by Sue Mercury
He looked at Belle. “I would like to give Amie her dose of nanobots after we finish eating.”
From his peripheral vision, he could see the little girl shaking her head vigorously. “No thank you, Daddy Khann. I’m not sick. I don’t need a shot.”
Daddy Khann. Whenever Amie called him that an immense warmth filled him. He was glad the little girl not only appeared to like him, but she was already thinking of him as a father figure. If only her mother felt so welcoming toward him.
“Amie, it’s very important you receive your nanobots,” Belle said. “They’ll keep you from getting sick.”
“But Momma, I don’t want—”
“I promise it won’t hurt, little one.” Khann placed a gentle hand upon the girl’s shoulder and smiled down at her. “And your mother is correct. The nanobots will keep you from getting sick. They’ll also heal you if you become injured. For example, if you were to fall and scrape your knee, you wouldn’t need to bandage the cut, for it would heal within moments.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Really.”
She gave him a dubious look but eventually nodded. “Okay, fine.” She blew out a deep breath that made her bangs fly up. “But I might take a long time to finish eating,” she murmured in a voice so low Khann almost didn’t hear.
A strange sensation gripped him. His chest and throat seized up and it took him a few moments to realize he was laughing. A true laugh. The little girl could be quite amusing at times and he enjoyed her company. He glanced at Belle to see she was also smiling.
A while later, Belle gave Amie a pointed look. “You haven’t taken a bit of anything in a few minutes. Time’s up, darling. No more stalling. It’s best to get your shot over with.”
Amie gazed at the last few slices of pizza. “But Momma, I was going to eat three more slices of pizza. I’m starving! I must be having a growth spurt.” She reached for another slice, but Belle pulled the pan out of her grasp.
“I’m going to box up these leftovers and then we’ll get to it.”
Amie huffed and her bangs flew up again. Khann thought the little girl was adorable and charming even when she was being slightly disagreeable. He squeezed her shoulder and furtively withdrew the syringe from the pouch at his belt.
“Did you enjoy lunch?” he asked her, readying the dose of nanobots out of her eyesight.
“Yes, it was delicious! Pizza and cheeseburgers are my favorite,” she said. “Of course, I also like pasta and chicken salad and brownies and apple pie.”
“Tell me what your other favorite foods are,” he said. “And when you tell me, I want you to close your eyes and picture them in your head. Could you do that?”
She nodded, excited by the prospect.
Just as she shut her eyes and started listing off her favorites, he quickly but gently administered the dose of nanobots, giving her the shot in her arm. To his relief, she didn’t open her eyes or stop talking. She didn’t even feel it. A smile tugged at his lips, and he tucked the emptied syringe in the pouch and glanced up to see Belle standing in the doorway of the dining room, a look of gratitude filling her eyes.
“Thank you, Khann,” she whispered, blinking rapidly against a sheen of moisture. “That was very sweet of you.”
Khann nodded and waited for Amie to finally run out of steam. After a small eternity, she paused for a deep breath, and he patted her arm right where he’d administered the shot.
“All done, little one.”
Her eyes popped open. “What?”
“I just gave you the shot.”
“You did?”
“Yes, and it didn’t hurt at all, did it?” His chest tightened with affection. He would’ve felt like a monster if the shot had hurt her even the slightest bit and he was thankful he’d been able to successfully distract her.
“Daddy Khann, you tricked me!” She giggled and the sound of her laughter was a balm to Khann’s tattered soul. He was capable of emotion, able to care for others. How had he ever doubted himself?
On instinct, he playfully flicked her nose, which only made her giggle harder. He felt Belle’s hand upon his shoulder and looked up to find her smiling. This time he was certain he glimpsed tears in her eyes, though she kept blinking, and none actually escaped to trickle down her face.
“Are you all right, little human?” He didn’t think the tears were wrought from sorrow, but he still needed to be certain. He had never spent a long time in the company of humans before, as the few interactions he’d had with the human females who now lived on New Vaxx had always been brief, usually just a quick greeting when a fellow warrior introduced their new mate to him in the street.
