Collision (Colliding Worlds Trilogy Book 1)

by Rachel Aukes

  “Come back to bed,” he mumbled dreamily.

  She twirled out of his arm and he grumbled. Ignoring him, she pulled on the old terry cloth robe she’d had for twenty years. It had been hanging on the hook by the bed, exactly where she’d left it on the night she joined the Sephians.

  Not ready to spend ten minutes putting her brace on, she reached for the walking stick that was propped in the corner. Using it for support, she limped over to the door and picked up the envelope and turned it over. It was sealed shut. An intricate design decorated the front. No writing.

  Legian pulled himself up to an elbow. “What is it?”

  “Don’t know. The envelope only has a symbol on it. Do you recognize it?” She held it up, and his face visibly paled.

  In a burst, he jumped out of bed, grabbed her wrist, and pulled the envelope from her hand. He became hard as a statue.

  “I take it you recognize the symbol?”

  Legian grimaced. She could feel his fear down to her toes.

  She pulled back and looked into his eyes. “What is it?”

  “It’s the imperial symbol of the Draeken.”

  She suddenly had a hard time swallowing. “How’d it get here? We have twenty-four-hour security and surveillance on the cabin. There’s no way in hell a Draeken got in here.”

  “Nevertheless, you are holding a letter with the Draeken imperial symbol on it.” He rushed to put on his clothes. “I will go over the video from the past several hours. If we have a traitor here, I will find him.”

  She nodded mutely before looking from the envelope to him and back again. “We’ve got to open it.”

  Legian nodded tightly.

  She gently tugged the envelope from his grip then tore off the end and held the open end down. A small piece of paper slid out onto her palm.

  “What’s it say?” he asked while she examined both sides of the paper.

  “It says Cave. Noon. Today.”

  Legian frowned. “Do you have any idea where this cave is?”

  She stared out the window. “Yes. There’s only one around here. It’s spooky, so I hung a God’s eye at the entrance. It’s not far from where your ship crashed. That’s the only cave it could be.”

  He gave her a look like she was a barbarian. “You hung the eyes of some creature at a cave?”

  “What? Oh, wait. It’s not what you think. I can’t believe you think… anyway, a God’s eye is made out of yarn and sticks. It’s a Native American thing. You make them to scare off bad spirits. Believe me, that cave needed it. It’s always given me the creeps.”

  Neither spoke for what seemed like eternity. Finally, she broke the silence. “I’m thinking we should go to see what’s up.”

  “It’s a trap.”

  “If they wanted to ambush us, why not do it at the cabin while we slept? If they could slide an envelope under my door without being noticed, they could just as easily assassinate us in our sleep. Besides, if it were a trap, why would they be so obvious about it? Invite us to a trap? That’s so cliché.”

  Legian started to pace. Like Apolo, he did that whenever he thought. She swore he’d worn a path into the floor in their room back at the base. He stopped before she expected him to. “We’ll set troops up around the area. I’ll go in at noon to draw them out.”

  She put her hands on her hips and glared. “No. This letter has to be meant for both of us. You recognized the Draeken seal, and I’m the only one who’d know about the cave.”

  “We can’t risk it.”

  She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She didn’t want to do it, but she had to. “Would you say the same to anyone else?”

  His lack of response was answer enough.

  “Fine,” she continued. “You’re my tahren. I want and respect your advice. But it’s my life and my decision. The letter is meant for us. I’m going.”

  “That is not practical,” Legian gritted out through clenched teeth.

  “It’s safe to say they know about last night’s meeting if they know we’re here. What if they’re ready to surrender or make some kind of peace offering?”

  “You don’t know the Draeken like I do.”

  “I know. That’s why I trust your guidance. But you’re not being objective. You want me to stay back for my protection, not for the good of our people.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “It’s true,” she snapped. “If this is something that can shorten this war, I want to be there. End of discussion. The video should show us who delivered it. We can ask more questions then. In the meantime, I trust you and Jax to make sure the perimeter is safe so we’re not walking into a trap.”

