by Juno Wells
Timric spoke up, pulling down his mask. “The guards aren’t going to touch her. She’s a queen.”
One of the guards spoke. “If Stacy of the Lionheart is the queen of queens, her orders supersede all others on this ship.”
Freaking great. Stacy never wanted to be a queen, much less the queen of queens. This whole queen situation was getting stupider by the minute. “Yes, I, Stacy of the Lionheart claim my right as queen of queens. I’ll be whatever it takes to get people moving through my medical unit again. Now move them out of here.”
The man had been stunned unconscious and was beginning to sit up. The guards dragged the groggy man and his screaming fangirl out of her medical unit, and they got back to seeing warriors.
Timric stood gaping at the doorway. “I was not expecting that.”
Stacy had to laugh to keep from crying out her frustration. “The ‘verse is a dark and strange place. Sometimes you just have to take it as it comes.”
Phan looked at their readout on the big screen and pointed out the obvious. “We’re down to the elder warriors and children now.”
“There aren’t any children on this ship, remember.”
Meric’s voice sounded off from the doorway. “There are six younglings on this ship, including Phan and my Timric. My crew has been crawling through the entire ventilation system, tracking down the two unusual readings you found this morning. We’re starting to believe we’ve might have a real problem on our hands.”
“I hope that’s not the case, but it’s better to be aware of potential problems than caught unawares.”
“Thank you for bringing the matter to our attention. It’s an unfortunate fact that when we take vessels in battle, often the beings that formerly inhabited it do not have the same strict safety protocols as Draconian ships. Such was the case with this warship. It was designed with the sensors pointed outward. Clearly they were much more concerned with external rather than internal threats.”
His words were so much background noise. Stacy was focused on the adorable little boy in his arms. His wings were drooping, and his golden hair was long for someone so small. His tiny horns were mere nubs poking through what appeared to be baby-soft hair. He was sound asleep on Meric’s shoulder. Seeing the stern warrior with a small child in his arms was charming in a way she wouldn’t have guessed.
She shifted her gaze to an older male standing at his side, who could not have been anyone other than a close relative. He was holding the hands of two children with golden hair who appeared to be about six or seven.
She glanced up to catch Meric’s eye. “You have a large and beautiful family.”
His eyes closed, and his head jerked to the side. She could tell that she’d touched on a sore spot with him. He quickly opened his eyes and when they landed on her, she could see the pain he was trying desperately to hide. Seeing him vulnerable made her chest tighten. For the first time, Stacy realized why he was so closed off and standoffish. He’d been subjected to the vicious and capricious whims of a symbiont when he was breeding for his former queen. That was enough to make any man wary.
Realizing she was staring at him, she swallowed thickly. “Who would you like to go first?”
“Perhaps my sire. Though my young have been in the medical unit before, they will be more cooperative if they think this is a group activity.”
Shooting him a smile, she nodded. “That’s a smart idea.”
He seemed to relax just a bit before commencing formal introductions. “Queen Stacy of the Lionheart, may I introduce my esteemed sire and the head of our clade, Elder Rheric.”
Reaching out to grasp his hand, she bowed slightly. “It’s a privilege to meet you, sir. I didn’t realize our good captain had his family aboard.”
“My scion’s dedication to security keeps us in our suite much of the time.”
“This time yesterday, I would have advised that you have nothing to worry about. But today we found someone onboard who shouldn’t have been here, so maybe Captain Meric’s paranoia turned out to be a good thing.”
“There is likely always trouble about. As long as our young are accompanied by warriors, no harm will befall them.”
Stacy gestured towards the medical platform as she responded informally. “In that I have no doubt. Your warriors are intelligent and capable.” Meric didn’t take his eyes off her, making her feel anxious. Grabbing a clean sheet, she keyed in an opaque privacy screen to surround one healing platform. Handing him the blanket, she stated quietly, “You know what to do.” She stepped through the holographic screen and approached Meric again.
Timric and Phan led the two small ones over to play on a nearby table. Once they were out of hearing range, Meric spoke softly. Gently rocking his little one, he shifted the child slightly to get comfortable. “We saw the male and female you ordered the guards to secure. Is it true that you have claimed your place as the queen of queens?”
“I don’t care about that kind of thing. It was the only way I could get your guards to haul her screaming ass out of my medical unit.”
He almost smiled again. “I was told the male at her side is not Draconian?”
“He’s not only not Draconian, he’s something that’s not even in our databases. His skin is dark and has white markings. He has three hearts and two stomachs. His basal body temperature runs colder than humans and we’re two degrees below a Draconian.” After a brief pause, she continued. “You said no one had ever seen the Moltan. I believe there is a chance that he’s a Moltan male who found a way to modify his appearance and stowed away.”
Running his hand up to cup his child’s small head, Meric nodded slightly. “That was my thought as well. I ask Tabor to pull all the security feeds that show his movements since we took control of this ship. I hope that might give us some indication of why he stowed away.”
“Do you think he is in contact with the ship we’ve been searching for all this time? Maybe that’s why no matter where we end up, they’re someplace else.”
