Finding Jess (First Wave)

by Mikayla Lane

  However, it was her playful side that tamed his beast and made her the perfect playmate for the children. She was daring and fearless, taking chances on the equipment sometimes that made his heart drop to his feet; which was what she was doing right now.

  “What the hell are you doing now?” He yelled up at her as he stormed over to the tubes.

  Looking up he could see her scampering along the top of the tubes while the children yelled directions at her.

  “No, I saw it go to the right!”

  “No, the left!!!"

  “I got it!” Jess yelled triumphantly holding up the mechanical space ship that Lagor had made Justin; it had gotten caught under one of the metal support beams on top of the tubes. She peeked over the edge at Amun and smiled. He looked so damn handsome standing there patiently staring up at her. Leaning down as far as she could, she held the toy out for Amun to catch.

  “Ok, drop it.” He called up to her when the toy was a few feet above his outstretched hand. Easily catching the toy he handed it to Justin then waited to help Jess down.

  He watched the back of her pants as they molded to her pert ass as she climbed down the side of the tubes. As soon as she was within touching distance of him, he snatched her off the bars and into his arms.

  “I think I was doing a pretty good job of not falling off.” Jess giggled at him, her arms around his neck. She loved it when he did things like this and ended up holding her; which seemed to happen often now.

  “I just wanted to make sure you got down the rest of the way safely.” Amun said swinging her around before setting her back on her feet. He’d stopped trying to hide his desire for her weeks ago. He had tried to take things slowly with her at first, but his beast had gotten tired of that quickly, and he’d become more and more obvious in his affections.

  At first, she seemed a little startled by the attention; the little touches for no apparent reason, holding her hand as they walked in the corridors, kissing her on the cheek good night every evening.

  Recently, she had started grabbing his hand first when they walked, or moving her head at the last minute so that they were much closer to kissing on the lips than the cheek. The encouragement made it harder to control his beast, but the man reveled in the knowledge that she responded to him.

  Chapter Ten

  “Are we meeting for dessert later?” Amun whispered in her ear so the children wouldn’t hear.

  He would have eaten the Earth protein bars if it meant he could spend time alone with her. He hated those things; it didn’t matter how many varieties he’d tried; those things tasted like badly flavored sand. However, Jess said she liked them and had quite a hoard of them in her room.

  “Of course!” She whispered back, with a quick glance at the children to make sure they didn’t hear.

  Jess knew very well that it had to be an excuse to spend time with her; at least, she hoped it was. Most of the time what he brought in at night was what everyone else had with dinner as well. Either he hoped she hadn’t figured it out yet or didn’t realize that she knew it was an open kitchen for everyone, and she could have easily gone in and grabbed a whole pie if she wanted.

  She sure wasn’t going to clue him in either. She really liked the hour, or so that they spent talking together; whispering conspiratorially while they sat close on her bed so the others wouldn’t hear them.

  They also weren’t the only ones sneaking around at night either; Gibly took to disappearing at night. She’d had a hard time sleeping sometimes and usually would go outside for some fresh air and had caught him sneaking away several times. She’d meant to ask him where he went at night, but it always slipped her mind.

  “Jess, we finished with the practice droids for the children. They’ve been thoroughly tested, but the other men would like for you to try them out before we implement them into the children’s training program.” Amun and Jess turned at the sound of Lagor’s voice and watched him walk towards them, his eyes never leaving the scanner in his hand.

  “Thank you, Mr. Lagor!” Justin exclaimed, throwing his arms around Lagor’s legs in a hug. Justin was the most excited about them completing the droids than any of the other children. Jess smiled as Lagor put away his scanner and leaned down to pick Justin up in his arms.

  “You are most welcome, young one. We made sure to make your droid extra strong so it can handle a tough warrior like you.” Lagor smiled at Justin’s beaming face, then at Jess.