  He glared at her for a moment. “As you wish,” he muttered before handing the note back to her and stomping off to the bathroom.

  She stared at the closed bathroom door for a moment. She knew Legian only had her safety in mind, but she couldn’t be respected if she let him coddle her.

  She didn’t bother with getting dressed. She stepped out into the hall and hobbled through to the living room. Jax and Risa were already sitting on the couch, eating egg sandwiches. Nalea sat across from them, eying their food with suspicion.

  Risa took a bite out of her sandwich.

  Nalea cringed. “How can you eat the egg of an animal? That is so wrong.”

  “Easy,” Risa replied. “Like this.” And at that moment, both she and Jax took oversized bites out of their sandwiches.

  Now Nalea shuddered. “This planet has barbaric practices.”

  “Barbaric, but tasty,” Sienna replied.

  “Let me make you one.” Risa jumped up, licking butter from her fingers. “I’m really getting into this cooking thing.”

  “And she’s pretty good at it,” Jax added, leaning back contentedly on the couch.

  “Yeah, I’ll take one. Thanks.” Sienna collapsed into a seat. “Hey, have either of you seen anything odd around here this morning?”

  “No, why?” Nalea asked.

  Sienna handed over the letter and envelope to Nalea.

  Her face paled, as Legian’s had done minutes earlier. “Where did you get this?”

  “Someone slid it under my bedroom door. Legian is going to check out the videos.”

  Jax popped to his feet, walked over, and grabbed the letter.

  “It’s from the Draeken.”

  He frowned and grabbed his radio. “Ace, check in.”

  “Ace, here.”

  “Alert the teams. I need a full perimeter check. We have a breach. Possible Draeken,” Jax said into the radio.

  “Copy that,” Ace replied.

  Jax turned back to face Sienna. “Are you going?”

  She nodded. “Can you and Legian make sure we’re ready for whatever they try?”

  “Of course,” Jax replied. “I need you to show me the area on a map. I’ll have the area secure within the hour. We’ll have eyes on the ground. And, I’ll be with you at the meeting.”

  “I’m coming, too,” Nalea replied, matter-of-factly.

  Sienna smiled. “Thank you. I can’t ask any of you to come. Like Legian said, it could be a trap, but—”

  “We stand together,” Legian interrupted as he approached.

  Relief washed over Sienna when Nalea and Jax nodded their agreement, and she returned a smile. “Thanks, guys.”

  “What’d I miss?”

  Sienna glanced up to see Risa walking into the room, carrying a plate with a steaming egg sandwich on it. The med-tech gasped and dropped the plate. Glass shattered across the stone floor. She pointed to the envelope as she knelt and began to pick up the glass shards. “What’s that?”

  “It seems Sienna has received an invitation to a party,” Nalea replied.

  Jax knelt and helped Risa collect pieces on the floor.

  Nalea ran a hand through her hair. “But it doesn’t make sense. How did the letter get into this cabin in the first place? We have a full perimeter line set up.”

  “My guess?” Sienna r
eplied. “It came from the inside.”

  “You mean the traitor’s here? With us? I thought we were safe.” Risa started to shake. Jax rubbed her back while whispering soothing words in her ear.

  Sienna paid no attention to Risa, and instead focused on calming her own nerves. The one thing she didn’t need today was more stress. Jax could deal with his woman. “It’s a half-hour ride out to the cave on ATVs. We have a lot to do and only five hours to do it in. Let’s get busy.” She turned around and headed down the hall. She had plenty to do, starting with a long, hot shower to get some thinking done.

  Sienna strapped on a helmet and climbed onto her ATV. Legian climbed on behind her while Nalea rode with Jax on one of the new ATVs they’d brought when setting up security around the cabin. Even though it was a cloudy day, both Sephians wore dark sunglasses to protect their eyes.

