Jex

by Maia Starr

  I sat down on the bench and put my head in my hands. I needed a minute to recover from this stressful moment before I headed to the meeting. It was intense, and I was now more worried than ever. But I had to take it in and push it aside. I had a meeting that was more important than just hiding my secrets. We were talking details of how to set up Grantsion Zenkian battalions on Earth and where. It was a meeting I needed to be focused for. I went to the wash area of the small dwelling and splashed water on my face. Malaya was now a big threat, and I did not know what she was capable of.

  “Pull yourself together, Ambassador Gaines,” I said to myself. I dried my face and set out to go to the meeting. Once I was there, I was able to push Malaya aside and focus on the work, though I expected at any moment that one of the leaders would be informed of my pregnancy and I would be hauled off for questioning. I was on edge but focused.

  But the entire day passed into the early evening, and nothing happened. Maybe Malaya did love Trent that much and no matter how much she hurt she would not put him in any sort of scandal? I did not know what to think. It was more confusing than being caught.

  I made my way to my small guest dwelling. I knew that Trent was going to try to move me to a dwelling across from his and I hoped that it would happen soon. I hated being so far from him. I walked in ready to get ready to eat dinner and sleep after an exhausting day.

  The door burst open. Trent walked in slamming the door behind him. Then crossed the room to me with big strides. He looked pissed as he gave me this menacing scowl. I was frightened of how he was looking at me. I had not seen him look this way since he found out that I was the slave of his enemy Jenku Vade.

  “Tell me it’s not true!” he shouted at me as he got very close to me.

  “Trent. What is it?” I asked as I began to tremble. I did not know what was happening, but it had to be big. I was so shocked at the moment that I did not know what he was talking about.

  Chapter 12

  Commander Trent Qoln

  “They’ve disappeared over the line,” my squad teammate said as we chased the Waysaw speeder.

  “Don’t pursue them over the line. They are back in Waysaw territory. Head back to the base to report and gather a larger patrol, just in case there is a larger attack coming. I am going to check out where they landed to see what was so interesting there,” I said.

  “Copy that, Commander,” he said.

  I turned my speeder around and drove out toward the rock ledge where I saw the Waysaw speeder parked. But as I got closer, I noticed another speeder emerge from it. “What the hell?” I said.

  I recognized it immediately as a Grantsion speeder. There were no others out on patrol, and I had just sent the only other speeder on patrol back to the base. So who the hell could be in this speeder and meeting with the Waysaw?

  I pushed my speeder to top speed going directly after it as it made its way back toward base. This was not good. Did this speeder have a Waysaw as its pilot in disguise in a Grantsion speeder? This could be very dangerous. I had to catch up to it. I noticed it was flying clumsily and maybe even unaware of my presence.

  “There you are. Now let’s see who you are,” I said as I caught up to it. I came up on the side of it and looked into the glass. I was shocked, as was the pilot at seeing me.

  “Malaya?” I said as I looked at her piloting the speeder. I gave her an angry look and gestured for her to go back to base. She nodded, and I followed her closely. What the hell was she doing speaking to the Waysaw?

  She finally landed outside the village. I landed beside her and stomped over to her. I opened the door and yanked her out by the arm.

  “Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on?” I shouted.

  Tears fell down her cheeks. She was shaken. “I am sorry, Trent. I was just so angry. I wanted you to be with me, not with her. I am sorry for what I have done. I regret it now. Please don’t hate me. I could not bear it if you hated me,” she sobbed.

  “What the hell are you talking about? What have you done?” I said in anger realizing that when she said she wanted me to be with her that she meant she did not want me to be with Samantha and that meant she had done something to harm Samantha. My blood boiled at her words. “Tell me now!”

  “Samantha, she is pregnant,” she said.

  I was in shock. Then a smile came across my face. “Pregnant? So I am going to be…”

  “No!” Malaya said as she stopped crying. She was angry, and I saw the vengeance on her face. She wanted revenge and seeing me become excited about Samantha being pregnant snapped her out of her sobbing mess, and she became an angry Zenkian, full of hate.

  “It is not yours, you fool,” she spat the words at me. I let go of her arm as her words sank in.

  “What? How do you know this? If you don’t tell me everything now—”

  “She was already pregnant when you found her. She is pregnant with Jenku Vade’s child,” she said angrily.

  My heart skipped a beat. I felt everything fall away from me as her words echoed in my ears. Could it be true? She was his slave, and I knew what the Waysaw did with their human slaves. This was probably why she fled. I looked at Malaya. She had a smug look on her tear-strewn face as she watched my heart break. She was satisfied. Then I remembered that she had been talking to a Waysaw speeder. I grabbed her arm again.

