“Can you save her?” Tears choked Charlotte.
“I can give her time, but the only way to save her is to take her back to my time.” He glanced around at the kids, who ranged from toddlers to those of about sixteen Earth years. Several of them stared back at him in horrified fascination.
“Are you a monster?” one little girl with braids asked.
“No,” he answered as he examined Melinda’s wounds. “That man I killed was the monster. I’m a good guy from another world.”
“Do all good guys have pink hair and eyes?” the child asked. “And do they all talk funny like you do?”
Miln made note that the one bullet had passed through Melinda and into the floorboards. He smiled at the child and said, “No, but people come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and different physical features. And there are more languages in the universe than you can imagine.”
“Like Ansel,” one of the older children said. “He has a disease that makes him look like a human lion, and his mouth is twisted so that he talks different, too.”
“Hush, child,” the older woman said.
“You have a choice to make.” Miln looked up into Charlotte’s tear-filled eyes. “You stay here with your sister and hope she’s strong enough to survive, which I highly doubt, or you let me take her back to the new Earth base.” He turned his attention to the woman he guessed to be the caregiver of the orphanage. “I have a proposition for everyone. Orphans have little hope in such a tough era, so anyone who wants to return to the year 2300 with me is welcome. If needed, another ship can be sent here to transport everyone.”
“I…I don’t know about this,” the headmistress muttered. “That man gave three of the children something that has made them sick.”
“It’s a virus,” Miln explained. “If they return to the future with me, there is an antidote that will save them. If they remain here, they will become monsters that will infect others and all must be killed.”
Terrified, the woman could only stare at him with her mouth agape.
Quiet reigned in the building, save for the crackle and snap of the fire.
Finally, Charlotte said, “I’ll do anything to save my sister. We’re going with you.”
As Miln administered an Azutuan drug to slow the bleeding of Melinda’s wounds, he nodded. “What about your brother?”
“He’ll be fine, and he’ll probably think we either left for a town brothel to work or that Indians got us.”
“We’ll have to hurry.” He didn’t like the health readings on the scanner. “I don’t know how long this serum will keep her alive. Also, I have to find the ship Randle stole.”
“What?”
He glanced up at Charlotte’s incredulous expression. “My partner ran away, taking our ship. As long as the stolen craft is not out of my scanner’s reach, I will locate it, but transferring your sister to it might be a problem. I cannot trans-shift long distances with her.”
“Lord in Heaven,” Charlotte cried, “I can’t lose her.”
“Tend to your sister.” He straightened and then turned his attention to the headmistress. “I am serious when I say I will take anyone with me who wants to go to the future, but you must all know that it is a tough life there, too. My people’s mission is to repopulate the Earth and revive the plants and animals, so you will all have tasks and many wonderful things to learn. However, it is a dangerous place as well.” He collected his tools and strode to the back door. “I will return as soon as I locate my ship. Make your decisions. Once you set foot on my ship, there is no turning back, and if you choose to stay with the ill children, you must prepare yourself to put them out of their misery.”
He exited to the small stoop and walked out onto the dirt patch behind the building. Light perspiration broke out over his body. The scratchy shirt stuck to his skin, and sweat trickled through his hair and past the edges of his hat. Damn Oshki! The last thing he wanted was to be stuck in the Old West. He stood at the edge of the woods behind the orphanage and touched a sensor on his scanner. Immediately a transparent picture appeared in the air above it with a detailed map of the surrounding terrain.
With a sigh of relief, he spotted the stolen craft’s Sky Streamer path; it ended on the other side of the small town where Melinda had inquired about Randle. If his calculations were correct, the craft should rest at the mouth of the canyon. He snorted. The fiend had walked right by the town and hadn’t even known it.
But it also meant Miln had to ride that infernal creature like a madman through the hilly terrain. If he stopped two Earth miles from the craft, he could trans-shift to it, saving time, and then fly the ship to the orphanage.
He looked up at the moon, now high in the night sky. If he was going to save Melinda, he’d better get moving.
Chapter Sixteen
Once Miln landed the ship in the street, all the orphans and the staff filed out to meet him. He stared at them through the force-field windows and hoped Venus wouldn’t be upset with him. There were many who would live in the bank building with them now.
On the flight to the community, he’d discovered a transmission from Earth Base One about Tapio sending death squad leaders, but there was no time to send a reply or inform the base about the women and children returning with him. The ship would travel faster than his message would, and Charlotte and the three infected youngsters needed immediate, intensive care. He drew in a deep breath and then released it. Well, the brothers and their mate would be in for a big surprise when he arrived. All he could do was contact them once he was within transmission distance of Earth.
He activated the manual door mechanism and hurried outside once it vanished. The people waiting stood with their mouths agape, eyes huge.
“Hurry,” Charlotte urged. “Melinda looks really pale.”
“Everyone who wishes to go with me,” he called out, “enter the ship, turn right, and follow the glowing hall down into the belly of the ship.”
Many stood and glanced uneasily at one another as if they didn’t understand his instructions.
