Kraev

by Sonia Nova

  It was almost easy to fall into the trap of thinking of Olivia as another warrior when she acted so quickly and accurately like that. But then they reached the door to the ship and he caught a glance of her. She was pale except for two spots of red on her cheeks. She was panting rather than breathing and kept glancing back at the Suhlik they’d just killed.

  She wasn’t a warrior. She was just a scared human who’d been put in a nightmarish situation and was trying to do her best in it.

  “Here,” he said, wanting to keep talking to her to distract her from the dead lizards. “I’m just going to open the door to this ship and then we’ll be out of here.” He put his thumb on a panel on the side of the small fighter ship as he said it, and the door clicked open, recognizing his credentials.

  “Come on,” he took her hand and gave her a boost into the small ship. It wasn’t big enough to spend more than a few hours on. There was no bathroom, no beds. It was purely for close quarters, high-paced fighting, and that was exactly what he needed right now. Something fast and agile to get as far away from the Suhlik as possible.

  And he would get Olivia away from the Suhlik, no matter what.

  He would get her out and he would win her heart. This, he promised to himself.

  CHAPTER 5

  OLIVIA

  Olivia’s heart pounded in her chest. She thought she might have a heart attack as Kraev guided her to one of the two seats inside the tiny ship that he’d selected. It looked small compared to most of the others in the hangar.

  “Is this really the ship we want?” she asked, panic threatening to overwhelm her senses. “It’s so small. Is it safe?”

  She sat back into the chair, trying to take deep breaths. She could hear the fighting in the hangar still, see the bodies of the Suhlik they’d killed. The ones she’d killed. She didn’t regret it, but it had hit her a little harder than she expected it to, and she struggled to stay focused on the now.

  “This one is faster,” Kraev replied, strapping her into the seat.

  His fingers brushed against her skin through the thin blouse she was wearing and she was ashamed to say that it sent a thrill through her. It was probably just the adrenaline talking. Just too much excitement in one day, even if she’d been sarcastic when she’d said that to him earlier.

  He might be gorgeous in a brutish, exotic kind of way, but she wasn’t ready to admit that she might like the idea of him touching her properly, beyond the few bits of light contact they’d had so far. She’d heard some Mahdfel brides practically fell on their backs when they met their matches, but Olivia wasn’t that kind of a girl. She preferred to know her partner first.

  Besides, she might not even make it through all this alive to face the consequences of those thoughts anyway.

  “The Suhlik ships will be bigger since they’ve traveled through space to get here. We should be able to outmaneuver them in a smaller ship. The bigger ships would also require at least two pilots or a full crew. Since it’s just me, I need to be able to navigate, fire weapons, and fly all at once.”

  Guilt settled in her stomach. She was weighing him down.

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  He seemed to consider her words as he strapped himself into the pilot’s seat beside her.

  “You can help me watch out for Suhlik ships,” he finally said, but Olivia couldn’t help but think he’d given her a useless task just to stay focused. At least on the ground, she’d been able to do something, react somehow. Run, duck, or even shoot, despite how surprised she had been by that fact.

  But in the air, she could do nothing but sit back and hope for the best.

  Kraev reorganized some of the screens around him and then flicked a few switches on the dashboard, preparing for take-off.

  Olivia glanced out of the windows of the ship. She saw the Mahdfel and Suhlik still fighting in the hangar. The Suhlik paid them no attention in the ship, but Olivia feared their fight was only about to begin once they took off and joined whatever ships were out there. Somewhere in the distance, an explosion went off, shaking the ground.

  “It might be a bumpy ride,” Kraev said as the engines started. The ship vibrated slightly under their power and Olivia gripped the sides of her seat. “I’m not sure how fast I’ll be able to go. Your body won’t be able to take as much G-force as mine and I don’t want to risk hurting you.”

  “Do whatever you need to do,” she said, her heart thumping anxiously in her chest. She had been on an airplane a few times as a child, but this was something entirely different, even if you didn’t account for the fact that they were in a war zone. “Don’t even think about the fact I’m here.”

  “I’m always going to be thinking about you, Olivia,” Kraev said. His words should have been cheesy, but his expression told her he was being completely sincere. She didn’t know what to make out of that. A strange wave of warmth spread through her toward the alien who was risking his life to try and keep her alive.

  The ship began to move, slowly at first, but when it took off in the air, Olivia’s heart leaped. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped her seat, waiting for the G-force to shove her back. It came quickly and she sucked in a gasp as it felt like someone sat on her chest. Within seconds, they flew out of the hangar and into the sky above the planet.

  In any other situation, it would have been thrilling. She would have been grinning and laughing as she experienced something completely different from normal. A spaceship on a planet halfway across the universe? It was madness. It was surreal, even though she’d known about the existence of aliens since she was a child.

  Instead, all she could feel was dread.

  Looking out of the window in front of her, she could see the sky full of ships. Red and orange trails and smoke filled the sky between them all. Some of them were performing high-speed maneuvers and some appeared to be completely still in the air. She had no idea how many people were out there and how many would have already lost their lives.

