by Maia Starr
"I can see why you do not trust me. But you must understand that what happened was a coincidence. I was not using you in my plans to overthrow Cyro. But I did hope that it would help you. I wanted to get you away from him. He is dangerous. He is not a good leader. What I do, I do for my warrior brothers, for the entire tribe. His leadership will lead to their extinction, for all of us on that asteroid Seeduon. It had nothing to do with you. But it was a pleasant surprise to be able to help you as much as I could."
I sighed. I sat in silence for a while as he stared at me. I had to admit that my situation was slightly better. I did not want to be with Cyro; I did not want to be anywhere near him. I would be devastated if I was carrying his offspring, especially now that I knew my husband was truly dead. It had been the only reason that I was going to allow Cyro to impregnate me. Now carrying the offspring of Truo, someone that I actually had feelings for, was a better situation. But could I love him? I cared for him deeply, but I still loved my husband.
"So what now?” I asked. “Cyro overheard me saying that I was pregnant. He will come after us; he will think that it is his. He is obsessed with me. He was up obsessed with impregnating me; there is no way that he will just let us go.”
"Leave that to me. I vow to you, Vera, to protect you and our child with my life. Cyro will not touch you ever again. I will defend you at all costs,” Truo said to me.
"I believe you," I said to him. He had already been stabbed protecting me from Cyro, so I had no reason to doubt.
"So what do we do next?” I asked.
"We send a message to the High Council telling our side of the story,” Sitione said as he entered the front of the ship.
"Yes, that is exactly what I am ready to do. Have you established communication?” Truo asked.
"We can record a message and send it. That is the only thing we can do at this speed,” Sitione answered.
"How can I help?” I asked standing up.
They both looked at me stunned at my offer to help.
"What can I do?” I said again.
"No, you should not be involved in this any more than you already are. This way if the High Council does not vote in our favor, we can say that we took you hostage and that you should be set free and not punished,” Truo said.
"Set free? Meaning I would be able to go back to Earth?” I asked.
"No, meaning you would be given back to Cyro,” Sitione said.
"No. I refuse. Let me help. I refuse to be given back to Cyro, and if showing that I am a part of this revolution will keep me from going back to him, then that is what I will do. Tell me what to do,” I said defiantly.
"She has spirit,” Sitione said to Truo.
"And so much more,” Truo said.
"But she has a point. Perhaps if in the message she says that Cyro could not impregnate her and that she carries your offspring and is willing to be tested as such, then it will prove that Cyro could not produce offspring and cannot be a leader. It will prove that the second in command was the one to produce the first alien-human hybrid heir,” Sitione said.
"You might have a point. But that is only if Vera wants to do that. I will not make her do anything that she does not want to,” Truo said.
"Yes, I want to do it,” I said, answering quickly without even thinking about it.
They both looked at each other and seemed to be full of hope. It made me feel good. I wanted to help. But most of all, I wanted to be involved in bringing down the alien warrior that had killed my husband. Vengeance would be mine after all.
A few minutes later, we all stood in front of a recording device, the three of us.
"Ready?” Sitione asked.
"Ready,” Truo and I both said at the same time.
"Began message,” Sitione said.
"High Council, I, Truo Seeduon, am contacting you to relay what has happened on the asteroid Seeduon. You may or may have not heard by now of the rift between Cyro and I. High Council, I had planned to come to you in a day or two to plead our case. I plead to take over leadership of the asteroid tribe Seeduon. Many, including myself, think that Cyro is an unjust leader. He is leading to the extinction of our tribe. It is time that I take his place.”
"High Council, it is true. It is also true that Cyro took a wife a month ago, as the High Council knows because of the trouble he caused. But in this month’s time, he has not produced offspring and has failed to impregnate the human female Vera that he took from Earth. She is here now to plead her case,” Sitione said.
"My name is Vera from Earth, and I am here to tell my story. Cyro was very cruel to me, and he was not able to impregnate me. Through Cyro’s cruelty and his murder of my husband, I found solace in another Corillion, a friend, Truo Seeduon. Over time, I became close, and I willingly mated with him. I am now pregnant with offspring, the offspring of Truo Seeduon. I am ready to take any tests that are needed to prove that he is the rightful father and not Cyro,” I said.
"Thank you for this opportunity to send this message and plead our case. As you can see, we have support, and I have fathered offspring with the human female, and that is what is needed in a leader first and foremost to stop the extinction of a tribe. We humbly await your reply,” Truo said.
Sitione stopped the recording.
"Send it straight away before we are too far out of range,” Truo said to Sitione.
"Sending it now,” Sitione said as he turned toward the wall and began to push all kinds of buttons.
