by Cheree Alsop
“Why did he let Lefkin go?” she asked quietly.
A glance showed a thoughtful expression on Brandis’ face.
“I thought you might be wondering that,” he said.
“Lefkin was an enemy. He made everyone’s life aboard the Kratos harder, and now they’re all in danger because he put a price on their heads. Why let him live?”
Brandis was silent for a moment. When he answered, he watched her as though willing her to understand.
“Sometimes death isn’t the answer.”
“It would have been easier,” Liora pointed out.
Brandis nodded. “Yes, it would’ve; yet Devren would have carried the colonel’s death on his shoulders.” His eyebrows pulled together. “I know you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Liora nodded, but didn’t reply.
Brandis checked his gun. “There are two ways to live, Liora. You can survive, or you can really live. Survival means facing each day with the hope of making it to the morrow. It’s a way to live, fighting for food, for water, for air, for warmth, but it’s empty because surviving is a base instinct; even the lowest of lifeforms fight to survive.”
He checked his cartridge and shoved it back into the gun. “Or you can live. To live is a choice. You want, you need, you desire more than you have at this moment, and you strive for those things. You don’t settle; you fight for things to be better. You choose to reach for the next star, for the next emotion. You long for love, for acceptance, to belong. To truly live means to accept failure and to get up again.”
He looked at her. “Yet to live is harder because there are consequences. What you do today impacts tomorrow. You have to decide what is worth carrying in your life, what direction you are heading, and what will guide your footsteps. Your friend has already made that decision.”
Liora let her brother’s words settle over her. To that point, survival had been the driving force behind each of her actions. Yet Obruo was gone and the threat he brought with him no longer hounded each step she took. Life as a Damaclan was pure survival. To live through each day had been enough. But she wanted more.
As she watched the others load the two crates onto the Crow, her gaze lingered on Tariq. He glanced up as though he felt her watching him, and a smile deepened the creases around his eyes. A longing ran through Liora. She wanted to live, to love, to make choices that would impact her tomorrows in a way that wouldn’t leave her burdened with guilt and regret.
Leaving the officers alive had been a step. Shathryn’s request had seemed simple enough at first, yet the impact of knowing that the officers she fought would live to see another day struck Liora. They could live as she did. They could return to their loved ones.
The sound of footsteps rushing down the last hallway met her ears and she realized they could also live to fight back.
“Come on, Liora!” Devren called from the Crow.
Armed officers appeared with guns raised. Liora took off for the ship. Tariq pulled her inside just as Captain Hart steered the Crow away from the dock. Brandis slammed his hand on the panel and the door slid shut. Bullets peppered it from the outside. The Crow turned and Captain Hart hit the thrusters.
Chapter 14
“Well, that was exciting,” Tramareaus said when they were far from the Milky Way Galaxy.
Shathryn studied him from her seat near the wall. Liora couldn’t decide if she was happy to see him or annoyed.
“What was that you said to Liora?” Tariq asked. “I didn’t understand the language.”
“It was Anadrian,” he replied. “It’s an older language most don’t know.” He looked at Liora and his dark eyes twinkled. “Someone you know told me you’d understand it.”
“Who?” Liora asked.
“I’ll give you one guess,” he replied.
There were very few people she had conversed with while in Malivian’s circus, and none of them spoke the older languages. Before that, when she had been captured by the slavers, there had been one woman who showed her kindness and taught her the languages in the hopes that it would give her the means of employment beyond her looks and the beds that would bring her to. The woman, Shegare, had been Artidus. Liora remembered how quickly she could write the words with two hands in the dirt and erase them with the third before they were found out.
The woman had been taken away before Liora. She remembered the loss she had felt when Shegare had been ripped from her life the day the older Artidus woman was purchased by a trader ship in need of a translator.
Liora had refused to open herself up to anyone else for fear of feeling the pain again, and when she was purchased by Malivian for his circus, the seclusion continued. Yet to think of Shegare brought warmth to her heart. The woman had cared about her, truly, and been like a second mother to her. To hope that she was still alive and impacting Liora’s life was almost too good to be true.
