by Maia Starr
As soon as he said it, I knew who it was. The redhead with the sparkling green eyes stepped on board behind the man. "Dr. Maltra, this is your assignment. I believe you are acquainted with this crew?" he said to her.
She looked at us and in her most professional tone, said, "Yes, I am. I'm ready to begin this assignment. Thank you, Superior," she said to him. He nodded to her and to us and then left the ship. Although I was happy to see her and enjoyed knowing she would be with us, I knew how dangerous this situation was. I pulled her aside and said, "No, Felicity, you are not going. We do not need a medic. Get off the ship go back to safety."
Her eyes narrowed at me and she said, "You do not order me about, Captain. This ship belongs to Earth and you will follow the Earth rules if you want to utilize it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have my supplies to put away."
I admired her defiance, but I could not focus if I did not know that she was safe. I would not be able to take the risk that I would take in order to defeat Ukir knowing that her life was in my hands. Every risky maneuver meant I could bring her death. I could not handle that.
"Felicity, you will listen to me and…"
SIREN! SIREN!
"Captain Ky-Vesa! That is the warning sound for launch. Thirty seconds!" Eral shouted.
I growled a deep growl knowing I did not have time to get Felicity off the ship. "Close the doors! Pressurize and angle for launch! Everyone, strap in!" I shouted. The crew followed my orders. I had to focus. I had to treat Felicity like she was any member of the crew or I would not get through this battle successfully.
"Launching in five, four, three, two, one..."
The ship shot into space with the Earth battalion in formation. Soon we were past the Earth moon, heading straight for the purist fleet.
Chapter 11
DR. FELICITY MALTRA
I was nervous as hell as I approached the battalion. There I found my master superior that had called me on my communication line after Drin had dropped a bombshell on me. His talk of his promise to his father broke my heart. I knew he thought he was doing right by me, by telling me the truth. But with the circumstances at hand and the fact that it might not matter anyway, it seemed like an unnecessary jab to my heart. It burned.
His words echoed in my mind that he would not be taking a human female as a serious mate. That he was in a way betrothed to a Drackon female that he had never met. It was his father’s dying wish. I would think his father would understand what it was to fall in love with a human female since he himself had experienced it. But I also understood regret. I understood having passion and looking out for your own ancient race. These thoughts barreled in my mind as I moved through the base.
The faster I walked toward the battalion, the angrier I grew. How dare Drin? How dare he do such amazing things to me sexually and emotionally, only to shit on them with this story about the promise? I understood about loyalty, and how he must feel so much guilt toward breaking this promise. But he did not need to pass that guilt on to me. I could have gone on blissfully without even knowing about it.
"Dr. Maltra reporting, sir," I said with a salute to my superior.
"Good, Dr. Maltra, you are in need. There is a battalion launching in about an hour. I need you to take an assignment as a medic on board one of the ships. We are expecting injury, and as you know, we don't send ships into battle without a medic on board."
As soon as he said it, I knew exactly which assignment I would be taking. I was one of the few doctors that had experience working on the Drackon’s unique bodies. Therefore, they would be assigning me to Captain Ky-Vesa. The bastard!
"Yes, sir. I am happy to report," I said to him.
"Go into preparation. There, you will be given your ship number, and you will be given a medic bag, supplies, and your wearable gear."
I saluted him and then moved off to get my assignment and my gear. The atmosphere as I entered the gear rooms was one I had never encountered before. Soldiers were gearing up. Words of “Remember Registration” echoed off of everyone’s lips. This was a serious battle against the enemy and these soldiers were out for blood. I wondered how many of them had lost someone in the bombing.
“Dr. Maltra?” a fresh-faced soldier said as he walked up to me.
“Yes, that is me,” I said.
“I just want to thank you. You rescued my mother yesterday in the courtyard. She said you were the first one to come to her aid. You tore a piece of fabric from her skirt and tied a tourniquet. Ma’am, that tourniquet saved her life. The surgeons said she would have lost too much blood if you had not stopped it.”
My eyes began watering as I listened to him talk. Then he threw his arms around me and gave me a giant hug. “Thank you, Doctor. On behalf of my mother and I, thank you.”
“I was just doing my job. I am glad to hear that your mother is doing well.”
“Yes, ma’am, just as I am here to do my job. Let’s make those assholes pay!” he shouted. His shouts started a round of rowdy shouting and high fives as he moved away from me. Then it hit me; I was a damn doctor. I had become what I said I would not set out to do. I would not succumb to a male distraction. Yet here I was, giving all my energy to being hurt and distracted by a gorgeous hybrid. I was a damn doctor and I was going to put that first. I geared up with the same pride as the soldiers by my side. I had a job to do, just like them.
