by Regine Abel
“Right away. Kamala out.”
In the next few seconds, maybe another minute at the most, Varrek would be leaving Keleini’s orbit, and then capturing him would be nearly impossible. We had no proof it was him, but my every instinct screamed that it was.
“Ashara,” Ghan said, “I need you to fire an EMP blast at these three coordinates with a four-second delay between them. The first must go off in twenty seconds.”
Ashara hesitated and cast me an inquisitive look.
“Proceed,” I said.
I didn’t know what he had planned but I trusted him implicitly.
Ashara’s fingers raced to enter the command and charge the EMP.
“Based on the few times the scanner detected him, he’s moving along this trajectory. The EMPs should knock out his cloak.”
I smiled at my mate, wanting to kiss him, but now wasn’t the time.
“Genovia, inform Senaya and the fighters, and close in on that position.”
“Yes, Lee.”
The first EMP went off and just as Ghan had predicted, the ghost silhouette of Varrek’s shuttle appeared for a second as his cloak wavered. I jumped out of my seat and moved closer to the navigation board as an idea suddenly struck me.
“Ashara, ready the tractor beams.”
The second EMP blast hit its mark dead center, severely damaging the cloaking system. Varrek’s shuttle flickered in and out of sight, the cloak having lost most of its integrity. As the fighters closed in on his position, our radars detected Mercy’s Falcon and two more of the strike team’s ships coming from the moon’s surface and moving to intercept.
Not wanting to risk the EMP blast disabling the tractor beam, I held off until the third one went off, completely disabling his cloak, before issuing the command to snare him. We targeted him with all four beams of the Battlecruiser. His ship came to a dead stop and my crew shouted in victory as it started to move sideways toward the Tempest, roped in by the tractor beam. The fighters surrounded him, ready to intervene if needed.
I recognized the model of Varrek’s shuttle. It had warp capacity which meant if he managed to break away from us, we could lose him forever once he jumped. My blood thrummed with energy and excitement at the thought of capturing that son of Gharah. Never again would he enslave one of my Sisters or abuse another Xelixian. At last, he would answer for all his crimes.
Varrek’s shuttle trembled with a violent tremor before breaking free of the beam.
“NO!” I shouted.
“Fuck!” Ashara muttered before working on her computer again.
The tractor beams tried to latch on to the shuttle again but glided off it like water on oil.
“He’s countering it with some kind of repulsion beam,” Ashara said.
“He’s adapted to the beams frequency,” Ghan said. “Put them on random modulation, and give me control of one.”
This time, Ashara complied without asking for my blessing. We couldn’t dally with formalities. Thankfully, my girls on the fighters fired their own tracker beams, not to pull him in but to prevent him from moving away. I instructed them to modulate their frequencies on random so he couldn’t break from all of them at once, while Ghan and Ashara worked diligently to rope him back in. But every time they succeeded, he managed to break free again. Thankfully, his ship didn’t seem to have any kind of real fire power. I could only pray that he wouldn’t go suicidal like his father had.
Mercy’s Falcon suddenly came into view with the two other ships from the raid. She made a beeline for her brother’s ship and fired a tractor beam at it. The shuttle shuddered after a few seconds and seemed to lose all power. Then it began to move toward the Falcon.
My sister hailed us.
“Release your beams,” Mercy said over the com. “I’ll bring him in.”
For a second, I hesitated. Even though they’d never met, or at least so she said, they were siblings, they were blood. Varrek was the only other child born of her father. Even if one of my blood sisters had done all the atrocities Varrek had, could I turn her over to the authorities?
She won’t betray us. He would have sold her without hesitation.
“He might break free,” I argued.
“Not from me,” she responded. “Release your beams.”
I would never question another Veredian. Once already, I had told my big sister she wasn’t one of us. Refusing her again now could cause a rift that might never be mended. In that instant, I realized that the risk of losing Varrek could never warrant the risk of losing my sister.
