Worlds Away

by J. L. Hendricks

  “For starters, I can use your help organizing things here. But, more importantly, you need to not spend so much time in the med-bay. You’re in the way of the doctor and his nurses. Also, as I understand it, you have been, um…” I looked down at my hands, this was awkward. “Stimulating your men when they should be keeping their heart rates down and getting some sleep.”

  Sheila spoke up, “No, we have not been stimulating them. Only lying in bed and kissing them. That is all. Neither of us would do more than that in front of the entire med-bay.” She shook her head as though I was the crazy one.

  “Ok, but you need to understand that those guys need rest, not kissing. Please only visit as long as the doctor allows, or you might be kicked out for good. I don’t want that to happen. And besides, I really could use your help here. You don’t have to be a medic to help.” I pointed to the stack of supplies that needed to be organized and inventoried.

  Lisa and Sheila exchanged glances, “I guess you are the Commander’s mate after all, aren’t you?” asked Sheila.

  I laughed and moved on to the next patient.

  “Venay, how many people have we recovered?” I asked him.

  “Only 132 of the 200 we started with.” He looked up from the tablet he held in his hands. I could tell Venay wasn’t happy with the recovery numbers.

  “That isn’t good. If you combine that with the 36 who have died, we are still missing 32 people.” I wondered where they were and if they were okay.

  Venay tried to console me, “I am sure most of those 32 are fine. They have probably gotten far away from here and are safe now. They will most likely live out the rest of their lives here on this planet.”

  “I wish we knew for certain, and if they are out there all alone, I still want to find them. If they want to stay here that’s fine. But I want to know that they’re alright.” I walked over to him and put my arm around him and rested my head on his chest. He wrapped his big, strong arms around me and kissed my head.

  “I am sorry, Paris, but we have to wait until we are certain we have killed all of those bugs. I like your term for them.” His chest rumbled with his laugh.

  We both looked into each other’s eyes and smiled. He was about to lean down and kiss me, but his second in command cleared his throat.

  “Yes, Eereen, what is it?” Venay was a bit cold in his response, but Eereen did seem to have impeccable timing when it came to interrupting our kisses on the bridge. We probably shouldn’t do that.

  “We have an incoming message from the fleet, Commander.” Eereen bowed his head and moved away.

  “It’s about time. They should have been here yesterday.” Venay moved to a console and pushed a few buttons. I couldn’t hear what the other person was saying, but I could hear Venay’s side of the conversation.

  The expression on Venay’s face changed from being almost pleasant to outright rage. “They WHAT?” I hadn’t seen this side of him before. He was waving his hands all over the place while yelling into the communicator on the bridge. “No, I am not upset with you, I am downright angry with the Zateelians for attacking us like this. They basically declared war upon us. Attacking my ship was one thing, but then to have two space cruisers here waiting for you, that is war!”

  This was bad. Really, really bad. It looked like we might be here for a while.

  “Have you destroyed their ships Captain?” I could hear Venay clearly, but I couldn’t hear the other person talking. So I inched closer in order to see if I could hear what he was saying.

  If I focused hard, I could hear him. It sounded like they were still fighting, but since the V’Zenians brought three ships, they were winning the battle. One of the enemy ships was destroyed, but the other one was putting up a bigger fight.

  “No, we have no way to repair this ship as it is, and our weapons need power in order to work. There is nothing we can do from here to help you. If one of your ships is too badly damaged to help you, send them here to our location. We could use the manpower down here to finish off the insectoids who crashed with us.” Venay’s shoulders relaxed a bit and he stood up breathing in and out in an effort to calm himself. This was something I had seen him do several times and wondered if he had an anger management issue.

  I thought I heard the Captain agree, but I wasn’t sure. As I tried to get closer, Eereen noticed me and shook his head. I hung my head and stepped back a few paces. Venay would tell me later.

  I was right too. Later that night as we were readying for bed, he told me what happened in space these past two days.

  “We should expect to have company tomorrow. The third ship in this system is badly damaged, and if they can land, they will come over here to our location, and then we will have enough troops to find and squash those bugs. But I must warn you, they are hardened warriors who see humans as either mates or slaves. They won’t understand how I have treated our current residents. They will expect me to hand them over to them to keep locked up, that is if their holding cells can handle the numbers.”

  “You can’t let them. Most of those who stuck it out here have been helping. And they want to stay on this planet and try to make a go of it here if they can’t go home. Why can’t we let them do that?” Frustration was setting in and I was in no mood to teach another ship of aliens that humans were not their slaves.

  “It isn’t my law or my rules. I won’t have a choice if the other captain demands it. We can’t keep them here in this ship. Most likely we will all go over there, and I will be subject to their leader, as long as he is ranked a Commander or above. If we are equal rank, he retains command since it is his ship.” He shrugged as though he had no control of the situation and would accept whatever came.

  “What else could he be if he isn’t a Commander?” I sat up against the wall and looked at Venay standing in front of the wash basin and wondered if there just might be a chance of Venay staying in charge.

