by Sonia Nova
Olivia wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She didn’t want to admit that she’d been thinking it was wrong to be learning to fight so young, so she simply said, “He looks very talented.”
Naia nodded, looking pleased. “He is. His father has taught him well. Fei has always wanted to be exactly like his father. He is very skilled with the astav spear.”
Hearing their voices in the doorway, Fei turned and spotted his mother and Olivia. He raised the hand with his spear as a greeting and then started performing even more complicated moves. It culminated in him landing incorrectly and falling on his ass. His light blue cheeks turned purple, and Olivia realized she hadn’t known the Mahdfel could blush.
She chuckled, though she tried to hide it with a cough.
Naia was laughing too. “Just keep practicing, my son,” she said. “We’ll leave you to do it in private. Make sure you let me know when you’re ready to leave the training room.”
“Yes, Mom,” he replied, turning his back on them so that they couldn’t see his embarrassed face.
They walked outside and Naia said, “Just like his father. He was always trying to impress me and making a fool of himself, too.” The words were said with an affectionate smile.
“Is he out fighting?” Olivia asked, worried that the question would bring the mood down.
“He is. There are always some warriors who stay behind at the base to defend it and my mate is often among them. But today, he is out fighting with the fleet at the teleport base.”
“Are you worried?”
“Of course. The worry never goes away when we are apart, but you get better at handling it, I promise. Having Fei and Mito here helps, too. They’re being good today, but normally they’re so much of a handful when their father goes to fight that I don’t have time to think about anything else anyway.” She cradled the baby affectionately to her chest. “I wouldn’t change a single part of it.”
Olivia’s fingers brushed against her stomach for the hundredth time that day. Every time she did, she became more and more excited by the idea that maybe she was pregnant. She could imagine her and Naia together, each of them nursing their own babies and talking as they did now about everything under the sun.
“Are Fei and Mito your only children?” she asked. It was hard to get a grip on the age of the Raewani people, but she didn’t think Naia looked very old.
“For now, yes. Though I’m certain that another child will come soon.” She rested her hand on her own stomach. “I’m going to be blessed with a large family, I know it.”
“Kraev wants a large family,” Olivia said, unsure why she was telling this woman all her hopes and fears, as if they’d been best friends for years. “He comes from a huge family back on Raewan, but my family was small. Just my parents, me, and my brother. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle that many kids.”
“It wouldn’t be you handling it. It would be both of you handling it together, and the rest of the clan to help you when you need it.”
Olivia wasn’t sure why she continued to be surprised by these things. Her father had always been good to her and very involved in raising her. He’d taught her how to ride a bicycle and later, after the Suhlik had invaded, how to shoot a gun. She wasn’t at all in disbelief that a man could raise a child, but once again, her prejudices about the Mahdfel were preceding her.
Kraev had already proven that it was nothing like how she’d always expected. She was allowed to work. She was respected and even worshiped by him. It wasn’t unreasonable to think that he would want to take just as active a role in parenting as hers.
Somehow, the thought still came as a bit of a shock. She had never pictured a big, hulky warrior in a fatherly role. But Naia was right. It wouldn’t just be her surrounded by a horde of children, it would be her and her mate surrounded by a horde of children that they loved more than anything in the world.
She put her fingers to her stomach again and was even more excited than the last time she’d thought about the possibility of a boy growing inside her.
“You’re right,” she said to Naia. “Sorry, I’m having a bit of culture shock, still.”
“It’s only been a few turns of the world since you arrived,” Naia said. “Of course, things haven’t fully sunk in yet.” She looked at the corridor they were in. “Would you like me to show you around the base, properly this time?”
Olivia smiled. “That would be great. Thank you.”
“It is my pleasure.” Naia returned the smile and they started walking.
Olivia told her about what she’d actually known about Mahdfel before she’d been sent here, admitting that it was barely anything. Barbaric warriors and baby making.
Naia laughed. “It was much the same for me. I’m from a small, secluded tribe on Raewan. We have quite the opposite outlook on the Mahdfel. We revere them as almost gods. Raewan cities are quite modern, but in the tribal regions, we still live by the old ways. We barely had any technology and all that we did have came from the Mahdfel. Most of it was specifically so that we could identify matches for the Mahdfel and then get in touch with them afterward. In the tribes, we have a yearly coming of age ceremony for the girls and then a matching ceremony straight afterward.”
“That’s so strange,” Olivia admitted. “Everyone is tested immediately as they come of age?”
“Yes. The way of the testing may differ from planet to planet, but it happens much the same way everywhere in the universe. It’s the only way the Mahdfel can survive and they’ve helped many cultures survive too. It’s a system that benefits everyone. It just doesn’t take into account the emotional impact.”
Olivia looked at the woman in surprise. “You didn’t want to be a match?”
