A large package caught her attention, so she paused her messages and opened it. It was from a local attorney’s office, one she was unfamiliar with. She pulled a large stack of papers from inside and started reading them with interest.
She nearly fell over when she realized what she was reading. Besh had paid off her home and business, paid every debt she had, started a large savings account in her name only, started a fund that the dividends would pay for each of her monthly expenses and retained an accountant to pay those expenses. He had paid her four employees each six months severance in order for them to find new jobs or to wait out her choice. He had created a safety net larger than she could ever want or need. She burst into tears and slid to the floor because she loved him more at this moment than the moment she Joined with him.
Not for the money but for considering her needs. She hadn’t expected him to pay all these things, but the simple fact he cared enough about her to give her a safe place to land touched her. He had truly been determined to allow her to come home if she had chosen to. If she’d walked away from him and the life they’d been about to share, he would have honored her choice.
She’d been free all along.
****
Kaya wiped the tears from her face as Mata came looking for her. Her mother-in-law slid down to the floor beside her and pulled Kaya’s head onto her shoulder. “What’s going on here?”
Kaya handed her the documents and let them speak for themselves. After a few moments of perusing them, Mata sighed. “I never thought him serious when he said you could go home if you chose to, but evidently he was. He made sure you would never suffer financially in your world.”
“He always seemed to expect my needs before I even thought about them. And if I had chosen to come home and not Join with him, reading this would have made me want to turn around and come back to him. For caring enough to consider my needs so completely.”
“Maybe he hoped it would make you change your mind?”
“Perhaps. But either way, he did it, and I love him more for it.”
Kaya stood up and finished her mail and messages, while Mata returned to her couch potato status for a while longer. Kaya called her friends and employees to let them know she was alright, and everyone wanted all the juicy gossip, so she spent nearly an hour recounting most of the tale to them over the phone. She felt better knowing they had been taken care of and bad because she had not been the one who had thought to do it. But at least they were covered.
She finished arranging her belongings and readying herself to leave this house for quite some time. She did not know when she would be back again.
She walked into the living room to see the three still sitting in the position she had left them in hours ago, eyes still glued to the images on the screen, and had to laugh at the sight before her. She left them and walked to her bedroom. Kaya had not adjusted to the fact she would be sleeping alone. How strange it was for her to miss sleeping in his arms when in fact she’d never truly done so. It had only been in her dreams, realistic or not.
She crawled into her big empty bed and sighed, pulling a large pillow into her arms and hugging it to her body. She always seemed to feel tired in the last few weeks, so she surrendered to her body’s need. She had more than herself to worry about now. The baby she carried would fill part of the void left behind by Besh.
****
“Kaya?”
Kaya bolted upright in her bed when she clearly heard his voice. As her eyes cleared through the fog of sleep, she saw a shadow at the end of her bed. “Besh?”
The figure slid into the bed beside her and pulled her into his warm arms. Was she dreaming this time, or was this like the times before?
“Oh, dear Princess, you thought I was dead, didn’t you?” the figure whispered into her ear.
“Yes,” she whimpered as she pushed her face into his broad chest.
“Well, you little bitch, you have ruined everything for me. Now I will show you my brand of retribution.”
The man clamped his hand over her mouth before she could scream and alert the others. He put a chemical laden cloth to her nose and almost instantly she went limp in his arms.
****
Kaya awoke sitting on the floor inside a small spacecraft. She looked up into the dirty, bloodied face which looked much like Dar Jin. It had to be his father, Dak. Besh had told him about the man in her dream. If he were alive, who else was?
“I was beginning to worry you would never wake up, not that sleeping forever would necessarily be a bad thing, Princess.”
“What are you going to do with me?”
“You, my dear, are a filthy half-breed ape, and I am aghast I even had to dirty my hands to touch you. How Besh sleeps at night by your side without being ill is beyond me. I think I will do what we do with our trash in this galaxy, jettison you out into space and let your lungs and heart explode into your body.”
Kaya looked around the craft, looking for a way out, anything which could aid in an escape. As with most mothers, she thought of the safety of her child—her child must be saved. She scanned, but saw nothing that would help her.
“What will you do after you dispose of me?”
“Oh, Princess, you don’t have to worry yourself about that now. I will survive. I always do.” Dak held tighter on the helm of the ship, proving Kaya could easily get under his skin, so she stood up to look into his face and pressed further.
“You have nowhere to go; you can’t return to the home world. Everyone in the galaxy will be hunting you down. The ruling family is intact, and now they know you’re a traitor, I’m sure they will put a price on your head. What happens to you, Dak Jin?”
Dak jumped to his feet and stalked her around the space until he cornered her into the console he was using to navigate the ship. “Traitor? I am not a traitor. The Et Fatel line are the traitorous ones in this Empire. They have slowly destroyed the principles we have held close to our bosom for eons. They seem to think that all are equal. We are most certainly not all equal. The upper classes are better than all the races we have conquered throughout millennia. If they were better, they would have won or not begged to join the Empire. I wanted to return the Empire to where it belongs. Do not call me the traitor, for I am not one. I am a loyalist.”