“Shegare?” Liora made herself ask.
Tramareaus grinned, his dark eyes sparkling. “Yes. Shegare is my sister. After years of searching, I was able to locate her and bring her home where she has lived quite safely and comfortably this past decade. When I told her of a beautiful Damaclan with deadly skills and a sharp tongue, she guessed it was you.”
“I can’t believe it,” Liora said. She fought back a rush of tears at the thought that Shegare was safe and happy. “That’s wonderful.”
Tramareaus smiled. “It’s a small Macrocosm, sometimes. We just have to have a little faith that though some things are out of our hands, they will come full circle.”
Liora nodded, unable to speak.
Tariq saved her from having to talk. “So you told Liora there were guns in the case.”
“But she wouldn’t give me one,” Tramareaus said.
The hurt in his tone brought Liora’s head up. She gave him a half-smile. “I figured that if we kidnapped you as an unwilling victim, you would be able to return home if you chose.”
Tramareaus snorted. “Home? Titus is a cold rock filled with colder people. When I’m done here, I plan to return to my home planet of Bratres and live in peace with my family as far from the Coalition as I can get.”
“You were a prisoner there?” Brandis guessed.
Tramareaus leaned back against the wall. “Such is the luck of one gifted as I,” he said, tapping his forehead with his third arm. “I’ve learned that with the Coalition, they value knowledge above freedom, especially when it involves someone outside of their little band of brothers and sisters.”
“I’m glad we were able to bring you with us, and Bratres is just slightly off our path. We’d be happy to drop you off, right Captain?” Hyrin asked.
Devren nodded. “Anything to show our gratitude for the risk you took. Now, hopefully we’ll have a chance to save the Damaclans.”
“Yes,” Tramareaus replied. He winked at Liora. “Let’s see what we can do about that violent race of yours.” He leaned toward the crate. “We are dealing with some very volatile energies here. One wrong move and everyone aboard this Crow is dead, so please, take some care.”
He motioned for Devren to take the lid off the crate that held the Omne Occasus. “If you please.”
Devren revealed the metal container that had encased the orbs. Hyrin opened the container.
“Just the way I remembered it in my nightmares,” Tramareaus said. He opened his crate and lifted away the false top that carried identical containers of liquid nitrogen. “Causing a shortage of liquid nitrogen was a fun challenge,” he said.
He handed to containers to Tariq, who then handed them to Hyrin. The Talastan didn’t look especially thrilled to be the grunt, but he took the liquid nitrogen anyway.
“How did you manage it?” Shathryn asked him.
Tramareaus practically beamed at her attention. “Well, beautiful Shathryn, it wasn’t hard to tap the containers where they stored it, but I had to ensure that the oxygen meters sent off a signal so that nobody went into the storage areas and suffocated.” He sighe
d. “I’m not exactly cut out to be a tough Revolutionary type.”
Hyrin was on his return from relocating the containers and he chuckled. “You’ve always been too much of a softie for all of this.”
“I love, not fight,” Tramareaus said. He winked at Shathryn and she surprised everyone by smiling back.
Tramareaus cleared away the padding inside the crate and stepped back. “Behold, our hope against impending doom.”
Everyone leaned forward to look at the two objects inside. Both were in individual domes. Black energy pulsed inside one while dark green light swirled in the other.
“Do you think they’ll notice that the other orb was blue instead of black?” O’Tule asked.
“I’m hoping not,” Tramareaus replied. “If everything goes the way I’m thinking, it’ll be too fast for them to react.”
He lifted out one of the orbs. Everyone pressed back.
“What are you doing?” Shathryn asked. “Are you crazy? I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t feel like melting or imploding today.”
Tramareaus set the orb carefully in the Omne Occasus container.
