The Spider Queen (The Space Merchants Book 5)

by Wendie Nordgren

  I sank into a chair and cried relieved tears.

  “What was all of that about?” Phillip asked when Yukihyo took the vid-screen from my hands.

  I heard Zared enter the bathroom.

  “She woke up screaming. Thank you for showing her that her cousin is improving, brother.”

  “Tell Cupcake that Eric is being smothered with attention, especially from the nurses. If the bacteria or other dangers of this sector weren’t curable, she and the babies wouldn’t be out here,” Phillip said kindly.

  Zared handed me some waste paper. I blew my nose. The Eric of my nightmare was replaced by a clean and cared for version of him. However, the horrifying image of the baby refused to be banished. I got up and went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. It was a few hours after midnight. I sat with my cup on the couch. Zared stood behind me and brushed my hair in an attempt to calm my nerves, but the hand with which I held my coffee shook.

  “Chirp?” Thunderdrop asked as he climbed up my leg to my lap.

  “It’s the baby. I have to know he’s alright. I have to.”

  “Alright, but this time we do it my way,” Nico said.

  Placing my other hand on my cup, I asked, “What do you mean?”

  Nico stepped over and kneeled before me. “I will take you to check on this child, and I’ll get you there safely. Wear dark colors to match the jungle. Be ready in thirty minutes. We go in, you get visual confirmation so that you can relax, and we get out. Understood?” Nico asked.

  As I stared into his brown eyes, love and gratitude for him would have made my heart burst had it not been artificial. “Understood, General Cassian. I want you to understand something. I love you even more now than I did yesterday. I am so very glad that I listened to my Papa.” I struggled to control my breathing so I wouldn’t cry. My eyes caressed his nose, eyelids, and forehead. “You have become so much a part of me,” I whispered.

  “You have become a part of me, and right now that part aches. I may not be able to soothe the pain in your heart the way Zared and Yukihyo can, but I will do something about it. Hurry up. Dress in the vessel if you want, but timing is crucial.” Nico stood and went to our room.

  While we had talked, Zared had braided my hair and slipped a tie around the end. “Hurry,” he said.

  I put down my cup and ran to my closet. Yukihyo had dressed. I grabbed pants, a shirt, and a jacket all in black Arachnean silk. Taking my things into the bathroom, I sat and peed while I changed clothes. Yukihyo handed me socks and a pair of sturdy black boots.

  “What about Neema and Niklos?” I asked.

  “It’s three in the morning. They won’t wake for hours. I will have you back by then,” Nico said as he fastened his jacket and pulled a hat down over his forehead. “Let’s move.”

  Yukihyo, Zared, Nico, and I stepped into the lift. Fitz slid in before the door closed. I looked at him in surprise. “Thalassa is mostly jungle, and there is no way I will be separated from you again as before.”

  “I have four remarkable husbands in this lift with me. They will get up in the middle of the night and fly down to an alien world with me, all because I had a nightmare.”

  “You were terrified. I fear it was more than a dream,” Yukihyo said. He stepped from the lift and walked across the flight deck to where Izaac, Jazon, and Xavier waited by our stealth ship.

  “Braga, we disembark in four,” Nico said into communications as he strapped himself into the co-pilot’s seat. He had armed himself.

  Jazon, covered in weapons as usual, took the pilot’s seat. Yukihyo, Fitz, and Zared slipped blasters into holsters at their hips and sniper blasters on their backs. Zared secured his long, dove-grey hair at his nape and pulled on a hat. Everyone else followed his lead, and then fastened their harnesses. Izaac passed a hat down to me. Jazon flew us from the Empress and out into the stars. Three other stealth ships and six fighters joined us. We looked like we could fight a war by ourselves. When our ships left the cover of the Parvac fleet of eight warships, including the Empress, I began to worry. The Militia fleet was nowhere in sight.

  “They are in orbit on the other side of the planet,” Zared informed me.

  The blackness of space changed into a sky as bloody as my nightmare, causing furrows to appear on my brow. I clutched at my throat. “Oh, please let him be okay. Please.” Hot tears fell from my eyes, and I sniffled.

  Nico spoke to the other vessels. “Well, they are about to have company.”