It did not surprise me when I walked onto the ship and Drin tried to stop me from going. Obviously he would want me to stay; I would be a distraction. But I wasn't going to let him talk me out of my career. He was putting duty before me, and I had to do the same. He had said as much before I left my living quarters.
As soon as we launched and were in space, a large fleet headed in our direction. I had never been in battle before. I had always been involved in research expeditions. I supposed there was a first time for everything.
"There's so many of them," Eral said as he maneuvered the ship. Then he continued, "I didn't realize that the purists had acquired so many ships."
"Seems that not all the ships are Drackon ships. He probably pulled a few from the outlaw planets. Most of his warriors and soldiers are likely hired guns. Ukir has acquired wealth in order to hire an army. This is good news. It means that not as many Drackon follow his beliefs as we thought," Drin said.
"They are headed straight for us. Ready for maneuvering, Captain," Eral said.
The squadron Earth leader came on over the radio giving Drin and the other pilots the plan on how to attack and in what formation. Then in seconds, it was on. Laser blasters brightened the darkness of space as each ship took shots at each other. I could not believe what was happening before my eyes. This was a dogfight. This was war!
"It is on our tail! Closing in! They have a lock on us! They can fire at any second!" Eral shouted to Drin.
"Keep evasive maneuvering," Drin said calmly.
I had never seen a space battle before. I was on edge and my heart was beating so fast. The purist fleet was skilled and heavily armed. I don't think that the Earth battalion expected such expertise and so many missiles. It wasn't looking good. We had already lost many ships. The battle had waged on for an hour. Just when we thought we were gaining and pushing the purists back, they would push closer to Earth.
"I'm going to double back! We can get cover from an Earth ship!" Eral shouted.
"No! We want to lead them away from Earth. You must continue in this direction, deeper into space," Drin said.
"But we will have no cover," Eral said.
"We must sacrifice for the greater good," Drin said.
Eral punched it and we zipped forward at a fast speed with two purist ships on our tail. This was it. This was the end. I moved over to Drin and grabbed his hand. He squeezed it. He knew too. I looked at him, but he continued to look forward, remaining focused, but his hand was enough to let me know we were going to die together.
"What is that?! Up ahead," Eral shouted. I turned to look at the windshield. In front of us, se
veral large battleships had emerged out of hyperspeed.
"It is the king! King Caspin Rykor!” There were cheers all around. And I watched as smaller ships emerged off of the larger battleships. Soon they were barreling toward us and taking out the purist ships behind us. Everyone cheered again. The fight was on. We were going to win. Fighter ships were all over the sky and there was excitement over the radio communication. The king’s fighters were skilled and swift. In an hour, the entire purist rebellion had been squashed. We would return to Earth in victory.
A week after the fighting, everything was almost back to normal. The king himself came to Earth and assured Earthlings that the Drackon had no ill will toward them and that the purist rebellion was an anomaly. Still, with the peace accord intact, all agreed to stop registration until the king could make sure that any remnants of the purist faction on Mooreah had been dealt with. There was a five-year holding on registration. All agreed.
Then, it was time for the king and his fleet to depart Earth and return to Mooreah. This meant one thing for me… Drin was leaving. He stood there in front of me in my living quarters, trying to make me understand, but I could not.
"Felicity, we both know it is safer for you here. I must return to Mooreah. There are still remnants of the purist faction there. All human females are in danger, especially those that are new and without offspring yet. You could be killed upon your arrival," he said to me. But I knew the real reason.
"You don't have to disguise your unwillingness to take a chance on us with the purist threat. I know the real reason why you did not want me to join you. It is your promise. The promise to your father: that is the real reason you do not want me to come with you. Now that you know you have a full life ahead of you, you are not so careless about your promise. Just don't try to lie to me about it."
He was silent as he looked at me. He moved my hair out of my face and let his hand caress my cheek. It was hard to feel his touch, knowing I would never feel it again. "I cannot deny that I feel guilty. I broke the promise to my father on his deathbed. It is unfair to my brother. I still have a responsibility. So yes, it is partly due to this guilt inside of me for breaking that promise, but I also do not lie about your safety. It is not safe for you on Mooreah."
"So stay here. It is safe for you here. Stay with me," I pleaded with him, even though it was against my pride to do so.
"I cannot. My duty lies with the Drackon on Mooreah. I am a captain. That has not changed, even if I have fallen in love with a human female. I must sacrifice all to the responsibility and duty of being a captain."
“You love me?” I asked.
He put his hand on my cheek and said, “You know that I do. I won’t deny that. I love you, Felicity.”
“And I love you, Drin.”
“But I am a captain…”
"Then go; do not drag out this pain for me any longer. Leave my sight. I have had enough of your torture," I said as I moved into my bedroom and closed the door behind me. Minutes later, the silence of my living quarters let me know that he was gone. My heart was broken.