“I’m wonderful, actually.” She blinked a few more times. “I’m going to finish cleaning up the table now. Why don’t you and Amie go hang out in the living room? There are games on a bookshelf. Or you could watch a movie or something.”
Amie slipped out of her chair and grasped Khann’s hand. He glanced down, startled by how tiny her hand looked in his much larger one. But for a small child, she had a firm grip.
“Come on, Daddy Khann, I’ll teach you how to play checkers.”
Chapter 11
Belle stood in the doorway of Amie’s room, a lump in her throat as she watched Khann tell her a bedtime story. She wondered how old he was and if he’d had a family before the war, a mate and children. Her heart broke at the thought. If he’d had a family, he’d lost them. She knew the grief of losing a family member all too well and couldn’t fathom losing a child. She resolved to ask him about his life before the war at the earliest opportunity.
Why was she delaying mating with him and leaving Earth when doing so was inevitable? Despite the fact that he was a Vaxxlian, she would not go back on her word. Especially after he’d given Amie a dose of nanobots too. She only wished she knew how many Irrcons he’d killed in battle. She also wished she knew for certain that he’d never visited the Dreusha Outpost.
What would she do if she learned he’d had a hand in the devastation visited upon the outpost that had been her childhood home? She pushed the thought away. Maybe she shouldn’t ask Khann too many questions about his past. She might not like what she discovered.
She tried to convince herself this was for the best. Amie deserved to have a real home on a safe planet. Belle couldn’t stay on Earth for much longer even if it was the planet of her birth. It didn’t feel like home and it wasn’t a safe place to stay. She didn’t know a single person on this planet.
How would her life have turned out if her parents hadn’t set out on an exploration vessel for the far reaches of known space? What would she be doing right now if she’d grown up with her biological parents on Earth? Would she have gone to college? She’d always been interested in business and had enjoyed assisting Mikkal and Dalton in their business ventures.
She shook her head slightly to clear the daydream and focused on Amie and Khann. He was still telling Amie a story, even using fake voices for the characters in the outlandish tale about two Vaxxlian warriors who teamed up to defeat a space dragon.
This is my life, she told herself. She couldn’t change what had happened with her parents, nor could she change what had happened to Mikkal. If Mikkal hadn’t perished in the Vaxxlian attack on the Dreusha Outpost, she would’ve never met Dalton, eventually married him and had Amie. Her head spun as she considered all the events and choices in her life that had led to this moment, the moment a Vaxxlian warrior was telling her daughter a bedtime story, the very alien male she was supposed to mate with soon.
Family. They would be a family. And they would live on planet New Vaxx.
Would she be happy there? She glanced at Amie, who was staring at Khann with a look of adoration. Not even a full day had passed since his arrival on Earth and already Amie was growing attached to him. Perhaps Belle would find happiness with Khann and in living on New Vaxx through Amie’s innocent enthusiasm.
Not for the first time since Khann’s arrival, she was thankful she’d neve
r told Amie about the Irrcon-Vaxxlian war. She didn’t want Amie to ever fear Khann or the other Vaxxlians on their new home. More than anything, she wanted Amie to have stability in her life, and if she didn’t feel safe, she would never have that.
“And just before they lifted their blasters to slay the space dragon,” Khann said, his deep voice reverberating in the room, “the dragon spoke to them telepathically—that means they heard the dragon’s voice inside their heads—and asked why they wanted to hurt him.”
“What did the warriors say?” Amie asked, eyes wide with interest.
“They told the space dragon the king had ordered them to hunt him down and slay him. Again, the dragon asked why, and the warriors explained that no dragon had been seen in a millennium, but the stories of old dragons were frightening and painted with death and ruin. In those stories, the old dragons destroyed huge interstellar vessels as well as entire civilizations. The king had ordered the Vaxxlian warriors to destroy the space dragon before it had a chance to hurt anyone.”
