The Forgotten Eight

by Kaitlyn O'Connor

  "Stay put and don't move!" Kiel growled in a low voice.

  Fear shot adrenaline through her with realization that he-they-meant to leave her. She tried frantically to grab hold of one of them. It sent her terror through the roof when she encountered nothing but empty space. Struggling with her fear, she tried to gather her wits and assess her situation.

  She could still hear their breathing, she thought, trying to reassure herself. Almost the moment she realized that that only meant she could hear them through their speakers, not that they were still close by, the speakers in her helmet went dead. She clamped her lips tightly together, fighting the urge to call out to them for reassurance, struggling with the urge to give in to hysterics.

  She was tensed all over with the desperate need to follow her instincts and run. It was only the realization that she didn't know where to run that kept her where she was. Finally, she sank slowly toward the floor, hardly conscious of the instinct to make herself as small a target as she could since she didn't dare run. She felt much better once she was crouched near the floor, though, a little more clear headed, at least able to assimilate the next most desirable tactic for survival-to hide if neither fight or flight was an option.

  She wasn't hidden, though. As far as she could determine she was in the center of a huge room and right out in plain sight if anything could penetrate the darkness. The memory abruptly surfaced with that thought that she had lights on her helm but she realized immediately that she didn't dare use them. It might only make her a target rather than helping her find her way.

  Truthfully, she was scared to move in any direction when she was completely blind. She had no idea what obstacles might be around her-deep, bottomless pits came to mind. Trying to move as quietly as possible, she began to crawl slowly away from the spot where Kiel, or whoever, had left her. It took her a few moments to decide which direction to go, but she finally decided opposite the way they'd come was the best idea-further away from the Nubiens chasing them definitely seemed better.

  It occurred to her after a moment of crawling that the objective was probably to capture them if possible, rather than kill them. They could've simply blown them and their ship to bits with a photon cannon if eliminating them was their objective. Instead, they'd landed their crafts.

  A shiver went through her. Dying seemed a lot better than becoming a captive if any of the things she'd heard about them was true.

  She was so intent on her thoughts and carefully searching the floor in front of her for pits that she damned near slammed her head into the wall when she reached it. As it was, the light tap of her helmet encountering solid rock seemed to echo through the chamber. She froze, holding her breath, listening. Hearing a faint sound behind her, she whipped her head around in search of the source and saw two glowing red eyes in the darkness.

  She nearly passed out before it dawned on her that it must be one of the men. When she scanned the darkness, she found two more pairs and relaxed fractionally.

  A blue glow appeared between the three sets of eyes before relief could ease much of her tension. She swallowed convulsively, realizing even before she heard the faint accompanying scrape of boots on stone what it was.

  They were trapped, she thought in dismay! And she was in a direct line of sight with the corridor she realized the Nubiens were following! Struggling to keep from whimpering in pure terror, she placed her shoulder against the wall she'd found and began to crawl a little frantically in search of a place to hide or another opening that would give her a chance to run.

  She didn't even have a weapon! She couldn't remember whether Jalen had armed himself or not, but even if he had there was only three against god only knew how many!

  In a handful of seconds the bluish lights filled the chamber. Danielle had a split second to realize the chamber was every bit as vast as she'd thought and then the cavernous room erupted in deafening gunfire as the Nubiens in the lead fell into the trap Kiel and the others had set.

  Whirling to look, Danielle discovered the men had stripped their suits off and transformed themselves into beasts. That took the Nubiens by surprise far more than anything else they might have thought of. The first four that entered the chamber actually screamed in terror before they died. Horror washed over Danielle when she saw the beast-men literally rip them to pieces, flinging body parts in every direction as they waded into the Nubiens behind them. She couldn't look away or close her eyes. Frozen, she watched as they waded through the Nubiens and turned them into bloody mush.

