by Stella Cassy
“Less than one percent damage to outer rim,” the computer reported. “Communication systems entering diagnostics and repair.”
I opened my eyes. I placed my hands on the console and scanned the screen. It was basically the same as far as I could tell.
“Interception one hundred percent successful,” the computer announced. How the heck could it be with damage?
Lehar leaned my way without taking his eyes off his screens. “It was debris from one of the Moset’s ship’s hit by Tarion’s fighters.”
“I hope it did not register an anomalous deflection on their scans,” Dashel’s said. His wings expanded, snapping back in place almost immediately.
“We’ll be ready for them if it does,” Lehar said.
I had to look left or right at the other crew because everyone was so quiet. The big screen remained mostly blue, but the tan dots were still worrisome. I twisted a strand of my hair that had unwound from the bun at the back of my head for so long, it lost all its curl.
“We are headed for our primary mission destination,” Lehar said.
“Yes, sir,” each of the three called out, one at a time.
“Dashel,” Lehar said in his crazy-calm voice. “Signal to Captain Tarion that we are breaking off.”
“Yes, sir,” Dashel replied.
“Debris identified ahead,” the computer announced. “Identity unknown. Analysis is underway.”
Dashel pointed at spot that looked the same as the dark space in front of us. The left and right crew looked at the same empty space.
“Send a probe or deep scan?” Dashel tapped some keys and buttons on the console in front of him.”
“Scan first, then send a probe, maybe,” Lehar said. “They do not know we are here, and we do not want to announce that we are cloaked, be they Coovoo or Moset.”
“Or another,” Dashel said.
“Analysis complete,” Dashel said. “It’s indeterminate.”
Lehar said, “Send a probe and keep shields—"
“We’re hitting some kind of solar storm or debris soon,” the Drakon on the left called.
Dashel and Lehar exchanged looks. “This feels familiar, right?” Dashel asked.
“Yes, it does,” Lehar’s lips thinned, and he sat up straight, his wings fluttering in and out.
“Computer, authorization by Capt. Lehar Hielsrane to engage automatic detect and destroy with wide sweep with signature enemy,” Lehar’s voice boomed across the bridge.
I flinched and combed the screen for some anomaly but there was nothing.
“Detect and destroy, initiating...” the computer stated.
I kept my eyes on the screen but only our four blue ships were visible on the big screen and on Lehar’s smaller ones. Four more tan ships appeared in front of ours and on the left and right of our blue ones.
Before I could prepare myself, “Fire, full on,” Lehar’s voice boomed across the bridge. Ships shifted position, appearing and disappearing on the screen.
I grabbed onto the console, too, as if I had more than an empty space in front of me. I gritted my teeth as the tan representations of Moset ships decreased slowly.
Lehar and the crew slapped their caudals against the base of their chairs and the floor. “Hit!” Dashel raised both hands and so did the other two crew members.
“Target hit successful, no life signs detected,” the computer reported. “Fighter B 241 hit, eighty percent damage. Ten percent damage to main hull...Level one sustained...”
“Let’s finish off the last ones,” Lehar said.
“Hiels A2 is in pursuit of another,” the left crew said.
“Hiels A3 took out another one!” the right crew called out.
“Let’s drop into inner orbit and finish this mission,” Lehar said.
“Clean sweep, sir.” Dashel winked at me.
I clapped and cheered along with them. After about thirty seconds of smiles and relaxing, they hunched over their consoles again. I let out a long breath and resumed my screen monitoring. We decelerated down close enough that we could have touched the trees. That was when my pulse started thumping in my neck, drowning out the status updates from the ship.
The large screen switched to the vegetation, dark green and yellow and orange even under the evening sky. Three vehicles moved around on the ground like toys surrounding a field of ships and domed white buildings that looked nothing like the brown hills with the colorful doors I saw on my first trip to Kanet.
Before me, Lehar and his crew were tense. Their backs stretched and taut, they silently tapped away at their consoles, speaking quietly and intensely among one another.
“Computer, all targets identified, begin elimination...”
“Elimination in progress,” the computer said.
My eyes swung from the small screen to the wraparound one until my neck was sore. For a long time, the only thing that changed was that Kanet‘s shades of green and brown became more distinct.
Two of the vehicles burst into flames, sparking like an evening firework display. The white domes exploded like they were filled with confetti. The grounded ships went the same way. When there were only a few ships left, they disintegrated, too. Then, the neat rows of hills and the lush vegetation changed from browns, greens, and oranges to black smoking crisps.
“Contact Hiels A1 and A4 to get out of there,” Lehar said.
“Yes, sir,” the left and right crew said.
The planet got smaller and the smoking holes and burning fields, which looked like half the planet to me, grew dimmer. Those vehicles had been moving. All the Mosets inside of them. They were gone. Lehar reached over and squeezed my hand, smiling at me. I didn’t push my lips up in time. He faced his screens again.
“Open channel to Hielsrane One, Capt. Tarion,” Lehar said to Dashel
Tarion was actually grinning from ear to ear.
