by Maia Starr
In truth, I was probably now safer with the Corillion than I would be back on the base with Commander Cook, if he had survived. I sat down on the bed and ate the food and drink. There was no use starving myself. I was going to need all of my strength, both emotionally and physically, for what was ahead of us, for me. The way Kai looked at me with such hate haunted my heart. I hoped that I would at least get a chance to tell him that I did not know he was being tortured; at least then I would feel some relief.
After I ate, I banged on the door again, “I'm done with the food tray!” I shouted over and over. I really didn't care about giving them the tray, but I wanted to get their attention. Finally, a warrior opened the door, the same one that gave me the tray in the first place.
"I'm done with the food, thank you. May I see Captain Kai Spornium? I need to speak to him,” I said to him.
He looked at me confused and then looked at the warrior standing in the hallway.
"Captain Kai Spornium is the one that was saved from the dungeon on the lunar base. He is not on the ship.”
"What? What do you mean he's not on the ship?” I asked.
"He's on one of the other ships. Now, enough out of you,” he said as he grabbed the tray and shut the door locking it.
I couldn't believe it. Kai wasn't even on the same ship as I was. I sat down on the bed suddenly filled with sorrow and hopelessness. At least thinking that he was on the same ship as I was gave me some sort of comfort. It made me feel like he was nearby and watching over me.
But he was not on the same ship as I was. Did he do that on purpose? Didn't he want to talk to me? Why would he allow this to happen? It wasn't like him. There was something very wrong here. I had to figure out what was going on. There was no way that Kai would go through such trouble to take me back to the lunar base, only to be captured, and then to allow me to be captured in return? That did not make sense to me. There was something going on here, and without him being on the same ship, I wouldn't be able to find out what it was.
All I could do was sit here, be quiet, and hope that my presence was fairly unnoticed. What would happen to me when we landed? Where would we land? The Corillion galaxy was far and wide, and I didn't even know what tribe of Corillion this was. I hoped that by the time that we landed that Kai would come to his senses and maybe even claim me as his mate. At least that way I would not be given away to another Corillion leader. I knew what would happen if another Corillion tried to force himself on me: the same thing as last time. I would have to kill him. I hoped that none of this would happen, that this path would be blocked by Kai taking action.
"Come with me, human female,” a warrior said as he stood outside my door. It had been several hours since they told me that Kai was on another ship.
"Why? Where are we going?” I said to him, worried that they suddenly had an idea to take advantage of my situation.
"You don't get to ask questions. You are a prisoner,” he said back as he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room.
"I must warn you if you try to force yourself on me, I shall kill you,” I said in anger.
He laughed and said, “Yes. We know,” he said as he yanked me, practically dragging me down a long narrow hall. Then he pushed me into a large room where another warrior stood behind a desk.
"Karissa Lane. I knew that you looked familiar. It took me a while to connect you to this,” he said as he swiped the screen on the wall. I gasped as my photo came up on the wall with some words over it in Corillion that I did not understand. But there was something very familiar about it; it was a wanted poster of sorts, with numbers next to it. I could only assume that was the number being offered for my head.
"Who are you?” I asked him.
"I am Captain Lek Spaunok of the asteroid Spaunok. Your people raided my home Altid and in return, we have raided your lunar base. It was a surprise to find Captain Kai Spornium there. I do not know him personally, but we were not expecting to find many prisoners of war. It is very rare that one of us is caught. That confused me. So I began to look into it. Then when I came across his files as being the one that captured the human female that is now wanted all over the Corillion galaxy for killing a leader of the Corillion, it suddenly all made sense.”
"You know nothing, Captain Lek Spaunok. But you should know that if you or your warriors try to force themselves on me, they will die just like your leader,” I spat the words at him.
He laughed and said, “That is not going to happen. We already know what you're capable of. But you need to be brought to justice. First, you kill a leader, and then you take Captain Kai Spornium hostage. You force him to give you access to his ship, and you take him to the lunar base where he is taken prisoner and you are free. It is a good plan. I don't know how you did it. You are a petite human female. How can you take the life of a leader three times your size and then force another skilled Corillion warrior to be your hostage? But you did, and here you are. It is a very serious offense and could be problematic for the survival of our race. If other human females hear of this and take after you, then we will no longer have them to keep our race going. So you see my problem here."
I swallowed hard. He thought that I had taken Captain Kai Spornium hostage. That I had forced him at gunpoint or something to take me to his ship and then take me to my lunar base near Earth. That was absurd, but I could see why they would think it. I realized that if they knew the truth, that Kai had taken me by his own will back to the lunar base, that he would be in a lot of trouble. They would kill him. I couldn't allow that to happen. So I said nothing.
