Skhye Moncrief - [Feral 01]

by Feral Fascinations (lit)

  “Careful.” He chuckled. “Why? Does Darla have a torch? If my ass is ash, then so is yours. We’ll die in a blink and—” He turned, grabbed her elbow, and shoved her back toward her personal quarters. “You stay here.”

  Not one twist of anger danced upon his features. What was he doing? Had he lost his mind? “You know very little about this world. I can’t let you go in alone.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re carrying my baby. Just stay here.”

  First Goro breaking free-thinker law and saving a Mawshwuc. Now Jake thought he could give orders. All those years of working for The Cause vanished in an instant like an invisible torch turned them into useless ash. “You’ve lost your ability to reason, Jake Straightarrow.”

  He leveled an insistent gaze on hers. “Disobey me and learn what it is to be punished, wife.” He turned back to The Chamber’s door.

  Men were the same throughout the universe. “Nobody threatens me that way. Besides, I’m dead not long after you. We both have our breath to lose.”

  He blocked her path. “You mean you get pregnant with my child and won’t even attempt to stay alive for it? What kind of mother are you?”

  To knee him in the groin. To watch him gasp for air as his head struck the floor. “How dare you question me? Not only am I your teacher, but I’m a mercenary. I know how to ensure I’ll draw breath beyond this moment.”

  “Not anymore. Dangerous phase. Remember that discussion?” He shoved her back another step down the empty white corridor and turned to the gray door of The Chamber. “It’s time for you to trust the man you chose. You’re pregnant. I’ll be the brains now.”

  How did a person argue with such lunacy? Until all the stars burn out, until the last speck of matter is sucked into the final breath of this universe’s existence, this earthling would wish he hadn’t won this debate.

  The Chamber’s door shut out the last glimpse of his blue jeans.

  And what do I do now? Wait for the Mawshwuc to kill a crew member. Like men could run the universe. All the Voldon’s through time have shown males couldn’t leave ego aside to end a psychic war. She leaned against the hard wall.

  Nobody dared walk the long empty corridor.

  Thank Devros. I’ve been relieved of duty. At least, without an audience. And what will become of The Seeker or free thinkers? Goro’s incubating a vampire. If Voldon infiltrated the ship through the minds of any of the crew, no one stood a chance against his corruption of The Seeker. What was Goro thinking?

  Or I am wrong.

  I must be wrong.

  Goro would never fail the crew. Yet, his plan was so erratic from previous operations that he had to be working for Voldon. Could the man who took me in and gave my vengeance purpose be setting a ship full of free thinkers up for enslavement?

  Gods, where do my thoughts coming from these days? I’m losing my mind.

  Or Jake was right about hormone fluctuations. I must control these observations.

  I must focus on the pregnancy.

  I must stop fighting my destiny.

  If I fail to embrace the future, Voldon wins.

  Voldon must die.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jake scanned the edge of The Chamber’s rainforest. Only the sound of dripping water welcomed him. Dripping water was better than some woman’s shrieking over the hum of a laser. And the trees were kind of nice, reminiscent of home. At least, he wasn’t too late and gazing across dunes of ash because Darla had whipped out a torch and desiccated Paul’s puny ass.

  A woman screeched.

  Crazy Darla. Time to locate Paul. He headed into the tree line’s bobbing fronds.

  Where was Darla? What was she up to? Paul could have managed to attack her. No. She had become part of the jungle. Paul couldn’t overpower nature.

  A crashing noise thundered.

  Something rushed through the dense mishmash of hanging branches. Just what though? He squatted, disappearing into a canopy of leaves.

  Paul’s gawky upper body pushed through some drooping foliage. His concerned expression didn’t share much of his story.

  Better to be quiet and see what’s going down.

  “You’re a traitor to your race,” Darla snarled, hidden in the foliage. “Go back to your fuck buddy. And pray earth doesn’t bite you in the ass.”

  Paul heaved into view with on his hands clamped over his other forearm. Blood trailed down across his elbow. He scanned the trees as if looking for the woods to part revealing the doorway back to The Chamber’s exit.

