by L M Lacee
Melody grabbed Netta as she made to run toward the flaming figure. ‘Oh no, my girl, you stay with me.’
Netta screamed. ‘We have to help her, they are burning her up.’
Hawk bellowed loudly one sharp order. ‘Cease this immediately.’ When there was quiet, he said firmly. ‘They are not burning her. She is well and alive. Cease this.’
All sound and movement stopped, Darby untangled herself from her Warriors, panting hard as sobs racked her small body she asked Hawk. ‘What do you mean?’
He smiled at her and held his hand out. She placed hers in his and he pulled her toward him as Melody and Netta moved closer. Hawk looked at the small hand that held his. These females so ferocious and small with hearts of Warriors, he wondered how he and his males had survived before they came in to their lives. Did these amazing females know they held the hearts of every Warrior in their small capable hands? As his eyes moved over the Turquall who sat watching him and to the flaming figure and then finally to the waiting Warriors and healers, he realized something.
He took Darby’s small hands and placed a kiss on each palm, without thought her hands curled holding the kiss against her skin, roughly he stated. ‘In these small hands and the hands of every female, you hold the hearts of all our males. It is such a big task we have asked of you, and yet you never quail before it. Thank you.’
She threw her arms around him in a hug. ‘I know it hits me at times too, and just so you all know, you have our hearts in your hands as well.’
He looked down into soft brown eyes and knew she understood, so he spoke to her knowing everyone listened. ‘Darby, she is well, this is how the Stars are communing with their Daughter, you know they normally do not engulf her as they have now. They are confused by you and your words and feel your distress and fear for Peyton. She is answering their questions, this is all. I understand it is frightening, but this again is what it means to be a Star Daughter.’
Darby asked him softly. ‘How do you know?’
‘Look at the Turqualls and then ask them, like I did. They will tell you it is so.’
‘Oh! That makes sense.’ She, like everyone else, looked over and saw Rage, Rave and Fanharr with Honor and the other Turqualls, sitting watching Peyton. Rage turned his head and mind-sent to them all.
Our Beloved is speaking with the Stars, she is explaining your passionate words. They are still unfamiliar with your species, so do not understand why you are angered by them and the agreement they made.
Darby said sheepishly. ‘Umm Hawk, I should have thought to talk to you first, I apologize.’
Hawk shrugged, a mannerism he had picked up from the Terrans as he agreed. ‘Probably, but then, this morn has been extraordinary. Do you not think?’
‘Oh yes, you called me Darby in front of people and how often do I get a kiss and a hug from the reticently strong, Commander Hawk? Just wait until I tell Peyton and Heather.’
Hawk deadpanned. ‘They will never believe it.’
‘Just as well I have it recorded.’
‘And she is back.’ Melody laughed.
Hawk sighed and squeezed Darby once in a hug and then released her. ‘As you say Commander Melody, she is back and if I am not mistaken so is our Star Daughter.’
NINETEEN:
Peyton quivered, trembled, rippled call it what you like from reaction as she moved her body toward the shuttle that had landed for her. Patty went to place a blanket around her shoulders, but Rage placed himself between her and Peyton. No, Healer Patty, she hurts, her skin is tender like a newly birthed kit. Your cloth will pain her.
‘Good to know Rage, thanks for telling me.’
He nodded his head, he enjoyed Patty, she was efficient and straightforward, he only heard good things from his Pride about her and her mate.
Together they watched as Peyton moved by sliding one foot in front of the other and following Rave, who guided her to the craft. All the Turqualls surrounded her at a distance, knowing that to be too close to her would cause her pain.
She shuffled forward in a rocking motion, everything hurt as she moved, she tried not to cry but tears ran freely leaving painful tracks on her face. She wanted to scream at every movement, but was not able to use her throat for more than swallowing, talking was beyond her capabilities. Her body barely obeyed her commands, coherent thought was almost impossible and as each step drew her closer to the shuttle, her mind was beginning to shut down. Her skin was a deep red, and blisters were starting to appear over her body, her hair was completely gone, there was nothing of her long white tresses left, it appeared as though it had been burned off, the same with her eyelashes and eyebrows.
