The Star Captains' Daughter

by Kimber An

  “She has rejected you, Ariez!” Delano hit the rock floor with a vicious spinning assault and rolled back onto his feet. “You would have destroyed me with the Power of the Bond by now!”

  “No!” Ariez knew the old man taunted him with nonsense, but it fueled his hatred nonetheless.

  Delano spun to his side, avoiding a plunge into the gut, and ran up a rising, rock ledge. He spun Aodhan around and drew it back to his ear. “I’m taking my daughter far beyond your reach, Ariez! I will leave you to rot in anguish!”

  A scream peeled from Ariez’s stomach and he charged.

  Delano blocked, pivoted and shoved.

  The blackness engulfed Ariez in a second or two of air and then his body hit the bare rock, breaking it in searing pain which escaped his mouth in agony. In the same instant, he felt Rowan’s pain and cried out for her.

  The healing came like an angel in a bright light, flooding over his body, knitting his bones together, licking his wounds until they vanished.

  Ariez drew a deep breath and shoved himself away from the ground and up to his feet. He found his sword, sheathed it, and dug fingers and toes into rock for the climb.

  Whatever sorcery Delano had employed, their love had prevailed over it once more. The Holy Bennu has unfurled her wings! He gloried in the power propelling his climb up the rock wall. Reaching the top, he strode forward, his face burning hot with vengeance. His sight pierced the dim light to see his adversary hunting Rowan in the dark. He grabbed a rock from his path and pulled it back to his ear.

  Ariez shot the rock straight into Delano’s head.

  Delano fell forward onto his knees and then face first into the dirt.

  Ariez never slowed his pace, running up and over rocks. He jumped from the last rock and whipped out his sword. He would free Rowan forever.

  The flurry of movement barely registered. Within the same nanosecond he swung his saber, the sword of Delano was picked up by his Seed and she smashed it into his own in an immovable block, bracing herself back on a knee.

  “You will not touch him!”

  Chapter 21

  Junior rose to her full height, her father unconscious behind her feet.

  Ariez instantly withdrew and lowered his blade. He stepped back three paces, breathing hard. “This is unthinkable!”

  “Well, start thinking, Bub, ‘cause it’s really happening!” Junior gripped Aodhan in both hands, her mother’s sword given to her father on their wedding day.

  “Rowan, he is monster!” Ariez pointed a trembling finger at Delano. “He ripped us apart when our bond was new!”

  “My father is no more a monster than you are! Neither one of you will listen to a thing I say!”

  “You’re confused.”

  “My thoughts are clear and they are my own.” Junior kept balance, stepping one foot over another to black access to her father. “I’m taking Dad home to Mom now. That is why I came to the Menelaen Empire and that is what I’m going to do.”

  “You are the Holy Bennu of Menelae.” Ariez sheathed his sword and lifted his empty hand towards her, approaching. “I am the Incarnate Ra. It is our destiny to lead our people into a new era of peace and prosperity.”

  “Your religion! Not mine!” Junior’s rage startled him back on his feet. “You can go in for all the ‘Ra and Boo-noo’ bullshit if you want, but you’re not taking me with you!” She sprang like a leopard, wielding her father’s sword.

  Ariez whipped his dark blade out to block her attack. “Rowan!” The Irish

  Gallowglass smashed into his defense. “Our Bond is complete!”

  Junior drew back. “Well, I’m getting an annulment!” She lunged into his block again. Smash, twist, front-kick to the kneecap.

  Ariez blocked her next attack to the back of his neck, backing, sword raised in defense posture. “Our Bond is unbreakable!”

  “Like hell it is, you stupid son of bitch!” Junior charged him, smashing into his sword, smash, smash.

  Ariez met her block repeatedly, the clashing of their metal filling the caverns. He spun out of one and leapt onto a boulder. “If you truly wanted to break our bond, you would have burned me to death at your feet.”

  “I…I don’t want to kill anyone!” Junior circled out. “I only want to take my father and go home.”

  “Your home is with me now. I will send your father across the DMZ.”