  Broken branches wielding ends with fresh jagged breaks streaked through the vegetation.

  Nature’s arrows. Darla’s magic, heading toward Paul’s head. Duck dufus. Surely, the dolt had enough gumption to protect his brain and vision.

  Paul dodged behind a tree trunk.

  Well, maybe stumbled was a better word for Paul’s actions. Don’t send a computer geek to tend to mercenary work. Hell, Darla had to be lurking somewhere, firing missiles at the moron. Where? He scanned the forest.

  Nothing in the canopies. Nor any sign of the whacko brunette in black leather. Whacko? Well, maybe not so much given her history with these aliens now that he had a few days aboard The Seeker to assess the situation. Darla had enough good sense to keep her legs crossed.

  Paul ducked under some branches and ran three broad steps across a gap in the forest’s vegetation like a scared fool.

  Yep. Computer geek. Didn’t he have some psychic power he could use for protection?

  Paul stumbled back into the brush, not taking a moment to conceal his intentions, and departed.

  Something moved back the other direction in the clearing.

  Cloaked in killer black-leather garb, Darla carefully stepped over a fallen tree and surveyed the ground.

  Probably for a blood trail. Just like a seasoned hunter. Excellent mercenary material. So that’s why they wanted her to take the Beast Tamer. Forget the computer geek and save those deemed free thinkers. He slowly lowered even more into the surrounding leaves and low branches. To observe.

  Darla receded into a sheltering wall of tree trunks and leafy limbs.

  Returning to nature.

  A bell chimed.

  Paul just exited or someone entered. If that was Kindrist coming onto this war zone, she’d have a lot of explaining to do in risking the safety of his child. He slowly rose and carefully stepped back toward the entrance.

  Not a sound followed him to the edge of the metallic floor, and Kindrist.

  Forget trust. There was no honor and obey in marriage to an extraterrestrial mercenary. He jogged to her elbow, grabbed her, and yanked her through the doorway into the quiet empty hallway where Paul’s blood dripped out a path away from the closed door.

  Kindrist jerked her arm away. “How dare you treat me like a child.”

  If a man who hadn’t followed his orders had said that to him, the moron would be shoving his teeth back into their sockets. “Honey, Darla’s using her levitation power to hurl projectiles at people.” Calling her a stupid woman would have made more of an impact than sneering honey. He stepped off following the blood trail.

  The heels of her black boots clicked out an angry beat behind him.

  * * * *

  The miserable savage. Lesser-evolved beings barely covered the source of Kindrist’s problems. Her mate wasn’t going to treat her like property. She fumed at the earthling’s swinging jet-black hair where the glinting silk flicked from side to side as he stomped down the passageway.

  Her choice of savior for the free-thinking universe just turned on her. What should she have expected in selecting a wild card? But how dare he give her orders. “I am the senior mercenary in this duo, Jake.”

  He shot her a snide grin over his shoulder. “Let me see, is the reason you won’t be screwing up my mission because you can’t follow orders?”

  Of all the insolent accusations. His twisted smile only reaffirmed his disrespect. “I am the person dedicated to a cause. My course
holds true. Where is the drum whose beat you follow, Jake Straightarrow?” She slowed her steps.

  He rolled his eyes and turned back to the empty passageway. “Likely mumbo jumbo. I’ve got things to do.” He forged down the corridor.

  The earthling could follow his path alone as far as it would take him today. She had her child of legend. Nothing else mattered at the moment. Besides, destiny’s embrace awaited them all. And the clock continually ticked toward blood fucking anyway. He would have to return and beg her for his libation if he wanted one. Beg.

  “Red Trekaar?” Forty-three said in mindspeak.

  Devros, she hadn’t even noticed the operator’s presence with her anger focused on Straightarrow. “Yes?”

  “Goro wants to know what happened inside The Chamber.”

  “I couldn’t tell you. Straightarrow has departed without reporting to me.”

  “You shouldn’t have entered with him. I warned you he would be troublesome.”

