“Thank you,” she said softly. “For everything.”
I nodded my own silent gratitude at both Cami and Zorvak, then placed my arm once more around Lara’s shoulders. As we headed outside, the entire Royal Guard stood at attention, and my heart swelled with pride.
“Just a moment,” I whispered.
As we stood at the mansion door, I released Lara. Using both hands, I supported Skye’s head and then turned him around so everyone could see.
“Are you ready for this?” Lara asked.
“Yes, I am. Thank you, ji’si.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you for giving me a family.”
After exchanging a loving smile, we headed past the line of males toward the air vehicle, taking our baby home.
The End
(Keep reading)
I hope you enjoyed reading Roark’s Baby as much as I enjoyed writing it. And I’ll have to admit, secretly, I enjoyed letting Roark feel Lara’s contractions. Please don’t forget to leave a review.
Moving on, I am working on a new post-apocalypse book. Of course, we have aliens. Keep reading for the first several chapters.
In the Beginning
Long ago, Earth was divided into different countries, each with a controlling government. After fighting war after war, government managed to destroy the earth, killing most everyone in the process.
The nuclear blast mutated some people, who later died, others died from famine and disease. All hope seemed lost until the Andores showed up. They offered new technology, medicine to heal our sick, food to feed those without. It appeared to be a gift from God. And then they asked for the women.
About a year later, another species, the Tizun landed on Earth. Their vessel had been badly damaged and they asked for refuge until they could be rescued. In return, they offered more advanced technology.
An uneasy truce was formed.
Chapter One
Millicent
“You’re dirty. Where you been?” I whipped my head around and spotted Austin standing just inside the door.
Splotches of dirt peppered his face, his short brown hair messy. I’d say he hadn’t combed it in a week. His plaid blue button up was uneven, not that he cared that he missed a button. He was seven, maybe eight years old. Nobody really knew for sure. Cutoff jeans reached down to his upper calves and his bare feet were almost black.
“What did you do, find the nearest mudhole and jump in?” I teased, turning to fully face him.
“Nah, couldn’t find one.”
“How about I run you some water?”
“Nope. I like dirt.”
I shook my head and smiled at the toothy grin he sported. “One of these days, you’ll have to bathe. Otherwise, we won’t be able to find you underneath all the grim.”
His eyes lit with excitement. “Good, then I can hide from those Tizuns. They scary looking.”
“They are scary looking,” I corrected.
He shrugged. “Don’t matter. What I need to know that stuff for anyhows.”
Still grinning, I sighed. Austin was one of several orphans living in the old farmhouse away from town.
“Austin, come and eat!” Jenna yelled from another room.
“Comin’!” He answered. “See ya, Millie.” Then he sprinted away.
My heart filled with happiness as I watched him hurry along. He didn’t seem to care that he lived here, dirty, with only the bare necessities, he appeared very happy. And I knew that Jenna did the best she could.
Feeling a little nostalgic as I looked around the living room, they didn’t have much. A cold rickety wooden floor with dirt caked in the small cracks. A stained floral print couch, a faded rocking chair that sat near the rock fireplace. The peeling yellow wallpaper completed the worn farmhouse look. They were lucky to find this jewel. It also helped to have a couple of neighbors nearby, also living in secret from the rest of the world.
The real value was in the location. What used to be called the Eastern United States, now consisted of three zones. One zone labeled Andore Territory, another Tizun Territory, and then Human Territory. They shared a common center, an area filled with large trees and wildlife, thanks to the Andores and their rapid growth technology.
Jenna found this gem a year back, abandoned and hidden from view, and not under any specific rule. A perfect hidden location.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were here.” I spun around and smiled at my friend.
“Hi Jenna.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me a hug. With her brown shoulder-length hair and big brown eyes, a smile spread across her face.
Releasing me, she stepped back. “When did you get here?”
“A few minutes ago.” I eyed her pink V-neck, long sleeved shirt and tan cargo pants. “New outfit?”
She laughed. “No, I just washed it.” She waved me toward the front door. “Come on, let’s go talk.”
Sitting side by side on the front porch swing, the soft breeze brushed against my cheeks. The light smell of wildflowers made me close my eyes and enjoy the moment.
“I thought you had left,” she said with a little confusion in her voice.
“I thought so too. But Uncle David invited…ordered me to headquarters.”
She slowly turned her head and stared at me with wide, round eyes. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“I know.” Uncle David, otherwise known as Colonel David Petroff of the Human territory, liaison with both the Andores and Tizuns, was not a good man.
“Does he know about your gift?”
“No. At least I hope not. I can’t image how he would try to control me then.”
Shaking her head, she scoffed, “What an asshole.”
“You’re not kidding.” Uncle David, my mom’s brother, was a controlling asshole when my parents were still alive. He only cared about himself, getting ahead in the military. He never showed for family gatherings, birthdays, nothing important. The rare occasion I had seen him, he treated my family as though they were beneath him.
The swing groaned with every complete cycle. “We need oil for this thing.”
