Alien Refuge

by Tracy St. John

  He still had no time to pause and savor victory. Jol leapt back to his feet in time to see a bloodied but still vertical Ospar shove his blaster into Nobek Kilef’s face and pull the trigger. A little distance away, Rivek was a whirling blur, taking Soha down with a bloody geyser springing from the Nobek’s throat. As the Imdiko turned to face Dalwer, the second assailant was springing at him, knives raised to be buried in Rivek’s skull. Ospar shot him dead in midair while Rivek jerked to one side. Dalwer hit the ground with an unimportant thud.

  Jol wasted no time congratulating his clanmates. Instead, he ran towards the air control office, desperate to bring up the stasis field that would freeze the shuttle Iris and Thomas were on, keeping them from reaching the orbiting transport.

  As he rushed, he screamed back at his clanmates, “Get a space-grade shuttle ready to go up!”

  He was moving so fast, he almost couldn’t hear Ospar’s return shout, “We’ve got it! Hurry!”

  Hurry. The Nobek couldn’t have run any faster, and yet the air control office never seemed to get any closer. Jol prayed to the ancestors and Mother of All that he’d get to Iris and Thomas in time.

  * * * *

  Iris’ mind flew as she clutched Thomas in her lap, stroking the sobbing boy’s hair to soothe him as best she could. There was the Nobek pilot and Conrad to deal with, both armed with blasters. Iris thought she could discount the Kalquorian as an actual bodily threat to her and Thomas since he was busy flying the shuttle. As long as she didn’t attack him and he could get her on the transport to Mercy and away from Empire space, he would probably be content. She could live with that. Once on Mercy, she could figure out a way to get back to Haven and her clan.

  Conrad was the immediate problem. He sat near the cockpit’s open door, staring at her and Thomas at the back of the shuttle. The blaster was holstered on his hip, too easy for him to reach. Somehow, Iris had to get the firearm away, to get the upper hand on her ex-husband. To finish his threat once and for all.

  Could she do it? Could she kill the man she’d once loved enough to marry and dreamed of spending her entire life with? Right in front of her son? Part of her shied from it, but Iris knew as long as Conrad remained among the living, he would be a threat to her and Thomas. She’d never truly escape him until he was dead.

  I have to be strong. If I’m going to do this, I can’t hesitate for even a second. When I go after him, it’s got to be with everything I’ve got. Kill or be killed. No other way.

  His voice interrupted her thoughts. “Come here to me, boy. Come to your daddy, Thomas.”

  Thomas took one look at Conrad, at the arms extended towards him in false kindness. He shrieked and buried his face between Iris’ breasts. His muffled, “No!” was still easy to hear.

  Iris fixed her ex-husband with a lioness’ glare. “You stay away from him, Conrad. I mean it.”

  The welcoming smile Conrad had worn to entice Thomas twisted into a snarl. He stood, his hand on the butt of the blaster. “Or what? You don’t have any Kalquorians left to hide behind now. You’ll do exactly what I want, when I want, and there’s not a damned thing—”

  The shuttle suddenly jerked hard, knocking Conrad back into his seat. The engines continued to hum with their usual efficiency, but the slight press of g-force that the dampeners could never quite completely discount had disappeared. The shuttle’s forward momentum had stopped.

  The Kalquorian pilot let loose a stream of guttural language that Iris was pretty sure consisted of curses. Conrad shot back to his feet and yelled, “What happened?”

  The Nobek’s fists crashed down on the control panel. “It’s a Plasian-style stasis field. No one told me we had something like that here!”

  Conrad’s lip curled in haughty disdain. “Well, get us out of it.”

  The Kalquorian turned his head slowly and sneered right back at him. “Idiot Earther. Even the Empire’s technology hasn’t solved a way to break one of these fields. We’re stuck until someone comes and gets us. And since I know what lies in wait for me, I’ll be departing now.”

  He stood, pulling a long knife from his belt as he did so. The Nobek turned the point of the blade towards himself, putting both hands around the handle and pressing it below the breast bone, angling it in such a way as to pierce his heart when it was shoved in. Iris turned Thomas’ face against her neck, not wanting the boy to see what was coming.

  Conrad shrieked at him in utter disbelief. “You coward! There has to be a way out of this!”

