by M. K. Eidem
"I will be sealing you in the shuttle, and it will remain shielded," Ull told her as he rose then addressed the men standing behind him. "Once we exit the shuttle, we need to move quickly to intercept the Ganglians before they reach your citizens. Remember what I said about engaging a Ganglian."
Ull waited for every male to acknowledge his order once Trisha translated, then moved to the door and unsealed it. With one last look at Trisha, he turned and went to end the immediate threat against her and her people.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Trisha had to bite her lip to stop from calling Ull back to the shuttle as the door slid closed. God knew she hadn't wanted to be here, but she definitely didn't want to be here alone. What had she been thinking agreeing to come? She should have listened to Ull.
As if feeling her panic, Ull's calm deep voice came through the comm. "Trisha."
"Yes, I'm here," she quickly responded.
Ull's jaw clenched at the anxiety he heard in her voice. Goddess, while he knew she was safe inside the shuttle, he wished he were there with her. Somehow she'd come to be very important to him and not because his people needed her to help them reach an agreement.
"How far are we from the Ganglians?" He forced his mind to remain focused on the mission. The sooner he completed it, the sooner he could get back to her.
Knowing he couldn't see it, she still gave the comm an exasperated look. "How would I know that?"
"Look at the map I left up. How many gridlines are there between the Ganglians and us?"
Looking at the holographic map, she suddenly realized that faint lines were running horizontally and vertically on it. She also saw the eight red dots along with the green one leading them, two lines behind the six black dots. "They're two grid lines ahead of you."
"Good, then we're closing on them."
Trisha didn't think that was such a good thing. Not after the way Ull had described the way Ganglians liked to kill. But then she was a lawyer, not a warrior.
Ull used a hand signal to direct Anderson's men to spread out to his left and right before he remembered they wouldn't understand. But to his surprise, they did, and he began to realize these Earth warriors weren't that different than Tornian warriors. It had him wondering what else they might have in common.
Trisha's eyes remained glued to the screen as their group gained ground on the Ganglians. Suddenly one of the Ganglians reversed direction. Frantically pushing both buttons, she told them. "One of them has turned around. He's heading back your way. Fast!"
Ull had no more than heard Trisha's warning when he smelled the Ganglian moving toward them. Ull wasn't sure who was more surprised when the Ganglian burst out of the underbrush, the Earth warrior third down on Ull's right, or the Ganglian who'd skidded to a halt. But it was the Ganglian that recovered first. With a vicious snarl that alerted the other Ganglians there was trouble, he attacked the much smaller Earth male.
Even as the Ganglian attacked, Ull was drawing his sword and charging to intercept, but even with his Tornian speed, he wasn't in time. The Ganglian swiped his claws across the male's chest, penetrating the body armor the Earthian wore as the warrior fired his weapon. The blasts drove the Ganglian back far enough for Ull to detach its head from its body.
"Gallagher!" Anderson was immediately at his fallen man's side, quickly assessing the amount of blood covering his shredded body armor. How the fuck had the Ganglian been able to do that? They were wearing the most advanced body armor on the planet. Bullets couldn't penetrate it, and it could absorb and dissipate even the most powerful of energy blasts. And yet this Ganglian had been able to destroy it with just its claws.
"You need to get him back to the shuttle," Ull growled, knowing Trisha would translate. "He needs the repair unit."
"Jones. McGuire." Anderson motioned to the two warriors closest to him. They immediately knelt next to their fallen comrade. One taking his legs the other his arms.
Trisha's eyes were glued to the map in front of her. While she couldn't see what was actually happening, she could visualize it from Ull's enraged growl, the snarl of the Ganglian, someone's cry of pain, and the distinctive sound of a pulse rifle firing. God, who was hurt?! When Anderson named one of his men, her heart began to beat again, at least until she realized all the other black dots were heading Ull's way. "Ull, the rest of them are heading your way now."
