Talina smiled. “The Lost Daughter must have done this. It's a good sign.”
Kahuel shook his head. “I doubt it.”
“I'll ask.” Talina stood against the blast door and closed her eyes. Her calm face showed no emotion as she communicated with Esperana. When she came out of the exchange, her face remained grave.
Kahuel took a slow step toward Talina. “What did she say?”
“The Lost Daughter cannot open the blast doors.” Talina's voice caught in her throat. “The flashing red line means that the ship is on self-destruct. It is going to explode, soon. The Lost Daughter cannot stop the countdown. She must evacuate her team. She is leaving us behind!”
Kahuel enveloped Talina in his arms. “I am so sorry.”
The bitterness on her face showed how much the betrayal stung. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “How could she abandon us? How can she leave us here to die?”
Kahuel hid his own resentment. He'd learned long ago that Mutants couldn't be trusted. But he had to calm Talina. “She has no other choice. Staying would only increase the number of casualties. And if she dies, the hopes of the Chosen die with her.”
“Still.” Talina stifled a sob. “I expected more from the Lost Daughter.”
“Mutants are not all powerful. And I warned you about them.” Kahuel wished she didn't have to find out this way. “In their society, Mutants always come first. Humans are expendable.”
Talina disengaged herself from his embrace and looked up at him, her turquoise eyes wide with anxiety. “This means we will die here, soon.”
How Kahuel wished they had more time together. He brought Talina back into his arms and felt her quiver against his chest. “Let's forget about everything. At least, we are together. Nothing else matters now.”
She raised her face glistening with tears toward him. “Make me forget everything, Black Jaguar. I only want to feel you against me, and when I die, I want it to be at the height of passion.”
Kahuel understood. And he knew only one sure way to ease her passing. But could he perform when he knew they would both die, possibly before reaching their goal? This would be like battle fever. Could he feed on that same savage energy to satisfy Talina's last request?
She offered him her slightly parted lips. He pinned her hands against the cold blast door, noticing that her burned wrists had already healed. Her mouth tasted soft and salty.
Talina responded with a fierce kiss he would only expect from a warrior. She claimed his mouth with desperation, committed body and soul, as if to forget everything in his arms, determined to die happy.
Great Engineer! How he wanted this woman. And now he could have her forever. Until death. His mind reeled with the notion. He, too, wanted to lose himself in the act of love. He wanted her. With luck, their souls would journey together to the planet of their ancestors... Old Earth.
He reveled in the spellbinding taste of her lips, so sweet, moist and soft, so welcoming and warm. How could he not want her? How could he not be happy just kissing her? He let go of one hand to lift a strand of honey hair away from her lovely face, then he kissed the trails of tears on her cheeks. Great Engineer, thank you for this wonderful gift in our mutual hour of need.
He wanted to take his time, but he had no idea how long they had. So he fumbled with his baldric and dropped his sword and dagger without ceremony to the spongy floor where they bounced. Then he shed his tunic. When he looked up, Talina had removed her boots and stepped out of her tan pants. Barefoot, wearing only her white dress, her honey hair cascading over bare shoulders, she looked like the first time he saw her in the glade near the waterfall.
He embraced her possessively, ravaged her throat with hard kisses, enjoying her ardent response as her body melded into his. His manhood ached and her slender body heaved and swayed against him with unexpected heat. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He held her tighter, never wanting to let go.
When he lowered her to the spongy floor, he lost his balance but didn't care. He just tightened his grip on her and they rolled and bounced together, entwined, on the soft black floor.
If he died now, Kahuel would die happy. But he wanted Talina to have a glorious end.
* * *
Being in his arms again reminded Talina of the wonderful night they'd spent together. She recalled the waves of hot ecstasy she had known with him, and that same heat now melted her core. The caress of his hands on her thighs made her shiver with such anticipation, she almost experienced the pleasure of the act itself coursing through her body.