While Dak had been screaming into her face, Kaya hit several of the buttons, hoping one would damage the ship enough to prevent it from getting any farther. Luckily, it seemed she had done just that as several of the alarms all went off at once.
He grabbed her shoulder and threw her across the room, slamming her into a wall. She slid down and curled up on the floor.
“You bitch! What have you done?” He furiously worked to control the ship and repair whatever she had accomplished. Systems seemed to shut down, as displays went dark all around him. “Damn it, you have destroyed the quantum engines.”
Kaya’s eyes lit up, knowing they would float around in space, and when he sent a call for help, she had a chance of escape. If he did not kill her first. Dak continued to work on the ship, moving frantically around the space, desperate to repair the damage she had wrought.
Finally, Dak sat down in the pilot’s seat, put his head into his hands, and then whipped his head to look at her.
“What is it about you? What power do you have to ruin my plans?”
A crazy look filled Dak’s eyes, and she realized maybe she had pushed this man too far.
****
The two floated aimlessly in space for what seemed like hours. Dak had not said anything to her and she nothing to him. The silence was about to kill her. She had to know what was going through his mind, find out what plans he was hatching, in order for her to survive this.
“Why haven’t you thrown me out into space already? Why have we just sat here?”
“Because Princess, since you have shut down all systems on the ship, there is no more air being produced to breathe. If I open the hatches to push you out, then I will lose some of the air in the
cabin.”
“So, we are just going to sit here and float, use up all the oxygen, and die?”
“I sent out a distress call before the last of the systems went down; I hope a ship will pass and hear it. As it approaches, I can kill you, leave your body here and leave in peace, knowing you will never cause me grief again. I can go lick my wounds and plan for the second assault. Without you to get in my way, I won’t have to worry about you sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
Just as Dak finished, a light flashed through the front windows of the craft, blinding the pair. Before Kaya had enough time to think about what she was about to do, she rushed over to where Dak had been sitting on the floor, hoping he was still in the same spot he sat before the lights blinded them. She lay down and started kicking madly at the level she had thought his head might be located. She kept kicking, hoping to connect with flesh, in hopes of disabling him so he would not kill her before the ship outside saved him and left her to die.
Finally she connected with a large, soft object, and hoped it was a head. She heard a sound uttered from his lips and then a soft thud to the floor. She rushed to the windows of the ship and tried to make sure whoever was inside the other ship was friendly and not Bel Tak. The large beam turned off and began to turn away. Nooooo! Kaya screamed in her head. How could she have gotten this far and then to have salvation so close at hand, only to have it turn away and leave her and her baby here to die?
Dak lay on the floor, his eyes closed. She looked around the space to see if there was something she could use to bind him. She dug through several cabinets at one side and found something that resembled tape. It was her best chance, and she dropped to her knees beside him, entangling him as best she could.
A jerk knocked her to her bottom, and she stood to look out the windows of the ship. Slowly, her craft seemed to move toward the larger ship outside, as if it was being pulled near. A large door began to open at the back of the larger ship, and her craft floated into the spacious bay inside. Kaya stared around the bay, hoping to get a hint of who owned it and whether they were friendly.
She saw no beings, just a dark, empty bay filled with several smaller ships and cargo. The hatch they had entered into the large ship closed, and a rush of air hit the ship. Kaya hoped it was oxygen coming back into the bay and decided to get out of this ship and try to find someone, anyone, before Dak tried to hurt her.
She pushed open the small hatch she found on the back of her vessel and couldn’t find any stairs to exit. Even as small as this craft was, she would have to drop at least fifteen feet to the floor, and she risked hurting herself and the baby. But if she did not, then she risked dealing with a very pissed off Dak.
She sat on the floor at the door and grasped the edge. She then slipped her feet over the edge, dangling her feet as far down as possible, trying to get closer to the floor below. Dangling, fear hit her, unsure if she would make it. She closed her eyes and thought of Besh before letting go of the edge.
Whispering a short prayer for her and the child, she hit the floor and instinctively curled into a ball and rolled several feet on the floor. She lay still for a moment, trying to figure out if she were hurt, and realized besides a few possible bumps and bruises, she seemed to be fine. As she pulled herself up to her feet, a doorway opened, and a brightly lit hallway was visible as she gained her footing.
A humanoid male figure stood in the doorway, and she began racing toward it, begging the powers in the universe for it to be someone who would save her from sure death. The figure just stood in the doorframe, waiting for her to reach the door.
She stopped just in front of him. Shadowed light hit his face. Kaya, exhausted, began to beg the man to protect her from Dak. “Please, I have been abducted by a horrible man bent on killing me. I think I have disabled him in the ship over there, but he could come round at any moment. Please, please … you must help me.”
The man grasped her by the top of her arms and hauled her up into his arms. She screamed, terrified of a fate worse than what awaited her in the ship behind her. He began to kiss her face and neck as she pulled away from him. He meant to rape her? “No! I’m with child, please, I beg of you, release me!”
