Chapter Seven
FarSeer’s comp rang out as he was finishing straightening up his private medbay. He frowned. They’d be entering the wormhole shortly, and then all communication would be cut off from this galaxy. But who would be contacting me now?
Walking past the three healing chambers, he seated himself before his desk and placed his palm on the silver oval. Parsimon’s 3-D image wavered and came into view. His dark hair lay combed close to his face. His markings were sharp, distinctly unpleasant, and set into an equally unpleasant face.
“Medic FarSeer.”
“Lord Parsimon, to what do I owe the honor?”
“Have you found my mate?”
FarSeer felt a sense of unease as he spoke. “I was about to run the Bride Initiative. But…there is an Earth female with Spiritus blood. I will have to examine her to determine exactly—“
“She is mine!” Greed darkened the other male’s eyes further.
FarSeer released a slow breath. “Are you certain this is what you wish? Without the program, there is a chance you will not be compatible. She may not enjoy your company or find you attractive, you in turn—“
The male waved a hand, dismissing his concerns. “All I care for is that she is capable of producing healthy heirs. Females themselves interest me very little.”
FarSeer tried to hide his surprise. After going across galaxies to find a mate, I would care more for the female herself than her uterus.
“If you are certain.”
“I am.” Parsimon folded his hands over his belly, looking far too satisfied. “And I will make it your personal responsibility to determine why she has such unusual genetics. Understand? She is your priority.”
He does not need to tell me how to do my job.
FarSeer gritted his teeth. “As you wish.”
I will never work for this man-child again. Everything within me wishes I was close enough to a hospitable planet to simply leave on a shuttle.
“But now for the reason for this contact,” the other male’s eyes glinted with something that made FarSeer even more uneasy. “There is information you need to know, and there isn’t much time to tell you.”
FarSeer sat up straighter. “Yes, m’lord.”
“I have just now informed Leader, and he felt it necessary, given your role in this voyage and your connections, that I explain it to you as well.” He paused. “We have not made a trade arrangement with the humans for mates.”
His brows rose. Then why are we wasting our time with this voyage?
“After carefully monitoring this species, we learned that although they are compatible at a basic level and will produce offspring, we had no doubts that they would not allow us to simply trade for the females best suited to us.”
“So—“
“So we setup a trap we knew they would be foolish enough to fall for. We crashed a craft on their planet, with specific details about an invasion date. They in turn did exactly as we expected—they reproduced replicas of the craft.”
What does this have to do with…oh. “To fight off the ‘invasion’,” FarSeer said slowly.
“I knew you would get it immediately!” The other male sighed dramatically. “If only the humans were that smart. No matter. We placed an Evaluator within the ship as a requirement for flying it, which means only genetically compatible females can fly the ships.”
FarSeer rubbed his forehead. “I think I see where this is going.”
“Yes! A large group of genetically compatible women will be flying straight from Earth to our ship. When they get in range, their weapons will disengage, and we will take over the controls to manually fly them into our docking bays.”
FarSeer felt his jaw drop. “Do you really think it’s going to be that easy?”
Parsimon waved his hand. “Of course!” He raised an eyebrow and leaned into the screen. “Need I remind you that we are the far superior species? We are genetically and technologically more advanced. The females should be grateful we are taking them.”
We’re kidnapping those women. This makes us no better than the Bortracks. “My lord…”
Parsimon rubbed his hands together. “And soon, many deserving males will finally have brides and, as the one responsible for all of this, I will be generously compensated. My plan is flawless.”
But this is not how it is done. There is a protocol for this very reason.
Every year the Council sent out new Searchers. The specialized, automatic crafts traveled at speeds that would be deadly to life-forms. Their job was to seek out compatible species on other planets. The devices went in different directions, sometimes disappearing for many years. Sometimes not returning at all. But if they did find compatible life-forms, the Searchers opened wormholes back to their own world, Unngar, so their people could quickly travel back and forth. Negotiations were made between the Council and the new world for the females they so desperately needed. We have bargained hard with other worlds, but never before have we simply taken the females we need.
“I thought this mission was sanctioned by the Council.”
