Rai

by Maia Starr

  “You do? What?” I asked.

  “Ephane was involved in the systemic structures of the village. He knows all that there is to know, and there was one system that I used to make fun of him for: the water system. If he was going to unleash a virus that the human females would consume, it would be in the water,” he said.

  “Holy shit, that’s it,” I said.

  “What if he has already dispatched a spy to go in and dump the virus?” Hekan said.

  “You are right; send a message to the Village. We should try to get there as soon as we can,” I said to them.

  “We have been having a hard time getting messages through; the Scorpion nebula has been releasing lots of gases lately. Only a few messages are getting through,” Hekan said,

  “Then just send it on repeat. One of them will get through. In the meantime, we have to get there, and we have to get there fast. We can't go in the ship that I came in; it is too risky,” I said.

  “And it is too slow. We will go in my transport. We will go the long way around so that the opposition can't track it. We will still get there faster than that ship you came in. We should get going now,” Ravinn said.

  “Agreed, as soon as Hekan gets that message going on repeat,” I said.

  As the two went to work preparing to send the message, as well as preparing for takeoff, I moved over to Maria. She had been very quiet; it was not like her. She was usually very feisty and voicing her opinion on everything. Or asking questions.

  “I am sorry that we have to get back on another ship. I promise once we get to my planet you will be able to be on solid ground longer than a few minutes,” I said to her.

  “That is fine,” she said.

  “Are you doing alright?” I asked her, trying to figure out why she was acting differently. Was she really paying attention to what we were saying?

  “What is this virus that you speak of?” she asked.

  “Nothing to worry yourself about. It is something that we are dealing with with the opposition. You don't have to worry about it.”

  “I see.” Then she was quiet. I poured myself some water and drank it down.

  “We will be leaving soon. Maybe you can get some rest on the ship. You will be safe there. I promise you.”

  “What did they mean? What did they mean when we got here? They said, how did your mission go? Did you find it? Did you find Ephane’s big plan?”

  “We’re ready, Commander!” Hekan shouted.

  “We need to go now,” Ravinn said coming over to us. “This way to my ship.”

  They had interrupted us just in time. I did not have to answer Maria's question, at least not right now. But I knew that she would ask me again, and I would have to tell her the truth. I didn't like lying to her, but I did not have a choice before. But now that the mission was almost over, and the only thing left was to get back to Kelon, I knew that I had to tell her. But I was going to let her get some rest first. She had been through a lot.

  “We have to go now,” I said to her.

  “I heard,” she said with a tone of anger. I could tell that she was annoyed with me, and she had every right to be.

  We walked out of the dome and into a smaller speed ship, Ravinn’s ship. We all stepped in and strapped in. Maria took to it like it was a routine. I guess for her it had been. In seconds, we were in the air and taking off from the moon. We shot into space and then into hyperspeed on our way home. I only hoped the message would get there before we did so that the water system could be tested and then guarded. It was very important, and the future of our race depended on it.

  CHAPTER NINE

  MARIA COVALLOS

  When I heard them talk about the virus, I was in complete shock. I knew that must be the experiment that Ephane had spoken of. It had to be. I was filled with fear. What could be done? They were only just finding out about this virus now; that meant there was no vaccination for it. If I had been exposed to it, it was taking over my body now, making sure that I was not able to have offspring. I had so many questions. Was the virus just to stop a human from having offspring with a Draqua? Or would it make me completely barren, as in not even a human man could get me pregnant? These thoughts went through my mind over and over again. I felt sick to my stomach as I thought about it. I was glad that we were leaving the moon, as beautiful as it was, and getting on a ship. I needed to keep moving. Standing in one place on the moon gave me time to think, and I did not want to think about it any longer. I wanted to go to this home planet that they spoke of. It seemed to be a big civilization, which meant they must have the equivalent of a dr. I wanted the doctor to look at me to see if he could test me for this virus; it was the only thing I could think about. But Cerik kept asking me what was wrong, as though he could see right through me. I did not like that he already knew me that well. He should not know me at all, but I had to admit that I had grown a lot quieter. There was too much to process. But there was one thought that kept popping up in my mind. Cerik wanted a human female to mate with, and have offspring. I was to be that human, but now it seemed that I could be infected with this virus. If I was, then I would not be able to give him what he wanted from me. That meant he would cast me aside. It had to be. Fine, I thought. Maybe then they would take me back to Earth. As angry as I was about it, there was something that did not sit well with me. I suddenly found myself feeling despair at the thought of returning to Earth. What was wrong with me? Why did I want to stay? Sure, I had an intensely passionate and intimate experience with the commander, but that should not be enough to make me want to stay and be his mate. Yet, it did. But now I would not be able to do that, not if I were infected with this virus.

