by Lily Thomas
“Easier said than done.”
They stood there in silence for a few minutes as they watched the skies above them. Their eyes searched out any signs of flying hope.
“Shouldn’t they have been here if they’d seen the flare?” Nayli fretted, looking like she might chew on her nails with the worry coursing through her amber eyes.
Roeq didn’t want to dash her hopes, but it wasn’t looking too good for them. He couldn’t hear the hum of any engines. “Maybe they were already too far to see the flare. Is there another?”
Nayli shook her head as her amber eyes grew dull with dread. “I only saw one shot in the supply pack. Sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about.” He reached out a hand and squeezed hers.
“This is all my fault.”
“They were already gone by the time we got here.”
“No, not that.” Nayli pulled away from him as she wrung her hands in front of her. “The Daen’su was trying to kill me. It’s my fault that you’re stuck down here with me.”
Roeq chuckled. “As hard as it might be to believe me, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Nayli turned towards him with a raised eyebrow. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
He shook his head and then held his clawed hand to his heart. “Not at all.”
“Thanks.” She sent him a smile.
“It’s only the”
“Shhh.” Nayli cut him off as she waved her hand wildly. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” He looked to the sky as he listened. There it was. A slight hum that was barely audible. “Perhaps they’re coming back.” His heart rate sped up with the excitement of the moment.
“Hand me your plasma pistol.” Nayli threw out an open hand.
Roeq unholstered his pistol and handed it over.
“Thanks.” Nayli pointed it into the sky and fired off some shots. They were less noticeable, but they were better than nothing, and sensors on a ship might just detect them. She continued to fire off a few more of the blue shots.
The hum of engines grew louder, and he stole a glance down at Nayli’s face to see a smile growing on her lips.
He was just glad they’d been found promptly. Although he’d been confident in his ability to keep them alive, there was nothing he could do about disease and old age… it’d been a grim future in front of them. But now, now they could get back to civilization and put that Daen’su into jail where he belonged.
Then the ship zoomed into view, and he didn’t recognize its design. It was a personal ship, not one from the officials at the race. If it had been official, there would’ve been a logo on the side.
“Stay close to me,” Roeq ordered her as he took back his plasma pistol.
“What’s up?” Nayli asked as she did get closer to him.
“I don’t think this ship is from the space station, at least not officially. It appears to be a personal ship.” Which meant it could be more danger… or not, but he was going to prepare for the worst.
“Ah.”
The ship landed in the field stirring up a wind that blew their hair and the blades of grass all around. Then the heat of the engines scorched the grass around them, turning the green blades into a dull black.
Roeq braced himself as the metal ramp descended. Then a door slid open, and a man he didn’t recognize strode out, then another, until a third man came out, this one with greying hair and striking amber eyes. Eyes that reminded him of someone.
“Dad?” Nayli sprinted forward, and Roeq just stood there dumbstruck.
That was her father? How had he found them?
Nayli couldn’t believe her eyes, but once her mind caught up to what was right in front of her face, she shot forward. “Dad?”
“Nayli!” Her father pushed past the guards and took her into his arms the moment his feet hit the ground.
It felt so good to be wrapped up in her father’s arms. She wasn’t much of a daddy’s little girl, but after crash landing on a planet and not knowing when or if someone would find them, she was ready for some family love. Heck, she might even accept a hug from her mother.
Then she pulled back. “Why are you here?” She met her father’s amber eyes, one of the few obvious traits he’d given her.
“I was wondering the same thing.” Roeq’s unamused voice announced from behind her.
Her father’s amber eyes flickered over her shoulder for the briefest of seconds before landing on her once more. “The moment Liam heard your ship had gone down, he sent word to your mother and me.”
“Mom’s in there?” Nayli tried to peer inside the ship from where she stood slightly surprised to know her mom would care enough to come and find her only daughter.
“No,” her father chuckled, “could you see her searching space for you?”
“Yeah, no, I couldn’t see that.” Nayli laughed, but she had hoped. Stupid her.
After all these years she thought she would’ve known her mother wouldn’t care that much. It didn’t bother her too much to think her mother wouldn’t man a search for her, but there’d still been some hope. She had her father, and that was all she needed. “I’m ready to get off this planet.” She turned and faced Roeq. “You ready to get out of here?”
At least one good thing had come of this. She and Roeq had been able to really get to know each other, but they still hadn’t been able to figure out how to make their relationship work.
He nodded his head. “More than you can imagine.”
“Now that we’re on our way back to the station, I’d like to hear what went on in that wormhole.” Her father leaned over in his seat, bracing his elbows on his knees. Like always he was decked out in an expensive black suit with a bright purple tie around his neck. “All we received were tidbits from the pilots who came back to the station. Thankfully, one of them had the common sense to log the exact point where you came out.”
“Well,” Nayli glanced over to Roeq who motioned that it was her story to tell, “this was planted on my ship’s engine.” She reached into a pocket on her suit and pulled out the device.