  As well as operators. “No one can convince me a mate is anything otherwise.” Apparently, Jake realized this long ago when choosing the solitary life of a mercenary. “I’ll speak with Goro myself.”

  “He’s in docking bay eight.”

  Whatever for? Had the Mawshwuc escaped? “Goro has ordered me to report to him.”

  Jake shot her a cold glance and kept walking toward their personal quarters.

  Fine. It’s better to speak with Goro without a hothead barking irrational demands because he couldn’t shake his earth ideas. She turned from Jake’s fleeting muscular body toward the docking bay.

  Bless the stars the corridors were vacated on the way. No admonishing stares charged her with murder of the infants or the bad choice in soul mates.

  Maybe Goro was right though. Maybe she wasn’t at fault for the recent attack on the nursery. Everything worked toward The Cause’s victory, now. Especially since Jake seemed like he had the perfect temperament for covert operations. But how did Goro’s strange behavior fit into destiny’s grand scheme?

  The docking bay’s door swooshed open.

  A few male crew members worked on The Seeker’s assortment of transport vehicles. Goro turned a stern mask her direction from where he stood across the cavernous space. His fatherly gaze warned he wasn’t happy.

  But his place was to keep the ship intact. Functioning. Better to find purpose among the ship’s metal supports and sheeting. She covered the distance between them and assumed an at-ease stance.

  “What happened, Red Trekaar?” He faced her squarely.

  Even though he didn’t speak with his mouth, his formidable stance dared her not to hold anything back. Or maybe males were extremely irritating today. “Am I the one who is in question here? Darla is waging war upon earthlings in The Chamber. My soul mate needs to learn the chain of command. I don’t understand why I’m the one providing explanations.”

  He pinched his eyes into slits, then opened them to scrutinize her as if she erred. “You carry the child of legend. You’re no longer a mercenary. Your job equates to observation and reporting now.”

  Not one word could change the commander’s point.

  Her throat tightened.

  “Stop fighting a war you can’t win. Live your destiny, Kindrist. Know your duty serves a higher purpose.”

  Something rammed up her throat.

  She gulped but couldn’t swallow.

  Everything she ever knew instantly never was. But would always be. And Goro’s words were truth. Reality. All she questioned, these things of coincidence, had to be the result of confusion. Her life course veered down the path she always wished for. Destiny awaited. She had to stop fighting the change. “I understand.”

  “I’ll work with Straightarrow this evening. Go now. Find a place to rethink the pride you wear so proudly. It is not such a hard lump to swallow for your pride is in what you have become. Embrace the transformation.”

  Always the wisest words came from Goro. If only she could remember them when necessary. She nodded and pivoted to the door.

  The only thing left to do was sit in bed. To gestate. Forgetting how things had been. Focusing on the future. Happiness would come with the sacrifice. No. The long-awaited time to rejoice had arrived. Risking the freedom from psychic domination would be a foolhardy mistake. A choice she couldn’t bear. What if her name, that of the last Nulvitian, was associated with Voldon’s triumph? Her legacy would bequeath the universe a new Hell. Better to rise to the universe’s challenge and plow toward a utopia paved with free thought.

  * * * *

  Jake quietly stared out the starship’s long curved portals of the barren bridge. The three pilots never winced at his presence. Who were they? Where did they come from if they weren’t telepathic? Were they inducted somehow like he was to run the ship? And where was Goro? In his secret map room? Hopefully the commander was there. Passing on what I learned in The Chamber just might get me some information that will win me over some brownie points with the commander. Or just a general feel for the commander’s true purpose.

  “Are you waiting for me?” the commander’s calm deep voice asked from behind him.

  Talk about stealth. Goro wasn’t a man to reckon with. Jake turned.

  The door to the invisible room opened. Goro waved for Jake to enter.

  A lucky captive would walk into a trap. Be killed. Why not? Better still, time to see if the commander could be trusted. Jake crossed the threshold into the dark star chamber.

  Goro followed him, walked across the shadowy space, stood on the opposite side of a blue circle that glowed as if set into the floor like an illuminated mosaic of a ring, and faced him with the determination of a commander who demanded honesty. “What happened in The Chamber?”