  “Here, you can rest here,” Cerik said once the ship was in motion. He led me to the back of the ship where there was a private little note. He pulled down a sleeping bench from the wall. He handed me a cloth to cover myself. I laid down. As soon as I laid down, I realized how tired I was. I quickly fell asleep. I needed to give my mind a break from all the chaos.

  “Maria, Maria, wake up,” I heard a deep, soothing voice say to me. I stirred. I opened my eyes. Cerik was hovering over me.

  “We are almost there,” he said to me.

  I sat up on the bench and wiped the sleep from my eyes. I felt rested.

  “How long was I asleep?” I asked him.

  “About three hours,” he said. “I did not want to wake you. But you can get more sleep once I show you to a sleeping hut on Kelon.”

  He leaned against the wall and looked at me.

  “How much longer before we arrive?”

  “About an hour,” he said.

  As I sat there and began to wake up, I remembered all the things that I wanted to say to him. Now was a good time because we would not be interrupted. I had half an hour.

  “You did not answer my question before. What were they talking about? They were talking about your mission getting the plans from Ephane. How could that be your mission if you were not planning on seeing Ephane? It was a coincidence that they captured us, wasn't it?” I asked.

  He was quiet. His silence let me know that it was not a coincidence. It was planned. Anger welled up inside of me. He had planned to get captured.

  “No, it was not a coincidence. I went to Earth searching for a female and took a certain path back, a path that I knew would get us captured. I knew that Ephane was up to something and there was only one way to find out, and that was to be on that space station.”

  “I can't believe you. You are a jerk. You used me. You used me as bait. I can't forgive you for that. If you only knew…”

  “If I only knew what?”

  But I couldn't tell him. I couldn't tell him that his mission to get us captured as a ploy had possibly given me a virus that meant I would never be able to have children. “Nothing. Get out of my sight. I don't want to look at you.”

  “But, Maria. Let me explain. I had to do what I had to do because—”

  “No, I don't care. I don't want to hear wha
tever it is you have to say,” I said as I stood up and moved toward the front of the ship. I was filled with anger. But most of all, I was disappointed and hurt. He had been lying to me this whole time. He was not who I thought he was. He was completely different and deceiving. I had my fill of lying men, human or alien. Steven had done a number on me, and now I had to deal with deceit and lies all over again with this creature. Just as I was beginning to open up to this alien, I realized that he had been betraying me all along. It was an awful realization.

  He had put my life in danger for his own selfish reason: the mission. He chose to take me from Earth in order to make it look like he was doing something that he would do on an ordinary trip to Earth, just to get to Ephane. It was sickening to me. I moved to the front and sat next to the pilot, Ravinn. I figured that if I sat in the front, Cerik would not try to talk to me about it; not in front of his warriors anyway.

  “There it is, home,” Ravinn said. I gasped as a blue planet came into view. It looked very much like Earth, but there was obviously more water. It was dotted with green here and there, and I could tell that they were islands.

  “It’s beautiful,” I said.

  “I’m glad you like it,” Cerik said over my shoulder. I looked at him and narrowed my eyes at him. I did not want to speak to him. I unbuckled my seatbelt and moved to the back of the ship. Hekan was doing some work, preparing to land.

  “Hekan, can I talk to you for a second?” I whispered to him.

  “Sure, Maria,” he said. He followed me to the back nook where I had slept.

  “I don’t feel so well. When we arrive on your planet, is there something like a doctor? On Earth, doctors are—”

  “Yes, I know what they are,” he said with a slight smile. “Yes, we have healers.”

  “Can you take me to one when we land?”

  “Sure, but don’t you want—”

  “No. I don’t. I don’t want the commander to know. Can we keep this between the two of us?” I asked.

  “Yes, of course,” he said.

  “Thank you,” I said as I left the nook and moved back toward the front. I saw Cerik staring in our direction. He had an angry look on his face. I kept moving past him and sat once again in the seat next to Ravinn to watch the lovely scenery of the beautiful planet of Kelon.

  I did not want to tell Hekan that I wanted to see the equivalent of a doctor so that I could be tested for the virus. I did not want anyone to know. It was too risky. I would have to keep it a secret for now. There was just too much at risk. I was full of anxiety. It was possible that I was truly falling for the brute alien Cerik, and if that was the case, then he would not want me in return if he thought I could not give him children. I sighed. What was I going to do if I had it? Maybe these aliens would return me to Earth if I did. Maybe it was contagious, and they would shoot me? All these thoughts went through my mind as I sat there. I tried to hold back tears, but I knew that my eyes were watering.

  “Are you alright, Maria?” Ravinn asked.

  “Yes, I just think this is so beautiful,” I said pointing at the planet ahead.

  “Yes, I understand that. I thought the same thing when I first entered space and looked at my own planet. It lets you know just how small you are. It is a thing of beauty,” he said.

