Hunting Cari (First Wave)

by Mikayla Lane

  Holding the delicate anklet in her hand, she looked at the two separated ends and tried to put them back together wondering how, and if she could fix it later. As the two broken ends got close to one another, another small spark went off and the anklet was no longer broken. She stared at it in amazement and broke it again. Another small spark and it was clearly broken. She held the broken ends together again, small spark, no longer broken. She giggled in amazement.

  “I’ve never seen anything like that! Can you see if I can touch it after it’s off of you without it shocking me again?” Amun asked in wonder.

  “NO! Hand it to me first!” Scaden demanded, not wanting Amun to be hurt, and not wanting him to touch her again unless it was necessary. Holding out his hand for the small piece of jewelry, he waited for Cari to hand it to him.

  Cari smiled broadly and dropped the anklet into Scaden’s waiting hand. Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath waiting to see if he’d be shocked like Amun was. When nothing happened after several long moments, Amun held his hand open for it.

  Scaden reluctantly put it in Amun’s hand. And… nothing happened.

  “Amazing. You can almost feel a pulse to it. Like it’s alive in some way.” Amun said with wonder. “Do you think it’d be ok if I did a scan on it?”

  “I don’t see why not. But hand it back first, please?” Cari asked wanting to try and experiment.

  Amun reluctantly handed it back to her. For some reason, not wanting to let go of the delicate little item and keep feeling the small pulse in it.

  Cari wrapped the anklet back around her ankle, held the ends together and watched it become whole again. Grinning, she turned to the men in the room.

  “Now try to take it off and let’s see what happens.” Cari dared them with a smirk, already knowing what the outcome of this experiment would be.

  The dark-haired man, she had to figure out if he was Niklosi or Balduen, stepped forward, but was immediately cut off by Scaden.

  “You will not touch her!” Scaden growled at him, and the man quickly stepped back from her, a look of surprise and shock on his face.

  Scaden walked to her and gently tried to snap the thin metal band around her ankle. Spark! He was on the floor, and Cari was laughing so hard tears were forming in her eyes.

  “What is so funny?” Scaden demanded as he picked himself up off the floor.

  “Don’t you get it? Don’t any of you get it? Don’t you see how smart she is? Why it’s so important that we find her?” Cari fairly bounced with excitement as she looked at the confused faces of each of the men in the room. She sighed, knowing she’d have to spell it out for them. Superior gender indeed, she thought to herself.

  “She made them for me. Only me. No one else but I can take them off. She said the gems, and metal knew I needed them and came to me, specifically. That they knew I would need them. It stands to reason that if they were called to me, they wouldn’t allow anyone else to disrupt them, or remove them from me without some form of a repercussion. It’s only when I allow them to be given to someone else that they seem to allow it. Can you not see how amazing that is? What a truly amazing gift she has? Why we need to find her?” Cari could see the dawning comprehension on their faces, and became more excited.

  “Cari, let me try ok?” Randor asked, almost reluctantly, but needing confirmation of what she said. At Cari’s nod, Randor tried to break the anklet. Spark! Amun gently picked him up off the floor.

  “I probably should have stopped you, but I suspect I needed the confirmation that what she said was true. If that’s what it does to someone with good intentions trying to take it off, I’d hate to see what it would do to someone with not so good intentions trying. Too bad the Relians didn’t try. I would have liked to have known the results of that.” Amun said apologetically to Randor, hoping that he didn’t hurt himself further with the experiment.

  Cari grinned broadly that her experiment worked. Scaden and the others seemed to stare at her and the anklets in turn.

  She again snapped off one off the anklets and held it out in her hand to the doctor. He eagerly took it. The slight pulse in the object soothing him in a strange way he didn’t understand. He had to know if that was what Cari felt as well and asked her. “Do you feel it pulsate when it’s on you?”

