His By Command (Primarian Mates Book 2)

by Maddie Taylor

  “Why are they here?” Maggie whispered, holding back as they approached the glass double doors.

  “This is the inside help I mentioned,” Rebecca replied, also speaking quietly.

  “Two of them are warriors.”

  “Not really, those are borrowed uniforms. But Mags, we really don’t have time for me to explain—”

  “Make time,” Maggie bit out.

  “There is a small group who call themselves purists who aren’t too happy with our presence here and are adamantly opposed to our species cross-breeding with theirs. They prefer to allow nature to take its course, rather than introduce inferior DNA into the gene pool.”

  “They said that?” Maggie gasped.

  “Not in so many insulting words, yet that is what they meant. Evidently, two of the leaders have daughters of breeding age. They fear they will be passed over for humans since several of us have tested so highly, higher than many of their own.”

  “Which means it’s not as utopian as the commander made it out to be,” Maggie mused aloud.

  “Hell, no,” Eryn put in. “One of the instigators is a jealous woman who had an eye on one of the newly mated warriors for herself. It’s much the same type of drama we have at home, as well as prejudice, xenophobia, and elitism. As offensive as it is, if their bias is our ticket off this world, I have no problem ignoring it to get where we need to be.”

  The door swung open. “What is the delay?” one of the red-shirted men demanded to know.

  “Merely bringing our captain up to date on the plan,” Rebecca replied.

  “Unnecessary.” Teal eyes narrowed with impatience homed in on Maggie. “Do as you are told and we will see you arrive safely on your ship. Let’s go.” In his supreme self-importance, he whirled and was out the door before any of them could react.

  “Ass,” Maggie muttered as they trailed after him. “Are you sure he isn’t a warrior? Sounds arrogant enough to be one.”

  “They all do, especially if an inferior female deigns to open her mouth.”

  “If you want this to succeed, less talking and more walking, if you please.” This came from the same haughty male and drew five irate glares from five irate Earth women.

  “Ignore him,” Rebecca advised tightly. “We’ll be free of them all before we know it.”

  “And thank God for that,” Eryn grumbled under her breath. “The sooner we see the last of this world full of narrow-minded, condescending misogynists, the better.”

  As they followed the men through the streets, past the large open market that had been part of their orientation tour, Maggie noticed the crowds were much thinner than the last time, and those present were quiet, almost subdued. They continued a few more blocks until they reached the less congested part of town where the shuttle landing port was located. It was nearly empty, with only one shuttle instead of dozens, the one remaining being hurriedly loaded.

  “Something’s going on,” she whispered to Eryn, who was still close by her side, although she was steadier now, the dizziness also having passed. “The clinic staff was gone because of the mine explosion, that’s how you got me out. And the streets were practically abandoned. It was a diversion.”

  “Yes.”

  “We blew up a mine?”

  “We didn’t.” Her red hair glinted in the sun as she inclined her head toward their escorts.

  “My God, they sacrificed their own people to be rid of us.”

  “Yes, they mean business, but I’m guessing killing three hundred women under guard would have been too obvious.”

  By this time, they arrived at the transport center. Inside, the corridors were quiet as they made their way to the control room, where more men were manning the controls.

  One stepped forward, studied her for a moment before asking with a smirk, “This is your leader?”

  “What does that mean?” Maggie snapped as she glared up at him.

  “You’re tiny. Strength comes from the top. No wonder your ship and crew were so easily subdued.” His gazed swept from her to the other four women behind her, the smirk twisting into a disdainful scowl. “I care not, though. Once we send you back to your ship, you will no longer be our problem.” His hand swept out to the raised floor of the transporter. “Take your place.”

  Maggie moved forward. When she stepped into the center of one of the green circles of light, she faced front and found she was alone in the transporter. “Aren’t you coming?”

  “We have a few more extractions to make, then we’ll join you.”