“I do not think we will need to concern ourselves with Coovoo at the moment. I sent them a transmission of the new terrain on Kanet,” Tarion said.
“Meet you on Moon One to strategize our next moves?” Lehar reared back in his seat.
“Exactly what I was going to suggest,” Tarion said.
“Troubleshoot the bridge’s communication system and get it operating at one hundred percent.” Dashel said to the other two in the room. “Good backup, Lara.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“We’ll have to give you more training,” Lehar said. He unstrapped his belts and then came and unbuckled mine.
“Assume first while I get some nourishment, Dashel.” He laced his fingers with mine. “I will not be long.”
“Yes, sir!”
“You mean me, don’t you?” I asked.
“The healer said that you should eat at regular intervals.” He picked me up and carried me to his room, our room. I couldn’t believe I missed that original room where we became intimate.
“Do you think I’m so weak you need to carry me?” I asked, kissing his cheek.
“I am practicing for carrying our child,” he said.
“Did all of them die, the bunny warriors?”
“No, but enough that they’ll be crippled and receptive to a real alliance or they’ll be prey to whoever happens along.” He crossed the threshold. “They would have killed us all if given the chance.”
They almost sold me back to the Pax. I didn’t want that murderous look to cross his face again, so I kept that thought to myself. “I know,” I said.
I laid my head against him as he sat down on the bed with me.
“Now, time for nourishment, after this,” He pressed his lips to mine. By the time we went to the vending machine, we were both in need of multiple hydration packs and food.
28
Lehar
Lara shot a quick look left to right at first and second crew at their stations. “I could barely drive my own car,” she whispered. “Are you sure I’ll be able to navigate this thing as well as Carissa one day?”
“Yes, even
tually, and immediately in an emergency situation.”
She looked from her pad to my console and raised a skeptical brow. “Okay. I want to.”
“I do not foresee you ever being on this vessel without a full crew, but I like knowing that you can navigate any of our vessels,” I said. “The ship system will not let you crash.”
“Sir, Capt. Tarion is on his way to the bridge,” Dashel stood in the doorway. “Let’s go firsts.”
They filed through the door, and I exchanged glances with Dashel, who shrugged. “He wants to talk to you alone.”
Tarion wanted to discuss the rebellion He had already talked to me about Lara. Whatever he wanted to discuss, after our discussion I would tell him about Lara’s pregnancy. What will he say about my choice of a mate? He had not been receptive of her initially. He would have to get accustomed to her. There was no other choice for me.
When they left, Lara stood and waved her pad. “He won’t want me here either, so I think I’ll look at my next lesson in our room.”
“You do not have to leave. When he leaves, we can spend the rest of the lunar together. There is nothing about Hielsrane’s operations or my private life that my mate is not privy to. Carissa knows all there is to know about us. She probably knows more about me than any other female other than you now.”
She sat and curled her feet under her, shooting a wary glance at the doorway. They needed to get used to each other.
“I intend on telling him that you are carrying my heir. Now is a good —”
Tarion strode in the room with a big smile. “Lehar.” He nodded at Lara. “Hello.”
Her eyes widened. “Hi.” Lara angled away, staring down at the pad in her hands.
He sat in Dashel’s seat. “The Coovoo will need time to regroup. I have already received a transmission; they are still insisting on their independence. They are weighing their options.”
“They would never have had the initiative or the forces to have initiated this attack on their own. This was all the work of the Moset.”
“Carissa needs time in one place without impending battle as she prepares for the last stages of birth.”
“I, too, have a pregnant mate who needs that time as well.” I put my hand on Lara’s stomach and lifted her onto my lap. She melded into my side, and I drew her closer to me.
“Mate and heir.” He leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Two pieces of good news, cousin. Congratulations, Lara. Carissa and especially Matilda will be more excited than any of us.”
I exhaled so forcefully that Lara’s hair danced around her head.
“I didn’t know that you knew my name,” she said.
“It would be hard not to as much as Lehar said it when we were in that cave.”
“It is a relief you are pleased for me, for us.”
“I was unsure of your intentions about the Hielsrane. Your behavior indicated you might break away as I once considered.” He smiled down at Lara whose eyes widened up at me. Warmth went through my body at the sight of them conversing, smiling at one another. Neither Lara nor Tarion were going anywhere. Both were a significant part of my life.
“I have one more piece of good news,” Tarion said. “Hielsrane business that we were discussing before this battle.”
“I can leave you two to that part,” she said.
“As his mate, this concerns your future as well. It’s more of an announcement.” He slapped a palm on my shoulder. “Congratulations, partner.”
“Partner,” she said. If she had not repeated it, I would have thought I had misheard him. Did he mean that?
“Partner?” My throat closed. “Partner with you of the entire Hielsrane operation?”
“Yes. You deserve the promotion. I thought of doing it before, but your performance in identifying and quelling this rebellion has to be acknowledged.”
