by Lily Thomas
Natalie frowned. That thought had her stomach churning. She might not want an alien baby, but that didn’t mean she was just going to hand it over to be raised by the woman with the tight bun. That woman wouldn’t have any idea of what motherly love was. She doubted the woman had even been raised, probably just built in a robotics factory.
“Well, you must be pregnant. It’s the only reason why they’d separate the two of you. That’s how it happened with me.”
Natalie’s hand fell to her stomach. It was still flat but she wondered what might be going on under the skin that she couldn’t see. She felt ill. This was no place to raise a child. It would just mess them up for the rest of their life.
She’d have to move to a colony planet after all this, because she wasn’t about to try to bring her child back to Earth. Maybe someday when aliens were a bit more accepted, but for now she wanted nothing more than to bring up this child like it deserved in an environment where it would be loved by more than just herself.
Chapter 11
A couple more weeks passed, and Natalie felt herself beginning to go crazy. There was nothing to do in her cell except obsess over the horrible situation she was in. She wanted to bash her head against a wall with the boredom that was plaguing her like a bad ex.
Veronica and she had discussed everything under the sun that they could think of, but they’d eventually run out of topics. It wasn’t like they could talk about the weather when they didn’t even have windows. She still wasn’t sure whether she was on a space station or a planet.
She couldn’t detect the hum of engines, but they might not be close enough to the engines to feel it.
Sitting on her bed, she let her hand skim over her stomach. Maybe it was just her mind but she thought there might be a slight bulge to it. Nothing anyone would notice, she could still strut around in a bikini without anyone knowing, but she was fairly certain it was there.
The scientists would come by every once in a while, with nutrients for her and well-balanced meals, but there wasn’t much else.
“I never thought I’d say this,” a voice called out further down the corridor, “but I think I might miss your random chatter.”
A smile spread across her lips. “I thought we annoyed you.” She called back playfully.
“Irritated the shit out me, to be honest, but it’s been so damn quiet for the past few days. I feel like I can hear my cells dying.”
Natalie knew how the woman was feeling.
“I just need something to happen.” There was silence for a second, and then the mystery woman yelled at the top of her lungs, “Anything!”
The facility shook in response, and Natalie was thrown off her feet as the lights flickered all around them.
“What the hell?” The mystery voice cussed sounding really pissed that something was actually happening.
Then the lights flashed off, and in another second the emergency red lights flickered on.
“Next time you wish for something, don’t!” Veronica yelled at the other woman.
“Are you okay?” Natalie leaped onto her feet and looked over at Veronica through the red light.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just don’t know what’s going on.”
“No idea.” But Natalie was hoping it was good, not bad.
The walls shuddered around them, and then a loud creaking sounded down the corridor. It had to be something terrible, nothing good made the emergency lights come on. Walking up to the front of her cage she tried to see down the corridor but wasn’t able to see much of anything.
Then a clicking noise reached her ears, and she looked down at the cage door. Was it…?
Natalie gave the metal bars in front of her face a push, and the door popped open. Her mouth dropped as she glanced over at Veronica who was staring at her wide-eyed.
“Does yours open?” Natalie strode out of her cage. She was free!
Veronica pushed on hers, and it swung wide. A smile spread across both of their faces.
“Now let’s get the hell out of here!” Assuming there was a way off this facility, but Natalie wasn’t going to let negative thoughts invade her mind, not when there was such a great probability of them being able to escape.
She turned on her heel and found the corridor flooded with all sorts of species. There were aliens she hadn’t even seen before running around. Everyone seemed confused and lost in the mass of bodies. It was alarming to see exactly how many people had been stolen from their lives and tossed in here as an experiment.
Spinning around she tried to find Veronica in the crowd, but she was gone, swept away in the mass of people. She did her best to try to find the distinctive fiery red hair that she’d come to know, but Natalie couldn’t find her anywhere.
“Damn.” She would carry on and hope their paths crossed again. She really wanted to make sure Veronica got out of here. They’d struck up a friendship over the last few weeks, and she really didn’t want Veronica and her baby to have to endure this facility with their cold scientists if she could help it.
Pushing her way through the throng of women rushing about, she went down the corridor hoping she’d be able to find a way out of this place.
Dryke pushed open the door to his cage the moment a troop of Vrak’rir rushed through a door leading into their corridor.
Strux strode out of his cage and pointed at the troop heading towards them. “You know them?”
“They’re my rescue party,” Dryke confirmed with a smile of relief.
“Good.”
“Will you join us?” He turned to Strux as more aliens popped open their cage doors and began running around, trying to find a way off the scientific facility.
“I wish I could but I have to find my mate.”
“So do I. Come, we will find them together.”
Strux smiled as he came closer.
The troop of Vrak’rir stopped in front of them, and one man strode forward out of the group. “Dryke, sorry it took this long.” He glanced around them. “We thought you were taking your sweet time coming back to the ship. Otherwise we would’ve searched for you sooner.”
