Dark Horizons

by Rae D. Magdon

  Taylor stepped protectively in front of Maia, but that only seemed to make Rachel's frown deepen. "You don't understand what's going on," she said, keeping her own gun lowered. "I’m trying to help. If you'd just give me a chance to explain..."

  "The ikthian has twisted her mind, turned her against her own kind," Bouchard interrupted. "She is no longer your friend. Lieutenant Morgan is gone."

  "I didn't want to believe it..." Rachel's hand remained steady, but Taylor thought she could see tears of anger in her eyes. "This is my fault. I knew she was changing you, but I didn't want to see. I should have done something sooner."

  Although Roberts knew better than to move while Rachel's rifle was still trained on Taylor, he spoke up from beside her. "Lieutenant Morgan is right, Harris. Dr. Kalanis has information that could help the rebels bring down the Dominion. Taylor is trying to keep us safe."

  "Don't listen to him. Obviously, the ikthian has him under her control as well," Bouchard said. He walked up behind Rachel, speaking directly into her ear. "Why else wouldn't they want to trade her for our own prisoners of war? Taylor is willing to let this ikthian go, even if it means leaving them to rot."

  Rachel narrowed her eyes at Taylor. "Is that true?" she asked, tightening her finger on the trigger.

  "We can save more lives this way. We can end the war." For a moment, Taylor saw Rachel hesitate, and continued on, hoping she could get through to her friend. "What about your family? They’re in the colonies right now, aren’t they? If we let the Dominion stand and just negotiate for hostages instead of ending this, they’ll be the ones to suffer. You know I wouldn’t do this unless I knew it was the right thing." Taylor stepped forward. "The generals haven’t told us everything. There are ikthians working with the naledai to bring down the Dominion. We can win this!"

  "She’s been brainwashed," said Bouchard. "The ikthian is using her."

  "Bouchard’s the one brainwashing you, Rachel."

  "That’s enough out of you!" Bouchard raised his gun and pointed it directly at her. The nose of the gun wavered, but Taylor could see his finger hovering over the trigger, preparing to fire.

  Suddenly, Taylor felt herself being shoved roughly to the side, trapped behind a muscular arm. Roberts pushed past her, standing between her and the gun. "Bouchard, don’t…"

  A shot rang out. Roberts lurched. He clutched his hand to his chest as Bouchard stared, wide-eyed, the gun still in his grip. Roberts took a hesitant step forward and gasped. When he looked back at Taylor, she saw red dripping over his fingers. "Go," he whispered.

  Taylor was not the first one to act. She stood there in disbelief for a second too long, until the silence shattered as the soldiers raised their weapons. She felt a warm hand take hold of her arm, and she looked over to see Maia staring up at her with watery blue eyes. "Do you trust me?"

  Taylor nodded.

  Maia took a deep breath, and before anyone could shout another warning, she threw an active flash grenade into the midst of the soldiers. She threw her arms around Taylor and buried her face into the human’s shoulder while forcing Taylor’s into hers. The grenade went off and her ears rang, but they avoided the worst of the detonation. Rachel dropped to her knees, obviously stunned, but she still managed to stare at Taylor, eyes wide and teeth clenched in anger. Taylor could see tears streaming down her cheeks. She had dropped her assault rifle in the confusion of the explosion.

  Forcing herself to turn away, Taylor knelt down beside Roberts, grabbing his arm and trying to haul it around her shoulders. "Maia, help me," she pleaded, not caring when his blood spilled onto her shirt. He was still alive, but only just, and his eyes were unseeing as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Bouchard's shots had been in his chest. Taylor was terrified to see what kind of damage the weapon had done.

  "Taylor," Maia said, pulling at her sleeve, "it is not safe here. We have to run."

  "I…I can't leave him," Taylor said, even though she could already feel the life seeping from Roberts's body. "He saved me. He was..." Her throat burned with tears as she realized that she had used the word 'was'. She had no way to save her mentor and friend. All she could do was take the chance he had given her. "I'm so sorry, Michael," she whispered, using his first name as a goodbye as Maia helped her up.

