On Mission

by Aileen Erin

  “Majesties,” Ashino said. “The ship’s energy readings have changed. They’re either going to power up for speed or weapons. What do you want me to do?”

  I tapped Fynea’s leg. “Move.” She squeezed by me to sit on the back bench next to Amihanna, so that I could lean out over the front bench. “Where again?” I asked Amihanna without looking at her.

  “On the right. Two inches in on the side. One inch from the bottom. Area is like half an inch in diameter. They’ll lose all power—weapons, environmental, everything. We’ll have time to get her out of there, but be very precise.”

  I shot her a look over my shoulder. I’d do my best, but this was insane. I’d never hit a ship like this before, at this distance, with this kind of precision. I’d never even thought to attempt something like this.

  I took a breath and reached for the power that sustained me, and then I lifted my arm.

  Goddess, help me aim right.

  Power gathered inside me and I let it build until my skin was bright, my body felt warm, and tingles ran through my veins.

  I stared at the ship ahead of us, focusing on that one spot. Two inches in from the right side. One inch up from the bottom. I let everything but that one spot blur and fade.

  And then I pictured my power turning into a short, thin spear.

  I took a breath, and held out my hand, letting the power-spear speed across space.

  There was a flash of light as it hit the ship, and I held my breath.

  Don’t blow up.

  Please don’t blow up.

  But one breath turned into two and then a third and, still, nothing happened.

  “Well, that didn’t work,” Fynea muttered.

  I wanted to scream and tell her to piss off, but it wasn’t what she said that had me on edge. It was that I’d failed.

  “Just give it a minute,” Amihanna muttered back at her. “Not everything in life is immediate.”

  Not everything was immediate, but damned if I wanted something to go right today. It would’ve been nice if this had worked.

  Today had been long and hard, and I felt like everything was going wrong.

  I closed my eyes and could still hear Amihanna screaming. I could see her back arching off the floor as she writhed in pain. And I’d been helpless.

  I hadn’t stopped it.

  We’d gotten married today, and it was supposed to be the best day of my life. Instead, I was wearing a shirt covered in my wife’s blood.

  I wanted to go home.

  I wanted to get Amihanna into a pod and head straight home and have at least a few days to be happy before we had to keep fighting this war. But I wasn’t sure we’d have a second to be happy, let alone days.

  “Ship is slowing,” Ashino said.

  I focused on the ship again, and it was small at first. So small that I could barely tell that the ship was losing speed, but the readout on our vehicle’s controls showed that it was slowing.

  And then it drifted off to the side just a little. Just enough to tell me that it was powerless in space.

  “Good work.” I glanced back over my shoulder. “I’m impressed that you know that much about Earther ships.”

  She shrugged, like it was as nothing. “I had one plan, with lots of subplans. Get off the planet. Only way for a girl to get off planet is on a ship.” She raised a brow.

  Smart. Very smart, and so very Amihanna.

  “Well, I’m personally not that impressed,” Roan said.

  Amihanna kicked him. It was a weak kick, but it made him laugh.

  “Hey. I believed in you. I vouched.” Roan moved out of reach when she moved to kick him again. “I totally vouched. Everyone heard me.”

  I moved to sit back next to Amihanna, forcing Fynea to switch sides again. I looked at Tyler who was watching me carefully. “Ashino. Send them a com link. Ask to speak to Audrey. Tell them if she’s not on the com in five seconds and unharmed, we will finish the job.”

  That did the trick because a second later, a very weak “hello” came through the com.

  “Baby!” Tyler covered his eyes with one of his large hands. “Are you okay?”

  “Tyler?” I couldn’t see her face, but I heard the tears in her voice. “Yeah. I’m okay. They haven’t hurt me yet.”

  Good. At least I’d done something right today. “Audrey, this is Lorne.” I hated to ask anything of her, but I needed a question answered. “Are Yneia and the other lab techs with you?”

