by Lili Zander
“Of course it is.” Schultz rushes to reply before either of the Zorahn can answer. He looks indignant. “Everything on this ship has been tested. The United States government is deeply invested in your safety and well-being.”
Mannix gives Schultz an irritated look at the interruption. “The High Emperor has decreed your safety. It is so.”
“This High Emperor must be quite the guy,” Harper Boyd murmurs.
I don’t doubt it. As a gesture of good faith, the Zorahn came bearing gifts. One of them was the cure for leukemia. Rumor has it that lung cancer is next on the list, and the tobacco companies are practically drooling at the prospect of being able to market their wares again without health concerns.
I don’t know what else the Zorahn promised our government to get them to sanction shooting us into space, but whatever they offered, it’s gotta be huge. Much bigger than cancer. Once the Zorahn told them what they wanted, the government fell over itself to cooperate with the aliens. They even got the media in lockstep. I’ve seen article after article gush about the Zorahn, calling them our allies, even our saviors.
The way I see it, the Zorahn spaceship could be a tin can, and I doubt the government would care. There’s too much superior alien technology at stake.
May Archer looks worried, biting her lip. I nudge her. “I’m sure we’ll be fine,” I say, keeping my tone reassuring. “The Zorahn want us to arrive safely as much as we do.” We’ve been told our genes could save their race, but only if they can study us in their high-tech space-age labs. Thus the journey to their planet.
Beirax makes a chopping gesture with his hand. “No more questions,” he says tersely. “Hector Schultz, it is time for you to leave. We depart for Zoraht in a pars.”
One pars equals Six Earth Minutes, my translator chirps.
Six minutes to go. I glance around at the nine other women, but no one in our little space sorority seems excited anymore. Reality has set in.
Who volunteers to leave Earth behind and travel to an alien planet for six months? What kind of person chooses to trust the emissaries when they promise our safe return, guaranteed by the High Emperor of Zoraht himself? Why would anyone line up to be poked and prodded by alien scientists?
The answers are simple. Money. Adventure. And in my case, a lack of anything left on Earth to live for.
Schultz salutes us briskly and departs, clattering down the ramp. There are no windows on the sides of the ship, so I can’t see the crowds outside. Maybe some of the other women have family watching them depart. Not me. I have no family left. My mother left when I was ten, and my father died of leukemia two months before the cure came. Yeah, I know. Irony.
I watch as Beirax and Mannix hold their palms over several large panels in the back, which slide open to reveal the stasis pods. Ever seen a picture of the capsule hotels in Japan? That’s what these resemble. “Are we going to be awake during the trip?” I blurt out without thinking.
This time, Beirax actually rolls his eyes. “It is a stasis pod, Viola Lewis. By definition…” His voice trails off, and he sneers at me.
Yeah. I’m making a great first impression.
I awaken with a lurch and bang my head against the ceiling of my stasis pod. “Ouch,” I groan, rubbing at the spot. Pain wars with excitement and excitement wins.
We must be landing on Zoraht.
The panel opens, and I peer out eagerly. I’m here. I’m on a different planet, halfway across the galaxy. I’m going to see an alien world.
Then I realize that something’s wrong. The three Zorahn are standing in the center of the craft, and one of them, Beirax, has a weapon pointed at the other two. “I’m sorry, Highborn,” he’s saying. “I have other plans for the humans.”
“Lenox guaranteed their safety.” The female Zorahn, Raiht’vi, speaks through clenched teeth. “ You’ve altered the ship’s course and locked the controls. What are you doing? This is treason.”
“No.” Beirax’s voice is eerily calm, and his hand, the one holding the alien gun, is steady. “I commit no treason. I answer to a higher authority.”
“Traitor.” Raiht’vi looks ready to tear Beirax apart from limb to limb with her bare fingers. “There is no higher authority than Lenox.” She glances at the cockpit and sees something on the screen that causes her to gasp out. “No,” she whispers. “That is the prison planet. You cannot mean…” Her eyes go wild, and her voice rises in pitch. “What are you doing, Beirax? No ship can survive the asteroid belt. We will all die!”
Asteroid belt? Prison planet? What the hell?
Goosebumps rise on my skin. Something very bad is going on—bad enough that Raiht’vi thinks we’re all going to die, and Mannix looks like he’s going to wet himself—and my instincts warn me not to get in the middle of it. I don’t want to know how effective the Zorahn weapon can be.
Over the whine of the engines, I think I hear the other women stir in their stasis pods. Don’t move, don’t move, I beg. Don’t do anything to draw attention to yourselves.
