by Lucy Kelly
After an enlightening evening at Becky’s house filled with girl talk, Ishme drove them up to Sanctuary. Markus and Tammy would be bringing the shuttle on Sunday. It would be repaired enough to make the trip from Colorado. Marla was just happy it was going to be out of her barn. Markus made arrangements for a larger transport to come and take the damaged shuttle away. They couldn’t afford to have it on Earth for an extended period of time. Having large, not-easy-to-hide objects chock full of advanced alien technology just lying around, was asking for trouble. But before that could happen, they had to take Marla. They would stash the vessel for a month or so. They tried to keep the space travel through Earth’s atmosphere to a minimum.
Becky’s sister, Sarah, welcomed them to the Sanctuary. Marla was getting a little freaked about all the women being pregnant.
“Wow, the baby stick hit you hard. You look like you’re about to pop; and Becky’s running a close second. I heard a lot of people near Chicago got pregnant pretty much all at the same time. Just in the short time we were in town, I saw more big bellies than a beer swilling contest,” Marla said.
Sarah laughed, even as she smoothed her hands over her own baby mound. “Poor Becky, she denied being pregnant until it was impossible not to admit it. Then she was adamant she was having only one baby when it was obvious she was having twins. Her Ankida finally got her to calm down when they reminded her she was a twin. That made it more normal for her.”
“I don’t really blame her. I’d like to think I was having babies when I was ready and not because of some pre-ordained goal of rebuilding an alien civilization.”
“Well, that’s not how I see it. I already love my babies and whether we stay here or eventually move to HeVan to live, they will be special to me and my Ankida,” said Sarah.
The two women discussed children a little while longer before the topic turned to Marla’s obsession with breeding alpacas.
Sarah had been intrigued to hear about Marla’s alpacas. She was always on the lookout for businesses to invest in and different things for the women at Sanctuary to learn about. The transport was going to arrive in the dark of the night. Sarah used the hours while they waited picking Marla’s brain about alpaca breeding. They decided it would be a good product for the Sanctuary to have. Marla promised to help them start up when everything at her own property was settled. If the worst happened, she had a place to move her animals to and a place to live. She knew Sarah would welcome them.
If she lost the land, she didn’t want to stay in Colorado and watch someone else take over what was hers.
She was asleep when the transport arrived. Karlo and Charl carried her aboard, wrapped in a blanket. Even traveling in full stealth mode, they still preferred to only land in the dark of the night. In the time since their first visit, they had mapped all of the observation sites on Earth and all its satellites. It was a matter of routine to avoid detection.
“Marla, wake up, honey,” whispered Karlo.
“No more, I’m tired,” she said, snuggling deeper into his arms.
“We’re about to lift off. I need to get you strapped in,” said Karlo.
“Huh, what?” she slowly woke up and looked around. When she saw where she was, she became instantly alert. “We’re leaving now?”
“Yes, we’re going to be lifting off as soon as everyone is strapped in,” said Charl, as he tightened her shoulder harness. The take off would be smooth so the extra straps weren’t really necessary but Charl wasn’t taking any chances with their precious cargo.
Marla looked around; this shuttle was bigger than the one Karlo had been in. There were rows of seats in this main cabin. It reminded her of first class seats on an airplane, only with extra safety gear. The harness actually made her feel better.
“How come we’re not wearing space suits? Who’s flying the ship? You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?” she babbled out her worries.
“There was an explosion at the gate station. Many of the women didn’t feel comfortable staying there until all the repairs were made. This vessel brought them back to Earth. Don’t worry, the station is secure. We wouldn’t take you there if it weren’t. The women who left are scared because they were there when it happened.”
He decided not to tell her about the fatalities the station incurred. She would find out eventually, after her heart had been repaired. For now, he was happy Armus Hend had been captured and was on his way back to HeVan. He knew about Justyn claiming the Mok Tar ritual of justice and only wished for a moment that he could observe the fight.
After they took off on the runway they had added at the back of the Sanctuary’s property and had left the atmosphere, Karlo got up.
“I take it the captain has turned off the fasten seat-belt sign and it’s safe to move about the cabin?” Marla quipped.
“Come on, I’ll take you up to meet the pilots and you can see what the Earth looks like from space,” Karlo said, taking her hand. Charl stayed behind and started the process of converting the seats into beds. It was the middle of the night for Marla and she needed her rest.
When she came back, the beds were ready and the privacy screens were up. He was rewarded when Marla invited him to cuddle with her in her bed. Karlo would have to wait for the next night.
Chapter Eighteen
After Marla was asleep, Karlo made his way back to the cockpit. He wanted to speak to the pilots because they were from the same house as Dax and Dray Gartha. Did they blame him? He had been with Armus Hend when that traitor to their people had attempted to blow up the station. Thank the Goddess for Commander Suzanna. It was her distrust of the Councilman that saved so many lives. If he had had half as much suspicion then, maybe Cathy Faulkner and her Ankida Dray would be with their child and Dray’s brother, Dax. That the babe still had one parent was cold comfort.
