by Stella Sky
"Your father was a radical? He was a purist?" she asked.
"No, not in the sense that they are now. He died two years ago and it would not be his wish that any violence be taken for the cause of keeping the blood pure. I don't think he foresaw what would happen. But the point is my brother and I made him a promise on his deathbed. I am a loyal and honorable weredragon; I had no intention of breaking that promise to him."
She was silent and then she burst into tears, "Why are you telling me this now? Why does it matter now? You are only hurting me," she said to me.
"No, I do not mean to hurt you. I do not have any reason for telling you this other than I do not want to keep secrets from you. You know my brother and I were keeping something and this is what we were hiding. I do not want you to think it was anything else, especially if I did not make it through this battle."
Ring! Ring! She looked over at her screen. "That is a call from base, from my superior," she said as she wiped the tears from her face and composed herself. She stood in front of the screen and answered the call.
"Dr. Maltra, I need you to report to the battalion squad immediately."
"I will be right there," she said as she hung up the call. She turned and looked at me and said, "I guess this is goodbye."
"Goodbye, Felicity. You are the bravest and most beautiful female I have ever known. I wish circumstances were different. We both have our duties; we are both loyal to them."
She said nothing but turned and walked out the door. I felt numb, but I had a responsibility, and so did she, and we were at war. I looked at the time and there was an hour and a half before battalion launch. I wished that I could contact the king. If he indeed was on a battalion ship, he would be closer to Earth and easier to contact. I could contact him on the battalion channel that was a broad range for all Drackon ships.
I looked at Felicity's communication console. I could do this. I looked in her closet and under her sink. I found a bag of tools. I went to work hacking her system for long-range communications that would reach deep into space. Thirty minutes later, I had established a connection.
"King Caspin Rykor, this is Captain Ky-Vesa reporting. You know by now about the threatening message from Ukir that interrupted your communication?" I asked him.
"Yes, we also received our own, lovely message from Ukir. I am on board the Talla battalion ship. We are in hyperspeed, heading toward Earth."
"I and my crew will be aboard an Earth battalion ship. Earth is launching their fleet in a matter of less than an hour. We are going to try to drive Ukir’s fleet back away from Earth."
"Good; we will arrive in time to get them from the rear as you push them. Together with Earth, we shall surround them and squash this once and for all."
"Yes, King Caspin Rykor. I thought I should also inform you what the people on Earth think. They believe that all Drackon are responsible for the attack on the registration building. The Earth Council has not made a public announcement about the purist faction. The people on the ground here on Earth are very hostile toward all Drackon."
"Thank you for informing me, Captain. It is a very delicate matter; if there was only a way I could address the people of Earth myself."
"There is, King Caspin Rykor. I have hacked into the communication lines base and if I switch it on, then you will appear in many homes of the Earthlings."
"Excellent; that is excellent, Captain Ky-Vesa. I am ready. Tell me when," the king said. I smiled that he was ready to go along with my rogue plan. It was necessary and could save many lives and unnecessary violence between the Drackon and the Earthlings. I switched on the hack and said, "You are live."
"People of Earth! I am King Caspin Rykor of the Drackon race on Mooreah. I offer you my condolences and deepest despair toward the attack on the registration building. I would also like to inform you that we found are not responsible for the attack.
“As your Earth Council already knows, there is a radical faction known as the purists. They are a group of Drackon that have split off from us and defied me, their king. They are a terror group and their beliefs are not my beliefs, nor that of the majority of the Drackon. An insane leader known as Ukir leads them.
“I, and my fleet, are currently in flight to squash this faction of Drackon. We will not stop until all people and Drackon are safe from this faction. We will not stop until it has been deleted from existence. Do not allow this insane leader to force you to turn on all Drackon. There has been peace between us and there will be peace still. The actions of some should not be used to judge the morality of many.
“I have sent wealth to Earth in order to rebuild the damage that was done. I have sent wealth to take care of all your injured. I myself am half human; my mother was a human female. I consider you part of me and I will do everything I can to protect you. I am working with the Earth Council to defeat the radical faction and bring death to leader Ukir. Together, we will succeed; together, we will have victory!" The king nodded and I knew that nod was for me. I cut off the communication line. Then I made my way to the base battalion ships. I was ready to fight. I was ready to fight for my king, and the humans. I, after all, just like the king, was half human… this was as much my fight as any.
As I joined my crew and my brother on the Earth battalion ship ready for launch, I was in for a shock.
"I have spoken with our king; he will be here. He will join the fight. Ready ourselves, my Drackon warriors. This is the fight of your life," I said to my crew and my brother.
"We watched the king’s speech; we are ready. We will take down that bastard Ukir. We are with you, Captain," they said.
"Good, strap in. This is our ship. Though it is an Earth ship, we command it. Eral, you have had the most experience flying Earth ships; are you sure you can handle this one?"