“Did the warriors kill the space dragon then?” Amie asked. “Oh, I hope not. He sounds kind of nice. He hasn’t killed anyone in the story yet, although I don’t think I’d like it if someone talked to me inside my head, but other than that he seems like a nice dragon.”
Khann smiled and stroked Amie’s hair. “You’re very perceptive, Amie. You’re correct. This space dragon was very special. He wasn’t bloodthirsty like the dragons from the old stories. He was a new kind of dragon, one a scientist created in a laboratory, and he had escaped after the scientist treated him badly. But the dragon, whose name was Heeatius, was gentle at heart and had no wish to hurt anyone. He showed the warriors the experiences of his life, flashing his life story to them in a series of images, and the warriors immediately put their blasters away.”
“So they didn’t kill him?”
“No. A Vaxxlian warrior is bound to protect his people, but all warriors must do so with honor. There is no honor in taking the life of an innocent person or creature, someone or something who doesn’t pose a threat to the Vaxxlian way of life.”
Suddenly, Khann’s bedtime story was making Belle uncomfortable. She’d just been trying to stop thinking about the past, particularly about what had happened to Mikkal, and now Khann’s own story, the significance of which was apparently Vaxxlian honor, hit a nerve. The Vaxxlian warriors who’d destroyed the Dreusha Outpost hadn’t done so with honor. While many of the Irrcons staying at the outpost had been Irrcon warriors, not all of them were. A few, like Mikkal, had been simple merchants or traders.
There was no honor in what had been done to Mikkal. The lump in her throat intensified, this time as her grief over losing the only father she’d ever known resurfaced.
Mikkal had always tucked her in for bed each night, just like Khann was doing with Amie right now, always taking the time to ask about her day and tell her a story or two. Sometimes he would make up stories, while other times he would read to her.
“What happens to Vaxxlians who kill without honor?” Belle blurted, unable to stop the question from escaping her mouth. She looked at Khann, awaiting his answer.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“If a Vaxxlian warrior, or a whole unit of them, go on a rampage and kill innocent aliens, what happens to those Vaxxlians?” Mikkal’s terror-stricken face flashed in her mind. He’d been no warrior, even though most of his kind had fought in the war. He was too gentle. Too sweet. She was certain he’d gone his whole life without raising a hand or a blaster to anyone.
Khann sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Well,” he began, “such circumstances are very rare. But if there is adequate evidence that a Vaxxlian warrior committed a crime against an innocent alien, that Vaxxlian is banished and all his wealth is stripped from him and given to the victim’s family.”
That didn’t sound fair to her, but she pressed her lips together to prevent another outburst. God, what was she doing? Khann would probably wonder why she’d asked such a question. The last thing she wanted was to make him suspicious of her past. Thankfully he hadn’t asked about her past or her family or where she’d grown up. He knew she’d just returned to Earth after several years away, years spent at an outpost where Dalton had worked, but she hadn’t revealed any other information about herself yet.
“But do not worry,” Khann said, returning his gaze to Amie. “All the Vaxxlian warriors I personally know have honor and would never harm an innocent. And the two warriors who’d been sent to kill the space dragon helped him find a beautiful planet to live on, a world where he could live in peace.”
“That’s a wonderful story, Daddy Khann.” Amie covered a sudden yawn. “Thanks for telling it to me. Your voices were pretty good, too. Especially your dragon voice. You made him sound really big but also kind. That’s how I knew he was so nice, because of the voice you gave him.”
Khann smiled down at Amie. As Belle watched the sweet interaction between her daughter and her future mate—a Vaxxlian warrior, no less—she couldn’t help but feel touched by the scene. After he finished tucking Amie in as snugly as possible, with the blankets pulled up to her chin, he rose to his feet and said goodnight. But just as he turned to leave the bedroom, Amie called out to him.
“Wait!” She withdrew Mr. Melvin from under the covers. “You’ve got to give my bear a kiss! He can’t go to sleep unless he gets kisses.”