  Nice poker face. And not much, really. Would the information make much of a difference? “Paul seemed to stumble through the forest while Darla hurled objects that she levitated toward him. Nice use of psychic powers. Wish I could pull off that sweet feat.”

  Goro sighed and pursed his lips. “Darla is confused.”

  The man finally looked frustrated. Why do I feel like he says that about Darla often? Then again, who could blame people abducted from earth? After all, alien abductions weren’t glorified in the movies or legends. However, one would expect a person to eventually acclimate to a new environment. Especially if the environment had something good to offer like simple freedoms. And freedoms to be your strange evolved self given others lacked your ability like the majority of earth’s non-Violet Child population. Not that I ever felt the odd ball because of my yammering gut. All truly lies in a person’s perspective. But how in the world could being inducted into a war equate to freedom? Didn’t they offer Darla perks with service? Albeit, stud service isn’t high on my list of super-hero adventure amenities. It’s really kind of annoying with a peon that won’t give up the ghost. But Darla didn’t have that part of the problem to deal with. “How long has she been here?”

  “Almost three earth years.”

  “That’s a freaking eternity for someone to babble religious jargon. I gotta hand it to her though. She can really stick to her guns.”

  Goro sighed. “Women often prove the most steadfast. Factor in spirituality, and we’re talking about moving mountains. Or so I have learned.”

  Dead on. But what did the commander think about his male gladiators? “Hey, give a guy a good reason to back you and he will. Women think too much about feelings and sparkly stuff.”

  Goro raked his unsettling gaze up and down Jake.

  Studying me? More like x-raying. So, he didn’t care for my assessment of women? To each his own.

  Goro’s assessing gaze twisted conspiratorially and locked upon Jake’s. “Red Trekaar isn’t taking well to her new role as mother,” he noted plainly. “I trust you both have lessons to learn.”

  No kidding. “She doesn’t take orders well.”

  “In that point, you are wrong. She’s suddenly switched from guardian of The Cause to mother. Consid
er how strong her urge is to protect what she has struggled to save for fourteen earth years.”

  What’s up with time accounted for in earth fashion? A constant reminder of where I would rather be isn’t winning these folks brownie points. Or were they catering to him? Luring him into submission with familiar things?

  “The pinch in your brow tells me something niggles your mind,” Goro stated.

  The commander behaved too fatherly for a man enrobed in full-body kick-ass black leather. Nice game of instilling a false sense of security in captives. “I don’t know. Don’t you people have your own measurement of time? I’m starting to wonder how the universe functioned before earth time was adopted by extraterrestrials. And you think we need protecting.”

  Goro grinned and patted Jake on the shoulder. “Excellent observation. Unfortunately, we operate on earth time to keep synchronized with earth in general. We must know what occurs there around the clock, as you say. We are earth’s guardian angels—to turn a phrase. The other three planets with beings on the verge of higher psychic evolution are safeguarded by a portion of The Cause’s fleet that operates by the standard time measurement of those planets. This system minimizes a lot of issues.”

  Nothing hidden there. Maybe a calm commander who was honest with his new recruits would share even more information. That equated to proof of The Cause’s mission. “So Darla was supposed to be your mate. And Voldon got to her first. Just why do you keep her hidden in The Chamber? Or should I say imprisoned? Why don’t you release her? Let her go wherever she wants.”

  Goro thrust his hands under his cape-like jacket and walked across the room as if he were in deep thought with fingers tucked behind his back like a contemplative field marshal. He turned a serious gaze to Jake. “I see Red Trekaar has explained many things to you.... Imagine what Darla would do back on earth. She would ramble about alien abductions. Would she not? And then Voldon would return for her. If she refuses me, don’t you think she would refuse him again after three years’ captivity on our starship? We are both extraterrestrials. And imagine Darla living as Voldon’s pet for nothing more than the fact he wishes to steal her from me. She would be living in captivity as his mate. Is that a life worth living? It is safer for her here where she does as she wishes in The Chamber. I owe her protection from Voldon.”