by Eden Ember
Kezon studied it. The drone map showed infrared images of the upper level, but nothing for the lower level. Having come in from the tunnels, his sense of direction lacked focus. The lower level displayed as a series of halls and rooms, many with dirt walls showing how quickly they’d built it. They would have to be careful of where they went as they looked for Kezon’s mate.
A staircase led the two Hjott warriors to the next level and a considerable number of Aulius and Teruds along with cyborgs were filtering through the corridors. Kezon and Uza kept their disguises on so that they didn’t arouse any suspicion. Thankfully, the blaster cams were only on the lower level of the facility, with the top level clear of any such traps.
“Look, Commander, the lab,” Uza said as he pointed.
Two Teruds walked by as they kept their eyes averted and walked ahead as if they had some purpose. Blaire walked in from the other end of the corridor and turned toward the room that they had assumed must be the lab. Kezon’s heart quickened at the sight of her for a moment, but a large group of Teruds and Aulius laborers suddenly walked past them and obscured their view of Blaire. The two warriors continued on through the crowd while trying desperately to reach the lab.
As Blaire descended the steps to the lower level, Kezon alerted his crew on the surface to detonate a distraction they had planned. The small explosion rattled the upper level just enough that the guards left quickly in the direction of the blast to check it out. Kezon and Uza descended the steps to the lower level to find Blaire. Kezon silently cursed the disorderly structure of the complex corridors as they searched through the dank lower level for any signs of Blaire. Staying away from the holding cells, they turned in the opposite direction and toward the opening of the tunnels in a last ditch effort to find her. Each room came up empty. Kezon’s uxormea burned hot and bright under his tunic.
The sound of footsteps suddenly caused them to duck into the shadows and wait. Closer and closer came the steps as they held their breath, They waited for the opportunity to take down whatever guard or soldier came upon them. However, upon closer examination, the small frame of a Terran female appeared before them. It was Blaire! Kezon reacted and nodded at Uza while his hand shot forward quickly. He wrapped his large six-fingered hand over his mate’s small face to keep her from screaming in surprise. Blaire didn’t fight like he had expected her to. Instead, she became very quiet. The sound of larger footsteps coming up the corridor and around the corner caused Kezon and Uza to turn and run as the commander effortlessly lifted her small frame to him, his hand still on her mouth. They made their way out of the outside tunnel opening just in time to avoid whoever was behind them. They continued to run until they had put distance between themselves and the building.
Once they reached safety on the other side of the bush line, Kezon released Blaire. She whipped around and saw that it was him. Immediately she jumped toward him, her arms encircling his neck as she clung to him. Neither said a word as they melted into each other, holding tightly to the things that meant the most to them. Blaire leaned in, her lips meeting with Kezon’s in a passionate kiss that told of their love for each other.
“Oh, Kezon, you found me!” she said breathlessly between kisses.
He couldn’t get enough of her. Kezon wanted to taste her, to claim her all over again. But this wasn’t the proper time. He pulled back hesitantly and smiled into her beautiful face.
“My love, we had searched the compound for you for two days. I am so glad that we have found you, but we must hurry or they’ll catch us. This place is crawling with Aulius and Terud guards as well as their cyborgs.” Kezon gently turned her toward the direction of the pod.
“I have put the nanobots with the virus code into one of the cyborgs. I also have with me the transmitter to command the nanobots to input the code. The virus is in place and all I need to do is release it. However, there is a limit to the range of the transmitter, so being outside the facility will work, but we need to get closer so that we are sure that it has worked,” Blaire said as she held the tiny device in her hand.
Kezon nodded and pulled up his comm, ordering his crew to set off another explosion on the other side of the facility. This would give them enough time to get closer to release the virus through the cyborgs.
“Also, the Tracker is in a hangar nearby. If we hurry, we can save it,” Blaire told the two Hjotts.