“Hand it here.” Her father stuck out his hand, and she passed it over to him. Her father skimmed his fingers over the black box. “We’ll have to get this checked out and see if it leads to the culprit who planted it.”
“Well, about that. We,” she pointed between her and Roeq, “we think we might have an idea on who that culprit might be.”
Her father leaned back in his seat as he studied her with his amber eyes. The intelligence spinning behind those glass eyes was intense and would explain why her father had done so well in the business world.
“There was a Daen’su who I didn’t really see eye to eye with”
“They nearly came to blows in the shuttle bay.” Roeq interrupted her.
“And you are?” Her father’s amber eyes flickered over to Roeq flickering with annoyance at his interruption.
“Your daughter’s mate.” Roeq folded his arms in front of his chest, and she knew he was waiting for her father to pick a fight with him about it.
Her father didn’t even blink. He nodded before turning back to her. “Your mother is going to have a temper tantrum when she finds out you’re mated to a Krocosian.”
“And here you’d think she would’ve been worried about me dying. No, she’s going to have a hissy fit because her grandchildren might have horns.” Nayli rolled her eyes.
Her father rubbed his brow with a couple of fingers as he sighed. “I’ll need to distract her with something, like a vacation or another piece of jewelry.”
“This is going to require a lot more than that.”
Her father pierced her with his amber eyes, the same ones she’d inherited from him. “If you accept the Krocosian as your mate, then you too will be helping me with your mother.” He raised a finger and pointed it at them. “Don’t you just fly away and think everything will be fine.”
She felt Roeq’s eyes on he
r. “Yes, I do accept him, and I’ll do my best with mom, but I can’t make any promises.” They’d always rubbed each other the wrong way, and she feared this would be no different, but she would do her best for her father.
“We’re nearing the space station.” The pilot announced from the cockpit.
“Thanks again for looking for me personally.”
“You’re my only daughter, Nayli. I wasn’t about to give up until I knew you were dead.” He paused and heaved another sigh. “Your mother will probably never admit this, but she told me to either bring you back alive or bring back your dead body, but not to come back empty handed.”
Nayli raised a hand to her mouth and tried her best to hide her scoff. “Mom? Yeah,” she rolled her eyes, “in another universe.”
“Despite what you might think, your mother does love you.”
She wasn’t going to argue with her father about this. It would get them nowhere. She knew the truth. Her mother would never be happy until Nayli turned into her mother, but Nayli wasn’t into fashion and other frivolous things.
Glancing over the pilot’s head, she saw the space station grow on the viewscreen. Then the pilot turned off the engine and coasted them into the shuttle bay.
“I radioed ahead and let the space station know we found them alive.” The pilot told her father.
“Good.”
They landed in the shuttle bay, and Nayli yanked off her seatbelt. She was ready to get back to her life and see that damn Daen’su behind bars for what he did!
Walking over to the hatch, she hit the blinking green bottom, and the moment the door opened she strode out onto the shuttle bay deck, where she found her mother and brother waiting for her.
“It’s so good to see you again!” Nayli rushed up and hugged her brother.
“I was so relieved to hear you were alive.” But he didn’t wrap his arms around her like he usually did and then he pulled away from her embrace, a little stiff and his eyes unable to meet hers.
She frowned but shook it off. They all reacted differently to stressful situations.
“It’s good to see you again.” Her mother stepped forward. She was sporting one of her skintight dresses that showed off all the money she’d spent on shaping her body. Her father just wanted her mother to be happy, even if he thought she was gorgeous no matter what she looked like.
That was another difference between daughter and mother. Nayli would never let a surgeon screw with her body unless it were to save her life. She was happy with what she’d been given by nature, and Roeq appeared to love her inside and out.
“It’s good to see you as well.”
Nayli noticed her mother’s eyes drift to slightly behind her, and when she turned, she found Roeq standing beside her. “Mom, I would like you to meet Roeq, my mate.”
She glanced back at her mother. Her mother’s mouth was wide open as she stared at Roeq in shock.
“Your what?” Her mother finally found her tongue.
“My mate.”
“But… but… he’s a Krocosian.” Her mother raised a finger and pointed vaguely in Roeq’s direction.
“Yeah, the horns kind of make it hard to mistake.” Nayli couldn’t hold her sassy tongue. She tried, she really had, but she wasn’t going to let her mother taint this.
“Beatrice, come,” her father walked up beside her mother, “we should unpack our things in our cabin.” Then he looked over at Nayli and Roeq, “I’ll figure out where that Daen’su is.”
“Good.” She was ready to see some justice delivered.
“I have some work to do, like researching what new ship you should buy now that you’re back.” And then Liam was gone.
“We will see you in our quarter’s for dinner.” Her father told her. “Both of you.” He glanced over at Roeq before guiding her stunned mother away. “You two should get some rest and some food.”
