by Maia Starr
I landed outside her hut and placed her on her feet. The rain was still coming down as she opened the door and we went inside.
“I’m soaking wet!” she said as she moved over to the table with plenty of clean, dry cloths. She grabbed two and handed one to me as she dried off.
“I think this storm is going to last well into the night,” I said looking out the window.
“Yes, it is beautiful though. On Earth, I always get the best sleep during a storm. I like the rain,” she said.
“Do you miss Earth?” I asked not wanting to hear her answer.
“Of course. It is my home,” she said.
The smile faded from my face. She looked at me as though she was regretting what she said and quickly changed the subject. “I need to get out of these wet cloths.” She moved toward the washroom and began to grab cloths to tie around her body.
“Do you want to be left alone tonight?” I asked her as I leaned against the wall of her hut. She turned to me and looked at me with wide eyes.
“But what about Commander Triq? What if he comes for me?” she said in a slight panic.
“He won’t. He left Kelon this morning. He went to Tiok,” I said.
“Oh, I see. That is good news,” she said.
“Yes, and no reason for me to guard you anymore. At least not until he returns,” I said.
“Well yes, but…”
“But what?”
“I want you to stay anyway,” she said.
“I would be delighted,” I said as I moved to her and scooped her into my arms. She giggled. I was ready to go for another round, and another, and another…
CHAPTER SEVEN
REENA RHODES
Ten days passed as I was lost in a web of lust with this alien dragon shifter. I never expected things to go this far, but day after day I wanted him inside of me. I couldn’t control it. I was in awe of him. His telekinesis powers fascinated me and his ability to shift into dragon form impressed me beyond belief.
I had felt safe again knowing that Commander Triq was gone from Kelon. After the encounter with him, I was afraid to be alone with him on the planet. This relaxation kept me from keeping track of days and time. I just enjoyed the days away with my lover, and when he worked, I spent time with Luka and the few Draqua females of the village. Today was one of those days, as I sat in the communal outdoor kitchens with Luka chopping some fruits that had been picked that morning.
“Are you alright, Reena? You look a little pale,” she said to me.
“Pale? I’m getting a tan out here in this sunny paradise,” I said to her.
“I mean a little out of sorts, like you are sick,” Luka said glancing over at me again and again.
“Is it that obvious? I have been feeling nauseous off and on yesterday and all day today. I think it might be something I ate. We are eating alien food after all,” I said as a whiff of the fruit I was cutting suddenly hit my face. “Oh god.”
“What?” Luka asked.
I quickly got up from the wooden bench and ran away from the table into the lush landscape. I puked.
“Oh my god, Reena,” Luka said as she quietly came over to me and whispered, “Are you alright? I will get you some water.”
“Yes, please,” I said as I stayed bent over at the waist and ready for another round to come up. My stomach felt like it was in knots. What the hell was wrong with me? I had not eaten anything new in the last few days. My scientist mind tried to determine a reason for my sickness, but my heart knew I was with child. It had been long enough to know after my first time with Dekario, and even so, I did not know how long it would take to show signs of being with an alien offspring. It could be the very next day for all I knew.
“Here, rinse your mouth before drinking,” Luka said as she handed me the glass of water. “I need to check your vitals and…” she went off into doctor mode, putting her hand on my wrists and such.
“Do you feel dizzy?” she asked.
“No, but I think I know why I’m sick,” I whispered to her as I stood up, feeling the wave of nausea finally pass. She looked at me. She was nodding her head yes as she whispered, “I have been feeling the same way.”
“So you are…” I asked.
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered.
“Oh my god, Luka,” I whispered back. I grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the communal village deeper into the tropical lushness.
“I figured it out yesterday when I was doing just as you are,” she said to me.
“And I figured it out yesterday too, but I was denying it to myself. This is insane,” I said to her.
“I know. Isn’t it wonderful?” she said with a big smile.
“Wait, who have you been with?” I asked.
“Kavik,” she said. “I think I love him, Reena,” she said with a happy grin.
“Luka, you do?” I asked.
“Yes. I do. I think this is it for me, Reena. I don’t want to go back to Earth. I want to stay here and be with Kavik. I didn’t plan for this, but it has happened,” she said.
“Does he know that you are pregnant?” I asked her.
“No, I have not told him. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do until this moment, actually. Saying it out loud feels right though. I want this offspring, and I want Kavik. I want to stay here and be a Draqua. I do miss Earth and everyone I knew there, but this is an incredible adventure. Who thought we would ever find out about other life in the universe, let alone be invited to live peacefully among them? The astronaut in me thinks it’s the coolest thing ever,” she said laughing.