Manx Gurta and his brother, Korat, were in the command chairs when he arrived. The shuttle was on autopilot now that they had passed the moon and the two men were playing Fizzbin, a popular card game amongst the warriors.
Manx looked up when the door opened and he smiled. “Trust you to fall on your feet, Karlo. First you’re added to the list of the fallen and then you come back to life with a Join. I’m jealous; she’s a beautiful woman.”
“You don’t blame me for letting him get away? I know I should have been more vigilant.”
Korat got up from his chair and walked over to where he could see Karlo was waiting for their censure. He put a hand on Karlo’s shoulder. “None of us believed there was a threat. Many of us, Dax and Dray included, believed the Commander was overreacting. They would never have gone on a picnic if they thought there was real danger. We discovered Hend had placed explosives on the station before he ever got into that shuttle with you. I’m just surprised he didn’t use the shuttle’s defenses to fire on the station. He could have caused much more damage; possibly so severe, we couldn’t repair it. A direct hit to the gate controls would have stranded us. With our own weapons offline and the fire in the launch bay, we could do nothing.”
“I locked out the weapons systems,” Karlo said in a quiet voice.
The brothers both looked at him in shock. His actions had saved them all. Korat pulled Karlo into a hug and pounded him on the back. “Thank the Goddess! Why did you?” Manx asked him. “It wasn’t protocol.”
Korat led him to the empty commander’s chair, used when the pilot’s Join was flying with them. Karlo sat and then looked out the view screen at the stars; he could see Mars growing nearer.
“Haven’t you ever noticed that the female Nephilim from Earth have special abilities? I will always remember the first time I saw Heidi in the arboretum; with only her mind, she had a plant squeeze months of growth into a few minutes. Suzanna is the same, only her gift is different. When she developed such a profound dislike of the Councilman so quickly, I felt there must be a reason, so I acted accordingly. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to also lock out the navigation systems.”
&nb
sp; “The Goddess steered your hand. Had you locked out navigation, you would not have met your Join,” said Manx in a serious voice.
Karlo nodded his head. He finally let the guilt fall away from his shoulders. “Charl has Marla wrapped up in his arms and there isn’t room for me. How about dealing me in? I’ve always enjoyed a game of Fizzbin.”
Laughing, Manx gathered up the cards from the game with his brother and re-dealt them.
Halfway to Far Star Station, Marla decided space travel would be very boring if it weren’t for Karlo and Charl. There wasn’t much to do as the transport vessel wasn’t set up for carrying passengers for trips more than a month and usually carried freight.
Luckily, there were some movies left by the women from the gate and both Karlo and Charl took turns showing her really interesting stuff out in space. She became friends with the four warriors taking turns piloting the craft.
The most surprising thing during the trip was the food. She had been expecting foil packets of beef flavored goo. The first day, she had cheesy scrambled eggs with toast for breakfast and a really lovely Chicken Alfredo for lunch. What made it even better was she didn’t have to do the dishes because everything was put into a recycler.
They made plans for the future and told stories about their growing up years, all the things couples did. Once Marla was assured of their privacy, the three of them had a lot of honeymoon sex. For Marla did consider this trip her honeymoon. She knew they wouldn’t get another chance to take a trip this long when they got back. It was part of owning animals. They needed to be cared for every day, rain or shine…or blizzard.
When they approached the station, Karlo asked the pilot to fly around the station. He wanted to see for himself the damage Hend had caused.
Marla was trying to find a way to distract him, he seemed so sad. “Hey, Karlo, why did you guys make such a big deal about leaving Earth right away? We had to wait for a shuttle to come and get us anyway.”
He turned to her, and pulling her into his arms, tucked her against him. Resting his head over hers, Karlo kissed the top before answering her. “We have a base on the dark side of the moon. In the event of an emergency, we would have requested help from there.”
“What’s the base for?” she asked, wondering why they felt it was necessary.
“If the governments on Earth found out about us and started hunting, we have the ability to evacuate all of our people very quickly. While it is not as well equipped as the one on the station, there is a small medical facility on the base. If your condition had been life threatening, we would have taken you there. Going to the gate gets you well. It also gives Charl and me a chance to report to our commander and officially request to be relieved of duty. Then we can clear out our personal belongings from our quarters.”
“I get it now. This trip is all about getting you two out of trouble. You’re both AWOL,” she teased.
“AWOL?”
“Absent without leave, it’s a term used by our military for when soldiers fail to report for their assigned duty.”
“I see. Well, I am AWOL. Let’s hope I don’t get tossed in detention for it.”
Marla pinched his waist to let him know she wasn’t falling for that. Giving him an extra squeeze, she went to gather up all her belongings and make sure they didn’t leave anything behind. Looking around, she gave a thought to how quickly she’d grown used to space travel. She smiled, remembering the day she’d asked the guys to turn off the gravity so they could reenact their Joining flight. Her skin grew flushed at the memory, so she waved her hand at her face.
That’s how Karlo and Charl found her, with pinkened cheeks and slumberous eyes. They were only sorry they didn’t have time to act on the evidence of Marla’s arousal.
“We need to strap in for docking,” said Charl.