"Yes, brother; it is easy to fly this one," he said. I gave him a proud grin and slapped him on his back.
"Get ready for departure!" I shouted.
Then everyone stopped as an older man walked into the ship.
"Captain Ky-Vesa, I am medic master. I have a medic assignment for your ship."
"Medic assignment?" I asked.
"Yes, every ship that is sent into battle has one on board. This one has experience treating weredragons."
As soon as he said it, I knew who it was. The redhead with the sparkling green eyes stepped on board behind the man. "Dr. Maltra, this is your assignment. I believe you are acquainted with this crew?" he said to her.
She looked at us and in her most professional tone, said, "Yes, I am. I'm ready to begin this assignment. Thank you, Superior," she said to him. He nodded to her and to us and then left the ship. Although I was happy to see her and enjoyed knowing she would be with us, I knew how dangerous this situation was. I pulled her aside and said, "No, Felicity, you are not going. We do not need a medic. Get off the ship go back to safety."
Her eyes narrowed at me and she said, "You do not order me about, Captain. This ship belongs to Earth and you will follow the Earth rules if you want to utilize it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have my supplies to put away."
I admired her defiance, but I could not focus if I did not know that she was safe. I would not be able to take the risk that I would take in order to defeat Ukir knowing that her life was in my hands. Every risky maneuver meant I could bring her death. I could not handle that.
"Felicity, you will listen to me and…"
SIREN! SIREN!
"Captain Ky-Vesa! That is the warning sound for launch. Thirty seconds!" Eral shouted.
I growled a deep growl knowing I did not have time to get Felicity off the ship. "Close the doors! Pressurize and angle for launch! Everyone, strap in!" I shouted. The crew followed my orders. I had to focus. I had to treat Felicity like she was any member of the crew or I would not get through this battle successfully.
"Launching in five, four, three, two, one..."
The ship shot into space with the Earth battalion in formation. Soon we were past the Earth moon,
heading straight for the purist fleet.
Chapter 11
DR. FELICITY MALTRA
I was nervous as hell as I approached the battalion. There I found my master superior that had called me on my communication line after Drin had dropped a bombshell on me. His talk of his promise to his father broke my heart. I knew he thought he was doing right by me, by telling me the truth. But with the circumstances at hand and the fact that it might not matter anyway, it seemed like an unnecessary jab to my heart. It burned.
His words echoed in my mind that he would not be taking a human female as a serious mate. That he was in a way betrothed to a Drackon female that he had never met. It was his father’s dying wish. I would think his father would understand what it was to fall in love with a human female since he himself had experienced it. But I also understood regret. I understood having passion and looking out for your own ancient race. These thoughts barreled in my mind as I moved through the base.
The faster I walked toward the battalion, the angrier I grew. How dare Drin? How dare he do such amazing things to me sexually and emotionally, only to shit on them with this story about the promise? I understood about loyalty, and how he must feel so much guilt toward breaking this promise. But he did not need to pass that guilt on to me. I could have gone on blissfully without even knowing about it.
"Dr. Maltra reporting, sir," I said with a salute to my superior.
"Good, Dr. Maltra, you are in need. There is a battalion launching in about an hour. I need you to take an assignment as a medic on board one of the ships. We are expecting injury, and as you know, we don't send ships into battle without a medic on board."
As soon as he said it, I knew exactly which assignment I would be taking. I was one of the few doctors that had experience working on the Drackon’s unique bodies. Therefore, they would be assigning me to Captain Ky-Vesa. The bastard!
"Yes, sir. I am happy to report," I said to him.
"Go into preparation. There, you will be given your ship number, and you will be given a medic bag, supplies, and your wearable gear."
I saluted him and then moved off to get my assignment and my gear. The atmosphere as I entered the gear rooms was one I had never encountered before. Soldiers were gearing up. Words of “Remember Registration” echoed off of everyone’s lips. This was a serious battle against the enemy and these soldiers were out for blood. I wondered how many of them had lost someone in the bombing.
“Dr. Maltra?” a fresh-faced soldier said as he walked up to me.
“Yes, that is me,” I said.
“I just want to thank you. You rescued my mother yesterday in the courtyard. She said you were the first one to come to her aid. You tore a piece of fabric from her skirt and tied a tourniquet. Ma’am, that tourniquet saved her life. The surgeons said she would have lost too much blood if you had not stopped it.”
My eyes began watering as I listened to him talk. Then he threw his arms around me and gave me a giant hug. “Thank you, Doctor. On behalf of my mother and I, thank you.”
“I was just doing my job. I am glad to hear that your mother is doing well.”
