by Nora Blaze
My hands land on my stomach, folding there. With my breath caught in my throat I open myself to the new presence, faint as the first light of dawn but unmistakably there.
I carry our child.
The new life is only just now strong enough to reach for me, but as my heart pounds, I welcome this new energy into the world. Joy erupts inside of me, powerful and pure.
“Beginning first approach,” a KrysOlakn voice announces over a speaker system. “Take positions.”
The craft slows and I see countless small ships take formation around us. I grab UrTak by the arm, desperate to tell him the impossible truth that I am carrying our child, but even without my psychic awareness the fury and concentration on his face would have told me his mind has latched onto the battle.
“I’m hitting the laser cannon,” Grov announces. He pats UrTak on the shoulder and nods respectfully to me. “See you two for a glass of twomka on the other side.”
“You will be safe?” UrTak asks me. “If there is any trouble with the stellar blades, just say my name.”
I nod and glance through the window to space, where the pearls glow with energy. “Everything looks good.”
“Good,” he says, and stretches his wings. “The battle is here.”
A split second later an explosion shakes the air before our ship. It’s not like anything I’ve seen before. It’s as though green lightning crackles with blue flames, all blasted back out into space by a glowing white shield that appears around the ship. When the electric explosion clears I see the Wehizx and Pohilkans army, poised to meet us.
One blast fires out from the stellar blades, then another, each blazing cleanly through a number of smaller ships before crashing against the gigantic war ship’s shield. The Wehizx craft is a monstrosity of metal, easily the size of a small moon, and shaped like a giant cube radiating spikes. Lasers blast out from it in every direction as a chaotic space battle engulfs everything I can see. Ships crash and soar and energy blasts in every color turn the space into a light show.
“Third phalanx activate,” UrTak commands into his communications device. “Rear defensive positions, prepare for counterattack from Spiral Fighters in ten. Front line divert and begin second offensive maneuver.”
I can’t imagine how he’s making sense of the chaotic scene, but somehow, UrTak faces it all with decisive confidence. He doesn’t balk and my own fear disappears as I watch him.
We’re going to win.
I close my eyes to connect with my psychic dimension. I still don’t really know what I’m doing, but I feel the thin layer of energy and my senses tremble in anticipation.
The snaking tendrils of the Wehizx psychic presence appears. Fingers press against my skull and their seaweed slicks across my face, so real I can taste their stink. I suck in a sharp breath and my eyes fly open. I’m chilled to the bone. The horrifying images of my abduction fill my vision, so strong that everything else disappears, and I gasp in another choked breath.
My instincts erect a wall of energy and I force the haunting pictures away, but my stomach turns with the awareness that this was different. This wasn’t like the shadowy fears I felt back on KrysOlak.
This time, I know that Wehizx felt me, too.
I step back against the wall and catch my breath. I want to tell UrTak what I’ve sensed, but with his attention wrapped up in the battle, this isn’t the time. He already knows the Wehizx are there and he needs his full concentration if we’re all going to survive.
“First defense has fallen,” the voice of the speakers declares. “Rear defense, fifty percent.”
“Launch the primary Gildenz assault,” UrTak declares as a small black ship crashes against the shield of our craft, then splinters into space. The wall and floor shake violently, nearly sending me to my knees.
I watch as a V of gold ships soar from above and devastate a waiting line of defensive ships, the last between us and the large Wehizx war ship.
One white blast hits the war ship, then another. The shield flickers but I can tell that it’s weakening as the stellar blades continue to blast with everything they have. On the display I watch one of the offensive weapons take a series of direct blasts, the last of which splits it in two. I gasp, horrified at the loss, but when another white blast shatters the Wehizx shield and burns a chunk off their war ship, every warrior around me erupts in cheers.
We’re winning. The losses are large, but I know we’re winning.
Another blast hits the war ship, then another. The battle continues to rage and I hear Grov’s distinctive voice, hooting and hollering from behind the laser cannon. UrTak tightens his fists by his side and stands before the open expanse.
