The space was so small his Bride sat on the bunk and Dago Cho took a seat at the booth embedded into the wall. Kayzon had busied himself with the controls of the food dispenser while his Bride and her father spoke of their family. He served food to them then sat at the booth with Dago Cho.
Kia talked about her mother and two younger sisters, updating her father on their health and welfare. He watched as she spoke of her family, how her eyes sparkled. How she behaved in the presence of her father. Love showed in her eyes, her words and her every gesture. Jealousy flooded his body and his mind. He wanted that for himself. He wanted her love and her devotion. He wanted to belong to a line again. He wanted it all.
But instead he felt that no matter what, when she found out the true reason for his removal from the dating base, for the way he’d treated a female of royal pigment, she would decide he wasn’t a fit mate or parent. And he could not blame her for that choice. He wasn’t fit.
“…and then Kayzon put enough currency in the account so that they would be fine, and he sent a message to them letting Mom know where I was and that I was well and not to worry…”
He glanced over at her, mid-bite. He placed his food down and stared at his Bride, his gaze fixed. By the gods, he wanted her now. Wanted to tear off her clothing, spread her legs and place his mouth on her delicious pussy. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his raging hormones in the presence of Dago Cho.
She looked over, met his gaze and stumbled in the midst of her words. Pink flooded her cheeks. She gave him a tremulous smile, regained the thread of her conversation with her father and continued talking.
Kayzon finished his meal, pulled out a tablet and tapped out his newly revised mission log while they spoke. He let the Hunter Guild know of the illegality of the THX690 Bounty. A Bounty placed on the head of a being innocent of any crime was a serious offense that had to be quickly investigated. The honor of the entire Bounty Hunter profession was at risk.
“And Kayzon rescued me from a Hurlian snatching.”
Kayzon looked up again and crooked a ridge. She wanted to discuss this? As she finished detailing the failed snatching, he leaned back, lifted his chin and joined the conversation. “She was working as a guard in the marketplace when I found her,” he told Dago.
“You were doing what?” Dago Cho’s head whipped around to stare at his daughter with fury in his gaze.
She threw her hands up. “Oh, come on, you two, I needed a job. We both know I can’t do much else. I was desperate, okay?”
“Kia, you need to keep the secret, for your own safety.”
“Dad, it’s a little late for that. And…anyway…” She looked down at her fingers twisted together on her lap then back up at her father. “Is it true that you aren’t human?”
Huh. Kayzon was wondering when she’d finally get around to asking about that. He glanced at Dago Cho to see how the male was going to explain this to his daughter.
Dago’s giant shoulders slumped. He took a deep breath. “Yes, Kia, I am not human. I am Gravian.”
“You’re not human,” Kia repeated. “What does that mean, Gravian?”
“We are a species that originates in the second sector on the planet Salo. We pride ourselves on being the spark of the multigod movement throughout the universe. The oldest multigod temples and altars are on Salo. Other species come to Salo for religious pilgrimages. I am the Priest of the thirtieth line.”
Kia’s eyes were wide. “How did you end up on New Earth?”
“I was sent deep undercover to New Earth to offer help to the suffering and to help bring multigod to New Earth. Gravian and humans have similar biology, so it was natural that this planet would be chosen as a mission project. In fact there has always been a Gravian or two undercover on New Earth since its inception. But I never meant to stay. Every Gravian is expected to complete a mission when they turn twenty, offering help in some way on another planet in the four sectors. It was only to be a short mission, with others taking on my role in rotations, but I fell in love with your mother. Gravians mate similar to Xylan. We only have one true mate per life cycle. Unlike Xylan, we can have pleasure mates. But only a true mating will produce offspring. I was not supposed to go so deep undercover that I had a family. That was not necessary, that was my choice. I fell in love with your mother.”
Kia smiled. “You did?”
“Yes, I instantly knew Mariah was my mate. We have both chosen to commit to New Earth and the inhabitants there.”
“This is why I’ve always been so strong?”