  She wasn't sure how long she remained frozen in place, unable to move or think, but her brain began to function slowly once more when she realized the battle had moved well away from her. It flickered through her mind that Kiel had ordered her to stay where she was, but the moment thaw set in so, too, did the urge to run.

  A wave of nausea swept over her when she'd looked around and discovered there was no exit except the corridor they'd followed into the chamber-none that she could see. In any case, all she could think about was getting out. It took an effort to get to her feet and she was so weak and shaky when she had she wasn't sure she could walk. Stiffly, feeling revulsion clawing at her throat, she approached the bloody mess at the mouth of the corridor and stepped over the first body pieces. She skidded on the blood pooling on the floor and almost threw up.

  Dragging in a deep breath, she held it until the wave of nausea passed and picked her way slowly and carefully over the bodies. The bluish glow of the lights on their helms lit her way, allowed her to see far more than she wanted to. After glancing at a few that seemed relatively intact, she decided she didn't need to check to make sure they were dead and began to move a little faster. She wanted to run full out, but she didn't dare. Every incautious step she took was nearly her undoing when the floor beneath her feet was liberally coated with blood.

  She almost smacked into one of the beast-men coming back. He caught her to steady her, leaving bloody marks on the sleeves of her suit that made her stomach heave. "Stay here," he growled.

  Danielle nodded a little jerkily, but he released her and brushed past her and she wasn't even sure he'd noticed her automatic response. She frowned when he vanished down the corridor, wondering what he was going back for.

  It occurred to her that he might be checking to make certain they were dead, but she didn't see a lot of point in that exercise when they had to know that they'd made mince-meat out of them. He returned a few moments later, no longer beast, but as Jalen, their discarded suits bundled under one arm.

  "They are taking care of the rest," he said when he reached her. "Kiel will give us the signal when it is safe to leave."

  Danielle gaped at him, nodding a little jerkily, but it didn't occur to her to suggest that he might be overconfident about Kiel and Baen taking care the other Nubiens. She didn't hear any 'signal' either, but after a few minutes, Jalen grasped her arm and began leading her along the corridor. She heard the sound of sporadic gunfire as they neared the entrance and then silence.

  "I will carry you," Jalen announced, grabbing her around the waist as he said it and jogging out of the door before she could protest.

  She wasn't sure she would've protested. Once outside, she saw the aftermath of the slaughter-she didn't think it could actually be classified as a battle-in the full light of day and passed out. The next awareness she had was of jolting up the gangplank and into the airlock.

  She stirred, trying to suck in a decent breath past the grip Jalen had on her and began to struggle to free herself from him. He set her on her feet, but he didn't release her. Instead, he dropped the bundle he was carrying under his other arm as soon as they stepped through the airlock into the interior of the ship and scooped her up, carrying her to her cabin.

  "You are injured?" he demanded, his voice harsh.

  "No," Danielle protested faintly, feeling the beginnings of embarrassment. "I'm alright. I don't need to lie down! We need to get out of here before more come!"

  "There is a harness here.
You can lie down and still be secure for takeoff," he said tightly, clearly trying to reason with her.

  "Well I don't need to lie down!" she snapped.

  "What is this?" Baen demanded from the door of her cabin.

  "She was unconscious!" Jalen responded. "She may be injured."

  Baen frowned at her. "You must lie down then and allow Gertrude to scan you for injury."

  Danielle ground her teeth in frustration but she realized that arguing with them was not only pointless, it was delaying takeoff and they couldn't afford to do that. "Fine!" she snarled at him. "Let's just go, damn it!"

  They looked reluctant to leave her but once Jalen had helped her into the emergency harness both men turned and left. Danielle closed her eyes as she heard the engines roaring to life, trying to banish the images that kept playing through her mind. It would've been easier, she thought, if it hadn't reminded her so strongly of what her village had looked like after the Nubiens had bombarded it-except then it had been the broken bodies of her sister and parents … of everyone she'd grown up with.