“Wehizx shield down, unleash full power,” he declares. “Total offensive now. Board the war ship where possible.”
More ships fly forward, all approaching the enemy craft. The returning fire seems to lessen. Unable to stop myself any longer I rush forward, joining UrTak by his side.
I press my hand to his arm and squeeze him. Just touching him helps me feel safe again, and rooted back in my body.
“My destined,” he says, his eyes still on the battle. “This victory is yours.”
“We have won?”
“Not yet,” he answers. “But soon.” His jaw tics and his voice lowers. “I should be there, boarding the ship. I should lead that invasion.”
I’ve heard him say this before. I know he’s called to the battlefield, but I also know from the respect the other warriors offer him that he is needed here, commanding and making sure that as many warriors get home as possible.
“UrTak.” I take his hand, then press it to my stomach. “You need to stay alive.” I rub our hands in a gentle circle. “You need to stay alive for our family.”
He turns to me. Slowly, comprehension dawns on his face. He spreads his fingers across my belly. “You carry our child?” he asks with disbelief, and his lucex surges and sparks up his arms.
Tears bite the corners of my eyes as the roar of the battle fills the ship. “I carry our child.”
He growls with deep, primal satisfaction. “Of course,” he says. “The day of the tri-lunar eclipse. The moon had not disappeared from the sky, as it does on the night of the mating ritual. But something much more beautiful, something rare and just for you, filled the sky instead.”
“UrTak,” I whisper. “I love you.”
“And I love you, my destined.”
Another explosion of green lightning rocks the front of the ship and he jerks his eyes back to the battle. Still, though, he extends his hand backward and keeps it there, like a protective shield over my belly.
My heart soars as I watch the white beams blast the war ship.
I hear a sizzling, staticky noise, like an old television being switched on. In the chaos, it barely registers, but my mind opens.
A heartbeat later two slimy arms wrap around my chest and my psychic awareness soars to full power.
Something deep at my core recognizes the clammy, nasty sensation of the Wehizx arms that hug me against its massive body, soaking my battle tunic with ooze.
I scream as UrTak pivots. He roars, grabbing his gun.
And in that second, the universe disappears, leaving only me and a Wehizx floating in a vast, spinning vortex of light and noise.
Chapter Twenty-Four
UrTak
“No!” I roar and lunge forward as I grab my gun. But it is too late—Loretta and the Wehizx disappear before my eyes.
Rage consumes me. Not even the sight of the Wehizx war ship, splitting at the seams, calms my fury.
The teleportation device. We’d taken care of every possible weakness, except for that.
I just don’t understand how the Wehizx knew where to find Loretta. How they came so quickly to my destined.
“Squad commanders, run final strikes,” I bark into my communications device. The armies of my sworn enemies fall from the stars and I know that the RSA will succeed in crushing them until nothing is
left. This will be a victory celebrated for many generations, but none of that matters.
Loretta is gone. Our child is gone. And I must get them back.
Mokrov tries to say something to me but I don’t hear his words. I just charge back toward the docking bay, my gun tight in my hand. I slam the mechanism to open the first door and wait impatiently as my lucex shield rises around me like a protective bubble.
I don’t know how I’m going to find her in the chaotic hell of the battle, but my fury propels me forward. I will find her and I will save her. There is no other way.
“UrTak!” Mokrov yells. He slams his fist against the door that now separates me from the rest of the ship. “What in the moons are you doing?”
The exterior door opens with a whoosh. I stretch my wings, nod to my Chosen Brother, and fling myself into the expanse of space.
Loretta.
In the chaos of countless war ships I spot a small gray transport, a Wehizx craft that I know has been used to carry dignitaries and leaders near battle scenes in the past. I have no time to doubt myself so I pump my wings and launch toward the ship. I dive to the side to dodge an errant blast from a Spiral Fighter, then swoop down, landing on the back of a Wehizx bomber.
