She shook her head as if clearing her
thoughts. “You’ve got great timing, Braden.” Then she spotted Erik on the
floor. “Erik!”
They both kneeled beside him. “He was
impaled. It’s bad.”
“I see that.” She looked at her wrist.
“Damn it. I lost my sensor.” She pulled a small device from her jacket. “I need
to stop the bleeding. Go handle things. You’ve done all you can here.”
He was reluctant to leave Erik’s side but
he had a job to finish and others to save. He nodded and returned to the front
of the ship. As he took the vessel off autopilot, he noticed a large energy
surge coming from the planet. “What the hell?” The power caused unusual
interference and he couldn’t lock down the exact location.
At the same time, explosions registered
around the facility where Leila had been.
Several of his fighters were now orbiting
Earth, while others still engaged Daegal’s sting fighters farther out. Drones
were also firing on positions located at Earth’s poles. The computer indicated
the technology was not Earth, Marid or Xylon based. Egesa ships began to
converge.
It all clicked in his head at once. “A
diversion,” he whispered to himself. “Yes.” Someone was helping them, drawing
the Egesa ships in opposite directions. He spoke into the comm to his ships. “Drones
are firing on the planet. Sting fighters are moving to destroy. Protect those drones.”
“Sir?” one of his commanders asked. “Verify
command to allow firing from drones on the planet?”
“Yes. Engage the sting fighters only.” At
that moment, a sting fighter hit them from behind. His ship shook violently. He
had no rear firing capability and the shields were damaged. “I need more
cover,” he spoke into his comm. He heard a small explosion and Leila let out a
squeal.
“Braden! Fire!”
Braden looked behind him. “Shit.” The back
panel had lit up and sparks flew. He hit the control to auto-extinguish. The
flames immediately disappeared. “Leila, I’m going to materialize you and Erik
over to another ship. You two need to get back to the Ice Moon.”
“You too, Braden. This ship has had it.”
“I’ll be all right. Moving to a better
position so shields can be lowered.” He spoke into the comm. “Materializing two
warriors to Squad Fighter I-78. Prepare for transfer.” And then they were gone
and he was alone. The quiet among the chaos seemed almost eerie. He checked the
computer and his status.
The orbiter was damaged but functional. His
squadrons were overpowering the sting fighters. The computer also showed Egesa
markings on the planet falling at a high rate. Frost’s ships were now
surrounding Daegal’s main ship and shield ships. Her fire power wouldn’t be
enough to take Daegal out though, only slow down his base ship.
Braden studied his fuel gauge. It still
registered high. And now he was alone on the orbiter…
Intermittent power surges from the tracking
facility caught his attention. He hit his comm button. “Torque? Can you hear
me?”
A voice answered back. “Braden? It’s
Brianna.”
* * * * *
Planet Earth, State of Colorado, U.S.A.
Underground Tracking Facility
Torque aimed the laser at the coordinates
given him by Jaeda’s contacts. “Powered up. Ready to fire this bad boy!” The
building shook from the surge in energy.
“Diversions are in play,” Jaeda shouted up
at the platform where he stood.
Torque’s heart raced from the adrenaline
rushing through his body. They had to get this right. After the first shot,
Daegal would send everything he had to destroy the weapon. “Engaging!” The
energy surge hit maximum and pulsed through the weapon and out into space.
When the weapon actually engaged and fired,
the soldiers surrounding the platform cheered. “Yeah!”
Torque looked down at Jaeda. “Check with
your people. Get a report.” He saw her speaking into her comm unit.
She shook her head and looked up at him.
“You missed.”
“Fuck! Get me new coordinates.”
“Sir!” one of the soldiers shouted. “Tracking
computer just came back online!”
“Kirk, I could kiss you,” Torque mumbled.
“Feed the data into the weapon’s panel.”
“Torque!” Jaeda shouted. “Sting fighters
are converging on the facility.”
“Are your ground-to-air weapons still
functional?” Torque asked the soldier in charge.
“Yes, Sir, but penetrating their shields
with those weapons is nearly impossible, as I said before.”
“We only need to hold them off for a few
fucking minutes.”
“Sir!” another soldier called. “I see a
woman on the monitor outside the artillery door. She’s wearing a jacket like
yours and has the head of an Egesa soldier grasped in one hand. She looks
really pissed.”
Torque let out a loud bark of laughter.
“Halah. I knew that bitch was too fucking stubborn to die. If it’s clear, let
her in.”
