Solar Heat

by Susan Kearney

  “Send them a message. Give them my love.” Derrek shut down the link, his throat tight with sorrow. He still felt so connected to Azsla he had difficulty believing she was gone. Was it really possible she was no more? Any moment he expected her to link in, but the com remained silent.

  Still . . . she was so resourceful, maybe she had found a cave, a hole, a place to avoid the radiation. As he mourned, Derrek drove home the last circuit board, and Benet tested his engines. They coughed, then flared to life.

  Without hesitation, Derrek ordered Sauren to rev the hyperdrive and set course for Katadama in her new path through the stars. The journey took less than an hour. Breaking out of hyperspace, from the bridge, Derrek surveyed the massive damage, the blackened rock, the red-hot lava. The blast had shorn off one entire end of the asteroid, and the burnt rust now looked charred. The hills and rough terrain had melted to slag.

  His instruments told him that the molten lava formed a layer twenty feet thick. No one could have survived in a cave or by digging a hole. She was gone.

  He slumped into his station, heart squeezing into a heavy fist. His children would never be born, never mind grow up. Tish and Tad would never meet the twins. He and Azsla would never—

  Dad, is that you?

  “Pepko, don’t toy with me,” Derrek growled.

  Dad, it’s us. We made it. So did Mom.

  Derrek raised his head and narrowed his eyes at the asteroid. Pepko might be condescending, but he’d never been cruel. Was it really possible that Azsla and his babies had survived? There was no fripping way. Had he finally lost it? Was he imagining voices in his head? He was almost afraid to hope.

  He cleared his throat of tears. “Where are you?”

  Sauren eyed him strangely. So did his crew. Derrek paid no attention. If the babies were alive—so was Azsla.

  We’re in the asteroid’s core. The Perceptive Ones built this place with a tunnel into the center. We’re safe and ready to be picked up. We’ll come to you. You ready to catch us?

  “Oh, sweet Vigo.” Derrek jumped up from his station. “Azsla’s alive. She found an air pocket in the core. And she’s coming. Sauren, get us closer.”

  “Derrek. Nothing has come in over the link. I see no sign of Azsla. Maybe you need to see Doc Falcon,” Sauren gently suggested.

  “I’m not crazy.” He laughed, his heart expanding with joy. “She’s alive. I haven’t lost it.” Derrek had never told Sauren about Pepko, about Azsla’s pregnancy or the twins’ telepathy. And any explanation now would make him sound as if he’d really gone off the deep end of the vortex. So he didn’t bother to explain. “Train all our sensors on the asteroid. And prepare a suit for me to jet into space.”

  “But—”

  “Just do it.”

  WHEN THE ASTEROID stopped shaking, Azsla uncurled her body and crawled over to a few fallen crystals. They still glowed a pale pink, but clearly, they weren’t going to survive much longer on their own.

  Gently, she smoothed away the rock particles that had fallen on them, her hope rising as their color deepened yet another shade. Very carefully, she slid her hands under the crystals, found them a new spot in the fendiziom and transplanted them as if she were repotting a plant.

  Although she had no idea if they would live, her actions brought her solace. At least if the young didn’t make it, they would die among their own kind.

  It took her a while to move all the broken crystals, and then she took a break, sipping water through a straw in her suit. Hunger pains began to gnaw at her gut, and she broke out an energy bar. Since she’d been trained in tactonics, she already knew the condition on the surface. Massive radiation. Rocks reduced to molten lava. She was trapped here.

  Yet, knowing Derrek would return kept her going. Although her link wouldn’t work through the core and the radiation, her twins assured her they could contact Derrek when he came in range. However, escaping the core was a major problem. If the ancient doors still worked after the blast, opening them would allow radiation to enter, and that would kill the crystals.

  Radiation won’t harm us, Pepko told her.

  “You’re certain?” she asked.

  Human, how can you still doubt me after all we’ve been through together? His words might have been sardonic, but his tone was gentle. We owe you a great debt for risking your life to redirect Katadama. You saved our young by avoiding the crash into Zor.

  “You saved my twins by opening the doors. I’d say we’re even. And I thank you in kind.”

  That’s where you underestimate your actions. You saved hundreds. We saved three. And we owe you a boon.

  “Your thanks are more than enough.”

  Azsla felt a warmth in her womb. An odd heat that she couldn’t explain and didn’t understand.

  I have given your children the location of a world. A world of ancient machines that still work. Machines that will eliminate sickness and allow your kind to increase your life span by a factor of ten.