Chapter 10
CAPTAIN KAI SPORNIUM
I was beginning to regret not being on the same ship as Karissa. I should have thought logic over my rage, but I didn't. In the heat of that moment, not only was I angry with her, but I was embarrassed. I didn't like her face when she saw the state that I was in. I was wounded from the torture, and that embarrassed me. I was a strong captain and warrior. Nothing should hurt me, especially not a weak human man. So the fact that she saw what they had done to me made me feel disgusted with myself. I should not have allowed them to do such a thing to me. I should have fought every step of the way, but during that time, I thought that Karissa was only minutes away from helping me escape.
So after seeing that look on her face, I did not want to be anywhere near her. I knew that if I were on the same ship as her, she would be stubborn and demand to see me. I would eventually give in. Then I would have to see the look on her face all over again at my wounded, weak body. I did not want to relive that moment. So I decided to take a different ship on the same fleet of over four hundred ships.
But now that I had cooled off and had a few days to mend, I was starting to see the error of my decision. It wouldn't take long for them to figure out who she really was, and I would not be there to help her get out of that situation. I could help her deny it. Maybe we could say it was her twin sister, anything. But without me at her side, they would not believe any lies that she came up with. They would wonder how I got to the lunar base on Earth, they would figure out our connection. There was much of a mess to be sorted out, and I needed to be by her side when they found out so that I could figure a way out of it. But it was impossible now on a ship with a couple of miles of space between us. It is out of my hands now. I could only find out what information I could. I moved to the flight deck.
"Captain, what is our destination?” I asked in the most warrior way that I could muster.
"Good to see that you are on the mend warrior. We were destined to go back to Altid. But we recently received orders to divert all other ships as well. The entire fleet will be going back to Altid, minus ten ships, including this one that will be headed to the Supreme Council on Pourock," he responded.
"When did you receive this order?” I asked.
"As of an hour ago. This will be better for you as well. The Supreme Council can take care of you and get you back to your home.”
"Yes, that is good news. Tha
nk you, Captain,” I said as I left the flight deck. Dammit. They knew. Whatever ship Karissa was on, that captain figured out who she was and now was taking her to the Supreme Council. The fact that the captain I spoke with thought that his ship was going simply to take me to a place where I could get home easily let me know that he did not know the details of what had happened. He did not know who I was. This was not going to be good.
A few days later, we arrived. We arrived in front of the Supreme Council. I was escorted to the grand room. Then I saw her. Karissa was standing in chains in the middle of the room. As soon as I saw her, my heart went out to her. What had I done? I was angry at her for not coming to me, for not rescuing me, but she did not deserve this. I should have just forced the warriors that rescued me to leave her on the lunar base. Now seeing her, I knew this was my fault.
"Karissa Lane. You are guilty of killing Yiqua on your wedding night. He was to be your forever mate. You killed him. What do you have to say for yourself?” the Supreme Council asked.
"I am only guilty of defending myself in whatever way was needed. Yiqua was forcing himself on me. I know that you Corillion do not understand what that means. But if a human female says no, it means no. He did not take this seriously. He was going to take me without my permission. That is grounds enough for his death. Yes, I killed him, but I did it in self-defense. And I will do it again if put in the same position,” she said defiantly, with her chin up in the air. I was impressed at her fearlessness. But it was dumb. The Supreme Council would not understand or be on her side.
"So you admit that you killed Yiqua?” they asked.
"I killed him in self-defense. That is what I admit," she said angrily with her blue eyes narrowing.
"Karissa Lane, you are guilty of taking Captain Kai Spornium by force. After you killed Yiqua, you held Captain Kai Spornium at gunpoint and forced him to take him to his ship, or you would murder him as well. Then you forced him to take you to the lunar base where you took him as prisoner. Are you not guilty of this as well?” they asked her.
There was a hush and grumble over the Corillion in the room. They were shocked by this human female that was so capable of not only killing Corillion, but also forcing them to do things against their will, like take them prisoner. She was silent, and I opened my mouth ready to yell my side of things. Ready to tell them the truth that she had not taken me, that I had done so by myself, I had offered my help. But before I could get a word out, she said,
"Yes! That is true."
I looked at her with wide eyes, and my mouth was open in shock. Why was she lying? Why was she covering for me? She should not do so. I did not need her to defend me.
"Then you are guilty of murder, and you are guilty of taking a captain prisoner," the Supreme Council said to her. I knew what was coming next. They had defined her crimes, and now they were going to issue her punishment. I needed to do something. I needed to speak up. But I just stood there frozen, not knowing exactly what to do. I wish I had been able to speak to her alone to figure out a plan; she was better at these things than I was.
She just stood there, silent and defiant. I could see all the eyes in the room admiring her; she was a true warrior, and they knew it. Why would they waste such a beautiful thing?