“Thank you, cousin!” I gave him a half hug with Lara still on my lap before I could stop myself. Then I caught Lara’s face between my hands and kissed her on the mouth.
“Contain your exuberance, cousin,” he said. “Your mate is with your first heir.”
“Congrats, Lehar.” Lara kissed me again.
“Thank you, Lara.” This was more than I could have hoped for my future when I first saw her on that platform.
29
Lara
Tarion stood to leave and we walked him into the corridor. He slapped Lehar across the back and then took my hand between his. “Matilda will be happy to receive two new Hielsrane members. I will not be able to prevent her and Carissa from absconding your mate as much as they can.”
“Thanks, I will be sure to accommodate their schedules as much as possible,” Lehar said with an open smile I wasn’t quite used to yet.
“I’m just as excited. I have a lot of female bonding to do.” I felt a slight burn creeping across my whole body when I remembered that I had actually cried with how disappointed I had been when I’d learned Carissa wasn’t born on Earth and wasn’t quite what I expected. Now, I couldn’t wait to really get to know both of them. “They already feel like family.”
I wasn’t sure if Tarion was himself or his evil twin, but I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek, which made him smile as he walked away.
Lehar scooped me up again. “Am I allowed to walk at all while I’m pregnant? Exercise is good.”
“I love carrying my two,” he said. “It is good exercise for me too. You exercise plenty throughout the day.”
“You’re still monitoring me?”
“For life,” he said.
Dashel marched up the corridor with the bridge crew behind him. “Assume first.”
Dashel smiled. “Yes, sir.”
We met Kydoei when we got to our wing. “Are you still hurt?” she asked, her brows furrowed.
“Oh, no, I—”
“She is carrying my heir.”
Kydoei beamed at me. “Congratulations. Congratulations, Sir.”
“Wow, this baby is making me so much more popular.”
“You have always been,” he said as he deposited me on our bed.
He sat beside me and took a lock of my hair, trailing it between my breast. “My first alien love.”
“Your only, as you are my only human love, my life mate, my last love.”
He fiddled with the necklace around my neck and took it off, tossing it on the floor. “I should have taken this off some time ago. I stopped thinking of you as a slave as soon as you entered my ship but I had not experienced this connection with anyone before so I did not recognize it.”
“I liked it before I knew it was a collar; it’s pretty as a necklace. If you disable it, I’ll wear it, but only as jewelry.”
“The clasp is intricate, but it doesn’t lock,” he said.
“I can take it off anytime?” I picked it up from the floor, running my fingers over the stones. “Maybe you can get me some earrings to match?” I touched the diamond drops in my ears.
“Yes, anything you want. They are gemstones only found on Thirren.”
“We’re going there, aren’t we? I’ll get to see that orange sun in person and a whole planet full of Drakon, your siblings, your parents —”
“Lara…” He took my hand and squeezed it. “You can leave if you want. As a partner, I can make sure we travel to your planet. I chose you from the beginning, at first because I was intrigued by such a delicate little human daring to fight a mob of aliens, none less than twice your size.”
“Lehar, are you crazy?” I put my hand over my stomach. “We aren’t leaving you. Although I should probably go back at some point to let my parents know I’m alive. Knowing them, they’ll be disappointed. They’ll be more concerned about giving any of my money back if they manage to declare me dead by the time I make it back.”
“We will go. Thank you for choosing me.” He whispered, crushing me against him. “Thank you for allowing for being my life mate. I will do my best to protect you and all our children.”
“I know
you will. I promise the same.”
“Let’s go and find out if it’s male or female,” he said. “I don’t like referring to my heir as an it.”
“It’s too early isn’t it?” I asked.
“Our Healer can analyze the genetics without piercing your skin,” he said.
“What else can they tell me?”
“Anything you want,” he said. “What do you want to know?”
“Nothing until it’s born.”
“What should we name him or her? Lehar Heilsrane Jr or —”
I interlaced my fingers with his. “I’m thinking it should be something from both our names or my nana’s name, my real name if it’s a girl and one of your relatives if it’s a boy?”
“Yes.” He kissed the backs of my hands. “That is most appropriate.”
He stopped me. “Lara Abernathy is not your real name?”
Was it? I didn’t remember being called anything else. “Not by birth, but I guess it is now. I was named after my grandmother. When I have a girl, I will give her the name.”
“Good, I do not think I can think of you as anything but Lara.”
Epilogue
Lehar
Matilda sprinted into our family room as Lara called it after she convinced one of the engineers to add a connecting door. A small change of the many changes Tarion had already ordered so that my ship and fleet would match his own in every way possible. Including an additional deck, a fourth one. She would not consider leaving the baby in the nursery during the day with as the other mothers did, even taking the baby with her on her daily walks.
Carrying one of the twins underneath one arm and holding onto one by the foot who was half hopping and flying, Matilda yelled, “Auntie Lara catch the other one. Every time I get one, the other helps free him.”
“I just got them off the bridge. Uncle Dashel said he was going to throw them out of the airlock.” She giggled. “Can you believe he said that?”