  The Kalquorian snorted bitter laughter. “It is not cowardice when the game is lost and a long, dishonorable execution awaits. I die brave, having defended the purity of Kalquor to the best of my abilities. Long live the Basma. May he save my people.”

  “You can’t kill yourself! I have to get on that transport with what belongs to me!”

  “We’re done, you fool. If you’ve got any sense, you’ll follow my example.” The Nobek nodded at Iris and Thomas. “Their rescuers are on the way, and they’ll be no happier with you than they would be with me. My advice is to turn your blaster on yourself before Nobek Jol gets his hands on you.”

  Conrad’s face went nearly purple in his rage. He jerked around, yanking the percussion blaster from his belt and pointed it towards Iris and Thomas. With a shocked cry, Iris jumped up and shoved Thomas behind her, shielding him with her body.

  Conrad looked at her with insane hatred. “You are mine. No one else gets you but me.”

  The Kalquorian stared in horror and let the knife drop to his side. He moved towards Conrad, his hand reaching for the blaster. “Are you mad? Killing an unarmed woman and child, even if they are only Earthers, is the mark of a true coward. Put that fucking thing down.”

  Conrad never hesitated. Without even blinking he turned and fired point blank in the Nobek’s face. The Kalquorian jerked as he went down, his knife spinning out of his hand to land at Iris’ feet.

  Iris shoved a screaming Thomas back, simultaneously swooping down to grab the knife. She refused to think about how the Nobek’s head had just disintegrated before her eyes. She refused to think at all, simply going on the attack.

  All or nothing. Kill or be killed.

  Iris sprang at Conrad, colliding violently against his body. He dropped the blaster, but managed to dodge the knife as she plunged it at his chest. Then he dropped down and tackled her, his shoulder driving hard into her gut and knocking her backwards. She lost her hold on the knife.

  Conrad quickly sat on her chest, pinning her arms beneath his weight as well. His hands clenched, and the first blow descended, catching her jaw as Iris instinctively jerked her head to one side.

  He kept punching. The fists came faster and faster, intent on speeding Iris to her awful death with Thomas’ screams ringing in her ears.

  * * * *

  Ospar’s voice had acquired an urgency as he said for the umpteenth time, “Shuttle containing E.I.K., Kalquorian rebels, and Earther prisoners, respond. You have no escape. Your immediate surrender is demanded or you will face severe consequences.”

  “We’re now alongside,” Jol reported. His face was the palest Ospar had ever seen. Not even deadly threats to the Dramok or Rivek had ever made Jol look so disquieted. The Nobek was as close to looking frightened as Ospar had ever seen him.

  Their codes negated the stasis field’s effects on their shuttle. They were able to move within it without opposition, though it held the escape shuttle in an inescapable grip. The trouble now was getting to the people inside. To that end, Rivek had torn apart the entire cabin looking for atmospheric suits. His search had been fruitless.

  The lack of response from the other shuttle scared Ospar. He spoke to it once again. “Shuttle containing Earther prisoners Iris and Thomas Jenson, respond now. This is your last chance.”

  Jol reached over to turn the com off. He told Ospar, “With no atmospheric suits, we can’t board. Issuing empty threats will do us no good. It might even make Slade panic and kill them.”

&
nbsp; Rivek lost his temper, an event of universe-shaking magnitude. “What the hell kind of shuttle doesn’t carry suits? Aren’t there regulations about that?” he yelled. He yanked a door off one of the storage bins and threw it across the cabin in frustration.

  His clanmates didn’t answer. Ospar was so desperate that he considered flinging the hatch open to suicidally brave space in an effort to get to the other shuttle. His terror for Iris and Thomas made the insane urge seem a better option than waiting and hoping.

  “Fuck!” he screamed through clenched teeth. There was only one real avenue available to them, one that would mean they’d get to their Matara and son too late. It was all he had. “Cut their engine and set up the traction field, Jol. Let’s drag them back down to Haven.”

  He didn’t add and hope Slade doesn’t kill his two prisoners. He didn’t have to, though there was little faith in the silent tears tracking down Rivek’s face or the blank look in Jol’s eyes. They were only feet away from their loved ones and incapable of saving them.