"Get him back to the shuttle," Ull growled at Anderson's men then turned to face the oncoming assault. It didn't take long.
Anderson and his remaining men took up defensive positions on either side of Ull, Trisha having informed them of the incoming attack. "Suppressive fire!"
Ull watched as the Earthians' weapons struck the Ganglians. They were good, targeting the Ganglians heads and chests as he'd instructed them, and while it stunned and slowed the Ganglians down, it didn't stop them. Instead, the Ganglians pulled their own blasters and began to fire. Ull moved forward, swing his sword, deflecting the Ganglian blasts until he was close enough to one to remove his blaster from his hand by slicing it off. It didn't stop the Ganglian as it thrived on pain. Instead, it slashed at Ull with the claws he still had. Ull ducked, then spinning around sliced through the Ganglian's thick neck muscles with one stroke removing its head from his body. Ull then quickly moved on to the next Ganglian.
Anderson winced as he took a blaster strike. Damn it, that wasn't supposed to penetrate his armor like that. Looking to his men, he saw Deen fall when simultaneous blasts hit him. Firing rapidly at the Ganglian, he moved to the down man, helping him to his feet. "Ull!"
"Go!" Ull ordered as he began attacking the Ganglian from behind. "Get back to the shuttle." While these warriors were good, their weapons weren't powerful enough to bring down a Ganglian, not even with multiple head and body shots. Moving to the next Ganglian, Ull quickly separated him from his head too.
Trisha's gaze kept moving from the clearing outside the shuttle to the map. She could see all eight of the red dots getting closer, but they still hadn't re-entered the clearing yet. She could also see that one by one, the black dots disappeared whenever Ull's green dot got near them until there was only one left.
Suddenly Anderson and his men burst into the clearing. Two were carrying another by his arms and legs, while a third was helping another, who was bent over at the waist and limping.
"Veron!" she cried out, knowing Ull had left the channel open.
"What is it, Trisha?" Veron immediately responded.
"I need you to open the shuttle door."
"Not until all the Ganglians have been eliminated." Veron had been monitoring what was happening through the shuttle's systems and knew Ull would end him if Trisha were hurt.
Before Trisha could argue, her mouth dropped open when the remaining Ganglian burst into the clearing. Dear God, they really did look like the legendary Big Foot. How long had they been coming to Earth? And just how many people had they taken and killed?
Ull quickly appeared behind him, and she gagged as the Ganglian's head went bouncing across the clearing.
"Now, I will open the door. They are going to need the portable repair unit."
"The what?" she choked out; her gaze still fixed on where the head had landed.
"The portable repair unit. It's a smaller version of our deep repair units. It's in the survival bag on the floor in the cabinet next to the door. Take the bag to Ull. He'll know how to use it." Nodding, Trisha was immediately on her feet and rushing to follow Veron's directions.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
After eliminating the last Ganglian, Ull rushed across the clearing, frowning when the shuttle's ramp began to lower. How in the name of the Goddess had Trisha figured out how to activate it? Then he saw the survival bag she carried and realized Veron must have been communicating with her.
"Put Gallagher down. Strip off his armor," Ull ordered knowing Trisha would translate.
"We need to get him back to base," Anderson argued.
"Captain…" Blood surrounded that
single gurgling word Gallagher expelled. He knew he wasn't going to make it to the base.
"He won't make it that far." McGuire set his friend down. He and Gallagher had served together for the last five years, and they'd promised each other that they'd never bullshit one another. He'd seen the extent of his friend's wounds as he'd carried him to safety.
Ull grabbed the bag from Trisha and shoved the other men aside, but once he knelt beside the wounded warrior, he couldn't figure out how to get his armor off. McGuire, who was on his knees on the other side of his friend, shoved Ull's fingers aside and quickly undid the armor.
Ull inspected the injury. It was severe, and the delay in treatment hadn't helped, especially not with how frail these Earthians seemed to be, but he knew a portable repair unit had saved the Empress when she'd been near death. He just hoped it would help this warrior too.