What we are doing is illegal. Wrong.
Parsimon’s eyes flashed with rage. “They would never have approved our mission. Because it was not one of our Searchers that discovered the human planet, but one of the Bortracks’. They contacted me with a deal I simply could not refuse.”
The other males can’t be aware of this arrangement. They would never take unwilling mates…
“Lord Parsimon—“
“You will help Leader with all that he needs,” he responded, his voice twisting and garbling.
We must be about to jump through the wormhole.
“I won’t be a part of this!” FarSeer rose. “It’s unethical.”
The male’s image twisted. “It is too late to save the females, but if you stir up any trouble after, I will find a way to wash my hands clean of this…but your friends? Leader? And the others? They will not be so lucky. Will your conscience be any cleaner when they are exiled for bringing back the humans? Will the females be any safer?” And then, he was gone.
FarSeer stared at the blank screen in shock. This can’t be happening.
His cabin shook for a long moment, then outside his window new and different stars appeared. The human galaxy.
Suddenly a Bortrack Searcher, a standard Nutronian transporter, came into view outside his window. Tan in color and massive, almost three times larger than their ship, it had sharp angles covering every inch of it. At one end was a long point, and energy flowed from it, creating the wormhole. So this is why we have Bortracks on board our ship. It wasn’t one of our Searchers that found the human world, but theirs.
Without the Bortracks we could not have accessed this galaxy. We shouldn’t be here. If they turn on us, they could seal off the wormhole stranding us from our homeworld. Why would Lord Parsimon take this risk?
Because he didn’t, a stern voice whispered in the back of his mind. He sent all of you instead. He closed his eyes, feeling ill.
And what could we have traded with the Bortracks for? They can take Earth without us.
His comp buzzed. He touched the silver oval more out of instinct than desire. His blood-brother Gallant’s 3-D image hovered above the display screen.
“Did you see it?”
FarSeer nodded. Of course. He doesn’t know of Parsimon’s deal.
“If we used a Bortrack transporter, then it means we don’t have one in this sector. What we’re doing is not sanctioned by the Council.”
“I know, brother.” FarSeer took a deep breath. “We also haven’t negotiated for brides.”
Gallant’s expression grew distant as he processed the information. “Then what are we doing here?”
“Kidnapping them.”
Anger blazed to life in his dark eyes. “We may not share the same mother, but our blood flowed together in battle. Would you have me believe that you—?”
“I did not learn this until a moment ago. From P
arsimon himself.”
Gallant slammed his meaty fist against his comp. “That bastard. We cannot do this. I paid a dear price for my bride, but I will not kidnap her. Such a thing is against every…” His words were cut off by a string of curses.
“Brother,” FarSeer interrupted, trying his best to sound calm. “I share your anger. But I think the more important thing to consider is what we offered the Bortracks to allow us to use their wormhole.”
Gallant quieted, running a hand along his neatly shaved head. “You are right.” Then, their gazes locked. “And how we will protect the females from those monsters. I don’t want them to end up in the birthing chambers.”
A siren wailed and Gallant looked at another screen, his brows wrinkled. “Ships appear to be entering space…from the human planet. What could this mean?”
But FarSeer already knew. “It means it’s too late to save the females.”
To be continued…
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About the Author
Immortal Angel has lived a hundred lifetimes all in one. She's a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife, and a best friend. She's traveled the real world, enjoying what our three-dimensional reality has to offer. She's hiked the stairs inside the Eiffel Tower. She's watched a Shakespearean play in a grassy clearing outside Cambridge, and she's ridden a ferry to Ireland. In Australia, she cuddled koalas, in China, she cuddled pandas, and in the Middle East, she cuddled camels. And every time she opened a book, she entered a world beyond this one, one where the only limits are the imagination.
So many lifetimes of adventures have inspired her to reach beyond this planet to the stars above and to worlds rooted in fantasy. Her romances in space are meant to take her readers on their own adventures, imagining new and exciting place. With hot men. And maybe a few sexy aliens too.
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A Human Sacrifice (Star Squad Brides Book 1) Page 9