“No, they are gone for weeks, as we will be. But we may pick up their signals or transmissions while we are out here. Our beacons can store data.”
“It’s so vast,” she said, in awe of the emptiness.
“This sector is one most void of stars; it is presumed a big asteroid came through millions of years ago. That is perhaps where our two suns came from. It hit other planets like a rolling boulder, crushing anything in its path.”
“You have seen so much, understand so much. I’m glad I’m here with you, Garth, because otherwise this would be a damn scary place.” She settled back in her seat, but he undid his seat belt and got up, holding out his hand for her.
“Come, the auto pilot will take over, there is nothing we can hit for millions of miles, so let me give you a tour of the ship.” He waited for her to undo her seat belt and she got up on shaky legs.
“I never thought I would get motion sickness, but this takes some getting used to.” She walked carefully behind him, glad of his hand around hers; it gave her confidence.
“We are safe; you just need to get used to it.” He took her to the kitchen, put a pot of water into a machine, and stood waiting for it to warm. “We will have some tole—it is like your coffee—and then we can begin our tour.”
“How big is this ship?” she asked, feeling a little queasy.
“Not too big, but there is a lot packed into it. It’s best to get everything out of the way now.” He poured out the tole and handed her a cup, but she couldn’t bear the smell of it.
“I think the first thing I need is to know where the bathroom is.” She placed her hand over her mouth and managed to mumble, “Now.”
“This way.” Seeing the shock on her face, he knew something was wrong and went ahead of her, opening a door to a small compact bathroom and allowing her to pass him, her head going down the toilet, and then she puked.
Her head throbbed, and her stomach spasmed as she retched again. If this was what she was going to be like, how the hell was she supposed to travel for months in the ship?
“Are you unwell?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe it was the launch, or maybe it’s the motion of the ship.” She stood up, and he passed her a cup of water. “I’ve never had a problem with travel before.” She wiped her mouth, feeling slightly ridiculous. Garth had travelled all over the universe, and here was she, puking her guts up after half an hour of travel.
“We can go to the medical room and the computer can check you out. If we need to, we can return to Karal.” He looked concerned, which made her happy in some sad, masochistic way. She would much rather be well than have him fuss over her, no matter how flattering it was.
“Lie here,” he said, helping her onto the bed, which was obviously built for a Karalian, and was too high for her to get onto without his help. Thankfully her stomach had settled and she felt better.
“Thanks,” she said, lying down flat, adjusting herself so that she was comfortable.
Garth pulled a machine over her, and said, “Computer scan.”
A sound, and a bright flash of light from the machine above her head, and then it whirred, before the computer said, “Scan complete.”
“That was quick.” She sat up and looked at him expectantly. “Does it say the results, or do you read them off a screen?”
“I will take a look at them.”
“Wait, I want to look too, so I know you aren’t hiding something from me.”
“What would I hide?” He looked confused.
“I’d just feel happier seeing them.” She slid off the bed and went to the screen with him. He scrolled through the results, but didn’t seem to be able to say what was wrong with her.
“Temperature normal, no heat, swellings, or bacteria in your body, as we would expect because you have recently completed a decon’” He frowned, and scrolled through again, before sliding the screen sideways. Then he stopped, his face going pale, and her stomach churned loudly as if reacting to her fear of what he had seen.
“Garth, what is it?” she asked, fearing the worst.
“You are with child.”
“Already!” She stepped backwards, leaning against the bed. “So, what? I have morning sickness?”
“I don’t know what morning sickness is.” But he looked terribly concerned, whether it was for her, or the thought of having to put up with an alien female being sick every morning, she couldn’t tell.
“No, it’s due to my hormones changing, adjusting to having something … inside me.” She was going to say alien, but that might make him feel worse. “It will pass. Soon, hopefully.”
He came to her, putting his hands on her arms. “We are not too far from Karal, let me ask Darl if there is anything we can do. And to check he does not wish for us to return.”
“OK. But I want to go on, unless it’s bad for the baby, I want to carry on with the journey.” What, was she mad? This was her perfect excuse to get out of going on the mission, but her hand went to her stomach and she thought of Thomsk and how much he loved his kids, and how she would feel that same love for her own child, which was already growing inside of her.
Finding her legs didn’t feel so wobbly anymore, she went out, making her way to the control deck, where Garth was talking into the radio.
“He will be here in one moment.” Garth stood up and guided her into her seat, fastening her seat belt. “Make sure you don’t fall over.”
“Garth, women have children all the time. I’m not ill.”
He raised his eyebrow at her, and greys and blues swam across his face. “I know what I just saw. It is very rare for a Karalian to empty their stomach in such a way.”
“Oh well, don’t worry about it, humans do it all the time.”
“Garth.” A voice, which she vaguely recognised as Darl’s, spoke over the radio.
“Darl. The computer tells us that Tamzin is already pregnant.”