“Yes. Gravian are much stronger than the typical human.”
“Why aren’t Harmony and Janet?”
“They are more human than Gravian.”
“When you left, did you go back to Salo?”
Dago turned his head toward Kayzon. “I had to leave my family behind because there was only one transporter on New Earth. The Hurlians had been getting closer and closer to discovering who the Gravian infiltrator was…me. They had recently destroyed my secret bunker where I kept my communication equipment and emergency transporter. I had no way to communicate with the Gravian Command.”
“When I left our house that day, leaving you girls and your mother alone, I met with a smuggler who had a transporter and left the planet in order to meet with the Gravian Counsel and to make plans to extract all of you from this world and return to Salo. My position on New Earth had been blown. My undercover mission was over. But I was delayed because an epidemic of Worlian Coma was sweeping through Salo.”
Kayzon winced. “Three hundred years ago Worlian Coma killed half the population of Chronos.”
Dago nodded. “I am lucky to be alive and clear of the virus. I was finally allowed off planet, but there wasn’t much the Counsel could do to help. They have their hands full with saving Salo.”
“But…Dad,” Kayzon could see that Kia was struggling with the question she wanted to ask. “New Earth is terrible. Let’s be truthful here, it’s terrible. And you said, well, you’re saying you were there to help but I don’t see how you…helped.”
Dago’s nostrils flared. “Kia, how do you think everyone we care about in our family and network of friends has never been snatched by Hurlians?”
Kia opened her mouth and then snapped it shut.
“And how is it that our planet has so many tools and resources, despite the fact that we’re isolated, with no contact with the outside world, and the Hurlians give us almost nothing?”
“The Black Market?” she whispered.
“Who on New Earth would have the currency to pay them?”
She paused. “You?”
“Yes. Me. When I first arrived on New Earth I was appalled at the conditions. Gravians had been helping the humans of New Earth for hundreds of years. But it wasn’t good enough. I was the first to fall in love with a human, the first to stay when my allotted time ended. I was the first to marry into the humans and bear children. I stayed on New Earth and started the first bank. But mainly all I’ve done is hand out micro loans to individuals to help them start small businesses. Gravians have been investing in New Earth for the last twenty years.”
Kia sucked in a breath. “I just can’t…this is hard for me. You aren’t human, you never were and you never told me? Never told me that I’m not actually human either?”
“What if something went wrong and you were snatched by the Hurlians? What if you were arrested by unigods? What if you were tortured for information?”
“I would never break,” she hissed.
“The Hurlians can make you talk, even if you don’t want to.”
“This is true,” Kayzon broke in. “The strongest warrior cannot withstand Hurlian interrogation,” he told her. “They have technology that scrapes information from your mind. I agree with this logic. It would have been necessary to keep this from you, for your own safety and for the safety of your family.”
Kia exhaled. “I can’t believe you’re agreeing with him,” she muttered.
&nb
sp; Kayzon shrugged. “He’s Gravian.”
“So?”
Kayzon met Dago’s steady gaze.
“Tell her,” he said.
Kayzon nodded. “Gravians are known throughout the universe for their altruism. They are mainly warrior priests. Because he is Gravian and a Priest of an ancient line, I know your father is guided by the multigod principles and leads an ethical, honorable life. Everything he says I accept as truth.”
“Thank you,” her father answered.
Kayzon lifted his chin.
An alarm sounded throughout the ship. “Monitoring update,” the computer announced.
“Monitoring?” Kia asked. “Monitoring what?”
“I have drones recording your family’s residence. I had the computer monitor your family on New Earth while we orbited the planet. It was to let me know if anything unusual was happening.”
“You did?” she asked with a watery smile.
“What happened?” Dago barked.
“Computer, update from this position.”
“Confirmed.”
A vid screen popped up, showing a Hurlian hovercraft orbiting New Earth. Fucking Hurlians. He knew it. That’s why he’d told the computer to monitor her family. He suspected they were being targeted. “Hurlian ships approaching New Earth. Destination, Singapore.”