“Yes, ma’am, just as I am here to do my job. Let’s make those assholes pay!” he shouted. His shouts started a round of rowdy shouting and high fives as he moved away from me. Then it hit me; I was a damn doctor. I had become what I said I would not set out to do. I would not succumb to a male distraction. Yet here I was, giving all my energy to being hurt and distracted by a gorgeous hybrid. I was a damn doctor and I was going to put that first. I geared up with the same pride as the soldiers by my side. I had a job to do, just like them.
It did not surprise me when I walked onto the ship and Drin tried to stop me from going. Obviously he would want me to stay; I would be a distraction. But I wasn't going to let him talk me out of my career. He was putting duty before me, and I had to do the same. He had said as much before I left my living quarters.
As soon as we launched and were in space, a large fleet headed in our direction. I had never been in battle before. I had always been involved in research expeditions. I supposed there was a first time for everything.
"There's so many of them," Eral said as he maneuvered the ship. Then he continued, "I didn't realize that the purists had acquired so many ships."
"Seems that not all the ships are Drackon ships. He probably pulled a few from the outlaw planets. Most of his warriors and soldiers are likely hired guns. Ukir has acquired wealth in order to hire an army. This is good news. It means that not as many Drackon follow his beliefs as we thought," Drin said.
"They are headed straight for us. Ready for maneuvering, Captain," Eral said.
The squadron Earth leader came on over the radio giving Drin and the other pilots the plan on how to attack and in what formation. Then in seconds, it was on. Laser blasters brightened the darkness of space as each ship took shots at each other. I could not believe what was happening before my eyes. This was a dogfight. This was war!
"It is on our tail! Closing in! They have a lock on us! They can fire at any second!" Eral shouted to Drin.
"Keep evasive maneuvering," Drin said calmly.
I had never seen a space battle before. I was on edge and my heart was beating so fast. The purist fleet was skilled and heavily armed. I don't think that the Earth battalion expected such expertise and so many missiles. It wasn't looking good. We had already lost many ships. The battle had waged on for an hour. Just when we thought we were gaining and pushing the purists back, they would push closer to Earth.
"I'm going to double back! We can get cover from an Earth ship!" Eral shouted.
"No! We want to lead them away from Earth. You must continue in this direction, deeper into space," Drin said.
"But we will have no cover," Eral said.
"We must sacrifice for the greater good," Drin said.
Eral punched it and we zipped forward at a fast speed with two purist ships on our tail. This was it. This was the end. I moved over to Drin and grabbed his hand. He squeezed it. He knew too. I looked at him, but he continued to look forward, remaining focused, but his hand was enough to let me know we were going to die together.
"What is that?! Up ahead," Eral shouted. I turned to look at the windshield. In front of us, several large battleships had emerged out of hyperspeed.
"It is the king! King Caspin Rykor!” There were cheers all around. And I watched as smaller ships emerged off of the larger battleships. Soon they were barreling toward us and taking out the purist ships behind us. Everyone cheered again. The fight was on. We were going to win. Fighter ships were all over the sky and there was excitement over the radio communication. The king’s fighters were skilled and swift. In an hour, the entire purist rebellion had been squashed. We would return to Earth in victory.
A week after the fighting, everything was almost back to normal. The king himself came to Earth and assured Earthlings that the Drackon had no ill will toward them and that the purist rebellion was an anomaly. Still, with the peace accord intact, all agreed to stop registration until the king could make sure that any remnants of the purist faction on Mooreah had been dealt with. There was a five-year holding on registration. All agreed.
Then, it was time for the king and his fleet to depart Earth and return to Mooreah. This meant one thing for me… Drin was leaving. He stood there in front of me in my living quarters, trying to make me understand, but I could not.
"Felicity, we both know it is safer for you here. I must return to Mooreah. There are still remnants of the purist faction there. All human females are in danger, especially those that are new and without offspring yet. You could be killed upon your arrival," he said to me. But I knew the real reason.
"You don't have to disguise your unwillingness to take a chance on us with the purist threat. I know the real reason why you did not want me to join you. It is your promise. The promise to your father: that is the real reason you do not want me to come with you. Now that you know you have a full life ahead of
you, you are not so careless about your promise. Just don't try to lie to me about it."
He was silent as he looked at me. He moved my hair out of my face and let his hand caress my cheek. It was hard to feel his touch, knowing I would never feel it again. "I cannot deny that I feel guilty. I broke the promise to my father on his deathbed. It is unfair to my brother. I still have a responsibility. So yes, it is partly due to this guilt inside of me for breaking that promise, but I also do not lie about your safety. It is not safe for you on Mooreah."
"So stay here. It is safe for you here. Stay with me," I pleaded with him, even though it was against my pride to do so.
"I cannot. My duty lies with the Drackon on Mooreah. I am a captain. That has not changed, even if I have fallen in love with a human female. I must sacrifice all to the responsibility and duty of being a captain."
