Rai

by Maia Starr

  After an intense session of lovemaking, we needed to get dressed.

  “It’s time to get dressed. I want to stay naked with you forever, but I can’t. We need to stay on guard. We don’t know what is out in this area,” I said as I sat up. She got up to her feet.

  “I know. I don’t feel like getting dressed either. I want to stay laying on top of you. It is so warm there,” she said as she began to look for her clothes scattered everywhere.

  “It is the dragon fire within me. That is where it comes from,” I said.

  “It is wonderful,” she said pulling on her pants. I was sad to see her naked body get covered up, but it was necessary.

  I grabbed my pants and boots and began to get dressed. I looked around at our surroundings.

  “Maybe I should do a quick fly around this area just to make sure that we are truly alone,” I said.

  "No. I don't think that is a good idea. I don't want you to leave my side. Bad things happen when we separated,” she said as she pulled on her shirt and then sat down on the ground to put her boots on.

  "You have a point,” I said, but it would be good to know what is surrounding us.

  “Well, I am hungry. Maybe we could eat something,” she said.

  “Did all of my lovemaking make you hungry?” I said to her playfully as I walked over to the pile of food.

  “Yes, that and of course running away from you, being abducted by a crazy Veruka, and crashing: all of that would make me hungry,” she said.

  “Yes, you have been through a lot. But you are strong. You are resilient,” I said as I open some packages of food that were dehydrated. I poured water into the packages in hand one to her.

  “It is good. Try it. It is perfectly safe for humans,” I said.

  She looked at it and smelled it. She smiled. She was about to dig into it when she looked up. The package fell out of her hands. I follow the direction of her gaze. The bushes across from us were moving. Suddenly a cyborg crawled out. It was only half of one from the waist up. I grabbed my blaster gun and aimed at it. Boom! I shot it. But it kept moving toward us.

  “Rai…” She said.

  I shot it again and again. Finally, it stopped moving and the glow in its eyes died.

  “Where did it come from?” she said.

  “I don't know. It looks like a stray. Like it was wounded in battle somewhere near here and has been crawling.”

  “It's like it was fried from its circuits and just going and going,” she said.

  “Yes, that may be the case. Still, we have to react as though there are more., We need to get out of here; come,” I said.

  “But what about the beacon?” she said.

  “That is a good point. Then let's at least get off the ground,” I said looking up into the high trees. “We can wait up there,” I said. I scooped her up into my arms before she could answer. I flew straight up into a tree and put her down on a branch. “Sit down right here and hold on. I will be right back,” I said.

  “What? Where are we going?” she said. I flew back down to the ground and grabbed a few packages of food and a jug of water. Then I flew back up into the tree. I set the water and the packages down on a very wide section of the tree that was like a cradle. “There, we could stay here for a couple of hours at least,” I said.

  “That was very scary. I'm glad it didn't have a gun aimed at us,” she said.

  “So am I,” I said.

  We sat up in the tree quietly talking to each other. I kept a watch out for any movement. From up in the tree we could see for a long distance. It was a good vantage point.

  Then something caught my attention. “There! I don't believe it. It is a ship; a Veruka ship,” I said pointing in the direction of a ship coming toward us.

  “What? I don't believe it. They found us. Your fleet has found us,” she said. But as it got closer, I realized that it was not mine.

  “No, that is not my ship,” I said.

  “What? What do you mean?” she said.

  “It is a Veruka ship, but not mine. Still, I am happy to see it,” I said.

  “Well, I am not. Not after the way Qon treated me. How do you know that these Veruka will not be the same as him?” she said. “We should hide,” she said.

  “No, I am going to flag them. They are Veruka, and Veruka stick together,” I said.

  Before she could answer, I flew off of the tree straight up into the sky. I flew high directly in the line of sight of the ship. I spread my emerald wings wide and moved my body so that the sun could glisten off my skin. They flashed lights, and I knew that they had seen me.

  This was good. We were going to be rescued, and I was happy for it, even if it wasn't by my own fleet. But this ship would have a radio with a long-range transmission that I could contact my fleet with. This was going to work out well, and I was going to keep my promise to Hannah. I was going to get her back to her sister no matter what. It was the most important thing to me at the moment. I wanted her to believe in me because I loved her.

  I flew back down to the tree and grabbed Hannah. Then I flew down to the wreckage of my ship.

  “I am going to hide in the brush, just in case. I need to know that you know these Veruka before I feel safe exposing myself,” Hannah said.