The man’s arms went limp, and she kicked out of his arms and fell to the floor. He stood above her, apparently staring down at her. She began to sob, as she realized there was no escape. She went from one hell to another, and she had no more strength to fight. She slumped in a heap on the floor, unconscious.
****
Kaya awoke in a small room in a soft bed with a figure sitting on the edge, holding her hand. As her vision cleared, she realized it was the Empress.
“Mata, I’m so happy to see you! Where are we? How did I get here?” She sat up and grasped the woman into a warm hug, glad to be safe and alive.
“Our ship is the one that found you. How smart you were to disable the ship. We might not have caught up to you in time if you hadn’t.”
“Dak Jin?”
“He is in shackles and restraints, in a cage, within a cell, surrounded by a force field. He will not escape and will stand trial for his treachery.”
“Does your planet have the death penalty? I’ve been against it in the past, but for that man, I’ll make the exception.”
Mata smiled down at her, unshed tears in her eyes. “I am so glad you are alright. I could never have forgiven myself if you had been hurt after being stolen from right under my nose. Kaya, can you forgive me?”
“There is nothing to forgive you for. And I’m okay, so you have nothing to worry about.”
“The baby?”
Kaya blushed. She had not told the Empress about the baby yet. “Is the baby fine?”
“Yes, but why did you not tell me sooner?”
“The first few months are so delicate. I was waiting to be sure of the baby’s health before I told you. You didn’t need another tragedy.”
Mata smiled at her. “So strong. You stand up to my son, you battle a foe and win, and you save an Empire. What more can one tiny woman do to amaze me any more than she already has?”
Kaya smiled. “I only fought him so hard to save the baby. It’s the only thing I have left of Besh. I wouldn’t let Dak Jin take that away from me.”
Mata smiled deeply and beamed down at her. “Dear Kaya, I must tell you something. I had not told you a secret as well; afraid I would give you too much hope. If it was not true, then you would have been devastated.”
“When Besh’s ship was found with no one alive, three bodies were missing. Dar and Dak Jin’s bodies were not there.” Mata paused, then added, “Nor was Besh’s.”
Kaya felt her world spinning. Mata smoothed her back and hair, trying to calm her.
“Have they found him?” she barely finished.
“Yes. He made it to an escape shuttle and fled the ship before it exploded. He was badly injured, shot in the chest and leg, unconscious, but alive. Somehow, he had floated in the shuttle for nearly a week, mostly unconscious, before a Yeg H’dar merchant ship found him and brought him to wi’ mia in the nearest outpost. The wi’ mia recognized who he was and brought him to Hara D’Noll to heal.”
“He’s alive?”
Tears began to openly flow down both women’s faces. “Once he regained consciousness, he found you had traveled to Earth, and he used Brox Catha to come find you. He arrived at your home and we went to your room, only to find you had just been abducted. Besh deduced that Dak had probably taken you, and we began to scan your galaxy for recent quantum travel.”
“We found the ship’s wake, heard the distress call, and hoped it was you. And it was. Besh came to save the day, and you had already saved yourself.”
Kaya sat on the bed, tears flowing, trying to register all she had heard. She was numb.
“Where is he?”
“In the next room.”
“Why wasn’t he here when I awoke?”
“He was afraid the shock of seeing him would harm you or the baby.
You have been through so much, Kaya.”
“I need him.” Kaya wailed. “Besh!” She screamed with every fiber of her being, her pain and the mourning she had endured audible in every sound uttered out of her mouth.
The door to her room was slammed open, and he stood in her doorway. She looked into his eyes and stared, both unmoving as a thousand words passed silently between them. Kaya crawled to the end of the bed, and Besh ran to her and pulled her into his arms, kissing and holding tightly to her. The Empress sidled out of the room to give them their privacy, looking back for a moment before closing the door so they could hold their reunion in private.
Besh drew back a fraction of an inch, pulling her face into his hands, and looked deeply into her eyes. “Kaya, My Princess, I thought I would never see you again. I cannot live without you, my love.”
Fresh tears streamed down Kaya’s face. “You won’t have to, as I refuse to leave your side anytime soon.” She smiled and then buried her face into his chest, smelling his warm, virile body, hugging him close to her, not willing to let go.
“The baby?”
“Yes?” She looked up into his face.
“I told you I wanted you plump with my child. I work fast.” He smiled and winked at her.
“Don’t make me punch you when I am so happy to see you again,” she warned with a smile.
“Oh, my strong little warrior, you have fought enough these past few weeks. Why not let me fight your battles for a while, so you can be strong for our child.”
She smiled at him. “Besh, I never thought I could love someone this much, this fast. You make me happier than I have ever thought I could be. As angry as I was you’d taken me, if it led us here, then it was as it was meant to be.”
He laughed at that. “Well, men are superior in intellect to our female counterparts,” he said with a hint of humor.
Her Alien Abductor (Aegarian Saga) Page 16