  Nalea and Jax both wore earpieces and spoke with the Sephians and soldiers posted around the perimeter. The entire makeshift base was on full alert, and guards were positioned throughout the woods around the cave. The air buzzed with energy. Unfortunately, they were going in none the wiser than when she’d found the letter in the morning. The cameras had conspicuously cut out for an entire hour before sunrise, leaving them with a big fat zilch for leads. They weren’t even one step closer to knowing who—or what—had delivered that letter.

  With a swift movement of her foot, the ATV jumped into gear, and they began the ride deeper into the woods.

  They all wore black Sephian uniforms. Not for a fashion statement, but because they were durable and did a great job of keeping off sharp tree branches and tiny critters, both of which infested these woods. The thin fabric also worked better than anything with her leg brace. Any of her other pants jammed up in the bands.

  The weather was perfect, and it took under twenty minutes to get to the cave. Still concealed by brush, they had to get within ten feet of the entrance to see it. Legian jumped off the quad before she stopped, and began looking for signs of others in the area. Jax and Nalea were right behind him. Sienna moved more gingerly, taking in anything that may have changed since the last time she was here. She glanced toward the cave. The large blue and red God’s eye still hung from the tree branch that had grown across the top of the cave entrance, as if it were holding the darkness within.

  She didn’t have to wait long. The God’s eye moved when the bony tip of a dragon-like wing bumped it. Tattooed wings spread out as a Draeken she recognized stepped into view. She stood firm. Her friends swiftly came to her, setting up a living, breathing wall of protection.

  “Hello, Roden.” Sienna was as polite as possible, while a phantom pain in her leg was busy reminding her of why she disliked that particular Draeken so much.

  “Sienna Wolfe.” He continued walking toward her, a Draeken woman and a Draeken man flanking his sides. He hadn’t changed a bit. His silver hair was still long, and he looked like he could knock out Wolverine in a single punch. His wing even looked like it had healed completely. Not even the tattoos were marred. She wished she’d been so lucky. He wore a dark kilt, boots, and a tight shirt—all with pockets and weapons strapped to them.

  Sienna scanned his bodyguards. Both were dressed similarly to Roden. Easily six feet tall, the woman reminded her of a Valkyrie with her long silver hair—the wings suiting her perfectly. The man on Roden’s other side looked feral, his cold eyes vacant of all emotion, of all humanity. He’s already dead. Except his body’s still going.

  Roden glanced over everyone with Sienna until his eyes stopped on the woman standing to her left. “Ah. Nalea. I was hoping you’d make an appearance. Did you come here to continue what we started?” He drawled out her name with sugary seduction. It gave Sienna a sick feeling. The bastard knew exactly how to push buttons. He was dangerous.

  Nalea’s nostrils flared, and she pulled out a blaster.

  Sienna placed her hand on her friend’s forearm, and Nalea slowly lowered her blaster a couple inches. “Ignore him,” Sienna muttered under her breath.

  “Easier said than done,” the Draeken crooned in a deep, masculine voice.

  She pointed a finger at Roden. “You. Behave. Or I’ll let her shoot you. Now, are you going to tell us why we’re here, or did you schedule this little meeting simply to make jabs?”

  A corner of his mouth curled upward. “No wonder you aligned with the Sephians. You have the same violent streak. Have you noticed? You’ll never see Draeken drawing first blood in any conflict. Regardless of the inherent violence in you and your chosen race, I have a proposition for you, dear Sienna.”

  Legian sidestepped and became a wall in front of her. He spoke with his fists clenched. “That is my tahren you speak to, Draeken. Take care with your words.”

  Roden snarled back. “Your tahren is the reason I’m here, Sephian scum.”

  She put a hand on Legian’s shoulder and stepped forward. “You have quite the way with folks, Roden.”

  He took a casual step closer to her, as if she didn’t have three armed bodyguards at her side. “It’s simple. Death starts wars. Life ends wars. I have a proposal to end the genocide of my people.”

  She raised an eyebrow.

  “Surely your tahren told you how my people have been driven to near extinction? Those few of us who remain survived only by fleeing our home.”

  Nalea nearly spat the words. “Sephia was never your home.”

  “I disagree, woman.”