  I looked at Yukihyo questioningly, but his eyes had filled with angry orange and blue capillaries.

  “Spread out. You have your orders,” Nico said. “Confirmed.” Nico checked a display. Then, he turned and smiled at me. “Are you ready, Princess Teagan?”

  “Yes,” I answered, confused by his formality.

  My husbands, hybrid brothers, and several large Parvac elite soldiers surrounded me as soon as my boots touched the root-covered ground. Jazon had landed us within a few yards of Farowyn’s settlement. We had unexpectedly intruded on a troubling scene. The Eloneave females were huddled together with their children. They were frightened and crying, but doing their best to remain calm for the little ones.

  “Their women are so small,” Fitz said quietly.

  “And helpless,” Nico said angrily.

  Eloneave males surrounded the women and children. With their blades drawn, they made a not so threatening display for the Militia soldiers who had blasters aimed at them.

  Fear made me bold. “Who the hell is in charge here?” I yelled as I slipped around my men and in front of them.

  “Princess Probus, I’m in charge. I wasn’t informed that you would be assisting,” Gary said.

  “Assisting?” I asked.

  Gary gave a nod of his head to the Eloneave. I followed his eyes and saw Farowyn where he stood with a hurt look of betrayal and his weapons drawn before him, ready to fight. “We are here to relocate these invaders to their ships. They don’t have permission to settle here,” Gary said.

  “Their ship was destroyed. There isn’t room for them on the other life ships. Why not let the Eloneave stay here for the time being?” I asked.

  “What?” Gary asked as his eyes scrunched at the corners. “After what these bastards did to the Captain?” Gary listened to his head piece and looked around at the Parvac soldiers I had with me. “Why exactly are you here, Princess?”

  I walked toward Farowyn and then turned my back to him to face Gary. “I was worried about these people and wanted to assure myself of their well-being.”

  Nico replaced me beside Gary. “Under whose authority have you come here to relocate them?” Nico asked.

  “Acting Captain Bosh ordered their removal,” Gary said angrily.

  “Did Queen Spectra request that the Militia remove the Eloneave?” Nico asked.

  Yukihyo, Zared, and Fitz quietly joined me.

  “Farowyn, are you okay?” I asked as I turned to face him. Luckily, translator boxes were scattered about so that they could communicate with the Militia soldiers.

  “No, we are not okay. Have you come to help the Galaxics?” Farowyn asked angrily.

  Hurt, I said, “No, we didn’t know they were here.”

  “Then, why have you come with such a force?”

  “Nico, my husband,” I pointed, “insisted on taking every precaution with my safety.”

  Angrily, Farowyn said, “Why did you come at all? You left without saying goodbye. I stopped searching for you when I saw the ship lift from the surface.”

  Sadly, I blushed. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. Yukihyo, my husband, sent my spider, Thunderdrop, up to get me. I missed my family. Certainly, you understand that.”

  Farowyn didn’t look like he understood at all. Yukihyo took my hand in his and stepped forward. He bowed to Farowyn. “I thank you for caring for my female and keeping her safe, but she belongs with her children.”

  Farowyn mimicked Yukihyo’s bow. “You said he was your husband,” Farowyn said as he gestured towar
d Nico.

  Nico and Gary’s conversation had become heated.

  “Nico is my second husband. This is Lord Yukihyo, my first husband. This is Lord Fitz Jiri, my fourth husband.” Fitz bowed. “This is Lord Zared Ponidi, my fifth husband.”

  Farowyn looked as though his eyes might explode, and his ears might ignite. “If five husbands you have, one is missing,” Farowyn said.

  I thought of Quaid and looked over at my friend, Gary, and a few other familiar faces. “My third husband is acting Captain Quaid Bosh of the Hadrian. He’s the one who ordered these soldiers to come for you.” Farowyn’s anger renewed. “I didn’t know anything about this. I give you my word.”

  “Then, why are you here?”

  Zared said, “Teagan dreamed, and it frightened her.” He walked around slowly with his hands behind his back. Zared’s black glittering eyes seemed to absorb knowledge as he observed our situation. “However, now I see it was a dire premonition. Had we not come, innocent lives would have been lost.”

