I squeeze the trigger, happy when the side of the truck seems to be struck by an invisible hammer, the side caving in and a huge bonging sound coming from the cab area. I fire again, choosing my targets carefully. There's no way I can hit a running man with a Gauss pistol at a hundred and fifty meters, not in this cold and wind, but big stationary vehicles? I can do that all day.
I only lose one shot totally, when some sort of bomb hits the top of the mesa and sends shockwaves through the air around us, startling me and causing my hand to shake. Jensen grabs my arm and points with his thumb, I get the message. We run, hoping that Tauria isn't stupid enough to try and start an emergency rocket launch and bring a Q-weapon down on us. Leaping over a fallen tree, we scramble for cover, the air already warming with the heat of the weapons being dropped against the mesa.
Cassell's automated defenses put up a hellacious effort as Tauren's Lancers pound the mesa over and over. Energy beams rip through the sky, blinding us over and over as they lance up from the mesa. The Lancers respond with their normal weapons, Gauss and railgun rounds, the hyperkinetic kill vehicles ignoring any sort of energy shield to thump again and again against the fortress.
I hear a rumble to our left, and Jensen and I both watch as a line of armored trucks rolls towards the side of the mesa, their weapons already humming, their electromagnets charged and ready to send their rounds towards whatever comes their way. I start to get up, but Jensen tugs me back down, shaking his head. “What?”
“Those tanks don't have good sound or vision inside; I know that design. I don't want to risk getting shot by Lancers just because they see us and have itchy fingers. Turn on the communicator, put out a trackable signal,” he says. “We'll have more fights in our future.”
I nod, understanding him and taking out the communicator that's still in my pocket. “Kelbara to Lancer forces, come in please.”
The communicator beeps, and Tauren comes in, his voice a little breathless. There's a crash in the background, and then the sound of Tauren running before he actually speaks. “Little busy right now, Kelbara. Are you two safe?”
“For now. Do you have our position?”
“I've got a signal, we can track it. Do you know where Tauria is?”
“No, she ran from us after.... no.”
“Understood. Hunker down, stay safe, and I'll send a patrol your direction as soon as I can. Tauren out.”
I leave the communicator on, turning to Jensen who's shaking his head, a worried smirk on his face. “Audra's so going to kick his ass when we get back to the capital. Leading the assault himself.”
I shrug, and snuggle up against Jensen, the cold finally starting to seep through the anger and terror of the past few hours again. “I'm sure she will. For now, keep me warm please, sir?”
Jensen chuckles, growling in my ear. “Keep it up, calling me sir. You just keep it up.”
I hum happily and wrap my arms around Jensen, holding him tight. “Yes sir.”
Chapter 26
Jensen
The Lancer camp is laid out in perfect organization, two kilometers from the mesa fortress and looking like something out of a video for Lancer recruitment. Each shelter is lined up on almost a perfect line with its neighbors, each row exactly the same width. It's impressive, and I reflect again why I'm glad I never had to take the Resistance fighters up against a Lancer regiment in actual combat. I'm brave, but I'm not stupid.
“My Lord and Lady, the King awaits you in the headquarters tent,” our Lancer escort says, helping Kelbara out of the cab of the Lancer truck. We had to sit out in the cold another forty-five minutes before any patrol was able to pick us up, and I suspect my love might have a touch of frostbite on her toes. Still, she walks without showing any outward pain, and I remind myself to make sure she gets a full physical before we leave the camp to go back to the capital.
We follow our escort through the camp, seeing the aftermath of the battle. There are surprised but respectful looks from the Lancers, who after all haven't had a long time to get used to having humans in my position around them yet. They don't waste much time with us though, there are still wounded to tend to, the dead to give respects for, and prisoners to process.
The headquarters shelter is blissfully warm, and Tauren's bent over a display table with a Lancer wearing the stars of a regimental commander when we step inside. Tauren looks up, his face immediately filled with relief and happiness when he sees Kelbara and me walking in. He comes around the table and I bow respectfully, knowing we're in public. “Your Majesty.”