“Don’t worry,” he replied. “Unlike the Feren and Bilar orbs you brought to me, these energies won’t hold the circular shape, so to keep up impressions, I encased them in glass with the inside already spherical in shape. Separated, they are innocuous.” He lifted the second orb and set it carefully in the case. The crew kept far back despite his reassurances. “But combined, they will create an energy vortex that will suck in anything within reach.” He met each of their eyes in turn. “This will kill anyone close enough to it, so you must break the glass orbs while out of range.”
“How far will we have?” Tariq asked.
“I’m guessing fifteen to twenty feet,” Tramareaus replied. “I’d give it more to be safe. You’ll only have a short time period before the energy collapses in on itself; after five minutes, it’ll dissipate, and your opportunity will be gone.”
“But it will kill them?” Devren pressed.
Tramareaus nodded. “It’ll kill anything within reach, no matter what form they are in. Everything living thing uses energy, and this is like an energy magnet. Once inside its hold, there is no escape.”
“Good to know,” Tariq said. “We’ll be careful.”
“I assume as much,” Tramareaus replied.
He held out a hand to Shathryn. “And now, my dear Shathryn, can we talk about the sadness I see in your eyes?”
Shathryn looked as though she would refuse for a moment, but tears glimmered in her gaze and she nodded. Tramareaus slipped her arm through one of his and led her away up the hall.
The rest of the crew exchanged glances.
“I didn’t think she’d go with him,” Devren said.
“I thought she despised him,” Tariq echoed.
“Sometimes a girl needs to be reminded after a loss that she is still alive,” Hyrin said.
Everyone stared at the Talastan.
He shrugged his shoulders. “What? I have fifteen sisters. I understand these things.”
They touched down at Bratres a few short hours later. The crew walked Tramareaus down the loading dock to say goodbye. Tramareaus took Liora’s hand.
“Thank you, graceful Liora, for giving me something beyond the Coalition to believe in. Trust me when I say that your kindness despite your past has shown me that each of us chooses how we impact the Macrocosm instead of being pawns in someone else’s game. I will forever be at your beck and call,” he promised.
“Thank you,” she told him. “And thank you for giving my race hope.”
He nodded. “Anything for the gorgeous Damaclan queen.”
Tramareaus turned to Shathryn. “Shathryn, my princess, my true love, I have a question for you.”
He looked at the group watching them. The Kratos crew and Brandis fell back to give them some space, but everyone’s attention stayed on the pair.
Shathryn watched Tramareaus with a torn expression as though she knew what he was going to say, and didn’t know how she felt about it. Her purple hair had been styled for the first time since Stone had been killed, and Liora noticed that her makeup was fresh. There was a small smile on the woman’s face as she watched the Artidus.
“Shathryn, you have been unhappy, and your unhappiness makes me unhappy. I have so much love for you, my dear. I could make your life wonderful. I made a grave mistake when I hurt you in the past. I should never have let you go and I’ve regretted it every moment of these long, long months. Being apart from you and having you mad at me after all the memories and love we shared together has killed me. You are so beautiful, smart, and witty.” He took a breath and said, “I would be honored if you would stay here with me and be my wife.”
O’Tule gasped from beside Liora and her fingers linked with Zran’s. The Zamarian pulled her close with a smile.
Devren stood near them. The Kratos Captain didn’t say a word, though if Shathryn accepted the proposal, she would leave the Kratos without an exterior analytical specialist. Instead, there was a softness around his eyes and his smile that said he wouldn’t interfere, no matter what she chose to do.
Tariq exchanged a glance with Liora. A corner of his mouth twitched and he held out his hand. She slipped her fingers into his. The rush of warmth that ran up her arm made her smile. He pulled her close and they turned their attention to the pair.
“Stay with you on Bratres?” Shathryn repeated in amazement. She glanced at Devren, then back at Tramareaus. “I would have to leave the Kratos.”
Tramareaus waited silently, not pressuring her.
Shathryn looked around at the small dirt landing pad surrounded by purple-leafed trees. The orange sky glowed and a breeze ruffled the dark blue grass at their feet.