“Excellent news. She was chosen because of her ovulation cycle. She is very fertile, good.”
“I am here, Darl,” she said crossly, hating the feeling that they were talking about her behind her back.
“I’m sorry, of course. Congratulations, Tamzin.”
“Is it safe for us to continue?”
“Of course. The reason you are taking Tamzin with you is so that you can fulfil your prime.”
What exactly is your prime?” she asked, having heard it mentioned before but never explained.
“It is like your ovulation cycle, there is only a set period of time when you can conceive, and male Karalians have a short period of time in which they are fertile. The difference is your cycle is once a month, ours is once in a lifetime. The clock is ticking for Karal.”
“I see.” Deep inside she was happy she had fallen pregnant and that Garth was going to have the child he wanted.
“Tamzin has experienced morning sickness,” Garth continued.
“Ahh, OK, I have seen this before. Papal is best for that.”
“Papal? I don’t want to take any drugs.” Tamzin shook her head. “I would rather spend my time with my head down the toilet than risk hurting the baby.” She already felt hugely protective of her unborn child.
“It is a fruit.” Garth nodded encouragingly. “We eat lots of it when we are children, it gives us healthy bones.”
“Yes, it is perfectly safe, Tamzin.”
“And so we continue.” She was pleased, but most of all excited, not just for the mission, but for her and Garth and the small spark of life in her womb.
“We continue.” Garth agreed, and then shut off the radio, pulling her into a tight hug and kissing her head. “Thank you, Tamzin.”
“My pleasure,” she answered. And meant it. She had thoroughly enjoyed making their child, she only hoped he still meant to make love to her now the child had been conceived, or this would be a very long and boring journey.
Chapter Eighteen – Garth
The sound of her retching made him feel guilty, and he
wished he could take it away.
“Here,” he said, passing her a drink of water and a towel. “Then come and eat.”
It was a week into the journey and the sickness had mostly been kept at bay by the papal, but the lack of no real day and night seemed to have messed with her body clock, and sometimes she was sick at night.
There was not enough papal for her to eat enough of it to combat the sickness, and so she had to put up with being ill. Which he hated.
“Thanks,” she said. “Maybe when we reach the planet I’ll feel better.”
“I hope so, and by this time tomorrow we will know. We make our last wormhole jump in two hours.”
“Great. At least I got this out of the way before we jump. I love watching the journey through the wormholes; they are all so unique.”
“Why don’t you get freshened up and then come and join me?”
“Sure.” She got up, resting for a moment before going to the bedroom, Garth returned to the control deck to check everything was working perfectly. Since the knowledge of his unborn child had settled on him, he had become overly protective and anxious, always making sure the ship was running smoothly and the systems were working perfectly.
This was a side of himself he had never known existed, just like the part of him that loved Tamzin had not existed until she had come into his life. The Earth female had woken a deep primal need to provide and protect, and he was struggling to assimilate it.
What they both needed was some rest and relaxation on a planet filled with life and fresh air, and open places where he could run and let go of the tension inside him. Tension Tamzin had tried to release by seducing him, but he had been reluctant to make love to her when she was ill.
Yes, she kept telling him it wasn’t an illness, but he still couldn’t forget seeing her doubled up in the bathroom, in obvious discomfort. And he was scared; he didn’t want to do anything to hurt their unborn child.
“OK, here I am. Is there anything I can do?”
“No. I have checked the readings.”
“Of course you have.”
“I want to be sure you are safe, Tamzin.”
“I am safe. You need to relax a little.”
“I will relax when we are back to Karal.”
“What about if the planet is habitable, we could chill for a bit.”
“Chill?”
“Yes, relax, slow down. Not that we could get any slower.” She leaned across and kissed his cheek, and he turned to her, their lips meeting, but he pulled away; his body responded too quickly to hers.
“Garth, please. I’m not fragile.”
“I know.”
“Then what is it? I thought you cared for me.”
“I do.”
“But not enough to make love to me.”
He turned quickly to see her forlorn face, and said quickly, “No, that is not it at all.”
“Then what.”
“I feel guilty.”
“For?”
“Making you ill.”
She burst out laughing. “You know; the sooner you have females back amongst your population the better. At least that way you won’t go all caveman on them, and you won’t feel bad for things that happen naturally.”
“We have a lot to learn.”
“Yes, you do, Garth, but you’re lucky, you have us females from Earth to teach you all we know. After all, if you are going to have daughters, then you need to know how to look after them, and how to not smother them. You need strong independent women, to match the strong independent men.”
“We will have good teachers,” he agreed.
“Right, and the first thing this teacher wants to teach you is that just because I am pregnant does not mean I don’t want your big Karalian hands on my body and your big Karalian… well, you get the meaning. Once we land, I want us to take a break from all this for an hour or two and get back to how we were before. Let’s forget about the mission and my morning sickness, and enjoy each other.