“Fuck that,” Tauren says, giving me a bear hug and clapping me on the back. Releasing me he gives the same hug to Kelbara, actually lifting her off her feet for a moment before setting them down. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you two alive.”
“I'm sure Audra feels the same way,” I joke, rubbing my arms and enjoying the warmth. “So just what were you doing leading the assault on the mesa anyway?”
Tauren sighs, going over to a chair and sitting down. Kelbara and I follow, lowering our voices. “Jensen, I can't just arrest her any more, you know that. And if anyone's going to put a Gauss round in her head, it has to be me. Active rebellion? Broadcasting the threat of Q-weapons across the entire planet?”
“She did that?” Kelbara asks, and Tauren nods.
“After you two went down in your shuttle, she used Omicron to bounce a video signal planet wide, stating that if I didn't give up my crown, she'd use Q-weapons on the capital. We nearly had riots as bad as the night I took over when that happened. Audra's back at the palace with Mogar, restoring order, but I had to call out two regiments of Lancers just to try and get things under control there. No lethal weapons, but still.....” Tauren says, rubbing at his face. He's exhausted, and I can feel it coming on me too. “I talked with Audra about ten minutes ago, she said that things are quieting down in the streets since we broadcast the taking down of Omicron by a company of Space Lancers. Cost us twenty good men, but we had to. I couldn't just isolate the platform and starve it into submission, regardless that we knew there was no way Tauria could get up there anymore. The panic, just knowing that fucking thing is sitting up there would have been deadlier than a direct assault.”
“You did the right thing,” I counsel him, Tauren looking over. His eyes are haunted, and for a moment he looks older than he is. It's the gravitas in his eyes, the weight of decisions that he didn't want to make, but made anyway, because that's who he is, and that's who's shoulders the weight has to lie. And it's my job to help him carry that weight as best I can. “I would have done the same.”
“You would have led the whole Lancer attack yourself as well,” Tauren says, giving me at least a small smirk. “Mogar wanted me to ask you, what happened to the stealth shuttle?”
Kelbara laughs, shaking her head. “We blew it up. He's just going to have to build another toy. On the other hand, you can tell him that it flew just fine.”
“I think you'll be able to tell him yourself,” Tauren says, glancing over and looking Kelbara up and down. “You look like you're in pain.”
“Just my right foot, sire. Nothing the medics can't fix.”
Tauren shakes his head in amazement, glancing at me. “If the rumors I've heard are true, you've got as much on your hands as I do. Just shorter.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I reply, smiling at Kelbara. “So Tauren, I was wondering, we once entertained Audra by having a few sparring matches, the two of us. Do you think we can convince Kelbara and Audra to do the same for us?”
“After the baby's born,” Kelbara answers for us, smiling. “I'll take it easy on her.”
Tauren's shoulders shake as he laughs silently, at least for a few seconds relieved. “Oh Kelbara, you're going to be in for such a surprise if you do.”
“It's not over,” Tauren tells me as the two of us watch the sun disappear behind the mesa. Kelbara's in the medic tent, her frostbite being treated while I just needed a warm bath and a fresh set of po
lar gear, even if my nose is cold now. The hood and hat help a lot though. “We might have changed the codes, all the space platforms are secured and we've got plans on the holdout lunar base, but until we get Tauria... it's not over yet.”
“They didn't find her?” I ask, watching as lights still move over the ruins of the mesa. “It's a big structure.”
“Yes, but the prisoners we've taken, they've already said that she had an escape route. Apparently a tunnel of some kind. You didn't see one?”
I sigh, shaking my head. “No, but that sounds like her. What is it with your mother and taking tunnels to get away from things? Next time we catch up with her, it's got to be on flat ground with no tunnels anywhere nearby.”
Tauren doesn't take the bait, instead crossing his arms over his chest and watching the lights. “Two hundred and forty-three.”