  “Alright. If it makes you feel better,” I said. She walked away from me and hid in the brush. I looked up into the sky. Finally, the ship came into view. It landed a few yards away from me. The door opened and out stepped Captain Jex Kailen. I knew him. We didn’t get along too well. Something that went back to training on Tivoso a long time ago. But it wasn’t like the way Qon and I didn’t like each other. This was different: more of a friendly challenge.

  “General Razook! What the hell are you doing out here? Where is your army? You are supposed to be south, no?” he asked.

  I walked over to him, extremely happy to see him for the first time since I met him.

  “Jex, it is good to see you. It is a long story. We went south, but the human colony was already destroyed. King Karik told us to come north to find colonies here and disperse the virus. Things did not go as planned and we came across a human colony that was hostile. They did not want our help, and a small battle erupted,” I said.

  “I am looking for a human female named Hannah. Have you seen her? I am helping her sister find her,” he said.

  “Helen? You know Helen?” Hannah said coming out of the brush.

  “Hannah! It is you. You are the mirror image of her,” Jex said.

  I was confused. How did Captain Kailen know about Hannah’s sister?

  “Where is my sister? Is she safe?” she asked.

  “She is at Willow Springs. I have come to find you to take you to her,” Captain Kailen said.

  “I am so glad that she is safe,” Hannah said with a big smile. She bounced and clapped her hands together. I was glad to see her happy.

  “What are you doing out here? Where is your army?” Captain Kailen asked me.

  “We got separated in a battle. I was in a small ship that crashed here, and I engineered an emergency beacon out of the remains of the radio, what is left that is. I have not been able to contact the rest of my army. We did not have a stationary camp, so I cannot fly to find them,” I said.

  “You will come with us to Willow Springs. It is a human colony that is hospitable to having us as guests. We will find the army and transmit your location,” Captain Kailen said. “Pilot, get on the airwaves and see if you can find a fleet within range of here. We were not in range at Willow Springs,” he said to me. “Give them the coordinates to Willow Springs.”

  “Yes, Captain,” a soldier said to Jex.

  “Come onto the ship. You look like hell,” he said to me.

  “Thank you. I have been through hell, especially with this one… Stubborn human female,” I said gesturing toward Hannah.

  “I know what you mean all too well,” Jex said with a smile.

  I wondered what he meant by that, but something told me that i
t was because he knew Hannah’s sister Helen. They were twins after all.

  Chapter 14

  Hannah Maven

  I was completely shocked when I heard the Veruka say my sister's name. I was not expecting it at all. But as soon as he saw me, he recognized me. That's when I knew that he had seen Helen. We were identical twins. He had been to Willow Springs. Not only had he been there, but his army was stationed there. It was incredible.

  “We have made contact with your fleet, General Razook,” Captain Jex Kailen said.

  “You have? That is great news. Have them meet us here. We will go to this Willow Springs together,” Rai said to the captain.

  “I will give the order,” the captain said.

  Rai looked at me with a big smile on his face.

  “See, you have nothing to worry about. This captain was with me at Haven Brook and was one of the army bands that were sent out by the king. I knew that he was in this region, but I didn't know that we were so close to him,” he said.

  “I am so happy. I can't believe that he knows my sister. This is incredible,” I said.

  “Yes, it seems that the captain has had more luck than I have when approaching a human colony to spread the virus,” he said.

  “That is true,” the captain said as he walked over to us. “In fact, when I approached your colony, the humans hid from sight. All except for one brave human; can you guess who?” he said.

  “My sister?” I asked in surprise.

  “Yes, she was the only one that stood on the grass. She came right up to me. She is very brave,” he said.

  “Yes, she is,” I said.

  “And you are very much alike. You are very brave too. I have never seen a female as brave as you,” Rai said.

  “Your fleet is on the way to our location,” a soldier said as he came over to Rai.

  “Good. We shall all go back to your home together,” he said looking at me. I was happy. I was extremely happy. This was all working out well, and I had nothing to fear. My sister was safe at Willow Springs, and I was going to see her soon. Rai had contacted his fleet, and they were on their way.

  An hour later, the fleet had joined us. Everyone was in good spirits to see their general again. They were also excited to finally have a human colony destination. They had been hovering in the sky waiting to complete their mission. Now they were going to actually be able to come in contact with a human colony. I was glad that it was my home.