  “Don’t start that again!” Junior chased him up the rock and down the other side, leaping after him, and back into the sand. “I’ve told you it won’t work!”

  “Then, burn me and be done with it.” Ariez raised sword for her next attack.

  Risk no thoughts. Instinct. Human instinct. Junior braced her leg when their swords locked, his upper body strength pushing her down. “Your power comes from the Marital Bond.” She spun backwards out of the impasse. She backed away, breaths shooting in and out of her chest like knives.

  “As does yours.” Ariez’s chest heaved too. “Only by accepting your destiny will you know this truth.”

  Junior drew back her sword for another attack. “I’m human! My power comes from within myself! I don’t need you!”

  “You are not human, Rowan! Not anymore!” Ariez reached a hand towards her again and this time she gasped.

  Junior felt the pull into Dreamtime, saw the waving green grasses. “No…” The word left her in a breath. Her sword being ripped from her hand brought her back to their Waking Moments.

  Aodhan clattered across the stones and into the darkness.

  And, then, Ariez held her in his arms, his sword sheathed once more. “Do you see?” His voice softened, struggling with his breath. “We are one.”

  She smoothed hands up his strong shoulders. “No. I have to go. My father will die if I don’t. My mother’s heart will break. I have to…”

  “I am not angry,” he said, touching her pink lips with his trembling fingertips. His tone became more and more helpless, kissing her. “Please, please, do not think I could ever be angry with you. I love you.”

  “I know you love me, but I… ”

  Ariez stroked her face, fingers reaching up into her hair. His face glowed, his blue eyes shone in subjection to her influence. “I was angry with those who drove you to this madness with their lies. They would use you for their own selfish purposes, but…I promise I will protect you.”

  Junior felt his lips take hers, the warmth of the Bond sweep over her. Before it could take over, she dropped out of his clutches, twisting to break free. Diving under his arm, she scrambled away and up the rock slide on all fours. She squeezed through a crack at the top and back down another rockslide on the other side. She glanced back to see him emerging through the same crack.

  Escape from his physical embrace was easy, but she wouldn’t get her father out alive with a dragon on her tail. The cavern before her soared up like the ceiling of a great cathedral, but with stalagmites and stalactites like gigantic teeth to crush her. She hid among the fallen spires and jagged piles of sedimentary, all the while feeling his constant petting of her thoughts.

  Rowan, I will take care of you.

  Just my luck, I’m telepathically bonded to an intergalactic megalomaniac. Junior pressed back into an indentation and disappeared into shadow. No wonder I’ve been going nuts all this time. She hoped he would pass over her, above, on the natural rock bridge on the other side, so she could sneak back to Dad and start dragging him out. She could only hope a shuttle or something waited somewhere nearby.

  Ariez stopped right above her. “If you cross the DMZ, the Intari will target you for assassination…or worse.”

  She craned her neck to see.

  His voice came like black velvet in the night. “There are no secrets between us.”

  Junior’s eyes fluttered in the intoxicating effect of the Marital Bond. “I‘m human,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. “These feelings can’t be real.”

  And suddenly he dropped to his feet before her. “Yes, real.” He took a step
towards her, waving his hand in front of her face and drawing his fingers to her chin. “Remember our first kiss?” He drew her back into his arms, holding her to him, caressing her forehead with his lips.

  “It was only a dream.” She clenched the fabric of his doublet in her fists, trying to hold on to the belief that she could not love him. Not really. Not humanly.

  “We were children together.” Ariez spoke in a soothing tone, holding her face against his neck. “Your heart is pure. You love without prejudice.”

  The truth of their merging rushed to replace all memory. She clung to one and let the rest fall into bliss. She slipped her fingers up into his hair and kissed him fully. She could see him glowing. “I do love you.” The radiance of the Bond shimmered over her own hands, but she couldn‘t think or he would instantly know. She could only act. She suddenly jerked out of the kiss, looked over his shoulder and shouted, “Dad!”

  Instantly, Ariez spun around, whipping out his sword to defend his wife.