“Hmm?” I ask, looking at him out of the corner of my eye. Tauren blinks, then looks over at me. “I didn't quite catch that.”
“Two hundred and forty-three. That's the number of Lancers who died today between this fight and taking Omicron. It's a heavy price for a single day.”
I nod, looking back at the mesa. “There's going to be more days like this, Tauren. Tauria might have lost some allies, but the slavers, they're still out there somewhere. They won't give up, and Tauria.... you know, I didn't know it before, but she's got a sort of charisma around her, I could see how it worked on Ambaris and Cassell. Combine that with greedy men who think they can latch on and get ahead...”
“And you have the recipe for continued fighting,” Tauren finishes for me. “I know what you mean about Tauria's charisma. Remember, she was the woman who set fashion trends planet wide, and even though she's seventy, I bet she's on a lot of people's top ten sexiest list around the planet. Even if we know the truth about her. I know this isn't going to be over, but I hope that we can have a bit of a respite before the next big battle.”
“There may not be another big battle,” I remind him. “Tauren, I kept a Resistance going for the exact same reasons you wanted me to form an anti-guerilla unit. I know how that fight happens. If I were Tauria, I'd try to wear us down that way first. Play the long game. The faster you can find her and take her out, the better it goes for all of us.”
Tauren nods, sighing deeply. “Still, I'm giving you and Kelbara a week off, then you get to start training your unit. We'll review the plans and people at the capital, but Mogar found a hundred volunteers who were more than happy to sign up. So.... about Kelbara....”
“I love her,” I reply bluntly, and Tauren gives me a surprised look. “She knows. Actually, I have a question for you on that.”
“Can she still be your second in command? I have no problems with it, you're both professional,” Tauren says, his head quirking to the side when I shake my head. “What, then?”
“When you asked Audra to marry you, there on the steps of the palace, why'd you do it?” I ask. “Was it just because you love her? Because of the baby?”
Tauren stops, his smile disappearing as he thinks. I wonder if anyone's ever had the guts to ask him such a direct personal question before, well, maybe Audra has, I don't know. Finally, Tauren looks up at the stars. “I asked because I love her, Jensen. But more than that, I asked because I knew that I couldn't go another day where I couldn't be with her. I've heard the rumors, you know. Some of the nobles think I asked Audra just to make sure that I don't have a bastard child. Some of them think I asked because it was a way to quickly reassure the humans that I'm on their side. It wasn't either of those reasons, although I do recognize the advantages after the fact.”
“Those reasons never went through your mind at all?” I ask, and Tauren shakes his head.
“No. The reality is Jensen, I did it because I was greedy. I was standing there, on the steps of the palace, and I already knew that Audra would stay with me. She'd more or less told me as much. But standing there, Joren putting the crown on my head, I realized that there are things more important than a crown. Then I looked over at Audra, and I knew. I couldn't be king without her by my side. I can't be a man without her by my side. So I said fuck it all, I'm going to ask her.”
I nod, the two of us falling silent. I turn around and see the first of the moons, Pollux, rising on the eastern horizon. It's paler than its twin Castor, which should rise in a few hours its normal orangey yellow. Tauren watches the moonrise for a few minutes, then hums in amusement. “Are you asking me about Audra and my marriage for a reason, Jensen?”
“Perhaps. I told Kelbara that I had something important to ask her later. I don't know if she remembers, but we'll see,” I reply, adjusting the hood on my coat. “What would you say if, and I'm just saying if, I did ask Kelbara to be my wife?”
Tauren thinks, then claps me on the shoulder. “I'd say Mogar would be out of a very interesting houseguest. However, I'd be quite happy with that arrangement. You know, if Audra and I could have a baby.....”
“Let's not go there just yet, Tauren. Give me a little time to settle in to some other things first. In fact, I already have a plan for what I'm going to do when I get back to the capital.”
“Oh? What's that?”