She moaned and let go of all her fears. She no longer cared that the Chosen wouldn't approve. Her instincts told her she could trust this man. Black Jaguar, the gorgeous warrior with dark skin and mesmerizing emerald eyes had showed her kindness. He'd welcomed her into his tribe, and he gave her so much pleasure...
The marauding presence of death loomed somewhere at the edge of her consciousness, but she easily ignored it. Nothing mattered now but the feel of his strong hands molding her breasts, his sweet sighs against her throat, and his breathless whispers as he nibbled her ear.
“You are the only woman I ever really wanted. The only woman I will ever love.”
Love... Was it a sweet lie? Talina didn't care. She believed him. On impulse, her thoughts entered his mind. Too late now for propriety. With him, she experienced the turmoil of his passion, his suffering, his infinite love for her. Love... He really loved her beyond anyone and anything else.
His hands touched her everywhere at once, overwhelming her with so many sensations she could barely feel them all. She gladly surrendered to his caring ministrations. How could she ever have doubted him? Despite his past, he was the man she hoped he would be all along, brave, selfless, loving, attentive. He had the courage to come rescue her... A warrior with a noble heart.
“I love you, Black Jaguar,” she whispered in the heat of their embrace.
“And I love you, Talina,” he answered with a radiant smile.
In this instant of truth, just as they were going to die, Talina experienced the deep link between both their minds and hearts. She let the drunkenness of love flow through her. She had found happiness.
* * *
Lord Straal sensed the presence of the surviving Estrell inside his head. So few of them. He stopped at yet another blast door blocking his way.
First Meteorologist turned toward him, anxiety locking her jaw. “My Lord, we'll never reach the escape pods in time... too many blast walls.”
Straal had to admit she was right. The silent countdown seemed to tick faster. “Don't worry, my dear.”
If First Meteorologist expected him to protect her, save her life, then he must. When desperate calls from all parts of the ship reached his mind, he paused to listen.
“Lord Straal, we cannot reach the escape pods. All the blast walls dropped when the invaders seized the controls. Several of our wounded are trapped between walls.”
The automatic safeguards had become a hindrance. But Straal didn't care about protocol anymore. “I have a solution. Let's link our minds and raise all the blast walls at once. It doesn't matter now. The ship is doomed anyway.”
First Meteorologist smiled and nodded her approval.
It warmed Straal's old bones. Linking hands with First Meteorologist to strengthen their mental bond, gathering the mind force of all the surviving Estrell on the ship, he sent the unspoken command, visualizing all the blast doors and security doors in the ship opening as one.
The blast door in front of him lifted. The path to the escape pods was clear. Nothing would impede their flight from this doomed vessel, toward happiness.
* * *
In the throes of lovemaking, Kahuel sensed a change around him. A breeze of fresh air brushed his naked buttocks. Under him, Talina moaned with pleasure. Glancing up, he froze when he saw the vast expanse of empty corridor gaping at him on both sides.
Talina frowned. “What happened?”
“The blast doors are open!”
Kahuel rose, pulled up his pants and snatched his sword belt but ignored his tunic. Talina stood in her white dress. He grabbed her by the hand as she reached for her boots. “No time for that. Just hurry.”
In uneven bounds, they bounced right and left in the brightly lit hallways, toward the area Kahuel recognized, beyond the curve of the corridor, now strewn with dead Estrell. The red line on the ceiling still flashed ominously. He spotted the vertical shaft... Leaving the access panel open for light, he squirmed inside and motioned for Talina to follow. “Hurry. It's three decks up.”
Talina climbed after him barefoot, as limber and agile as a monkey on a palm tree.
Estimating the height of each deck, Kahuel kicked open the access panel, wiggled out and helped Talina out of the conduit. “This way.”
They rushed together toward the transport area. Please, Great Engineer, allow us to survive, let us return safely to the planet.
Talina followed him, breathless. “Do you know where you are going?”
“Trust me.” Kahuel recognized the triangular entrance of the room where the Grays had shed their iridescent capes. The door stood wide open. “This way.”
