Ull (Tornians Book 7)

by M. K. Eidem

  They'd raised him to believe that a person should be judged by their actions and deeds, not by where they came from or the color of their skin. That's why he was shocked when they forbid his baby sister from dating a man who clearly loved and cared for her. All because of the color of his skin.

  As the oldest, Aaron had taken it upon himself not only to meet but investigate the man that his baby sister claimed to love. And while Martin Burke had grown up rough, he had no criminal record and was doing everything he could to better himself. He also put Patricia first, stressing to Aaron how he expected her to finish high school and go on to college. All Martin was asking was to be a part of that. He'd even gone as far as swearing to Aaron that he wouldn't have sex with her until they were married.

  Aaron had scoffed at that. After all, he'd once been an eighteen years old boy, and he knew how quickly things could get out of control. But Martin had kept that promise, much to Patricia's annoyance. It was why they had married the day she turned eighteen because Patricia was the one done waiting. His baby sister was unstoppable when she went after what she wanted. Especially when she was in the right. That was why he'd stood up for them at their ceremony even though no one else in the family had shown up. He knew how badly that had hurt Patricia, but she didn't let it stop her. Martin had also kept his other promise and made sure Patricia had gone to college.

  She'd graduated early, even though she'd given birth to Trisha during that time. She'd just completed her first year of law school when Martin died. That would have destroyed most people but not his sister. While devastated, she'd taken no time off from school, stating Martin wouldn't have wanted her to. He could still remember how strong she'd been standing there at Martin's grave holding the flag presented to her in one hand and her two-year-old daughter's in the other, all while tears streamed down her face. That was the day he saw what real strength and courage were. It wasn't the one that was the biggest or most powerful, but the one who got back up after getting knocked down who had the most strength and courage. That person tried to make the world a better place, not just for the ones they loved but for everyone.

  Now, thanks to the educator, Aaron realized the ‘everyone’ his sister had fought so hard for included more than just the people of Earth. God, she would have loved to have been a part of this. To have helped make a difference for billions upon billions of beings, not across the world, but the universe.

  Lying down on the couch, he gave his niece a small smile, then looked to the alien called Ull, and nodded.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Ull let his gaze travel over the smaller male that lay on the couch as he removed the educator from its box. The male's dusky skin tone was darker than Trisha's, and his eyes were brown, not the striking blue of Trisha's, but still, there was no doubt they were related. It was there in their distinctive features, in the way they spoke to each other, and in the way they interacted. The love and respect they had for each other were palpable, just as it was between Ull and his manno. Or as it had been before the Joining Ceremony. Now Ull wasn't sure how his manno felt about him, and he had no one to blame but himself. He wasn't sure why it was easier to see that now. Was it because he was so far away from home and everything he knew? Or was it the female standing silently beside him?

  Movement on the couch had his attention returning to the task at hand.

  Chapter Four

  Trisha stood beside the couch, anxiously chewing on her thumbnail as she watched the educator run on her tío. Was she doing the right thing? What if it harmed him? He was the only family she had left. She didn't count her abuelo or abuela, who were both still alive, as were her many other tías, tíos, and primos because she had rarely seen them. There were still too many hard feelings on both sides. Oh, they'd attended her mamá's funeral, but Trisha knew it was only because of Tío Aaron. It would have looked bad in the press for them not to attend, and appearances were everything to them. They took too much pride in their son being the first Hispanic President of the United States to let anyone know how they'd disowned their daughter because of who she loved. Not when Tío Aaron had run on a platform that everyone deserved equal treatment, no matter their skin tone.

  Now she was putting him at risk.

  She was just about to demand Ull take the educator off when it beeped and shut down. As soon as Ull removed it, she was sitting beside her tío, holding his hand.

  Ull was surprised how much that bothered him, Trisha’s holding another male's hand, even if he was related to her. He also hadn't liked how worried she'd been when the educator had been on the other male. Females were supposed to be cared for and protected, so they never worried about anything.

  "Tío?" she asked quietly, squeezing his hand as his eyes started to flutter.

  "It will take a few minutes," Ull told her, finding himself moving closer in the hope it would comfort her.

  "Did it take me this long to wake up?" she asked, looking up to Ull.

  "Yes. King Grim's female had him include a great deal of information."

  "You mean Lisa," she corrected.

  "What?" he asked, frowning at her.

  "Her name is Lisa," she reminded him. "Why do you demean her that way?"

  "How am I doing that?" Ull asked his confusion easily seen.

  "By calling her King Grim's female, as if she were one of his possessions instead of a living breathing person."

  "She is both."

  "You're saying she's his possession?" Trisha demanded.

  "No. I'm saying she is female, and as you say, a living breathing person." Ull didn't understand why she was pushing this.

  "But you look down on her." Trisha wasn't going to let this go.

  "I don't," he denied. "She holds an important place in our society, but shouldn’t be interfering. Warriors should be handling it."

  "Oh really," Trisha felt her ire begin to grow.

  "Now you've gone and done it," Aaron murmured in Tornian as he opened his eyes. "Nothing gets my Trisha fired up more than blatant male chauvinism. You'd better dial it back if you expect her to help you."

