Alien Conquest

by Honey Phillips

  Something in his carefully neutral tone flagged her attention. “Don’t you usually have female medics on board?”

  He glanced down at her briefly. “No.”

  Considering how protective he was towards her, it didn’t surprise her that females were left behind, but… “So why is she here now?”

  “To see you.”

  Anger flared. “I told you I was fine with Dr. Gaston.”

  “I have developed admiration for the doctor, but he is not familiar with Yehrin anatomy. Is it not wise to have another medic assist?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him, unwilling to acknowledge his point. “How long ago did you send for her?”

  “The day I found out that you were with child.”

  “Were you even going to ask me if I wanted to see her?”

  “No.”

  She glared at him and tried to move. Unable to pull away from him because of the tight straps, she tried once again to look over his shoulder.

  “Be still, M’lee and look.” He turned her chin gently toward the front of the small spaceship and she gasped. They were already beyond Earth’s atmosphere and the darkened sky ahead was lit with stars, but all she could see was the enormous ship hovering directly in front of them. Two massive arms curved out from a central hub and created an open bay where smaller ships swarmed. As they passed through the space between the ends of the arms, their true size came into perspective and she bit her lip as she realized how enormous they were compared to their small ship.

  Once in the open area, T’chok continued toward the massive ovoid that formed the core of the ship. The insides of the arms were lined with open bays that even to her limited knowledge, looked like docking bays, but he bypassed them all. She bit back a squeak when she saw him aim for a small, dark opening to one side of the central mass, but as they drew closer, she saw that it was large enough to hold a dozen of their ships.

  “A team will come onboard. They will bring a stasis bed for T’renan and remove the existing one so that the Elder Female will remain undisturbed. They have a conveyance for the doctor as well,” T’lan informed her.

  “What about me? I have to go with her.”

  T’lan looked at T’chok over her head. “You cannot be of assistance during surgery.”

  “Surgery?” She felt the blood drain from her face. Even though she knew that Gran’s injuries were serious, the thought of her undergoing an operation on an alien ship terrified her.

  “Yes, little one. They will do everything they can. We will follow behind. I could take you to my cabin—”

  “No, I want to be close. Isn’t there some kind of waiting area?”

  Another look over her head. What was going on with the two of them?

  “Yes. T’chok will make arrangements.”

  “Arrangements?” She frowned up at him before it became clear. “Oh, I see, it’s because I’m human.”

  “Not entirely,” he said slowly.

  Hurt filled her when he didn’t reject her accusation, but she tried to cover it with sarcasm. “You’re only partially prejudiced. That makes it so much better.”

  Beneath the sarcastic tone, she could still hear the pain in her voice, but she pushed it aside. So what if they didn’t want humans on their unsullied ship. As long as they helped her grandmother, she would tolerate it.

  T’chok brought the spaceship in for a perfect landing. As soon as it stopped moving, a clear curtain dropped over the ship and expanded to form an airlock. The door opened and four Yehrin rushed in. Straining to see over T’lan’s shoulder, she caught enough of a glimpse to see that they resembled the original Yehrin race with slender bodies and small horns, before he tucked her head into his chest.

  “Hey—” She didn’t even get the protest out before he covered her mouth gently but firmly with his hand. She glared at him over the upper edge of his enormous palm, but he only smiled slightly and shook his head. She heard the team leave with Dr. Gaston but T’lan didn’t release her mouth until after the door closed.

  “What was that about?” Glad of the anger that distracted her from her fears, she fought furiously at her straps.

  “Be calm, little one. I will release them.” As soon as he did, she jerked away from him and would have fallen if he hadn’t caught her.

  “What is wrong with you? I can’t even talk now that I’m on your precious ship?”

  “Not to other males,” he said sternly.

  “What? That’s the most antiquated thing I have ever heard.”

  T’lan actually sighed and ran a hand across his face in a remarkably human gesture.

  “M’lee, do you know where we are?”

  “On your big-ass spaceship. The one that I’m not good enough for.”

  “What is on this ship?” he continued patiently.

  “Um, Yehrin?” She frowned at him in confusion.

  “Yehrin warriors, most of whom have not seen a female in several sun cycles.”

  “Oh.” A nervous tremor went up her spine. “Would they hurt me?”

  “No.” He didn’t sound quite as sure about that as Emily would have liked. “But you would attract more attention than you desired.”

  “T’lan would be forced to fight for you,” T’chok interjected. “Especially since you are with child and you are not wearing—”

  “Why would what I’m wearing—oh, never mind. Would you really have to fight for me?”

  T’lan’s hand dropped to his sword hilt and the weapon appeared. “It would be a privilege to defend your honor.”

  The vision of the last time he had wielded that sword to defend her flashed through her mind and her stomach curled.

  “No, no. Better to avoid it,” she said hastily. “So, what’s the plan?”

  The plan resulted in her being swathed from head to toe in a long black robe type thing which trailed behind her. Since she only came halfway up the average Yehrin chest, she didn’t think it was much of a disguise but T’chok went ahead of them and somehow the corridors remained clear. The floor beneath her feet was slightly spongy and she caught a glimpse of long white walls, but otherwise T’lan moved her along too quickly for her to get much of an impression of the ship.