“You’re here now, and that’s all that matters to me.” Dryke slapped the man on the back. Rif was his second in command, and he respected the man.
“Then let’s get you out of here and leave this place behind.” Rif turned to leave, but Dryke placed a hand on the other man’s shoulder and turned him back around.
“First, we have to grab my mate.”
“Your what?”
“My mate.”
“She’s here? Where?” Rif looked around them.
Dryke frowned. “I have no idea. I’m not sure where they keep the females in this place.”
“We only have a finite amount of time before their fighters are deployed.”
Dryke racked his brain for what to do. It wasn’t like he could just leave her, but if he didn’t get off this facility he’d never be able to do anything for her.
“Then we head to the ship you came in on, and we keep a look out for our mates.” Dryke nodded over at Strux, and he nodded back. “Lead the way.”
Rif tossed each of them a plasma pistol. “Just in case.”
Then they headed out, pushing through the crowds of aliens who were too confused to get anything done. Dryke almost felt bad for them but he had more important things to be focusing on rather than the aliens around him.
They made their way out of the corridor and into another larger corridor.
“We basically follow this all the way to the ship which is being guarded by a few of our men to make sure it doesn’t get hijacked while we got you.”
“Good.” Dryke searched the crowd for his mate. Where was she?
“Veronica!” Strux yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Strux?” A female voice called out from the crowd.
“I’ll meet you at the ship!” Strux called out before he disappeared into the crowd.
“Don’t be late!” Dryke called after him, hopin
g he heard. His eyes continued to search the crowd. “Natalie?!”
No response, just the jostling of the crowd and the noise of people barking at each other in anger. A roar went up, and Dryke looked back over his shoulder to see armed human guards subduing people.
“Time to book it to the ship. The human guards are here.” Rif said over the noise.
They continued to press forward while Dryke did his best to find her. Every time he saw a blonde head bobbing in the crowd, his heart would pinch until he saw the face, and then his heart would hit the floor when he saw it wasn’t her.
He wondered if he would have to get on board that ship, and then come back for her. It was looking more probable with every minute that passed.
They were almost to where the ship had attached to an airlock. Then he saw the Vrak’rir who’d been posted at the entrance to their ship. Good, he was almost there. Then he saw her.
She was ahead of them.
“Natalie!” He barked over the crowd, but she didn’t hear him.
He watched over the crowds’ heads as she came up to the Vrak’rir. They stood firm as he assumed his mate pleaded to get on the ship. Luckily for her, he was almost there, and he would grant her access to the only known escape route.
They approached, and he ran over to her, turning her around. Relief entered him as he met her jade eyes.
“Dryke!” She said in surprise.
“Glad I found you.”
“These guys won’t let me on board. I hope you can talk some sense into them.” She glared over her shoulder at them.
“They’re my men.” Dryke grabbed her hand and led her onto the ship. The men parted to allow their party on board, and then closed ranks behind them before any other aliens could get on board their ship.
Dryke turned to one of the Vrak’rir guarding the entrance. “A Vrak’rir name Strux should be allowed entrance should he arrive in time, and he should have a human female with him.”
The men nodded.
“I met someone, a friend, and I’m worried she won’t get off the facility.” Natalie pulled on his arm.
Dryke grabbed her face with his hands, loving the contrast between their skin colors. “It’ll be okay, but right now my only concern is getting you to safety. We will wait a few more minutes, but we won’t be able to wait long. The human guards are already working their way here.”
“She’s about to give birth.” Natalie pleaded, and he could see it meant a lot to her.
“I can’t do anything. If any of us go back out there, we might not make it back to the ship before it needs to leave.”
She rung her hands in front of her, so he guided her over to a seat and strapped her in. He wasn’t too sure she’d be able to do it with how much her hands were shaking.
“We need to get going if we want to make it out alive.” Rif came up beside him.
“Do it.”
Rif disappeared into the cockpit as Dryke made his way over to the entrance onto the facility. Right as he was about to give orders to close the doors to the two Vrak’rir guards who were fighting off people who wanted on board, he spotted Strux.
Pointing a finger in Strux’s direction he ordered the two Vrak’rir, “Let that Vrak’rir on board and then close the doors.” Thankfully, Strux was the only Vrak’rir in the corridor so it made his order easy enough to follow.
He made his way back into the ship and took a seat next to Natalie and buckled himself in. He grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it tight. “Everything will be fine now that we are leaving the compound.”
“I’m definitely glad to be leaving it behind. You won’t see any tears from me.”
Natalie felt relief wash over her. She was now on board a vessel filled to the brim with Vrak’rir, a species that treasured mates, any mates, even ones that weren’t their own. She was safest here with all of them.
She glanced up as the doors closed to the ship. Her eyes fell on the three Vrak’rir walking in to take their seats, and then her eyes landed on Veronica.
“Veronica!”