He looked across at her and a feeling, as if his chest was swelling up, hit him. What was this? And then he knew: he loved her. Loved her voice, loved the thoughts that came tumbling out of her mouth, so wise, and understanding, and yet she was strong.
“Our daughters will be a force to be reckoned with,” he said.
“You better believe it.” She settled back down into her seat. “I can’t wait to put my feet on hard ground, and feel the wind in my face.”
“Soon.” He tapped the computer screen, and checked the readings again. “Half an hour and we will be there. You can man the deck while I go and make myself some tole. I want to be alert, for when we enter the wormhole. Unless you want to make it.”
She wrinkled her nose, still unable to stand the thought of the red liquid. “I’ll pass, thanks.”
“Then watch the screen. If anything appears, shout.” He left her looking at the screen, and then out into space, he knew she liked trying to spot the beacons that floated around the entrances of the wormholes.
“Take your time. You might need the energy from your tole for when we land,” she teased.
“I don’t need tole, I have great stamina.” He kissed the top of her head, and then bent to whisper in her ear. “I am already thinking about what I am going to do to you once we reach the planet.”
She tilted her head back and looked at him. “I’ll hold you to that, alien.”
He left the command deck, laughing as he went. Once in the kitchen, he prepared his tole, and also poured out some fruit juice for Tamzin. He had enjoyed looking after her this last week, enjoyed making sure she was OK, and tried to make sure her morning sickness wasn’t too bad.
But she was right, it wasn’t an illness, and now, with their destination in sight, it was time he forgot about the child she was carrying, even if only momentarily, and concentrated on the two of them and their relationship.
In short, he planned to make love to her under new stars, on a new planet, as long as it was habitable.
Chapter Nineteen – Tamzin
He sat back down, giving her some fruit juice and crushed ice to sip on. “Thank you.” It was just what she needed. The sickness had now passed, but she didn’t feel like food.
Garth sipped his tole while checking the coordinates one more time. She slipped her hand over his thigh and squeezed it, making him look across to her and smile, and the colours swam across his face. She had struck gold getting matched with him from the lottery. It could all have turned out so different, and she placed her hand on her stomach, as if she could sense the small life there that made their little family complete.
“Oh, there it is,” she said suddenly, a triangle of beacons catching her attention from the corner of her eye.
These beacons, and the wormholes they opened, absolutely fascinated her. That they could travel from one part of the universe to another in a matter of minutes was incredible, and she still couldn’t get her head around it, despite having now travelled down five of them already.
“Yes, once on the other side it is a short journey to the planet K23RT.”
“That’s its name?” she asked.
“Yes, it indicates the sector and the planet number.” He pointed to it on his screen.
“Aren’t you organised,” she said. “How much of the universe have you mapped?”
“A very small amount. But we keep records of everything we discover.” As they approached the wormhole, the computer screen flashed. “We are receiving an update.”
“What kind of update?” she asked, excited that they might be in touch with other ships, or that they could contact Karal; it made the universe feel smaller somehow.
“It is the mission details from other deep space missions.” He waited for the light to flash off, and then said, “Here we go. I can look at the update later.”
He steered the ship towards the beacons, waiting for it to be completely central before tipping the throttle forward and taking them into the tunnel of swirling light.
Glancing across as Garth, she was at least pleased he was not phased by the angle of the ship. “Is this normal?”
“Yes. All wormholes are different; this one is almost vertical.” He leaned forward and tapped something into the computer. “I have updated the wormhole description; I think the angle has increased.” He took another reading. “I am surprised, they don’t normally change.”
“But we are going to come out in the right place?” Her voice wavered with concern.
“We should do. The readings are the same.”
She looked out of the window, determined to let her nervousness pass. There was nothing they could do about it, they had reached the point of no return as soon as they entered, so they would have to journey to the end and then see where they were.
Lights flashed, pinpricks of stars appeared, and then it went dark. Only distant planets, like dark shadows in the night, could be seen circling a dim star. It was like a planets’ graveyard. And then there was a bright flash, as if lightening had struck, before they burst out into normal space.
But was it the right space?
Garth took a reading, and looked puzzled.
“Are we lost?”
“No. But the wormhole has definitely moved. The end has, anyway.”
“So where are we?” Her stomach threatened to spill its contents once more, but she breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, knowing she had to keep it together, for Garth’s sake.
“About two hundred light-years off-course. It’s as if someone tried to yank the beacons free and moved the end instead.” He pressed more buttons on the monitor.
“Are we still going to the planet?” she asked.
“Yes. It could have been some kind of anomaly,” Garth said, but he didn’t convince her.
“Then set a new course, and let’s go.” She raised her eyebrow, waiting for him to argue, to tell her they should turn around and go back the way they came, and she would have been relieved, despite wanting to see a new planet.
Hunted: BBW Alien Romance (Warriors of Karal Book 4) Page 8