  “It does remind me of Earth a bit. It is blue and green just like Earth.”

  “Yes, that is true. I have seen Earth. But you will see that Kelon is very different. It is a water planet, and we are water creatures. We live on islands, but we are closely intertwined with the water,” Ravinn said. And as he continued to speak about the beauty of the planet, I could feel Cerik behind me. I could feel his presence. It was unnerving. I wanted to explain everything to him about how I thought I had this awful virus. But I could not trust him. He had lied to me, and I could not trust a liar. I had enough with Steven lying to me, and it turned out this male was no different. He was an alien, but he was just a jerk, just like the males on Earth. As the planet became larger in the windshield, I knew that I would have to confront him at some point, and I was not looking forward to it.

  CHAPTER TEN

  COMMANDER CERIK HADE

  Watching Maria soundly sleep was enticing to me. She looked so petite and fragile that I hated to wake her up. A part of me wanted to climb into the bed beside her and wrap my body around her. I sort of wished that Hekan and Ravinn were not with me, because then we could be alone again. Maybe we could have another round before we landed on Kelon, but that was not possible. Not with these two with us in such a small ship. I had to wake her eventually and earlier was better because I wanted to give her some time to see the planet on approach as well as be fully awake when we landed. I did not want her to feel disoriented by landing and then waking her up on a strange planet. This way she would ease into it. It was the least that I could do after what I had put her through. Who knew what Ephane had put her through when she was passed out? I almost did not want to know because I would want to kill him. But I had done something to her, and I had told her about it.

  I had to tell her. There was nothing I could do to stop it. I knew that she hated now me. She felt betrayed, and she had every reason to. I had used her as bait, just as she said. I used both of us as bait. I had to. I had to make it look like I had an actual reason for being out in space, coming back from Earth. It was the only way to make it look real. Otherwise, Ephane would have been way too suspicious. But I wasn't expecting to have such drastic feelings for the human female that I picked up on Earth; I did not think it would matter that I used her for bait. I was wrong; I was very wrong. I now felt an enormous amount of shame and guilt for what I had done. She would never understand, she wasn't even giving me the space to explain. I would have to fix it later. For now, I had to focus on this virus and the water supply contamination. I would give her the space and time that she needed to stop being angry at me. I only hoped that her anger would disappear soon. But when I saw her whispering to Hanek, my jealousy rose once more. What were they talking about? Why was she confiding in him? She hardly knew him. I needed to know what they were speaking of. I was not someone that dealt with jealousy very well; it made me feel anger, and that anger could easily turn to rage.

  “What did you see on the space station?” Ravinn asked me pulling me out of my thoughts. He was in the pilot chair as we moved closer to our planet, about to enter the atmosphere.

  “I saw something that worried me. The landing port was full of activity, and full of warriors.”

  “Do you think they were preparing for something?” he asked.

  “I do; it looked like they were preparing for an invasion or a battle,” I said. “ But that is only my thought.”

  “Yes, but you are a commander. You know what battle preparations look like. We will have to tell the king about it,” he said.

  “I agree,” I said.

  Just then, Maria got up from her chair. She moved toward the back of the ship, and I watched as she went to the food area. She grabbed a bottle of Hiwa and poured the dark liquid into a cup. I was surprised that she knew what it was. Maybe she did not know; I thought I should tell her that it was a very strong drink. I walked over to her.

  “That is called Hiwa. It is very strong. It is not water or juice; it is like wine on Earth but so much stronger,” I said to her. “It is made from this fruit that we have on Kelon and it is—”

  “I know what it is,” she said as she chugged down the glass. Her nose wrinkled and she coughed a little. I restrained a smile.

  “I told you,” I said. She was quiet and poured herself another. I looked toward the front of the ship and Ravinn and Henak were engaged in conversation. I would try again to explain to Maria.

  “I am sorry about what I did. I know that it was wrong. But it is not what you think; I did not do it to put you into harm's way. All of this is bigger than any of us. I had to sacrifice in order to stop Ephane from whatever he is doing. I hope that you will understand that.”

  “Stop
, don't say anything else. Can you just leave me be? I don't want to hear your apologies or excuses. It means nothing to me. I just want to get on the planet and be far from you,” she said. “Could you move toward the front of the ship? I just need some space right now.”

  “Yes,” I said, not wanting to push it. I moved to the front of the ship and stood next to Hanek. I looked over my shoulder to see Maria moving to the back of the nook with her cup. She wanted some privacy, and I should give it to her. Plus, this was a good time for me to question Hanek.

  “What did she tell you?” I said quietly to him. He looked at me.

  “Sorry, Commander, she made me promise not to say anything.”

  “You are not entitled to keep her promises. For all purposes, she is my human female. I am the one that took her from Earth,” I said feeling very annoyed. I was his superior. He was nothing but a warrior, and I was a commander.