The next morning I take my leave, not because I want to, but because my presence is required at the special council meeting about the Kaidorians. I spend much time thanking Zin’nia for the hours we have spent together, before forcing myself to pull away.
“I will return this night without delay,” I assure her. She simply smiles and goes back to tending the kitten.
I am glad she has something to occupy her time for the moment, I decide as I climb into my flyer. And I find myself hoping the kitten does miraculously recover and live. If not, I might bring her back a pet from the city. Something appropriate, like a mil’sak, a toothless ball of fur that trills when petted. Or perhaps a colorful songbird from the Xanthurs, a collection of islands to the west. Some more clothes as well, since she lost one of the shift dresses I gave her to her bleeding.
Making my treasure’s life more comfortable stays foremost on my mind as my uncle and I wait at our proper station on the council’s raised dais for the arrival of our Kel.
However, all the thoughts of pets fly away, when the Kel not only shows up with his hu’man beside him, but makes a shocking announcement. He will not give in to the Kaidorian ultimatum to protect the hu’mans on New Terrhan. Not only that, he intends to take the hu’man Ki’Ra as his Qel, and give both Xalthurians and hu’man females the right to not only breed with but make marriage pacts with each other.
My uncle explodes and looks to me for support. But my loyalty lies with our Kel. Ignoring my uncle’s eyes, I declare my, and therefore the entire Xalthurian army’s support for our Kel.
I’ve spent nearly a lifetime trying to please my uncle. After all, he took me in after my parents’ deaths. But in the end, the decision to go against him is easy to make for one simple reason.
This new accord would mean that Zin’nia and I could be together. Legally and always.
After a long and heated question and answer session, many swarm the Kel as he is makes the way to the section of the council hall where the females sit. I am one of those people. I need to talk to him in hopes that he will understand my transgressions and grant me a marriage pact with Zin’nia under the new accord.
However, it quickly becomes obvious that I will receive no private audience in this crowd of council members, hoping to also talk to our Kel one-to-one. Deciding to use my position as Xar, I head to the antechamber of the Kel’s formal office, and request an audience with his secretary.
“He has not come back to the office yet, but he told me before the meeting that he would return here with his hu’man—I mean our new Qel when it is done,” his green assistant answers. “Of course, you may wait for him here, Xar.”
I frown. The hour is getting late, and I promised Zin’nia I return home this night without delay. Even if she did not understand my words, I wish to keep my promise.
But just as she has become more important than duty, a possible pathway to our union is more important than promises.
So I wait. Until several hours later, the doors burst open.
However, it is not my Kel, but four of the finest warriors from the elite force that accompanied him to the Kaidorian peace talks. And for some reason, they all have their photon guns aimed directly at me.
“What is the meaning of this?” I demand coming to my feet and putting hand on my own photon gun.
Their next words deflate me.
“Xar T’Kaniteton N’Vaise. You are under arrest for possible treason against our Kel!”
Chapter Twenty-One
T’Kan
I am cleared of all charges, but my uncle and my cousin, A’Ry, are convicted during their trials for treason against both our Kel and new hu’man Qel. Her trial took place in person, but my uncle’s was conducted in absentia as he fled the planet, shortly after his duplicitous actions were discovered.
Over the last six months I have come to regret the loyalty I used to feel toward my uncle. His only allegiance, as it turned out was to himself. And I pity A’Ry, who chose to do his bidding, but discovered the hard way that she was merely an easily abandoned pawn his schemes to accrue more power.
Everything she would have inherited now belongs to me, the only living member of the Line Neixal who did not participate in my uncle’s plot.
Yet, when I receive the news that I have been cleared of all treason charges, I do not dash out to my interstellar flyer to join and protect my Kel on his first diplomatic mission to New Terrhan. Nor do I take one of my many land conveyances to the council building attached to the royal palace, where I could and should issue a formal apology for the actions of my uncle and cousin.
Instead, I strap myself into my inner planet flyer, and race at optimum speeds to my cabin on the other side of the planet.
Six months. It has been six long months of not daring to return to my mountain sanctuary for fear of being followed. Followed and discovered.
An investigative team from the palace questioned me thoroughly about my uncle’s scheme. They also went through all my records to make sure I had no contact with the Kaidorians and had not, like my uncle, made any side deals to give them access to the New Terrhans. It had been a tedious process to say the least. And I can only imagine how much longer it would have taken if anyone knew about what I had done on New Terrhan. Or gone to my remote mountain cabin and discovered who I was hiding.
Anxiety gnaws at me as I fly at dangerous speeds to get back to her. My treasure. I can only hope she is alright, that nothing happened to the food replicator. That she is confused but otherwise comfortable.
I am already flying too fast, but I push the accelerator lever all the way up, choosing to fly even faster. So fast that I have to whip around in several circles when I reach my cabin’s coordinates, in order to set down.
I jump out of the flyer before the engine is finished powering down, yelling her name, even though I know she still does not understand my language.
My hearts stop beating when I throw open the door and find the one-room cabin empty. Empty and cold.