  She was still struggling with the urge to vomit when she felt a prick in her thigh. She had just enough time to realize Gertrude had decided to sedate her before nothingness claimed her. She woke sometime later feeling as if she'd been run over. Her ribs, she discovered the moment she tried to sit up, were bruised and when she did manage to unfasten her harness and sit up her head swam and throbbed painfully. She debated whether to lie down again but the sound of voices clenched the matter.

  Struggling to her feet, she left the cabin. The voices were immediately distinguishable as Kiel, Baen, Jalen, and Gertrude's-speaking in Danu. Irritation flickered through her, but relief, too. They must be alright, she decided, if they were all sitting in the galley talking.

  They still bore the marks of battle, she discovered. Thankfully, they'd bathed the gore off, but she could see angry red marks all over them and knew it was fresh wounds when their skin had been flawless before the battle. Her throat closed as it sank in that they hadn't come through the fight unscathed as she'd believed. It wasn't even reasonable that she'd thought they had, that all of the blood she'd seen belonged to the Nubiens, not when they'd been fighting for their lives.

  It was almost as inconceivable that they'd taken on what must have been at least a full company of Nubiens and triumphed with no more evidence of the battle than the angry red marks on them.

  Because they had nanos and the nanos had closed the wounds, she realized abruptly, thankful for it and at the same time distressed to see just how many wounds they had.

  "You are alright?" Kiel asked abruptly when he saw her hovering in the door of the galley.

  Danielle swallowed a little convulsively. "I think I should be asking you that. I didn't actually take part in the battle, you know."

  "Gertrude found several cracked ribs in the scan," Baen said neutrally.

  Danielle flicked a glance at Jalen before she could prevent it. "Oh, well, the heat of battle. They feel alright."

  Surprise flickered through her. Her ribs really did feel alright and that was weird if it was true that she'd cracked several.

  Jalen flushed, but it occurred to Danielle that it was just as possible Kiel had cracked her ribs as it was that Jalen had. They'd both been too intent on getting her to safety to consider her ribs might not be up to the pressure. "Gertrude has determined that the babies are fine," he said a little stiffly.

  Danielle blinked at him as if he'd suddenly begun speaking Danu. "What?"

  "Our off-spring," Baen clarified, glaring at Jalen. "That is a relief, but I do not like that they were endangered at all."

  Danielle threw up her hands. "Wait! Whoa there! You mean to say you think …?"

  "Know," Kiel said grimly. "We are mated."

  "We fucked!" Danielle snapped. "There's mating and then there's fucking, damn it!"

  "And we mated," Kiel retorted.

  Danielle narrowed her eyes at him. "Gertrude! Tell them what the scan detected!"

  "Three healthy embryos," Gertrude responded promptly.

  Danielle felt like she'd taken a blow to the head-completely disoriented. "Embry …," she gasped faintly. She recovered quickly. "I have birth control, damn it!"

  "Had," Gertrude corrected. "The nanos appear to have disabled it … possibly they ingested it, using it to create more or have introduced it into the embryos to make them more like their fathers. It is too early to determine."

  Danielle's knees seemed to lose starch and turn to water. She wobbled to a seat and flopped down on it. "Their fathers?" she asked faintly.

  "Affirmative. They carry the DNA of each."

  Danielle shook her head, trying to make sense of what Gertrude was saying. "You're saying each of them carry the DNA of all? How is that even possible?"

  "Each carries the DNA of one," Gertrude clarified. "Each member of your quad has reproduced, as is apparently typical of their reproduction process. It is certainly not typical of humans, as you well know. Possible, but astronomically unlikely."

  "I think I need to lie down," Danielle mumbled, struggling to get up again.

  "The fainting is very likely a side-effect of the pregnancy," Gertrude offered. "Your system is still adjusting."

  "Shut up!" Danielle gasped faintly, feeling herself descending into oblivion in spite of all she could do to try to fight it off.

  When she regained consciousness, she found herself lying on her bunk and staring up at three grim faced … tryants! "You bastards!" she snarled accusingly. "You knew you were going to get me pregnant!"