  Cari thought about that, and concentrated on the other anklet. “No, I don’t feel anything. It’s not cold, nor is it hot. It’s just slightly warm. It doesn’t shock me either.”

  “Cari, if Jess had helped so many of you escape, why she didn’t escape herself? Why was she still with them?” Randor asked curiously, thinking about one of theirs out there with this incredible gift and wondering why he’d never heard of one with this extensive talent.

  “She tried to escape, many times. They finally got tired of her trying so they broke her legs… and kept breaking her legs while they tried to heal, until they finally healed so deformed that she can barely walk. I’ve never seen anything so horrible and cruel. She knew she could never escape them, so she said she felt her only duty was to make sure she saved as many of us that she could before they finally killed her.” Cari’s voice broke and she tried to control her emotions, as she thought of the selfless and sweet girl who’d tried to help her.

  Amun almost visibly recoiled from the horror of what Cari had just described. He could not begin to imagine such a talented and caring person being subjected to such violence and cruelty. He knew the second he first held the tiny little piece of jewelry and felt its pulse of life that he would help Cari find her friend. However, he now felt an urgency not only to find her, but protect her and help her heal if he could.

  “Why couldn’t she just make a few of those to heal herself?” The dark-haired man asked Cari, pointing to the anklet still on her other ankle.

  “She said her own gift would not work for her. She could make things for the other captives taken, even her mother. But she said she was never able to call anything from the earth for herself. She didn’t know why it wouldn’t work for her.”

  “We know so little about the gifts they have. I’ve never heard of one that did something like this, but we haven’t been able to do much communicating and comparing notes with each other so that we could learn more about them either. Any time we tried to group together they found us more easily and waited for the right time to kill us and take our mates and children. But regardless of her gift, we have to try to find her and the others.” Randor stated emphatically.

  “Indeed, I also believe we must find this female. Her ability is extraordinary. The potential benefits of her and those like her to our people are unfathomable. What if her ability can do what we cannot, and cure the plague that has caused our women to be barren? Or if another female’s gift can do such a thing? Besides the benefit to us, we have to think about them. They are our people. And if this female has saved so many, including Cari, then she may know where or how to find them. Maybe through the gifts she made for them, I don’t know. However, there is a chance, and we can’t just abandon them.” Amun added, wanting very much to find the girl capable of creating such an amazing thing, feeling the slight pulse of the object warm him in a way he had never known before.

  “I also think we should find her, Sir. If there are more like her out there, we owe it to our kind to find them and protect them.” The blonde-haired man added.

  “Sir, with all due respect, although they may have their own gifts, no matter how small or amazing they seem; they alone are the true gift to our people. They are females! Those we unwittingly abandoned have found a way to produce the one thing we no longer can produce. It’s not just how unique they are; it's WHO they are. We have to consider how many there are, the ramifications of their existence, and if we are even compatible. They might be able to save our species.” The dark-haired one added his thoughts.

  Scaden watched every emotion cross her face while the others spoke. He watched the way she moved, how deeply she breathed. He couldn’t stop watching the beautif
ul woman in front of him. It took all of his control not to snatch her up and storm to his quarters with her; to be alone with her for just a few moments; to listen to her voice and smell that intoxicating scent she had.

  By watching her, he knew how important it was to her to find this Jess. He knew by the other's defense of her proposal that they agreed they had to find this female. However, all he really wanted was to see that smile on her face again. To see her eyes light up, and feel her excitement steal through his body as she talked, like she did when she talked of this Jess.

  “Scaden," Amun began but Scaden cut him off.

  “I have no choice but to check in with the council at this point. We have an heir to a counselor and a clan daughter to report. Not including an explanation of more clan daughters, other heirs and children, not yet reported. I have already exceeded my authority, in order to deviate from our scheduled path and come here. And to come to the planet and bring both of you back. I can’t ignore my responsibilities forever while we find them all.” Scaden replied.