  When Kraev shouted, “We’ve got two on our tail,” over the sound of the engines, the thundering of her heart didn’t calm down at all.

  “What are we going to do?” Her voice sounded panicked even to her own ears, and as she glanced behind them, she saw the two Suhlik ships Kraev was talking about.

  “I’ve got the weapons systems on autopilot. They should be able to deal with any incoming missiles.”

  Olivia sat back and closed her eyes, imagining the ship being blown to smithereens. It was hard to breathe at the speed they were traveling at and the panic wasn’t making things any easier.

  This was supposed to be safe.

  She was supposed to have come to a peaceful planet to make a thousand babies for her new husband, not to almost be killed and end up in a high-speed spaceship chase against the Suhlik.

  Admittedly, as she opened her eyes and looked out of the window in front of her, she wasn’t sure the alternative was much better. Either way, she lost her life as she knew it.

  “Incoming missiles,” Kraev shouted. “I’ve got to barrel roll, hold on tight.”

  Olivia swallowed a scream as the ship did a full roll in the sky, making the straps holding her in place strain against her weight. Then they were back to being the right way up and she could almost breathe again.

  “They’re gaining on us,” he said. “I can’t go any faster. I might injure you.”

  “I’ll be okay,” she promised. “Do what you have to do.” There was no way she was going to be responsible for this man’s death after he’d already risked so much. Her getting a little bit hurt was preferable to them both ending up in a fiery tangle on the ground.

  “Okay,” he said, though it was through gritted teeth and she knew he didn’t want to. He kept talking to her as the pressure on her chest increased and breathing became even more difficult. She wasn’t going to try and force words out unless she absolutely had to.

  Him speaking worked, though. It was calming to hear his soothing voice as the calamity raged
in the sky around them.

  “I’m heading for the mountains. There’s nothing of strategic value out there. No reason that the Suhlik should chase us except to kill. Though obviously, you know that they kill for the fun of it. But hopefully, it’ll give us some coverage. We might be able to hide there until the fighting is– Shit.”

  Before Olivia could take notice of whatever had made him curse, the ship shot up to the skies. Pressure loaded even further on top of Olivia and she really did stop breathing for a moment.

  Then, it returned to normal and she gasped.

  An explosion hit the nearby mountain in the location they had been. Olivia sucked in a breath. The ship did another flip as Kraev pulled back the controls, and they barely avoided yet another missile.

  “Stars,” Kraev breathed. “They seem intent on following us. I need to do something.” He rapidly tapped the screen in front of him.

  “What are you doing?” Olivia managed to gasp out. The words came out choked and her head spun from all the twirling they had done, but the absence of his calm, explanatory voice was enough to let the terror force its way back in.

  “I’m going to launch a manual attack against the ships. The switch-up of tactics from computer to manual might do the trick. It might– Yes!” His voice was full of emotion and it made her heart swell. From the corner of her eye, Olivia saw a large explosion in the air as a Suhlik ship fell toward the ground.

  “Got the bastard,” he said. “One down, one to go. But dammit, missiles incoming, brace yourself.”

  This ship swerved up and down and to the left again, but as they reached the mountain range, the space to avoid the missiles diminished. Kraev pulled the controls and turned the ship to the right, straight in the direction of a large mountain.

  Olivia gasped, but he quickly twirled the ship again, away from the rapidly approaching wall of rock. The wings of the ship nearly scraped the mountain, but the missile flew behind them, hitting the stone wall. Boulders from the explosion fell in their direction and some of the smaller rocks hit the roof of the ship. Another missile was already on its way, and this time, Kraev’s quick maneuvering wasn’t enough to stop it from making contact.

  The missile struck in the side of the ship, and suddenly, they were spinning worse than before. The whole ship shook from the power of the impact and Olivia was thrust forward in her seat.

  “Dammit,” Kraev hissed, rapidly pressing buttons on his dashboard. “The left engine is hit. We’re going down!”

  Olivia’s heart jumped at his words. They had stopped spinning and had gone straight down to falling. From the corner of her eye, Olivia could see flames as the ship – and the engine – burned. Stars, it wasn’t going to explode, was it?

  Kraev gripped the controls, clearly still trying to ease their landing as much as possible, but the mountains were approaching fast.

  “Are we… Are we going to die?”

  The words tumbled out of her mouth, but all she could feel was disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t die.

  “Not if I can help it,” Kraev gritted through his teeth. “Hold on tight!”

  In that moment, facing near-certain death, all Olivia could think about was her family and the life she would never have. She was distracted just for a second by how beautiful everything looked around them. Mountains rose high into the sky, past the cloud line. Snow covered them, even in the foothills. It looked freezing out there. Deadly, but stunning.

  It was the last thing she saw before darkness swallowed her.

  CHAPTER 6

  KRAEV

  Kraev woke up with a pounding head and more pains that slowly revealed themselves as he came further into consciousness. His ears rung and a sharp pain throbbed on his side. He groaned at the pain, trying to remember what had happened.