  My eyes swelled as the horrible vision of the night assailed me. “Oh,” I half moaned and half cried. “Farowyn, is he okay? The baby? I’ve been so worried about him.” I scrubbed my tears away with the back of my left hand.

  “He survives, but his mother did not. She passed in the night.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said.

  Farowyn said, “It is Nyronyn who is to blame.” He said something to the women behind him.

  An older woman brought the baby forward and going to her, I held my arms open to take him. Kissing his head, I closed my eyes and inhaled. Alien to my race or not, he had the addicting scent of all babies. “Oh, baby. I’ve been so worried about you, so very worried.” Yukihyo reached over and wiped my tears with his fingers. “I’ll have crates of formula sent down for him. That should make things more manageable for his father.”

  “Teagan,” Zared said with a soft ache in his voice.

  “This little one lost his father before he was born,” Farowyn said.

  “Poor, baby,” I said unable to stop my tears for the poor, helpless orphan. “He died in the crash?” I whispered.

  Farowyn met my eyes sadly. “No, he died in his fighter ship.”

  The blood drained from my head to my feet. My pulse thudded in my ears. In horror, I looked down at the tiny baby. I had ordered his father’s death. Cradling him to my chest, I wept bitter blinding tears.

  “He will not survive his mother’s loss for long in this environment and in these uncertain times. If you would right the wrongs to this innocent, take him as your own so that he might live,” Farowyn said.

  I stared at Farowyn’s brown eyes through my tears. “Take him? Away from his people?”

  Farowyn nodded. “He imprinted on you. Yours is the only milk he has known. His mother had him before his time when we crashed. She did not survive the birth or her injuries.”

  Gary and Nico were yelling at each other. Luca had Parvac soldiers surrounding the Eloneave, but with their backs to them. A few soldiers quickly erected defensive shielding. When I heard it go up, a relived sigh escaped me.

  Zared said, “The Parvac Empire will protect your people here from harm, so long as you do not attack any race.”

  Farowyn motioned for his soldiers to sheath their blades. I kissed the baby’s head and looked questioningly at Yukihyo. Tender capillaries of gold added additional color to his white eyes as he nodded to me.

  I looked to Fitz, who looked down at the baby from over my shoulder. “He will make us another fine son,” he said as he kissed my temple.

  “Thank you,” I said as my nose tingled.

  “I will love him as I love Neema and Niklos,” Zared vowed.

  The Eloneave females began to stand. The males spoke quietly to them explaining what had transpired. Gazing down at the tiny little face looking up at me, I walked past Parvac and Militia soldiers and over to Nico. He and Gary backed off from each other. Gary used the opportunity to call the Hadrian.

  “Is this the little one for whom you were so frightened?” Nico asked.

  I nodded. “I killed his father, Nico. His mother died tonight.” Tears that I had no hope of controlling slithered down my face, but did nothing to wash away the dark slime covering my soul for what I had done to the innocent baby.

  “He’s a cute little thing,” Nico said as he ran a finger along the baby’s tiny head.

  “Nico,” I said as I looked up at his brown eyes.

  “Teagan, I knew why we were coming down here. Pierce is setting up the bassinet for him.” My eyes became geysers. “Let’s take him home to the ship before it gets ugly down here,” Nico said.

  “Will the Eloneave be safe?”

  “Yes, darling. Farowyn and his people will be safe. Luca Braga, over here,” Nico called.

  General Luca Braga strode to us. In uniform and in his element, he was intimidating enough to give Gary pause for concern. Luca came to attention and saluted.

  “At ease, General Braga. Princess Probus is distraught over the plight of theses…refugees and wishes for them to remain here until their future is decided.”

  I looked up at Luca. He stared into my eyes. “Princess Probus, these people will be so well-protected that warship cannons won’t hurt them.”

  “Thank you, Luca. You don’t know how much this means to me.” I wiped at my eyes as I swayed with the baby. He was beginning to fuss. An older female with wrinkles at her eyes brought me what appeared to be the last of the milk that I had left for him. He settled down and took the bottle.

  “If you want to demonstrate your appreciation at any time, just call,” Luca said with thick seduction lacing his words.

  Rather than being snarky, I said, “Keep them safe, and I just might, Luca.” I said it softly enough that he knew I meant it.