Setting up the unit, he activated it then looked to the warrior across from him. "Don't touch him." The male seemed to understand, clenching his hands on his thighs.
Trisha bit her lip as the device traveled over the soldier's mangled chest before a stream of light appeared. God, she hoped it helped him enough for them to get him back to their doctors. To her amazement, the bloody bubbles that had formed with each breath Gallagher took disappeared, and the streams of blood seemed to slow. After a few minutes, the gashes across Gallagher's chest were nearly closed, and the machine shut off. Ull removed the device.
"Gallagher?" McGuire leaned down to help his friend, who was struggling to sit up.
"I'm good, man," Gallagher responded, his gaze moving from the machine to Ull. "That thing is amazing. I owe you."
Ull frowned at that. While he knew Earth didn't have portable devices like this, he'd assumed they had something similar. "If I hadn't used the repair unit, what would you have done?"
"Watched me die," Gallagher told him after Trisha translated. When Ull's eyes widened in shock, he asked. "Do you not lose warriors in battle?"
"We do, but only those with the most extreme injuries."
"And this wasn't extreme?" Gallagher gestured to his still bloody chest.
"Without your armor, it would have been. It prevented the Ganglian's claws from penetrating deeply enough to shred your internal organs. If they had, not even the portable repair unit could have saved you." Ull looked back to the other warrior who was still bent over, holding his side and lifted the unit. The male nodded and began removing his armor.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Trisha remained silent as Ull moved around the clearing. He'd healed the heavy bruising along Deen's stomach, and side then put the repair unit away. Now he was moving toward the decapitated Ganglian.
"What are you doing?" Anderson asked, following him.
"Do you wish your people to find the bodies? I'm sure the sound of blaster fire has drawn their attention."
Anderson realized the Tornian was right. Humans were curious people, and while some would stay back to protect the women and children, most of the men would want to investigate. If they were lucky, none of the campers' phones would have reception this far out.
"Do you know where they are?" Anderson looked to Trisha.
"Give me a minute to get inside, and I'll let you know." Trisha turned and ran back into the shuttle. In moments she reported what she saw. "Looks like half the dots are still in camp, the other half are moving our way."
"Ull. Gallagher. Deen. Remain here. Gather up the remains of the Ganglians while we intercept those campers,” Anderson ordered.
"What are you going to tell them?" Trisha demanded.
"That they've stumbled on to a training exercise and need to immediately exit the area."
Trisha thought about that for a moment then nodded even though no one could see her. "That should work. We can't have anyone finding out about the Ganglians until the world leaders are ready. It will only cause mass panic." She relayed everything to Ull and, through the front viewport, saw him nod his agreement.
"Trisha, you will remain in the shuttle." Ull seemed to know she would argue even before she opened her mouth. "Captain Anderson will need you to guide him toward the humans."
With a small huff, Trisha sat back down, knowing Ull was right. Looking at the screen, she began to direct Anderson and his men.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
While she gave Anderson directions until they met up with the campers, Trisha watched Ull, Gallagher, and Deen repeatedly disappear into the forest only to return with either the body or head of a Ganglian. She understood the necessity of gathering up the bodies, so there was no 'evidence' of them being there, but what were they going to do with the other shuttle?
By the time all the body parts were gathered up, Anderson and his men had returned to the clearing.
"How did it go?" Ull growled, but Anderson didn't need Trisha to interpret what he asked.
"Good. We escorted them back to their camp, helped them pack up, and sent them on their way."
Trisha translated that as she exited the shuttle and headed across the clearing to the men. "What are we going to do about the Ganglian shuttle?"
"I've changed its remote frequency. Veron will now be able to pilot it." As Ull spoke, the Ganglian ramp retracted, and its engine started.
"What's going on?" Anderson demanded, and Trisha explained. "Those bodies need to be taken back to base so everyone can see what we are facing."