  They ended up in a small room with more white walls. A row of white chairs ran along one wall, but they were both extremely hard and uncomfortably tall for Emily. The remaining walls were blank and featureless until T’chok crossed to the far side and pressed a hidden switch in one corner. One wall turned transparent and the next room became visible. She had seen enough television medical dramas to recognize an operating room—more white walls, blindingly bright lighting, machines with blinking lights, and a number of floating screens hovering above the bed in the center. Dr. Gaston stood to one side, a frown of concentration on his face as he studied the proceedings. Yehrin swarmed around the bed, dressed in white pants and shirts, but she caught a quick glimpse of her grandmother before her small figure disappeared behind the medical team again.

  Her grandmother seemed so fragile. Tears threatened again, but she was determined to be strong. Desperately searching for a distraction, she studied the figures moving rapidly around the operating room. Like the attendants who had taken Gran from their ship, they all resembled the original Yehrin with whom she had worked.

  “None of the medics are warriors?” she asked.

  “No,” T’lan said. “Some warriors, like T’chok, receive medical training, but it is limited to combat situations where medics are not close at hand. The more skilled surgeons are all scholars.”

  A spray of blood appeared from behind the Yehrin stationed at her grandmother’s head, and Emily swayed on her feet.

  “Sit down.” Without giving her a chance to respond, T’lan picked her up and sat down with her in his lap. She couldn’t take her eyes off the room beyond. The activity had increased and more Yehrin had entered. Sweat broke out on her upper lip and she felt dizzy.

  “T’chok, enough.”

  The older warrior had
been standing by the window watching the proceedings with great interest. At T’lan’s words he looked over and saw Emily’s face. He nodded and hit the switch again. The wall became opaque up to about six feet—too tall for Emily to see anything but short enough that T’chok could still see into the operating room.

  “He will let us know if anything changes,” T’lan assured her.

  “She is going to be alright, isn’t she?”

  “I do not know, my L’chka, but there are many skilled people working very hard to save her life.”

  “That’s good,” she responded listlessly. Normally she appreciated T’lan’s honesty, but right now she would have preferred that he had simply told her that everything would be fine.

  They sat in silence for a several minutes as she struggled to process the events of the day.

  “I didn’t really mean it, you know,” she said finally.

  “Mean what?”

  “I don’t want to destroy the whole town. There are good people there—William is a good person and so is Mrs. Stanley. I know there are others. I’m sorry that I encouraged you to treat it so harshly.”

  “I know. I allowed my anger to carry me away as well.” He took her hand in his, idly playing with her fingers. “But you must understand, my L’chka...”

  “Understand what?”

  “A Yehrin warrior was attacked. There will be consequences.”

  “What does that mean?” A sense of dread filled her, and she tried to pull her hand away.

  “A full squad has taken up residence in the town. No disobedience or rebellion of any kind will be tolerated. An investigation is being conducted and they will discover who drove the vehicle responsible for the attack. They will be publicly punished.”

  “I want them punished,” she whispered fiercely. “I just don’t want innocent people harmed.”

  “They won’t be—as long as they are obedient and respectful.”

  “Do you think maybe your squad would work with William? He could help get the message across in a less threatening way.”

  “I want the town to feel threatened.”

  She frowned at him and he sighed.

  “Emily, we have conquered many planets. Over many centuries we have identified the best way to do that—and it begins by instilling fear in the population. It is harsh and difficult for the citizens of the planet to understand in the short term, but it results in less violence and less loss of life in the long term. Unfortunately, a new way was attempted here.”

  “You mean the first transmission? Leader S’mathan?”

  “Correct. But it did not work. Violence occurred anyway, and we have had to fight more harshly in order to remedy that first misguided attempt.”

  “I don’t think it was misguided,” she said defiantly. “I believed in the United Worlds and the work we were doing. Is S’mathan going to try again?”

  “No. He is dead.”

  “What? You killed him?” Horrified, she could only stare at him.

  “No. Unable to bear the thought that he had caused the deaths of so many, he took his own life.” T’lan’s tone was absolutely neutral, but she couldn’t escape the feeling that he held the Leader in contempt.

  “Are you judging him for his failure or his suicide?”

  “Both.”

  “I think he was brave to try and change those centuries of tradition.” Now it was her turn to play with his fingers. “And did he actually fail? Who really blew up the building?”

  “Human saboteurs,” he responded woodenly.

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” She’d had time to think about it since the original interview. Now she lowered her voice and leaned closer. “T’lan, remember, I saw that explosion. That green light wasn’t created by anything on Earth. It must have been—”

  His hand covered her mouth again and she glared at him. He had to stop doing that. “M’lee, do not finish your sentence and never mention the explosion again.”

  As soon as he moved his hand, she started to argue. “Why not? Because you want to make humans the scapegoats? Along with a harmless old man who just wanted a different, more peaceful way?”