He stopped in front of the decontamination shower room, knowing no other way back into the area. When the door opened, he entered with Talina then crossed the room to the door at the far end. It opened without a fuss.
As he stepped into the transport area, Kahuel recognized the luminous circle on the floor. “Come here. Stand in this circle with me.”
Talina stood very close to him, smelling of their intense lovemaking. “I can faintly hear the chanting of the Chosen.”
Kahuel took her hand and held it tight. “It's a good sign.”
Then the floor dropped under Kahuel's feet, they floated away. Kahuel remained vaguely aware of the enormous ship looming above them. But something was missing from his previous trip. The beam of moonlight sounded oddly silent. No chanting, no soft chimes.
Then a bright flash of light split the air above them. As Kahuel looked up, a conflagration, then rolling thunder splintered the ship above their heads. The fiery explosion expanded the hull like a balloon then blew it apart in a display, like fireworks on a festival day.
Incandescent debris now floated around them in the moonbeam. Had their falling speed increased? A strong wind blew against Kahuel's skin. Were they going to splatter on the surface like squished bugs? In their rapid descent, Kahuel brought Talina against his chest.
He closed his eyes, ready to die. “Great Engineer, please give us a quick, painless death.”
But when they crashed to their deaths, he could slip under Talina to provide a cushion. It might save her life.
Chapter Eighteen
Vanaru’s heart sang with relief when he saw Esperana and her Mutants landing safely along the moonbeam, on the slab in the sacred clearing. Then the starship exploded overhead in a shower of sparks lighting up the night… like Esperana said it would.
His head reeled with the news that his sister, hopelessly trapped up there with the Star People, must have died in the explosion. She didn't deserve this cruel fate, but the Star People had decided otherwise. How he wished Talina had lived.
Vanaru realized there was no point in maintaining the moon beam with the chant. He ordered the Chosen out of their trance, and this time, the women obeyed without protest.
Then he heard a desperate call in his head. “Keep the chanting going, Brother, we are coming back, now!”
“Talina!” Vanaru closed his eyes and focused on the Chosen. “Resume the Star Chant immediately. Resume the Star Chant!”
A few voices started hesitantly, then more Chosen sat down and intoned the sacred melody. If Talina could contact him, she was close. Returning from the stars without the help of the chant meant certain death. As more voices joined in, the volume of the voices swelled, and the moonbeam formed again, brightening and widening with the modulations of the mesmerizing song.
Vanaru sang as loud as he could, to lend his strength to the vibrations that allowed star travel. “We are chanting, Talina. Come back to us safely.”
There, in the moonbeam upon the rock slab, a flurry of large objects dropped at a dizzying speed then stilled and floated, weightless, like motes of dust in a ray of sun. A foot above the rock slab, Talina and Black Jaguar lay, entwined, in total disarray... lovers in an intimate embrace, lying on a cushion of air. And Talina was on top!
Vanaru's blood rushed to his brain. How dare the filthy libertine still lay claim on his sister in such dire circumstances?
Slowly, like in a dream, he saw Talina climb down from Black Jaguar's half-naked body. She smiled at him then offered her lover her hand to stand up. The man smiled back with no shame. How could he?
Then they walked together out of the moonbeam toward him.
Vanaru rose, his chest on fire. “Stop the Star Chant.”
The pillar of light flickered out. Vanaru flinched when the large pieces of metal and various heavy objects in suspension in the beam dropped and clanged on the stone shaking the slab in a thundering fracas.
Vanaru shook the noise from his head and held on to his anger as he marched upon Black Jaguar. “How dare you?”
But Talina stopped him with one hand flat on his chest. “Brother, he saved my life, and was willing to sacrifice his as we fell, to soften my fall.”
Vanaru searched his sister's mind and found the truth of her words. Black Jaguar loved her. But as he probed further, he saw what they had done on the ship and his blood boiled again. “How can you still dishonor your kind when you know he's a libertine?”