“Release the beams,” I ordered to the fleet of fighters, Ghan, and Ashara.
“Thank you,” Mercy said.
I couldn’t see her face, but something in her voice confirmed I had made the right choice.
Without their pull, Mercy quickly reeled in Varrek’s ship under the belly of her own. Grappling hooks shackled it into place. Its prey secured, the Falcon moved toward the shuttle bay of the Tempest, escorted by the fighters.
Ghan and I exchanged the same excited look.
“Ashara, you have the bridge.”
Turning on my heels, I headed for the shuttle bay, Ghan shadowing me. We reached it just as the Falcon performed the tricky maneuver of setting down with Varrek’s shuttle still attached beneath it. Heart pounding, we remained safely behind the reinforced doors outside the shuttle bay. We couldn’t be certain Varrek wouldn’t commit suicide like his father had rather than be captured. And I wouldn’t put it past him to try to take as many of us with him as possible.
Mercy and two of her crewmates came out of the Falcon and went straight for the door of Varrek’s shuttle, weapons drawn. The celesium armor she wore could absorb a lot of damage, even from a close range explosion. But she didn’t have a helmet. We needed to adapt one to handle her horns. I addressed a silent prayer to the Goddess to keep her safe. I’d just found my sister and couldn’t bear the thought of losing her so soon.
Our scans had shown no threat from his shuttle, but we couldn’t be sure he didn’t have some dampening or scrambling device activated, even though his vessel appeared stripped of power.
To my relief, the shuttle’s door opened, revealing a Guldan male seemingly unharmed and not showing any signs of aggression. The ramp lowered and he climbed down, hands displayed in surrender. Mercy’s crew scanned him then placed magnetic shackles on his wrists and ankles before giving the all clear.
We entered the shuttle bay, but our prisoner barely acknowledged our approach, too busy scrutinizing Mercy with a mix of fascination and disbelief. His grey skin, the crihnin on his forehead and black horns confirmed his identity. However, unlike his sister, he had silver hair and green eyes with enlarged irises, all gifts from his mother. But he had the tall and muscular build of his father. As much as I hated to admit it, Varrek was a very handsome male.
“Just when I thought I’d seen it all, Father manages yet again to surprise me. Hello, big sister.”
His voice wasn’t deep but sounded oddly gravelly, like he had just woken from a deep slumber.
“Hello, little brother,” Mercy replied, a reserved look in her eyes.
“Nice trick you pulled out there. How did you do it?”
She waved her hands in front of him, hinting at her Veredian ability, which she still kept secret from us. He snorted and shook his head at her while we finally reached her side. Behind the Falcon, the other fighters slowly trickled back in.
“The powerful Admiral Lee and the famous First Officer Delphin,” Varrek said in a mocking tone. “I might have been in awe had she not stolen your thunder,” he added, pointing at Mercy with his chin. “I knew Maheva had our father whipped, but I’ve got to give her credit for pulling off what no one else has. How the fuck did she survive you?”
“Like you said, you’ve got to give my mother credit,” Mercy said.
“And instead of having her birth more, father hid you and carried his secret to the grave.” Disdain oozed out of Varrek’s voice.
; “So that he could sell them like he should have done with me? Like you would have done to me had I been in your care?”
“Of course. It’s the Guldan way. Even though I’m stuck looking like one of them,” he added gesturing at Ghan with his head, “with this dreadful grey skin, ridiculous crihnin, and these horrible eyes, I am Guldan. Your Goddess has a strange sense of humor that you should be the one looking like the perfect Guldan, except for those Veredian markings.”
“No wonder Father made sure we never met,” Mercy said, hurt and anger lurking beneath her falsely impassive voice. “You’re more Guldan than he ever was, or is that your way of compensating for not looking like one? Either way, you’ve wronged a lot of people, and they’re all lining up for retribution. I hope you’re ready for it.”
