by Rebecca Pond
“First thing you need to do is stop acting like such an asshole. Then you need to take your ass back home and explain to her what you are feeling and why you don’t want her out without you. It’s the only way to fix things. You don’t want to lose something as precious as your mate. It has taken us far too long to find them.” He clasped his friend on the shoulder, “Now go and talk to Emma. I can finish changing that fuse.” Zeb went back to the hole that Brylon had crawled out of earlier, “Just transport down, it will be a lot quicker.”
Brylon went to the transport room and quickly beamed himself down into the bedroom he and Emma shared. By now she would probably be asleep, but needed to talk this over with her. He would apologize for his recent behavior and tell her how much he loved her. He walked slowly over to the bed where we could see a small lump in the middle. He eased his large frame down onto the bed and reached to pull the blankets off Emma’s head.
“Emma…wake up my love…” he leaned in, ready to kiss her neck, but instead was met with a mouth full of fur. “What the hell…” he ripped the blanket the rest of the way off of the lump and stared in confusion at Emma’s rewas who had taken over his bed. “Where’s Emma, girls?” It was stupid to be asking the rewas where Emma was, but for the moment it seemed the only logical thing to do.
Nana raised up her little head and looked at Brylon. She let out a low whimper then settled back down and closed her eyes. Brylon suddenly had a very bad feeling come over him. He ran through the rest of the house checking everywhere for Emma. When he was positive that she wasn’t in the house, he took out his communicator and called for Zeb on the ship.
“Zeb here,” Zeb’s tone was muffled.
“She’s not here, Zeb. She’s gone,” he spoke franticly into the communicator.
“What do you mean she’s gone?”
“Just what I said, she’s not here. I have looked everywhere in the house for her. Can you check with Avery, and see if she is over by your house, while I contact Zane?”
“Sure, hang on while I call Avery.”
Brylon put Zeb on hold while he contacted Zane, “Zane, is Emma with Gracie?”
Zane’s voice crackled through the speaker of the communicator, “No, Gracie and I are up in the infirmary on the mother ship. Why?”
“I can’t find her. They were together this afternoon, so I was checking to see if Emma had gone to see Gracie after we argued,” Brylon replied to Zane’s question.
“Hold on. I will check with Gracie to see if she knows where Emma might be.”
Brylon waited as the doctor checked with his mate. He knew she wasn’t there with Gracie and that she would probably have no idea where Emma had gotten off to, but he still held on.
“Sorry, Brylon, Gracie doesn’t know. She said after you came storming out of the house like a madman, she and Avery left, and haven’t see Emma since. If you need help looking for Emma, I’ll be happy to help you.”
“That would be great Zane. Meet me in front of my house.” He switched lines automatically in order to get back to Zeb, “Anything?”
“No, Avery was sleeping when I just called. She hasn’t seen Emma since she got home. If you want, I can send down a few men to help look for her, because I cannot leave the ship right now. I can send Ceran and Manko.”
“Thanks Zeb, send them down with Zane. I will keep you posted.” Brylon shut the communicator and stuffed it back into his pocket. He walked outside, looking around the house and into the woods with the hopes of seeing Emma idly sitting somewhere just out of view.
“Emma!” He shouted into the forest. “Emma, where are you?”
His heart sank even further when she didn’t reply. Where could she have gone? He walked further out into the yard towards the stream, just as three figures materialized out of thin air.
Ceran was the first to speak, “Did you find her?” He and the others walked with Brylon to the stream.
“Gracie said something about how when Avery came over this morning to ask Emma to come along with them, she found Emma in the stream.” Zane informed Brylon.
“What would she be doing in the stream?” Manko questioned the doctor.
“Apparently, the rewas had knocked Emma in, and Avery had witnessed the entire event. Gracie said that Avery couldn’t stop laughing.” Zane walked to the edge of the stream and searched its banks for signs of Emma.
Manko jumped the protruding rocks the same way Emma had done a short while earlier. He knelt down on one knee and felt the damp ground before standing back up and turning to the men on the opposite side of the stream, “There are footprints on this side leading off into the forest, small footprints.”
Brylon took the rocks two at a time to get across to where Manko stood. Once across he observed the area that Manko was pointing at. Sure enough small footprints were pressed into the damp mud, and led off into the dark forest.
“Oh Gods, please tell me she didn’t go in there at night, and all alone.”
Chapter 21
Lars steered the fighter out of the Drylon atmosphere and set a course for Theron. They had escaped unseen thanks to the raging wind storm that was actively covering most of the planet at the time of their escape. Neither man could believe that the plan had succeeded, and that they were on their way home, supposedly.
Lars still hadn’t figured out how to get rid of old commander. He certainly wasn’t going to Theron as he led the man to believe. He had just set the course for the planet so the man would not be alarmed. It was going to take several hours before they even came within viewing distance of Theron so he had some time to figure out what he needed to do to get rid of Zirlo.
“How long does it take these new fighters to travel to Theron?” Zirlo asked.
