by L M Lacee
Patty smiled. ‘Oh, no one. I don’t think they have names.’
‘So why did you say shuttle red nose?’
‘Because it is a play on Red Cross, you know from Earth?’
‘Oh yeah, because of the Medics? I forgot for a min that was a name on Earth.’
Patty and Netta shared a grin at Peyton’s statement, as Patty said. ‘Yeah, that is happening for everyone, more now than it use too.’
‘Time and distance does that, I suppose. We may in time forget altogether.’ Peyton looked at Patty and Netta who shrugged, she told them. ‘I am in two minds about that.’
Netta asked. ‘Yeah, me too, what about you, Patty?’
‘Sometimes I think I dreamed we lived somewhere else. I go wekens without thinking of Earth. More so now I have Dinas and at times it takes me a min to remember how long it has been since we left. It seems longer, don’t you think?’
Peyton nodded. ‘I do, so much has happened, and we have changed and will change more as time goes on. We have only just gotten started.’ With a soft brush on Patty’s shoulder, she and Netta headed into the shuttle. Leaving Patty with her habitual crease between her eyes, looking after them and then around at the new and exciting world she was part of. If you could call a shuttle bay a world, she laughed to herself at the thought.
Dinas moved next to her. ‘My heart are you well?’
Looking up at him, she smiled as her eyes loving roved over his handsome face. ‘Yes, just checking to make sure we are all here.’
‘We are mins from launch.’
Patty looked at her mate, he was tall with big shoulders and had muscles on muscles. Definitely not what she remembered a doctor looking like? He looked so very different from the first time she had seen him, asleep in a stasis tube. He had still been handsome but nothing like he was now and as with all the Warriors he was dangerous.
Dressed in his combat uniform, there was no sign of the healer now. Only the Elite Warrior. She knew Dinas was one of the lucky ones, if there was such a thing for a Warrior. When he had been first assigned after training, he had lucked out as an Elite and had been able to request a world. He had requested and been granted a planet renowned for scholars who taught disciplines in all kinds of learning. He had chosen to study medicine, and they had taught him well. He had spent yentas researching and practicing his craft. Warrior Kolin was another one that had lucked out, even though he was not an Elite. For some obscure reason the people who had ruled the Warriors allowed him and many others to study under healers, engineers and designers. Which was weird, as those same rulers spent yentas telling people the Warriors were no better than animals or robots?
She often wondered if they did so because they wanted worlds to think of them as benevolent rulers or if there was another reason, she wondered if Hawk of Peyton knew, maybe she would ask sometime.
As Peyton had said luneras earlier regardless of what occupation they chose, they remained Warriors and always would be, but they were so much more. Just like Dinas, he carried swords and blasters, Patty had seen him use both in training, he was a deadly Warrior and as an Elite he was just a hundred steps better than the regular Warriors and yet he healed using those same hands. The Warriors treated him and Hawk with as much respect as they now showed Netta.
Dinas had a light gray tint to his skin and his eyes held a gold ring like all the Elites except Netta, hers was more amber although Patty thought she saw a golden ring occasionally, she had to remember to check that out with Netta later.
She smiled to herself as her thoughts circled back to her handsome mate and sometimes, like now, she wanted to pinch herself that someone like him loved her. A plain non-descript, mousy haired, freckled face thirty yenta old female, it was still amazing. Their mating was still so new, not long enough to take anything for granted and new enough that she found the fire he ignited in her still shocked her at times. Until Dinas she had always thought of herself as a cold person, her life up until he declared her his mate, had done nothing to persuade her differently.
If Heather had not bullied her into joining her at Runnerdale, she would more than likely still be on Earth helping females to produce babies or worse, be a baby producer herself. She shivered in reaction as her thoughts turned dark until a hand lifted her face up and she felt lips, warm and soft, kiss hers. She sighed as she opened her mouth, and he took the invitation, heating the kiss. The taste of him was unique and only his and managed to make her heart race. They broke apart, and he slowly smiled at her slightly dazed expression.