  “If he is a new ship captain, his rank might be Captain. After Captain is Commander. You usually make Commander after three to five years as a Captain. Some make it somewhere between two and four years. But if he is only a Captain, and even if we are on his ship, I will take command. He and his crew will have to follow my orders.” Venay moved toward our make-shift bed on the floor.

  Since we moved in here, we have slept together, but nothing more than kissing was taking place. He hadn’t even tried anything, which was a good thing. I wasn’t ready to marry him, and I certainly wasn’t ready for anything more intimate than a kiss.

  “Then let’s pray that he is only a Captain. It would be nice to have a real room again. I can’t say I will miss sleeping in your office.” I snuggled down next to him and tried to go to sleep. We had the best accommodations at the moment. Everyone else slept wherever they could find a place to lie down.

  Chapter 19

  The next day saw the arrival of the new ship. It made a safe landing a few miles away from us during the day, and we set off in groups of twenty to fifty. Larger groups held the injured and included some of the humans. Venay and I were in the last group. He said the Commander of a ship always goes last, and since I was not to leave his side, I was last as well.

  Surprisingly, we all made it safely to the other ship. I wondered if the Insectoids knew we had too large of a contingent of warriors for them to mess with. Or, if they were just biding their time.

  When we entered the other ship, there was a line of all of the senior officers waiting for us. The current ship’s Captain, and he was only a Captain, was waiting to welcome us officially and to hand over control to Venay. I didn’t realize how much I was dreading this moment until I came face to face with the being who was to be the new second in command. My smile must have been a mile wide because Venay nudged me with his shoulder and cleared his throat.

  “Captain, I would like to introduce you to my mate. Paris, this is Captain Montgomery.”

  I put my hand out to shake the Captain’s hand, “Captain, it is nice to meet you.”

 
He took my hand but. instead of shaking it, he kissed it much like a gentleman on Earth would do. “The pleasure is all mine, ma’am.”

  I tilted my head to one side and smiled back at him and had to work hard to keep from sighing. What a nice surprise. Not that I was attracted to him, but meeting a gentleman way out here in the middle of a battle with mutant insects was very nice.

  Venay looked at me and arched an eyebrow; he would be asking me about that later I was sure.

  “Let me show you to your new quarters. We will be here a few months while we work on the repairs we can. Fleet will send some ships along with a garrison of warriors to encamp here going forward. But our engineer doesn’t think this ship will fly until we get the supplies in about five months’ time.” Captain Montgomery led the way.

  “Five months, we are all going to stay here for five months?” I looked up to Venay with questioning eyes, and I bit my lower lip to keep from saying anything else.

  “It depends on what happens with the two ships in orbit right now. If one of them goes home then we will go with them. This is not my ship so it would not be right for me to stay here if there was a way for me to go home and get a new ship to continue my missions.” Venay linked his hands behind his back and followed the Captain.

  “Oh.” What could I say? He wanted to keep abducting humans, and I couldn’t say anything negative in front of Captain Montgomery. I just realized that I was going to have to be very careful with what I said in mixed company.

  Once we were in our new room, which just happened to be the Captain’s quarters, I heaved a heavy sigh and plunged down on the couch. “Venay, does this mean that we can be officially mated now? There are plenty of troops here to take care of the issue with the vermin population. Can we have our honeymoon?” Over the past few days I learned that I had in fact, succumbed to the pull of the mating bond.

  I wasn’t sure if I was ready to tell him I loved him, but I was ready to take that next step in our relationship, if for no other reason than to ensure my position as the mate of the Commander. With this new group of warriors, I knew my position was tenuous and I would have to be on my toes all the time until Venay claimed me, officially.

  He came over and sat next to me, “We could, but don’t you want to wait until we can honeymoon away from here? We can’t leave until all of the Insectoids are dead.”

  “I know, but we could have our ceremony now, couldn’t we? You could take a day off, and we could stay here in our room together? With no one to disturb us? There is an able bodied Captain who I am sure wouldn’t mind staying leader of this crew for one more day.” I looked up at him with a coy smile and wrapped my arms around his neck, then I bit my lip while considering what to do next.

  He took that as an opportunity to kiss me. As he leaned down, he took my lower lip between his and sucked on it just enough to get my teeth to release it to him. I kissed him harder and leaned against his chest and heard a moan coming from his throat. “Yes, I think we could manage that. How about tomorrow if nothing else gets in the way?” Before I could answer, he kissed me again and again.

  It seemed like forever until he let me up for air. “Yes, tomorrow would be perfect.” I stood up and went to the kitchen to see what I could make us for a late dinner, and try to calm myself. The entire time I was in there I couldn’t shake the smile from my face.

  It looked as though I had succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome and didn’t care in the least bit.

  Epilogue

  Our mating ceremony was very similar to a marriage ceremony on Earth, but without all of the pomp and circumstance. And no formal attire. Venay assured me this was very normal since so many humans mated with the V’Zenian warriors on the way back home, to their home that is.