Darby stuffed her fist into her mouth to stop the flow of screams escaping at Peyton’s condition. It was like looking at a husk of a skeleton, as though all the fluid had been sucked from her body. Her clothes were still intact but covered in a dust of some sort, and they now hung on her frame. ‘Hawk were the Stars angry, is that why they did this to her?’
He smoothed his hand down her cheek. ‘Darby no, they just over taxed her body.’
Suddenly they could all hear Rage’s voice as he explained. Imagine if you will a vessel being filled completely with a thick soup, if the vessel is soft enough, it will expand to accommodate everything asked of it. This is what happened, the Stars filled our Beloved too much.
Hawk knew there was so much more to Rage’s explanation, but he understood his simplistic version. Rage like Hawk knew the Terrans did not view the universe and the powerful beings in it the same way they did yet. In time he knew they would, but for now he appreciated the simplicity of Rage’s explanation.
Melody wanted to rage at the walking person that was a mockery of her sister. She was not sure how Peyton remained alive, let alone moved in her condition, a skeleton had more body fat. She pressed hard on her emotions, especially the anger that wanted to spill out and curse the Stars for what they had done. She took several deep breaths and held her anger in check and thought that perhaps, it was time someone had a one-on-one talk with the Entity that held her sisters life in their hands. Because if they had no idea they could kill her, why did they not? Surely a requirement as their vessel would be for them to understand her anatomy.
Netta stood next to Patty, her brain would not signal her muscles to move, it was as though it had shut her body down in sympathy with Peyton. When Patty realized she was not moving, she gently placed her arm around her and coaxed her to walk with her toward the shuttle. Patty told her. ‘She is alive and moving. The Turqualls are not trying to kill us, because they think she is dying. So on the whole I would say she is going to be okay.’
Netta looked in horror at her, her voice hoarse from suppressing her emotions. ‘Okay.’
Patty nodded, keeping a smile on her lips and her tone light, however she could not stop the worry from showing in her eyes as she assured Netta. ‘Oh yeah, she is upright and moving, that is good, truly the rest will return.’
Melody let a sob of breath out and murmured.
‘Dearle stars, I hope so.’
Darby looked at Patty. ‘Don’t let her die… please, we cannot do this without her.’
Patty, her eyes dry and with only a little fear peeking out, said. ‘Hush now, what is this? She is hurt but moving. You have to have trust and believe as I do.’
They made it to the shuttle, Netta and Darby still not convinced. Melody shoved her thoughts away as she and Hawk directed everyone into other shuttles, the less with Peyton the better.
Nikolas, with one look at Peyton, dropped the ramp rather than the steps and Peyton just carried on shuffling into the shuttle. The pain of sitting was more than she thought she could bear, she tried just hovering as Rage suggested but there was no energy left for her to do so.
Several small whimpers escaped between burned lips as her body made contact with the seat and this was the final impetuous her brain needed to shut down.
Everything that she did now was only in response to a com
mand or stimuli. Patty slipped a tube between her lips, and she started sipping the liquid.
‘What is the matter with her, apart from the obvious?’ Melody asked as she entered with Hawk.
Patty looked at Rage, she was unsure if he would allow her to say. Dinas had schooled her in the protocol for when a person was being guarded. What he had taught her was always check with the guard in charge, to see what they would allow. In this instance she could see Rage was in charge and not Hawk, therefore she turned to him for advice and took his nod as permission to say what he had told her. She still thought nodding was such a weird action to witness on an animal larger than an adult lion.
‘She cannot focus her eyes yet or her hearing, her body is barely functioning. She has to be in excruciating pain, how she is still conscious I do not know. I can only imagine she is extra sensitive to everything. Imagine if you will what it would feel like to have third degree sun burn times fifty all over. Rage told me her skin has blistered and peeled already and may do so again. I don’t want to know how that happened and will not ask.’ She looked at them all with a fierce look in her eyes, daring them to ask her how that could be. No one did, because like her, they did not want to know.