Truo turned to me and said, “Thank you, Vera. You did not have to do that, so I thank you for saying what you said. It means much to me. It means so much to the tribe. I hope that the High Council will see your truth.”
"You are welcome. I hate Cyro. He killed my husband. If I can help to bring him down, then I will. He forced himself on me and used my husband as leverage. It is my pleasure to help with this process,” I said to him. He pulled me to him and kissed me on the lips. I kissed him back. It felt good. It felt right.
"I'm getting an incoming message," Sitione said.
"Could they be responding so quickly?” Truo said as he moved to Sitione’s side.
"I don't think so. It must be from someone else,” Sitione said.
"Play it,” Truo said.
Another warrior appeared on the screen as the message played and Truo said, “It's Jin.”
This warrior they called Jin was very anxious on the screen and was whispering, “Truo and Sitione, I hope you get this in time. Word of your revolution has spread, and there is chaos here on Seeduon. There are many that are fighting for you. You were right that many do not believe Cyro is a good leader. But this message is to tell you that Cyro has launched a full-scale assault on you. He is hunting you with over 50 ships. They have left as of 10 minutes ago. I must keep this short. I only wish to warn you and to tell you that there are those that fight for you here. I am going to go into hiding until you return. If I can contact you again, I will. I hope that you receive this,” he said, and then the screen went black.
"50 ships?” Sitione shouted. “We are dead!”
"Not yet. Did you not hear that he said many warriors fight for my name? There is hope yet. Thank you, Jin. I am sorry I ever doubted you,” Truo said.
But I was with Sitione on this business. I was frightened. An assault with 50 ships was crazy. Cyro was crazy. He wanted to kill us.
Truo was walking back and forth, thinking. I did not know how I could help. I did not understand the ways of battle, especially when it was one very small spaceship against 50 battleships and a crazy leader. We were doomed.
"Take her out of hyperspeed and change course to the High Council,” Truo finally said after thinking.
"Are you insane? That will take us to close to Seeduon. Cyro will be in that vicinity,” Sitione said.
"Yes, it is very risky. I think we should go to Earth. Only there can we disappear,” I blurted out.
"No, this is good. We take her out of hyperspeed and we change course to the High Council
. After what Jin said, that the fortress is in chaos, then the High Council has to see me. They have to see us. They do not want civil battles between Corillion warriors. They already have the great war with the Earth, so they need us to not be fighting amongst each other. They will want to settle this and soon. It is a good plan,” Truo said.
"It is a dangerous plan,” Sitione said.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"There's another message coming through," Sitione said.
"Play it. It is the High Council; it has to be,” Truo said.
Sitione played the message, and there was another Corillion that I had never seen before; he was wearing a long robe.
"Truo Seeduon, this is Utren of the High Council. You are instructed to report to the High Council immediately. We will hear you plead for leadership over the Seeduon tribe. This is of utmost importance in order to stop the chaos that is happening on your asteroid. We have received your message, and we agree that this is something the High Council should decide. Come as soon as you can. We are waiting."
Then the screen went black. Truo and Sitione were quiet for some time.
"What if it is a trap?” Sitione asked.
"You think they mean to arrest us and blame us for treachery?” Truo asked him.
"Yes, that's exactly what I think," Sitione said.
"It is dangerous. It is risky. But we either go, or we go somewhere and hide forever. We leave our tribe to extinction. They will all die under Cyro; you know this,” Truo said.
Sitione was quiet. Truo was quiet. I was confused and scared.
"Then we go. We do it for the tribe,” Sitione finally said.
"Change course," Truo said.
Sitione moved to the front of the ship and began to change coordinates, pulling us out of hyperspeed.
"Sit down and buckle up. It's going to be rough coming out of hyperspeed and changing course, and I don't want anything to happen to you,” Truo said as he grabbed my hand and led me to a seat.
"Don't worry, Vera; I will protect you. Everything will be fine, I promise you. You will see,” he said as he gave me a kiss and then buckled into a seat.
Chapter 12
TRUO SEEDUON, SECOND COMMAND
We approached the High Council landing port slowly. It was a very dangerous move to be going so deep into the Corillion galaxy. We didn't know what the High Council had planned for us, truthfully. It could be a big trick.
"Land at the main port,” I told Sitione.
"The one closest to the High Council building?” he asked.
"Exactly. It will be less time trying to get from the port and inside the building,” I said to him as I looked over at Vera. I could see the fear in her eyes. The poor female had been through so much, and here I was putting her through more. But it was in order to make everything better for her and for our child. I only wanted the best. I only wanted the rightful leadership that was entitled for our child.
"Landing. We’re 10 feet above the surface,” Sitione said out loud as the ship hovered just above the ground.