  "Tío Aaron," Trisha immediately forgot about Ull, but not what he'd said, as she turned her attention back to her tío. "Are you alright?"

  Aaron sat up, swung his feet to the floor, and with his elbows resting on his knees, rubbed his temples just as Trisha had done. "I feel like I've just had a data dump into my head."

  "It's a little overwhelming at first, but give it a minute," she told him, understanding what he was feeling. "It will settle down."

  After a moment, Aaron stood and growled aggressively at Ull. "You steal women from Earth, refuse to return them, then come here thinking you can barter for more?" He gave Ull a disbelieving look. "Women aren't things that are given away and passed around."

  "Yet that's what's been happening," Ull growled back. "And not only did you not know about it but have no way of preventing it from continuing." He refused to back down from this smaller male, no matter who he was. Ull was a first male, after all. But he could also see this other male believed what he was saying. Could females really be treated so differently on this planet?

  While his temper was flaring, Aaron kept it in check because of what this man, male, Ull, said was true. Aaron was the President of the United States, and he'd had no clue this was happening. No one had. "What a fucking mess."

  "I said something along those same lines," Trisha said, moving to stand next to her tío as she glared at Ull. "Except I assigned blame."

  "I just bet you did," Aaron looked down at her and found himself chuckling for the first time since he'd arrived. "You're fearless when you're fighting for what you believe is right."

  "Just like you and Mamá taught me," she smiled back at him.

  At that moment, Ull suddenly felt alone even though he was still in the room. The connection between these two was one of the strongest he'd ever seen, even though this male wasn't Trisha's manno. There was trust, understanding, and respect. It was something y
ou didn't see between males and females in his world.

  'What about between King Grim and Queen Lisa?' his honor reminded him.

  'Or Lord Ynyr and Lady Abby?' it continued.

  'General Rayner and his Ashe, Jennifer?'

  'Emperor Wray and Empress Kim?'

  'Then there's your own parents who refused to leave one another as tradition demanded?'

  It was something he'd refused to see or believe. Instead, he'd told himself those males were going soft so they could have offspring. But it wasn't truth, and it didn't seem to be truth on Earth either. Could he have had it wrong all this time?

  "Ull?"

  Trisha's voice pulled him from his thoughts. "What?" he growled.

  Trisha jolted, her eyes widening at how deadly Ull sounded, then removed all emotion from her face. "Tío Aaron asked you a question."

  "What was it?" Ull demanded, his gaze going to the other male as he forced himself to not apologize for alarming her, even though he wanted to.

  "First," Aaron growled back as he stood, even though he knew it wouldn't bring him eye-to-eye with Ull. He refused to give the male anymore advantage over him than he already had. "You will never speak to my niece in that tone again, not if you want our help."

  "I could always approach someone else," Ull growled back even though he couldn't help but be impressed with the courage of this smaller male. It took guts to stand up to someone you knew could harm you.

  "Then, you'll have to explain not only to your Emperor but Queen Lisa, why you expressly disobeyed her orders on who to contact." Aaron had been in enough political power struggles in his time to recognize that in this, he had the upper hand. Ull seemed to realize that too, and he gave Aaron a slight nod.

  "I asked," Aaron finally returned to his original query. "How soon would you be returning our people to us?"

  "That would depend on what we can work out for my people gaining access to your females," Ull replied.

  "That's not how this is going to work, Ull," Trisha said, interjecting herself into the conversation, not liking how Ull and her tío were glaring at each other. "Your people committed the first offense. You stole women from Earth, women you aren't planning on returning. So, what you're going to do to start making amends is get everyone I met on the Searcher down here where they can get a medical checkup. Once we're sure they're okay, only then will we discuss your proposal."

  "What's the Searcher?" Aaron demanded.

  "The name of their ship that's orbiting Earth," Trisha told him.

  "Wait! You're telling me he," he jerked his thumb toward Ull, "took you into space? With your permission?"

  "Yes and no. Basically, Ull kidnapped me," she told her tío.

  "You son of a bitch!" Aaron took a threatening step toward Ull.

  "No, Tío Aaron," Trisha immediately stepped between them. "That doesn't matter right now."

  "The hell it doesn't!" Aaron growled. "You're my niece!"

  "I know. And trust me, Ull will pay for that. But right now, we need to focus on the bigger picture. We need the President of the United States here right now, not my tío."

  Aaron sucked in a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, because she was right, even as his gaze remained locked with Ull's. "Don't think I'll forget this," he growled at Ull.

  "Understood," Ull growled back.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Trisha silently watched as Tío contacted his security detail and ordered one of them to come inside with a secure phone. She recognized the man that entered. His name was Brock, and he was the head of the President's detail. Trisha found him friendly enough, on previous occasions. Given the circumstances, there was none of that now. As he handed the President the phone he'd requested, his gaze searched every visible inch of her home for threats. She was glad she'd had Ull return to the garage.

  "Thank you, Brock, that will be all," Aaron told him.

  "Are you sure, sir?" he asked, his gaze fixed on the door in the kitchen that led to the garage.