I giggled, “I am glad that you are happy, Luka,” I said.
“And you? What will you do now?” she asked.
“I have not thought about it. I guess I need to think about it. I guess I could not raise an alien offspring on Earth in secrecy. So I think my choices are limited,” I said, realizing the full extent of what this pregnancy meant.
“No, I guess not. I am here for you anytime you want to speak of it, but it is your decision alone. But know that I will be telling Kavik and I will be letting the king know that I wish to stay. I think he will grant it since I am with offspring and that is their mission, to mate with human females and create offspring.”
As soon as she said it, I felt ill again, but not nauseous. “Yes, you are right about that,” I said. Was this why Dekario had seduced me? It wasn’t because he genuinely liked me; it was because it was his mission to do so. It was the mission of every male Draqua to mate with a human female. I looked at Luka happily smiling as I wondered if she thought the same suspicion of Kavik. By the looks of her, it seemed not.
“Come, let’s get back to chopping. We are almost finished, and then you can go take a long hot bath,” Luka said pulling me back to the kitchen.
“Okay,” I said.
I could barely concentrate on the work of cutting the fruit because I was so distracted. When we were done, we walked deeper into the village toward the tree staircase that spiraled on the inside of the tree and would take us onto the canopy bridges.
“Is that…” Luka said as we passed a lush garden area with tree stumps used for sitting.
“Phoenix, where have you been? We haven’t seen you for…” I began to say as I walked toward him. It was then that I realized he wasn’t alone.
“Oh, hello, Antaris,” Luka said. The young Draqua female was blushing, and I realized that she and Phoenix had been having a moment.
“Oh, sorry to interrupt,” I said. “It is good to see you again, Antaris,” I smiled at her.
“And you too, humans Luka and Reena,” she said.
“Antaris was just speaking to me about military stuff, that is all. Or I should say warrior stuff,” Phoenix said.
“Yes, the great battle,” Antaris said.
“It’s very interesting. It seems the Draqua have an enemy and that enemy is older Draqua. It’s a civil war,” Phoenix said.
“Tell us, Antaris. I am very interested,” I said as Luk
a and I took seats on tree stumps.
“It happened many years ago. There is a group we call the opposition. They oppose the system of having Draqua males mate with human females to create hybrids, like myself.”
“It is something that I don’t understand. I thought that was the only thing securing the survival of your species. Why would they oppose such a thing?” Luka asked.
“The opposition are made up of elder Draqua. The elder Draqua can shift into full dragons. Us hybrids only partially shift, as you have already seen. Hybrids have better abilities and are stronger than the elders. As far as I know, the elders do not like this, and they want the Draqua to remain pure blooded, even if it means that we will no longer exist in a hundred years.”
“That is awful,” I said.
“Yes, and this great battle was the opposition coming to raid the village. They started to kill hybrids. They want us all dead. In that time, being a human female was dangerous, especially if you were pregnant,” Antaris said.
“And now?” I asked trying to hold my panic to myself.
“Now the opposition is said to still exist, but there has been no action by them since that battle. There are rumors that they are waiting until they have strength in numbers before coming after us,” Antaris said.
“Trouble in paradise,” Phoenix said.
I looked at Luka in shock. We spoke to each other with our eyes. Upon hearing this story about the opposition, we knew that we were now in danger. I was thrown into a panic.
“Look at the sun. I must leave you to meet with my mother,” she said to us. She stood up and gave Phoenix a smile and then walked off.
“Phoenix?” I said, raising a brow at him.
“She has grown on me,” he said smiling bashfully.
“Yes, it seems we have all become accustomed to this place and the race of Draqua,” Luka laughed.
“You too?” Phoenix laughed.
“Yes, in fact, since you are here I should tell you that I am going to ask the king to stay here,” Luka said.
“You are?” he said with wide eyes.
“Yes. I want to,” she said to Phoenix and gave me a look. She was not going to say why she wanted to stay and I thought that was a good idea, especially now knowing that pregnant human females were in a silent danger here.
“But please do not feel pressure to stay, either of you. I do not want that. I want you to be happy. If you want to return to Earth and never speak of this place again, then you should do so. It should be your decision and your decision alone,” she said in a very serious tone. “I like it here and I know there is much to learn here, and why did we embark on our spaceflight from Earth in the first place if not to learn all that we can? I know now that the knowledge will never reach Earth, but that is out of respect for this race, and I am okay with that. That does not mean that I can’t broaden my knowledge,” Luka said.
“I understand. That is very intriguing,” I said, agreeing with her thirst for knowledge.