Kezon smiled and kissed her. “Set off a series of explosions leading away from the facility and the hangar. Get to your pods and return to the ship after you have done so. We’re rescuing the Tracker,” he said into his comm.
“Yes, commander,” came the voice.
They quietly waited at the edge of the encampment. When the series of explosions could be heard, Blaire stepped closer to the outer wall and scanned it with her device. She nodded as she pressed the button and held her finger down until the device beeped, indicating that the command transmission to the nanobots had been successful. The scientist smiled brilliantly as she ran back to Kezon. They hurriedly made their way to the hangar where they expected to find the landing craft that the cyborg had stolen. A few Aulius and Teruds were there, but the second set of explosions diverted their attention long enough for Kezon, Uza, and Blaire to sneak into the hangar and board the Gamma Tracker.
“Set for launch,” Kezon said as he flipped through the controls and the small cruising ship hummed to life. In the distance, the Aulius and Terud guards paused, turning to watch with mouths agape as the Gamma Tracker launched, sending a plume of Arthexei dust that blocked their view. The tracker took off toward the sky, leaving behind the chaos created from the explosions and the virus that infiltrated the cyborg army.
Chapter 24
Blaire
Blaire watched from the giant window as the Gamma Tracker took off and left Arthexei behind. She’d clutched the transmitter in her hand for a while, but once they left the atmosphere she decided to loosen her grip. If the device worked as expected, each cyborg would begin to slow down until their circuits were destroyed by the viral code overload. As the small vessel reached the Gamma Revolution, Kezon guided it into the docking bay and once the hatch door closed they all breathed a deep sigh of relief. The crew rushed forward to meet them, happy to see everyone once again.
“You must be hungry. Come, let’s eat and you can tell me what happened,” Kezon said as they walked to the mess hall.
The Hjott food tasted heavenly to Blaire as she hungrily scarfed down Jatra’s vegetables and fruits. Even the boexle meat tasted savory and delicious to her. The nasty bowls of gunk they fed her at the cyborg facility tasted like rotten seaweed and smelled even worse. She only ate it to keep up her strength. After swallowing the delightful Hjott wine, the young woman smiled.
“When I walked into the lab, I couldn’t find the cyborg. I had just stepped into the corridor to get to you when it grabbed me and put something over my nose and mouth that put me to sleep quickly. I awoke just as the Tracker approached the facility and landed. At first I was in a holding cell and I took advantage of the situation,” Blaire told him.
“I knew you had done that,” Kezon said as he smiled.
“I told them you had kidnapped me from Earth because I am a biologist and an AI specialist. I told them I was so glad when I found myself there and I begged to work for them in their lab.”
“And they let you.”
“They did! I had just enough time to finish preparing the nanobot injection before putting it into a cyborg. The nanobots should have been able to locate a way to get the virus directly into the cybernetic connections inside it. I also made certain that the code would spread from the cyborg army to the control center,” Blaire added.
Kezon took her hand and held it close to him. “You have made me so proud. I never doubted your ability to get the job done.”
Blaire turned her head slightly. “You didn’t? You were perfectly fine with me being in the enemy’s camp?” She batted her eyes.
“I was not okay wit
h that part. I was rabid with worry and filled with such anger that I nearly tore into the place with my only thought to rescue you. But I didn’t want to make the situation any worse. Uza kept me calm, and I soon realized that you could handle this while we quietly searched for a way to get you out of there.
“How did you find me? How did you know where I’d be?” Blaire tilted her head.
“I didn’t. We disguised ourselves as Aulius guards. I had the crew create a diversion outside and we took off searching for you. We saw you go down to the lower level, but I couldn’t call out to you without exposing us. Eventually, you walked by and we grabbed you,” Kezon said.
Blaire got up and rushed around the table to him, throwing her arms around his neck. Though it was not in character for her to behave in this way, she couldn’t help but show her love for her mate. “I’m so thankful that you were there! I had left the upper level and was heading to the tunnels when you grabbed me,” she told him.