Dago cursed.
“When is their estimated time of arrival?” Kayzon asked.
“The ship will reach New Earth in approximately two quarter rotations, or forty-five minutes New Earth standard time.”
Chapter Ten
The three of them suited up.
Kayzon outfitted her and her father in shiny black Bounty Hunter suits he’d ordered the computer to design and manufacture in the cargo bay, minus the Bounty Hunter insignia. The suiting-up process was solemn and exciting at the same time. Pieces of armor clicked easily into place on her chest, arms and legs. It was light and comfortable, much lighter than she’d expected.
“I am woman, hear me roar,” Kia yelled out with a raised fist.
Dad chuckled from across the cargo bay as he stepped into his own suit.
She stood tall, looking down at herself, delighting in the fit of the black armor. For once in her life she felt like a real soldier, a goal she’d always had, but on New Earth women weren’t allowed to join the militia or the peacekeepers.
Fuck them all. They weren’t stopping her anymore.
Her husband’s large form loomed next to her. She leaned into him. “How do I look?” she whispered.
His hot gaze traveled up and down her body possessively. She shivered inside the metal exoskeleton. He handed her the blade he’d picked earlier for her personal use from his Cabul. She slipped it into the front sheath at her chest.
“You look powerful,” he answered hoarsely.
She snorted. “Stop treating me like every moment is our last together.”
He grew quiet again, that handsomely marred face and glowing eye staring straight into her soul, dark and silent.
She threw him a sexy smirk and willed the helmet to close and the gloves to cover her hands.
The ramp opened and the three of them stepped out of the ship. It was the middle of the night in Singapore. The moon cast a green glow over the craggy landscape. She inhaled, loving the familiar scent of jasmic in the breeze.
They’d landed in a canyon near the edge of Singapore, the same position Kayzon had used last time. It was still a good hiding place and the closest point to her house. Unfortunately Kayzon’s ship only had one transporter. It wasn’t able to lock onto objects and pull them in. Her family would have to be in a transporter hub themselves or have a beacon attached in order for the transporter to pull them onto the ship.
So they had to do this rescue the Bounty Hunter way—old-fashioned extraction.
They went in quietly, sight unseen. Dad was still wanted for treason, and there were many eyes focused on her house, eyes waiting for the opportunity to snitch and turn Dad in to the unigod enforcers. There was a reward on his head, after all.
Their suits were synched so they could hear each other.
The Xylan slip drive kept the ship invisible.
“Follow me,” Kayzon ordered. They climbed out of the canyon and onto the flat hard pan above. Kayzon walked in front, Kia in the middle and Dad behind. In about thirty minutes they were nearing Singapore. She could see the shadows of low buildings in the distance. There was little vegetation blocking the view. Her lips thinned, thinking of Kayzon’s impression of her city. She’d seen “real” cities on the Black Market vid—tall, high-tech and sleek. In Singapore some buildings and homes were made out of local materials, out of bricks and stone, or wood. But many were just shanties thrown together with whatever discarded items that were available. Most dwellings were one story and only a few were two story. Singapore was not a colorful, cultured or pretty place. Instead it was serviceable. They’d done well considering they were captives of Hurlians and living on essentially a prison planet. She gritted her teeth, feeling for once a little proud of all the humans on New Earth. Hearing that her father was Gravian and that her parents had been fighting underground for the betterment of the planet was a nice revelation. It put a spring in her step, knowing the humans on New Earth hadn’t been completely forgotten. She’d always been bitter, wondering how they could be forgotten by the rest of the universe. It was a planet, after all, not a tiny moon. It was good knowing that at least the Gravian species had been trying to help this whole time.
They neared the edge of the city and followed a dirt path that led to a main road. Kayzon was an expert at extraction. It was what he did, so of course they followed. There were a few solar-powered streetlights that gave off a weak glow, but mainly the streets were dark, with the addition of a bit of green moonlight. Her night vision through the Hunter suit was coming in handy. Watching Kayzon, his large body fluid and silent as he carefully made his way undetected through the city, was a joy she wouldn’t soon forget.