  When she answered, Rebecca wouldn’t meet her gaze directly, which was a red flag for Maggie that something else was wrong. She keyed in on the word extractions, which sounded grim. Eryn and the others wore the same dour expressions.

  “Who else?” She didn’t want to ask, but Maggie had to know.

  “Not everyone is expected to embrace this idea,” Eryn explained.

  “Who?” Even as she repeated the question, Lana and Mailynn immediately came to mind.

  “The first captured, some have transformed and may pose difficult.”

  “We can’t leave them behind,” she protested.

  “If you take them, they will sicken. If they are fated, they will die,” one of the men stated plainly, earning harsh scowls from his cohorts and cries of alarm from the women.

  “How is that possible?” Maggie demanded to know.

  “Only fated mates are affected to this extreme by separation,” the snidest, tallest one countered flippantly, without answering.

  “Mailynn.” The rest of her crew looked at her for an explanation of the lone softly breathed name. “I saw her a few days ago. She had her mate’s marking, a sign they were fated.”

  “She will be fine,” the tall alien stated. It was evident he was lying, though, because he didn’t care what became of their friend, or any of them, just that they left Primaria as fast as possible.

  Eyes wide, she gazed from her place in the transporter to Rebecca. “What an impossible choice. Remain captive among those that would conspire against you, or leave and die.

  “Agreed. We’ll make sure she understands, Mags.”

  “Can we desist with the incessant chatter, females? We have more to do before our window of opportunity closes.” They all scowled at the obnoxious red shirt. Impolite and downright rude, he was far worse than any she had encountered.

  Ignoring him, she said to Rebecca, “Be careful. We’ll debrief more when we’re on board the Odyssey and safely away.” To the man at the controls, she nodded. “I’m ready.”

  The bright lights began swirling and their images wavered. Before she could count to ten, the whirring in her ears stopped and the tingling on her skin subsided. As the brilliant flashes faded and her vision cleared, she saw that she was back in familiar surroundings.

  She swayed as the room shifted slightly.

  “Captain,” one of her crew called as they rushed forward and grabbed her arm.

  “A neat trick,” Maggie said with a half-smile, “but does one ever get used to it?”

  “I prefer the old-fashioned way myself,” Tessa agreed as she shifted her shoulder under her arm and took on much of her weight. “I’ll stick to a shuttle from here on out, thank you very much.”

  “Your leg is healed.” Maggie noticed suddenly. “And so quickly?”

  “Yes, the Primarian doctors were able to accelerate the healing—bone knitting is what they called it. A little over an hour in some sort of contraption compared to what would have taken nature weeks to do on its own. It was amazing.”

  “They do have much to offer. Too bad they don’t see us as more than brood mares.”

  “What?” the young woman asked with a perplexed look.

  “It’s an old term I read in a book for baby-making machine.”

  “That is a drawback.” Tessa said as she led Maggie to a bench along the wall and sat beside her. “The dizziness should pass in a few minutes, then you’ll feel right as rain.”

  “No
t until we’re all aboard and far out of range.”

  “Yes,” she murmured quietly, a momentary look of—something… was it regret?—crossing her features

  “What is it?”

  “Well… I, uh…”

  “It’s okay, Tessa. Tell me.”

  “Maybe it’s just me, but they weren’t as bad as we first thought. Yes, they acted like cavemen; still, it was a beautiful place, so clean and colorful. And they do have benefits that we don’t have on Earth, and considering how bad things have gotten at home, I wish…”

  “You wish we could come to an agreement. The thought has occurred to me, yet they don’t seem to see reason when it comes to that. Perhaps, in the future.

  “Yes. They need us, but we could also gain so much from them. Perhaps a treaty of some kind could be worked out between our governments.”

  “Tessa, what made you go into security instead of politics?”

  “Curiosity.”

  “Pardon?”

  “What can I say? I wanted to see the universe and with four brothers growing up, I learned to fight and shoot, so the military, and the Odyssey, seemed perfect.”

  Maggie smiled at the young woman, who seemed to have come out of her trauma on the research planet and a second abduction without any ill will.