Without giving him the chance to respond, she turned on her heels and walked away. My heart went out to her. I couldn’t begin to imagine what sacrifice it must have been for her to capture her own brother for him to face what we all knew would be savage justice. In a way, I welcomed Varrek’s ruthlessness. It could only help Mercy get over her guilt. But as he watched the receding back of his sister, I wondered if she had struck home: was he compensating because he hated his own appearance?
Varrek turned to face me when the doors closed behind Mercy. “She’s feisty.”
“And you’re fucked,” Ghan said. “You know the punishment for your crimes on Xelix Prime.”
Varrek shrugged with a sense of fatality.
“I’m going to enjoy watching you burn,” I said.
“That’s a strong emotion for a machine. But then, you aren’t what you appear, are you, Admiral?” Varrek said with a smirk. “What’s hiding beneath that shiny armor? A Korlethean maybe?”
Ghan snorted and I burst out laughing, the synthetic sound of my voice echoing eerily in the immense shuttle bay. Varrek narrowed his eyes at us while my Sisters disembarking from the fighters joined us.
“I’ve heard all kinds of speculations over the years,” I said, “but this one is a first. Sorry to disappoint you, but aside from Amalia’s father, Korletheans have shown no interest in protecting Veredians. So no, you couldn’t be more wrong.”
His crihnin bunched around the base of his horns as he frowned. It explained why his countermeasures had included so much technology aimed at blocking Korlethean psi abilities. His gaze roamed over my Sisters behind me, and I waited for the moment he would finally catch on. I grinned when his eyes widened at last with understanding.
“No way,” he whispered, shaking his head in denial.
“Oh yes,” I said, deactivating my armor. “Like you said, you never gave my mother enough credit.”
CHAPTER 22
Ghan
Aleina revealing her identity still bothered me. I understood why she had wanted to rub it in his face, but Varrek’s surrender troubled me. He knew what barbaric execution awaited him once his trial was completed on Xelix Prime. Drawn-out-torture-until-death would be a more accurate description. So why in Gharah’s name would he have given himself up? Even I would have chosen to exit the way Gruuk had, under my own terms. Did he believe he would be rescued? And what would be the repercussions for Veredians and Tuureans if he was?
However, dwelling over ‘what ifs’ wouldn’t change a thing. The mind-reading Veredians had gathered all the information they could from his mind. Valena would dig deeper for anything they might have missed once we reached Xelix Prime. To my relief, they had found no indication that he expected any rescue.
With still a week before our arrival, including the detour by Tuur to drop the last group of Veredians liberated from Keleini, I felt we had a couple of serious matters to settle. Aleina grew suspicious the moment I lured her to the reading nook, fully clothed, which she recognized as my ‘we need to talk’ pattern.
“What?” she asked, eyeing me warily.
“I have been thinking about our living arrangements for the upcoming months, and I believe we need to revisit them.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, baffled.
“The last of the fortresses has been dismantled, and Varrek is in custody. That means, we won’t be travelling much in the foreseeable future.”
“Right,” she said, cautiously.
“The baby is doing well now and, the Goddess willing, it will stay that way until he’s born. But there are too many unknowns and I want to stack all the odds in our favor. I’d feel better if we stayed with the Praghans for the remainder of your pregnancy, with Maheva, Minh, Zhara, and even Eryon nearby in case anything happens.”
She nodded slowly, weighing my words. Since our child’s health had stabilized, Aleina had gone back to the poised, rational female she had always been. I couldn’t deny my happiness at having her back.
“It would be easier for Minh to monitor my progress and further the research from it,” she said in agreement. “His last report indicated that the Sisters eating ryspak and receiving both the serum and Bliss injections were showing amazing results. This sounds like a sensible choice. Have you asked Khel?”
“No. I wanted to discuss it with you first before I broached the subject with him.”
The smile that blossomed on her lips and the softness of her gaze reassured me that I had handled it the right way.
“Go ahead and ask him. Let’s do it. Plus, I want to see how those meet-and-greets are going.”
I gave her a stern look, and she burst into laughter.