Kezon pulled her to his massive lap. “It just shows how connected we are now to each other,” he replied with a warm smile on his face.
They walked to the bridge together after their meal and listened to how Uza had sent out a team of drones to scan the skies over Arthexei.
“What’s the word, Uza?” Kezon asked as Blaire settled down beside him on a seat.
“Commander, the first drones reached the skies under stealth cover. The virus seems to be working its way through the cyborgs both at the facility and beyond,” Uza said.
Blair smiled. “I programmed the code to work in waves so as to overwhelm their efforts to block it.”
“Smart little Terran,” Kezon noted as he smiled at her.
Uza nodded as well as he pressed the controls and checked the screen on the drones. “Commander, the drones are showing major activity with the cyborgs in the city. It appears they are malfunctioning.”
“Drone three checking in, the facility is in disarray. Aulius and Teruds running around trying to figure it out,” Berze said from behind them at the bridge monitoring station.
Blaire bounced on the seat. “It worked!”
“Did you ever doubt that it would?” Kezon asked as he narrowed his eyes at her.
“Never. My work is exemplary. Being in their lab helped, though. I couldn’t have pulled it off like this had I tried to get into one of the access panels as we discussed. It turns out the panels do not actually connect to the command center used for cyborg control,” Blaire told Kezon.
“Like a Trojan horse, you went in and killed an army,” Kezon said.
“Well, I had help from you to get this done,” she replied with a smile.
“How long will this take? There are cyborgs all over Vada by now,” Uza remarked.
“Yes, I suspected they might be. If they are all linked together, the code will be passed through the control center to each one until they are inoperable. Then the control center network will be destroyed as well.”
“Ingenious,” Kezon said as he smiled and shook his head, his pride for his mate so great that he nearly burst.
“It should take anywhere from two to four hours, depending on how strong their uplink is,” Blaire noted.
“Uza, keep me updated on the cyborgs. We’ll be in my room,” Kezon said as he pulled his mate to her feet and led her off the bridge.
“Kezon, should you be leaving your command post at a time like this?” Blaire had to run to keep up with his long strides.
He chuckled. “Uza can send me updates. We’ll just be watching and waiting. You said yourself, a minimum of hours. No sense in standing around when we have other things we can do to occupy our time,” he said as he grinned mischievously at her.
The second the door closed behind them and Blaire bounced into Kezon’s waiting arms as he growled and brought her immediately to the bed. Their passion wouldn’t wait. He tore out of his clothes, his uxormea burning brightly. Her soft body nestled beneath him while he kept from putting his full weight on top of her. Blaire giggled as he trailed kisses down the hills and valleys of her petite body. Settling between her thighs, Kezon opened her legs wide and took in his mate’s essence; the scent drove him into a frenzy. Blaire’s fingers clawed at his head until his long tresses were securely wound around her hand. Kezon found her swollen member with his tongue, causing her to moan softly. Soon, her body shuddered as he delighted at lapping at her soft warm folds.
“Now,” Kezon said as he stood on the floor, his cock growing long and hard, pulsating with anticipation. Blaire cried softly as he entered her, though he tried to be gentle with her. However, he couldn’t hold back as he rammed his phallus deep into her womb.
“Please fill me with your seed,” Blaire cried out during a second orgasm.
“With pleasure,” Kezon growled as he pumped fast and hard into her. After some time, he finished releasing into the Terran woman. Crawling up on the bed, the commander pulled his mate into his arms while breathing in pure satisfaction.
“Commander, Jatra is on the comm,” Uza said from his wrist comm.
Kezon grimaced as he tapped the device with a finger. “I’ll be right there,” he replied. “You, my precious mate, should stay here and rest.” He kissed the top of Blair’s head before rising from the bed.
She instantly sprung up behind him. “Like hell I will. I’m the one who put this into motion. I aim to see my work completed.”