Veronica glanced up and a smile spread across her face. “Glad to see you made it to safety.”
“I never thought I’d see you again.” Natalie felt her throat close up with emotion. She’d thought she would never see Veronica again, but here she was!
“Tell me about it.” Veronica shook her head of frizzy red hair. “Before I knew what was happening, I’d been swept away in the crowd.”
“This is your friend?” Dryke asked from beside her as the others took their seats across from them.
“Yeah.”
“Good.” He sounded relieved.
“You weren’t looking forward to raiding the compound for a second time?” Natalie looked over at him.
“Not really. Once we do this, I’m sure their security will buff up even more.”
“True.”
Their ship disconnected from the hatch, and then they took off the engine of their tiny ship roaring into life. Natalie watched the stars fly past the windows of the ship. So, they’d been on a space station.
“Doesn’t look like they are willing to let us go without a fight.” Someone announced.
The ship shook.
“Are we being fired on?” Natalie squeaked. They’d escaped a weird science experiment just to be blown to bits in space.
“We’ll be fine.” Dryke reached out and patted her leg as the ship shuddered and groaned.
Then they spun as the ship maneuvered to avoid being shot. Natalie raised a hand to her mouth as they spun again. Glancing up she saw she wasn’t the only one affected by the sudden maneuvers. Veronica looked like as green as she felt, and it made her feel a little better.
“We got this.”
Veronica sent her a weak smile. “I’m doing my best to keep it down, but I’ll apologize in advance, just in case.”
The ship made another sharp maneuver, and she felt bile build up in the back of her mouth. She groaned.
“Deep breathes, Natalie.” Dryke leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Think about my cock in you.”
“What?” She flushed as she looked around to see if anyone had heard him.
“Got you to stop thinking about it.” He winked over at her.
Natalie rolled her eyes. It had worked. She patted her cheeks hoping they weren’t too noticeably rosy.
“We’re out of the space station’s reach.”
She let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. That was good to hear.
“Oh!” Veronica put a hand to her belly.
“What’s wrong?” Strux leaned over to look at his mate. His black eyebrows were drawn down in concern as his onyx eyes searched her face.
“I think,” Veronica panted, “I think I’m going to give birth.” She turned her wide jade eyes over to Strux and then over at Natalie.
“Do you feel the need to push?” Natalie asked. She knew nothing about pregnancy other than what she’d seen in movies, so she knew that was something people asked.
“No.” She paused. “Yes? I don’t know.”
“I think you’d know if you needed to push. Women in movies always have their faces contorted in pain and so far, your face looks good.” She gave Veronica a thumbs-up.
“Thanks.” Veronica laughed, and then her face scrunched up. “Oh! I feel like pushing!”
Natalie rushed to unbuckle her harness.
“What are you doing?” Dryke barked. “We could be shot at some more when they send ships after us.”
“I’m not about to let her sit there in pain by herself.” Natalie unbuckled herself and rushed over to Veronica and Strux. “Let’s get her unbuckled and laid out on the floor.”
Strux shed his harness in just a couple seconds and got to work on Veronica’s harness as Natalie gave her emotional support. She really wasn’t into the idea of helping someone through the birthing process.
Strux’s hands kept fumbling with the harness.
Dryke strode over to them and pushed Str
ux out of the way. “Go calm yourself. I’ll help your mate.”
Strux backed off but looked on with anxious eyes.
Leave it to pregnancy to freak out these strong blue demons who didn’t pale in the face of a barrage of plasma shots.
They both helped Veronica onto the floor of the ship.
“Is there another room on this ship?” She glanced up at Dryke.
He shook his head. “Just the cockpit.”
“Then you all should go there.”
“We can’t all fit in the cockpit.”
“Then get your men to face the walls. I want her to have privacy.” It would also make her feel better because she was nervous as fuck and had no idea what she was doing but someone had to remain confident and calm in front of Veronica.
“You heard her.” Dryke directed as many men as he could into the cockpit, and then got the rest to face away. “What else can I do?”
“Get us to a space station because I have no idea what to do.”
He nodded and darted into the cockpit.
Strux kneeled down by his mate’s side and clutched her hand. “I’m here for you.”
Veronica sent him a smile.
Natalie’s heart melted at the sight of them. Could she have that with Dryke? She wasn’t too sure. Her idea of a match had never been a Vrak’rir, but now she might be pregnant like Veronica, and it looked like they were compatible.
Yikes. She might be stuck with Dryke for the rest of her life. She’d at least have to talk with him because this was his child too which meant he had visiting rights. She was never going to be able to get rid of him.
Dryke was impressed with Natalie’s confidence, even if she didn’t know what she was doing. She was giving Veronica the stability she needed in her current state, because the poor woman was surrounded by warriors who knew nothing about delivering a baby.
He felt completely useless. He had to learn more about this process before his own mate went through it. There was no telling where’d they’d be in their life and if they’d be close enough to get to a doctor.