  Azsla didn’t know what to say. She knew Pepko meant well, but she wasn’t certain she wanted her children to go off and explore other planets. Space travel was dangerous.

  It’s exciting.

  Think of the adventure, Mom.

  “Now see what you’ve done?” Azsla sighed, knowing it would be many years before her children would fly off and leave her—that is, if they lived long enough to grow up. She still had no idea how they would escape the core.

  Your life mate is here. When you are ready, launch yourself through the shaft, and the double hatches will open for you.

  “How?”

  It’s a fail-safe mechanism built in case they ever needed to make repairs.

  “But they don’t have bodies. How can they—”

  Other races build things for them. Mom, you need to go.

  “What about the lava crust?”

  The fendiziom tunnel will protect us.

  Azsla didn’t hesitate. Derrek was up there. The twins had been right. Of course he’d come back for her even if it had seemed hopeless.

  Derrek was here. Waiting for her.

  She replaced her helmet and headed straight to the vertical tunnel. Bending her knees, she thrust hard, then placed her arms by her sides and let her speed build. Making it past the hot layers without burning up was probably impossible, even if the fendiziom tunnel walls held back the lava, but she had no choice. Staying below meant dying from lack of water and food.

  At least this end would be quick—for both her and the twins.

  But then the air—air that had cushioned her fall—boosted her, accelerating her speed beyond anything her muscles could have done. Like a projectile, she rocketed past the heat and the radiation, her speed so great she barely noticed a temperature change. She rocketed into space, soaring toward Beta Five and Derrek—who had no difficulty jetting out to meet her.

  The blast had burned her com link. But words weren’t necessary. He embraced her, space suit to space suit—a thoroughly ridiculous and unsatisfying hug. Nevertheless, tears of joy escaped her eyes. When he held her tight and jetted them all to safety, she could barely believe they’d succeeded. They were all going to live. Their children were going to be born. They were all going to have a future—albeit one altered by Pepko.

  29

  DERREK HAD INSISTED on throwing a celebration party on Alpha One, and it seemed as if every one of his hundreds of employees had crowded into the hydroponics facility—the largest area under one roof. The tanks had been pushed aside, and Tish’s things sat in a corner. Tables laden with food and drink, live music, and balloons floating from the roof lent a festive air to the party atmosphere.

  Azsla helped herself to a soy sandwich and a glass of milk. She seemed to be eating nonstop these days. And was packing on the weight.

  We’re growing babe
s.

  We need nutrition.

  Azsla smiled. The twins always had that effect on her, and she looked forward to their birth—which wouldn’t be long at the rate they were growing. But they weren’t the only family here.

  Cade and Shara had flown in from Zor, and Derrek’s brother was filling him in on the rebuilding process. Laurie had resigned. While they might never know if he’d collaborated with Firsts, he was incompetent and now out of office. Azsla had hoped to stand quietly in a corner, observing from a distance, but that had been impossible. It seemed as though every single citizen felt bound to thank her for her efforts. While she appreciated their heartfelt thanks, she felt like a fraud. Because if they’d known she was a First, her reception would have been quite different. In fact, she suspected no one would have come to the party at all.

  Among so many strangers it was good to see Micoo again. When she approached Azsla in a skirt, dressed as a female, Azsla had grinned in delight. Especially when she’d noticed the pleasure in Jadlan’s eyes as he escorted Micoo over to Azsla. The two women hugged. Azsla laughed and stepped back. “Let me look at you.”

  “She’s beautiful, don’t you think?” Jadlan asked.

  “Looks like you have an admirer,” Azsla teased and Micoo blushed happily.

  “Derrek’s foreman has put Rak and us on the same crew,” Micoo told her.

  They didn’t talk more because Rak joined them, gave Azsla’s forearm a hearty shake, then glanced at Azsla’s swollen belly. “You haven’t wasted any time starting a family. When are you due?”

  Azsla shrugged. “We don’t know.” Keeping quiet about the Perceptive Ones had been impossible, especially when people saw how quickly her babes were growing. She might be giving birth inside a month.

  Tish and Tad wriggled through the adults. Tish grinned, leaned forward, and whispered in Azsla’s ear. “Poli and Mavinor are okay. They made it.”

  “That’s great.”

  “And Mom’s agreed to let us stay for a long visit. Since Dad said he’d pay for her new home, she won’t fight it.”