I sink my talons into metal and ride the craft, my head low, and when it begins to turn away from my destination I draw back my knife and plunge it into the exterior, right above the most sensitive circuitry. I rip the metal open, then fly away as it slowly spins and loses control.
She’s there. It is the only ship fleeing the battle and I’m not going to let them get away.
I dodge another blast, then another. My lucex sizzles as a yellow beam grazes the edge and sends me spiraling to the side. The force knocks me out of control and I grunt from the dull pain, but I recover quickly.
I’m small enough without a ship that I must be avoiding the overloaded detection technology on the enemy crafts I pass, and fast enough that I’m closing the distance to my target. Still, I know once it escapes the chaos of the battle entirely, the ship will break off at a speed no KrysOlakn ship could match, even with the new technology we appropriated.
My back muscles burn with a fierce fire as I pump my wings. I catch a propulsive force from the collision of two energy beams and finally it’s enough to launch me forward.
I land on the back of the ship with a grunt. The exterior is smooth and I sink my claws into the metal to take hold. With a surprised gasp, I realize I’m stronger than I was before.
As strong as my ancestors after their second growth. Of course.
I find the docking bay on the side of the craft, then kick off. I unload my gun at its full setting, blasting a hole wide open, then dive inside before the self-repairing Wehizx technology closes the opening.
I land in a defensive pose and close my wings right before a blast from a Wehizx gun scorches my arm, tearing through the muscle of my bicep. I grit my teeth and spin as I unleash two counter blasts. The Wehizx stumbles backward and I charge, plowing him against the wall as I shove my knife in his exposed flesh.
I twist my knife through his awful shriek, then retrieve it as his lifeless body falls to the floor.
I charge down the corridor. A Pohilkan appears at the other end and exchanges energy blasts with me. My arm throbs with pain from the Wehizx blast but my rage numbs me. Moments later, the Pohilkan is lying at my feet, dead.
The Wehizx ship might as well be built of twigs, I tear through it that easily. As my lucex charges through my muscles, I blast doors open with my gun and slaughter guard after guard in my search for Loretta.
It’s insanity to take on a mission like this by myself. I can’t believe I’m still alive, still fighting.
But I’d fight my way through a thousand more ships if it meant saving Loretta and our child.
The first new daughter of KrysOlak. The hope my species has never dared believe could be real.
I reach a circular door and recognize the muffled human yell from the other side. Green emergency lights flash in the hallway and I can smell the stink of burning metal and chemical compounds from the fight. My heart thudding, I crank my gun back and wait for it to hit full charge so I can blast my way in.
A thunderous pounding hits my ear and before I even turn, a concussive force hits me from the side. The cyborg I’ve battled many times throws me to the wall and I grunt as dull pain quakes my body. The massive, heavy warrior rears a metal fist back, ready to crush my head against the wall, but I kick my legs and pump my wings to thrust us each to the floor.
We tumble down the corridor. He rains blows on me so fast I can barely block them all. I stab my knife into his exposed flesh, wrap my arms around his neck from behind, and kick the back of his knee with all my might.
The cyborg falls to the ground and for a moment I think I might have caused him serious injury. But only a heartbeat later, he rises to his feet and faces me, eyes flashing with red rage and steam leaking from his knife wound. He unleashes a torrent of energy blasts and my lucex rises up, absorbing them.
I crack my knuckles and stretch my wings. I’ve battled this monstrosity twice before and let him escape, but I won’t make that mistake again.
“Alright,” I snarl. “This time, you’re dead.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Loretta
Cold metal cuffs, tight on my wrists, stretch my arms straight above my head. My feet barely touch the floor and I feel dizzy and nauseous as the world comes into focus around me again.