  "Yes, I'll contact you again if I need anything else." This time there was no missing the dismissal in Tío's voice. With a curt nod, Brock turned to leave, but not before he gave Trisha a look that told her he knew something was going on. Trisha waited until the door closed before releasing the breath, she hadn't realized she'd been holding and looked to her tío.

  "He knows something is going on," she told him.

  "I'd be more surprised if he didn't," Aaron told her as he entered a number into the phone. "Brock is very good at his job."

  As the call connected, Trisha went to the garage door to let Ull back in.

  "Who was the male?" Ull immediately demanded.

  "It was the head of my tío's security," she told him. "The educator said your Emperor and Lords all have their own special guards."

  "Yes, it is a high honor to be picked as one," Ull informed her.

  "Well, the President of the United States has them too. They're called the Secret Service."

  "Why are they secret?" Ull asked.

  "I guess because while they are there to protect the President, they're also supposed to blend in, so people don't know who they are. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but that's a general understanding."

  "Alright, I've set things in motion," Aaron said, disconnecting the phone.

  "What things?" Trisha asked.

  "We're going to a facility in North Dakota," he told her.

  "North Dakota?" Trisha frowned at him. She thought he would have suggested something closer, like Camp David.

  "Why does this location surprise you?" Ull demanded suspiciously, his gaze moving between Trisha and her tío.

  "Because while North Dakota is a large state in our country, it's sparsely populated. It's close to the Canadian border, and while it has mineral resources, it's primarily an agricultural area. There's no reason for a large government facility to be there."

  "There is now," Aaron told her without expanding, and Trisha's eyes widened.

  While Earth still wasn't a perfect place, it had come a long way in the last twenty years, with more and more countries coming together and putting aside their differences. It had started in Europe with the forming of the European Council. Each country elected one representative to sit on it, and they, in turn, selected who would be their Chancellor, or Council leader, who would be their delegate to the newly formed World Council. Africa and mainland Asia soon developed their Councils with many of the nations in the Indian and Pacific Oceans joining with Australia. Only the North and South Americas hadn’t 'realigned,' but there were rumors about it.

  "So, the rumors are true," she murmured.

  "Rumors?" Ull demanded.

  "That the individual countries on the North American continent are putting aside their differences for the betterment of their people and coming together as one, just like the other parts of the world have."

  "Yes," Aaron told her, "but there are a great many things we still have to finalize, but one already decided is where the Council will meet."

  "And you decided on North Dakota?" Trisha couldn't hide her disbelief.

  "The chosen area favors no one as it is the center of the continent," Aaron told her. "Facilities have been built for the influx of people and to deal with the fluctuations in climate."

  "Fluctuations?" Ull frowned at this.

  "North Dakota can be very hot and dry in the summer months and extremely cold with large accumulations of snow in the winter ones," Aaron told Ull. "No one has moved in yet, but there is a medical staff there, so we will be able to quarantine the abductees until cleared." Aaron looked to Ull. "I'm assuming this ship of yours, the Searcher, is undetectable to our defense systems."

  "Yes," Ull told him.

  "And to the visible eye?" Aaron pressed.

  "My shuttle is currently sitting shielded behind Trisha's home," he told her. "Have any of your Secret Service males noticed it?"

  Aaron grimaced at that because he knew they hadn't. If they had, the
y would be storming inside to pull him out. "So, you'll be able to land the Searcher at NACB without being seen."

  "NACB?" Trisha questioned.

  "North American Council Base," Aaron expanded, giving her a slightly sheepish look. "It's the best we could come up with so far. I'm sure it will change."

  "No," Ull told him shortly.

  "No?" Aaron frowned at Ull. "No, what?"

  "The Searcher isn't built for atmospheric travel. Your people will be transported down in small groups in the shuttle."

  "Oh." Aaron began to tap his lip absently. "Well, that will probably be better anyway. It will cut down on the medical staff needed and won't draw as much attention."

  "What is this 'medical' you keep referring to?" Ull asked, frowning.

  "They're what you would call Healers," Trisha told him. "They're going to need to examine those returning so they can treat any injuries. They'll also need to make sure they aren't carrying any diseases that aren't common on Earth."

  "Already done," Ull told her. "They each spent time in the deep repair unit when the Kaliszians discovered them, healing any injuries they had at that time. Our Healer also saw them on the Searcher. They have no injuries and carry no diseases."

  "What's a deep repair unit?" Aaron demanded.

  "Was that not included in the educator?" That surprised Ull. After all, it had healed the Earth female, Rebecca, after Risa attacked her.

  "No, it wasn't," Aaron and Trisha said together.

  Ull shook his head. This is what happened when a female interfered. "The deep repair unit is what every species in the Known Universe uses to repair injuries. The only thing it can't completely repair are injuries caused by a Tornian blade."

  "Tornian blade?" Aaron asked. Ull withdrew his sword from the sheath on his back, and Aaron found he had to lean back as Ull pointed it at him.

  "This is the weapon of choice for a Tornian warrior," Ull told them, raising his sword to admire it. "It is made from Tornian steel, the finest and strongest metal in the Known Universes. It can cut through anything and even deflect blaster fire."