by T. J. Quinn
As soon as the shuttle landed on the Dreadnaught, it broke orbit and headed out of the system to the closest FTL jump point. Zared and I went back to his cabin, now our quarters. While we were down on Halor we also registered our mating. My understanding it was equivalent to a civil marriage on Earth. We had already pledged to each other. One day we would do so before his comrades---when the time was right. To do so at that time would only serve to emphasize their loss of loved ones.
Before the fall of Farseek, the warriors did not have spouses or mates aboard except for solmatu. That rule changed when the Farseek divisions turned mercenary. They could now have their mates with them if they were trained to serve a useful service to the company. However, only a small percentage of Zared’s company were mated. Some of their mates were among the missing.
The four of us from Earth agreed to be trained basic warrior skills. We had about three and a half weeks to Breskaa. Zared had related all that to me on the ride back to the ship.
As we headed for our quarters, I’m pretty sure we were both thinking about what was going to happen when we got inside and the door closed behind us. The supplies and clothing we picked up on Halor were unloaded by a robot and our things were delivered after we requested them much later.
The door had barely slid closed behind us and Zared pulled me against him. I raised my arms and curled them around his neck and leaned into him. Tilting my head back, I parted my lips slightly for his kiss. Something between a moan and a sigh hummed low in my throat. His kisses were slow and deeply masterful, the kind I felt all the way to my toes. After a few hot, tongue tangoing kisses, clothes started coming off as we did a slow dance into the bedroom.
We were naked by the time we got to the bed and fell into bed in a tangle of arms and legs. I rolled onto my back and Zared poised himself above me. I liked that he preferred to make love face to face. It seemed so much more intimate than other positions, because we could look into each other’s eyes as we rocked together toward orgasm in no particular hurry to get there.
Zared lowered his weight against me squeezing my breasts flat against my chest. The only thing that felt better than that was when he sucked on my nipples which he did at length while he used his fingers inside me and thumb rubbing my clit to make me come. He kept me writhing and shuddering at length, commanding me to look into his eyes as he did so. I loved the way he could do that.
As I lay limp and sated afterward, he kissed my lips and caressed my face whispering love words. I did the same to him. Then after a little breather he was on me and in me, delectably so. In those moments, it was as if he were the universe and the universe was all mine as we journeyed to ecstasy together.
His velvet cock filled me, hitting all the pleasure spots as he thrust it to the hilt. He thrust fast and hard until I was close to orgasm then stopped. I knew if I squirmed and arched against him I could come, but I didn’t. I had learned to let him draw out our pleasure stoked by pheromones and hormones. It was so much more satisfying when we came together. The way he pulsed inside me was exquisitely pleasurable. So much so, all I could do is groan and pant as I shuddered with each contraction of my inner walls around him.
Making love let us forget for while what lay ahead. It reminded us that we had something extraordinary growing between us and gave a hint of what the future could be if we made it back to Farseek.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ZARED
After we made our mating official on Halor, I couldn’t resist baiting Harper after she received her biochip. While the new clothes didn’t detract from her beauty, they did little to enhance it. They were the same basic uniforms that we all wore, minus the warrior markings.
I personally preferred her wearing only my shirts or naked with me inside her, but that was not practical. It made my cock twitch just thinking about it. All it took was a pseudo sinister threat to make her tremble just a little and suck in her breath. I knew immediately she was thinking about how I would pleasure her and how we would pleasure each other when we reached our quarters. Within seconds I could scent the fragrance of her arousal and I would taste it very soon. Mine! My solmatu.
Then I forced my mind to other things to keep my cock in check. I didn’t want to advertise my desire to copulate with my mate as luscious as the thought was.
While we were down on Halor, the Dreadnought docked into the repair station orbiting the planet to have all the markings that identified us with the Consortium removed. They changed our ID signature so we were no longer identified by our origin. Farseeker Dreadnaught One became Dreadnaught Seeker. They might see us coming but they wouldn’t know who we were. In one respect that was good, but Farseek warriors were known as extremely formidable and our reputation won’t precede us.
Fareek Dreadnaught Eight was also reconfiguring to sever its identity from the Consortium. They would reach Breskaa before us and shuttle down a reconnaissance team to gather intel that would govern our plan of attack. We also needed to determine if the Sargus Empire has any battle cruisers in the area. Although our dreadnaughts were heavily armed, the battle cruisers had fighter drones that could swarm our ship and cause multiple hull breaches before we could take them out.
That was Admiral Degatu’s problem. Mine was getting our people out and as many slaves from other worlds as we could free. We planned to shuttle down to the planet and land outside the mining compound as close as possible in the dark of night. It was basically the same plan we used to liberate the slaves on Ursaga. We needed to know the layout of the compound, the location of the slave quarters, the number of guards and the weapons they carried.