BOOM!
Suddenly the ship jolted and a part of it exploded! It was complete chaos and the ship hit the ground hard.
"We've been hit!” I heard Sitione shout, but I could not see him through the smoke and the sirens blaring red flashing lights.
"Fuck!” I shouted.
"There! I can see through the shield! It is a fleet in the air firing at us!” Sitione shouted.
Fuck, it must be a Cyro. He caught up to us. Or he was invited by the High Council to plead his case as well, but instead of coming in peace, he came in war. This would prove once and for all that he was not a leader, that he was absolutely insane.
The ship slid across the ground and finally came to a halt. “Is everyone all right?” I shouted. “Vera!" I called out as I unbuckled my belt and went to her. There was a dangling panel of the ceiling of the ship in the way and I could not see her. I pushed it out-of-the-way and found her still buckled in her seat.
"My leg! My leg hurts!” she shouted. I looked down at her leg, and it was caught between the seat and the crushed wall.
"Do not worry! I will get you out!” I said as I pushed the wall in the other direction until her leg was free. I picked her up out of the seat and carried her out of the flaming ship with Sitione behind me. “Run for cover!”
We ran to the wall of the High Council building. I could see Cyro’s ship landing near the wreckage of our ship. He was coming for us. I would not let him have her. I would not let him have Vera.
Within seconds, warriors that were stationed at the High Council were at our side.
"What is this!” a warrior shouted at me.
"We come in peace! We have been invited by the High Council for a meeting, but that fleet there shot us down. It belongs to Cyro Seeduon. He has lost his mind!”
"It is forbidden to fire on the grounds of the High Council. He is breaking the rules, and he is being hostile and will be met with hostility,” the warrior said. Then he radioed what was happening to his superiors.
I heard his superior radio back that the fleet should be taken down and all taken prisoner. Sirens blared at the High Council as warriors ran to take cover or to fight. It was a battle.
"Carry Vera inside!” I shouted at Sitione.
"Yes,” he said. “I have her,” he said scooping her up into his arms.
"No, do not leave me,” she yelled at me.
"It is not safe here for you,” I said as I ran up to her and placed a deep kiss on her lips. “I will come for you. I promise.”
Then Sitione ran inside with her. I stood there waiting. Waiting for Cyro to come get me. He had injured Vera for the last time.
The fleet of ships landed and a few warriors piled out and charged toward the warriors that were lined up with me. “Charge!” the warrior next to me shouted.
We all ran towards the warriors that were running toward us. In seconds, we clashed together and a brawl exploded all over the place. There were blaster guns blasting. Knives swooshed the air as warriors fought. Each of us had been trained the same way, so we were all an equal match for each other. It was brutal.
"There you are! Where is she? Return what you have stolen from me!” I heard Cyro shout at me. I turned to see him standing behind me.
"She is not yours! She never was!” I shouted back.
"She carries my offspring!” he shouted.
"No! She carries mine!” I shouted back at him with a grin.
"Aahhh!!!" He charged me.
I charged him back. Bam! We clashed together. We fell to the ground and rolled along, wrestling, punching, and jabbing at each other. He grabbed my left arm and pushed his fingers into my stab wound. I shouted in pain.
"You traitor! You betrayed me! You are supposed to be my support! You are not to steal my human and mate with her. You are not to try to overthrow me! This is not the Corillion way!” he shouted as he punched me in the face over and over again.
Then he said something that ended it all. He said something that brought such a rage out of me that I did not recognize myself anymore.
"I will kill her for this after I kill you! I will kill her and kill your offspring! No one does this to me!”
I exploded with rage. I pushed him off of me and jumped on top of him. I punched him in the face. I punched him in the chest. I pressed my fist against his throat, choking him. He gasped for breath, but I did not let up. He squirmed underneath me. How dare he say he would kill her! No one threatens her, or my child, and lives to see it through. I pressed harder and harder until he was no longer breathing. His eyes were wide, and the cold crept over his body. He was dead. I had done it. Vera and my child were safe.
Hours later, the battle was over. The warriors of the High Council had beaten the warriors of Cyro and had taken most of them prisoner. I went inside the High Council building to find Vera and Sitione.
There were many wounded warriors being tended to on the floor of the High Council building. Many were sti
ll being brought in from outside.
"Vera! Vera, where are you!” I shouted as I searched through the wounded.
"Truo!” I heard Sitione say.
I ran over to him. “Where is Vera?! Why did you leave her side?” I said in anger and confusion.
"I did not. She is with the High Council getting the best care. I told them that she was with offspring. It is down the hall and to the left. You will see it. I must help the wounded here,” Sitione said. But before he could finish his sentence, I was already down the hall and following his directions.