  Everyone in the room seemed to protest at once. “Enough!” Scaden shouted, holding his hand up. “We are heading back to the prime ship. They will heal, as they should. Randor will make a full report to me, the council and his father. And we will introduce Cari to her clan mother. We will lay out a plan, to find them and bring them home. Every one of them we can find, we will. I don’t care if we have to stay here for centuries, we will find them. And we will find the Jess that saved Cari’s life; I give my word as a warrior and commander on that.”

  “Balduen, Niklosi I want you to go back to Randor’s housing unit and stay there with a team. I want to know the second the trajectory scan finds out where the fleeing Relians have gone. I am leaving you here on this planet, but not abandoning you as ours were abandoned in the past. I will be back for you. You will track as best you can. Randor, you need to communicate any information to them; you think necessary for their continued presence on the planet without alerting anyone that they are not from here. You will be given a comm, and will ensure you have constant communication with them while they hunt for Jess. Am I clear?” Scaden asked everyone in the room.

  “You don’t understand! I promised her!” Cari began to argue but stopped at Randor’s hand on her arm.

  “He’s right. We can’t follow them until they stop long enough to set up camp. We have no way to find her until they do. Until then… we have to meet with the council. And honey, your father’s greatest wish was for his mother to see you. It does no harm, to allow him this. You have to understand; you are Valendran; we have to follow the correct protocol and Commander Torenson broke those protocols in order to find not only me, but you. We will find Jess, and the others. I promise. The council will not let allow our people to stay on this planet in danger.” Randor stated trying to placate Cari.

  “Scaden is right; we must do it this way in order to get enough reinforcements from the home world to find them all. Our ship cannot do it alone.” Amun said reaching to clasp Cari’s hand gently within his own.

  Scaden was so angry; it took all of his self-control to stop himself from beating the hell out of his friend. He was touching her! His woman! He should know better! She had been through so much; he didn’t want her to see this dark side of him and tried desperately to hold onto his anger. She belonged with him. He was meant to protect her, he was meant to take these risks for her. She was his.

  “Cari, he’s right. We need their approval to get more ships and more people here to find them all. We have to convince the council to send more ships, more personnel. We have to find them all. Not just you baby, but all of them. Not just you and Jess.” Randor said to Cari pulling her to him, so he could hold her close.

  Chapter Seven

  Everything seemed to happen so quickly after she, and Uncle Randor were rescued and Cari had a hard time processing it all. She looked out the window in her quarters on the ship Adaria and stared in awe at the millions of stars around her; the planet Mars beneath the ship. She was given an amazing room on the ship. The largest most comfortable bed she’d ever seen graced the center of the room, covered in blankets so soft and silky they rivaled anything she’d ever felt on Earth.

  There was a large bathroom, the size of her room in the last cabin where she and Uncle Randor had stayed, with a Grecian-like tub that she could soak in and a shower big enough for four people. The colors used to decorate the walls and rooms were all of a nice 'earthy' tone, which she found very comforting. Browns and cream colors in all shades, some familiar and some not. However, all were comforting shades that she found familiar enough to Earth not to freak her out… too much.

  There was a desk, with a comm, their idea of a computer/phone system she’d guessed. And a large closet like room where she could keep all the new clothes they’d made her on the ship, through a Nano technology system they had. The only thing that bothered her was that they were all made in the traditional way of the Valendran people.

  Which means they were all Grecian like dresses; most had long slits up the sides, all bared more cleavage than she’d ever bared in her whole life. She missed her comfortable old cut off shorts and tank top she’d been rescued in, but they were so damaged and blood stained; they couldn’t be saved.

  It was almost surreal to her, that the stories her uncle had told her were true. That she really wasn’t technically fully human. And that she was the grandchild of a leader on their planet. It all seemed so overwhelming sometimes. Knowing she had a real grandmother out there did not stop her from thinking of Uncle Randor as anything other than her family. And she never would. He would always be her family. She would never love him as anything less.