“It should take us about eight hours to reach Theron, Commander.” Lars still needed to play the part of a lost warrior on his way home.
“Do you know if the mother ship has returned to Theron?”
Lars looked at the old commander of Theron. “I know as much as you. The last thing I heard was that it was in route, but had been attacked by the Drylons. I’m not sure if the ship even made it home. I was taken prisoner right after hearing about the attack.”
“Come to think of it, you never told me how you became of prisoner of the Drylon Emperor.”
Lars’ mind raced for answer that would satisfy the man and shut him up for a while, “I was out patrolling the outer boundaries of Theron when my ship became disabled. An electrical fire took out all communications and steering of the ship. I drifted for hours while I tried to fix the damn ship, but it was too late by then. The Drylons were also out patrolling when they came across my ship. I couldn’t put up much of a fight in the situation that I was in, so I went willingly with the hopes of being able to escape. Now, here I am.”
“Our ships do not patrol in pairs any longer?”
Crap, Lars thought, the bastard was going to ask him a dozen questions. “There are not enough of us to do so anymore. Many of our people died in the war with Gatton, and there aren’t many of us left. That is why we had to scout the universe for compatible mates, remember? The Theron race will never be what it used to be.” Lars laughed inwardly to himself. It was amazing how quickly he could come up with a lie and how the old bugger was believing every word he said.
“What did the Drylons do to Theron? Was the planet completely destroyed?”
Would the questions ever cease, Lars sighed, it was going to be a long eight hours, “The first couple years during the war, the Drylons had complete control of Theron. You remember how their attack took us by surprise, and we were nowhere near ready to retaliate. Those of us who survived the initial attack were able to get off the planet, taking as many away as we could. But, it was that first attack that had caused the most damage. Gatton must have been planning his attack for a very long time because he left nothing in the cities standing. He hunted down every female he could find, took them prisoner or killed them in cold blood. Once we were able to regroup
and figure out a strategy using the help of our Pernmock allies, we were finally able to launch a counterattack and regain control of Theron.” At least this much he didn’t have to lie about. Everything he told Zirlo was the truth. There was no need to lie about what had happened to Theron. His own father had been killed in the middle of the war, and this is what caused him to start learning more about his mother.
“Have we been able to rebuild our cities?”
“We have rebuilt, but not how I bet you are thinking.” Lars grinned.
Zirlo drew in his eyebrows in a confused look, “What do you mean?”
Lars laughed while he took in the commander’s expression. “We live in the forest now.”
“What! The forest of the Gods, how is that possible?” Zirlo was stunned.
“I am not exactly sure how it all came to be, but it was your son and two others that lead the way for us to move into the forest. Miraculously the forest has accepted our presence. Our homes are now even in the trees. The Gods, for whatever reason, have allowed us to live in their presence, provided that we take of the forest and don’t destroy it. So far the way we live seems to be working quite well.” Lars was really starting to hope that Zirlo would grow tired of asking questions.
“You know man, you have left me speechless. I can’t wait to see what Theron looks like post-war, but for now, I’m tired. Would you mind very much if I closed my eyes for a bit?” Zirlo didn’t wait for a reply before he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep shortly after.
Finally some peace and quiet, Lars thought to himself. The old man was driving him crazy. The only good thing about the conversation was that he didn’t have to lie about most of it. Everything had occurred just as he had explained it, of course, with the exception of his capture.
But for now, he had the perfect opportunity to figure out a new plan and get rid of his passenger. He would have to get into the computer system and see what his options were. There had to be something that he could do, without causing Zirlo to suspect he wasn’t on the level. The former commander may be older and weaker after being in a prison for nearly ten years, but he wasn’t stupid.
****
Emma was in a heap of trouble now. Not only was she lost in a forest that she knew nothing about, she also had to deal with the injury to her leg that was going to make it impossible for her to a climb back up the steep hill that she had just come crashing down from. She wasn’t sure what she should really do at the moment. Her hasty decision to take a walk had turned into a nightmare, just like her jaunt in the air circulation vents. She was all turned around because of some damn freakish looking pig that wanted to make a meal out of her.
The light from the two moons was still shining down through the trees enough for her to still see by, but she knew it had to be really late. The span of a day and night were much longer on Theron when compared to earth. She wondered if Brylon even knew that she was missing yet. She doubted he knew, because when he left, he had said that if she needed him he would up on the ship. It was possible he wouldn’t even come back home until sometime tomorrow, leaving her out in the forest for God only knew how long.
She was so tired from running through the forest to escape the pig, and her long day of walking around in the market. She wanted so much right now to be curled up in the big bed that she shared with Brylon, even if she was still furious with him. She needed to get up, and at least find some kind of shelter away from the eyes of potential lurking predators that might be around. Her energy level was bottoming out, so it was now or never to find shelter.