  “What did you do?” I said in restrained anger.

  “I merely informed Jenku’s soldiers where he can find his future child,” she said with a tone that made my blood crawl.

  “You have betrayed me, Malaya,” I said to her in hate.

  “No, you betrayed me first. We were supposed to be together. That time under the waterfalls, when you kissed me. That was supposed to happen again. I know that you only needed time,” she said.

  “This kiss? One kiss six years ago? That is what you are basing the murder of a female human on?” I asked in shock that she had held onto feelings for so long over a fleeting kiss when we were younger that I had not thought of since that day. “Did you think of that?” I said.

  Her eyes widened as she looked at me in shock making her realize that she had not thought this through.

  “I… I didn’t… I was so angry I just went straight to find a Waysaw, and…”

  “Yes, you let your anger dictate your mind. Now this is on you. You have killed many Zenkian, your own kind, for your ego and bruised heart over a dream you have been holding onto for six years that was never real,” I said as I pushed her away from me letting go of her arm.

  I grabbed a soldier walking by. “This is urgent. Inform the leaders that a raid is imminent by the Waysaw. Go now!”

  “Yes, Commander!” he said as he ran off.

  I began to walk off in the direction of the dwellings to find Samantha.

  “Trent! Wait!” Malaya shouted at me.

  “No. I have nothing more to say to you,” I said.

  “But…”

  “If you know what is good for you, you will remain out of my sight. Say nothing of this news, and I will keep your secret too, that you are responsible for this oncoming raid,” I said.

  She was quiet, and I did not stay to speak with her any longer. I was raging. I had to find Samantha, and I had to find her now.

  I barged into her dwellings.

  “Tell me it’s not true!” I shouted at her as I got inches from her. I was shaking with rage. I could not stand the fact that the human I loved was carrying the child of my enemy.

  “Trent. What is it?” she said as she began to shake in fear of me.

  “It is true? You are with child?” I asked her as my chest moved up in down in my ragged breathing.

  She gasped. “How did you know?”

  “Malaya,” I said.

  “I wanted to tell you. I couldn’t at first because I thought you would send me back to Waysaw. Then everything happened between us at the same time that this Earth agreement came up and I did not want to jeopardize the agreement. But I planned to tell
you tonight, even if it meant losing your love,” she said frantically.

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I shouted in rage. This could not be happening. The human I was in love with and would die for carried the child of my enemy.

  “I am sorry, Trent. I hope that you can forgive me. If you cannot, I understand; just give me some time before you tell the others. I don’t know how to deal with this. It has been weighing on me,” she said.

  “Time might not be something that you have,” I said.

  “What?”

  “Malaya told Waysaw scouts that you are here and that you arrived pregnant. Jenku will come for you. He will raid this place until he finds you,” I said.

  “Oh my god,” she said.

  “Yes, your god. Now stay here. I have to prepare the battalions. I hope that we can meet the oncoming Waysaw in the outlands and spare the raid on the village,” I said.

  “But, Trent, what about us?” she asked.

  “There is no us,” I said as I walked out, slamming the door. I had never been so pissed off in my life.

  Chapter 13

  Ambassador Samantha Gaines

  I stood there in shock. I did not know what to do. I was paralyzed with fear and heartbreak. Trent had just broken my heart by saying there was no us. He was done with me. He had discovered my secret, and the fact that I did not get a chance to tell him myself only made it worse. That treacherous bitch Malaya told him, and she told the Waysaw scouts. Now Jenku Vade knew the truth. He would not let this go. I was pregnant with his child, and he considered it his property; he considered me his property. If he were not a monster, of course, I would want him in his child's life, but that was not the case. He was an evil monster, and I would not have my child near him. It was all so complicated and crazy, and now he was coming for me. Now I was alone in this. I did not want any Grantsion Zenkian to die because of me.

  As the hours passed and the night gave way to morning, there was so much anxiety as we all prepared for a raid that would come either today or the next day, or further into the future. But I knew Jenku Vade. He would not wait around in order to perfect some plan; he would be angry as hell. When he was angry, he would react without thinking things through. This was a bad thing, but maybe a good thing as far as military strategy went. He wouldn't be as prepared and would just be doing an all-out raid instead of some sneaky, well-thought-out plan.

  Suddenly, I knew what I had to do. I left my dwelling and made my way to Trent's home. I knocked on the door; to my surprise, he answered.

  “What are you doing back here? I thought you were meeting the Waysaw in the outlands?”

  “What are you doing here? I don't want to see you. I never want to speak with you again,” he said as he began to close the door. My heart ached.

  “I am going back to Waysaw!” I shouted. He opened the door again and looked at me.

  “What?”