  “Yneia is but not the others.” There was something in her voice, but I didn’t know her well enough to know what it was.

  “Can Yneia hear me?”

  “Yes.” That must’ve been confusion in her voice.

  I didn’t want to ask while Yneia could overhear, but I had to. “Was Yneia part of the plot to kidnap you?”

  “No!” She huffed. “No. It was the other two techs. They’d been paid by SpaceTech.”

  “What happened to them?”

  “They’re dead.” That I could identify. Anger. Hatred.

  I wasn’t sure what had happened to her, but if she was angry, then I knew she’d be okay.

  “Help will be there soon, Audrey. Just hold on.” I signaled to mute our side of the com link before talking to Fynea. “Have a transpo ship haul this one to us, but send a team to board the ship immediately. I want to make sure no one gets any ideas.”

  “Already en route,” she said. “I messaged them when we started tracking the ship.”

  Before she could even finish saying the words, a ship pulled up next to Audrey’s. A small transfer pod attached to the ship.

  “What’s that?” Tyler asked.

  “A team that will make sure no one hurts Audrey,” I answered.

  A moment later, a force field spread out around it to tow them back to the warship.

  “Thank you,” Tyler said. “I don’t know what I can do to repay you, but—”

  He didn’t get it. “You kept Amihanna alive on Abaddon. I watched vids of you racing across the lava field in a junky vehicle, hauling her back to the building, carrying her into a med bay so that she could live. You didn’t do it just once. It was over and over. You talked to her to keep her calm when she was in pain and wanted to let go. You kept her fighting when I was so far away and I—” I felt my heart breaking again and I knew I had to hold it together.

  I reached my hand out to him, and he took it. “The debt is mine,” I said.

  He shook his head. “There ain’t no debt here.”

  He might think that, but there was. I owed a debt to everyone that kept her alive when I couldn’t.

  I dropped his hand, and settled back next to Amihanna. I twisted in my seat so that I could watch her.

  “Update from the team inside the SpaceTech ship.” Fynea glanced at her tablet. “Audrey and Yneia are unharmed, shaken up, but they’ll be fine. They’ll stay in the ship until it’s safely inside our dock.”

  I didn’t want to jinx us, so I wasn’t going to say anything about being done with all the chaos of the day, but I truly hoped that was the last of it. “Ashino, head back to our ship. I need an update from Captain ni Eiloa about the status of—”

  “I have that.” Fynea handed me her tablet. “You’re viewing the current status of the convoy.”

  I glanced down and laughed. “You’re kidding.”

  “No.” She grinned, and it was a little mean.

  “What?” Amihanna said.

  I switched the language to Earther English, and then held the tablet for her. She read the report, and then laughed.

  “What?” Roan said. “What happened?”

  Amihanna rolled her eyes. “Over three-quarters of the alliance that tried to plot against us has retreated and reached out to make amends. They’re saying it’s all SpaceTech’s fault. We have no loss of life or damage to any ships in our convoy. It seems like SpaceTech got the alliance all riled up, and then ran, using them as cover to get away. It also seems like some of the alliance members didn’t apprec
iate that too much. They were supposed to be fighting with the backing of SpaceTech, but you know SpaceTech.” Amihanna handed the tablet back to Fynea. “This just proves the point that you shouldn’t trust a bunch of assholes.”

  Eshrin let out a surprised snort. “Apologies, majesties. I wasn’t expecting her to say—” But then he laughed again, and I couldn’t help but laugh with him.

  SpaceTech was indeed a bunch of assholes.

  I took a breath. “How is she?” I asked Eshrin.

  “A little time in a pod, and she’ll be fine. The healing patches have helped stabilize her, but she needs rest, more healing, and food.” He said the last while staring at her.

  She elbowed him. “I eat. I just get busy sometimes.” Amihanna shot me a look. “See. He said fine.”

  “You’re still going into a pod.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Fine, but you have to get in it with me.”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine.”