  I boarded the ship that was Rai’s main ship. I went to my room. There was still a bag of clothes and some canned food there. I looked around at remembering what it was like to be in there.

  “Making yourself at home?” Rai said as he stood in the doorway.

  “Yes. I thought maybe I would change,” I said pointing to the clothes.

  "Come with me; I want to show you something,” he said grabbing my hand. He led me to the cargo area of the ship. I was surprised. There were boxes and boxes of human food.

  “What? What is this?” I asked.

  “I had my soldiers do a scout for food. They were the only ones that had permission to leave the fleet periodically when I was with you. They gathered quite a bit of food. This isn't the only ship that is full; the others are full as well,” he said.

  I threw my arms around him. I was so happy.

  "Thank you! I went on a supply run and was not successful at it. But with this, it is very successful. This can last a year or more,” I said as I kissed him on the cheek.

  “So you did have a successful supply run, just not the way you expected it to,” he said.

  “Yes, that is true. But nothing turned out the way I expected it to,” I said giving him a big kiss.

  Then I went to my room to change out of the clothes and put on a fresh shirt and jeans. It felt good to be in clean clothes, and I could not wait to take a shower when I got back to Willow Springs.

  “Let me see,” Rai said as he came into my room.

  “See what?”

  “Your back. Let me change the bandages,” he said.

  “Alright,” I said taking off the tank top. I didn’t mind being topless around him. It felt comfortable. He moaned when he saw me.

  “No. Don’t get distracted. Attend to my back please,” I said slapping his hand away.

  He laughed. He peeled off the bandages.

  “It is perfect. The wounds are closed completely. It will take some time for the scars to go away,” he said.

  I turned around trying to see my reflection in the shiny white walls. It was incredible. The wounds only looked like mild scratches now. They didn’t hurt either. Rai grabbed a towel and poured water on it. Then he gently cleaned my back. He was being so tender, and I could not believe that this was the same brute alien that had been so rude to me before.

  “You don’t need bandages. You can put on your top. Unless you want to keep it off for me,” he said playfully.

  “No, not now. We will never leave this room, and I want to see Willow Springs from the flight deck,” I said.

  “Damn. Fine,” he growled. I laughed and put on my shirt.

  Together we walked to the flight deck. I watched as we flew over the familiar bay. It was beautiful, and I was so happy to see the familiar sights of the shoreline. Then the ships slowed down, and Willow Springs came into view. There was a group of people gathered on the lawn, and I could see other Veruka ships parked in various areas of the estate. It seemed that Willow Springs had accepted Captain Kailen’s army with open arms.

  Then I saw my sister. She was standing on the lawn. She looked worried. I ached to hug her. I ran to the door of the ship, waiting.

  The ship landed, and the door started to open slowly. I was so overjoyed to see my sister that I was bouncing up and down waiting for the door to completely open. I could not hold in my happiness any longer. I ran down the ramp onto the lawn as fast as I could.

  “Hannah!” Helen shouted at me as she ran to me. We hugged each other tightly. It felt so good to feel my sister again. I thought I would never see her and here she was. She looked good and healthy.

  “You are back. You are safe. I am so glad to see you, sister,” she said crying tears of joy.

  “I am so glad to see you as well. I have been so worried about you,” I said as I hugged her tighter and tighter.

  “I have been worried about you. You were the one that was out on the supply mission never to return. Don't ever do that to me again,” she said pulling away from me. Then she looked at me up and down. “Are you hurt? Are you all right?”

  “I am fine. Just a little tired and exhausted from everything. Boy have I been on an adventure, sister,” I said taking a deep breath. I didn’t even know how I could begin to tell her everything that had happened to me. I went out on a supply run and ended up having the biggest mess of an adventure.

  “So have I. So much to tell you,” she said.

  I looked at her with my head cocked to the side. What had happened to her? Then I remembered that the Veruka that had found us said he knew Helen. I wondered just how well he knew her. Hmm.

  “And I have a lot to tell you as well,” I said as I turned to the ship and felt myself blush a bit. General Rai Razook came out of the ship and was giving me a big smile.

  “Oh, it seems you have been on an adventure,” she said looking at me.

  “Yes, but he also rescued me. But I rescued him right back,” I said with a big smile. I had so much love for this alien.

  “So you must be really famous Helen?” Rai said as he came to my side and shook my sister’s hand. I thought it was an odd thing to say, but he was an alien after all.

  “Yes, thank you for helping my sister. I owe you everything,” she said shaking his hand.