by Maia Starr
Crash! I crashed straight into the body of man. Bam! I punched him across the jaw, and he went down. Then another came at me. I was so weak from the torture but yet with the rage I felt in seeing Karissa I was able to fight.
"Move! Move!” the warrior shouted. I ran with them as we took all the men down. As I did so, I looked up and saw a spectacular sight. The sky was full of Corillion battleships. There must have been over 500 of them covering the sky. The lunar base wouldn't have a chance. Then I moved my gaze back to the ground and I saw him. I saw Commander Cook staring at me with rage in his eyes. I smiled and aimed my gun at him and fired before he could move. Boom! He went down.
"Right over here! Let's get you out of here," the warrior said to me as I followed him into a ship. I could see them putting Karissa and a different ship. That was good. I did not want to be in the same ship with her. I could not be near her. She had betrayed me, and I could never forgive her.
Seconds later, the ships were shooting out into space. It was a very large battalion of ships, and I had been lucky that they planned such a raid while I was a prisoner. It was pure luck because I really did not know about it. I was only captain of my own fleet from the Spornium tribe. The Corillion galaxy was vast, and I didn't know every single attack that was planned. I had not lied to Commander Cook in that way; it was the truth.
Chapter 9
KARISSA LANE
I had a plan. It was a good plan. But I would never get to use it. It had been a week of me spending time being the good agent. I followed a routine every day and never strayed from it. I never asked questions about Captain Kai Spornium, because I did not want to give the illusion that I cared about him, even though I did. I didn't need to give Commander Cook and Agent Mickey any more reason to think I was a double agent.
So I kept to myself. I did my work. I spent time in the training room exercising and practicing my skills. But underneath it all, I was inspecting every single space of the lunar base. I was checking for weaknesses in the guard patrol. I was inspecting where Kai's ship was being kept and if it was taken apart. I was gathering as much information as I could in order to come up with a plan. Finally, I had one. I was ready to put it into action when suddenly the base came under attack.
Boom! Everything shattered around us. A thousand laser blasts were raining down from the sky and sirens blared in every single room.
"We're under attack! We're under attack!” someone shouted.
"They are Corillion ships! Corillion ships! Air raid!” someone else shouted as they ran by.
"Shit,” I said as I ran toward the holding area of the prison. I needed to find Kai. This would not be good for either of us. But maybe he could somehow escape in the attack chaos. It was better than the plan that I had. I ran faster and faster and could see Corillion ships landing outside the base very close to the buildings. I saw a few land on the roof. They were coming in. Were they here to get Kai? No one knew that Kai and I were here. That did not make sense. I doubted that there would be such a large attack just to save one Corillion captain.
I ran through the maze to the prison cells and found that they were empty.
"Where is the Corillion that was kept here in the cells? Captain Kai Spornium! Where is he?” I asked one of the guards that was busy loading his gun getting ready to fight.
"He was taken next-door to the underground chamber last week. He has not been back. Go for cover!” he shouted as he ran out of the cells holding area.
The underground chamber? I didn't even know such a thing existed. I ran to the building next door and climbed every single stairway that I could find until I was down in an underground chamber. To my surprise, there were Corillion warriors armed with guns.
"Kai! Kai!” I shouted out as I ran into the room. A warrior grabbed me and stopped me. He was very strong. But when I saw Kai, I stopped struggling because I was filled with shock and sorrow. They had been torturing him. I did not know they had been doing that to him. Torture was not allowed and whoever was doing this was breaking agency rules.
I was pissed off as soon as I saw it. I wanted to hurt whoever was doing this to him. I was mad at myself for not knowing earlier. But the look on Kai's face was different. He was not the same warrior that I had left. Something had changed in him. He was harder. His eyes were filled with hate and I almost could not stand to look at him.
So when the warrior said they were taking me with them, it shouldn't have surprised me that he did not try to stop them. He had been through days of torture, and I had allowed it to happen. He had hardened. He was going to let them take me. It was my punishment for abandoning him I could see it on his face. I struggled to get loose, trying to fight them, but before I knew it, everything went dark.
When I woke up, I was in a familiar place: a locked bunk inside a Corillion ship. It was damn déjà vu. Here I was again. I couldn't believe this was happening. I banged on the door.
"Open up!” I shouted.” Open this door!”
I kept banging until finally the door was opened.
"Shut up. I will only tell you once,” a warrior said as he shoved a tray of food at me and then locked me in. I was so frustrated and angry. I needed answers. I needed to know where Kai was. I needed to know if I was being taken back to the Corillion galaxy for a trial, or simply death. Did they figure out who I was? I was so nervous.