  Together, they sprinted down the wide hallway leading from the atrium to the hangar, not daring to look back over their shoulders. Taylor felt her breath burn in her chest as she realized that she was leaving Rachel behind as well. Blinking back her tears as she ran, she took Maia's hand, hauling her around a corner and stopping short in front of a large, horizontal metal door. She slammed her hand down on the scanner, praying that it would open, and let out a relieved sound when it slowly began to rise. "Akton is through there. He'll be able to protect us and get your research."

  "I never meant for this to happen," Maia whispered. Guilt pulled her face as she stared up at Taylor.

  "Look at me." Taylor reached out, but paused when she realized her hands were still stained with blood. Maia managed to meet her gaze anyway. "This was not your fault. It was Bouchard’s."

  Maia nodded, though Taylor could tell she was still upset. "I just…I never wanted to hurt anyone because of…Your friend, Roberts, he handed me the grenade. By the ancients, if I had known what he planned..."

  The door clanged as it finished opening, and they turned to see Akton waiting for them next to a running shuttle. When he got a closer look at them, he cursed and scrambled to his feet, running forward and pulling his assault rifle to the ready. "Is that blood?" he asked, eyeing Taylor’s fatigues.

  "Not mine," Taylor said grimly, "but we need to get moving if we want to keep to casualties to a minimum." They could already hear the clamorous thunder of soldiers chasing them.

  "When I told you to contact me if anything changed, I thought you would at least give me twenty-four hours' notice before making an escape." He looked between Maia and Taylor. "I’m going to lose a rank for this."

  "Not if we get out of here alive." Taylor pushed past him toward the shuttle. "We’re leaving— now!"

  "Fine, but you owe me a few more answers once we get out of here." The three of them started for the ship, and Akton raised his assault rifle. "Incoming!" She heard him fire at the approaching soldiers, and Maia shot another round from her pistol at them.

  "Morgan!" Taylor turned and saw Bouchard standing at the hangar entrance. He pointed threateningly at her. "If you take that ikthian aboard that shuttle, you will officially be a traitor to the Coalition."

  Taylor raised her pistol to fire, but then she saw Rachel run up behind Bouchard, an assault rifle aimed in her direction. She realized that she could do it. She could pull the trigger and watch blood spout from Bouchard's head. But then she felt Maia's hand on her arm, silently asking her to lower her weapon. "Taylor. Don't."

  "He murdered Roberts." Her arm shook slightly. "He should be dead."

  "If you kill him, your friend will attack you," Maia reminded her in an urgent whisper. "You will never forgive yourself if you are forced to shoot her."

  Taylor lowered her arm. Maia was right. She couldn't do this, not in front of Rachel. Her job was to protect Maia, not exact revenge for Roberts's death. He had given her a mission to complete. Still, her rage at the cold-blooded murder that Bouchard had committed made her chest tighten with rage. "You killed Roberts," she shouted at him, shaking her head as she began backing up towards the shuttle. "You're the traitor."

  Akton opened the side doors, hopping inside and sliding into the driver's seat. Taylor kept her gun at her side as Maia climbed in behind him, but as soon as she tried to follow, Bouchard began barking commands at his terrified looking soldiers. "What are you waiting for? Don't let them escape!"

  The remaining soldiers charged forward, with Rachel at the front of the pack, but it was too late. Taylor clambered up into the shuttle, closing the door behind her just in time to hear shots collide with the metal. "Let's get out of here, Akton," she barked, ta
king her seat as she heard the hum of the engines being switched on. The shuttle lurched and lifted into the air, powered from below as Akton drove them up and away.

  "What are we going to do now?" Maia asked, reaching out to hold Taylor's hand. "Your people will kill us if we try to return."

  "We're not going back," Akton said, flying the shuttle out through the open roof of the hangar. The boosters switched on, and the shuttle began to rattle slightly as it picked up speed. "There's a naledai cruiser in orbit. We should be safe there. They can take us to the rebels." He turned to glance over his shoulder at Taylor. "That is where you want to go, right?"

  "Definitely." Taylor took a deep, unsteady breath, focusing on all of the things she needed to do. That would help take her mind off of Roberts, Bouchard, and Rachel. "We need to download Maia's research and give it to the rebels as quickly as possible. I'm sure someone there can spread it to the ikthian home-world."

