He encircled her waist with his arms and lifted his face to hers. Emily squirmed while they shared a deep, passionate kiss. “Don’t worry. I would never leave you and the boys.”
Aria stood up and took the fruit plate to the counter. “So why is today the third worst day of your life?”
Donen pushed his chair back. “That windbag Oxlo wants me to renew hostilities with the Felsite. I told him over my dead body. If the Supreme Council wants to renew hostilities, they can get another commander.”
Aria spun around. “Are they likely to do that?”
“They can’t,” he replied. “I’m Alpha whether they like it or not. They can’t replace me as commander of the army, and I won’t go back to the Felsite—not over something as ridiculous as this. It would be different if some other faction invaded our borders and attacked our cities, but the Felsite haven’t done that. We have.”
“So what are you going to do?” Aria asked.
He pounded the table with his fist. “I sent word to Renier that I want to negotiate a long-term peace agreement between our factions. I don’t want to repeat these disasters, and I’m sure he doesn’t, either. He’s a reasonable man.”
“What will the Supreme Council do when they find out you sent the message?” Aria asked.
“I already told them,” he replied. “They can’t do anything. I’m the Alpha. I bear the ultimate responsibility of keeping our people safe, not the Council.”
Before anyone could say another word, the door burst open and the same two boys tumbled into the room. They punched and kicked and spat, and crashed into Aria’s chair. They bounced off and toppled into Donen.
He closed Rekti in his arms and pushed Mirin away. “Hey! What’s going on here? What’s all this commotion?”
Both boys shouted at once. “He started it. I did not! He hit me first. That’s a lie!”
Donen held up his hand. “That’s enough out of both of you. Now tell me exactly what happened. Let’s start with you, Mirin.”
Rekti tucked into his father’s arms, and Mirin took a deep breath. “He said I’m not allowed to go into the army because I don’t know how to read, and that’s not true.”
“So what did you do?” Donen asked.
“I thumped him.” Mirin waved his fist in his brother’s face. “And I’ll keep thumping him every time he says anything like that. I can read as well as he can.”
“He cannot,” Rekti interrupted.
Donen squeezed Rekti. “Never mind about who can read and who can’t. That doesn’t matter. Mirin, I’ve told you before it’s your job to look out for your younger brothers, and I’m counting on you to do it. What would happen if you got stuck outside in a snowstorm and no one else was around to take care of you? Your brothers would need you to make sure they got home safe, and not thump them every time they say something you don’t like.”
“But he.....” Mirin began.
Donen closed his eyes and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what he says. Thumping him is not an option. Do you hear me?”
Mirin scowled down at the floor.
“Let me hear you say it,” Donen told him.
Mirin poked his toe into the floor.
Donen dropped his voice a register, and his voice rumbled through the house. “Let me hear you say it, Mirin.”
Mirin glared at him. “Thumping him is not an option.”
“Good. Now Rekti.” Donen squeezed his younger son. “You should know better than to antagonize your brother like that. Pretty soon, you’ll both be grown up, and I’ll need you working together for our faction. I couldn’t have you two in the army with me if you fight all the time.”
Both boys hung their heads in silence.
“Now, Rekti,” Donen went on, “if reading is so important to you, you should go read for a while until you’re ready to spend time with your brother again.”
“But I don’t want to read,” Rekti cried.
“Then you shouldn’t say things like that to Mirin when you know you’ll make him angry,” Donen told him. He repeated, “If reading is more important to you than your brother, then go do it.”
Rekti sniffed, but he slid off his father’s lap and shuffled out of the room. He shut the door behind him. Emily and Aria sat in silence, but Aria smiled at Donen and the boys.
Donen squared his shoulders. “Now, Mirin, I didn’t want to say this in front of Rekti, but you’re the oldest, so I’m going to tell you something no one else knows.”
Mirin’s head shot up and his eyes widened.
Donen fixed him with a hard stare under his heavy brows. “I’ve been looking for a strong smart warrior to do a very important job for me, and I haven’t found anybody I can trust. Maybe you could be the one.”
Mirin stared at his father with wide eyes, but he didn’t say anything.
“I want you to go down to the Land Transport bay,” Donen told him. “I want you to find my transporter. You know which one is mine, don’t you?”
Mirin nodded with his mouth open.
Donen pressed his lips together. “I know you’ve been working a lot lately on fixing machines and rewiring them. I want you to repair the tracking system on the left roller track. You can do that, can’t you?”
Mirin nodded again.
“I know you can,” Donen told him. “I’ve seen you do it on your little bay buggy. The system is exactly the same. The wiring is the same, too, just much bigger. Do you think you can handle that job for me?”
Mirin’s face broke into a radiant smile. Joyous light beamed out of his eyes. “Could I really, Father? Could I really?”
Donen didn’t smile. “This is an important job. You won’t be able to mess around wrestling with your brothers while you do this. You’ll have to stick to it until you finish, or I won’t have a transporter when I need it. Do you think you can do that?”
Mirin straightened up, but he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. “I can do it. You can count on me, Father.”