I put the tray of food down and walked back-and-forth in the room. There was no way out of this. We were probably miles from the lunar base, thousands of miles. And by the look of the attack, it didn't look like they would be in any shape to send out a rescue ship. Not that they would want to rescue me. They thought I was a double agent; they wouldn't see me as worth saving. They probably thought I orchestrated the attack.
In truth, I was probably now safer with the Corillion than I would be back on the base with Commander Cook, if he had survived. I sat down on the bed and ate the food and drink. There was no use starving myself. I was going to need all of my strength, both emotionally and physically, for what was ahead of us, for me. The way Kai looked at me with such hate haunted my heart. I hoped that I would at least get a chance to tell him that I did not know he was being tortured; at least then I would feel some relief.
After I ate, I banged on the door again, “I'm done with the food tray!” I shouted over and over. I really didn't care about giving them the tray, but I wanted to get their attention. Finally, a warrior opened the door, the same one that gave me the tray in the first place.
"I'm done with the food, thank you. May I see Captain Kai Spornium? I need to speak to him,” I said to him.
He looked at me confused and then looked at the warrior standing in the hallway.
"Captain Kai Spornium is the one that was saved from the dungeon on the lunar base. He is not on the ship.”
"What? What do you mean he's not on the ship?” I asked.
"He's on one of the other ships. Now, enough out of you,” he said as he grabbed the tray and shut the door locking it.
I couldn't believe it. Kai wasn't even on the same ship as I was. I sat down on the bed suddenly filled with sorrow and hopelessness. At least thinking that he was on the same ship as I was gave me some sort of comfort. It made me feel like he was nearby and watching over me.
But he was not on the same ship as I was. Did he do that on purpose? Didn't he want to talk to me? Why would he allow this to happen? It wasn't like him. There was something very wrong here. I had to figure out what was going on. There was no way that Kai would go through such trouble to take me back to the lunar base, only to be captured, and then to allow me to be captured in return? That did not make sense to me. There was something going on here, and without him being on the same ship, I wouldn't be able to find out what it was.
All I could do was sit here, be quiet, and hope that my presence was fairly unnoticed. What would happen to me when we landed? Where would we land? The Corillion galaxy was far and wide, and I didn't even know what tribe of Corillion this was. I hoped that
by the time that we landed that Kai would come to his senses and maybe even claim me as his mate. At least that way I would not be given away to another Corillion leader. I knew what would happen if another Corillion tried to force himself on me: the same thing as last time. I would have to kill him. I hoped that none of this would happen, that this path would be blocked by Kai taking action.
"Come with me, human female,” a warrior said as he stood outside my door. It had been several hours since they told me that Kai was on another ship.
"Why? Where are we going?” I said to him, worried that they suddenly had an idea to take advantage of my situation.
"You don't get to ask questions. You are a prisoner,” he said back as he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room.
"I must warn you if you try to force yourself on me, I shall kill you,” I said in anger.
He laughed and said, “Yes. We know,” he said as he yanked me, practically dragging me down a long narrow hall. Then he pushed me into a large room where another warrior stood behind a desk.
"Karissa Lane. I knew that you looked familiar. It took me a while to connect you to this,” he said as he swiped the screen on the wall. I gasped as my photo came up on the wall with some words over it in Corillion that I did not understand. But there was something very familiar about it; it was a wanted poster of sorts, with numbers next to it. I could only assume that was the number being offered for my head.
"Who are you?” I asked him.
"I am Captain Lek Spaunok of the asteroid Spaunok. Your people raided my home Altid and in return, we have raided your lunar base. It was a surprise to find Captain Kai Spornium there. I do not know him personally, but we were not expecting to find many prisoners of war. It is very rare that one of us is caught. That confused me. So I began to look into it. Then when I came across his files as being the one that captured the human female that is now wanted all over the Corillion galaxy for killing a leader of the Corillion, it suddenly all made sense.”
"You know nothing, Captain Lek Spaunok. But you should know that if you or your warriors try to force themselves on me, they will die just like your leader,” I spat the words at him.
He laughed and said, “That is not going to happen. We already know what you're capable of. But you need to be brought to justice. First, you kill a leader, and then you take Captain Kai Spornium hostage. You force him to give you access to his ship, and you take him to the lunar base where he is taken prisoner and you are free. It is a good plan. I don't know how you did it. You are a petite human female. How can you take the life of a leader three times your size and then force another skilled Corillion warrior to be your hostage? But you did, and here you are. It is a very serious offense and could be problematic for the survival of our race. If other human females hear of this and take after you, then we will no longer have them to keep our race going. So you see my problem here."
I swallowed hard. He thought that I had taken Captain Kai Spornium hostage. That I had forced him at gunpoint or something to take me to his ship and then take me to my lunar base near Earth. That was absurd, but I could see why they would think it. I realized that if they knew the truth, that Kai had taken me by his own will back to the lunar base, that he would be in a lot of trouble. They would kill him. I couldn't allow that to happen. So I said nothing.