“Move it or stay here!” He bellowed as he leaped up on the front porch. “It’s your choice, but if you hesitate too long, you’ll be left behind.”
He entered the orphanage, scooped Melinda up, and rushed back out to the ship. Hurrying inside, he strode straight to the infirmary and placed her on a table, where he strapped her down. Hoping another dose of the serum would work, he administered it this time via an environite strip.
“Do you think she’ll make it?” Charlotte asked behind him, a tremor in her voice.
“I do not know, but if you have a god, I suggest you ask him for help. Your sister is extremely weak, so it is a matter of her will to live.” He motioned to her. “Come with me.”
He paused by a wall full of tiny, clear compartments. He passed his hand three times over one, and a trio of clear capsules appeared on the narrow ledge under it.
“What are those?”
“You will see in a moment,” he answered.
Miln led her back into the orphanage to the infected victims. Squeezing each capsule between his fingers, he then placed one at each child’s head. Immediately, a transparent shield swept over their bodies, taking the shape of long boxes and hardening so the patient could be carried inside them.
From his tool belt, he affixed a strap to the smallest box holding a boy about ten years old, and then he stooped and hefted the other two containers, balancing one on either shoulder.
“Won’t they suffocate inside those things?” Charlotte asked.
“No, the substance is hard like glass but it allows oxygen to pass through it.” He dipped his head toward the box with the strap. “You should be able to handle that one. Drag it if you must.”
Once they had the infected children stabilized in the medical lab, he quickly showed the remaining children and a couple of the adults how to stand against the ship’s hull and activate the glow bands that would hold them in place during their flight. That completed, he le
d Charlotte to the bridge and settled her in the seat where Oshki would have sat.
The moment he thought of his ex-partner, he froze. Although he was worried about him, Miln knew Oshki could take care of himself. More than anything, anger riddled him, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that they were incompatible. How could he have let himself fall for someone so young? One thing he knew for sure was that his duty to protect his wards came first. As long as he was head of security he would probably never find anyone who would be patient and endure the demands of his duty. His job insisted he put the welfare of others first at all times. What man or woman would want to compete with that? Oshki certainly hadn’t.
However, his brother-friends would want to know where his companion had gone, and it would be up to them whether or not they wanted Miln to bring him back.
“Don’t be frightened,” he said to Charlotte.
She regarded him with trepidation.
“We’ll be in the future so fast you’ll struggle to comprehend it. Right now, focus on your sister.”
Lastly, he returned to the orphanage where he took Randle’s head for proof.
He maneuvered the craft slowly above the tiny community. In seconds, the atmosphere gave way to darkness speckled with a googolplex of stars. The main sensors locked on a black hole. This time they’d emerge from the one in the center of the Milky Way. He felt the subtle jerk of the craft as it approached the portal. Dozens of colors blinded him, and in the next seat, Charlotte gasped.
As quickly as it started, it was over. He set the coordinates for Earth, and within minutes, he selected the communications feature and sent a transmission to the base.
“Earth Base One, this is Head of Security with the recovered Sky Streamer Two. Returning to base with the stolen craft, numerous orphans, and four adults. One is female with life-threatening wounds. Three children are victims of the Bone Eater virus and need immediate attention.”
“Earth Base to Sky Streamer Two,” Volund’s welcoming voice stated. “Where is Sky Streamer Three?”
“Gone.”
“Gone? Elaborate, Sky Streamer Two.”
“Oshki has abandoned his duty and vanished.”
Silence followed. He knew he didn’t have to explain any further. Right now he had to land close to the base and get his charges to safety.
A brief ping drew his attention to the glow screen on his right. The system had pinpointed Oshki’s whereabouts.
***
“The female will make it,” Volund said to Charlotte.
Relief swept through Miln, and he looked over at the woman. “You are lucky your sister has a strong will.”
“Thank you so much.” She stared up at Volund with round eyes full of wonder. “Can I go see her?”
“Sure,” Venus answered from where she stood in the lab’s main doorway. “Come with me.”
“How are the three infected children doing?” he questioned before she left. “Will they survive?”
“Yes,” Venus replied. “They’re fine now. By tomorrow those boys should be up playing with their friends. It appears the younger a victim is, the more easily they recover once the antidote is administered.”
“I am glad the young ones are well.” He smiled.
Once the women were gone, Volund said, “Let us go to your quarters to talk. Jaxxon is handling the orphans. They need physicals and medications before we have to worry about assigning them rooms.”
He trans-shifted, his form wavering and then vanishing. Miln used his rod to administer a fresh dose and then followed him.
In their—his—quarters, he found Volund waiting. He poured water from a jug into a glass and handed it to him. “Sit and tell me what happened.”
Once the story started flowing from his lips, Miln couldn’t seem to stop talking. It felt wonderful to shed the stress, doubt, and blame he harbored. He also relayed what he’d observed about the three youngsters transforming into Bone Eaters and his theory about what Randle had planned.