‘Better.’
Patty grinned. ‘Sorry, got lost there.’
‘You are mine, so you can never be lost?’
‘Arrogant male.’
‘Obstinate female.’
They entered the shuttle bickering as Dinas stated. ‘Female, it is not arrogance when it is true.’
Patty laughed at his assertions. ‘Huh, what is true is that you are mine, more than I am yours.’ His hand tightened on hers, stopping her forward movement. She turned, worried she had upset him, to be brought up short at his honest reply. ‘There is truth in what you say, you own my body and needar. My hearts tell me this, one beats to keep me alive and the other only for you.’ He kissed her hard and then walked pass her, leaving Patty and more than one female sighing.
Peyton said. ‘I would say points to him.’
Netta grinned and winked at Patty. ‘Sign me up, I want one like him.’
Patty’s eyes softened, and she said with a laughing growl. ‘Dayam male won again. Every time he says stuff like that, it leaves me with my throat closed and my heart filled. Who knew?’
She moved forward as laughter and sighs of envy followed her to take her seat next to her mate.
FIFTEEN:
Before they boarded the shuttles, Melody and Hawk had questioned Ward about the possibility of Warriors being on the moon. He had nodded and said it was possible, and if true, it was probably the missing forty-five. Ward told them that six luneras ago the Matriarch had told them that the Warriors had been assigned somewhere else, and he had no reason not to believe Sennha when she had announced this.
Hawk agreed with the distraught Warrior. ‘Of course you would not have any reason to suspect what she said was a lie. These Warriors were often sent out on guard missions, wekens at a time. Lady Darby has also found records stating they were offered to other worlds for considerations.’
Ward nodded, then he told Hawk. ‘We were sent to Oraintarre without a Commander.’
Hawk growled. ‘This is not how missions were run. I sense the hand of Thanikis in this.’
Melody mused. ‘Maybe Oraintarre was not a sanctioned mission.’
Hawk eyebrows rose as he asked. ‘You are saying that Thanikis assigned this mission without the knowledge of the Emperor?’
‘That is what it sounds like to me. From what you have told me, all Commanders had to report to the Emperor at least once a lunera.’
‘That is so and I agree this could very well be an unsanctioned mission, which is why they did not answer my comms’. Melody nodded her agreement as Hawk asked Ward. ‘Who took command?’
‘Commander, Captain Marlo Daimond and his squad became our Commanders, they are good males. Marlo argued with the First Sister often about our treatment. He and his squad spent many days in the tank for what the Matriarch called their disrespect.’
‘They did not take them as guards?’ Melody meant pets but refused to use the title in front of the males.
Ward smiled a little. ‘No Commander, I think they, the sisters were frightened of them.’
‘From what you say, it sort of makes sense that they are on the moon. She would have wanted them gone. I wonder how she managed it. This Marlo and his squad don’t sound that easy to manipulate.’ Melody voiced what Hawk wondered as well.
Ward rubbed his face as he told them. ‘We were not as strong or fearless when Marlo and Larson and the other older Warriors were gone.’ He sighed. ‘We felt the loss of them
very much, we became isolated. Then things escalated into madness with them and the Matriarch away. I was not able to protect the Warriors as they did.’
‘Do not blame yourself, Ward.’ Stated Melody. ‘It sounds like you were in a no-win situation. I think from what the Warriors are saying, you did a good job.’
‘These Warriors that went missing were older?’ Hawk asked.
‘Yes, all of us left were younger.’
Hawk nodded as he said. ‘It seems the older Warriors became at threat and that is why they were removed. I believe with you there, lives were saved.’
Ward nodded, taking comfort from Hawk and Melody’s words. ‘Thank you Commanders.’
Ward and Janet, when she returned, requested to be allowed to go on the rescue mission. Several other Warriors from the planet also asked to be included.