Wrapping his arms a little tighter around his little one, a soft angry noise sounded from the back of his throat. “What you say is the most logical explanation for his presence on this ship. Once your work here is done, I will interrogate him and you can speak to the female.”
“Let me guess. Only a queen can make demands upon another queen.”
“Yes.”
Folding her arms over her chest, Stacy tried to keep the irritation from her voice. “I’m not trained on interrogation. You know that, right?”
“You don’t need to be. You are her queen. She is obligated to answer your questions or request a rite of combat.”
Shooting him an indulgent smile, she quipped, “What you don’t know about women could fill a data drive.”
“This much I am learning at some expense.”
Stepping over to Meric’s father, she turned off the privacy screen so the little ones could see what was going on. “All right Elder Rheric, let’s complete your scan. This won’t hurt a bit, and it’ll be over in under a micron.” That was said more for the children’s sake than his.
The scan began moving over his body, scanning through the sheet covering his waist. A chime sounded, alerting her to an area outlined in red. It was throbbing but unruptured cerebral aneurysm and thankfully located in an area that could be accessed easily. Elder warriors were prone to get them and they were fatal around forty percent of the time. The man could see the three dimensional image floating above him and reached up to run his finger around the image, before whispering. “Fix me if you can, my queen.”
Stacy stepped closer, shifting her full attention to the sick man in front of her. “This doesn’t look like it’ll be difficult to access. When caught prior to rupturing, outcomes are nearly always positive. Rest easy; it’ll be over before you know it.” She set the stasis unit for surgery. It immobilized her patient and put him in a state of near suspended animation. The aneurysm stopped throbbing as time stood still for the elder warrior. He woul
dn’t feel anything, even the minor surgical procedure she was about to perform.
Phan rushed over and pulled out the correct med kit for dealing with a cerebral aneurysm, tossed it on a hovering instrument table and pulled it into place at her side.
Stacy stepped into the sanitizing circle and held out her hands, anxious to work on the elder who meant so much to their captain. She stared at Meric, and he held her gaze as the cycle processed. The worried man nodded for her to continue. He whispered one word “Timric.” The teen rushed over and led the twins to the other side of the room and pulled a game out of his pocket. As she stepped over to the healing platform, he began to pace with his little one still on his shoulder.
Phan sanitized and then stepped over to help her glove up for the endovascular coiling procedure. He pulled on a fresh lab coat and stood ready to hand her implements. Together they worked on the elder warrior for close to an hour, opening an area on his temple to access the aneurysm and injecting the specially programmed nanobots into the area. They worked to clip off and dissolve the tiny sack, while others attached themselves to the rupture in the artery, closing the wound. They monitored his condition for a few minutes and then lowered the threshold for the stasis unit. She pulled off her gloves and shot Phan a pleased look. “I think we did it. His vitals look good and the nanobots should have the tear in the artery wall repaired in a few hours. Why don’t you go get yourself some sleep?”
“I wouldn’t say no to extra sleep after a day like today.”
When she finally gave her patient a last once-over and stepped back from the healing platform, she realized the only person left in the room was Meric. “I believe the procedure was a success. It’s lucky were doing diagnostic scans today, otherwise it might have ruptured.”
“He’s been complaining of headaches, but I never thought it would be anything this serious.”
“I wouldn’t feel bad about that. Most headaches are stress induced. With everything that’s been going on lately, it would make sense to make that assumption.”
“You saved his life.”
“That’s basically my job description.”
“I still appreciate your diligence. Do you mind if I ask why you thought there was a contagion?”
Walking across the room, she dropped into a chair. This wasn’t a conversation she was particularly interested in having at the moment. “Can we talk about that later? I’ve been on my feet for about thirty-six hours, and I can’t even think straight.”
“Why don’t you go to your quarters and rest? I’ll monitor my father and contact you if anything goes wrong. Warriors are trained in healing enough to successfully monitor a sick person.”
“Negative. I’m not leaving until those nanobots have sealed the artery closed. I can’t be halfway across the ship if something goes wrong.”
Bending over, he scooped her up into his arms and sat down with her in his lap. Pulling her against his hard chest he murmured. “You can rest in my arms. I’ll keep you warm.”
All right then, she was still trapped in upside-down world. That was outstanding. When he wrapped two huge wings around her, a deep trill came from his chest. It had an almost drugging effect on her senses. So much so, that Stacy found herself tumbling off to sleep like a lightweight.
19 Problems Stacked Upon Problems
Meric
Tabor slipped into the room an hour later, eyeing him curiously. “Phan told me about your father. How’s he doing?”
“He’s stable and resting until the rest of healing takes place. Our queen did not want to leave until the healing cycle was complete.”
“I’m glad you brought him in today.”
“We were fortunate that he was scanned today. The aneurysm was large and active. I do not believe he would have lasted much longer before it ruptured.”
“Any idea exactly what set off this round of paranoia for our queen?”
“I have no idea. She did not wish to discuss it.”
Tabor sat beside his old friend, eyeing the queen in his arms. “I never thought that I would meet anyone as obsessed with security as you, until today.”
“She is not finished checking every warrior for contagions, but she did discover a stranger in our midst and saved the life of an elder warrior. I’d say that makes it worth all the chaos she caused today.”