  Junior reached up to the ledge behind her, grabbed a melon-sized rock and slammed it down on his head. He dropped to the ground before her. The rock fell from her hands. She staggered back against a slab of sedimentary on numb legs, and then sunk to her bottom.

  Ariez lay before her, unconscious by the strength of her own will. Her face twisted in the clashing of emotions within her. Need oxygen. A rush of pain like drinking ice water too fast made her grimace and grab her head in both hands. She almost cried out. But, then, it passed.

  Breathing hard, she crawled to his side. An overwhelming draw pulled her hand to his face. When she touched him, a shimmer of energy left her and he groaned. Another sharp breath. She grabbed her hand away with the other. She gripped both hands together and pressed them to her lips. The Power of the Marital Bond could heal and wake him. The instinct to care for her mate burned within her.

  She remembered the first time their thoughts touched, his little boy face growing into manhood, and, yes, their first kiss. She pushed down the memories when she realized her body shook in grief. My father would have died.

  A glimmer of gold caught her eye and she looked. The dim light reflected the pure gold of the feather-soft ra chain about Ariez’s neck. The instant she touched it, the clasp fell open in her fingertips. She grabbed it, pulling herself away from him on her bottom. My heart will only break.

  Junior fastened the gold ra chain around her neck, concealing it carefully beneath the silver bennu necklace. She tucked both inside her collar and realized, for the first time, that her gold heart-shaped necklace was missing. “He took it. He made me forget.” Tears dribbled down her red-hot cheeks. She ran her fingertip down his nose. “Keep it…and remember me.”

  He groaned, head shifting in the dirt.

  Hands splayed out for balance, she stood. Feeling very sick from the adrenaline overload, she turned to climb the rock pile hugging her middle.

  A couple of minutes later, Junior clambered down another pile of rocks and found her father where she left him, face down in the dirt. She tucked his arm to his side and rolled him over. Finding his sword among the rocks, she pushed it back into its sheath.

  “Junior?”

  “Dad?” Junior delighted in hearing her old childhood nickname spoken by him. Some warm tears trickled down her burning cheeks. She cradled his head in her arm. “Dad? Dad, it‘s okay. We‘re going home to Mom now.”

  “Please…forgive me.”

  Junior felt the skin of her face tighten and a sob well up. “I do. And so does Mom. I know she does.”

  “I saw you stop Ariez with your mother‘s sword.” He touched her face with his fingertips. “I‘m so proud of you.”

  Well, that makes one of us. Junior’s countenance broke, realizing he was trying to say good-bye. “Daddy…Dad…do you remember…do you remember Mom brushing her hair?”

  He smiled softly.

  Junior sniffed, the tears pouring over her smudged face. “Her hair is so red, such a…deep, dark red and…I used to…I used to watch her…brush it every morning and it was like a beautiful…red wave over her shoulder…Dad? Daddy? Do you remember?”

  Edward Delano’s eyes almost closed. “Olivia…”

  “We’re getting out of here, Dad,” Junior said, even as she felt the sobs overtaking her. She channeled it into anger. “We’re done with this armpit of the galaxy! We’re going home. I made a promise! I promised Mom I bring you home…tied up in a sack! And you know how toasted she gets when we don’t do what we say we will.”

  Dad looked at her, his lips still curled. Slowly, his eyes closed.

  Junior grabbed her father under the armpits and pulled with all the strength left in her. Disregarding the sounds of battle above, the plasma blasts and shrieking of metal against rock, she focused on the hum of a starship at rest. Following the hum, she dragged her father over rocks, tiny steps backwards all the way. And all the while, dust and small rocks shook down from the ceiling. “Ground troops have landed.”

  Emerging in a cavern, she spotted the starship, shaped more or less like its big battleship brothers, like a beatle with purple running lights, it was much smaller, couldn't have held more than six crew. Just as she reached the bottom of the gangplank, she heard plasma blasts coming down one of the tunnels. She reached for Aodhan, but then she heard a shout.

  A second later, Commander Bo squeezed through a crack. “Holiness, I will help you.” He grabbed her father under one armpit so she could concentrate her strength under the other. “Holiness…”

  “Please, don’t call me that.”

