all too well.
“You’re being an asshole,” Ace said. “I get it. I do. But she’s not Risa.”
Jax bristled. “This has nothing to do with her.”
Ace seemed oblivious to Jax’s roiling temper. “This has everything to do with Risa and you know it. But Talla’s
nothing
like Risa.”
Jax shoved Ace against the wall. He ignored the people watching them, steering a wide path around them. “This is not up for discussion
. Capisce?
”
Ace shoved him away and started walking down the hall. After a moment, Jax caught up and fell into stride at his side again. Ace said nothing, just continued walking. At least he didn’t punch him. Jax deserved that and then some. Dumbass arguments aside, they were still brothers, and they could count on each other through whatever shit life lobbed at them. Ace saw right through Jax’s charade, and that was what had pissed him off the most.
They walked in silence until they reached their rooms, each stopping at his own door. Ace opened his door. Before stepping inside, he spoke. “So since you two aren’t a thing, you won’t mind if I go for Talla then?”
“’Course not,” Jax said in a rough rush.
Ace smirked. “Good,” he said and disappeared into his room.
Jax stood there and stewed, knowing that the son of a bitch was playing him. Ace was trying to rile him to force him to accept the fact that he had feelings for Talla. Or was he? Last night, Ace had shown clear interest in Talla, but Jax had assumed it was just one of his games. What if Ace went for Talla? His fists clenched.
What if he had to see them together every day, knowing his best pal was fucking his — no, not
his.
She would never be his. He had no rights to Talla, something he made more than clear this morning. She could choose whomever she wanted to screw and Jax couldn’t do a damn thing about it because he’d made it clear they were not and would never be exclusive.
He rubbed his temples. God, he’d really fucked things up with her. With his teeth clamped together, he spun on his heel and headed for the one thing that he could always count on.
He drank until his guilt dampened, though his mood hadn’t improved. Five drinks later, the bartender scanned Jax’s wrist-com. He shoved off from the bar and headed back to his room, scowling at anyone who’d dared make eye contact.
After swiping his wrist-com over his name on the wall, the door opened with a nearly silent
swoosh.
He stepped inside and just stood there, ignoring the intermittent tone reverberating through the room. There was nothing “sanctuary” about this place. The sheets were still tangled from last night. It was probably his imagination, but he could have sworn he could still smell the luscious scent that was Talla. With a growl, he tore the sheets off the bed and threw them in the corner.
Never should’ve crossed that line last night.
He liked Talla. Too damn much. And only he was a big enough head case to screw things up with someone like her.
With the annoying tone refusing to stop, he snapped around to the wall. Hitting the flashing button, his roster appeared.
Another fucking team
. He didn’t want another team, just another team to get massacred. The truth was a bitter pill as he sent the details to his wrist-com. He scanned through the list, recognizing half of the ten names. He could work with that. He didn’t want to get to know any of them.
They were scheduled to meet in training room 153N4. He was already twenty minutes late, which wasn’t going to help them get off on the right foot. With new purpose, Jax pulled up the map and located the training room. Fifteenth floor, third quadrant, section N, and room four. The ship’s layout was pretty straight forward, and it didn’t take long to grasp the codes and locations, especially since the Draeken had the courtesy to add English to everything.
Walking through the hallways weren’t much different from any military base. Well, if one didn’t pay attention to the Draekens’ extra appendages or Sephians’ odd skin color. Strangely, Jax felt at home here. No,
home
wasn’t the right word.
Safe
was the better word
.
If his leaders fully grasped the size and power of a core ship, they would’ve handled the Etzee differently. A couple centuries ago, they’d treated Native Americans in a similar manner. Back then, the aggressors had had a clear power advantage. Not the case this time.
Except the stakes were absolute this time. His people thought they could erase any trace of Draeken or Sephians. They thought that they could return to the way life was before they discovered they were no longer alone in the universe.
Ignorance isn’t always bliss. Sometimes it’s just ignorance.
The Draeken could decimate the world with several well-placed shots from the behemoth now resting on American soil. The three other ships in orbit could blow Earth into a million tiny bits. The Draeken were desperate to find a home and they had decided Earth was it. They weren’t going anywhere.
The Sephians were different. As soon as Apolo returned with their ship, they could return to Sephia. Hell, he couldn’t blame them, since Jax’s own military had tried to eradicate them from the planet. He suspected the millions of Sephians back on Sephia wouldn’t take lightly the murder of their compatriots on Earth. A fleet of Sephian ships were no trifling matter.
We should’ve let sleeping dogs lay.
By the time Jax got to the training room, he was amped, ready to work his team into just that … a team. If they were going to get killed, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be from lack of effort on his part.
He found them segregated. No surprise there. He recognized the Sephians and two of the Draeken from the Etzee and his time with them. The two humans were new faces.
The two Sephians stood off to the side. He’d known both for over a year. Sana was an excellent soldier, and he’d already assumed she would serve as his Second. Tanel, on the other hand, was a reliable com-tec. But he was no soldier. The pair was just standing there, watching his arrival. That they weren’t conversing didn’t alarm Jax. Sana was someone who only talked when she had something to say, and from his times around her, she never had much to say.