After a moment, Ull growled his agreement and informed Veron. He then gently took Trisha's arm and led her back to their shuttle. Even though he knew the Ganglians were dead, he wanted to get Trisha as far away from them as possible. It was still possible that there was another shuttle on the Ganglian ship. Unlikely, but possible. Which meant they could send it down to see why they'd lost contact with the other crew. Veron would notify him if that happened, but it still made him uneasy. Trisha was too precious to risk.
It only took him moments to prep the shuttle and for them to lift off. "It will take us longer to get back."
"Why?" Anderson demanded.
"The Ganglian shuttle is an old model that is not capable of the speeds this one is. It is also more difficult to remotely pilot." The Captain nodded his understanding after Trisha translated, and they all settled in.
The ride back to base was quieter than the one out. Everyone seemed to be digesting what had happened. Trisha knew these were highly skilled, experienced soldiers. They had to be, or they never would have been given their current assignment. Still, she knew they had to be shocked at how ineffective their weapons and armor had been against the Ganglians and how effective just one Tornian had been. If it hadn't been for Ull and his sword, they'd all be dead, and they knew it. What would have happened if the Tornians had decided to attack, taking what they needed instead of coming to negotiate? The Earth owed Lisa and Kim more than they knew.
Trisha let her gaze travel over Ull, taking in his strong, stoic profile and how skillfully he piloted the shuttle. She'd only known this male for a short time, during which he'd mostly pissed her off, yet she still found him to be an honorable male, and she felt safe and protected around him. Yes, he could be gruff and surly, but he'd opened up to her on the Searcher. He'd explained how Tornian females always left their male and their offspring and how envious he was that his brother's female, Abby, had already refused to do either. Ull was a proud male, a product of his upbringing and society. It had to be hard for him being at the mercy of a species so much weaker than he was. To know the survival of his people depended on the decisions of others.
She wasn't sure the people of Earth would be so restrained if the situation were reversed.
Looking forward again, she was surprised to see they were closing in on the base. "I thought you said it would take us longer to get back."
"It did. It took an additional ten minutes."
"That's not really a much longer."
"It is for a Tornian."
"I need to notify the base that another shuttle will be landing, so they d
on't shoot it down." Anderson interrupted from behind them.
"Oh, right." Trisha undid her safety strap and rose from her seat.
"Where are you going?" Ull demanded as he put a restraining hand around her wrist.
"Captain Anderson needs to notify the base about the extra shuttle. I'm just giving him my seat so he can do that."
Ull growled his displeasure but released her wrist. "Strap into his seat. We'll be landing soon."
Nodding, she switched seats with Anderson and strapped in as Ull opened the channel for the Captain. Several minutes later, the shuttle began to descend, and she felt it touch down.
Chapter Eleven
A stunned silence filled the Council chamber as Captain Anderson replayed the raw footage that his vest recorder had captured of the Ganglian attack and the ineffectiveness of their weapons against them.
"This actually happened?" the Asian Chancellor asked, and the tone of his voice told Trisha he was hoping the answer would be no.
"It did, Chancellor Nguyen." Anderson stood at attention as he addressed him. "If it hadn't been for Warrior Ull's skill, we would all be dead, and who knows what would have happened to those families in the forest."
"Would our more powerful weapons be successful?" This question came from the European Chancellor.
"I don't know, Chancellor Smyth."
"It is something you will only learn if you strike the Ganglians before they disappear again," Ull growled as Trisha had been translating. "And right now, you can't even detect them entering your atmosphere, let alone know where they will be landing."
"Which is what you are offering," Chancellor Smyth countered.
"No, we are offering to make sure they never come near your planet again.”
"In exchange for us supplying you with our women," President Ochoa fired back.
"In exchange for willing females that wish to Join with a Tornian warrior," Ull stressed.
"There's something else you need to see," Captain Anderson quietly but firmly interjected.