Kezon frowned at her words as if she’d reached out and slapped him. She knew he feared that she’d want to go back to the Terran system and leave him behind, or might even want to talk him into staying there with her. She also knew that he couldn’t do that with the politics of Earth’s governing body. He stayed quiet, and Blaire decided to wait for a time when they could talk once the mission was completed.
“Jatra’s military force has arrived,” Uza said proudly as he turned to the screen showing the dots of friendly vessels in orbit nearby.
“Commander Kezon here,” Kezon said as he pulled up the screen.
A familiar face to Kezon appeared before him. His brother Kedun and his mate Aryn were on the screen. Both grinned as Kedun’s eyes fell to the bit of skin showing at the top of Kezon’s revealing tunic. In his haste to dress, he hadn’t secured his clothing to hide it properly. Blaire smiled, knowing that she was the reason for his uxormea to be so bright.
“Brother, you have news?” Kedun asked.
“Yes, the cyborgs are now falling in the outer reaches of Vada,” Kezon replied.
“Yes, yes, we know that. The cyborgs on Jatra suddenly came out from their disguises before shutting down. I’m talking about your chest. Is it Blaire, the Terran scientist from Earth?” There was silence as Kezon’s face turned pink. Much had happened while the brothers were apart. The news of his newly chosen mate would bring happiness to Kedun and his other family member. Of this he was certain.
Chapter 25
Kezon
“Well done, Kezon. Please extend my personal invitation to Blaire to come to Jatra for the celebration,” Premier Vorta said.
Kezon turned to Blaire, who stood beside him while he spoke with the Premier. The cyborg facility had been burned to the ground with the last of the virus causing catastrophic failure in the command center. This gave the Jatra military enough of an opening to swoop in and apprehend those responsible for the upheaval, thus putting it to a well-deserved end. It was mostly thanks to Blaire’s actions. Unfortunately, Kezon now had to worry about what would happen to his new relationship with Blaire. They were mated according to Hjott tradition, but Terrans rarely held such things in high regard. She could decide to go back home and leave him behind. It was the sort of thing that frightened him more than any other enemy ever had.
“What do you say?” the Premier asked Blaire.
She beamed at him and nodded. “I’d love to.”
“Wonderful,” Premier Vorta said as he heard her response.
“Time to head into Vada then,” Kezon replied after closing out the communica
tion with the Premier. He gave orders to his crew that they would be traveling to their home planet. Soon they were on their way.
Blaire excitedly perched by Kezon at the bridge as she took in the new views for the first time. The trip from the Terran system kept her sick with space travel illness and that had soon been replace by her deep focus in the lab. Blaire’s demeanor had completely changed since the mission had been deemed a success. With no reason to sit in the lab anymore, she stayed on the bridge with Kezon and Uza, enjoying the trip very much. They could enter hyper-speed without the need to travel through the wormholes, which agreed with her constitution much more.
Manning the controls through the Vada system came as easy as breathing to Kezon, as he’d traveled the celestial space many times. With great pride, he pointed out the different planets, explaining to Blaire the significance of each one. They pulled out of hyper-speed long enough to show her Dathee.
“This is where my brother, Kedun, met his mate, Aryn, while on a mission there,” Kezon told her.
“Aryn is one of the Qetesh agents?”
“Yes, she was. I believe she now works solely with my brother,” Kezon added. His face stained with a fierce blush just talking about it because of the uncertainty he had with Blaire. Neither one brought up what would happen once she enjoyed the celebration on Jatra. It loomed in the back of his mind how he originally promised her that he’d escort her back even if he claimed her as his mate. What if she wanted to leave? His uxormea ached at the thought.
“Is she happy?” Blaire asked.
He regarded her as he kept his hands from trembling. “I think so. I mean, I really don’t know her all that well. I met her once while they were on Yarikh. I know that she decided to stay with him, so to me that means she must be happy.”
“I suppose so,” Blaire said as her voice trailed off and she turned her head to watch the planets zooming by outside the window.