by Rebecca Pond
“When the Emperor first invaded Theron, his first intentions were to either capture or kill the females, this way your race would eventually die out on its own, thus eliminating a future threat to the Emperor. The next item on his agenda was to strip Theron of all of its natural resources. So, since most of your females are either here in the prison camp or dead, your men had no other choice, but to seek out new mates on other planets. “
“Does he know where this planet is?” Danuwee asked.
Carel shrugged, “I don’t know. I want to say that he has an idea of where the planet is located, but he has not expressed any plan as of yet to go find it. At least as far as I know, he has no plans. But, with the Emperor that could all change at a moment’s notice.”
“Now, there is all the more reason to try and…,” Danuwee almost had a major slip of the tongue that could have possibly landed them all in a permanent cell. But Carel’s laughter caused the group to immediately stop talking.
“Oh, come on Zirlo. Since I have been here, I have gotten to know you and your group quite well, and I know exactly what you are up too.” He was doubled over with laughter now as he watched the expressions on the men’s faces. “Don’t worry my friends. Your secret is safe with me. We need to get moving again, or we will draw unwanted attention. We will have more time to talk again tomorrow.” Carel motioned for the men to take up their positions again on the cart.
Outside the cavern, the men went about the business of dumping the cart. Off to the side near the landing pads, a new group of prisoners was being unload and directed towards the entrance of the cavern. It wasn’t often that the prison received new prisoners, especially in such a large quantity.
Zirlo and the others watched the progression of the group as they made their way closer to where they were working. He couldn’t see the faces of the new comers, but he could see that there was a mixture of both men and women, something he found even more unusual.
The sounds of the chains that bound them together echoed through the air as their feet shuffled to keep pace with the individual in front of them. As they approached his work area, Zirlo could see that most of the prisoners were either Pernmock or Gastweeds, a race that was highly secretive and very rarely left their home planet.
There was one prisoner that drew Zirlo’s attention away from his work as she walked past. Her hair was long and dirty, and blew over her face as a gust of wind captured it and twisted it above her head, letting it fall haphazardly after releasing it. A dirty, bloody hand moved the long strands out of the way of her eyes as she looked up. A sudden sensation overcame Zirlo that he hadn’t felt in a very long time. He knew this female.
Without trying to make it too obvious, he moved over to where Carel was steadily watching the group walk by. His eyes were also trained on the group as a guard’s eyes should be. But, what was different about Carel eyes was that they were only focused on one prisoner, the same one that had peaked Zirlo’s interest.
“Carel, may I approach?” Zirlo called to the guard as he had been instructed to do when on the outside of the cavern.
Carel’s eyes never left the female for an instant as he responded back, “Yes, you may approach. What is it?”
Zirlo walked up to the guard and stood as close as he was allowed to before speaking in a hushed tone, “I wanted to get closer to the prisoners.”
“Why?”
“The female that’s in the orange and white suit,” Zirlo nodded with his head in her direction.
“I see her. What about her?”
Zirlo watched stunned, as Carel’s eyes followed every little movement the woman made. He even jerked forward when the woman stumbled and fell to her knees. “What of her, Zirlo?”
“I think I know her, but I am not quite sure who she is. I need a better look at her eyes.”
Carel tore his eyes off the new woman, who he was praying would be assigned to his quadrant. “Come with me.”
The two of them walked towards the line of prisoners as they halted. The poor woman was struggling to get to her feet without any help. The guards that stood near her just laughed and made jokes as she tried to regain her footing.
“You are a bunch of fools. The prisoner needs help getting back up, or do you wish to bring down the wrath of the Emperor upon your entire stupid group? The Emperor values his prisoners highly, and you should know this.” Carel chastised the group of guards as he and Zirlo approached. The woman was still down on her knees, but had become tangled in the numerous chains. He reached down to help untangle her foot when she had stopped struggling to watch the scene before her. “Just keep still and I will help you.” His breath caught in his throat as her eyes made contact with his.
At that same moment Zirlo caught sight of the same eyes, and he automatically knew who they belonged too. Only one family on all of Theron had those color eyes, Arden’s aqua eyes. There was no question in his mind about who this young female was, and he hadn’t seen her since she was a very young girl. Jenaya had been half his son’s and Zane’s age when the war had started, but now he saw a grown woman before him. Many times this beautiful young woman had come running to him as a girl when the boys were being mean to her or to tattle on them when they wouldn’t let her tag along. Arden’s youngest child could at times make a pest of herself to the boys, but he loved her all the same and would protect her with his life if need be.
“What is your name?” Carel asked as his hands lingered longer than needed. Her skin was so soft under his rough, calloused fingers, and that one small touch was enough to know that he wanted this woman.
“I am Jenaya.”
****
Lars and the rest of the group had watched as Zirlo and Carel walked over to the group of prisoners being led by them. He didn’t have a clue about what had interested Zirlo to the group, but he would find out once they were back in the cavern.
He breathed a sigh of relief when Carel motioned for them to start moving the cart again, as soon as they returned from helping the woman on the prison chain to her feet. He had been waiting to see if one of the stupid Drylon soldiers that they had encountered would announce to his group that he had been the one Carel had indicated was responsible for the attack on the Theron mother ship. Everything that he and Zirlo had been planning since he first arrived in the prison camp would have been for nothing.