  “Princess, Captain Bosh ordered them removed,” Gary said.

  “I’m ordering that these people shelter in place for the time being. I need to speak to Emperor Probus. If the Talpa will not welcome the Eloneave, we may need to make room for them in the Empire.”

  “They are ordered to leave this planet,” Gary said.

  “The Galaxic Government doesn’t have that kind of authority,” I countered.

  “Well, your highness, if you are ordering them to shelter here, then you need to give them back their infant. You can’t take it anywhere. Is it sick or something?”

  “I hope he is healthy. I’ll take him straight to Dr. Savelli once we are back on our ship.”

  “Princess, you can’t just take the kid,” Gary said incredulously.

  “Gary, that is exactly what I’m doing. Farowyn and Yukihyo should be working on the documents as we speak. This child is a citizen of the Parvac Empire, a member of the Imperial family, and my adopted son. You have always been my friend. You have protected me, cared for my children, and have earned my trust and respect. Please, hear me now. Eric doesn’t want this. He wants peace and cooperation.”

  “Captain Bosh isn’t going to like this, Princess,” Gary warned.

  “I know, and I’m very sorry for that. I love Quaid, and I love my cousin, but Gary, these people don’t deserve to be punished. Nyronyn does. Please, excuse us. I want to take my son home.” On impulse, I stepped close to Gary and kissed his cheek. Then, I looked into his eyes, pleading to him with my own for understanding.

  “Teagan, Yukihyo needs you,” Fitz said softly.

  The milk was almost gone. Carefully, I walked over to Yukihyo and Farowyn. On Yukihyo’s vid-screen, they had an official adoption form with the seals of the Parvac Empire prominently displayed. Yukihyo lifted his vid-screen and carefully pressed each of the baby’s feet to the scanner. Then, Farowyn placed his hand to the scanner. His claws hung over the side of the device.

  “Teagan, your turn,” Yukihyo said.

  I pressed my palm down, thus solidifying our bond as mother and son. “Can we go home, now?” I asked as I looked up at Yukihyo.

  “Yes, darling. You must be exhau
sted. You’ve hardly slept,” Fitz said.

  I returned the empty bottle to one of the women. She trilled softly to me. Farowyn spread his arms wide to me displaying his patagium as he bowed his head. I curtsied to him and allowed Zared and Fitz to guide me and my new baby to our vessel. Once I sat with him, I clutched him to my chest and sobbed in relief. Had my dream been a premonition warning of things that might have been? Had I been hours away from losing the tiny bundle in my arms?

  “I’m going to give you all of the love I can give. I can’t give back what I took from you, but I will make sure that you grow big and strong. I hope when you are old enough to understand what I did, that you might chose to forgive me rather than seek retribution.”

  I looked up from his tiny little fingers to find Jazon, Izaac, and Xavier watching me. What would I do if he grew up feeling the way Galina, my niece, felt? She had been the only full-blooded Laconian child of Enyo descent on Parvac. Forming good and lasting relations with the Eloneave was crucial for my son’s sake. He would need to be around his own kind. How was I going to teach him to talk? Would his claws hurt Neema and Niklos? Would he try to eat Thunderdrop? What the hell was I doing?

  Zared started laughing harder than I had ever heard him laugh before. Soon, the others joined in as we shot through space. Drex and Merick flew in their stealth vessels at our sides, but Dario and the others had remained at the settlement.

  “We can communicate with him telepathically,” Xavier said.

  “You are an amazing mother. Your heart never runs out of love, and your eyes never run out of tears. Our new son is fortunate to have you as his mother,” Yukihyo said.

  I held the baby’s hand and kissed his fingers. He looked like a tiny little breathing doll. “How do I keep alive the memory of his parents for him when I never even met them?”

  “Teagan, what can you do today?” Fitz asked.

  “I’ll take him to the infirmary. Then, I’ll give him a bath, a clean diaper, and put him in his bed.”

  When we were docked in our berth on the Empress, Nico helped me step out onto the deck. “See, Neema and Niklos still sleep,” he said. Then, Nico began a vid-screen conversation with Kane. When he caught me trying to follow what was said, he held the device above his head so that I couldn’t see. “No, Teagan. Go see to our new son. You will worry about nothing more today.”