  Baen and Jalen glanced uneasily at Kiel.

  "Yes," Kiel responded. "That was the objective in mating."

  If she'd had something to throw at him, she would've clobbered him!

  Apparently they decided retreat was the better part of valor. Kiel turned on his heel as soon as he'd announced that stupid piece of reasoning and left, and Baen and Jalen tried to beat him to the door.

  "Assholes!" she bellowed after them, but she discovered calling them names didn't make her feel any better. Subsiding, she stared at the ceiling, trying to come to grips with what Gertrude-the fucking bitch!-had told her. Not only had the damned computer not warned her that her damned birth control device had been disabled-gone missing!-it had sounded downright cheerful about announcing her predicament!

  The anger didn't last. She supposed it had been more of a gut reaction to the shocking announcement than anything else, but she began to feel curiously detached, more numb than anything she could actually define. Her mind couldn't seem to assimilate it. Although it scrambled madly to sort everything for a while, she kept returning to a sense of disbelief.

  When it finally occurred to her that she'd been broadsided by the information and hadn't learned what their situation was as far as the Nubiens, she got up. The men had returned to the bridge. She debated, feeling discomfort waft through her, but she needed to know if there was a threat.

  Kiel turned and caught her gaze as she entered but she couldn't tell what might be running through his mind from his expression. Dragging her gaze from his after a moment, she glanced at Baen and Jalen. Jalen was focused on his console, but she had the sense that he was tensed as if expecting an attack. Baen looked angry.

  Ignoring them, she moved to the jump seat and, since she could see they were wearing their harnesses, pulled her own on and fastened it. "What's our status?"

  "We are being pursued by the Nubiens," Gertrude responded. "There are thirty two ships."

  A fresh shock went through her. She'd known there was a chance there were others around when they were attacked, but she also knew that none of the ships that had landed on Chab had taken off again. That meant there'd been a fleet of three dozen ships in their vicinity? Here? Even in her current state of shock, that seemed excessive for a scouting mission from what she knew about the Nubiens.

  A cold wave washed over her as it suddenly occurred to her that it might have been her transmission that h
ad put them all in jeopardy. "They found us because of the transmission I sent to High Command?"

  "Negative. These ships launched from the third planet in this system."

  "You're certain?"

  "Affirmative."

  Danielle glanced at Kiel wide-eyed, trying to assimilate what that might mean. His expression hardened.

  "It seems logical to assume that we have found the home world of the Nubiens."

  "But that's … just … crazy! I don't understand. We were sure they were from our own galaxy. Nobody could figure out why we hadn't managed to find their home base, but they're claiming first rights of our galaxy!"

  "As they claimed ours before," Baen retorted angrily. "That is why we did not find our people!"

  Danielle glanced at him, instantly aroused to empathy for their distress. "You don't know that! You people began colonization years ago. For all you know they all abandoned the home world because of the climate change long before the Nubiens arrived!"

  "And for all we know they were still here when the Nubiens came, weakened in numbers and from battling the climate change!" Jalen said tightly.

  It seemed pointless to argue. They had more immediate problems, in any case. "What are we going to do? Try to outrun them? Can we? I mean, I know you modified the ship, but we don't have the firepower to take on that many battle ships!"

  "Not alone," Kiel agreed. "I have summoned the ships of our fleet that have been completed. They will meet us."

  It wasn't very comforting. They were still going to be outnumbered as far as she could see, pretty badly. Even as quickly as they worked, she couldn't believe they'd managed to complete more than the two she'd seen in progress when they'd left Marchet. They'd proven to her that the Nubiens didn't stand a chance if it came to hand-to-hand combat, but the Nubiens were conquerors bent on proving their claims of all they surveyed and then some. Clearly, they'd had a lot of experience in conquest. The Danu of Marchet hadn't even experienced space travel before, let alone learned how to fight space battles!