“Not anymore!” Black Jaguar stepped forward.
Vanaru circled his sister to face the insolent foreigner. “It doesn't matter. Your past will never go away. You are an insult to the Human race.”
Talina laid a calming hand on Vanaru's shoulder. “I'm sorry you see it that way, Brother.”
Vanaru caught sight of the Lost Daughter, running toward him on the slab, in her white robes, an ecstatic expression on her face. How he loved her.
She gaped at the pile of charred metal objects then stopped short a few feet in front of them, breathless, staring at the young couple. “By the Great Engineer, how did you get out?”
Black Jaguar winked and brought Talina into a close embrace. “Luck was on our side.”
“Mutants do not believe in luck.” Esperana shook her head. “Anyway, the dampening field just collapsed, probably when the ship self-destructed. Our transmitters are working again!”
Black Jaguar picked up the red crystal on his chest and it flashed once. “I can contact my father.”
Vanaru's rage at Black Jaguar chilled instantly. Cold fingers of dread gripped his insides. “Does that mean you are leaving?”
Esperana nodded. “As soon as the rescue gets here, probably in a day or two.”
All the faces around Vanaru looked happy, but a dark cloud settled upon his mind. He would be relieved to see the foreigners go before they spoiled his clan, but he couldn't allow Esperana to leave the Chosen. The prophecy had to manifest, for the sake of his people, for his own sake.
* * *
In the citadel of Kassouk, King Dragomir paced the white marble floor of the council chamber, flooded in bright daylight streaming through the flexglaz dome. He scrutinized the colorful faces of the twenty-four Mutant Princes seated at the large elliptical table of black granite. When his gaze settled upon the black face of Brother Kohl, righteous anger billowed in his chest.
“How can you hesitate when the lives of my own daughter, fifty Grays, and a royal prince of Yalta are at stake?” Dragomir had no patience for greed and selfishness. “Prince Basilk already died from your unwillingness to provide flyers for this expedition. Now you refuse aid to an entire contingent stranded on a foreign isle populated with primitive tribes?”
Dragomir took a deep breath and stood behind his chair at the narrow end of the elliptical table. “Brother Kohl, I deeply regret having to do this. Ple
ase stand.”
Brother Kohl rose, full of petulance, disdain in his golden eyes. “I speak for the Council, My Liege. Given the cost of the ongoing construction of the new Palace of Princes, we cannot afford the kind of expedition you requested!”
“Silence!” Dragomir's booming voice echoed through the large chamber. “The building of this new palace can wait. If it were your miserable life, you would expect to be rescued, no matter the cost.”
“Of course, My Liege.” Kohl shook his golden mane of long, braided hair. “But I am an important member of the Council...”
Around the table, the Princes looked up, an intrigued frown on some colorful faces, the lift of a brow on others.
“Brother Kohl, given your open refusal to rescue Brothers and Sisters in distress, I hereby officially expel you from this Council.” Dragomir sighed. “I could have you tried and executed, but I find death distasteful. So, from now on, you are no longer a Prince of Kassouk, only a Mutant of the second rank, banished from the temple grounds, with no special rights, no voice, no vote, and no access to the government of the citadel.”
The Princes around the table gasped. But none dared object.
Brother Kohl's black face turned ashy. Had he forgotten the few privileges of kingship? He glared at Dragomir, an expression of pure hatred in his golden eyes as he stood very straight. “You will regret this insult, Dragomir. You have my word on it.”
A shocked murmur rippled through the Council chamber. The Princes averted their gaze. Only once before had Dragomir invoked this particular prerogative, when he'd expelled Prince Yaman for his maverick attitude, disdain of the rules, and selfish dreams of grandeur... That was almost a hundred years ago, and it hadn't turned out well for Kassouk that time.
No matter the consequences, this had to be done. Otherwise, Kohl might vie to become the next king. And with Kohl in charge, the kingdom would suffer greatly.
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