  “I am going to hand myself over to Jenku Vade. I will not let any Grantsion Zenkian die because of me. I could not deal with that. So I am going to turn myself over to him. Once he has me, then he will stop this raid to look for me. It is the only way,” I said.

  “You would do that for us? You would give up yourself, your freedom, and your child for us?” he asked.

  “Yes, it is what I am going to do. I indured Jenku Vade's hateful ways and what he did to me before; I am strong. I know that his punishment will be great, and I will be locked up as to never escape again, but at least lives will not be lost,” I said.

  He stood there in silence and seemed visibly shaken by my words. I did not know why. He had already said that he wanted nothing to do with me and I'm sure that my secret had forced him to fall out of any deep feelings he might have been having for me. Perhaps it was just the fact that there would not be a battle that had him so emotionally stirred.

  “No, you are not,” he said.

  “What?”

  “You are not going to hand yourself over. I will have no more talk of this.”

  “It is not your decision anyway. I will go to the leaders now and tell them. They will take me to the crossing line, and I will go the rest of the way myself,” I said angry that he was trying to control me.

  “No, you will not do that. Our battalions are already set up in the outlands ready to meet the Waysaw. We have battalions set up all around the village ready to fight. We can defeat this raid, just as we have before. There is no need for you to go through such anguish,” he said.

  “You are not making sense. The leaders and everyone else will eventually find out that I am pregnant. It is best to deal with it now and to stop Jenku Vade,” I said.

  “And give you to him. Over my dead body,” he said.

  His words filled me with hope again. He still wanted me.

  “What?” I said as tears began to form in my eyes.

  “I won’t give you up that easily. You are too important to the agreement with Earth. We need you here, or it will unravel,” he said.

  “Oh,” I said realizing it was not because he wanted me that would not want me to hand myself over.

  “I suppose you are right. I didn’t think of that,” I said.

  “How will it look to Earth for you to suddenly go back and live with the Waysaw? Earth will think you were a Waysaw spy and tricked them. All would be lost, and they would never trust us again. No, we have to do all that we can to keep you with us. That means a battle must and will happen,” he said.

  “You are right. This is bigger than just me leaving to please Jenku and to stop him. Earth would think I was a spy,” I said sadly.

  “And there is another reason I won’t hand you over to that piece of shit Jenku Vade,” he growled.

  I looked at him confused. He pulled me against him and placed his mouth on mine. He kissed me with hunger and longing. I melted against him. I felt safe once more and desired. He finally stopped kissing me.

  “Because you are mine,” he said.

  “I am?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Even though I carry a child from another?” I asked.

  “I will claim it as my own,” he said. I sighed in relief.

  “But you will be punished for breaking the rules,” I said.

  “Fuck the rules. You are all that matters,” he said.

  Suddenly a loud piercing sound vibrated in the air.

  “What is that?” I shouted.

  “It’s the raid siren. They are coming,” he said. He pulled me to him and kissed me again. It was a hard and quick kiss then he grabbed my hand and ran into the hallway.

  “Commander! The Waysaw battalions have been spotted. They are headed right for our front lines in the outlands!” a soldier ran up to him and said.

  “I will jump in my speeder now and head there. Soldier, take Ambassador Gaines into the mountain shelter with the leaders. I want fifty soldiers guarding her; is that clear?” Trent shouted at him.

  “Yes, commander! This way, Ambassador!” the soldier shouted. I gave Trent one last look; I hoped that it would not be the last time that I saw him. Then he turned and ran in the other direction. I followed the soldier deep into the mountain. It was a long dark hallway. Finally, we came to a very large door with soldiers barricading it.

  “Ambassador Gaines, let her into the shelter!” the soldier shouted. They moved and opened the door. I ran in. The leaders were already gathered.

  I had no choice but to wait out this battle. It would be the longest hours of my life.

  Chapter 14

  Commander Trent Qoln

  When I heard Samantha's words of self-sacrifice, I knew that she was the one for me. I could not deny that I loved her any longer. No matter how angry I was about her secret pregnancy, at that moment, I was tested. Could I live without her? Could I live out my days knowing that she was in the brutal arms of Jenku Vade? No, I could not. Just the thought of it made me the angriest I had ever been. So I quickly reasoned with her, using Earth as an excuse. My words were true; she could not go to Waysaw and
not be considered a spy by Earth. They would feel betrayed. But I spoke this reason to her first because I was afraid that telling her I simply did not want her to go would not be good enough reason for her. She would go anyway. If she was willing to sacrifice her own happiness to stop this battle, then me telling her that I simply did not want her to go because I wanted her for myself would not be good enough. So I was happy when she agreed to the reason involving Earth. It was only then that I told her the truth: I wanted her. She was mine.