Patty shook her head, dispelling the horrible feeling in her stomach. ‘Her brain is shut down, which means she has very few motor skills operating, which is good in one respect, it means hopefully her pain receptors are not fully functioning. She is breathing and swallowing, which Rage tells me she is now doing on her own, the Star Child has retreated, either they think she is fine or well… whatever.’ She ran her med scanner over Peyton slowly when no one said anything about her observation, she continued. ‘I can tell you her organs are shutting down because they have been deprived of everything.’
Netta asked. ‘What does that mean?’
‘To put it bluntly, they sucked her dry.’
The cool liquid slid down her throat and was soaked up immediately by a parched body. Peyton whimpered as the liquid stopped when they changed out the container. Several more containers followed until she was tired and could not make her mouth work, then the tube was removed. Netta whispered. ‘Why don’t the Stars fix her?’
Rage answered. It is not their way. Healer Patty and healer Dinas are capable of making our Beloved well.
‘But Rage they were the ones to hurt her.’
It is not their way. He told her again, a little sharper this time.
‘But…’
What is it you do not understand, Captain?
‘It just seems wrong. That’s all.’
Would you like to explain that to the creators of all? If so, allow me to vacate the shuttle first.
Netta snapped back. ‘Yeah, right? Well, I am sorry to have questioned you.’
Rage sighed and stepped back from his frustration. I too am sorry. As with you, this is very hard for us to see our Beloved this way.
Hawk said. ‘Netta, we all think this is wrong, just like you do. But we, like you, have no way of explaining this to the Star Child.’
Rage told her. Because to them, it will not be wrong. She is their vessel, they have decided what it is she can cope with. We assume they will do no permanent harm to her.
‘Thank you for explaining.’
Rage told her. Explaining to you Netta is no hardship.
Netta sighed and nodded, but all could see the amber ring was more pronounced in her haunted eyes. Patty moved carefully away from Peyton, she had made sure everyone knew to keep their movements slow and careful, the movement of the air would hurt her as much as a touch would.
Hawk told Nikolas she was unsecure. He smiled as he passed her just as Peyton’s hearing came back online for a moment and she heard him say. ‘I will be gentle.’
Kerol entered as the shuttle powered up. Melody and Netta took their seats with Darby and Patty. Darby had been the one to feed Peyton liquids while Patty had scanned Peyton and checked her medicines.
‘We are away.’ Nikolas told them as he gently lifted the shuttle and sent them toward the Warship.
Patty asked. ‘Rage when?’
Now Patty.
Patty told the others. ‘Rage says she is finally unconscious. I am going to start hypo sprays.’
Rage cautioned. With everything that was discussed Patty.
She nodded as Hawk asked. ‘Do we have anything to carry her with, when we arrive?’
Melody comm’d the ship. ‘Yep we do, Dinas will meet us at the bay.’ She told Patty, ‘And he said to give her the K hypo, whatever that is?’
Patty took a deep breath and released it slowly as she said. ‘Well alright then, he would know.’
She loaded up her hypo sprays and ended up with ten, moving over she started injecting Peyton in her neck, one after the other until she came to the last one and held it up saying. ‘Dinas my love, I hope you are right?’
His voice answered her, which startled her and the other females. ‘I am sure my love. Heather assured me that if something like this was to happen, Peyton would need the K. And that she understood your hesitation, but needs must. Do it, my heart.’
Patty wiped her forehead, then pressed the hypo spray against the underside of Peyton’s left foot. Standing, she looked at everyone who were staring at her with expressions ranging from disbelief to amazement on the faces.