Grabbing onto the branches of the shrub, she pulled herself up and tested a small amount of her weight on her injured leg. It was starting to throb, but it wasn’t anything that she would allow to stop her. She took a step forward with the full weight of her body resting on her foot, and felt the stab of pain shoot up her leg. “Oh crap!” She sucked in her breath as she waited for the pain to subside. “Great, this is really freaking great,” she said to herself. She scanned the area for anything she might be able to use as a crutch or walking stick. Not finding anything within reach, she sank back down in front of the shrub that had broken her fall. She could at least get underneath the shrub for the night and use its branches as some form of cover from the animals that might be in the area.
Rolling back onto her stomach, she peered under the low hanging branches and hoped that she wouldn’t be invading a critters home. She stretched out her arm as far as she could and stirred up the ground that was under the shrub, hoping that anything in there might get the point and leave her future camp site, no questions asked.
She listened intently for any signs of movement around her. When she was satisfied that there wasn’t anything sharing the shrub with her, she shimmied her body underneath the branches of the bush, and then flipped over onto her back. There was nothing she could do right now, but lay there and hope that Brylon was out looking for her, rest, and think.
“You should have listened to him this one time, stupid,” she spoke to herself. “You should have known better than to take off in a place that you don’t know. You either get caught or something bad happens every time. You really are a fool, Emma.” She could feel the tears that were beginning to burn her eyes and threatening to spill over. “Why does it seem to be your goal to keep pissing people off? Aren’t you ever going to learn that you aren’t good enough for anyone? Nobody will ever want you.” The tears spilled over the edges of her eyes and dropped to the already damp underbrush. “Stop crying Emma, this is nothing to cry over. You have dealt with this situation your entire life, so why would you think that things could change now?” She squeezed her eyes tightly together to stop the flow of tears. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself enough to be able to relax and maybe get a little bit of sleep.
Right before she fell asleep she mumbled, “You know he wants you, so there is no need for this self-pity.” She tucked her arm under her head and fell sound asleep. She didn’t even hear the rumbles of thunder that sounded off in the distance.
****
Brylon and his search party maneuvered their way through the forest following the barely visible footprints that Emma had left trailing behind her. She obviously had no idea where she was going, because her trail meandered drastically the entire time. A few times they had lost her trail entirely when it would cross through a shallow part of the stream.
“Over here Brylon,” Ceran called from beside and tree. “I think she picked up a follower over here.” He pointed to the hoof prints in the mud then looked up.
The color had drained from Brylon’s face when it registered what the hoof prints in the mud were. Of all the animals out here in the forest it was one of the rarest to come across, the olaffub. It was basically a very enormous, aggressive pig. The Therons had thought they had gone extinct a few years ago, but a small group of them had been spotted much deeper and higher up in the mountainous part of the forest, far enough away to not really be a bother to anyone, but now that seems to have changed. If Emma came across one of these animals she was in more danger than what Brylon had originally thought. The olaffub was an animal that could chase its prey relentlessly. Its stamina was incredible and it could run for hours at a time. There would be no way that Emma would have been able to out run one. Her only hope would be to find something to climb up on and wait for someone to find her.
“The prints go off in that direction,” Ceran pointed to the part of the forest that had thinned out. “We need to hurry if you have any hopes of finding her alive. Emma will not out last an olaffub.” Ceran stood up then took up the led.
Brylon stood motionless for a moment and offered up a quick prayer to the gods of the forest, “Please, if you can hear me, please keep her safe.” He then rushed off in pursuit of the other warriors who were as determined as he was to find his missing mate.
Chapter 22
The fighter heading for Theron was making good time. While Zirlo had slept, Lars had scanned and searched th
e computer systems for a possible route that would lead them away from Theron. If he couldn’t find a way to get rid of the former commander then he would just have to kill him, something that he really didn’t want to do. He did have some respect for the old man, because at one point in his career the commander had saved his father’s life. Not to mention, he had managed to survive ten years of hard labor in a Drylon prison camp. He thought if he could just get the man to a nearby space station, he could dock and release Zirlo, then be on his way.
A loud beeping noise started to shriek through the main cabin of the fighter, waking Zirlo in an instant. A computerized voice then came over the speaker, “Your destination is now within range. The planet of Theron is fifty thousand miles away.” The voice went silent after its announcement throughout the speakers of the fighter.
“Almost home my friend,” Zirlo said as he reached out and slapped Lars on the shoulder. “It will feel so good to be back on Theron after so long an absence.” Zirlo was smiling as spoke to Lars.
Lars was still searching the perimeter for a way out, and as Zirlo spoke to him, his eyes came across the one thing that he never expected to find out here, a worm hole had formed near their planet recently. This was perfect. He could drop Zirlo at the Theron space station then immediately set his heading for the worm hole. He couldn’t have asked for a better route.
“Thirty minutes until approach,” the computer announced.
The planet grew in size as the fighter approached. It had been so long since Zirlo had last seen his home that he couldn’t seem to take his eyes from it.
“Fifteen minutes until approach.”
Without warning a different voice came over the speaker, “Unidentified fighter, please identify yourself.”
Fuck, Lars hadn’t expected this problem. He would not be able to truthfully identify himself without causing alarm and bringing attention to himself.