Beirax draws himself to his full height. “For a thousand years,” he intones, “we have sinned against the Draekons. We have used them and imprisoned them. We have exiled them to a harsh and hostile world.” His eyes glow with an inner fire. “And we, the Order of the Crimson Night, have sworn never to forget.”
Sinned. Imprisoned. Exiled. Whatever Beirax is talking about, it isn’t giving me the warm and fuzzies. Who are the Draekons, and what the hell kind of fucked up politics have we landed in the middle of?
The ship lurches. As I watch, my heart pounding in my throat, its trajectory changes. A red planet looms in the view screen, and the nose of the ship tilts inexorably toward it.
We start to descend.
Scratch that. Descend suggests that we’re landing with a measure of control. From the panic etched on Raiht’vi’s face, from the way my stomach’s churning, I don’t think we’re landing.
We’re crashing.
“The Draekons will rip us apart, Beirax.” Raiht’vi tries again, one last desperate appeal. “You fool, don’t you understand? Even if we survive the landing, they will destroy us. You must let me correct our course before it’s too late.”
Beirax remains unmoved. “I chose exile and even death so the Draekons may rise again.” His voice rises to a chant. “It is foretold. The humans were the seed that gave life to the Draekon. And I, Beirax, will provide the seed anew. The human women will restore the Draekons to the glory that is their birthright.”
Part of me struggles to understand what’s going on. The other part of me is frozen in horror. We’re going to crash on an alien world. One that’s reduced Mannix to a blubbering mess, one that’s caused Raiht’vi’s face to whiten with terror.
The hum of the engines grows louder. We’re definitely falling now. Asteroids hammer at the body of the ship from every direction. I cling onto the ridged walls of my stasis pod, trying to hold on. I don’t know if the others are awake. All I can do is hope that they’re safe.
With a dreadful screech, the right wing breaks off. I see it on the viewscreen, the metal hurtling away from us. The ship immediately rolls into a spiral. Panels spring open, their contents erupting into the main area.
It is chaos.
The ship gets hotter, and it becomes difficult to breathe. My stomach is churning. A sudden reel of the ship has me flying through the air, tumbling toward the walls.
Then I collide against a hard surface with a sickening thud, and everything goes dark.
Click to keep reading Draekon Mate!
About the Authors
Lili Zander is the sci-fi romance loving alter-ego of Tara Crescent. She lives in Toronto. She enjoys reading sci-fi and fantasy, and thinks a great romance makes every book better.
Find Lili at:
www.lilizander.com
www.facebook.com/authorlilizander
Email her at [email protected]
Lee Savino is a USA today bestselling author. She’s also a mom and a
choco-holic. She’s written a bunch of books—all of them are “smexy” romance. Smexy, as in “smart and sexy.”
Download a free book from www.leesavino.com.
Find Lee at:
www.leesavino.com
www.facebook.com/leesavinoauthor
Books by Lili Zander
The Vampires’ Blood Mate (A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance)
Night of the Shayde
Blood of the Shayde
Soul of the Shayde
Blood Prophecy (A Dragon Shifter Reverse Harem Romance)
Dragon’s Thief
Dragon’s Curse
Dragon’s Hope
Dragon’s Ruin
Dragon’s Treasure
or
Dragon’s Fire (the omnibus edition, containing all the Blood Prophecy episodes) and a bonus story, Dragon’s Ghost.
Suzie and the Alien
Books by Lee Savino
Hey there. It’s me, Lee Savino, your fearless author of smexy, smexy romance (smart + sexy). I’m glad you read this book. If you’re like me, you’re wondering what to read next. Let me help you out…
If you haven't visited my website...seriously, go sign up for the free Berserker book. It puts you on my awesome sauce email list and I send out stuff all the time via email that you can't get anywhere else. ;) leesavino.com
Then check out…
My Berserker series: These huge, dominant shifter warriors will stop at nothing to claim the women who can free them from the Berserker curse These books are based on an Old Norse poem I studied in college, but writing heroines who find freedom in their sexual desires is my therapy after years of religious repression. They’re…ahem…quite kinky, so stay away if you don’t want a fair bit of BDSM.
The series is broken into two, all set in the same world and time period:
The Berserker Saga
Berserker Brides
Then I have a few series with cowriters! Yay!
The Draekon series with Lili Zander
The Tsenturion Masters with Golden Angel
The Bad Boy Alpha series with Renee Rose
Contemporary Romance. Check out Her Marine Daddy- free on all sites except Amazon (until they decide to make it free for me). More contemporary romance books coming soon!