Letting go of her salacious thoughts—after all, they would have another week of flying time on the way back to Earth—Marla let Charl strap her into her seat. He actually laughed when she reached over to cop a feel during the process. When he looked at her face, she tried to look innocent and ended up laughing with him.
“Well, I don’t want to be the only one looking forward to sexy times,” she said.
“Don’t be nervous about the medical procedure. Really, you’ll be fine,” Charl said, knowing she was nervous and trying to distract her.
Cocking an eyebrow at him, she answered, “You could have left me to my little distractions, you know.”
“Little? I thought I provided a large distraction,” he responded as he got into his own seat. Karlo entered the cabin to find his brother and his Beleti, or Lady, laughing. Hearing it made him smile and forget his sadness over the lost lives for a moment.
Marla was stepping down from the shuttle, when she looked up from the floor of the docking bay. She was surprised to see so many people crowded into the space. When Karlo exited just behind her, a loud roar went up. Marla shrunk next to him, not understanding what was happening. Were they being attacked?
Karlo was stunned. Never had he expected to be given such a welcome. Manx came up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Well done, warrior! We honor you and your sacrifice.”
“I don’t understand. I did so little,” he said in wonderment.
“You did what no other could have done. Accept their thanks,” said Charl.
Karlo took a step forward and going down on one knee, raised his hands palms up. “I live to serve my people. I accept your appreciation,” he said and then bowed his head as another roar filled the docking bay, bouncing off the walls.
Charl, with the help of Manx and Korat, gathered up the baggage, giving Karlo time to meet with each warrior and clasp arms.
“Karlo is going to be awhile; many here had thought him dead and are happy to have him restored. We’ll get settled in our cabin and then I’ll take you to medical. Then you can stop worrying about it,” Charl told Marla.
“I want both of you there when the doctors do whatever they’re going to do,” she said.
Marla wasn’t at all happy about leaving Karlo behind. There was no way she was going to let some alien doctor poke at her without all her backup in place. Markus was different, he poked at her on Earth, and… it was different!
Marla had finished unpacking her clothes when Karlo arrived at their cabin. She was happy to see his earlier sadness gone.
“Are you going to be impossible to live with now?” she asked him.
A look of confusion crossed his face. “Did I do something wrong? Is there something you want me to change?” Karlo asked.
Marla walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I mean, now that you’re a big hero and everything, is your ego all swollen?”
“No, but something else is. Are you offering to see to my problem?” he asked her with a leer.
“No time for that,” Charl interrupted. “We need to take her to medical for her appointment; we’re expected.”
“Party pooper,” she said and then gathered up her purse because you never knew when you’d need something from your bag.
Upon opening the door to the corridor, the three of them stopped short. Standing outside with a hand raised to knock or ring—or whatever they did on space stations—stood a woman and two men.
Karlo immediately went down on one knee and Charl followed his actions.
“They keep doing that,” said Marla.
“Rise, warriors,” said the woman in a clear voice.
Then she ruined the commanding effect by leaning forward and whispering to Marla. “I thought I had gotten them to stop. Just goes to show, they still need training. I hear you’ve been elected.”
She then went back to her former position.
“So, Karlo, you don’t call, you don’t write. Oh, what the hell,” she said before reaching out to hug him. “We thought we’d lost you. I don’t like losing members of my crew. I was going to report you for being AWOL,” she said with a watery smile.
“You can stop hug
ging him now,” said one of the men. He turned to Marla with a smile. “Hello, you must excuse my Beleti. She is pregnant and very emotional. My name is Jeze Aram and this is my brother, Tyr. We are Ankida to Suzanna.”
“Um, hello? I mean, won’t you come in?” Marla asked, unsure of the protocol.
“Marla has an appointment in medical; we were just on our way there,” said Charl after he regained his feet.
“Actually, we knew that. That’s the other reason why we’re here. I figured Marla would like another woman around, so we’re going with you,” said Suzanna, smiling now at Marla.
The six of them then turned down the corridor, the four men following behind the two women, as Suzanna gave Marla information about the gate station she thought she should know.
Several times they could see people working on panels as they passed by, though they stayed away from the most damaged areas of the station. Behind them, Jeze and Tyr caught up Charl and Karlo on everything that had happened in the past few weeks. From Armus Hend’s capture to the arrival and subsequent departure of Justyn and the two KowLer star ships. It would take another two weeks for all the repairs to be completed and then the station would be back to full working order.
When they reached the medical bay, Marla couldn’t help but feel anxious. After all, it was her heart that was damaged. Were they going to give her a pill or perform open heart surgery? Yes, Markus had explained it all, but she didn’t understand half of what he said and she wasn’t paying attention the other half of the time. She was doing a really good job of denying the problem even existed and wasn’t at all happy she was now going to have to face the issue.
Marla slowed her walk as they approached the door in the corridor Suzanna had pointed out was the medical bay. Karlo bumped into her back when she stopped completely.
“What’s wrong?” Karlo asked.
“I know I put on a good show, but I’m actually a tiny bit nervous about this,” replied Marla.
“We’ll be with you the whole time. I promise,” said Karlo, stepping in front of her so she could see his face. Charl came up behind her so she was surrounded.