“It’s beautiful here,” she said. “I-I used to dream about settling down somewhere like this.” She gave Devren an apologetic look. “I want to be a wife and mother in my own home.”
The captain nodded with a warm smile.
Shathryn turned back to Tramareaus. “Are you sure you could put up with me? I tend to be a bit opinionated.”
Tramareaus put his hands on her arms and smiled down at her. “That’s one of the many things I love about you,” he said. He gently brushed the fingers of his third hand along her cheek.
Shathryn looked as though she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. “I would love to marry you,” she said; the tears spilled free. “I would absolutely love to marry you.”
A laugh escaped Tramareaus and he picked her up and spun her around. “I’m so happy!” he said.
When there was a break in the hugging and kissing, the crew congratulated them.
“I’m sorry to leave you before the mission is through,” Shathryn said to Devren.
He shook his head. “You have a new mission now. Besides, I’m not so sure we’ll be heading back to the Coalition after this.” He looked at Tariq. “It seems it may be time to reevaluate what we’re doing out here.”
Tariq gave an accepting nod.
“I’m going to miss you the most,” Shathryn told O’Tule. She gave her friend a hug, then turned an imperious stare on Zran. “You take good care of my girl.”
“I’ll do my best,” Zran replied; he appeared unruffled by her command. “She’s amazing.”
“Yes, she is,” Shathryn said. She turned to Liora. “I hope you find what you’re looking for, my dear. The Macrocosm is a big place, but you don’t have to go alone anymore. You have a family now.”
She gave Liora a hug; Liora surprised herself by hugging the woman back. She was going to miss the purple-haired humanoid’s sassy ways and no-nonsense attitude. The ship would be emptier without her.
Shathryn gave Hyrin a hug, then turned to Tariq. She looked the human up and down and shook her head.
“You’re the one I’ve always worried about,” she said, “But I don’t worry anymore.” She winked at him. “You found something bigger than your fear or pain.” S
he smiled at Liora. “Love truly can change your course in life; I know.” She put a hand on Tariq’s arm. “Just don’t let it go, Tariq. Whatever you do, don’t let it go.”
Her words appeared to catch him off guard. He looked from Shathryn to Liora. “You don’t have to worry about that,” he said.
In front of the crew, her brother, and Tramareaus, Tariq swept Liora into his arms and kissed her soundly on the lips.
“I love you, Liora Day,” he said when they parted.
“I love you, Tariq Donovan,” she said, staring up at him and fighting to catch her breath.
The crew cheered; their claps and shouts echoed across the land.
“You better send me a wedding invitation,” O’Tule told Shathryn.
“There won’t be a wedding without my best friend at my side,” Shathryn replied. She looked at the crew. “I expect to see all of you back here when we get the arrangements finished.”
At Devren’s nod, Tramareaus surprised him by giving him a hug. “A captain for a brother. I couldn’t have asked for more.”
When he let Devren go, the captain stared at the Artidus. “I’m not Shathryn’s brother.”
“Yes, you are,” Tramareaus replied. “And now you’re my brother as well.”
The crew waved at Tramareaus and Shathryn from the windows of the Crow. It felt strange that Shathryn wasn’t among them, yet, looking down at them standing arm in arm and waving up at the starship also felt right. The smile on Liora’s lips didn’t fade until her thoughts turned to the mission ahead. If she could resolve the threat against the Damaclans, perhaps she, too, could embrace the happiness Shathryn felt.
Chapter 15
Liora didn’t expect the emotions that assailed her when she set foot on Ralian. The stark brown dirt puffed up beneath her shoes and the sun beat down from above, unforgiving and glaring in the harsh singe weather. She shielded her eyes and looked up at the jagged plateau above them. The waterfall that ran in the wet season would be dry, yet she ached for the sound of it splashing on the rocks below, the same rocks Vogun had jumped into on a dare and broken his tooth. Her thoughts flashed to the memory of Vogun beneath her knife, his eyes wide as she took his life and claimed her place in the clan.