  Akton nodded. "We can take care of the download while en route." Taylor felt her stomach drop as they cleared Earth’s atmosphere. She wondered for a moment if she would ever return. No doubt Bouchard would spin some story about her. She squeezed Maia’s hand, needing some form of reassurance. "What happened down there, Taylor?"

  She looked up, reluctant to discuss what had just happened. "Bouchard betrayed us," she said. Thankfully, Akton did not push her to continue, but waited patiently. He entered some coordinates into the shuttle navigation system and sat back. "He was going to have me court-martialed in an attempt to get Maia out from under military control. He didn’t like the deal the ikthians arranged."

  "That was pretty low."

  Taylor shrugged. "Neither Bouchard or the generals would have made use of Maia’s research, though. They would have just handed her back over to the Dominion, and she would have died."

  "Your research is that threatening?" Akton asked, turning to look at Maia. "Whatever it is, it must be worth a fortune if they wanted you back alive to kill you themselves."

  "They do not know I have told anyone about it," Maia said. "And they do not know the location of my data files, either. They needed me returned in order to torture me. The Dominion does not leave loose ends. Of course, first they would convince me to lie to the public, to spin my research and put them in a greater position of power."

  Taylor felt her stomach twist as she imagined Maia being tortured. Even though she hated the thought of being labeled a traitor by the Coalition after years of faithful service, she knew she had made the right choice. She pulled Maia into her arms, ignoring their unfastened safety harnesses, and rested her forehead against the ikthian's shoulder. Their fingers remained laced together.

  "I'm not going to let them hurt you," she whispered beside the folds of Maia's crest. Maia's hand began making soothing circles on her back, accepting and welcoming her embrace. "I'm never going to let anyone else hurt you again."

  Epilogue:

  As Maia watched Taylor emerge from the shower in a cloud of steam, she could not help noting the irony. They were in completely opposite positions from her first night in captivity. This time, Maia was the one waiting in the room that the naledai had provided for them, observing the water droplets that ran down Taylor's body. Taylor glanced at her, seeming slightly uncomfortable with her nakedness.

  "You know, I have grown to find your naked form rather pleasant," Maia said. She winced at the awful phrasing of her words as they hit her ears. She had wanted to give Taylor an organic compliment, but apparently, she was horrible at expressing her interest, no matter how blunt she tried to be. The translator did not help matters. She would need to construct a more organic program to help their communication.

  Taylor gave her a strange look, and began laughing. She ran a hand through her dripping hair. "Thanks, I think."

  Maia blushed. "You make it difficult for me to speak, Taylor,"

  "I do, huh?" Taylor's lips twitched up into a smug grin, one that Maia had become intimately familiar with. "You know, I wasn't exactly suave the first time I saw you step out of the shower naked. You make it difficult for me to speak sometimes, too."

  "Why is that?" Maia asked, scooting closer to the edge of the bed.

  Taylor blinked and glanced back at her. "You’re…" She paused as she searched for the correct word. "Stunning."

  Maia's flush began creeping down along her throat, disappearing beneath the collar of her shirt. "Did you always think that way, even from the beginning?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer. She wanted to hear Taylor say it.

  Taylor nodded. "I thought you were gorgeous from the first time we were alone together. It just took me a while to come to terms with it. Falling for an ikthian was a bit of a head-trip. By the time I got used to the idea, we were fighting for our lives." She sighed and looked around their new room, away from Maia. "It’s hard to believe we made it off Earth at all. I wish we hadn't left Roberts behind..."

  Maia heard the guilt in Taylor's voice, and her first instinct was to soothe it. "His death was not your fault, Taylor. There was nothing you could have done to save him. Now, it is up to you to carry on for him. I know you will do everything in your power to stop this war. My data has already been downloaded. We will present it to the rebels as soon as we meet them."

  Taylor gave Maia a weak smile. "I think Roberts would have liked you if he had gotten to know you. Maybe with some time, he even would have approved of us."