  She was so much like his brother sometimes that Lagor’s heart broke at the loss of him; however, it made it easier to fall under Jess’s spell. He’d watched her go from a timid little thing, to a fierce protector of the children. The children had been just as good for her as she was for them; it was hard not to love them.

  “Are we gonna go learn to fight now?” Lily asked running breathlessly up to Jess and Amun, her face shining with excitement.

  Jess wasn’t sure what happened, the moment Lily touched her hand it had sent a shock wave through her body that dropped her to her knees. She held tightly to Lily’s hand in a hard grip; however, she couldn’t force her fingers to let go.

  “Jess what’s wrong?” Amun asked with concern; sounding as if he were in a tunnel.

  Jess’s vision narrowed, the hand not holding Lily slamming flat to the ground with a loud thud. Her hands began to shake as the world around her seemed to disappear, the energy building inside of her until it exploded. Sound and sensation came flooding to her quickly.

  “Jess, how do you feel?”

  “It’s beautiful!!!”

  “This is incredible; the scans…”

  Jess opened her eyes and looked into Amun’s concerned gaze; smiling weakly to try to ease his worry.

  “I’m ok.” She said sitting up with Amun’s help. Looking around for Lily to make sure she didn't hurt her, she saw her surrounded by the other children and Lagor.

  “You made her a gift. It seems the bigger the gift the more it takes out of you. Luckily, she didn’t need a breastplate, or you’d be back in MedLab.” Amun said teasingly, grateful that the scans showed only a minor mineral depletion that he could easily fix.

  Lily came running back over and threw herself into Jess’s arms with such force that Amun had to hold on to the both of them, so they wouldn’t fall over.

  “Thank you, thank you Jess! I love you!” Lily said excitedly as she squeezed Jess tightly.

  “I love you too.” Jess said with tears in her eyes as she hugged the little girl back.

  “Let’s see what you have there, Lily.” Lagor said kneeling on the ground beside Lily and Jess, scanner in his hand.

  Jess watched just as curiously as Amun and Lagor when Lily leaned back on her arms and pushed up the sleeves of her shirt; on both of her upper arms gleamed two silver-colored arm bands.

  Each was around an inch wide, covered with intricate scrollwork broken only by the small dark amber stones glittering in a little strip in the center that went all the way around the band.

  Amun slipped his finger under one of the tight looking bands to make sure it wasn’t cutting off the circulation in the girl's arm and wasn’t too surprised that it had an almost elastic quality to it that allowed it to move easily with the girl's movements with no discomfort. When touched it felt hard like the metal and stone it was, but to the wearer, it was like wearing a piece of clothing. It was just like Ivint’s breastplate in that aspect. It was the thought of Ivint’s breastplate that had his beast rising rapidly to the surface.

  Ivint’s breastplate saved his life; Cari's bracelets had saved her life… was Lily in danger? Does Jess’s gift not only help them control their gifts but help to save them as well? His mind reeled with the memories of Ivint taking that pulsar blast to the chest, the breastplate absorbing and deflecting the deadly energy. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind, including Ivint’s, that the breastplate saved his life.

  Looking at Lily’s arm bands his mind went to the possible ways they could protect the little girl if she was in
danger, wondering if that was why they were created.

  The thought of his family in danger made him want to roar with rage. Looking around the room for potential threats he knew weren’t there he vowed he’d kill anything that threatened his mate and child.

  That thought had the effect of pulling his angry thoughts to an abrupt halt. By the One! When had he started thinking of the three of them as a family? He knew Jess was his mate, but when did Lily become their child? He was floored by the paternal feelings he had for the little girl. He loved all the children, but somehow Lily was the one that had gotten so deep that he had claimed her as his child much the way he claimed Jess. The bond was unable to be broken once made.

  Watching Jess hold tightly to Lily as she chatted excitedly about her new arm bands, Amun had no doubt that Jess would jump at the chance for them to adopt Lily. There was no way either of them would ever allow her to go to another family; the bond between the three of them too strong now.