  And just like that, everything was fine.

  This wasn’t how I thought the day would go or how our visit to Telnon would end, but I had Amihanna and I knew my life with her would always be an adventure.

  And I loved an adventure with her.

  Except I could really do with less of her almost dying.

  Clearly that wasn’t happening today, but tomorrow was a new day, and hopefully less deadly.

  Goddess, I hoped so because I was really dreaming of a long life with my wife. I wanted quiet days on the beach, and soon—but not too soon—a family. Kids. With big brown eyes that I knew I’d love more than life itself.

  More than anything, I wanted a long, happy, peaceful life with my wife.

  Chapter Forty-One

  AMIHANNA

  Much to my disappointment, I passed out on the way back to the ship.

  Knowing that Audrey was safe and that the fight was over and we were heading back to safety meant that I could relax. The second I let go, sleep gripped me hard. I didn’t even remember getting back to the warship or Lorne putting me into the pod or really anything until over twelve hours later.

  Passing out was annoying. It meant that I missed seeing Audrey reunite with Tyler. I missed finding out that Yneia had actually helped her, and that even if Yneia wasn’t sure about me as High Queen, she didn’t dislike me. She only cared about science and finding a solution to SpaceTech’s new favorite weapon.

  That was fair, and I didn’t care if Yneia liked me. All that mattered was that she didn’t kidnap one of my dearest friends. Also important—her dedication to finding a solution to the weapon thing.

  The good news was that all the scientists and doctors—Audrey included—confirmed that the lucole was one-hundred percent gone from my blood. They’d said that before when we were on our way to Telnon, but this time I believed them because I felt the best I had in ever, maybe. Audrey made sure that I was healed, and Tyler spent a lot of time in my med bay. He wasn’t letting her leave his sight, and I didn’t blame him. They’d decided to get married as soon as we were on Sel’Ani, and I was all for it.

  Anyone who lived on Earth knew that life was short. You never knew when it would end, and that made it so important to live every day with no regrets, enjoying every second, and holding on to the people you loved as tightly as you could. Because tomorrow, they could be gone.

  The other good news was that we made it back to Sel’Ani much faster than our trip to Telnon. We went a direct route, not as many jumps—jumps that only made me the slightest bit dizzy—and were home in a little more than a day.

  The bad news was that because I’d almost died on Telnon a couple times, Lorne made me stay in the pod the whole trip back.

  When I first woke up, I was okay being in there, but after a few hours, I wanted out. Lorne was not having it, but I did manage to make him stay in the pod with me for most of it. I spent hours cuddled against him, listening to his heartbeat, and that wasn’t awful at all.

  As soon as we got back to Sel’Ani, every ally wanted a meeting. For the first week, Lorne told them all to go away. I was totally fine with that. We ruled and trained and ate and breathed.

  But the second week, I was less fine with him refusing to even consider talking to them. It was a fight, but I convinced him to hear out a few of the most powerful allies. The meetings were still very hit and miss. I had high hopes for Tek Ze Eta Yhona—who was now the Supreme Leader—but he was useless. After what SpaceTech had done on his planet, he felt it was even more important to remain neutral. I wanted to strangle the idiot.

  If I let it, politics would smother me with my own anger, so I was striving for balance. Tyler and Audrey got hitched. I’d tried to convince them to go on a honeymoon, but Audrey said that she’d take one when I took one. When Fynea and Roan heard about that, they conspired to make it happen.

  I was the High Queen, and the timing was crappy. SpaceTech had fled back to Earth, and I knew we should follow. I knew that was where this was heading, and that those training sessions in the gym would come in handy soon. But not yet.

  Not yet.

  First, I needed some good to carry me through.

  So, three weeks after we got married, Audrey and Tyler left for a resort in the mountains, Rysden was taking care of all the Aunare politics, Fynea and Roan were making sure that anything important made its way to us while handling the rest, and Lorne and I were alone. Blissfully alone.