  “If we could bottle your youth, enthusiasm, and wisdom, I think both of our worlds would be better off.” She pushed to her feet. “I’m feeling better now, let’s get to the bridge and see what they have done to our ship.”

  “Aye, ma’am. Glad to have you back in charge.”

  “Glad to be back, Tessa. Let’s go.”

  12

  When he arrived by shuttle to the mine entrance, the scene outside could be described in one word—chaos. Roth could understand why; it was eerily reminiscent of the tragedy that had occurred in this very sector two decades earlier. Fortunately, this was on a much smaller scale.

  As he got out, seeing neither Trask nor Lothar anywhere about, he took charge. After getting a status report, he directed the flow of the work teams inside and the injured to the med-triage tents that had been set up outside, at a safe distance from the fire, smoke, and any subsequent explosions. As they worked and things took on a more orderly degree of panic, he began to hear grumblings of a repetitive theme.

  “You there,” he called to one of the warriors who was preparing to go back in after carrying an injured minor from the smoke-billowing entrance. “Get a mask and safety equipment on. You’ll be of no help if you join the count of the injured.”

  “But the Princep, Commander, he’s fallen behind the roof collapse and they need every man.”

  “Equipment, first,” he barked as fingers of fear began to tighten around his heart. Kerr’s father had succumbed in the same fashion, while trying to rescue injured from the mines after the Rain of Fire. To lose a leader in such a way couldn’t happen again. Rushing to the cart containing emergency equipment, he grabbed a breathing mask and helmet for himself, putting them on as he ran for the entry. As he arrived, a wave of men was exiting, shouting, “Clear the path, Max Kerr is being brought out.”

  Skidding to a halt, Roth waited with the other anxious onlookers for what seemed like an eternity as dozens of men streamed out, some choking on smoke with others helping them, and still more looking shaken, but walking under their own power. Another man shouted, “Have a physic at the ready, he’s collapsed.”

  A half-dozen men wearing the black and white tunics of the medical team moved forward with a stretcher and equipment at the ready.

  Roth turned abruptly, scanning the crowd behind him until he found one of his men.

  “Varo,” he shouted. “Have one of the shuttles on standby to fly the Princep out.”

  “Wouldn’t it be faster to arrange for transport directly to the med-bay?” the warrior beside him asked.

  “Not if he’s injured, his body won’t take the stress.”

  “He’s right, the stress would be such he might never recover.” This came from Jarlan, who had arrived only moments ago. “Do we know the extent of his injuries, Commander?”

  “No, they are just now bringing him out.”

  A group of four men, covered in green dust from the explosion, appeared at the face, carrying a makeshift stretcher between them. Jarlan rushed forward, physically pushing men aside to get to their injured leader. Roth turned and saw Varo waving from beside the first shuttle in the row off to the left. He took the path Jarlan had taken, watching as he bent over where they had laid Kerr down outside.

  “He’s critical, we need to move him now,” the physic said, urgency in his tone.

  “I have a shuttle ready for lift-off,” Roth interjected.

  “Emergency team, meet us there with supplies,” Trask, who had been crouched near Kerr’s head, called the order while signaling the others to lift the stretcher. Also, bodily moving worried bystanders aside, the general quickly cleared the path as he led the way.

  Once Kerr was loaded inside the rear of the shuttle followed by Jarlan and the med-team, he moved forward, Trask at his side. Roth took the pilot’s seat himself, giving Varo orders as he did so.

  “Stay and direct this chaos. Make sure they get the injured transported out by shuttle. Remember, no teleportation of anyone who isn’t one hundred percent fit.”

  “Lothar is on his way to take charge of the warriors in the rescue efforts,” Trask added as he strapped into the co-pilot’s seat.

  Without waiting for a response from his man, because none was necessary from his trusted second in command, Roth instead closed the doors and prepared immediately for lift-off. As he piloted the small shuttle from the scene, he got an urgent call on his fleet channel. “Roth here.”