It was important that Zirlo could never find out that he had harmed his son’s mate, Avery. He would have to try and get Carel alone and find out if he knew who he really was. If he did, he just might have to take the guard out.
Chapter 18
A couple days after she experienced her first storm on Theron, Emma decided she was tired of staying in the tree house all day. She was bored out of her mind. She made up her mind to go out and explore the yard around the tree house. She dressed for the day in a pair of blue jean capris and a thin t-shirt. As she put on her socks and tennis shoes, her three mischievous rewas came running into the bedroom at full speed. Panna immediately latched on to one of her shoes strings and began to tug on it in order to get her attention.
“What is up with you three? You guys must have cabin fever too.” She spoke to them as if they were going to answer her in a language that she would be able to understand. Hanna zoomed over and tackled Panna causing both the rewas to go tumbling across the floor. “Hanna, that wasn’t very nice.” Nana jumped up on the bed and sat next to her as she fussed at the two other rewas for being so rambunctious. “Hey, you guys want to go for a walk with me?” The two rewas that were rolling around on the floor immediately stopped what they were doing and ran over to Emma, jumping up on the bed near to where Nana was sitting. “I swear, I think that you guys can understand every word that I say when you want to.” She finished putting on her shoes and got up to leave the room. The three rewas hadn’t moved off the bed and were staring at her with their large pleading eyes.
“Well, come on if you’re coming with me!” She could hear them squeal and the sound of their tiny
feet as they scurried across the floor. Emma distinctly told them to follow her, but it didn’t take long until she was the one who was the following them. It sounded like a small herd of animals going down the stairs, as the group ran for the door to go outside. Once outside, the rewas ran and tumbled over each other as they played in the lavender grass that covered the ground. It was so amazing to see that the grass here was a pale purple instead of the green she was so used to on Earth. Everything here on Theron was so different than anything she was used to at home.
Emma walked over to where the stream meandered its way through the yard. The water was so crystal clear that she could see all the tumbled round stones lining the bottom. Along the edge of the stream the water wasn’t very deep, and she could see the small fish, plants, and rocks that lined the edge. There were a couple of very large rocks that protruded out of the water that were large enough for her to stand on. She carefully climbed on top of them and looked straight down into the water. Small purple and blue fish, resembling minnows darted through the water searching between the rocks for food. Something that looked just like a crab moved along the bottom of the stream over the algae covered stones, but she wasn’t brave enough to stick her hand into the water to find out.
The rock Emma was standing on was large enough for her to sit Indian style on. The sound of the moving water was so relaxing that she could have fallen asleep if she had just been able to lie down. She looked to her left and caught a glimpse of her little pets splashing in water near the edge, further down the stream. She laughed as she watched them play in the water and behave similar to small children on earth, as they swam and splashed about.
Emma looked all around her, taking it all in. She didn’t know the names of any of the plants that grew here, but nevertheless she was impressed by the sizes and colors that they were presenting. The trees alone were so huge, that she had to lean as back as far as she could in order to try and find the very top. Flowers grew along the stream in clusters with buds that must have been the size of a large a dinner plate. One cluster of flowers in particular had petals that were every shade of the rainbow. The colors would alternate as they worked themselves inward to the center. She saw some insects, which Emma assumed were a kind of bee, buzzed around the centers of the large flowers. The signs of life before her weren’t much different from what she would find on Earth. Everything depended on something to find a way to survive, no matter what planet it might be on. The nature of the creatures here worked the same.
Up above her head, an animal jumped from one branch to another. She got a quick look at the animal, and what she saw took her by surprise. At first glance, the animal looked like a monkey, but as it made its way close to where she sat she could tell that it didn’t look anything like any animal that she had ever seen. The animal had taken an interest in her too while she sat on the rock. When it came closer to her, she could see that it was watching her as well. It made its way to a branch that hung low over the stream, but still maintained enough distance so that it could get away easily if it sensed any potential danger.
The small creature’s fur was a baby blue color, and it had two tails that were a couple of shades darker blue. It had two legs and four arms which were now all clinging to a higher branch slightly above its head. The animal was close enough so that Emma could see its face clearly. Its head was shaped like that of a chimp, but it only had one large eye that was in the center of its face, just above the large flat nose, that blinked occasionally at her. Two cupped ears sat high on the side of its head, and pivoted around as if he was listening to the sounds forest. As the animal opened its mouth to make a loud screeching sound, she could see the rows of sharp teeth.
“My, you’re an odd looking fellow.” Soon after she spoke, the animal lost interest in her and climbed back up into the trees. She watched as he disappeared into the canopy of leaves somewhere above her.
Emma wanted to go explore the other side of the stream before it got to be too late. She stood up on the rock and was looking for a way that she could cross the stream without having to get wet. Her staying dry next to the stream didn’t last too long. Behind her, she heard the sound of her little creatures running in her direction. She turned just in time to see her rewas heading straight for her at full speed and it looked as if they had no intentions of stopping before they reached her.