  The ride back to the planet’s surface seemed to take an eternity.

  * * * *

  As soon as Jol put the shuttle on the landing pad, Ospar opened the hatch and hurtled out towards the other shuttle, which Jol had set down before landing their own. The Dramok had gotten halfway there when his Nobek’s hand landed on his shoulders, yanking him backwards.

  Too frantic to register what he was doing, Ospar whirled around, swinging a fist at Jol’s face. His clanmate caught his wrist, stopping him. He pulled Ospar hard against his body to hold him still.

  “Me first, Ospar. We don’t know who or how many are on board, how they’re armed or ... or what we’ll find.”

  Ospar struggled against his Nobek, still intent on getting to his Matara and son. “Damn you—”

  “Do you want Iris and Thomas to watch you die?”

  Jol’s low, intense tone finally brought the Dramok to his senses. He blinked, realizing what the other man was saying. The captors were no doubt armed and ready to fight. To kill, most likely.

  Rivek joined them and wrapped one arm around Ospar’s chest, holding him back. Jol released him and hurried to the shuttle that had taken their family away, his blaster drawn. Rivek yanked Ospar to one side, so that whoever was on board would not have an easy time taking them out with a shot.

  Glancing at his clanmates first to make sure they were clear, Jol used a frequency disrupter on the hatch door. He crouched, ready to fire as it slid open.

  No one shot at them. From his position, Ospar could just make out the boot and pant leg of a formsuited Kalquorian lying on the floor of the shuttle. Jol edged to the opening and peered in. Then he crept closer still, cautiously entering the vehicle. Ospar held his breath as Jol looked from side to side, searching the depths of the shuttle. He suddenly froze. Then he straightened, standing tall.

  Ospar heard his shocked mutter. “By the ancestors.” Without turning, Jol called, “Ospar, Rivek, come quickly.”

  Not knowing what he would see, not even able to guess what would leave his mighty Nobek staring in stunned disbelief, Ospar raced to the shuttle with Rivek on his heels. He bounded on board and took in the astonishing tableau.

  The dead Kalquorian lay at his feet, his head shattered from what could only be a pointblank blaster shot. The body of an Earther male was facedown nearby. The still form wasn’t just bloodied, but soaked in scarlet.

  At the back of the shuttle, huddled in the aisle between the seats, was Ospar’s everything. A badly beaten Iris, her face swollen and bruised, sat with Thomas curled in her lap. She stared at him, Jol, and Rivek with disbelief, as if she thought them ghosts of the dead.

  Thomas patted her arm with one shaking hand, smears of blood streaking his fingers. “Are you all right, Mommy?” he asked.

  Still staring at the men before her, Iris’ voice issued from between split, inflamed lips. “I’m all right, baby.”

  Again, still patting his mother’s arm. “Are you all right, Mommy?”

  “I’m all right, baby.”

  Ospar croaked, “Iris. Thomas.”

  Thomas jerked. Iris’ eyes filled with tears and immediately spilled over. “It is you,” she said. “You’re really here. I didn’t think—”

  Thomas’ yell interrupted her. “Jol! Thomas find Jol! Osbar! Rivek!”

  He scrambled from Iris’ lap, his face alight. Jol moved forward, stepping over Slade’s body to catch Thomas as he launched himself at them. The big Nobek, his eyes overbright, held the boy to his chest and kissed his cheek.

  “My son,” he whispered. “My son.”

  Ospar’s frozen limbs finally regained feeling. He and Rivek hurried to Iris, kneeling next to her, kissing her poor bloodied face over and over. She cried and laughed all at once, the marks on her pale skin livid.

  No one had ever looked more beautiful to Ospar.

  She started to talk between her sobs. “I thought I’d gone insane. It couldn’t be you standing there, come to save us. Nothing good could ever happen again, not after what I did. Not after I kill – killed—”

  She broke off. A sound that was a bizarre mixture of groaning, sobbing, and laughter tore from her chest.

  “Nothing could keep us from you,” Ospar assured her. “No matter what, we would have found you.”

  Iris’ wide eyes focused on the body on the floor. “He wanted us to die rather than let us go. I had to do it. I had to!”

  Rivek’s gentle pressure on her jaw forced her to look away from Slade. “Hush, hush, precious. We can talk of this later.”