  He’d have to talk to Jess first, and then Ivint and Banatar, but he saw no reason why they couldn’t be allowed to adopt Lily. Other than the fact that he and Jess weren’t truly mated; that was going to be a problem… for now anyway.

  “You figure anything out doing those scans yet?” Jess asked Lagor as he continued to scan Lily’s arm bands.

  “You’ll be amazed when you find out the things I’ve learned doing these scans. I still haven’t completely figured it out yet, but I will. When I do, you’ll be the first to know.”

  Lagor gave her a beaming smile, hoping she’d be just as fascinated by his findings as he was. It was like her father Dargan’s gift for engineering had been bestowed upon her tenfold, along with her mother’s gift of jewelry making. It was her twist on both of those talents that was remarkable.

  “Maybe we can talk about it after dinner?” Jess asked him hopefully. She had figured out weeks ago that Lagor was her father’s brother. Knowing that sooner or later they were going to tell her about it, she’d kept her silence and allowed herself to get to know the intelligent but quiet man.

  He’d tried hard to find excuses to spend time with her, going out of his way to help with the children and make unique learning toys for them. He was very patient with the wild and rambunctious children, and made sure never to leave out the quieter ones when he spoke or created things for them.

  Watching him with the children sometimes made her get little flashes in her mind of what she assumed was her father with her when she was a little girl. The memories filled with a happiness that she had forgotten over the years, but clung to now. She smiled to herself when Lagor grinned broadly before answering.

  “Of course! I’d love to go over it with you and Amun; Tarvok, of course." Lagor said in deference to the silent warrior that was never far from Jess and the children. Tarvok’s nod was the only indication that he had even paid attention to him.

  “That will be wonderful Lagor, thank you so much. Now who’s ready to go check out the practice droids?” Jess asked to the cheers and shouts of the children.

  She grabbed Amun’s outstretched hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet as the children ran excitedly to the door of the practice room, followed by Lagor and a few other technicians.

  “So, when did you figure it out?” Amun finally asked her.

  “Figure out what?” Jess asked innocently, letting go of his hand long enough to brush invisible dust off her backside.

  “That Lagor was your father’s brother.” Amun retook her hand and began walking with her towards the practice room at a much slower pace than the others. Tarvok followed them at a more discreet pace.

  “Not long ago. It became pretty hard not to notice.” Jess said with a shy smile.

  “I’m glad you’re taking it so well, and sorry we did it behind your back.”

  “Oh, I understand why you did. I wasn’t exactly very receptive to anything at the time. I’m actually glad you did; it gave me a chance to see who he really was, before knowing who he was.”

  Amun understood exactly what she meant and was glad she was so perceptive to have figured it out.

  They stood in the doorway holding hands while they took in the scene in front of them. The nine children were kicking and hitting in what looked like a randomly wild fashion while technicians and Tarvok’s fellow POWs milled around them. Some were showing the children how to correctly hit the droids; others looked like they were making adjustments to the droids.

  Jess’s eyes went to Lily and watched with a smile as the little girl stood fiercely in front of her droid, small hands balled into tiny fists; her face scrunched up tightly with effort as she swung widely at it.

  “We will begin your training when the children take their mid-morning rest.” Tarvok’s gruff voice startled her.

  “What do you mean?” She asked turning towards him. Tarvok gestured to the side of the room where two larger practice droids stood untouched.

  “You mean me?” Jess asked with a small squeak.

  “Yes you. You must learn how to defend yourself if you intend on staying on this planet. If not for your own sake, you need to think of the children. You are with them most; you need to be able to defend them if necessary.”

  Tarvok’s tone made it sound like she had no choice. And in truth, he was right. She didn’t have a choice. Looking at Lily again, she knew she couldn’t ever let anything happen to her; or any of the other children. She needed to be able to defend them, with her life if needed. However, if it cost her life, she wanted to take as many of them as she could with her to give the children a better chance.

  “Will you teach me how to use the weapons too?”