“Oh, hell no,” she shouted to them as them got closer. They ran side by side as if in attack mode and had these huge toothless grins plastered across their faces. “You guys better not…” she didn’t even have time to finish her sentence. The rewas had launched themselves up onto her legs. Her arms pin wheeled backwards as she tried stay on her feet, but it was no use. The momentum of the rewas crashing into her had knocked her off balance. She fell backwards into the ice cold water of the stream. She screamed as she fell into the water that was much deeper than it appeared to be when she was sitting on the rock. When her head went under the surface of the water, she breathed the water up her nose and mouth. The cold water was a bit of a shock to her body, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.
She swam to the surface and coughed up the water. She was blinded by the water running down her face. She heard the sound of laughter coming from across the stream, as she wiped away the water from her eyes. At first she thought it was her bad pets that were laughing at her, but soon focused her eyes on the figure standing by the edge of the stream.
“I’ve got to say that was the funniest thing I have seen in a very long time.” Avery was just about doubled over laughing at the scene before her. “I wish I would have had a camera with me. That was priceless.”
“Oh shut up, Avery.” Emma eyed the three innocent looking faces staring at her from where she had been standing on the rock. She looked back to her friend then busted out laughing. “I cannot believe they just did that to me.”
“You should have seen it from my view. I would swear that they knew exactly what they were doing. How’s the water?” Avery moved to stand next to the little rewas.
The water was about waist deep on Emma, “It actually feels wonderful. Why don’t you join me?” She splashed some water at other woman.
“Umm…no thanks,” she shook her head and held out a hand to help Emma out of the stream. “Actually, I came over to see if you wanted to join me and Gracie. We’re going to the market in a little bit.”
“How are we going to get there?” Emma replied as she tried to squeeze out as much water as she could from her clothes.
Avery stepped back onto the grass, “Gracie knows how to drive Zane’s hover vehicle, lucky dog. Zeb won’t show me yet, because I am pregnant.” She rolled her eyes as she said Zeb’s name. “Sometimes he can be such an overprotective pain in the ass when he wants to be. Would you like to come with us?”
Emma thought it over carefully before she answered Avery. Brylon had told her he didn’t want her going to the market alone, but would this trip qualify as alone? She smiled and answered, “I’d love to come with you guys. Just let me change out of these wet clothes, and I will meet you in front of your tree!” She laughed, realizing that she called Avery’s house a tree.
“Great! You are going to love Gracie. She’s so much fun.” The two women walked back towards the houses while Emma’s rewas followed along behind them, still rough housing.
****
An hour later the three women were on their way down the road to the market. The weather was perfect. Zane’s hover vehicle had a removable top that folded back and into the sides of the craft. It was like being a teenager in a great looking convertible car heading to the mall.
The three women hit it off immediately. Emma instantly took to Gracie who had found out recently that she was pregnant with twins. The ride to the market was filled with girl talk about each of their mates, and how each one acted towards them. By the time they reached the market, they had come to the conclusion that all three men were very protective, but Brylon’s protectiveness was a bit more extreme tha
n Zeb or Zane.
Emma vented to them about what happened when her and Brylon argued the other night. She explained how his sudden change in behavior had taken her off guard and royally pissed her off. She could understand his wanting to protect her, but forbidding her to leave their house, that wasn’t going to happen. Even Avery and Gracie had agreed with her on that point. Even Zeb and Zane had not gone to such extremes to keep them locked up like prisoners. Emma was just trying to understand what caused Brylon’s sudden change in behavior when she mentioned a trip to the market with Avery.
When Brylon had attempted to speak with her the morning after their argument, she wouldn’t hear it. Every time he tried to get close to her, she would turn and walk away, sometimes leaving the room altogether. After several minutes of playing cat and mouse with her, Brylon gave up and left the house and didn’t return until much later that night. When he got home, she was already in bed pretending to be asleep. She lingered in bed until long after he had left again this morning, so that she wouldn’t have to talk to him. She decided that she wasn’t going to think about him anymore for the time being, and just enjoy the time she would have with her new friends.
“Here we are ladies!” Gracie said as she parked the vehicle. “I am so excited about coming here. Zane hasn’t had the time to bring me with his work at the hospital keeping him away so much, and this is my first time here. The council meetings and working on the policy changes for future missions to obtain mates, has been so time consuming.” Gracie chatted excitedly as she got out of the vehicle. “Come on ladies, let’s go spend some money!” They all giggled as they walked in the direction of the colorful tents under the canopy of the enormous trees.
The market wasn’t as busy as it had been the other day when Emma had come with Brylon. So, this gave the trio more access to the items that were for sale. Emma laughed as she watched Gracie bounce from one booth to another on a quest to find what she wanted. Her friends reminded Emma of children in a candy shop. It took both Avery and Emma over an hour to get Gracie out of a booth that sold dresses in every color imaginable. Avery and Emma had each left with two dresses, while Gracie couldn’t make up her mind and bought all the ones that she liked. The best part of shopping in the market was that they did not need money. All they had to do was tell the vendor who to charge the purchase to, and off they went on to the next booth.