Hawk agreed. ‘Kit up, it will be easier for the Warriors if they see someone they know and trust.’
Ward stopped him from leaving when he asked. ‘Do you believe they are alive Commander?’
Hawk eyed his Warrior. ‘Of course I do. They are Maikonia Warriors they will have endured. It is what we do.’
Ward and all the Warriors in the room frowned as a Warrior said. ‘They do not know they are Maikonian?’
Melody dressed in her combat uniform ready for battle said. ‘They do not need to know it, we know and believe it for them until they do. It is also what we do. Is it not Commander?’
‘Commander Melody is indeed correct.’
He left them then, his mind on Melody’s words, before he had always looked at the Warriors ability to endure more than other soldiers as just a fact of life, something they lived with. The fact they could and would endure just about anything was why they had been thrown repeatedly into life and death situations. Where no other would have survived, and yet he and his Warriors often did. He had always felt their enduring ability was a negative, he realized now, that was not true, it was a gift, the ability to fight until the bitter end. It had been endurance that had seen them reach the heights he and his Warriors were striving for now.
He stopped and let his mind run through all the possibilities for himself and his Warriors and allowed the hope that was burning brighter in his needar since his time on Earth to flare higher. It came as a surprise to realize that he, Hawk Roeah, youngest brother of the Roeah Elites, had always believed. Smiling, he hurried to tell Peyton what he had learned about the Warriors, who were hopefully still alive on the moon.
SIXTEEN:
Hacking the Matriarch’s ship's computer, while she had been conversing with her sister, had been child’s play for Darby. She had commented to Kinn, who was the leader of the squad of Graynite’s, her disgust at the pathetic security the ship systems had in place, considering she told him it was a Hellinsliner, it should be better. She made him swear he and his squad would never allow that to happen on their ships.
Darby was gleeful and hummed while she searched her comp, learning that the moon was a storage area for not only the forty-five Warriors from Oraintarre, but two thousand more Warriors in stasis, hopefully hidden inside a cavern in the moons belly, was a bonus, well it would be if she could only find them. She was now in orbit around the moon in a cruiser with three of her team re-configuring her on-board systems to hunt down the sleepers.
A few luneras ago she and Jean had compared the signatures of all the recovered stasis tubes and found there were virtually no differences between the tubes. So they had come up with a location detector. Darby was hoping as she input the frequency that the tubes would be easy to find, all she had to do was get through the moons natural signature. This was a frequency all moons and planets transmitted and was just as unique as every planet and moon.
This moons heavy atmosphere and humidity made searching like looking through thick soup, rendering Darby cranky. She knew the decision not to delay in a rescue and recovery was solely because the Matriarch said she was two days away from Oraintarre, but it would have been nice to have had a few days to do what she and her team must do in hours if not mins.
Even though the Matriarchs ship had not shown up on any of the Warbirds long range scanners. No one trusted that the ship did not have shield capabilities or that the Matriarch lied. There was the genuine concern that she would decide to make a visit to the moon before landing on her world to confront Peyton.
Darby thought Peyton was looking forward to that confrontation, knowing she was a step ahead of the Matriarch and her sisters when she took back her Warriors. Darby nodded to Kinn to send the approximated coordinates to the pilots of the shuttles. They had found a group of heat signatures and were hoping were Warriors not animals. She crossed her fingers and hoped desperately they were the missing Warriors.
The terrain was inhospitable, and the shuttles had to power almost completely down before landing so as their engines did not stall out. This moon unlike some moons they had been on was not a barren wasteland, it was covered with dense vegetation, stagnant pools of water and rapid rivers ending in long waterfalls.
From the shuttle Melody saw an environment not conducive for habitation by anything other than the wild beasts that Darby said lived on it. Looking down, she felt dread in her heart for the survival of the Warriors. She must have made a sound as Peyton reached over and took her hand in a strong grip. Trying to keep the despair from her voice, Melody murmured. ‘From what Ward told us and what Darby can scan, there are wild beasts and just about every poisonous critter you can imagine down there.’