  Tarvok gave her a wide smile.

  “Risk has already made a few weapons designed specifically for your hand. We’ll get started immediately.”

  The beast in Amun wanted to roar with anger at the thought of his mate needing to defend herself. However, the beast and the man knew that she stood a better chance of staying unharmed if she did learn. He squeezed her hand and smiled when she looked up at him.

  They spent the next few hours watching the children on the droids, learning about how they worked and encouraging the children as they learned basic defense moves.

  The interactive droids kept the children enthralled with their lesson. Each hit caused the droid to explain to the child how their hit would have impacted an enemy, encouragement and advice on whether to hit higher, lower or harder to achieve a desired result. When they did hit it correctly the droid would scream “direct hit, direct hit” making the children cheer.

  Justin moved with such fluidity and skill that Tarvok decided to assign Crator to personally train him. The boy beamed with pride at Tarvok and Crator’s praise.

  The other children, including Lily shared an instructor while they hit wildly at the droids, the men assuring the children that they would learn quickly.

  Jess turned towards the door when she heard Tarvok mumble a curse under his breath, knowing Dr. Maggie must have come in the room. She’d wanted to be there when the children first tried the droids, but there had been several injured in a raid last night on another Relian camp.

  “Wow, they are doing great! How long have they been at it?”

  Maggie tried to hide her annoyance when Tarvok got up and walked over to the children as soon as she sat down next to Jess and Amun. That man was an ass and seriously needed a smack upside the head. And if he wasn’t careful, she was going to be the one to give it to him.

  “They’ve been at it for hours, and I can’t believe they haven’t stopped yet. We were just getting ready to call them, over so we can go to the dining hall for lunch. Why don’t you come with us, and we’ll fill you in on what you missed?” Jess offered in the hopes of easing her friend’s frustration at Tarvok.

  Jess had asked Tarvok a dozen times why he didn’t like Dr. Maggie and each time he just grunted at her. When she’d asked Amun if he knew what the problem was, he admitted he was also in the dark as to why Tarvok seem
ed to have such a dislike for the sweet natured woman. Tarvok wasn’t exactly the kind of man who was into sharing his feelings, even with Jess.

  “Honestly, I’m just really tired right now and could probably use some sleep. I’m going to say hi to the kids before you take them to lunch and hit the sack.”

  Maggie pulled herself stiffly to her feet with a groan, her back and leg's sore from the long hours on her feet last night. Everyone was going to pull through with no complications, but if she hadn’t had the new technology that the Valendran’s brought she didn’t think Jax would have made it. Her leg had been almost severed, and it had taken hours to stabilize her, so she could start the natural healing process.

  Ignoring the scowling Tarvok, she hugged each of the children and commented on how wonderful they were doing. She stumbled slightly as she tried to stand from her kneeling position after hugging Justin; one of the technicians caught her and steadied her. Before she realized what was happening, she was grabbed away from the technician and held firmly while Tarvok walked her to the door.

  “What the hell are you doing, you ass?” Maggie spit out from between her teeth so the children wouldn’t hear her.

  “Since you didn’t have enough sense to put yourself to bed, I’m doing it for you before you hurt yourself or one of the children.” Tarvok growled at her.

  “Get your hands off of me, you jerk!” Maggie fumed as she tried to jerk her arm out of his firm grasp, accomplishing nothing more than to anger him further. Which was fine with her! How dare he say that she could hurt one of the children!

  “Stop fighting me before you cause a bruise!” Tarvok readjusted his grip so that he held her more securely as she flailed her arms to try to break his hold.

  “Let go of me before YOU cause a bruise you idiot!” Maggie was close to spitting fire at the arrogant ass that was still dragging her down the hallway towards her room.

  She was fighting so hard that Tarvok was losing his grip, and his patience with the stubborn woman when he spun her around quickly, dropped his shoulder and threw her effortlessly over his shoulder; his long strides eating up the hallway to her room.