  We spent the night all alone with no disruptions. It was perfect. We stayed in bed the next day too. But the day after that he had to go and attend to his duties. I was sad to see him go, and I think he was as well.

  “Paris, as soon as we are certain the insectoids are all taken care of, we will go away for a week, just the two of us.” He kissed the tip of my nose and I sighed.

  “Perfect! Go and kill ‘em all!”

  If you want to read the next book in my series, Worlds Collide, and find out what happens next in the series go to the link on my website: Worlds Collide

  Keep reading to get the first two chapters in Worlds Collide.

  Do you remember Natalie from early on in this book? She becomes our main character in this next adventure. I can’t wait for you to get to know her better!

  Reviews are the life-blood of an author, would you take just a minute to leave a review of Worlds Away wherever you purchased this book from, I would be forever grateful.

  You can also leave a review and follow me on BookBub. https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-l-hendricks if you follow me, you’ll get updates when I send out a new book. BookBub is the gold standard of book promotions! They have almost 9 million readers! All indie authors aspire to get a BookBub promotion! The more followers I have on Bookbub, the better my chances of getting a deal with them are. So, help an author out and leave a review?

  Author’s Notes

  I hope you enjoyed my PG-13 version of a sci-fi alien abduction adventure with a touch of romance. The adventure parts of these books have always been my favorite, so I thought why not make a clean version for everyone to read.

  The story will continue, and we will see them all on the alien planet at the beginning of the next book. Another couple will become the center of the story, but we haven’t seen the last of Paris and Venay.

  If you want to read more of the worlds I have created, check out these other places:

  Blog/website: https://jlhendricksauthor.com/blog/ here is where I’ll do new cover releases and even share snippets of my upcoming books! So be sure to subscribe. You can also see all of the books I’ve written to date and find the links to get them.

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinkFan25

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JLHendricksAuthor/

  Keep an eye out on my blog or social media accounts for news about other books I have coming!

  But the best way to stay up to date on what I am doing, and the next book release, is to join my mailing list. https://jlhendricksauthor.com/newsletter/

  I’ll even send you a free book, or two, just for signing up for my newsletter!

  In fact, if you sign up, you’ll get a special prequel to the Worlds Away series, Worlds Revealed. It’s all about the true story of Roswell!

  Acknowledgements

  I say this every time, but it really does take a lot of people to put a book together!

  Beta readers are very important! I only had three this time, Leo Roars, Rebecca Reddell (author friend who rocks!), and Dawnya Goode, but they picked out some things that needed tweaking as well as some of the spelling errors I missed, thank you all so much!!!

  If you want to join my ARC readers group and get a copy of the next book in exchange for an honest review, please sign up here: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/l2u3a2

  Book covers are the most important aspect of creating a book that readers will pick up. I found a pre-made cover on SelfPubBookCovers that was just awesome!

  My reading group, 20BooksTo50K are the best group of authors anyone could want! They are always so supportive and engaging! Thank you guys from the bottom of my heart!!! In fact, Rebecca Reddell from my group helped me immensely with further character development and my issue with commas! LOL

  For those who didn’t know, this version of Worlds Away is very similar to the original, but I did go back and make a few tweaks to some sentences and fixed some grammar and spelling issues I missed earlier. This new version has about 6,000 words more than the last one did. Plus, I have all new covers.

  Keep reading for the sneak peek of Worlds Collide!

  Other Books by J.L. Hendricks

  The Voodoo Dolls

  Book 0: The Voodoo That You Do (Join my Newsletter to get t
his exclusive freebie)

  Book 0.5: Magic’s Not Real

  Book 1: New Orleans Magic

  Book 2: Hurricane of Magic

  Book 3: Council of Magic

  Alpha Alien Abduction Tales Series

  Book 0: Worlds Revealed (join my Newsletter to get this exclusive freebie)

  Book 1: Worlds Away

  Book 2: Worlds Collide

  Book 2.5: Worlds Explode

  Book 3: Worlds Entwined

  A Shifter Christmas Romance Series

  Book 0: Santa Meets Mrs. Claus

  Book 1: Miss Claus and the Secret Santa

  Book 2: Miss Claus under the Mistletoe

  Book 3: Miss Claus and the Christmas Wedding

  Book 4: TBD (Christmas 2019)

  The FBI Dragon Chronicles

  Book 1: A Ritual of Fire

  Book 2: A Ritual of Death

  Book 3: A Ritual of Conquest

  See these titles and more at https://www.jlhendricksauthor.com/

  Worlds Collide Sneak Peek

  The enemy of my enemy …

  All Natalie wants is to save the other humans from the aliens who abducted them. Then, she discovers something even worse than the V’Zenians. When their ship crash lands on an alien outpost controlled by her keepers, after the battle in space with the Zateelians, she begins to think the only way to survive is to work with those who abducted her.

  Zelan is a V’Zenian warrior who’s never agreed with the policy of abducting humans. When he finds himself face to face with his worst enemy, he realizes how much he respects and admires the spirit and tenacity of the humans aboard his ship. He fights tooth and nail to protect them and destroy the enemy hellbent on infesting them all.