Until we had that information, we could do little more strategic planning. In the meantime, training for the Earth women began, including my Harper. Sergeant Alaric Namotu was assigned the task of instructing them in basic warrior skills. He was one of our best instructors and would not coddle them.
We had no intention of putting them in harm’s way. But we didn’t want to leave them helpless if they should find themselves there. Although only Scarlet had military experience, they were all strong and physically fit. She was accomplished in a fighting art she called MMA. The word didn’t translate into our language, but it was entertaining to watch her spar with Namotu and hold her own against him. He is much larger and stronger than she. I suggested having her teach those techniques to the other women since it seemed to depend on leverage and technique for defense
Zoe had been a fitness instructor in their world where many in the more affluent countries had grown fat and soft. It was hard to imagine. She helped people return their bodies to their most physically fit state. Nora had been a nurse which she explained as a kind of medical technician. She had been fascinated by the clinic that supplied them with the biochips and contraceptive implants.
Although we had a medical AI, it was always good to have a human backup with medical skills in a unit such as ours. Sometimes serious injuries were simply unavoidable. So, we asked her to study with the AI and learn our medical techniques which were apparently far in advance of those on Earth. Harper’s skills were a little more basic. She had what she called a liberal arts education. She said she learned a little about a lot of things but no real skills to earn a living. That’s why she decided to become a mail carrier. It paid enough to give her a decent living and only required proficient reading and arithmetic skills.
It was just a job to her. She aspired to be what we call a story teller---a kind of scribe, the way I understood it. We didn’t have a great need for that skill in our mercenary unit, so she did some aptitude testing once her biochip had infused her brain with the necessary language skills. The results only confirmed what I already knew, she was not only beautiful and sexy, she was also very intelligent as were all four Earth women.
Harper has an aptitude for logistics and strategic analysis, which is probably related to her story telling and what I understood about her occupation on Earth. With further training her abilities could be beneficial in mission plann
ing. It seems we acquired some useful women when we rescued them, aside from Harper being my solmatu.
In the time, it took for us to reach the Breskaá system, they trained physically, learned to use hand weapons, and some basic martial arts from Scarlet. Even some of my warriors were interested in learning some of the techniques she demonstrated. Except for Scarlet, the other three women would not likely go out on any missions with us, we just needed them to be capable of defending themselves. One day it might be required of them.
Only part of their day was spent in physical training. The women also learned about the workings of our ship and our technology that we were speculating was about two centuries ahead of theirs. Their initial training was not nearly as rigorous as our normal warrior training which takes months. We designed the regimen to help them assimilate into our company culture. We knew what they had lost in being abducted from their world without any means to go back.
We could never go back to the Farseek that was because it no longer existed. We estimated up to half a million people died in the attacks on our planet. Had we been given the information as it happened we were too far out to have prevented the destruction of our civilization. Like us, the Sargus Empire had the technology to destroy a world in a day.
The only thing that kept them from obliterating our world is their need for slaves. The gods only knew what kept them from completing their destruction after they collected most of the survivors. It gave us no comfort except for the lives that were spared. We gave them what food and medicine we could spare and the medical android treated those who were ill and injured before we left on our mission.
We weren’t wasting our time on revenge, not that we didn’t want it. Rescuing our people was more important than revenge. That would be our revenge.
About a week out from Breskaá, we contacted Farseek Dreadnaught Eight, now Dreadnaught Avenger. Their recon acquired the mining compound layout and the slave barracks. With that information, we finalized our plans for rescue. While we continued on our way to rendezvous they continued to monitor the system for empire patrols.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
HARPER
“You know, Harper,” Zared began, “as my mate you are not required to train or serve.”
“I’m not playing that card, Zare,” I replied. “Being your mate doesn’t make me better than they are. It should not have any bearing on whether I train to serve some useful purpose here. I’m not asking to go on missions.”
“I won’t allow it,” he replied and it sounded like an order.
I gave him a defiant look. “What? You what?”
“You don’t have the training for the kind of missions we have ahead of us.” He gripped my upper arms gently. “That’s what I meant. Training with the other Earth women is your choice. What did you think I meant?”
“That I couldn’t train.” I looked up into his beautiful violet eyes. “I wish you didn’t have to go on those missions.”
“I wish there was no need for them,” he said quietly and slid his arms around me and pulled me against him in a tender hug. “We were looking forward to some time off to be home and spend time with our families before this happened. Now it’s all gone.”
I laid my head against his chest and hugged him back as he rested his cheek against the top of my head. I had no argument for that logic. What happened on his world was reprehensible. I knew that he was the kind of man who would have to get his people out of slavery. I was afraid for him, but I wouldn’t ask him not to go. That would only hurt him more.
The program they put together for us was more than just physical training. We learned about their technology and the worlds of the Consortium and the numerous humanoid races among their worlds. The more we learned, the more we knew we needed to learn. It also helped me feel less displaced.