“Great.” Jenna looked over at me. With a serious tone, she asked, “Where should I buy it at?” then blinked with innocent eyes. We both burst out laughing.
“Good point.”
“Jenna! Can I have more water?” Austin hollered through the screen door.
“Austin, I’ve told you over and over, you can have water anytime you want it. And don’t yell, that’s rude!”
“You know you just yelled at the kid, right?”
She grinned but ignored me. “When do you have to be there?”
“Day after tomorrow. I figured there was no reason to leave, only to have to come back.”
“Well, I’m glad you stayed. It gets a little lonely without you.”
Jenna, my childhood friend, was the only person from my past I still talked with. After the accident, I had to move away. A year ago, while visiting Uncle David, I happened to run into her again.
She had set up a home that took in abandoned kids, tried to provide the best she could. I admired her greatly for trying to give the kids the best in life, even though that wasn’t much.
“I love visiting, but I have to admit, I’m itching to get back home.”
“Get in. Get out. That’s your motto, right.” She said it in jest, but she had no idea how true that really was.
“I don’t do that,” I teased.
“Millicent, you are the most cryptic person I know.”
“To be fair, you don’t know many people.”
“And you do?”
I laughed. Jenna was a hoot and I loved being around her.
Looking across the field of clover, I spotted Cara coming through the trees, heading our direction. A sixteen-year-old red-headed beauty, with green eyes and a wicked temper, she would one day become someone’s dream and nightmare, rolled into an entire package.
“Where has she been?” I asked, wa
tching her coming our way.
Jenna sounded frustrated when she sighed. “I don’t know. I probably don’t want to know.”
I chuckled. “Why is that?”
“She’s into anything and everything nowadays.”
I could relate. Cara’s family died in a freak accident four years ago. She was the only survivor. When Jenna found her, she refused to speak. She still refuses to speak about that night, and what really happened.
“She’s a good kid though.”
Jenna looked at me, “Really?”
“Yes. Really. Don’t worry so much.”
She huffed. “That’s good to know. Thanks.”
“You’re very welcome.”
Cara neared, then took the six steps up to the porch and plopped down on a weather worn bench, opposite us. “Hi Millie.” She shot me a sly grin.
“Hi Cara, what have you been into?” I raised an eyebrow hoping she thought I knew already, so why lie?
Cara dug into her front pocket and pulled out two silver and one tiny gold coin, the new Earth currency. She grinned like she’d hit the jackpot.
Jenna exploded from the swing. “Cara, what have you done?”
“Don’t worry so much. Nobody caught me.”
“That’s not the point!”
Austin walked outside, letting the screened door slam shut behind him. “Someone’s in troubleee,” he drew the word trouble out in delight. “And it ain’t me this time.” He grinned, showing his missing lower tooth hole.
“Austin, be quiet!” Cara said, staring daggers at the little boy. Not wanting to miss the show, he plopped down on the top step and rested his chin in the palm of his hands.
“Jenna, we need the money. This will buy enough food for a few weeks. Especially with the garden out back.”
“What if you had gotten caught?”
“I didn’t,” she almost sung with delight.
“This time, Cara. This time. But what about the next?”
Cara put her arm around Jenna’s shoulders and smiled. “I won’t get caught. Promise.”
Jenna shook her head. “I still don’t like it.”
“Here, take it anyways.” Cara dropped the coins one at a time into Jenna’s opened hand.
An alarm sounded, shrill and loud. Everyone froze except me. I’d conquered my fear long ago. Slowly, I pushed up from the swing. “Come on. We’ve got to go.”
“Right. Right.” Jenna said in a panic. “Kids, get to the shelter.” As they sprinted down the steps, I followed behind Jenna as she darted inside the house, quickly hiding anything of value. I put away the homemade bread, set the dirty glasses in the cabinet. If someone actually came inside, I didn’t want them to think someone had recently been there. Neither did Jenna.
“That’s it!” She whispered loudly as she locked the front door and we headed out back. Just before I walked out of the living room, I glanced over my shoulder and spotted three Andores on solar boards heading our way. I took a second to catalog each one before I turned and followed Jenna out the back door.
We headed into the trees; a common area shared by three houses. Under some fallen leaves and fake grass, Jenna lifted a hatch and I climbed down the steps. She followed behind me after locking the hatch door from the inside.
Cara and Austin, along with Susie and Bob, and Jason and Haley stared back at us. Susie and Bob were married, but Jason was an orphan like Cara and Austin. Haley found him wondering through the common territory about a year ago. At ten years old, he was skin and bones.
“Who sounded the alarm?” I asked.
“Jason was playing in the woods. He heard the branches rustling from the breeze created by the solar boards. He rushed home to tell me, I sounded the alarm to alert everyone else.” Haley pulled Jason into her side, holding him close while he hugged her waist.
“Good job, Jason.” I smiled, before looking at the others.
Susie and Bob sat on the dirt floor, holding hands. A young couple in their twenty’s, they’d been married for about three years.