“You know as well as I that the queens of old generated this level of chaos on a daily basis and for much less altruistic purposes.”
“I know that Stonara’s symbiont would have had my father destroyed just for the pleasure of feeding off my pain.”
“Yet our new queen goes out of her way to heal all our hurts, large and small. This sector of space is like a different dimension.”
“I agree. About the stowaway, our queen was not able to match him to any known species in our database. Will you meet with me in the morning to interrogate him?”
Tabor sighed before speaking. “I stopped by and had a word with him already. He refused to speak. However, his queen had much to say.”
“I heard her daring us to touch him as our warriors were taking him to lockup.”
Tabor sighed. “I think his fierce little queen is going to be very disappointed with what happens to him.”
“My queen believes him to be Moltan.”
“It makes a certain kind of sense. This was once a Moltan vessel. Perhaps he found a clever hiding place to crawl into when we made our final sweep of the ship. I cannot figure out how he managed such an elaborate disguise so readily.”
“Nothing about him being here makes sense to me. Do you think he’s been communicating with the Moltan ship we’ve been tracking?”
“That is impossible. I’ve been running a disrupter on outgoing signals. Signals can come in but none go out without my approval and oversight. He did not have a com device on him when we searched him. In fact he didn’t have any tech or personal possessions on him at all, only a braying human queen wrapped around him. She screamed at me until my ears bled. I am looking forward to dealing with her on the morrow.”
“You are not sounding much like the overly serious security officer I’ve always known, Tabor.”
“It pains me in ways I do not understand when queens are in distress. Do you think this was something they wrote into our DNA?”
“I must admit to wondering that myself at times. Did you have any luck tracking down the sporadic biological signal in the air ducts?”
“Unfortunately not, it seemed to be continuously moving. We estimate it is approximately the size of my head.”
Shooting his security officer a frown, he huffed out an exasperated breath. “I cannot believe you are still using your body parts as size references. That is a behavior that young warriors grow out of as they age into adults.”
“Why are you always so formal, my friend? This conversation involves only you and me. I do not say such things in front of others.”
“Sorry. I did not mean to berate you, and about something so insignificant. The day has been long and stressful.”
Just then the medical scanner cycled off, indicating that the healing was complete. Tabor jerked his chin towards the door. “Why don’t you take your queen to rest and stay at her side tonight. My father has your young. I will let them know the healing is complete.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the consideration.”
“Think nothing of it. I have a word of advice for you. Do not say stupid things to your queen when you wake up in the morning, for I do not think she will give you another chance.”
“Why is it that obvious advice is all you ever give me, Tabor?”
“Because my advice is obvious to everyone except you. If you do not refrain from irritating your queen into not liking you, I will stuff a piece of doma the size of my hand in your mouth to shut you up.”
Meric had to smile at his teasing friend. “I will heed your warning. Until the morrow, my friend.”
Meric checked on his father one last time before leaving the m
edical unit. Walking through the corridors with his small queen secure in his arms felt more right than anything he’d ever known. Where the queens of old had brought pain and misery, his new queen brought compassion and caring. After laying her on her bed, he removed her clothing down to her undergarments. Rather than pulling a blanket over her, he shucked his clothing and crawled up beside her. Rolling her over to rest against his side, he wrapped his wings around them and smoothed his hand up and down the soft skin of her arm.
Taking liberties with a queen was considered an act of treason. But that was a problem for another day. Meric closed his eyes and relaxed, knowing his sire would soon be well, and feeling his queen safe in his arms. One word kept running through his mind. Mine! His want for her was becoming a raging need.
As the dream world closed around him, Meric breathed in the scent of his human queen, luxuriating in the warmth she provided. His dream world was mixture of pure erotic fantasy and nightmares fit to make a male lose his sanity.
This night her soft hand slid up his chest to cup his face. He smiled and turned down to look into her beautiful eyes. The expression on her delicate face was sensual and admiring. This was a queen who desired the emotions he was all too eager to give. Humans appreciated males who took the initiative. He pulled her up and sealed his lips over hers, making the human kiss. She moved closer and clung to him, making tiny sounds of pleasure. Turning her under him, he assumed the position of dominance. She wrapped her legs around him, encouraging him to do all the things he had been wishing to do to connect with her, to be close to her.
He remembered being laid out naked for her on her healing platform. She didn’t spare him a glance, as obsessed as she was with ensuring he was well. Something about a queen valuing his life over his body shook him to the core. It spiked his need to have her soft body wrapped around his cock.
Suddenly, a searing pain pierced his back and he was torn from on top of her. Stonara’s huge body was standing between him and his human queen. Stacy looked weak and frail before the fury of a Draconian queen. He shoved off the floor and tried to grab Stonara’s arm before the huge serrated knife in her hand could plunge into the female he loved. His body felt weighed down by oppressive gravity that only affected him. He landed at his queen’s side only to find her cut into two pieces through her stomach. She looked up at him and held out her arms, whispering, “Why didn’t you save me, Meric?” He held her in his arms, too late to do anything but watch the life drain from her eyes.