  “Even better,” Azsla agreed.

  Tad tugged Azsla’s hand. “Dad wants you to join him over there.”

  Azsla nodded her good-byes and let Tad lead her through the crowded room. She saw Derrek on the dais. He looked stunning in a white shirt and dark gray pants. But it was his warm twinkling eyes that made her feel special, as if she were the only woman in the room—certainly the only one he was interested in. He held out his hand, and she waddled awkwardly toward him, proud of her swollen belly.

  When she stood beside him, he kissed her full on the mouth—in front of everyone. Azsla tried to draw away. Vigo, she loved Derrek, but they were in public. Yet, as he kissed her, she forgot the audience. He was everything she wanted in a man—sharp, innovative, loyal, and most of all kind. He’d even gotten over his own prejudice against her being a First. As they kissed, people stopped their own conversations. A few of the miners hooted. Azsla drew back, but Derrek tucked his arm around her, and she noted he held a microphone.

  “Speech. Speech.” the miners clapped and demanded, stomping their boots and creating an uproar.

  Derrek waited for the ruckus to die down, and Azsla tried to leave, but he kept her beside him. “I’d like to make a toast to my life mate and the mother of my twins.” He raised his glass, and the audience cheered.

  Once again Derrek waited for the noise to die down before he continued. “While all of you know that Azsla risked her life—and the lives of our children—to save all free Zorans, what you don’t know is that Azsla is not merely the warm and beautiful woman that I love. Like most women she has secrets, and I’m going to share one of them with you now, my friends.”

  At his words, Azsla tensed, her gut churning. Her Quait rose as her emotions tugged like a wild canine against a leash. Mustering control, she tamped down her Quait, but this time she didn’t have to stomp as hard. Reining in was easier than ever before, and with wonder, she realized she had help. The twins were aiding her. She didn’t know how, but their life forces were adding to her own. While they might still be babies, their powers were strong, and her Quait easily curled and lay down without a whisper.

  “Azsla came to Zor as a spy,” Derrek told the crowd. “But when she saw our way was just, when she saw what free men could do, she changed sides. My friends, Azsla is a First.” Derrek said the words with pride, his eyes daring anyone to defy him. “Unlike us—slaves who ran away to be free—Azsla was already free. She gave up a life of privilege and took on our cause. And then she risked her life to save us all.”

  The miners went silent. Murmurs rippled through their amazement, and then someone in the back started to applaud. For a moment that lone person’s claps echoed, and then another joined in. Then another. The sounds of approval echoed through the room and through her soul.

  She’d never expected these people to accept her for herself. She’d never thought they could accept a First as one of them. But as the crowd surged forward to praise her, she realized that she might have been a First, but Derrek had set her free. She would no longer have to live a double life, pretending to be what she was not. If she slipped up, and she might, it wouldn’t be so bad. Her secret was out—and that meant she didn’t have the burden of being perfect. Derrek had just bravely done her the biggest favor of all. He’d accepted her and asked his people to do the same, and they’d responded with acceptance and warmth.

  Heart hammering with happiness, she turned to him. “You couldn’t have given me a better gift. ‘Thank you’ doesn’t seem enough. I love you, boss man.”

  Derrek gathered her into his arms, his cheek against hers, his lips by her ear. “You’re certain you love me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Enough to live in space?”

  “Of course. I’m waiting for you to find us that ice cave,” she teased.

  Way to go, Mom.

  That means you’re coming with us to explore that new planet that the Perceptive Ones told us how to find?

  “Did I say that?” she murmured, willing to explore the entire universe with Derrek and her children if that’s what they wanted.

  Derrek chuckled. “I believe you did agree. But I think we should discuss family matters later.” Derrek kissed her again. And this time Azsla didn’t care who was watching or cheering. She was exactly where she wanted to be, with whom she wanted to be. With her children and Derrek, surrounded by love.

  (Please continue reading for information about Susan Kearney)

  Susan Kearney

  Used to set herself on fire four times a day. Now a USA Today bestselling author, she does something really hot—she writes romance. She can apply the old rule of “write what you know” and never run out of ideas for characters and plots. An All-American and professional diver, expert in martial arts, sailor, real estate broker, and owner of a barter business as well as a women’s fitness club and three hair salons, she has enough material for a lifetime.

  Kearney, a native of New Jersey, resides in a suburb of Tampa, with her husband, kids, and Boston Terrier.

  Visit her Web site at www.susankearney.com.