No one asked, but we all wondered what the Andores were doing out there. This was neutral territory; they did not have the right to search the area without a representative from the other two territories.
I wonder if Uncle David knew they were conducting searches? Probably not. What would he do about it if he did know? That was a question I hoped to find out at the meeting.
After the accident, I was sent to live with my great papa. Now that he had passed away last year, I was technically under the rule of Uncle David. As my guardian, he could order me to his bidding, or so the law stated even though I was twenty-eight years old.
It irked me to think I had to have a protector, as the Andores declared. That was one of the negotiating factors for clean water, medicine, food. It seemed like the human race had really screwed themselves over and now we were living in ancient times with modern technology.
“Hi Susie. How ya been?”
She turned fearful eyes my direction. “Good mostly. How about you?”
“Can’t complain.” She squeezed Bob’s hand until her knuckles turned white. “Don’t worry, Susie, they’ll be gone soon enough.”
“But for how long?”
“Probably the same as before. What is it Jenna, something like two months?”
“Yep. They show up about every two months. And you’re with Bob so you have nothing to worry about.”
Jenna tried to give her an easy smile, but she had to be thinking the same as me. Susie would be safe with Bob, but the rest of us were fair game.
Except me.
Unless Uncle David wouldn’t speak up.
Asshole.
I glanced around the fall-out shelter. A dirty floor, with several plastic blue chairs sitting around a square metal table. Wooden shelves filled with jugs of water and some canned goods, not many, only enough to last about a week. The shelter itself was about a 12 x 12 room.
The shelter came with the property. Thankfully, someone had left the hatch open, making it easy to spot. The only thing that worried me was the air. I’m not sure how they pumped it in from the outside. Hopefully, this wasn’t an oversight on their part.
After about three hours, I announced, “I’m going to see if they’re gone.”
Jenna clutched my arm. “Are you sure that’s smart?”
“I can’t stay down here any longer. I’d rather take my chances up there.”
Jenna blew out a slow breath, let go of my arm, and stepped back. “Good luck.”
I nodded, then grabbed the metal rings. When I reached the top, I unlocked the hatch and cracked it open. I didn’t see any feet, didn’t feel the breeze from the solar boards. I lifted the hatch all the way and quickly climbed out, before softly closing the hatch door back. I heard Jenna locked it into place.
I blew out an uneasy breath and tiptoed to the edge of the trees. The leaves crunched under my feet so tiptoeing made less noise.
Shielding my eyes from the sun, I looked toward our house and didn’t see any movement. After checking both directions again and finding everything normal, I headed over.
Circling the house, everything looked the same until I spotted a shattered side window. Peering inside through the broken glass, it had been ransacked.
Pictures broken, the furniture tossed around, someone was looking for something. But what? As many times as the Andores had searched this area, they had never messed with anything.
Until now.
I circled back and checked the other two houses and found the same thing. But they had indeed left the area. I hurried back to the fallout shelter, knocked twice on the hatch and yelled, “All clear.”
Slowly, they climbed out one by one. Looking at my family, anger burned from the inside out. This new Earth with its new laws was not fair. They shouldn’t have to suffer that way.
Jenna stepped up beside me and I could feel the anxiousness and fear radiating from her. She pretended to be strong, but I knew her to well.
&n
bsp; I turned, placed my hands on her shoulders. “They’ve left. You will be safe now.”
She lifted her narrowed eyes and scrunched her nose. “You’re leaving?”
“Yes. I have to go.”
“But it will be dark soon. And where? Where are you going?”
“I just have to get some air.” I smiled. “I’ll be back soon.” And then I turned and walked away.
Chapter Two
Murda
Feeling restless, I paced the cramped office. Things were not right and since our arrival, I had been on edge. Even though the Humans had given us a place to live, their demands were insufferable. This constant act of civility grated on my last nerve.
Humans were an odd lot, thankfully I had learned to read their body language and ignore their sly tongue. They were master deceivers, just like the Andores.
So, with hands laced behind my back, I paced. Ten steps forward, turn, ten steps back.
“Murda, what troubles you?” Gar, my 2nd, asked.
My eyes slid briefly to his, the quickly dismissed him. In the silence, I thought about home, about the people left behind, about how we were stuck on this planet with two other species, none of them with honor.
None that I had met.
They used sugary words even when they wanted battle, and called it “negotiations.”
Gar sat in a plush ivory leather chair facing my desk. The humans certainly believed in their comfort. The color ivory turned my stomach. How could they stand so many bright colors?
I stopped, turned and faced my 2nd. “Any word?”
“Still nothing,” Gar said before averting his eyes.
Of course not. During a long-fought battle with the DuFo, we limped the victorious ship to the nearest survivable planet.
Earth.
Constructing a beacon, we sent a message and for over a year, we have waited for our people to arrive. Something was amiss, it should not take that long.
“I need to get some air.”
Gar slowly rose from the chair. “Is that wise?”
No. It wasn’t. But I needed to get away for my own sanity. “I have made my decision.”
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