  Beling sprinted down the gangplank to help, pistol drawn for cover.

  “Junior,” Bo corrected. “Prince Ariez’s personal fighter craft is here. Do you know where he is?” Like Mr. Mir, Jose, Mr. Ashley, and Chef Bot, he’d become an honorary uncle.

  Nevertheless, Bo believed Ariez was something she knew he wasn’t. He would kill Ariez in his unconscious state. “Uh…I…I don’t know.” A lie. Her nose stung. She threw her shoulder into heaving her father up the gangplank with his help. What if the Loyalists find Ariez before his troops do? She could hear the ground battle raging on. It was only a matter of time.

  “Here,” directed Bo, and they hoisted her father into a med-bed.

  Junior hit the medical stasis button and a cocoon of energy enveloped him. She spun around to dash into the cockpit, but was stopped by the sight of Naana in morgue stasis right above her father. “Naana!” She grabbed the impexi-glass cover to free her beloved nanny.

  "She died in the battle to free your father, Holiness." Beling caught her from behind. “It is only an empty shell. Commander Naana has rejoined her foremothers in the Celestial Garden.”

  Heaven? Junior looked at her. “We don’t have time to grieve now.”

  “We do not.”

  Junior dashed for the cockpit.

  Bo was already at tactical, hands racing all over the controls, studying the spatial grid. “Thank the Fathers we found you and Captain Delano before the Orachi found the Dauntless.”

  “The Dauntless?” Junior fell into the pilot’s seat. There wasn’t time for chit-chat. She knew the Dauntless had been her father’s Defensive Fleet starship. “What’s Beling doing?”

  “Monitoring the cloaking device.”

  “Cloaking device? Crackling!” Yet, even as Junior felt the sub-light engines roar to life beneath her, she could not keep her thoughts from her mate. Ariez.

  No response. He was still unconscious.

  “Hold on to your butkis!” Junior punched the launch panel and watched the tunnel race by them. Her body slammed back into the seat and her stomach wrapped around her backbone. “Dad’s gonna freak when he wakes up and finds out I flew this baby! Woo-hoooo!”

  The Dauntless emerged from the mine and shot up through the thin atmosphere swarming with Menelaen ships blasting each other. Some of them turned canon ports and started battering their fore shields.

  “Now’s a good time to fire up the cloaking device,
Beling!”

  “Understood, Milady.”

  “Call me ‘Gennie’ from now on!”

  “Yes, Mil…Gennie.”

  Junior dove hard to the right, dodging fire. The cloaking device came on-line and they vanished off sensors. “We’re clear.”

  “Well done.”

  Junior had felt her old self for a moment, or maybe it was herself she had never been allowed to be. Studying the aft screen, she watched the Mebora moon fall away. Loyalist troops were swarming all over the mine and surrounding area. Ariez, wake up!

  Rowan! He cried her name before his injuries were fully healed at her word.

  Loyalists are closing on your position! She saw him grab his sword from where it had fallen into the dirt.

  Ariez leapt up and sprinted away. Where are you? He clambered up the rocks.

  Junior shook her head, face tightening. Somewhere you cannot follow. She could feel his wrath escalating, consumed by his Menelaen male instincts. I was the one who struck you.

  Delano deceived you.

  Junior sighed, watching the blasts and wreckage clear and the stars of endless space welcoming her home. You still won’t let go.

  We are one soul.

  She could risk no more thoughts. Not his. Not her own. It was so exhausting. I really am a scourge on the freakin’ galaxy. She rested forehead against hand, elbow on navigation console.

  Bo reactivated her thoughts. “I am detecting a United Fleet starship on sensors.”

  Junior sat up straight and looked over. “Re-modulate sensors to a malaki-wan frequency.” She tapped in some heading information and watched the tiny white dot on the black spatial grid transform into a golden triangle. “The Maverick!” She felt the cry come out and her chest heaved in the emotion. She spun to the communications controls and flew her fingers over it, inputting the new data. “This is the Dauntless to the USS Maverick. Please, come in!” Deep breath. “Mom?”