Chapter 10
CAPTAIN KAI SPORNIUM
I was beginning to regret not being on the same ship as Karissa. I should have thought logic over my rage, but I didn't. In the heat of that moment, not only was I angry with her, but I was embarrassed. I didn't like her face when she saw the state that I was in. I was wounded from the torture, and that embarrassed me. I was a strong captain and warrior. Nothing should hurt me, especially not a weak human man. So the fact that she saw what they had done to me made me feel disgusted with myself. I should not have allowed them to do such a thing to me. I should have fought every step of the way, but during that time, I thought that Karissa was only minutes away from helping me escape.
So after seeing that look on her face, I did not want to be anywhere near her. I knew that if I were on the same ship as her, she would be stubborn and demand to see me. I would eventually give in. Then I would have to see the look on her face all over again at my wounded, weak body. I did not want to relive that moment. So I decided to take a different ship on the same fleet of over four hundred ships.
But now that I had cooled off and had a few days to mend, I was starting to see the error of my decision. It wouldn't take long for them to figure out who she really was, and I would not be there to help her get out of that situation. I could help her deny it. Maybe we could say it was her twin sister, anything. But without me at her side, they would not believe any lies that she came up with. They would wonder how I got to the lunar base on Earth, they would figure out our connection. There was much of a mess to be sorted out, and I needed to be by her side when they found out so that I could figure a way out of it. But it was impossible now on a ship with a couple of miles of space between us. It is out of my hands now. I could only find out what information I could. I moved to the flight deck.
"Captain, what is our destination?” I asked in the most warrior way that I could muster.
"Good to see that you are on the mend warrior. We were destined to go back to Altid. But we recently received orders to divert all other ships as well. The entire fleet will be going back to Altid, minus ten ships, including this one that will be headed to the Supreme Council on Pourock," he responded.
"When did you receive this order?” I asked.
"As of an hour ago. This will be better for you as well. The Supreme Council can take care of you and get you back to your home.”
"Yes, that is good news. Thank you, Captain,” I said as I left the flight deck. Dammit. They knew. Whatever ship Karissa was on, that captain figured out who she was and now was taking her to the Supreme Council. The fact that the captain I spoke with thought that his ship was going simply to take me to a place where I could get home easily let me know that he did not know the details of what had happened. He did not know who I was. This was not going to be good.
A few days later, we arrived. We arrived in front of the Supreme Council. I was escorted to the grand room. Then I saw her. Karissa was standing in chains in the middle of the room. As soon as I saw her, my heart went out to her. What had I done? I was angry at her for not coming to me, for not rescuing me, but she did not deserve this. I should have just forced the warriors that rescued me to leave her on the lunar base. Now seeing her, I knew this was my fault.
"Karissa Lane. You are guilty of killing Yiqua on your wedding night. He was to be your forever mate. You killed him. What do you have to say for yourself?” the Supreme Council asked.
"I am only guilty of defending myself in whatever way was needed. Yiqua was forcing himself on me. I know that you Corillion do not understand what that means. But if a human female says no, it means no. He did not take this seriously. He was going to take me without my permission. That is grounds enough for his death. Yes, I killed him, but I did it in self-defense. And I will do it again if put in the same position,” she said defiantly, with her chin up in the air. I was impressed at her fearlessness. But it was dumb. The Supreme Council would not understand or be on her side.
"So you admit that you killed Yiqua?” they asked.
"I killed him in self-defense. That is what I admit," she said angrily with her blue eyes narrowing.
"Karissa Lane, you are guilty of taking Captain Kai Spornium by force. After you killed Yiqua, you held Captain Kai Spornium at gunpoint and forced him to take him to his ship, or you would murder him as well. Then you forced him to take you to the lunar base where you took him as prisoner. Are you not guilty of this as well?” they asked her.
There was a hush and grumble over the Corillion in the room. They were shocked by this human female that was so capable of not only killing Corillion, but also forcing them to do things against their will, like take the
m prisoner. She was silent, and I opened my mouth ready to yell my side of things. Ready to tell them the truth that she had not taken me, that I had done so by myself, I had offered my help. But before I could get a word out, she said,
"Yes! That is true."
I looked at her with wide eyes, and my mouth was open in shock. Why was she lying? Why was she covering for me? She should not do so. I did not need her to defend me.
"Then you are guilty of murder, and you are guilty of taking a captain prisoner," the Supreme Council said to her. I knew what was coming next. They had defined her crimes, and now they were going to issue her punishment. I needed to do something. I needed to speak up. But I just stood there frozen, not knowing exactly what to do. I wish I had been able to speak to her alone to figure out a plan; she was better at these things than I was.