Smiling slightly, she told them. ‘It works better when placed in the foot, do not ask me why.’ She went to her medical case and replaced her injectors while keeping one eye on Peyton. When nothing happened, she sighed her relief. ‘Dinas it’s okay…’
Suddenly Peyton arched backward, her head almost touching her butt. Darby cried out and threw herself out of her seat as Patty’s face paled quickly she grabbed Darby and stopped her from touching Peyton. Then Peyton stood and flung her arms wide, her head snapped upright as her eyes opened and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, to see they were her normal green again, only now as they watched they were bleeding to red. Then blood started to seep from her ears and nose. She collapsed back onto her seat like a balloon that had all the air released from it. Blisters appeared all over her body and broke, oozing blood, which covered her entire body. Horrified, they watched as blood seep from under her nails and lines of bloody dots cover her scalp.
Melody reached for Patty, only to halt when Rage with a warning growl stood in front of her. Melody snarled. ‘Move Rage, now.’
Netta eyes misted to amber as she skirted around Rage with shaking hands, she reached out to try and wrap them around Patty’s throat, demanding. ‘What did you do, what did you do?’
Darby was yelling. ‘Stop it now, Patty. What did you give her… tell me what you gave her?’
Patty moved away from those reaching hands as she sobbed and chanted. ‘It’s alright... I swear… It will be alright. She is okay.’
Hawk and Kerol stepped in and pulled Melody and Netta away from the distressed healer. Rage then moved between Patty and Darby as the males shifted the two females to the back of the shuttle.
Patty held her hands palm up. ‘I swear, she will be alright. This was ordered by Heather and Peyton if something like this was to happen. She will be alright.’ Her voice broke on another sob.
Dinas calmly ordered. ‘Commander Melody, Captain Netta, regain control of yourselves, if my mate is hurt I will be most annoyed.’
For a min or two everyone ceased moving or speaking as the calm, controlled voice that held death in its embrace came over the comm. With those few words, order and rationale returned with a sharp slap. Melody and Netta pulled from the male’s hands and rushed to Patty as she wrapped her arms around herself, sobbing quietly.
Rage stepped in front of her again, remorsefully Melody said. ‘Thank you Rage, but I swear we will not hurt her.’
He looked into her eyes and saw the sorrow and humiliation and stepped aside once more, allowing her and Netta to surround Patty with their arms, enfolding her in hug. ‘Hush now Patty.’ Netta softly told her as Melody crooned. ‘Sorry…
so sorry Patty, we are so very sorry.’
‘We all are sorry.’ Darby said as she too joined the hug.
Netta murmured. ‘I am so sorry Patty.’
Patty nodded her head as she leaned it on Melody’s shoulder. ‘Okay... okay… okay.’ She took in a shuddering breath. ‘I am alright, it is fine. I would have warned you, but I didn’t know.’
Melody exclaimed softly. ‘Our fault.’
Darby whispered in English. ‘Did he say annoyed because he sounded all calm, but he sort of sounded like he would skin us alive, then he said annoyed. That is some scary dude.’
The four of them sort of collapsed to the floor, where they had stood and started to laugh at Darby’s observation. Melody wiped the tears from Patty’s cheeks with her thumbs, then she held her face in her hands. ‘Patty, please forgive us?’
She nodded. ‘You know I do. Mind you, Dinas is not so forgiving.’
They all hunched their shoulders as the others in the shuttle sat back down. All the females looked at Peyton who was completely still, her breathing slower than normal, blood seeped from wounds all over her body, they wanted desperately to heal her or at least cover her, but as no one wanted to chance causing her any more pain, they just sat huddled together and suffered with her and for her.
Rage sat beside Kerol and Hawk, observing the four females. Hawk’s eyes were on the females who talked quietly together and his heart ached for the mate he could not claim. Rage and Kerol heard him whisper.
‘They hold our hearts in their hands.’
Kerol smiled as he looked at the other two. ‘Bat shit crazy as Melody says.’
Yes, truth to that. Rage murmured, causing the two males to laugh quietly with him.
Nikolas reported. ‘Docking in four... three... two... Now.’
They waited for the Warship to swallow them into its hold and then for the shuttle to power down. A min or two later the doors were opened and a floating bed, softened with cool air, was pushed in.