“I really don’t have anything to go back to on Earth anyway other than my career. But the king has not said he was going to allow us to go back anyway. I really doubt he wants to risk the safety of his race. I think I am with you, Luka. I want to stay,” Phoenix said, standing up quickly as though he had just won the lottery.
Luka and Phoenix hugged in celebration of their decision. Then they looked at me. “I need to think about it,” I said laughing.
“Well, if you two don’t mind, I’m going to go take a cool dip in those clear waters out there. It really is paradise here. It’s constant vacation,” he said smiling.
“Come on, let’s get you into that hot bath and get more water in you. You can’t stay dehydrated after throwing up. And you are also going to have to start eating a lot…” Luka went on with her medical advice as she walked at my side on our way back to our tree huts. I only halfway listened to her because I was so distracted by the fact that I was going to be the only human going back to Earth… if the king did grant it.. If the King found out I was pregnant, then he probably wouldn’t let me go. No, I had to keep it a secret until I had made up my mind. It had to be my choice, no one else’s. Plus, there was the danger of the opposition that did not want human and Draqua hybrids. It was too dangerous to let anyone know that I was pregnant with an alien baby, so I would keep it to myself.
As Luka made up a bath for me in my hut, I quietly said, “Are you not scared to stay now knowing what Antaris has told us about this opposition?” I asked.
“No. I have known about the opposition almost since we arrived here,” she said.
“What? Did you? How?” I asked.
“Kavik. We have talked about it. I asked him once after hearing a few Draqua talk about the war and the scars it has left on some of the buildings, like the palace,” she said as she turned off the water and stuck her hand in the bath to check the temperature. “It is ready.”
“Why did you not tell me about this if you knew?” I asked her.
“I don’t know. It never came up. I didn’t really think of it as something important as far as our daily life here. Though it is very interesting. But every civilization has wars and disagreements. It is the way of things all across the universe it seems,” she said.
“True, but are you not scared now knowing that if the opposition is out there, they will try to kill you and your offspring?” I asked as I took off the strip of red cloth across my breasts and untied the cloth around my waist. Then I stepped into the tub. It felt relieving.
“Of course I am, but returning to Earth would be worse for the offspring. At least that it was I have figured out for myself,” she said awkwardly looking at me.
“I suppose you are right. As soon as humans found out about the child, they would want to experiment and such. I am a scientist; I should know. Living in secret and cut off from socializing would be detrimental to a child, so that is not a choice either,” I said as I grabbed a sponge and washed in the hot water.
“It is something to think about,” Luka said as she moved over to the bed and lay down. I could tell that she was tired, and so was I.
Hours later she returned to her hut, and I waited in dread for the first time over Dekario coming to my hut at night. I walked back and forth in the hut knowing that this would be the first time I spoke with him after admitting to myself that I was pregnant with his child. Denial was so much easier. Now I was extremely nervous. Then he walked in.
“I was scared you had gone to bed already. Then I would be forced to wake up your lovely sleeping body,” he said as he moved right to me and pressed his lips on mine. The palm of his hand went up around my breast and then slid down to my belly. As soon as he touched me there, I jerked back away from him. I didn’t mean to. It was just a knee-jerk reaction.
“What’s wrong, Reena?” he asked.
“Nothing, it just tickled a little,” I said smiling.
He was quiet for a bit as he looked at me. Then he said, “You are acting differently.”
“What? No, I am not,” I said turning away from him and pouring myself a glass of water.
“Yes, you are. You are acting suspicious. I can feel it,” he said, walking over to my side.
Oh great, I thought. Not only was he able to move objects with his mind, but he was also able to sense my change in mood. It was going to be super hard to keep this baby a secret from him. How does he know me so well already? It has not been long…should I tell him? No, I can't yet. I need to figure out how I feel about this first. I turned to him and threw my arms around his neck and pushed my fingers into his hair and playfully said, “You are the one acting suspiciously with all these questions.” I got up on my tiptoes and pulled him down to me from his tall height. I kissed his lips, and he moaned. In seconds, he was distracted from his suspicions and concentrating on kissing my neck and massaging my breasts. Then between kisses, he said something that startled me.
“I’m leaving Kelon,” he said.
“What?” I said pushing hi
m away. “What do you mean you are leaving me?” I said panicked.
“I did not say that I was leaving you. I said that I was leaving Kelon,” he said.
“Is that not the same thing?” I said crossing my arms.
“No. I am leaving Kelon on a mission and will return, and I will return to you,” he said. “I am not leaving you forever, as you make it sound.”
“Fine,” I said annoyed. It was silly. I knew that he was a warrior and had a job to do. So why was I acting so petty? It had to be the hormones. Damn, hormones already making me a crazy pregnant woman.