  I was walking across a field of wildflowers with Lorne’s hand in mine and not a guard in sight.

  The wind picked up as the ship we’d left behind rose into the sky. It’d be back when we needed them, but for now, for the first time ever since getting married, we were actually on our own.

  Well, we were for the next few minutes at least.

  “What do you think she’s going to say?” I asked Lorne.

  “I honestly can never tell with her, but I know whatever it is, it will be profound. Or insane. Or both.” He sounded happy, and that made me happy.

  I’d scared him too many times. Honestly, I’d scared myself. I still wasn’t sure what happened in that capital building three weeks ago, but today, I was going to the source to get some answers.

  Thankfully, Lorne was all for it.

  I tugged his hand closer, and then bumped my shoulder into his. “Do you think she’ll have some guidance on the war?”

  “Probably, but it might come in riddles. Or she might not want to talk about the war at all.”

  We stepped over the hedge, and my ears popped. I’d thought it was weird the last time I came here. I had no idea what I was getting into then, but now I did.

  Now I had questions, and I was actually excited to see her.

  We walked around the white stone house to the gardens in the back. The flowers there were tall and chaotically mixed together. It was so different than my father’s well-manicured garden, and I wasn’t sure which I liked better. I really loved both. Being in nature was new for me, but it recharged my soul. I ached to take off my shoes so that I could walk barefoot through the dirt and grass and flowers. Who knew this Earther city girl would ever feel so at home in the wild country of Sel’Ani? Not me.

  Lorne scanned the area. “She’s not in her gardens.”

  “Maybe she’s already inside waiting for us.” It seemed just like her.

  We kept walking until we were standing in front of a geodesic dome.

  We probably should’ve checked her house first, but this is where I really wanted to go.

  I’d been here twice before. Once to unlock what I considered my Aunare powers. The second was more of a metaphysical visit. Both had felt equally real and surreal.

  She’d said I could come back anytime, and I hoped she meant that.

  I knocked once and waited.

  Was that really her that whispered to me? Or just some fragmented part of me that I invented so that I could fix myself?

  The former felt like the truth, but it was insane. I couldn’t wrap my head around it, and Lorne told
me it was better if I didn’t try to explain things that involved the High Priestess.

  But lately, when I closed my eyes to go to sleep, I found myself back in the geodesic dome, with Jesmesha watching me with her glowing, fiery-orange eyes. She would whisper for me to come to her.

  Depending on what she said, we’d either start our honeymoon here at one of her cottages or head to the Rayshani Beaches, to Nori’s house—which she’d offered to leave with a well-stocked fridge while she visited my mother at the estate.

  This trip to ease our curiosity was something we didn’t have time for—just like our honeymoon—but if we didn’t make time for the things we wanted in life, then we’d never get them. And what a waste that would be.

  So, here we were. Making time. Knocking on Jesmesha’s geodesic dome. Questing for some truth.

  With any luck, a pan of Nori’s enchiladas was in our very near future because the next seven days we were spending away from our worries.

  Away from war.

  Away from death.

  Away from the politics that would drown us if we let it.

  I knocked on the door to the dome again, and it slowly creaked open.

  I stuck my head inside and the candles lit.

  “Come in, children,” Jesmesha said.

  I couldn’t see her. But to be fair, aside from the candles, it was pretty dark in there. The scent of burning herbs hit me and suddenly, it was as if all the chaos and fear and danger of the last while slipped away.

  I gripped Lorne’s hand tighter and looked up at him. “I’m really glad we came.”

  He leaned down, pressing his lips to mine. “I’m glad we came, too.” He straightened and stepped through the doorway, tugging on my hand to go with him.

  We were at war, and death would likely come for us again, just like it’d come for me so many times before. I’d managed to cheat it again, but one day, my luck would run out.

  I was learning to take joy in the days that I did have.

  Lorne was my joy.

  So, I stepped into the candlelit darkness of the dome with him.