A moment later, Halah stepped inside. “It’s
about time. Control was inaccessible. Too many Egesa. I took an educated guess
and came here next. Most of the guards were headed out, except this guy.” She
handed the disembodied head to a soldier who stared at it with his mouth gaping
open. “Need any help?”
“Damn good to see you for once, Halah.”
“Fuck you. Daegal’s ready to blow this
facility.”
“No shit. Can you bring the shields of the
sting fighters down, so we can destroy them with these weapons?” He cranked up
the power on the laser weapon for his second attempt.
“No, but I can weaken their hold if we have
computer access.”
“We’ve got it.” Torque jerked his head
toward a panel of machines. “Let her in there, soldier,” he shouted to the man
in front of the controls.
Halah stepped over to the computer and
started inputting data. Torque addressed the man in charge. “Get your men ready
on the weapons.”
“We’re on ’em. Everyone to the weapons’
stations!”
The building shook. “We’re taking fire!”
Jaeda spoke into her comm device, getting up-to-date information from her
people. “Torque, Xylon ships are in-coming.”
“Perfect! Halah,” Torque called out as he
prepared to fire again. “Feed the Xylon data into the weapons’ stations. I
don’t want them shooting down our fighters by mistake.”
“Already done. I’m bringing down the power
on the sting fighters now as well as on Daegal’s ship. We’ll have to move fast
before they discover and counter. Fire on my go, gentlemen!”
They all waited for Halah’s command. Torque
watched the tracking system to make certain he remained on target. He wouldn’t
miss this time because he could make any adjustments needed before firing. He
could see Daegal’s ship, surrounded by his security vessels. But… Torque’s eyes
narrowed. “I see other ships in area. Are those shifter vessels, Jaeda?”
“No. We’re clear.”
“Shifters are here too?” Halah asked. “I’ve
sent a warning. They’ll move or be destroyed.”
“Who the hell are they, Halah? Can you
identify?”
“It’s irrelevant. Ignore them and just do
your damn job! They’re moving off. And so is Daegal.”
“Fucking bitch to the end,” he mumbled.
Torque adjusted some settings. Luckily this weapon had the range needed. Daegal
wouldn’t be able to get away fast enough. Besides he’d soon see that he was cut
off by Xylon fighters, if he hadn’t discovered that already.
“Shields are powering down! Fire before
they counter!” Halah ordered.
Noise exploded inside the room as the
energy levels peaked. Archaic construction, Torque thought, but the weapons
were doing their job. He could see ships disappearing off the tracking screens.
He fired the laser weapon. The beam hit Daegal’s ship dead center and it went
up in a fireball. The relief he felt was more than he expected and he had to
fight to keep his knees from buckling under him.
And then, as suddenly as it all started, it
was over and the room fell into silence. The smell of death and destruction
filled the air. The enormity of the attack seemed to have drained them all.
Finally a soldier asked, “Is that it, Sir?
Did we do it?”
Torque nodded. “We did it. Good job,
everyone.”
The relief in the room was palpable. Some
soldiers cheered, some slapped hands in a gesture that he didn’t understand,
some simply looked spent.
There would continue to be fighting on the
surface and in the air. But without Daegal and most of their support ships,
they’d won and the Egesa would soon realize that.
Torque jumped down from the platform and
took Jaeda in his arms. “We’ll need a status report,” he whispered in her ear.
She nodded and pulled away to speak into
her comm unit.
He walked over to Halah. “Good job. How’d
you get off the ship? I heard it was destroyed.”
“Long story.” When he cocked an eyebrow at
her, she shrugged. “I’m here. That’s what matters. We can discuss the details—”
“Torque.” Jaeda walked over to them. “I
have your sister on the channel.”
He turned from Halah and took the unit.
“Brianna? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. We’re fine. I’m with Sam. We’re
in Earth’s orbit with Braden.”
He could sense something not right in her
voice. “What’s wrong?”
“We’ll talk later when we debrief. Is Halah
with you?”
“Yes, she’s fine. What about Leila? The
Egesa took her.”
“Braden located her. She’s fine too. She’s
on her way back to the Ice Moon on another ship with Erik. He got injured
pretty badly but he’s going to make it.”
Torque relaxed at the news. “What’s the
status of Earth?”
“Daegal’s ship is gone. Seventy-five
percent of the sting fighters are destroyed. Most of the others are headed back
to Marid. The Egesa foot soldiers are dropping quickly from the virus and their
injuries. Damage on Earth is extensive but we’ve got security ships in place.