  “The name’s Nalea,” Sienna said. “And you digress.”

  “No, Sienna. It’s important that you understand our history if we are to attain peace,” he replied. The woman next to him lifted her chin slightly, never once taking her eyes off Sienna.

  Jax and Legian remained alongside her, but she suspected Legian was doing the best he could to not rip the heads off the Draeken right then and there. She considered letting him do it. Maybe it would end the war. Then again, it could cause an all-out war on Earth.

  “I’m sure you have heard of the Great Rebellion—what the Sephians call the Noble War?” Roden asked.

  “I have. It was where the Sephians reclaimed their world from their enslavers.”

  He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Hmm. But have you been told of how we came to Sephia in the first place?”

  “No one knows the truth, Draeken,” Legian spat out through clenched teeth.

  Roden scowled. “No one knows, because the Sephians destroyed the records shortly after the Great War. But answer this, Sephian. Why would they destroy their own historical records unless those files showed something they didn’t want their successors to remember?”

  The Draeken then turned from Legian to Sienna. “You see, the star that illuminated our home world had grown old. Our people were given a choice. Flee our dying planet and possibly die in the frozen expansion of space, or stay and die at home in a guaranteed fiery death. Millions fled in large ships. Some went off on their own, but most ships stayed together and traveled through the light years.”

  “Get on with it. I grow tired of your stories,” Legian muttered.

  “I would if I didn’t keep getting interrupted,” the Draeken replied dryly. “Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Eventually, our ships ran low on provisions. After all, they were massively over capacity and couldn’t support the numbers on them long-term. Fortunately, our systems showed our people to a planet with no suns. It was a bleak world, far different from our bright, warm world, but it sustained life. That was what mattered. The Draeken leaders offered alms in the form of technology and knowledge to the Sephians in return for approval to form a settlement on-world. The Sephians callously rejected our offer. Then our people begged. Again, they were rejected. My people were running out of food and had months to live. Again, they were forced to make a hard choice. They chose to fight for survival.”

  Nalea moved but didn’t leave Sienna’s side. “That is just a legend. We have our own, and it doesn’t paint the Draeken nearly as pretty.”

  He shrugged. “So you say. B
ut, what matters is that we won the Great War, and therefore won the right to live on Sephia.”

  “And we won the Noble War,” Legian replied, “and reclaimed our home. And we vowed you would never turn another people into your slaves again.”

  Roden shrugged. “Your world had slavery before we ever got there. We just continued that Sephian tradition. And who says that’s what we’re doing on this world?” he snapped.

  “You’re Draeken. That’s what you do.” Nalea’s words sizzled with scorn. The tension was so palpable, Sienna felt herself breathing more rapidly.

  “We’re Draeken. We survive. That is what we do, Nalea.” He murmured her name softly, and Sienna watched her friend prickle in response.

  “Thanks for the history lesson, Roden,” Sienna said. “So, why did you really come here today?”

  Roden cracked his knuckles, and she noticed Jax put his hand on his holster at the movement. The Draeken noticed it, too, because the woman next to Roden matched Jax’s stance.

  “I offer a quid pro quo, Sienna. You know the position I carry, and the power I wield. With a snap of my fingers, I could have you killed. Or, I could use that power to end the war.”

  “Likewise,” Sienna snarled.

  “The war is over,” Legian said. “You lost. Now we’re just doing cleanup.”

  Roden glared at Legian. “The war will never be over. Not until the two races align.”

  “And how do you plan to accomplish that?” Sienna asked.

  “As I declared before, life ends wars.”

  Sienna’s eyebrows lifted. “You’re going to have to elaborate. Spell it out for me.”

  “Simple. We unite the people by uniting the leaders. You will become my mate—”

  Sienna couldn’t hear anything else because Legian lurched forward and grabbed Roden by the neck. Roden punched him, knocking him back. The other two Draeken stepped forward, keeping their hands on their holsters. Jax jumped in and pulled Legian back.

  Roden sported a bloody nose, and Legian looked like he was going to have a heck of a shiner.