by Calista Skye
“The spectacle of it is less important,” Bandi'ex said. “The result is the only thing that matters. All the aliens around our homeworld dead or dying. And those few on the planet surface, visiting the various tribes, will not live for long. We have sympathizers in most tribes. We'll get them all eventually. Hunt them down if we have to.”
“Wait,” one of the other men said. “The ship might disintegrate? I understand there are Acerex warriors aboard the Earthling ship at all times. Is there a chance they might die?”
“No,” Cori'ax said. “There is not a chance. It is a certainty that they will. Queen Harper's bodyguards, to mention just some of them. Depending on the time of the action, it's also possible that the king will be aboard the Friendship when it explodes.”
Two of the men looked at each other in horror. “King Vrax'ton might be aboard when the ship is blown open? That is quite unacceptable! Only the aliens are to meet with their demise, not our own king!”
Bandi'ex shrugged. “Why not? He chose an alien for his queen. In my eyes, he abandoned the kingdom and forfeited the crown when he did. I suspect we might be better off without them both. Still, would it be possible to time the attack such that the king is not aboard?”
Cori'ax thought deeply. That alien woman had ruined this, too. Because a cold realization struck him: if she was aboard when the bomb went off, then she would die, too. And that seemed to him very regretful. Or worse. “It might. We'd need to keep track of his comings and goings and then launch our action when he's not there. If we do, there's a good chance the queen won't be there, either. They are hard to pry apart.”
“We can live with the queen surviving,” one of the men said. “The point here is making the statement that the Earth aliens are not welcome at our planet. That statement will be made when hundreds of their people die in their spaceship as it's breaking up. They will know that the Acerex people sees through them as the intruders that they are, even if our king was blinded by their female wiles. Is there then no way to make the ship burn as it is broken into pieces? The symbolism would be highly potent.”
Cori'ax sighed and let the others talk while he leaned back and once more scanned the heavens, as if he was looking for her. She was somewhere up there, in that damned alien ship that circled their holy homeworld.
Charlotte. He longed to say the word aloud and feel her presence and the feel of her name in his mouth. How could an alien name taste so sweet?
Aliens were the enemy, always had been. Cori'ax's own father had been killed by them, his mother dying of a grief-induced illness when her Mahan didn't return from battle against the Nyks. Life for an Acerex warrior was dominated by the need to protect his planet from the endless waves of different aliens that wanted nothing more than to conquer and kill and enslave. It shaped their entire civilization and society. Every man was a warrior, every woman a sister or a mother or a daughter of a warrior.
It had worked.
And then King Vrax'ton had let aliens straight into the throne room when he married the alien female Harper. Cori'ax had been stunned for days before he felt the rage rise in him, slowly and coldly, especially after the older warrior Bandi'ex had talked to him about it and convinced him of the terrible wrongness of it. The king had betrayed his people and laid Acerex open for alien invasion.
Certainly the Earthlings feigned innocence and seemed harmless when seen from up close. But aliens always wanted to conquer. Of the almost forty species Acerex had fought against, all forty had attacked first and two of them had even won. Before rebellions had driven them back after long invasions and occupations.
Certainly the Earthlings could be no different. Certainly they just wanted to control Acerex, like every other alien species did. Certainly seducing the king, by the Spirits only knew which devious methods, was part of their plan to conquer from above. To slowly and quietly seep into the Acerex society from the very top and become part of it before they would assert control.
Some tribes had started using Earth technology and trinkets. The newly born Princess Anabe'lia was half Earthling. And even Chief Ravex'ton of the renowned Ytter tribe had married another Earthling female, who was also carrying a half breed. The rot was already well underway.
“They waste no time,” he said under his breath.
A shooting star crossed the sky and disappeared below the horizon. The summer night was balmy, and the fire sent a pleasant heat to his face, but still he shuddered. If anything happened to her ...
Charlotte. Was this what King Vrax'ton had experienced? Was this the same emotion that had tricked him into accepting Harper as his Mahan? Was this it?
No, of course not. Charlotte was not Cori'ax's Mahan. He had long since come to peace with the idea that he would never find his fated mate. Most people didn't, after all, with so few females there were on the planet. He would live out his days alone, and those days would not be long. He would die in service to the Acerex people, fighting aliens. That was his fate. His fate did not contain a mate. And that was fine. No woman could want a hulking, inelegant and ugly male like him for her mate, with burns on his head and a gift for upsetting any situation he entered.
No, she was not his Mahan. She was just an exotic woman who had tickled his fancy for a moment, and it had been a long time since he'd had a woman in his bed. Surely that was all there was to his strange reaction the first time he laid eyes on her and it felt as if the blood was draining from his face. A passing fancy, nothing more. He could safely continue with his plan to rid the Acerex homeworld of the Earthling menace before it was too late.
He would just have to get that alien woman out of his mind.
“Then we are agreed?” Bandi'ex summed up. “Cori'ax, you will arrange and coordinate the action itself and find a suitable pilot. I will supply the explosives and the shuttle. Kro'ax will keep a close eye on the king's movements and Uli'an will keep up communications with the many sympathizers we have in the tribes.”