“I am glad you killed Randle,” Volund said, “but it is unfortunate the female was wounded and the children traumatized.”
“Yes, it is, but at least all has ended well for them.”
“A new batch of antidote will be prepared,” Volund told him. “Since the boys were necessary test subjects, we now know Venus has perfected the serum.”
Slowly, he nodded. The important thing was that everyone brought here would recover.
Volund clapped his hand down on Miln’s forearm. You are the best, my friend. I am glad we chose you as our head of security.” He met his gaze. “Where did Oshki escape to?”
“The signal stems from northeastern Europe in the year 523 BC. Do you want me to bring him back?”
“You cannot make him return if he does not want to, but you have my permission to try.” He sat quietly for a moment, then asked, “Do you love him?”
He shrugged and then shook his head slowly. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to see his partner again, but regret filled his heart more than anything else. Although Oskhi had pursued the relationship, Miln knew he should have turned away the warrior’s advances. Now there was nothing but pain between them.
“When it comes to love, you live and learn,” began Volund. “I thank The Twelve Planets that Jaxxon and I found Venus. After my wife’s death, I fought loving another mate, but if you are meant to be with someone, nothing you do or say will change it.”
“I know.”
“Your friend is actually an alpha male.”
“What do you mean?”
“He wants his way and fights to get it,” Volund explained. “Both Jaxxon and I are alphas and so is Venus, but we all get along and compromise. However, you’ve met an alpha whom you cannot battle. Oshki wants everything his way. I’ve seen him fight you over and over.”
“Yes, I have come to that conclusion, too,” Miln conceded. “If I follow his Sky Streamer path, I do it to bring him back where he belongs and to explain that he is free to love another when the time is right.”
“I grant you leave to go find him, but if he refuses to come back, you must stress the fact that he is not to interfere with history.”
“When should I leave?”
Volund sat back, sighed, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Whenever you choose, but the longer you wait, the harder it will be to track his destination.”
“Let me bathe and change into a clean tilk.”
Within minutes, he’d finished his shower and dressed. He entered the ship again, leaving Volund to explain everything to the others. Although tired, it wasn’t long before he’d traveled into the past to see dawn creeping over the ocean. He had no idea what he’d discover in the sixth century BC, but Oshki’s Sky Streamer path emanated brightly from there. A second conflicting trail signal worried him. He hoped his suspicions were wrong.
He landed the craft in a wooded valley away from prying eyes, but he didn’t have to exit to know what the warrior had done. His streamer path left this very spot and took off again, returned, left, returned…. He’d bound several signal trails together so no one would be able to track him.
Pain skewered his in the chest, but it wasn’t so much the end of their relationship as it was sadness, sadness that Oshki probably hated him now. Granted, he’d been blinded by his amazing physique and his infectious sense of humor. Looking back, he knew he’d mistaken lust for love, but even so, he did care for him. Miln had been lonely, and Oshki liked older men. Given the circumstances, it had seemed a good fit. But not as good as…. He thought back to the last time he’d been with someone special.
Farayza.
Her image rose in his mind, startling him. He had been so young then. His position in security had ended their relationship, too.
He mourned the fact he’d chased Oshki away. When would he learn that he couldn’t have a relationship with someone? His position forced him always to put the welfare of his wards first.
“I am sorry, Oshki,” he muttered,
“but this is how it has to be. I wish you well finding someone who can give you the love and attention you so richly deserve.”
Something smashed against the front force-field window. Miln jumped and quickly disengaged his seat, leaping to his feet. He pressed a sensor on his hand greave. Armor materialized over his body. With Slicer in hand, he trans-shifted from the ship. There, lying in the tall grass, laid a round metal shield with strange symbols on it. Curious, he walked several paces to the edge of a copse to investigate. A body burst from the branches above and landed on him, knocking him flat on his back.
Stunned, he blinked up at the largest female he’d ever seen. Azutu women were tall and big-boned, but not quite as tall as this woman. Her long, blond hair hung in two thick twists on either side of her head, their tips brushing his chest armor. Fierce eyes as blue as an Azutuan night sky stared down at him. Her light brown eyebrows knitted, and her lush, pink lips pulled back into a snarl, baring her teeth as if she might bite him.
She rattled off a language he didn’t understand, but the tone of it certainly relayed her mood.
Slowly, he bent his right hand so that his digits brushed the underside of his greave where it met the heel of his hand. Stretching his fingers, he managed to touch the speech sensor embedded in the wristband.
The female kept barking out her odd language until the translator locked onto her words and connected with the chip at the base of his skull. Suddenly her words made sense.
“You look like a man, but not a man,” she snarled. “Perhaps you are one of the Underworld’s minions?” She let her gaze rove over his features and then added, “Who are you and where do you hail from?”
Recovering himself, Miln used brute strength to flip her off him and pinned her with his body. “I am Miln Se’a, Head of Security for Earth Base One. I mean you no harm.”
Lovers of the Galaxy, Book Two: Bounty Hunters of the Heart Page 9