Once the biochip kicked in, Zared gave me this tiny little disk about the size of a quarter that was a computer. It was a disk with a touch pad for my thumb that activated a virtual screen that activated a holographic display. It was just about the coolest thing I ever had. Once I could read and write their language, it became useful. I was thrilled because I could write again! That’s when I started this journal starting when I was taken.
When I thought about everything that happened to me since that evening, it seemed almost surreal. I had three new best friends and a soulmate with whom I was falling in love. Except for the fact that I was completely cut off from my family and my home world, I was happy.
Well that and the fact that Zared was getting ready to go on a potentially dangerous mission. That scared me more than a little, though he kept reassuring me that this was not the first dangerous mission. He was good at what he did and I shouldn’t worry. He didn’t get to be Commander General by getting people or himself hurt or killed.
There is always some war going on back on Earth. I had seen what it does to people. Falling in love with a warrior would not have been my first choice, but with Zared I had no choice. The mission that brought them to rescue us at the slave auction house was only the beginning.
“I thought you were crazy, falling for that hot commander,” Scarlet remarked as we were having a leisurely lunch in the mess hall. “But that Pyrr is pretty hot as well. I see him watching me when he thinks I’m not looking.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, “he’s got his eyes on you all right. Are you going to cut him a break or keep him dangling?”
“After listening to you worrying about your commander, I’m not so sure I want to pair up with any of these guys. I’ve seen way too many soldiers come back in body bags.”
“So, you’d rather be alone than risk falling for somebody because you might lose them?” I asked.
Scarlet didn’t answer right away. Finally, she said, “Been there, done that. We were in Afghanistan and his truck got it from a roadside bomb. We were getting married when we got back to the states in a few months. And he was gone.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that.” Her eyes filled with unshed tears.
“You’re scared. Believe me I get that. Anytime you care for someone and let them into your life, you risk losing them for whatever reason.” I told her. “They say some women don’t want to commit. The guys are even worse.
“You practically have to be a mind reader. Almost from the first day they are after you for sex. So finally, you say ok. You have sex and it’s not half bad, so you think it’s going to be a relationship. Days go by and they don’t call, they don’t message, nothing. The next thing you know they’re going out with Mary what’s-her-name like nothing ever happened between you.”
“I hear you,” she said. “I’ve been there, too. What do you think, Zoe?”
“They’re all pretty exotic looking, but those muscles. They all are so gorgeous and sexy. I don’t know if I can pick just one.
“So take, two.” I giggled. “Some men like to share.”
“What about you, Nora?”
“They’ve all been pretty nice. But there isn’t really one I like better than the others,” she said. “It’s been months, and I’m still trying to wrap my mind around being kidnapped by aliens. I don’t even like sci-fi.” She grumbled and we laughed.
“Well, if this were sci-fi,” I said, “we could be watching it, not living it.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ZARED
In the days leading up to the Breskaa mission, I was glad that Harper didn’t let me convince her not to train with her people. I had numerous strategy meetings with my company to plan the mission and sift through the intel. Dread Eight’s recon showed that we would be outnumbered three to one, but security was aimed at keeping the slaves in the mine working, not keeping a team like mine out.
Their defense for an outside attack was almost non-existent. The slaves and overseers worked three shifts in twenty-seven hours days. That meant about one third of both slaves and overseers were sleeping at any given time. It seemed like a simple matter of detaining the guards and herding the slaves into our shuttles. To
o simple.
There was nothing I could pinpoint but I have learned not to ignore those feelings. They’ve kept my people and me alive more than once. Even though it seemed like overkill, my people twenty-two men and three women were all suited up in battle armor and carried ion rifles as we loaded up our shuttle. We went down to secure the compound with two more shuttles standing by to come down on my command. Dread One and Eight remained in orbit on opposite sides of Breskaa, so it might appear that only one ship was present.
Dread Eight sent part of their company to the agricomplex dome in the desert to secure the premises and round up the slaves. As I told Guryon back on Halor, we would just take them all and sort them out after we got them to the ship.
My first indication that things were about to go awry was the guards at the corner towers of the barracks compound were dressed in Empire military uniforms and carried ion rifles. The perimeter was enclosed in metal fencing with coiled barbed wire at the top. While there were live guards in the towers at each corner, the rest of the fence was guarded by cameras with motion sensors.
There were two guards at the main gate and my company was spread around the perimeter. While the cameras were being shot out, we took out the tower guards and those at the front gate. One of the guards must have set off an alarm because armed hostiles came out of the guards' barracks and started firing weapons after us. They were in uniform but not armored as we were.
There were at least ten of them that fanned out and firing at us as we came in through the front gate. Before we moved in Baze Segtu disabled the zapper fence so they could cut through it and come into the compound behind the guards that were firing on us. We weren’t taking any prisoners. Our ships would be full enough once we rescued the slaves. Those that surrendered, were bound with zip ties and secured in their barracks.