We’ve also got some other ships de-cloaking in the area—”
“They’re shifters, Brianna,” he explained,
interrupting her. “They’re Jaeda’s people and are on our side. We have a lot to
talk about.” Grady and Kirk walked up to them. Torque saw the question in
Grady’s eyes before he even asked. “Any word on the Xylon Warriors assigned to
the substations down here?”
Kirk and Jaeda headed off toward the other
side of the room, talking too low for Torque to hear them while Brianna’s voice
filtered through the comm unit.
“The ones captured early on have been lost
to us. The ones who relocated before their substations were raided have mostly
survived and checked in with only a few exceptions. They helped the various
militaries lead the ground attacks. Without their help and knowledge, many more
humans would have died.”
Grady visibly relaxed and hand signaled
that he was leaving to reconnect with his warriors. Torque knew that his group
had evacuated their substation before the Egesa had found their location and he
was happy for their survival.
“What about the humans who were taken
prisoner?”
“Those still on-planet are being released.
At the moment, we’re unsure of the status of those aboard transports. Shall we
materialize you and Halah aboard?”
He hesitated before answering. “Get Halah
and head back home.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be along on one of the orbiting
ships.”
“Frost is lingering around here somewhere,
Torque. Be careful.”
“Frost?” Those must have been her ships
that he’d seen. He glanced toward Halah and wondered if she’d known. “What the
hell is she doing here?”
“We’re not quite sure. She wanted to help
us, Braden said, but she never does anything without an agenda so keep an eye
out for her.”
“All right.” Frost had never helped anyone
in her entire life but herself. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll report in when I
can.”
“Acknowledged.”
Torque felt a huge sense of accomplishment
as he watched Jaeda stroll toward him.
“General Adair is back in the facility,”
she related, but a strained look filled her eyes. “A helicopter was finally
able to get through. Kirk’s gone to report and coordinate. I’ll be rejoining my
crew now. There’s been a large upheaval on our planet and new leadership is
emerging. I need to be a part of that. We did good down here, Torque. We saved
a growing planet.” She rose on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. Then she
turned and headed for the artillery entrance.
Torque stood staring at her in disbelief.
Had that just been a goodbye? He couldn’t believe she was walking away from
him. “Nobody move!” he roared.
Everything came to a stop and all eyes
turned toward him. Some had curious looks on their faces. Others looked wary.
He didn’t give a damn what they thought. He only cared about Jaeda. She had
also stopped but hadn’t turned around.
“You’d better face me.” He didn’t bother
addressing her by name. She knew he was speaking to her. She had to know.
Slowly she turned and even raised her chin
slightly higher than level as if purposely showing him that obeying his command
hadn’t been a submissive move. He again noticed the troubled look in her eyes
and now tears eased down her cheeks.
Everyone began to murmur and return to
work. Torque paid them little attention. His interest was Jaeda. He stepped
forward and saw her stiffen. Her tears ceased and she locked her gaze with his
as if in a battle of wills. He stopped directly in front of her. “You’re
materializing up to the splitter ship?”
“Yes.”
“You’re leaving me? Just like that?”
“Yes.”
“Like hell.” He pulled her into his arms
and kissed her as if his life depended on tasting her mouth, her lips, her
soul. And maybe it did. He felt her sigh and relax and then she kissed him back
with equal passion. When they separated, he felt a sense of loss but also
renewed hope as he gazed into her eyes.
“I need to return home. You’ll need to stay
here to help Earth rebuild and to further their partnership with Xylon.”
He shook his head. “I’m not a diplomat. And
you’re not going anywhere without me.” He lifted the comm unit from her belt
and adjusted the frequency. “Brianna? This is Torque. Are you still in range?”
“Yes. We’re in orbit.”
“What would you think about you and Sam
temporarily staying on Earth to act as the go-between until the planet can
re-establish itself? A command representative from Xylon is needed and that’s
not me. I have other business to tend to. You and Sam are the logical choices
anyhow.” They’d never discussed leaving anyone behind, beyond the warriors
already stationed here. But it was obvious that until Earth could stand on its
own, someone with authority should remain.
After a drawn-out silence, the channel
crackled with her response. “We’ll materialize down and stay until we’re not
needed anymore.”
Torque had worried that Sam would convince
Brianna to stay on Earth with him. And now, he was the one suggesting it. But
there was no way that he was going to let Jaeda just walk out of his life. If
he had to follow her to her own planet to guarantee they would be together,
then he’d do that. For now. In time though, he fully intended to return to
Xylon with Jaeda as his mate.