  “Allon, Commander. I’m not sure how to say this, sir.”

  “Spit it out, man. I’ve got my hands full here.”

  “The alien ship, it’s gone.”

  “What do you mean it’s gone?” Roth barked, shooting an incredulous look at Trask, who was equally as stunned.

  “We picked up a vessel departing the space dock. Nothing was scheduled in or out today. Immediately, we tried to hail the captain on duty, but there was no response. The Reliant and Dauntless are still in port, and the Intrepid isn’t due back from its mission for some time. All our ships are accounted for, except the alien vessel.”

  “What about the females?” he inquired, already knowing the answer.

  “Also, gone.”

  “All of them?” Trask snapped, and Roth knew he was most concerned about one female in particular.

  “No, General, the first females, including your mate, remain, except the Prima and Ramikin’s mate. Neither can be located, so we suspect they are on board the Earth ship as well.”

  “Faex,” Trask cursed. “Kerr will be livid when he wakes. How did this happen?”

  “In the chaos of the mine explosion, we pulled in extra pilots for the shuttles,” Roth deduced aloud. His gaze cut sharply right, meeting Trask’s.

  “Obviously,” the general surmised, “it was a diversionary tactic.”

  “Allon, what happened to our guards? We had sentries posted as per protocol?”

  “We’ve already found many warriors who were stunned and restrained, sir. Both at the space port and here below. Including Ramikin. When we found him, he was so furious, he had to be contained.”

  Trask and Roth shared another glance. Ram had been having trouble with his mate, Eryn, from day one. Now she was one among the missing.

  “How could they have gotten off planet and onto the dock,” Trask demanded. “Are all the shuttles accounted for?”

  “Yes, all responded to the distress calls at the mines.”

  “Then how?” Roth repeated.

  “We believe they transported up. We found human blood at the center. But none of them had the skill to operate the controls.”

  “They had to have had help,” Roth murmured.

  “Yes, Commander, and the city guard has already ar
rested a few suspects.”

  As the topped a rise, Ariad came in sight and Roth began to make his approach to the rooftop landing on the med-bay facility.

  “I’ll take the Dauntless in pursuit,” he stated as he easily maneuvered the small craft, aligning it with the lighted landing pad.

  “I’ll join you,” this from Trask.

  Roth objected. “You are needed here in Kerr’s stead.”

  “Krager will manage.” His voice dropped with his next words. “He knew, Roth. It all makes sense.”

  “What are you saying? Who knew?”

  “Kerr. I was standing beside him when he went down as though he’d been shot, clutching his chest like he was mortally wounded, yet there was no blood. I didn’t see any rocks, debris, or flames touch him, but as he fell, he called her name.” His hands clenched, becoming white knuckled where he gripped the armrests of his seat. “I predict the blood at the center turns out to be Eva’s.”

  Incredulous, Roth stared straight ahead, trying for the softest touchdown while what Trask was saying whirled round in his head. “That would mean…”

  “Yes,” his friend finished for him. “They are more connected than any of us suspected.”

  “Impossible.”

  “No, although extremely rare,” Trask informed him. “I’ve read a few accounts about similar phenomena between fated mates.”

  “But Kerr mentioned only the other day that she hadn’t transformed. She has none of his traits or his marking.”

  “I know, yet it has to be so. What other explanation is there for a man as strong as Kerr, who is in perfect health, collapsing without cause before our eyes. And he knew: his last words before he lost consciousness were, ‘protect her for me.’”

  “Fated mates,” Roth murmured. It was rare amongst their kind, between species, something they’d though impossible. The connection between a fated pair was unbreakable. So much that a prolonged separation resulted in sickness, delirium, and death. “That means we don’t have much time.”

  “She better pray that we have enough,” Trask replied, his fury palpable in his tone, without hearing the words. “And that is why I am going with you, to honor his request, and to bring his treacherous mate back to do what is necessary to save him before he dies.”