"We the Supreme Council will decide your fate, Karissa Lane. For the action of murder, the punishment is death. For the action of taking a captain as a prisoner of war, the punishment is death…”
My stomach fell to my knees, and I knew that I had to say something to stop this. But what could I say? If I admitted that I had helped her, then I would be sentenced as well, and I would be in no position to help her. If I said nothing, then I would be free and could figure something out, probably have to take her, plan an escape.
"But these are the punishments that we give to our own Corillion warriors and to human man; we have never come across a human female to do such acts. We do not have a procedure for punishing you. But I believe the verdict shall be similar once we discuss among ourselves; for now, you will be taken to the prison cells to wait for our verdict,” the Supreme Council said.
I felt relief. My tense shoulders dropped. I would have some time now to figure something out. But I could not have expected what happens next.
"Wait! Wait!" a Corillion warrior ran into the large council room. Everyone begin to chatter amongst themselves at this outburst. It was unlike another to interrupt a Supreme Council; it was disrespectful. The Corillion warrior ran to the middle of the room and stood in front of Karissa. What the hell was going on?
"Your excellent Supreme Council, please excuse the interruption! I have news regarding this case!” he shouted.
"Please continue,” the Supreme Council said.
"I was charged with running tests on this human female to find out why she is different than other human females we have come across. I have not found any difference. But I did find one thing that the Supreme Council should know when making a verdict.”
"The floor is yours. Please tell us what you know,” they responded.
"This human female, Karissa Lane, is pregnant with offspring.”
There was a grumble over the room. I looked at Karissa. I was shocked too. Her eyes were wide and her mouth fell open. Then I saw her whisper something: Kai. She whispered my name.
"What? Are you certain this human female is with offspring?” the Supreme Council asked.
"Yes, I am certain. And more than that, she is pregnant with a Corillion offspring, not human.”
Another grumble over the crowd. I knew then that she was pregnant with my offspring. It had to be. I was the only one that she allowed to enter her. She would kill any other Corillion that tried, and she had proven that. It had to be mine. I felt extreme joy, but also extreme pain. What could we do now? Would they still sentence her to death? I could feel her sorrow. She was slightly shaking as she stood there. The strong, defiant woman that had faced certain death with a straight face and courage was now shaking at the news that she was carrying offspring, Corillion offspring. My offspring.
"How is this true?” the Supreme Council asked her. “Are you saying that you laid with Yiqua and then you killed him? Or is there another? You killed Yiqua for trying to mate with you and yet you allowed another to do just that without killing him? You must see why we are very confused by your actions, Karissa Lane. Please explain yourself."
"I will do no such thing. What I do is my own personal business. You have no say over who I am or what I have done in my past,” she said defiantly. She was still covering for me.
"Be defiant if you wish. We will find out who's offspring it is through the blood work that we have already taken that showed us that you are pregnant. Our science can determine such a thing,” the Supreme Council said.
Karissa was silent, and she stood tall and proud as she lifted her chin in the air and said, “Do what you must. This is how you treat all human females. I am no different."
"Then take her and run the test. Our verdict on her punishments for her crimes shall wait until we know every single detail. There is much more to this case than we understood. Take her and run the test to determine if Yiqua is the father of the offspring that she carries,” the Supreme Council said.
I couldn't hold my tongue any longer.” Wait!” I shouted.
Chapter 11
KARISSA LANE
I was very confused when I arrived on the asteroid of the Supreme Council. I knew why I was there, but I didn't understand why all of the Corillion warriors, and even a few human females that I came across, were looking at me so strangely. They were looking at me as though I were the alien. They were the aliens. It was very strange.
"I will be drawing a tube of your blood,” a Corillion warrior said as I sat in a medical room. I was very confused by this. This wasn't my first time with the Corillion, and the first time I was not tested for anything. Did they think I was bringing in some sort of disease to their precious Corillion race? I looked at the Corillion, who looked a li
ttle different than the other warriors. I assume that he was a scientist or a doctor of sorts.
"Why are you taking my blood?” I asked him.
"To test to see why you are different,” he said very casually. “May I?” he asked politely.
"Knock yourself out, I guess. Just leave me a enough so that I.. you know… don't die,” I said sarcastically. He sort of laughed. "What kinds of test and why?” I asked.
"The Supreme Council thinks you are some sort of super-human female. They are aware that you murdered Yiqua. And between you and me, I don't blame you. I met him a few times before and he is vile; you should know that not all Corillion warriors are such rude, brash brutes,” he said in a playful whisper.
"Yes, I have figured that out on my own and have become quite fond of some of the Corillion warriors that I have met. It is the same with humans as well. Some are lovely, and others are awful. We are not so much different,” I said.
"Nevertheless, the Supreme Council thinks that you are very different than the other human females that we have encountered. We have never had a human female be so defiant as to kill her mate three times her size. And it was done with skill. Therefore the council has me testing your blood against other human females to see if you are different, superhuman,” he said with a wink.