Donen sighed. “All right. I’m trusting you. Now go tell the guard at the gate you’re on duty for me. He’ll give you a pass to enter the bay. You can’t share it with your brothers, and none of them is allowed on the bay floor. Do you understand that? This is only for you.”
Mirin nodded. “Don’t worry. I won’t take any of my brothers.”
Aria shot Emily a knowing smile. Donen clapped Mirin on the shoulder. “Good. Now off you go. I know you’ll do a good job.”
Mirin left, and Aria settled back in her chair. Donen pulled a handheld device out of his pocket and touched it. “What are you doing?”
“I’m relaying authorization to the guard to let him through,” he replied.
“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Emily asked. “He’s only a boy.”
“He’s the best mechanic in the whole city,” Donen replied. “He’s taken apart vehicles more complicated than the transporter and put them back together better than they were before. I told him the truth. I can’t find anybody to fix that roller track. The sooner he gets involved with the army, the better. He’s too old to play with Rekti anyway. He needs to push himself and accomplish something for himself.”
“It’s wonderful,” Aria exclaimed. “It was a stroke of genius. It’s the best thing that could happen to him, and he won’t fight with his brothers when he’s working on the bay floor.”
Donen stood up. “He sure won’t. He’ll never share this with anybody. Now I have to go. I’ll see you later.”
“Wait a minute,” Aria called after him. “What do you say to asking Faruk to contact the Lycaon to find out about Emily’s relatives?”
Donen headed for the door. “You know that’s impossible. The border patrol doesn’t contact the Lycaon or anybody else. Their job is to patrol the border, not to relay messages back and forth. We have diplomatic channels for that.”
“But this is the fastest way to find out if the women are there and if they�
��re safe,” Aria argued.
Donen’s shoulders slumped. “Okay, I’ll ask him, but you know what he’ll say. He’s not an errand boy.”
Emily stepped forward. “Wait a minute. I don’t want you to send a message. I want to see my sisters and my cousin for myself.”
Donen stopped at the door and stared at her. Aria set down the plate in her hand. “You can’t go to the border. It’s too dangerous.”
Emily turned on her. “I don’t want to wait around while he goes without me. If it’s safe enough for him to go, it’s safe enough for me.”
Donen set his jaw. “If Faruk doesn’t agree to take you, you’d never find the border. If you can’t convince him, you don’t have any choice but to wait.”
Chapter 3
Aria and Emily stood on the Observation Deck overlooking Ursidrean territory. Snow-capped mountains towered over them, and below the deck, rocky hills fell away to dark forests and beyond. The sun sparkled on the snow.
“Are you sure you want to go out there?” Aria asked. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want.”
“I have to find my sisters,” Emily told her. “Waiting here is the last thing in the world I want to do. If Faruk finds them, I want to be there to see them for myself and know they’re safe.”
Aria sighed. “It doesn’t look good down there.”
On the gravel field below them, Donen and Faruk stood face to face in heated conversation. They punctuated their exchange with wild gesticulations. “Faruk doesn’t look happy about this.”
“You can’t blame him,” Aria replied. “He’s only ever traveled with trained border patrol. You’re an unknown quantity to him.”
Donen ended the conversation with a chop of his hand and strode back to the Observation Deck. “He refuses to take you, just like I told you he would.”
“What are we going to do about that?” Emily asked.
“We,” he replied, “aren’t going to do anything. If you want him to take you, you better go down there and convince him. There’s nothing more I can do.” He walked away.
“Can’t you order him to take me?” Emily asked. “You’re commander of the army.”
Donen called back over his shoulder. “I did order him, and he still refused. Go talk to him yourself. Maybe you’ll have better success.”
Emily gazed down the field. Faruk squinted into the sun toward the Observation Deck. His team of armed border guards waited for him at the edge of the trees. Aria sighed. “If you’re going to talk to him, you better do it now. He’s about to leave, and who knows when he’ll be back.”
Emily gritted her teeth and strode down the steps onto the field. Faruk saw her coming and waited. He studied her movements on the way down the field. She picked her way through the stones and stopped in front of him.
“What’s this foolishness about you coming with us to the border?” Faruk asked.
“It’s not foolishness,” Emily told him. “I have two sisters and a cousin with the Lycaon, and I want to find out if they’re safe. This is the only way I can do it.”
“You can wait here, and I’ll find out for you,” he told her.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to wait.”
“It’s too dangerous,” he told her. “Anything could happen on the border. Aria told you about that Felsite woman who was killed. That could be you.”
“I don’t have anything else in my life now,” she told him. “These are the last relatives I’ll ever have. I want to see them for myself and satisfy myself that they're safe and happy. You would feel the same way if you were in my place.”
He waved toward his team. “These are all hardened warriors with years of combat experience. They’ve been patrolling the mountains for years. Do you really think you can keep up with them?”
“I’m not too weak to hold my own with them,” she replied. “The rotational compensator repaired my muscles, and I’ve spent the months since I came out of my coma working to get myself back to full function.”
He shrugged. “I know, but…..”