  But Iris couldn’t seem to not talk about the horror she’d endured. “Thomas got the knife after I dropped it. He stabbed Conrad in the neck to make him stop beating me. It distracted Conrad, made him shift enough so I could get my hands free. I fought him off, grabbed the knife, and I – and I—”

  Ospar clutched her tight. “It’s all right, Iris. You did what you had to.”

  She suddenly stopped crying. Her eyes were still too wide, but her voice went soft and wondering. “I stabbed him. I stabbed him over and over until he didn’t move anymore. Until I knew he couldn’t hurt Thomas, ever.”

  Iris grabbed each man’s arm. She looked from Rivek to Ospar, her grip tightening. “Is he dead? Is he really dead? Is it over?” she choked.

  Rivek stroked her hair. “It’s all over, Iris. He’s gone for good.”

  He exchanged a look with Ospar, who nodded. The Imdiko gathered Iris in his arms and stood. Ospar also rose and went to Jol, who cradled Thomas. The little boy was looking into his Nobek father’s face, smiling contentedly. He turned that sweet face to Ospar.

  “Go home, Osbar. Go home now. See fish. See Thomas’ trains.”

  Ospar held his hands out, and Thomas eagerly came to him, his arms circling the Dramok’s neck. “Yes, my son. We’re going home now,” he said, kissing Thomas’ cheek.

  Ospar gave Jol a meaningful look. “Slade will never come anywhere near either of you again, Iris. This is done.”

  Jol nodded almost imperceptibly. The clan’s leader had addressed Iris, but the message was for their Nobek. He would make sure Slade was indeed dead after Iris and Thomas were off the shuttle. If the bastard had somehow managed to survive Iris’ attack, Jol would finish the matter once and for all.

  Ospar carried Thomas outside. The little boy – his little boy – now seemed completely innocent of the drama that had played out. His sweet smile remained as he gazed at his Dramok father.

  His musical voice made Ospar smile too. “Hi, Osbar. Bad daddy hurt. Go bye-bye now.”

  Ospar nodded. “Hello, Thomas. I am so happy to see you again.”

  The child snuggled against his chest, and Ospar suddenly found himself looking at Thomas through blurred eyes. He was not as successful as Jol had been when it came to blinking back the tears, not when he had this beautiful boy and his mother safe once more.

  Chapter 17

  Ospar was stunning in his formal dress robes, the blue-tri
mmed purple setting off his eyes and molding to his body in a way that made Iris’s mouth dry. It was hard to concentrate on his words, as beautiful as they were, when he was standing at her side and looking at her the way he was.

  His pleasant raspy voice carried through the warm early spring air so the many gathered guests could hear the clan’s vows. “To our Matara Iris, we pledge our lives, our love, our eternal devotion to you. We will not falter in our duty to you, duty we take up not as an obligation or encumbrance, but as our lives’ most joyful undertaking.”

  The Dramok looked down at Thomas, who knelt at his surrounding parents’ feet playing with his latest locomotive creation. “And to our firstborn son Thomas, we pledge all these things too. We also promise unending support and guidance until such time as he becomes the great man we know he will be and asks we offer no more. Even after that time has come, we will stand ready to render any support he needs, his only for the asking.”

  Thomas had looked up at Ospar at the mention of his name. There was no way to know how much the boy understood of what had been said, but he seemed to pay rapt attention. At the end of Ospar’s declaration, Thomas raised his train as if saluting the four people smiling down at him.

  “Woo-woo!” he said.

  Everyone laughed. Iris felt gratitude that Thomas seemed to have recovered so well from the events of two months prior. Other than the occasional remark of ‘no more bad daddy’ along with nightmares which were finally tapering off, he showed no signs of trauma. Having three devoted fathers always ready to see to his needs had gone a long way to tame many of the storms Thomas had been prone to. Not only that, he was blossoming from working with the newly ordained Master Copin and three aspirants at the temple. His reading skills, already strong, had taken off under their direction. He was also excelling in math and mechanics. Copin used Thomas’ love for trains as a teaching tool, both scholastically and for behavior issues. The phrase ‘the train is in the station’ was Thomas’ cue that he needed to stay still and not run wild.