  “No.” He lowered his head to whisper in her ear. “Because if it was Yehrin plot, the culprits would not hesitate to kill you to cover it up.”

  “Oh.” A shiver ran up her spine. “Does that mean that you don’t really think it was a human plot?”

  “Right now, that is the official verdict. Promise me you will not say anything.”

  “I promise.” Reaching up, she gave him a quick kiss. He tightened his arms and she snuggled against his broad chest. As always, she felt safe surrounded by him. Their discussion had distracted her but now her eyes went again to the operating room wall. Slipping off T’lan’s lap, she started to prowl around the room. The third time she paused by T’chok, he sighed but his tone was gentle.

  “M’lee, it could be many hours. Why do you not go to T’lan’s cabin to rest?”

  “I can’t. I know I’m not helping her by being here, but I feel better being close.”

  “Very well. I will return.”

  He strode out of the room and T’lan came to stand at her side. He gave a quick glance into the operating room but shook his head at her inquiring glance.

  “They are continuing to work. I can tell no more.”

  “Why did T’chok leave?”

  “I do not know. Perhaps he went to check on T’renan.”

  “Oh, poor Tren,” she said in distress. “I don’t mean to forget about him; it’s just that I’m so worried about Gran and he—all of you—seem so strong.”

  “We train to be strong. I am sure he will recover.” He looked away and frowned. “I fear he may lose his horn.”

  “Is that important?”

  “Important?” He gave her an incredulous stare and one hand went up, seemingly unconsciously, to touch the dark ridges that topped his own head. “They are the sign of a warrior. For one to be missing, or even damaged, is a sign of failure.”

  “It’s a sign that he lived. A sign that he saved my grandmother. He should be proud.”

  “You must tell him that, M’lee.”

  “And so must you, T’lan. He wants your respect.”

  “You are right, my L’chka.” Leaning down, he slipped an arm underneath her bottom and lifted her against him. “I am honored to have such a wise mate.”

  Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

  “I’m honored to have such a sweet warrior.” She laughed at his expression of disgust and leaned in to kiss him. At first, he just teased her, pulling on her lower lip, and kissing the corners of her mouth, but as soon as she grew impatient and slipped her tongue against his, he growled and took over. One hand went behind her head to hold her in place as he thrust deep into her mouth. She kissed him back, trying to forget her worries in his touch.

  “I believe the Elder Female would call this canoodling,” T’chok interrupted dryly. Emily blushed and jerked back but T’lan simply grinned. After giving her a quick, sweet kiss, he let her drop to the ground.

  “Here.” T’chok handed her a small device.

  “What’s this?”

  “It is a clone of your phone. You cannot make calls, but your applications are there.”

  “Oh, thank you, T’chok. That is so sweet of you.” Forgetting herself, she went to hug him, but T’lan growled and T’chok stepped back hastily. “Sorry,” she sniffed. “But it means so much to me that you thought of it.” It became even harder to fight back the tears when she realized that he had also layered one of the uncomfortable chairs with pillows and added a blanket.

  He looked uncomfortable but nodded and quickly resumed his position by the window.

  “Come, M’lee.” T’lan led her to chair. “Make yourself comfortable and we will stand vigilant.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  T’lan looked up from working on his tablet to check on his L’chka. His squad had located t
he worthless borag who had pushed the grandmother’s vehicle off the road. The idiot had not even been sensible enough to remove the foreign paint from the front of his vehicle. He considered telling M’lee, but he was not sure that the news would bring her comfort. They had been waiting for more than three hours now. She had her device in her hand, but she could not focus on it for long. Her face was pale and tired, and he longed to take her to his cabin to rest, but he knew she would refuse to go. Even though he could have overpowered her easily, he did not want to cause her additional distress.

  “They have finished the procedures.” T’chok’s voice broke the silence.

  “Did everything go okay?” M’lee tried to jump up and almost fell out of her chair. He caught her and gently disentangled her from her nest of pillows and blankets. He kept his arm around her as she hurried to T’chok’s side.

  “Her vital signs are within acceptable parameters but—” He frowned.

  “But what? Is something wrong?”

  “I do not think so,” he said slowly. “The medic is coming to speak with us.”

  A few minutes later, the door opened, and the medic entered. To his surprise, he recognized the female that entered. On second consideration, he realized that bringing her to the ship made perfect sense.

  “Greetings, A’rathia,” he said politely.

  “Commander T’lan. Sub Commander T’chok.” She returned the greeting, but her eyes had gone immediately to M’lee. The scholar’s robe still wrapped around M’lee drowned her small figure and with her soft curls in disarray she looked impossibly young—and human.

  “A’rathia, this is my L’chka—M’lee V’randrr R’gers. M’lee this is Medic A’rathia V’randrr V’lesorn.”

  M’lee gave him a startled look when he introduced her, but she swept forward with the oversized robe trailing behind her and her hand outstretched.

  “I’m so pleased to meet you, A’rathia. Thank you so much for taking care of my grandmother. How is she?”

  A’rathia took the extended hand rather gingerly and dropped it at once. “She will live. She had a fractured radius and a cerebral edema, and she suffered a cardiac event.”