She watched her father coax her mother away until they left the shuttle bay.
“Your father doesn’t seem to be bothered by me being a Krocosian.”
Nayli shrugged. “As long as I don’t stop racing, he could care less who I’m with.” She looked over at him. “And I’m sure it won’t hurt that you are also a pilot.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a real meal.” Roeq licked his lips. “I think we should follow your father’s advice and get some food and rest.” He winked at her as he said the last word.
“And I know just the spot!” Nayli smiled as she latched onto Roeq’s hand and dragged him behind her as she headed straight for the Krocosian food stand.
Chapter 11
“Oh yeah. That really hit the spot.” Nayli had guided Roeq back to the Krocosian restaurant that they’d first eaten at together. And she’d ordered the same exact thing as last time. At some point, she’d have to try something new, but it’d sounded too good not to order.
She placed a fork down on the table and leaned back in her chair.
Roeq smirked.
“What?”
“You are so at home here in the hustle and bustle, and you can fly a spaceship, but you didn’t even know how to light a fire.” He shook his head.
“Well, maybe you can teach me.” Then her smile faded.
“What’s wrong?” Roeq leaned over the table and captured one of her hands. His thumb rubbed the palm of her hand.
“We still haven’t figured out how we can be together and race, because I still think animosity could grow between us.”
He nodded his head, his massive horns waving around. “I was thinking about that, and I might have a way for our relationship and racing to coexist without any problems.”
“How?” She leaned forward. She was interested in hearing what he knew.
He tapped the side of the table and a screen popped up between them. With a few quick flicks of his fingers, he had the rules for the races pop up.
“Right here,” he pointed to the screen with a clawed finger, “it says that you can have a co-pilot as long as the co-pilot only manages the navigation controls. So as long as one of us isn’t flying the ship, we can join forces.”
“So… you’re saying we should join together and take turns flying a ship?” Nayli leaned back in her chair.
“It’s the only way I can think of that allows us to be together without you worrying about our jobs ruining our relationship.” Roeq’s obsidian eyes watched her from over the other side of the table.
“I’ll agree as long as I can chose which ship we buy.” Because she wanted the same one she’d just lost. They didn’t build spaceships like they used to and she wanted another.
“I can agree to that.”
“You’re not attached to your ship?”
He shrugged in his space suit. “I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a bit of love for my ship, but if giving her up means getting my mate… it’s not much of a choice.”
Nayli relaxed, feeling grateful that a couple of things were finally going right in her life. Her eyes landed on the screen behind Roeq’s head where a news station was talking about the Sri’thaen war.
“Sadly, that hasn’t rectified itself while we were gone.” She pointed over his shoulder.
Roeq spun around in his seat to see the screen, and they both listened in.
“In recent events, the Kellian leader, Xacier, has recently announced that his warships will be joining Earth’s in the fight against the Sri’thaens.”
“That’s good.” Roeq faced her again. “You’ll have nothing to worry about. If this war continues to heat up, your family will be welcomed on my home planet. The Krocosian people aren’t about to let their human mates be killed without a fight.”
“I know that should make me feel better, but this war is still worrisome.” Nayli watched the screen as they showed yet another human colony that’d been destroyed by the Sri’thaens.
“Let’s take one thing at a time, and right now, we need to find that Daen’su before he gets the chance to finish you off.”
“Do you know why your father called us?” Roeq asked from beside her.
“No idea.” Nayli scurried through the crowded halls of the space station, as he followed close behind her. “He just said it was urgent and that he needed to speak with us in the brig.”
She had no idea what it was about, but she was hoping it meant her father had caught the Daen’su and he’d be jailed for trying to kill her.
She shoved through the crowd that appeared to be just in her way, even though she knew none of them were working against her.
Then she saw the doors to the brig with two Daen’su guards standing at the entrance like usual. When she neared, they stepped into her way, blocking her access.
“Do you have an appointment?” One of them asked.
“We’re here to meet my father, Mr. Falker.”
One of the Daen’su looked down at a pad, nodded and then they both moved out of the way. The door opened, and both she and Roeq strode into the room. Her eyes landed first on her mother and father, and then on the Daen’su, Vroe.
“Finally, you’ll be prosecuted for what you’ve done.” She smiled at him, venom covering every word.
Roeq growled low in his voice behind her as he set eyes on Vroe.
“Take a seat. Both of you.” Her father stood up from where he was seated at the table. “Now.”
Nayli wanted nothing more than to leap over the table and kill the Daen’su for what he’d done, but she walked stiffly over to the table and took a seat. Roeq walked up behind her, but he didn’t take a seat. Instead, he placed a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked over her shoulder, she found him glaring at the Daen’su. He was most likely wishing he could kill Vroe as well.
“Why are we here?” The real question she wanted to ask was why they weren’t shooting Vroe at dawn.
“Nayli, Vroe wasn’t the man who planted the device on your engine.”