The circular room I’m in looks like the Wehizx laboratory where I was held before. Several empty glass tubes, the kind that I saw holding human women, stand along the walls. Before me, a single Wehizx towers, no more than ten feet away, a metal device dangling in his hand. I recognize beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s the same monster who led my torture the last time I was abducted. I look at his hollow gray face, his blank yellow eyes, and the slimy black gunk that he wears over his body, and I know that it’s him.
“Yes, it is me.”
The Wehizx screeches, his tongue slurping across the slits in his mouth skin, but I don’t hear his voice through the translator. Instead, it echoes somewhere deeper in my mind, a psychic projection that sends anxiety wracking through my muscles.
“And this slimy gunk, as you call it, is not my covering. The mollusqia grew in the Wehizx caves where my species first emerged.” He rubs his hands up over his midsection and I watch with disgust as the seaweed flaps and moves on its own accord. “They are our companions. They feed off our skin and protect us, and they will writhe with pleasure when we harvest your planet.”
“No!” I shout, tears in my eyes. Instead of fear or disgust, rage fuels me. “You’ll die first. My destined will never let you get away with this.”
The Wehizx screeches and stomps toward me. He extends his long gray fingers through his mollusqia and traces his slimy flesh over my cheek as I struggle to turn away. “Your species,” he says. “So strange. We have never found another with power like ours. And yet, you did not have these abilities when we first met, just the potential for them.” His tongue lolls around between his mouth slits some more. “The generation born from your flesh will surely lead us into a new era of domination.”
I squint my eyes tight and call out to UrTak. Whatever psychic abilities I have are still so unformed, I don’t know how to do more than tug at my instincts. When the Wehizx grabs my chin, though, my anger boils over and a psychic blast erupts from my mind.
The Wehizx screeches, pulls his hand back, and strikes me, the mollusqia slapping wetly against my cheek. The sharp pain shocks me and as my psychic force falters I feel the Wehizx’s rise. It feels like a cage has risen around me and I suddenly struggle to breathe.
You’ll never defeat Earth, I think. The RSA just destroyed your best war ship.
Something explodes outside our craft, shaking the whole thing. The Wehizx rises up above the ground, floating as he glares his yellow eyes at me.
“Yes,” his vo
ice echoes in my mind. “The KrysOlakns will pay for the loss of that ship. But for now, we can begin by extracting your pain.”
I can’t hear anything but a whooshing, rushing noise, like I’m standing in the middle of a hurricane. As the Wehizx floats before me, images flash through my mind. I see women being abducted from Earth and thrown into the glass tubes. I can feel all of their pain, raw and hot, and even though I try to sob I can’t gasp enough air to make more than a desperate, grief-ridden groan.
Through the pain, my will somehow remains. UrTak will never let this happen. He’ll never let this disgusting creature take me, my planet, or our child.
And I won’t let it happen, either.
The Wehizx falls to the ground with a wet thud. He extends his hand slowly, then rubs it over my belly as I struggle to jerk away.
“Your child,” he hisses. “I do not know how I did not sense it before. You humans truly are a rare species.”
I narrow my eyes, still reeling from psychic pain and horrified that I’ve given him this information. “Don’t you fucking touch my baby,” I growl, then spit in his face.
The Wehizx bares his teeth, his expression almost like a grin. “So many human wombs. Such armies we will raise. Powerful enough to come back and destroy the Irisian moons.”
I try to clear my mind. Any thought I have goes straight to this monster and I’ve already given too much. Instead, I search the craft with my powers, reaching for a main control I might turn off or commandeer for my own purposes.
A psychic blast hits me from the Wehizx, like a flame scorching my chest, neck, and head. I yell in pain as my own force rises strong, blasting him back. Startled, the Wehizx stumbles and as I watch a few of his mollusqia whither and his eyes grow dim.
I blast him again, summoning all my will power to harness this new force. His painful screech is one of the most satisfying sounds to ever land on my ears, but it’s only a moment before he composes himself, hovers above the ground again, and thrusts his arms forward as he sends another blast that knocks my power out.