  They had been on the ship for three days. And she was becoming a bit more comfortable around the crew, especially now that she had begun to learn their names. She had found out that the tall blonde in the MedLab that first day on the transport was Balduen, and the dark-haired one with them was Niklosi. Amun, of course was the commander of MedLab. Scaden the Commander of the ship, and she met Gracus the first time she set foot on the Adaria.

  She smiled at the thought of Gracus. He was so funny and was always trying to make her laugh when she saw him.

  Unlike Scaden. He was… she couldn’t even think of how to describe him. He was such a contradiction it was almost impossible to figure him out from one moment to the next. He was the most beautiful man she’d ever see though. And never far from her side anytime she had left her quarters on the ship. She really had to figure out how he always knew where she was and who she was with. It was starting to drive her crazy.

  He was also the biggest asshole she’d ever met. He was constantly threatening someone on the ship or acting violent towards them. The only people that seemed to be safe from his wrath were her and Uncle Randor. She couldn’t imagine why anyone would think that he was stable enough to command a ship.

  Just a few hours ago, she went down to the dining center to grab some breakfast with Uncle Randor; they'd not been there for more than two minutes when Scaden showed up and sat down to eat with them. Then moments later he screamed at the entire room to eat and get to their duty stations. She wouldn’t mind so much being in his company if there wasn’t something about him that made her want to kiss those lips, or smack him for being such a jerk to his crew.

  She’d never felt more attracted or repelled to anyone in her life. Not that she’d ever really been exposed to anyone other than Uncle Randor for this long of a period of time before either.

  Maybe that was it, she mused. Maybe she was only attracted to him because not only had he saved her, but his quarters were right next to her own, and they were constantly bumping into each other on the ship. Maybe she should try spending more time with some of the other members of the crew and see if they would eventually bring out the same attraction that he does, or at least break the attraction she had towards him.

  Making up her mind, she decided to do just that the next time she ventured from her quarters.
Something had to be done, or she would end up doing something stupid like trying to cuddle in his lap at the dining center or smacking the hell out of him. She cringed at the thought of how embarrassing either of those would be!

  He was driving her crazy though. He smelled so wonderful and he was so beautiful. Never had looking at a man made her feel the dampness between her legs the way it did whenever he came near her. Her body would begin to feel on fire with the kind of want and need she’d only read about in those romance novels she’d bought on her Kindle, her Uncle gave her for her birthday one year.

  And if she didn’t know better, she’d swear he knew it too, and that really embarrassed her. Her first crush at her age was ridiculous, even if their people did age very differently than Earth people. Ugh…. She grunted. They are even getting me to start calling them Earth people! Her mother was an Earth woman! Just because her father was Valendran didn’t mean that she wasn’t an Earth woman too! She was a child of both worlds. As would be any other's, they would find, including Jess.

  This was another problem they would be facing soon. What if we don’t want to leave Earth and go to Valendra? What if we want to stay here? She wondered if she wanted to go hundreds of thousands of light-years away to a place she’d never been to before, forever. She knew Earth, knew the customs and the people and how to interact with them. Going to Valendra wouldn’t be like going to Europe for a few years and traveling around to avoid the Relians. It would be months away, not hours. And what if they wouldn’t let her come back? She’d heard the females are kept almost prisoner-like on Valendra, to keep them safe. They aren’t allowed 'off-planet', to explore or just go somewhere.

  The longer she thought about it; the more Cari realized that she couldn’t live like that. Earth was her home, and she wanted to stay here and help find the others, like her. She didn’t want to go to Valendra and never be able to see Earth again. And she knew she was going to have a really hard time convincing anyone, including her uncle Randor and her grandmother, uh Clan Mother, as they call them, that she wasn’t going to leave. However, in a few moments, she would have too. Scaden informed her at breakfast that the council wanted to speak with her and Uncle Randor now that he was healed. And that her Clan Mother wanted to meet her clan daughter.