‘They are alive.’ Peyton said flatly, more with hope than with knowledge. Melody smiled as she held Peyton’s hand tightly, letting her know she believed with her. ‘Of course they are, they are Maikonia Warriors, and we endure anything.’
They heard Willian say quietly. ‘And then we kill everything else.’
Melody laughed. ‘That should be our new motto, Maikonian Warriors will endure anything and can kill everything else.’
There was shared laughter, which lifted their gloomy thoughts, especially when Peyton said. ‘I like it, but it seems a little on the bloodthirsty side, don’t you think?’
She laughed with Melody when they heard everyone say no. Silence descended as the shuttle finally touched down and as soon as the doors were opened Warriors and Turqualls poured out into a hostile environment, forming a ring surrounding the shuttles.
Peyton exited when Netta gave her the signal. Willian and Netta were assigned to Peyton as her personal guards today. She stood with them and the non-combatants as they listened to Melody and Hawk give the Warriors and Turqualls their final orders. Then before she knew what was happening, they were gone, leaving only two squads of Turqualls and Warriors to guard her and the medics.
‘How goes it Darby?’ Peyton asked through her new link, the other one having burned out when she flamed at the Matriarch’s residence.
‘Still hunting... Kinn no, I looked there.... Saffri... quadrant six, then seven. Ferrian try the other terminal, that one may be stuck. Peyton got to go. I will let you know, shouldn’t be long.’
‘Still annoyed?’ Patty asked Peyton as she came over to her.
‘Yep, so happy I am here.’ They both laughed as they looked around at the dense jungle with its dripping foliage and heat that blasted the lungs. By now it was hard to see where the others had gone, the jungle had closed over so fast which was frightening in of itself.
Before they had left the Warbird Willian and Lukkas had passed out new transparent coveralls that slipped on over their uniforms they were designed for humid environments by cooling the air that flowed up over their faces, insects tried to bite them, but the suits also had a repellent that caused a barrier around the person wearing it. From the amount of biters Peyton could see flying around her, she was thankful for the repellent, as she was for the inbuilt water system, not that she was thirsty. The jungle just made her think she was. Which was weird.
Grinning, Patty stared at Peyton as she stated. ‘So cool.’
‘I know right, the colors of the plants are amazing.’ Peyton gazed around her and became slightly mesmerized by the feast of color that met her eyes. She could not believe the differing hues she was seeing, tapping her link she asked. ‘Darby are you recording this?’
‘Yes always, everything. Why?’
‘The colors Darby, they are amazing.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, take a min and look at them. We could use them for fabrics and other things. What do you think?’
‘Oh, I see, yeah… yeah, they are really beautiful.’
Peyton gushed. ‘I know, so different and delicious. Stars, the shades of blues alone make me want to cry, and then the reds are enough to give you shivers. Oh my stars look at the yellows.’
Darby hummed, then told her. ‘I am recorded them all. You are right, the fabricators are so going to love you.’
Confused, Peyton looked at Patty as she asked Darby. ‘Why?’
‘Because Star Daughter, you are the only one who would think of it and them. Have to go.’
‘Oh!’ Peyton turned a full circle in wonder and bumped into Netta, who gave her the stink eye. ‘What... what did I do now?’
‘Colors? You are such a girl.’
‘Am not.’
‘Are so.’
‘Take it back Netta, now.’
‘No, fancy pancy Star Daughter. It is so true, everyone knows.’
‘Fancy pancy… Who is making words up now, and it is not?’
‘Seriously, they are words and so girly.’
‘Take it back.’
‘Make me.’
‘Ladies.’
‘WHAT?’ They both yelled at once.
‘The Warriors have been found alive.’ Willian said, taking a step back from both frowning females. ‘Commander Melody asked if you would like to comm her.’
Peyton and Netta grinned at each other as Peyton congratulated her. ‘Well done.’