* * * * *
Earth’s Orbit
Braden hugged Brianna tightly. As long as
she was with Sam, she’d be happy. The two of them were perfect representatives
for Xylon and Earth and the new partnership that needed to be built between
their societies.
Brianna pulled back. “Are you going to be
all right?”
“Sure.” When they’d made contact, she’d
needed him to materialize her and Sam aboard. A convoy of Egesa had surrounded
their vehicle. They’d held their own at first, but had been too outnumbered to
survive. Luckily Braden had gotten them in time. Fate once more had made
certain that he lived—that all of them lived.
Almost all of them. He didn’t want to
burden anyone by sharing his feelings about Alexa. Talking about it wouldn’t
change things anyway. Erik had no doubt told Leila about everything that had
happened by now. He hadn’t seen any reason to tell Torque and distract him from
going his own way, which had always made his brother the happiest. He shook
Sam’s hand. “Take good care of her.”
“Always.”
After they materialized out, he walked over
to Halah, who was also preparing to materialize out and take over one of the
smaller, long-range fighter ships. She’d been told about Kam leaving and was
determined to find him. Even though the grid had been restored, they’d still
been unable to contact the man or locate his orbiter via their tracking
programs.
Braden had offered Halah a couple of escort
ships, but she’d declined, saying this was something she needed to do alone.
“Where are you going to look?”
“I have a few ideas.”
“Do you have any clue about why he would
just take off without telling anyone?”
“I have a few ideas.”
When that was all she seemed willing to
offer, he dropped the subject. They said their goodbyes and then she, too, was
gone.
He’d spoken to Leila on the comm channel
earlier and learned that she’d obtained, with permission, some human spinal
fluid from a man named Kirk while on Earth, which meant that Laszlo had a good
chance of recovering. And now that the war was over, they should be able to
reach an agreement with Earth to obtain more fluid as needed.
Braden had also forwarded to Leila the
report that Torque submitted about some strange side effects from the serum.
She’d study the specifics once back on the Ice Moon and after she was assured
that Erik was recovering, which was her top priority at the moment.
Once Erik was well, he and Laszlo would
make the perfect team to rebuild Xylon and lead the remaining warriors into a
bright future.
He sat down in the control seat and gazed
out at Earth’s moon—a sight that Alexa had no doubt viewed herself on too many
nights to counts. A deep loneliness enveloped him. In fact, he’d never felt so
alone.
On the nav panel, he checked for Frost’s
ships, but she too had disappeared. She was probably headed for Marid. He knew
the way her mind worked. If she wanted to try to take over that moon, she’d be
in for a rude awakening. The Egesa would never follow a woman unless she held
some secret power of which he wasn’t aware.
The shifter ships were still in orbit, as
well as quite a few Xylon fighters assigned to stop any more Egesa slaving
ships from leaving the planet. The battle was over for the most part. Earth
would once more know peace. As would Xylon.
As for him? He would no longer fight fate
but the warriors didn’t need him anymore. He programmed in a set of
coordinates, took one last look at the small, blue planet and the remaining
warrior orbiters that he’d led here, then he headed off into the galaxy. “Peace
to you all.”
* * * * *
Splitter Ship RS-18
Jaeda watched Torque as he looked around
the splitter ship. She had to stop herself from smiling. She’d been heartbroken
when she’d turned away from him on Earth. But she hadn’t wanted him to feel any
obligation to her.
Now she knew that he loved her. He hadn’t
yet said the words. But she could see the emotion in his eyes. She loved him
too. Even though they hadn’t spent that much time together physically, she’d
known him for a long time in her visions. And in those visions, they’d done
more than have sex. They’d talked. They’d shared. They’d grown emotionally
close.
Even so, she couldn’t abandon her people at
their most vulnerable, when their society was in the process of evolving and
finally connecting with others. She had to return. Torque would be a great
asset and would bring an alternate view to the people of her planet. She was
more pleased than she could say about his decision to accompany her.
The movement she’d started years ago, along
with Laszlo’s help—and now Torque’s—would finally bring about the open society
she and others like her had longed to see. “We’re heading back to Bogadh.”
“Yes,
Liusaidh Cuini
,” her
lieutenant commander responded.
Torque turned toward her with a questioning
gaze. “What does
Liusaidh Cuini
mean? It didn’t translate. Your shifter
name?”
She shook her head. “It’s just what they
call me. Jaeda Spargo is my real name.
Liusaidh Cuini
has two meanings,
depending on the region of Bogadh one is from. In the North, it means Queen of
Light. In the South, it means Warrior Queen.”