“We’re almost there,” Dad whispered into his mouthpiece, letting Mom know of their ETA.
“Hurlian ships will arrive in fifteen New Earth standard minutes,” the computer updated in their suits.
They quickened their pace. Finally, they arrived at the house. It was a squat building, built with brick, in a line of dilapidated houses along a row. Kia’s nose stared to sting. Never did she think she’d be so happy to see the damn thing.
Mom and Janet were right at the door. They must have been on the lookout. Mom was holding Harmony in her arms. Harmony was asleep and covering Mom like a blanket, her dark hair contrasted against Mom’s light brown hair.
“Dad!” Janet gasped.
Dago made a choking noise. Kia turned and noticed he’d willed his helmet to retract. “Mariah,” he rasped, his eyes suspiciously wet. He immediately swept Mom and Harmony in his arms. Janet went over and pressed close behind him.
Kia stood back with a blaster in both her hands, grinning. She looked up at Kayzon’s impassive face. He looked down and met her gaze.
She winked.
His ridges went up in surprise.
She turned away and smiled. It was good to keep him on his toes.
Mom continued to hug Dad while holding Harmony. Janet was crying. It was all a bit of an emotional, messy reunion. Kia was about to break it up, because really, they had to get going, the Hurlians were arriving any minute.
And then Harmony woke up.
Kayzon now stood directly behind Mom’s shoulder. Harmony’s eyes blinked open and she stared right at Kayzon’s face, which happened to be illuminated by a beam of green moonlight—his cybernetic eye glowed ghastly white and that scar seemed somehow deeper and more tragic in shadow.
Harmony opened her mouth wide and let out the mother of all screams. The type of scream that could carry for miles.
Oh shit.
Everyone shushed her, but it was too late. Lights in windows flicked on. Kia could hear voices shouting. Animals star
ted barking.
And then there were lights shining overhead.
Kia looked up and blinked.
The fuck?
“Hurlian hovercraft is above Singapore,” the computer announced in their helmets.
“Run!” Dad shouted. He scooped Harmony off Mom and into his own arms. They all started running down the dark street that was slowly coming to life. Mom stumbled, not being able to keep up.
“Dad, give me Harmony,” Kia yelled. Suddenly the little girl was shoved into her arms, tiny hands tight at the back of Kia’s neck. Dad scooped up Mom. Janet was securely in Kayzon’s arms. Kia ran as fast as her pounding legs would take her. Her breath burst in and out of her chest as she ran faster than she’d ever run. Faster than she’d run in the forest. She had a precious package in her hands, and there was no fucking way the Hurlians were taking her family.
No. Fucking. Way.
They ran back the way they’d arrived, rounding the corner of the street and onto the main road that ran along the side of the marketplace. The hum of the hovercraft and the lights retreated behind them, but they could still hear sounds of the city coming to life. Doors slamming, the murmur of voices. The occasional shout or scream. The Hurlians were snatching humans.
Oh shit.
“We will regroup in my ship and use my weaponry to disable the hovercraft before it lifts off with humans,” Kayzon broadcast from his suit.
Kia’s lips curled. He didn’t even sound winded.
They made it to the canyon, and Kia couldn’t stop the grateful tears that welled in her eyes. She lowered Harmony, and they climbed down the side of the canyon together. In minutes everyone had made it down and they were at the ship, which materialized before their eyes, coming out of the slip drive.
The ramp lowered, and Kia started to guide Harmony up when something weird happened. There was a thunderous noise and her hair whipped around in a torrent of wind. Lights were everywhere. She gasped and looked up and around, twisting to see what was going on. An enormous spaceship was landing near them in the canyon. “Who is that?” she shouted to Kayzon. “More Hurlians?”
Kayzon's Wish Page 10