Just from the lack of sound, I can tell, there is something wrong with the generator. Which means, my fragile treasure has been without heat or photon energy to power the appliances properly.
It is still very early in the cooler season, so even in this cold part of the world, it is possible to get by without heat. But no photon energy means that the food generator would no longer work. And I’ve been gone for six moon cycles. How long? How long had she been in this cabin without food or access to temperature control?
Bitter regret lumps inside my throat as I turn to search the forest for her.
My inability to trust served me well when my uncle floated the idea of spreading dissent among my warriors, but now it has wounded me.
If not for my refusal to share this secret with anyone, including my Kel, I would have sent one of my warriors out here to check on her. If not for waiting until I could make this trip myself, she would be safe.
Now, there is no telling if I will ever find her in the vast forest. Alive or dead.
I stop short on the doorstep, however, when I hear the strange melodic word stories my treasure often makes with her throat. This one, according to my translator, is about a silver spring of blue green, a shining autumn, and an ocean crashing.
I stand there, not fully understanding the words, but completely entranced by her beautiful voice. She eventually appears around the corner of the house with several pieces of wood, dragging her leg behind her.
However, she abruptly stops her melodic word story and drops all her wood when she sees me, revealing her swollen belly.
I freeze, shame and guilt washing over me. My seed has taken root within her womb. She is carrying my child, but she has been out here alone without heat or photon energy. For six months.
I notice all of the changes in her. Not just her belly, swollen with my babe, but also her clothes. She has sewn sleeves and a sort of loose cape overdress onto the thin shift I gave her, as well as a hood. Both additions were obviously crafted fro
m the vurani fur rug that used to sit upon the floor of my cabin. And they served as visual proof that she had given up on me ever returning.
My ridges ripple with a new vow. I will make this up to her. I will give her a life so comfortable, she will eventually forget every hardship she was made to endure during my time away.
I have not been allowed anywhere near our Kel during the investigation, but now that I have been cleared of treason, I will explain my actions to him in person. Given his feelings for our new human Qel, I am sure he will pardon me. I will ask for a private audience as soon as he returns from his diplomatic mission.
And until then I will take her back to the royal city with me, where she will want for nothing and have every luxury under the sun.
With these vows ringing in my head, I gaze upon her dark beauty and wish, not for the first time that we had met under different circumstances. That her heart could thrill at the sight of me as my hearts do for her. That she knew my name as I do hers.
But perhaps now that wish can finally come true.
“Zinnia, I have returned,” I say to the hu’man, even though I know she cannot understand me. “Forgive me for my long absence.”
She stares at me, blinking as if she believes me to be an illusion.
I have been gone so long I can easily see why she would believe me to be a hallucination. I inwardly hiss at myself for leaving her here, so alone and unprotected.
“It is truly me, Zinnia. I assure you,” I tell her, stepping forward with the wish to comfort her.
However, at my movement, she reaches over her shoulder and brings out a crude device made of purple wood and string. I cannot imagine what its purpose could possibly be. Or why she also pulls out a long sliver of wood with a piece of metal attached from behind her back…then places it between the odd device’s wood and string—
I do not realize the sliver of wood is actually a projectile until it sinks into my chest with a long thunk.
What in the stars….
Pain lights up the entire left quadrant of my chest. And if not for my warrior’s training, I have no doubt it would have soon become overwhelming and sent me to my knees. Flaring my nose, I re-channel the pain into a battle calm and pull the projectile from my chest with a great hiss.
Esssh! What manner of weapon is this? Coming out, the projectile hurts more than a Kaidorian’s horn gouge, tearing at my flesh, and leaving a trail of black blood in its wake. If she’d aimed the weapon at the center of my chest, there’s no doubt she might have hit one of my hearts and possibly killed me.
I slowly raise my head, not knowing whether to be extremely impressed or angered with my precious hu’man.
However, she is no longer standing in front of me…
Behind me, I suddenly register the sound of her foot scrape-step tread. A much quicker version. And when I turn to look over my shoulder, I see her rushing toward my flyer.
She is trying to escape—
Before that realization can fully unfold, a k’vani appears out of nowhere. Rowring as it slices my chest with its long claws.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Zinnia
Thank the moons for Baby, my now half-grown razor cat—that’s what I’d decided to dub her species after her particularly vicious claws grew in. If not for her, I doubt I would have made it to the golden Xal’s flyer after my arrow failed to kill him. Also, thank the moons, he wasn’t wearing body armor this time and didn’t have his photon gun out, or this might have gone much differently.
Pressing my hand to the flyer’s clear bubble’s glass top, I let out a breath of relief when it opens for me with a whooshing sound. The old planet was obsessed with security. Even now it’s impossible to use much of the colony ship’s tech because the captain, who’d died in the crash was the only one with the proper clearance. But lucky for me, the golden Xal’s flyer isn’t coded to only open up for him.
And yes! There’s two large seats inside the flyer. One in front and one in back, which means I can bring Baby with me. I climb in and immediately send up a grateful prayer for my many months of appliance language study, because I can actually understand what a few of the buttons on the flyer’s console mean.