A month went by. It was the longest month of my life. I referred to it as the dreary month. It was full of longing and sadness and I could barely concentrate on my work. I thought of Drin often, wondering if he had found a Drackon mate and fulfilled his father's wishes. It was a sickening thought. It was a thought that made my stomach turn and often sent me to the toilet to puke. The heartbreak was making me physically ill. You could die of a broken heart; that was a fact. The stress was too much for me and the longing to great.
But this last time that I found myself puking in the early morning hours, I realized that I had not been thinking about Drin. In fact, I had been sound asleep and my stomach turned all by itself.
"Shit. I am pregnant," I whispered to myself. How stupid of me. I was a doctor, after all, and I should've picked up on the signs, but I was so distracted by the heartbreak. I was so distracted by Drin’s strong will to not have an offspring with a human female that I thought it could not happen to me.
I quickly grabbed a pregnancy test and took it. It showed positive. I was definitely pregnant. I was pregnant with the offspring of a hybrid Drackon that did not want me. He did not want offspring with more human blood than Drackon blood; I had created a big mess for myself. But I smiled through all of it. Just because Drin did not want this offspring did not mean that I did not want it. I put my hands on my belly and whispered, "I will take great care of you. You are mine. You are my love. I am happy to be your mother."
The rest of the month was happier. Though I did not have Drin by my side, I now had to be optimistic and happy for the offspring that I carried. It was my responsibility. I actually felt grateful that Drin had denied me the chance to go to Mooreah with him. This child would be safer here on Earth where the radical thinking of the purists could not touch him. It would take a year or more in order to seek out the remnants of that faction on Mooreah and Sala. That was more than enough time for anyone to find out about my pregnancy and try to eliminate it, or kill me. Not going with Drin turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
One night, I fell asleep on my sofa in the living room. I was having sweet dreams about Drin. I dreamt of the time that we made love on the floor, the very first time together. It was a deep dream and I almost did not hear the ringing of my communication line. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and made my way to the console.
I answered the line and was shocked to see Drin on the other end. "Drin? How are you on my line? This communication is not equipped for long range calls," I asked him in surprise.
"When I was in your living quarters, I made a few adjustments to your communications. I thought it needed it," he said, smiling. As soon as I saw that beautiful smile, my heart ached for him. I longed to touch him and kiss him, and it was torture.
"Where are you?"
"I am on a Mooreah. I have been assigned by the king to seek out all remaining members of the purist faction. It is a delicate job, one that keeps me busy. One that keeps me distracted, but even with all the distraction, I can never stop thinking of you."
His words made me happy, but he was so far from me. I knew that I had to tell him. I knew that I would never get another chance and it was unfair to keep this a secret from him. I did not expect that he would be happy about it and it would probably drive him crazy with guilt because of the promise to his father but I had to.
"Drin, I am pregnant. I am pregnant with your offspring," I said to him. He was silent and in shock. He said nothing, but just stared at me. So I interrupted his shock and said, "I do not expect anything from you. I will raise this offspring as my own and no one ever has to know it belongs to you. I just thought I owed you the truth. You may keep your promise to your father. This offspring is mine, and mine alone. I will raise it here on Earth, where it will be safe."
"Like hell you will," he said to me. His angry words shocked me.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" I said in anger.
"You cannot raise a Drackon offspring alone. Who will teach it to shift? Who will be there to answer all those questions about what it is to be a Drackon, a weredragon. You are not a weredragon and there are certain things that an offspring needs to know directly from a Drackon father."
"Well, what if it is a female? Only the males shift; is that not true?" I asked, knowing it was the truth.
"It won't be a female. It is a male. I can feel it," he said.
We were both quiet for a very long time and then I finally said, "What will you do?"
"I do not know, Felicity. I must go now," he said.
"Wait! What do you mean…" I shouted at the screen, but he was gone. I was in fear. I now had no idea what he would do, if anything.
But two weeks later, I had my answer.
BEEP. BEEP. My door rang. I opened it and was surprised to see Eral standing there.
“Eral! What are you doing here? How are you—”
“Are you going to invite me in?” he aske
d with a smile.
“Yes, I’m sorry. Please come in.”
“Felicity, it is good to see you. I came because I owe you an apology. It was not you that I was angry at. I was angry at my father for putting such a hard promise on us. We, like anyone else, deserve to fall in love with anyone we choose. My brother has been racked with guilt and it is consuming him. I know that my father would not want that for him, or for me. You showed me that you are a strong human female. I am glad that you are having my brother’s offspring.”
My mouth fell open. “He told you?”
“Yes, he told me and he told the king. The king insisted he come straight to Earth and be with you.”
“He did? Then where…” I looked back at my door. There, leaning casually against the door with a grin on his face, was Drin.