  Us. The word hung between them, but this time, it made Maia feel exhilarated. Now that they had made it out alive, she and Taylor could finally begin to explore what they were to each other. "I hope he would have," she said. "I also know that he would have been proud of you."

  "I'm not sure why. I couldn't save him or stop Bouchard."

  "Your Commander’s death is a sad loss, but it does not mean you failed," Maia protested. "You made all of this possible, Taylor. You chose to save me even though it meant going against your own people." She hesitated, leaning back on the bed. "I do not know how to repay you for what you have done."

  Taylor's face began to shift. Some of the sadness left, and Maia saw something else flash in her eyes instead. They lingered on her breasts before slowly trailing down the line of her stomach, and the hunger in them made her shiver. Taylor suddenly looked ready to pounce on her, and if she did, Maia knew she would be more than willing to let herself be caught.

  "You know…" Taylor seemed to lose her thoughts as she took in the dips and curves of Maia’s body. "There's still only one bed here. Looks like we'll be bunking together for a while."

  "It appears so." Maia's fingers tightened around the top of the bed's comforter, itching to touch Taylor instead. She was almost ready to reach up and pull the human on top of her. "We have a long journey to Nakonum."

  Taylor stepped closer, hovering beside the edge of the bed. "Only a few days."

  "Plenty of hours to fill." Maia finally gave in to temptation, reaching out to take Taylor's hand in her own. She ran a thumb over her knuckles and offered what she hoped was a welcoming smile instead of a shy one. "And if you do not mind, I would like to spend them with you." She paused, gathering the courage she needed to share her thoughts. "Something has changed between us. I did not allow myself to think about it before because I was sure that I was going to die. But now, I believe a relationship with you might be possible."

  "A relationship?" Taylor repeated in a throaty voice.

  Maia nodded, still holding Taylor's hand. "Yes. I want to explore my feelings for you. I will need patience, but perhaps after spending some time as equals..." Maia raised herself onto her knees so that her face was at the same level as Taylor's. "As lovers..." Slowly, she leaned forward, reaching out to touch the human's damp, flushed cheek. "We might find that a relationship between us is possible after all. That is, if you want to..."

  Taylor's arms opened in answer, and Maia slid into them with a low sigh. She rested her hands at the back of Taylor's neck, playing with the soft strands of hair there. Over the pa
st several weeks, she had grown to love touching it. A shudder rippled through her as Taylor's hands slid down to cradle her hips. "Oh, I want to," Taylor murmured, dipping down so that their lips were only a breath apart. "We'll take it slow. One day at a time."

  "Of course," Maia agreed. "But the more time I spend with you, the more clearly I see you. And I like what I see."

  Taylor grinned. "You like what you see, huh?" Her hand slid beneath Maia's shirt, tracing the bare strip of skin above the pants she was wearing. They fit better than the ones she had borrowed back at San Diego base, but part of her missed wearing Taylor's clothes. "Well, I'm not seeing nearly enough of you. Is it okay if I..." Taylor tugged at the hem of Maia's shirt, asking for permission.

  Maia smiled. "I wondered how long it would take you to ask. But...will you kiss me first?"

  "Gladly." Taylor brought a hand up to her face and cupped it gently, drawing her in. Their lips met in a slow, lingering kiss. Maia shuddered as she felt Taylor's mouth slide against hers. The simple action sparked a fire in her. She let one of her hands wander from Taylor's shoulder to her chest, cupping a bare breast and enjoying the way that Taylor groaned into her mouth.

  "Taylor," Maia whispered as they broke away. "Please. I want to feel your skin on mine." Her other hand traced along Taylor's naked back, brushing away the last stray droplets of water left over from the shower. She loved the feel of the human's smooth muscles tightening and twitching beneath her palm.

  "You still have your clothes on." Taylor found the hem of her shirt and tugged upward, trying to pull it over her head. Maia gave up her hold on Taylor just long enough to raise her arms. She missed the warmth of Taylor's skin even for the brief seconds it took to undress. Next came her pants. Maia kicked them aside, not caring where they landed. As soon as she was naked, she moved her hands back up to Taylor’s broad shoulders, dragging her forward onto the bed. She wanted Taylor above her, close to her, inside of her.