He smiled slightly. “Queen? As in royalty?”
She shrugged.
“I like both interpretations. Which does it
mean to your crew?”
“Both. I have followers from the North and
the South. They accept both meanings with ease.”
“And you?”
“I claim the name that gives me the most
leverage. In diplomatic situations, Queen of Light serves better. In times of
conflict, Warrior Queen rattles the enemy more.”
“Conflict and enemies?” He shook his head.
“That sounds completely foreign to what we’ve believed over the years. The
shifters have always been a peaceful people from everything we’ve known.”
“Bogadh’s been so cut off from other
societies that there’s been a lot of misinformation. The government position
has been to remain peaceful with outsiders and not get involved in external
conflicts. But the price of that is total control over the people, which
resulted in on-planet skirmishes more often than one would think. We
need—crave—freedom. With freedom though, we know that we can’t survive without
other planetary allies. Xylon has always understood that.”
“Yet Xylon fell.”
“A temporary setback only. Ultimately your
warriors defeated the Egesa with Earth’s help. And ours. Now you will rebuild
and be better than before.” She took his hand. “Come. I will get you settled.”
She led Torque toward her quarters. She
hoped that he wouldn’t regret his decision to follow her instead of returning
to the Ice Moon with his people. They would all be reunited in time, she was
certain. Though Bogodh was located a good distance from Xylon, they were in the
same system of planets with common suns. It would take much less time to travel
between their worlds than it had for them to get to Earth.
A door slid open and she led Torque inside.
She watched his face as he took it all in and she couldn’t help but smile.
“Wow.” He turned in a slow circle.
“It’s a holo-room. All our quarters are
such. It makes long space flights endurable. And we can change the setups at
will.” Right now, her quarters looked like a lush garden, complete with a small
pond. Her bed was located inside a gazebo where she could feel a breeze as she
slept. Small avians flew here and there, and the explosion of color fed the
senses. “It’s very relaxing. When I need to work, I can change everything in an
instant to a technical environment. The space can even be subdivided to
accommodate multiple setups.”
“I’m impressed.”
“This is only available on the larger
ships. The energy consumption is quite large and we can’t carry as many people
or as much weaponry, which is problematic at times. But we’re working on
improvements.”
“I think I’d opt for the weaponry and save
this for on-planet use.”
She nodded. “It’s a constant argument.
Since historically, we’ve stayed out of external conflicts and used splitters
for research and development or equipment and medical transport, the
construction engineers opted for comfort over protection. Now things are
changing. We should enjoy this while we can.”
He pulled her into his arms. “Well, I’m all
for personal enjoyment. Especially with you.”
She laughed. “Yes. I’m aware.” She sobered
and gazed into his eyes. “What’s in our future, Torque?” She felt him stiffen
slightly and worried at his thoughts.
“What do you want for our future?”
“We have divergent responsibilities.” She
frowned and pulled out of his arms. “Neither of us would be happy turning our
backs on that.”
“Why would we have to? Why can’t we have it
all?”
Hope leapt in her heart. “Do you really
think that’s possible?”
“If Bogadh now wants additional alliances
in order to enjoy more freedom and if Xylon now wants additional alliances in
order to effectively rebuild its society, then perhaps both our worlds can work
together to secure the area of space around and between our planets.”
“A new exchange of sorts?”
“Exactly. With you and I being the
connection to help merge our societies, like Brianna and Sam will be helping
Earth and Xylon maintain an alliance.”
She smiled. “I like it. But still, that’s
our diplomatic future. Not our personal future.”
He slowly stepped toward her. “It’s our
personal future. I’m not losing you, Jaeda.” He extended his hand. “Join with
me.”
Join with him. As a partner, as a lover? Or
join with him in the Xylon way of mates? She wasn’t sure of his meaning and his
words caused her thoughts to spin out of control. As she hesitated, she saw a
look of worry enter his eyes. Even at their most vulnerable on Earth, she
hadn’t seen that look from him. “Be clear.” She raised her chin slightly. “Do
you love me?”
“Yes,” he answered with a strong voice and
without hesitation.
“Do you wish us to be officially
joined—mated?”
“Yes.” He visibly swallowed hard.
She grabbed his hand before he lowered it
and changed his mind. Their relationship had developed like a whirlwind—fast,
wild. And totally wonderful in her opinion.
He pulled her into his arms and held her
tightly. “I love you, Jaeda,” he whispered in her ear. “I have from the very
first vision.”