I laugh, watching Pollux rising clear and pale. “I'm going to ask Kelbara to have lunch with me. I was thinking a picnic in the greenhouse, it's nice and warm this time of year still. And let's face it, I don't get much use out of the thing right now anyway.”
Tauren nods, humming. “One piece of advice then.”
“What's that?”
“Make sure your staff and everyone stays on the other side of the estate when you do. I've seen that greenhouse, the panels are totally clear and you can see into it from all directions.”
I hadn't thought of that. “Good point.”
Epilogue
Kelbara
The air is sweet electricity in my lungs as I run down the hallway laughing. The staff scoots out of the way, having grown used to the antics that Jensen and I have gotten up to over the past week. It's going to seriously suck that we have to go to 'work' tomorrow. Basic training for Jensen's Rangers starts bright and early at six in the morning.
But that's tomorrow. Right now I'm running, going around the corner and heading for the stairs. If I can get to the bed first like last time, I get to be 'in charge,' while if Jensen catches me.....
“You're slowing up!” Jensen calls behind me, laughing. He gave me a minute to hide before we started our game, with the rules being that I had to hide on the staff side of the estate, and that I couldn't take off running for the bedroom until he'd been through the room. I didn't get a lot of head start that way, only a few seconds, and even though I've used every trick I can, including cutting through the storage room to hurdle obstacles in the way.
“We'll see!” I call back, twirling around Justine who comes out of a hallway, so absorbed in her work that she didn't hear us. “Sorry!”
“Have fun!” Justine calls, trying not to laugh and failing. I toss a wave and keep going, but I can hear him coming up behind me as I open the door to the bed chambers, reaching for the wide surface of the bed.
Jensen's arm slips around my waist and lifts me just as I start to jump, his body twisting in the air so that I feel him underneath me as we hit the mattress, both of us laughing. “I win!”
“You cheated!” I tease, squirming in his arms to see him, but Jensen rolls us over, pinning me to the bed and holding me still. “Hey, let me go!”
“Not until you say it,” he growls in my ear, his body powerful and lean. I struggle, pushing my hips back up into his hot, throbbing cock that I can feel pressing into my ass through our shorts, but he isn't going to be distracted so easily. “Say it.”
“I'm yours.... sir,” I whisper, turning my head to be met by a kiss on my neck. I moan, his lips are so demanding, and his hands are already pulling at my shorts, working me out of my clothes. I'm his for the rest of the night, and that means that if Jensen wants me to not wear clothes.... until midni
ght I'm going to be stark naked, even at dinner.
Jensen lets up though, pulling me with him and letting me turn around, kissing me hard and devouring my lips as his powerful hands squeeze my ass, making me moan more. Ever since that time his tongue played back there I've had fantasies, and when it's my turn to be in charge I know exactly what I'm going to demand. “Sir.....”
“My Lady Kel,” Jensen growls back, the combination of my title with his private nickname making me even hotter, especially the way he says my. My pussy aches for him to spread me open, I'm already hot and sweaty from the run through the house. Jensen kisses down my neck to my breasts, sucking greedily on my sensitive nipples and nibbling. I know I'm supposed to be a good girl, but I can't help it, the sensations running through me leave me grinding helplessly on his lap, my pussy crying out for him. “Naughty girl.”
“For you the naughtiest,” I moan, and Jensen chuckles, pushing me over onto my back while he strips out of his shirt and pants. Every time he does my breath is taken away, I can't believe how handsome and perfect he's built, from his auburn hair to his muscular chest to his thick, perfect cock that curves up slightly from between his legs, ready to take me again. “Sir.... please....”
“Slow this time, my love,” Jensen says, pushing my legs apart and dragging the head of his cock between my lips. “No multiples today. One time to completion.”
“Just one time today?” I whine, and Jensen smiles, he says that sometimes when I whine like this I'm cute and girly. Still, I don't do it too often, just when I'm being playful with him.
Red Planet: The Revolt (Tamarians Book 2) Page 21