“I worked on mountain search and rescue in Prince Rupert for six years,” she told him. “I’ve spent years in the mountains, too. I know I can keep up with your men if you just give me a chance.”
He frowned. “Well, where’s your gear? You can’t go like this.”
She hurried to the Observation Deck and came back with a loaded backpack. She dropped it at his feet. His eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything. He dropped to one knee and tore it open. He inspected every article in it, including her underwear. He checked her food supplies, her sleeping bag, and her first aid kit. Then he repacked it all and stood up.
“All right,” he told her. “You can come. But I’m warning you now, if you become a danger to yourself or anyone else, or you endanger the border in any way, I’m sending you back with no questions asked. Is that clear?”
Emily couldn’t hold back her smile. “Perfectly clear. You don’t have to worry. I won’t let you down.”
He pursed his lips, but didn’t answer. He climbed up to the Observation Deck and took something out of a cabinet in the safety barrier. He strode back down the field and held out a metal cylinder to her. “You better take this.”
She eyed it, but she didn’t touch it. “What is it?”
“It’s a phase reciprocator.” He shoved it toward her, but she kept her hands at her sides.
“Phase reciprocator?” she repeated. “That doesn’t tell me anything.”
The first hint of annoyance crept into his voice. He pushed the thing toward her again. “It’s a weapon. Did you use weapons on the mountain search and rescue in Prince Rupert?”
“Of course,” she replied. “I know how to shoot.”
“Good, because I won’t have you going out there unarmed.” He held it out. “Take it.”
She stared at the thing. “I don’t know how to use it.”
He pushed a button on the side of the cylinder. “This is the power-up button, and this is the firing mechanism. You squeeze this, and it fires.”
He pointed the thing toward the treetops and squeezed. A streak of electric blue shot out the end of it and hit a branch. With a puff of smoke and a loud crack, the branch broke off the tree and hit the gravel. Faruk pointed to another button. “This is the phase regulator. It lets you modulate the reciprocator depending on what you want to shoot.”
Emily took the device and studied it up close. “I don’t understand half of what you’re saying, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”
Faruk turned. “Good. Now come on. We’re late leaving already.”
He marched toward his team, and they shouldered their packs at his approach. Emily threw her pack over her shoulder and hurried after him. Faruk hefted his own pack onto his back, and the team set off down the mountain with Emily bringing up the rear.
They hiked all day over every kind of terrain. Emily might have kept up with them with no problem after six years on mountain search and rescue, but six months on her back in a hospital bed left her weak and breathless. Not even the rotational compensator could overcome the wasting effect of her injuries and coma. But she wouldn’t let Faruk make a liar out of her. She pushed herself harder than ever, and she never let the team out of her sight.
Faruk led the group far ahead of her, and he never once looked back to see how she was doing. The others did, though. The man at the end of the line stopped and waited for her on long climbs over treacherous passes and gave her drinks of water from his canteen, but he never spoke to her.
They stopped at midday on a ridge overlooking rolling mountains and trackless valleys. Emily dug out her food supplies and filled her belly. No one on the team spoke, and Emily dared not break the silence. Gazing out at the view with her sweat evaporating on her face brought back the peace and kinship of the mountains. She hadn’t known it for years, but on this alien planet, she found it again as if she'd never left Earth.
They marched on and on and on until after dark. Faruk set down his pack in a grassy knoll by a murmuring stream, and his team set to work to build a camp. One man built a fire, and one prepared a meal. Three others set off into the trees with axes and constructed on the site a small but solid collection of huts made of bundles of reeds.
Emily sat on a rock and watched them. She would have helped if she knew what they wanted her to do, but each man knew his job without being told. She rested her legs instead.
Faruk went down to the stream, and when he came back, he sat down on the ground next to her. “You did very well today. I’m impressed.”
She shook her head. “Don’t be impressed. I can’t believe how weak and out of shape I am. I’m embarrassed. I don’t blame you for not wanting to bring me.”
“Considering what you’ve been through,” he replied, “you did very well. If I’d known you would be like this, I never would have objected to you coming.”
“I’ll do better tomorrow,” she told him.
“There won’t be a tomorrow,” he replied. “This is the border. We’re setting up camp here, and we’ll use this as a base to patrol the area for the next six months.”
Emily looked around. “It doesn’t look like much of a border.”
“No one uses the border areas between the factions,” he replied. “No one wants to get shot by accident.”
“How can you tell where the actual border is?” she asked.
“This stream feeds into another tributary farther down the hill,” he told her. “That stream is the actual physical border. When you know the terrains as well as we do, you know where you are in relation to it. But this is the closest we ever get to the actual border. It’s better to keep back and stay safe.”
She studied him. “Aria said you loved the mountains.”
He gazed at the sky. “I don’t know how anybody could live underground all the time. I would go crazy.”
“But you’re a medical man,” she pointed out. “You could be doing so much good working in the infirmary.”
He cocked his head. “If I did, I wouldn’t have been there to rescue you.”
Alien Portals: A SciFi Alien Multiverse Romance Novel Page 44