And so, Belle watched as Khann, all seven feet of him, returned to Amie’s bedside and leaned down to kiss a stuffed animal. When he also kissed Amie on her forehead, Belle couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.
She turned and wiped them away quickly, not wanting Khann to witness her confused sorrow. She was sad and angry and happy all at once. What she really needed was some time alone to think things over.
“Come, little human,” Khann said as he reached her side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her down the hallway. “We have much to discuss.”
Chapter 12
Belle’s strange question about Vaxxlian warriors without honor weighed on Khann’s mind. He peered down at her, wondering why she had asked the question. As he guided her into the living room, and they sat down on the couch beside one another, it appeared as though she were avoiding his gaze. Alarm rose within him, as he realized he did not know much about this little human. Perhaps it was wise for them to become better acquainted before they joined as mates, after all.
Khann cleared his throat and waited for Belle to look at him. When she continued glancing around the room, clearly avoiding his gaze this time, he grasped her chin and forced her eyes to his.
“Tell me why you asked about the Vaxxlian warriors without honor, Belle.”
“Oh, I was just curious, that’s all.” She tried to pull away from him, but he tightened his grip on her chin.
“If we are to become better acquainted, little human, we must be honest with one another. I vow to always be honest with you, and I expect honesty from you in return.”
Her eyes widened slightly, and she inhaled a quick breath, almost a gasp. “I-I understand,” she said after a long pause.
“Now, tell me, why did you ask about the warriors without honor? Please give me the truth this time. I sense it was not a random question.”
To his surprise, she started shaking, and he immediately regretted using a sharp tone with her. He breathed long and deep, trying to calm himself down, and waited for her to respond. He wasn’t certain why her question had put him on edge. Perhaps it was because he had no sympathies for those who harmed innocents. If any warrior in his unit harmed another without real cause, he would be tempted to mete out his own brand of justice, even if banishment was the usual consequence for crimes of war.
“Khann,” she said, “as you know, I lived at an outpost with my late husband for a few years. On this outpost, I met many different aliens from a variety of worlds, including some who told a story of Vaxxlian warriors murdering innocent Irrcons—those who w
orked as traders or merchants—on the Dreusha Outpost. I also met a girl who told me her Irrcon father, who ran his own shipping center and never joined in the war against the Vaxxlians, was murdered before her very eyes, just because he was an Irrcon. He wasn’t a warrior. He was a peaceful man. And a Vaxxlian killed him, and when she crawled out of the closet she was hiding in, she found his body and the bodies of many of his merchant friends, all Irrcons who were innocents.”
Khann fought the urge to growl. His first instinct was to inform Belle that there was no such thing as an innocent Irrcon, but perhaps her story held merit. He hoped it wasn’t true, but what if it was? He had believed all Irrcons had joined in the battle against his people, but it was possible that some had refused to fight. Were some Irrcons truly peaceful? The very idea shocked him, but he couldn’t rule out the possibility.
“I’ve heard of the Dreusha Outpost, though I have never been there,” he said. “This Irrcon girl who told you this story, what was her name?”
“Oh, she wasn’t an Irrcon. She was a human girl.”
“But you said her father was killed and that he was an Irrcon. Humans and Irrcons are not sexually compatible, therefore it does not make sense that she could have an Irrcon father.”
“The human girl told me the Irrcon was her adoptive father. In fact, she told me he was a wonderful father and that she’d loved him very much. She said he’d found her in the rubble of a destroyed human explorer ship when she was an infant, rescued her and raised her as if she were his own flesh and blood.”
Shut up shut up shut up.
Even though a voice in the back of her mind kept whispering that she ought to stop talking right now, Belle couldn’t stop speaking once the story started flowing out of her. It felt good to throw the crimes of Khann’s people back in his face. Of course, she couldn’t admit the girl in the story was actually her. Not yet, at least. Perhaps later on in their relationship when she grew to trust him. If she grew to trust him, she amended.