Pushing the on button, I look over at Baby, who’s managed to take the golden Xal all the way down to the ground. Good girl!
But guilt unexpectedly pierces my heart when she opens her maw, preparing for the kill bite. Yes, technically, I’d been trying to take him out with my arrow. You can’t blame a girl for feeling a little kill-y after he got what he wanted and left me out here alone for six months.
I should…I should let her kill him.
But I guess even six months in the wilderness hasn’t changed me from who I basically am. As Kira sometimes call me, Zinnia “too fucking nice” Njeri.
In the end I can’t do it. I whistle before she can sink her teeth into the golden Xal’s neck and rip it out, like she does with all the animals she brings to my door for eating. Upon hearing my hail, she leaves our vanquished enemy, bleeding on the ground, and bounds into the flyer’s back seat.
Do I feel like we’re a bad-ass team as I push the buttons for ON and UP, before taking a hold of the flyer’s controls? Of course I do!
The last thing I see after the flyer rises above the tree line is the golden Xal struggling to his feet. His robe is ripped through and his entire upper body is covered in slash marks.
More guilt…along with the feeling that I should be down there tending his wounds as opposed to stealing his flyer.
But no, Zinnia. Don’t be stupid. Now is definitely not the time to be thinking with my heart.
Also…six months. That Xal’s lucky he got off with torn and bloody, I make myself decide. Then I push the button, I hope means forward.
Yes! Right again. Taking hold of the controllers, I aim for the distant horizon and zip off in the same direction he did, when he left out that last morning.
Absently I touch my belly. I had been worried about giving birth alone in that cabin. It wasn’t that I would have much help on New Terrhan either, Dan would certainly make sure of that. But at least Nova and Glee would be around. Yes, I’ve got to get back to New Terrhan, and then hope to the moons that I have a baby girl I can keep instead of a boy.
But that means finding some kind of interstellar flyer. With that mission in mind I stay low in the sky and scan the land below for something that will help me escape the planet.
I’m stunned by what I find on my journey. A purple mountain range covered in dense forest. Then several tropical beaches, dotted with what appears to be some kind of fishing villages. But instead of wooden huts, small crystalline structures and what I think might be huge agricultural greenhouses line the shore.
There are many of these pastoral villages along the coastline, and I begin to wonder if the cold purple mountain I escaped from wasn’t an anomaly. Could it be this entire planet is mostly made up of tranquil fishing villages and agricultural greenhouses? If so, it looks like a much preferable life than the lone river and scorching red clay fields of the oceanless New Terrhan.
As lovely as these vistas are though, I search for something better. These Xalthurians are so advanced, I know they’ve got to have some kind of city. A place where they make the kind of spaceships that set down on Xalthuria for Reaping and Breeding every year.
A couple of hours after spotting the first fishing village, my breath catches when I find what I’m looking for. Unlike the purple mountains and pretty fishing villages, this place looks like something out of an old planet sci-fi entertainment. Tall crystal buildings with pointed tops glitter underneath the setting sun, and huge, crystal mansions shaped like jewelry boxes line the coast. On the ground several roads teem with bubble top vehicles, while flyers like mine stream through the air in similar road-like patterns.
The flyer is clicking at me, and several lights have lit up on the dashboard, including one I recognize as “automatic.” It must want me to come out of manual. Maybe so that it
can join the pre-established air road of zipping traffic. But I ignore the lit up buttons and point the controllers toward the seaside row of crystal mansions. I’ve got a feeling I’ll find what I’m looking for there.
And I’m right. I soon spot a non-bubble topped vehicle sitting on the roof of one of the crystal mansions. It’s much larger than the one I stole from the golden Xal and not only is it enclosed in the same metal as the Xalthurian breeding ship, it also has the same diamond-shaped insignia. I bet my favorite Fleetwood Mac songs it’s some kind of small spaceship.
“Got you!” I whisper, so as not to wake up Baby, now snoozing in the back seat as I aim the flyer toward the crystal mansion.
But just as we’re closing in, the entire dashboard lights up and several electronic clicks and hisses sound again. And then the manual button suddenly blinks out, not responding no matter how many times I jam my index finger into it.
“No…” I say when the controller suddenly starts moving like it has a mind of its own. But my no does nothing to stop it, and I full-on screech when the flyer makes a 180 turn.
Baby comes awake with a questioning rowr as we zip off in the direction from which we just came.
“No, no, no, dammit!” Hot tears of frustration blur my eyes as the crystalline city recedes into the distance.
The trip back is faster than the trip there. Much faster. The flyer speeds past all the lovely villages, the controller pushed to full throttle, angry and determined to return me from whence I came.
I should have killed him. Obviously I should have killed him. I would have gotten away if I hadn’t let my conscious get in the way.
Best believe, that pesky moral quandary switch off on the return trip, though. By the time we set down in front of the purple cabin, I’m ready to sic Baby on the golden Xal. This time with a “murder that asshole” command.
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