They all agreed, and the three other men quietly rose and went to their guest tents that the Pyrius tribe had given them for the night. Every tribe was honored to host the legendary Bandi'ex.
Cori'ax was alone and leaned back against a tree trunk. It creaked with the strain of his weight as he again gazed up at the night sky. Yes, he had to get that alien female out of his mind.
He wriggled against the tree, trying to get comfortable against the rough bark. A doubt had set in. Could a species capable of that kind of warmth really be evil? When he went to the Friendship to check out the possibilities of blowing it up, he didn't at all feel that he was among enemies.
On the contrary. All the Earthlings had been friendly and accommodating in a way that didn't seem forced or fake. Their ship was a wonder of Earthling technology and decadence, no doubt about it. But that was in keeping with the aliens themselves. They liked their comfort and their relaxation and their games.
And they were clearly open to more, including very physical contact with Acerex warriors. Even Queen Harper's closest friends. If they were in fact sneaky invaders, then surely Queen Harper was at the center of it. She was the fulcrum around whom it all had to turn, the venomous ten-legged sereve in the center of its web. But she had been sitting out in the open, chatting with her friends and greeting the passing Acerex warriors with what seemed like genuine warmth. Could that really be faked?
And Charlotte herself ... so soft, so open, so feminine, so direct and so entirely given over to her moment of ecstasy. And then so innocent afterwards, so relaxed and even sleeping in his arms without a care in the world. Could that be faked?
The stars twinkled, but none of them seemed right. They didn't move, like her spaceship would move against the blackness of space.
In a flash he realized that he was now looking for her among the stars. A sudden rage filled him and he punched the ground beside him several times, making the embers of the dying fire jump.
“Damnation!”
He had to concentrate on the task at hand, protecting
Acerex from the alien invasion! But he found his thoughts taken over by her, his easy and always clear determination weakened.
No warrior could afford to feel doubt about the rightness of his task and the eventual success of his mission. But now, a part of him didn't want the mission to succeed if there was even the slightest danger that she would come to harm. Indeed the thought itself sent barbs of an unknown anxiety right to his heart.
His jaw dropped in horrified realization. Him, Cori'ax, afraid? For someone else? Worried about the welfare of an alien?!
He clasped his forehead in disbelief. That damned witch! What had she done to him?
4
- Charlotte -
“Straighten up there, flyer. And that helmet needs a polish.”
The pilot straightened imperceptibly, even though it shouldn't be possible in his textbook attention stance. His helmet was perfectly shiny already, and they both knew it.
“Yes, ma'am!”
Charlotte fixated him with a stare that she knew was pretty cold, because she had practiced in the mirror. “Spacelift mission to a half-gee planet. Sixteen hundred kilos of gear, six marines. Low-altitude delivery. Enemy controls ground, we control airspace. They have missiles, but no beams. Go through it.”
The young man swallowed and took a shaking breath. “High angle entry to atmosphere. Reduce friction to minimal, jettison heat sinks at probable enemy acquisition. Reticles at laser, gamma and visible spectrum. Come in from six clicks below horizon, then skim and ascend at a half click from LZ. Open hatch at eighty meters altitude. Gear first, then meat. After delivery, full power to boosters, re-route guidance systems and drop remaining heat sinks at five second intervals.”
It came fast and staccato. And it was all correct. Charlotte was happy with that, but she didn't let it show. “The enemy launches two missiles one second after drop complete.”
“Retain full power, emergency power if delta vee goes below fifteen. Drop flares. Outrun enemy ordnance.”
“And the marines you just dropped? Or meat, as you call them? Wouldn't the missiles go for them instead? Your cargo, your responsibility. Or perhaps you don't believe in that? Perhaps you only care about saving your own skin?”
The new pilot stared at a fixed point over her shoulder. “Ma'am, at that point, they're on their own.”
Charlotte had to suppress a smile. She liked this one. He might be new, but he knew his stuff and he was hard to rattle.
The mechanics milling around his shuttle were so quiet, they were clearly paying attention without obviously staring. This grilling she was giving him in public would boost their respect for him. They'd seen it before, and not every pilot held up as well as this one.
She nodded once. “They are. Very well. Run that scenario in the simulator a few times, try to come up with a way to at least make life easier for the marines in a situation like that. I'd like to see it.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Dismissed.”
The young pilot saluted and continued his inspection of his craft, a little more swagger in his step now that his commanding officer had publicly expressed her confidence in him. And he would know that everyone in the hangar had been watching him pass the test. It was a pretty easy test, especially designed for him to pass, but only experienced pilots would know that.
Charlotte walked over to her own shuttle. Well, it wasn't as if he would have any use of those things anyway. They flew civilian shuttles, not military dropships. But it might come in handy someday.
She would sometimes quiz the pilots in her flight out of the blue, and she knew it made them stay on top of their game. Being put on the spot like that and not know the answers was something that absolutely no one wanted to happen to them. It kept her flight as the best one in Space Expansion, and that was the only thing that was acceptable to her. She trusted no one but herself.