  The memories came back to him in flashes. Finding out about his mate, the Suhlik attack, the chase…

  “Olivia,” he breathed, his voice oddly hoarse as if he hadn’t had a drop of water for days.

  He urgently looked around, but could not see her anywhere. He was outside, lying on a gradual hill somewhere in the mountains. Clearly, the evacuation protocol of the ship had kicked in at last minute and launched them out, still tied to their seats and parachutes.

  Or at least… It had launched him out.

  Dread filled him at the thought and he scrambled up from his seat. His muscles burned with every movement and blood dripped to the ground from a wound in his chest, but he didn’t care. Nothing would hurt more than the pain of losing his mate when he’d only just found her.

  He dragged himself to his feet, frantically looking around for Olivia.

  He didn’t have to look far. In his panic, he’d missed the fact that she was lying just a few feet behind him, sprawled across the ground.

  His heart immediately sank at the sight. He hurried over to her, ignoring the searing pain in his side and chest. She looked paler than before, but aside for a few scrapes, she didn’t seem injured on the outside. Still, her unmoving form filled him with alarm.

  Please, simply be unconscious…

  He rolled her over to her side and pressed a finger to her neck, checking for a pulse. A slow but steady rhythm told him that she’d survived the crash too, and a heavy breath escaped his lungs. The relief that swelled in his chest was so overwhelming that he almost just lay down beside her to get himself back together.

  Thank the stars.

  Kraev turned to look at the sky, wondering how long they had been unconscious. It was still bright outside, and the moons were not yet visible, so it must not have been more than an hour or two. He could still see the fight in full swing in the direction of the teleport base and it seemed like it was starting to move further afield too.

  They would have to move, and quickly, or else a stray Suhlik ship might catch sight of them and decide to end them for good.

  “Zevyk.” He tried to use his wristband to contact his friend, and when that didn’t work, he tried the main base.

  Nothing.

  The screen of his band worked, but it didn’t seem to be able to send or receive signals anymore. Dammit. It must have broken in the crash, and he didn’t have the knowledge to repair it.

  It looked like they were going to be stuck in the mountains for a couple of days then.

  Seeing no other choice, Kraev carefully lifted Olivia from the ground, pulling her into his arms. He cradled her body against his chest, not caring that it was aggravating his wounds. They would heal quickly, even if not immediately. He knew they weren’t life-threatening, but staying out in the open while the fight was ongoing was.

  A short distance away, he could see the crashed spaceship. Landing in a thick snowdrift meant that it hadn’t burst into flames, but it was completely destroyed in all the ways that mattered. The engine was dead and the shell full of holes, mangled and distorted. The windows were shattered and the whole left side of it was torn where it had clearly scraped a mountain. It was nothing more than scrap metal now.

  But inside it were plenty of things that he would need if they were going to be stuck in the mountains.

  He walked slowly toward the ship with Olivia in his arms. At the ship, he set her down on a wing so that she wouldn’t be left to shiver in the cold. His mate clearly couldn’t take the cold weather well. She was already freezing to the touch, and that was worrying him. He hurried inside the spaceship to gather supplies as quickly as possible.

  He grabbed the first-aid kit, the rations and clean water that were always stored within Mahdfel spaceships on the planet, and picked an extra parachute from the back of the ship. It wasn’t overly thick material and was huge, but it would be something that he could wrap Olivia in to try to warm her up.

  Then, he exited the ship and went back to Olivia, hoisting her once more into his arms, bridal style, even though it made it harder to carry the supplies he’d retrieved. But there was no way he was going to throw her over his shoulder like a piece of meat, especially when
she was injured. He might cause more damage than good.

  The progress across the mountainside wasn’t fast, and he was on high alert, both looking for caves that he could shelter in and making sure that no ships were passing too close overhead.

  When he came across a cave, it wasn’t a large one, but it was plenty big enough to keep them both out of sight and sheltered from the elements until she woke up and he could see how injured she actually was. Smaller was sometimes better, anyway. It meant there wasn’t likely to be any wildlife in it.

  Not that there was much wildlife on R-2841 in the first place. It was a desolate planet, with barely any animals or plants. The Mahdfel had come across it by chance on a cataloging mission. They had only realized just how valuable it was as a strategic resource after hellstone had been discovered in the volcanoes.

  Inside the cave, he did his best to make Olivia as comfortable as possible, wrapping her in the parachute and then going to collect whatever he could find to build a fire. He was skeptical of setting a fire that might attract attention with the smoke, but he was more terrified by the thought of his mate freezing to death. Mahdfel could deal with the cold a lot more easily than a human could, it seemed like.

  When the fire was burning and he’d taken a small sip of the water he’d collected from the ship, he sat beside Olivia and brushed her sunlight-colored hair out of her face. His mate, so fragile but so strong at once. She’d never once broken down despite walking into the hellhole and having to kill.

  A strange feeling overcame him as he continued to look at his mate, the pale-skinned human female. His tattoo awakened again, glowing and thrumming with a strange intensity. The pain he felt no longer seemed quite so terrible as he watched the female before him.

  The female that was his.