“Oh relax, Grumpy. I don’t intend to get in the way of Amalia’s sisters. I told them they would lead the program, and I won’t interfere.”
“Seriously? Grumpy?”
Aleina chuckled, her eyes sparkling. “Amalia is right. You are a grumpypants.”
“You’re lucky you’re pregnant,” I mumbled, “or I’d put you across my knees and give you a proper spanking to teach you some manners.”
She laughed again. “As if I’d let you. You’d be the one getting that sexy behind of yours reddened.”
“You just wait. Once you’ve delivered our son, you’re getting shackled and spanked.”
“Bring it,” she taunted then kissed me.
She didn’t try to dominate or take control, but merely enjoyed our mutual exchange of affection. It happened more frequently of late. Whether consciously or not, I welcomed it.
Snuggling into me, she rested her head on my shoulder while my hand stroked her hair. I allowed us to savor this moment of intimacy for a bit longer before bringing up the next topic dear to my heart.
I placed my hand over Aleina’s still-flat stomach, and she covered it with hers. We no longer felt any discomfort if we were at a great distance from each other, as long as we weren’t separated for too many hours. Still, whenever we were close, I could almost feel my son’s presence, like some kind of an awareness at an almost subconscious level.
Our little miracle.
“We need to make a decision about Lenora.”
Aleina stiffened and her head jerked up to look at me. My stomach knotted at the concerned look on her face. Had she changed her mind? While she might not be the daughter of my body, Lenora was the daughter of my heart.
“She’s ours! I thought that decision was made! You still want her, right?” Aleina asked.
Relief flooded through me. “Yes. Very much.”
Tension bled out of her shoulders, and she gave me a hesitant smile.
“Good! You scared me there for a moment. She’s worried she’s going to lose us.”
“Yes, and I want us to take away that fear, especially now.”
She frowned in confusion. “Why specifically now?”
I brushed her hair from her face and let my fingers trail down the markings on her shoulder.
“She needs to know that we love her for her, regardless of any other child of our own we may get. Adopting her while we have a healthy child on the way will let her know beyond any doubt that we truly want her.”
What I didn’t say was that should anything happ
en to our son and we adopted her after that, she’d think we were settling for her as a replacement for our loss, which couldn’t be further from the truth. But the look in Aleina’s eyes told me she had understood my underlying message.
“Let’s go,” Aleina said, jumping to her feet.
She buzzed with excitement and a little bit of fear that I fully understood. We both believed Lenora wanted us as her parents, but the possibility of rejection existed. The mere thought of such an eventuality had my stomach twisted up in knots. Despite my ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude, I still struggled with the fear of rejection, but only from those I loved. And as much as I hated to admit it, it had driven me to many concessions toward Aleina, many of which I volunteered in an effort to make her like me more.
Granted, they had also been backed up by rational arguments. However, in my eagerness to please, I had created a series of unrealistic expectations which likely had led her to believe that my own needs and aspirations would always come second to hers. But recent events had tipped the scale. With the fortresses dismantled and Varrek apprehended, Lee’s role no longer held the same importance it once did. Once that thought had entered my mind a few days ago, it wouldn’t leave and made me question a number of the decisions we had made about our future.
Still unsure about where I stood, I left it alone for now. There would be plenty of time to reopen the discussion later if required.
When we entered the academic wing of the ship where the crew’s children attended class, Aleina and I felt a sliver of guilt for pulling Lenora away from her studies. Showing patience for a couple of hours wouldn’t have killed us, but now that we were committed, we simply couldn’t wait.
Both of us showing up startled her. Lenora rose nervously from her chair and fiddled with her hair as if to hide her horns like she often did when feeling anxious or insecure. Over the past few weeks, she had done it less frequently as her confidence grew. Seeing her horns no longer distressed the other girls and, with quite a bit of coaxing, she had begun making friends.
Eyes flicking between the two of us, Lenora gave us a questioning look. We smiled and each held one of her hands as we left the classroom.