“You like to do things by the book, huh?” Lily sauntered over from a newly arrived shuttle, wearing a loose dress and obviously having witnessed the conversation. She went back and forth to the Ytter tribe on a regular basis. She and her husband were busy turning the cold north of Acerex into a more hospitable region.
Charlotte smiled at her friend. “Just some things. Flying is my life, you know that. My guys had better be the best ones around. How's Ravex'ton?”
Lily absentmindedly cupped her growing belly and smiled like she always did when the conversation turned to her husband. “He's fine. Very excited about the baby that's on the way. And he's totally showing some sympathetic pregnancy symptoms. He's definitely gained weight.”
“Stars, that's so cute. He seems so dark and brooding, you know? With danger radiating from him. And then he's a total softie at heart.”
“He's complicated,” Lily agreed and leaned against a generator cart. “Like all Acerex warriors, it seems.” She raised her eyebrows a fraction, and the implied question was pretty clear.
Charlotte nodded. “So it seems to me, too. That guy I went off with last night absolutely fits that description. Well, you saw him. Huge and dangerous and simple. But then he turned out to be ... well, still huge and dangerous. In the best ways, if you know what I mean. But not simple. Like, at all.”
Lily smiled. “Uh-huh. So you had a good time with him?”
Charlotte looked around to check if anyone from her flight was within earshot. She didn't want them to hear too personal things about her.
Then she couldn't stop a grin from spreading over her face. “The fucking best. Lily, I had no idea it could be like that! I mean, I knew from you and Harper that these guys have some ... unusual features. But then it just knocked my socks off. Not that I was wearing socks, of course. Or anything else. But damn, I've never felt like that. He did things to me ... well, you know.”
Lily smiled knowingly. “Yeah. I know. You feel like nothing can ever top it. And then he goes and does just that. So is there something more there? Between you two?”
Charlotte looked out the hangar door, past the forcefield into space and down on the planet Acerex. “I don't know. He left the way he came, not saying a word. He just kissed me and left. So I don't think I'm his Mahan. Which is fine. I mean, it would get so damn complicated.”
As she said the words, she saw his burned face in front of her and heard his deep voice and felt a sting of regret that she hadn't asked him more about himself. She'd only known him for a few hours, and now she missed him. “At least, I think it's fine.”
“Maybe,” Lily said. “As I understand it, you don't absolutely have to be his Mahan for him to be interested in being intimate. They have partners that aren't their fated mates, too. They can even marry them. But sometimes they don't know they've met their Mahan until a good while later. Ravex'ton was like that. He took his sweet time realizing that I was it. Things had to click together in his mind first. So I wouldn't discount the possibility completely just yet. If that's what you want, of course. I'm guessing that even if you're his Mahan, he might not have to be your ideal mate. I fell in love with Ravex'ton, sure. But was it fated, like everyone on Acerex thinks? I'm not so sure. I think he's just a great guy.”
Charlotte nodded slowly. The planet spun leisurely outside, its poles a bright white and its oceans blue, looking a lot like Earth. Somewhere down there was a large warrior who had made an impression on her. A stronger impression than she had suspected. “Yeah. Well, it's probably a moot point. I have no idea where he came from or how he even got here. I checked the records, and no one like him should even have been here last night. I can't find his name anywhere. I'll probably never see him again.”
Lily placed her hand lightly on Charlotte's forearm. “Hey, you might. If you really want to find the guy, then you can ask Harper to locate him. Or I'll ask her, if you want.”
Charlotte looked around the hangar. Suddenly that seemed extremely tempting. Finding Cori'ax again, coming to see him, finding out more about him and feeling his touch ...
She shook her head to clear the thoughts. “Ac
tually, you know what? I'm fine. He knows where to find me if he wants something more. And then we'll just see if I want something more, too. It's not like I don't have a lot on my plate as it is. Hey, I just wanted a roll in the hay with one of these guys. Fine, I got the roll of my life. I'm not sure I'm ready for that much more right now.”
Lily straightened up with a grimace, holding the small of her back. “That's what I thought. And then I met Ravex'ton. Well, it's up to you. The offer stands. Now I really have to find a restroom. Oh, any news about the squad?”
Charlotte ran a hand along the side of the shuttle. “No, nothing. I think the Acerex have no idea what to do with an alien chick who wants to fly for them. They'll probably keep stalling forever.”
“Maybe. They might surprise you, though. They usually do. You coming up to the canteen?”
Charlotte nodded towards the row of small spacecraft in the hangar. “Later. Got some checking to do.”
Lily raised her eyebrows. “The shuttles? Don't they have crews to do that?”
“I'm not sure I trust any crew to do perfect checks of these things.”
Lily smiled. “You don't really trust anyone, do you? Hey, I'm not protesting. I've had some interesting times in malfunctioning shuttles myself. But you're spending an awful lot of time down here, doing other people's jobs. Well, now I really have to go. See you.”
Lily walked towards the exit and Charlotte smiled at her back. How had she ended up with friends as great as these?
The other pilots in her flight had left the hangar, and she was alone among the shuttles. She went over to the closest one and started going over it, looking for signs of wear or damage. Their crews and mechanics had already checked them carefully, and it would take Charlotte an hour per craft, but that was fine.
Better safe than sorry.
- - -