Naia lifted a shoulder. “It was tough for me. If I had not been a match then, I would have had to marry my tribe leader’s son, and I didn’t want to do that. But I also didn’t want to leave Raewan and my family behind. In the end, I regret nothing. But at the time, I was so scared of leaving my family and moving to a whole new planet. I was torn.”
Olivia nodded empathetically. “That’s exactly how I feel. At first, I was so against this. I didn’t want to leave my family and my career, but now that I’ve met Kraev, I can’t say that I could just go back to Earth anymore either. As crazy as it sounds, considering we’ve only known each other for a few days, I don’t think I could live without him. I’m torn, too.”
Naia nodded. “It gets easier. You settle in and you start to adjust. Especially when you have children, you realize that all that matters is that you have your family close.”
“I know you’re right,” she said, sighing. “It’s just hard to look that far ahead when so many overwhelming things are happening right now.”
“I understand. There will probably be a lull after this fight and then you can settle into the routine of living here more normally. Are you hungry?” she asked suddenly. “We have places we can eat in our quarters of course, but there’s plenty of communal eating areas too. Sometimes, it’s nice to go and eat with other people, and the chefs are amazing.”
“Do you have like… currency here?” Olivia asked, feeling silly as she did.
Naia shook her head. “No, nothing like that. Things are provided for people as they’re needed. A certain amount of privilege comes with status, but there is no one who goes without.”
Olivia found that she liked this idea, that people would always be provided for. Working in the hospital, she’d seen too many people coming through who she’d been unable to help the way they wanted because of financial constraints.
That probably meant that, if she did continue her medical training here, she would be able to help everyone equally. She wouldn’t have to consider funding or insurance. She could always work to make sure everyone was okay. The thought of that spread a happy warmth through her.
The canteen that they headed to was in the middle of the volcano. It was a large, dome-shaped room with a food counter in the middle and ta
bles in rings extending out from it. There was no one behind the counter serving the food; it was more of an all-you-can-eat style buffet than anything else.
She tried not to look too excited as they walked toward it. There were a few stragglers in the canteen, but no one paid them any mind. A couple of women with their sons, and a couple more women sat in a group, chatting and eating. They were all Raewani and two of them were heavily pregnant.
“Is this all from the food replicators?” Olivia asked as they looked at what was on offer.
“Not all of it,” Naia replied, handing her a plate and trying to put things on her own while still holding the sleeping Mito.
“Let me help you,” Olivia said. “Just tell me what you want me to dish up.”
Naia smiled. “Thank you. The fruit is all from the greenhouses outside.”
She gestured to two large bowls filled with blue-tinged fruit. Some of them looked like the candied fruits that Kraev had gotten Olivia from Raewan, and the thought almost jolted her back into the anxious mess that she was. She had been trying to avoid thinking about him too much. What if he died and she had never tried the gift he’d given her? She had meant to try them the night before, but he’d immediately distracted her by taking her to bed.
“The meat products are mostly from the food replicators,” Naia continued, either not realizing Olivia was distracted, or trying to drag her thoughts back to the present. “And most of the mixed dishes. Sometimes, people will cook dishes from the fruit and vegetables we can grow on the planet, but when a fight like this happens, almost everything is from a replicator because it’s quicker.”
She gestured to a line of devices that Olivia recognized. “They have bigger replicators here too, if you want to create your own food. I know it must be strange coming to somewhere new with an entirely new diet.”
Olivia had never been fussy about food and the thought of trying something different was actually intriguing. The whole universe was at her fingertips with the replicators, too.
She selected some meat in a red sauce that smelled like it was going to be quite sweet, and some vegetables. Onto Naia’s plate, she placed some fresh fruit and a slab of what appeared to be a sort of pie.
They sat at a nearby table and Naia ate one-handed while Olivia shoveled food into her mouth with a three-pronged fork.
“How come they put food out if they’ve got replicators as well?” she asked. Surely, it made more sense for them to just let everyone replicate their own food, unless it was fresh. Then they could have exactly what they wanted.
“When there isn’t a battle happening, it can get very busy here at mealtimes,” Naia said. “People will come here to eat as a family and it’s quicker to get things from the buffet than to queue up for the replicators.”
“That makes sense.”
“Cooking is also a cultural thing for many people. Many of the women here come from places without food replicators, like me. I cook in the kitchens here sometimes. There are many old recipes from my village that are close to my heart. It makes me feel closer to my heritage to cook even if I replicate the ingredients that I make the meal with.” She lifted a shoulder. “It sounds kind of silly, I know, but I like sharing my culture that way.”
Olivia nodded eagerly. “That does sound good,” she said. “If I’m the only person from Earth here, maybe that’s something I could do too, share with people food that they’ve never tried before.”
She liked to cook, although she wasn’t great at it by any means. But it might make her feel closer to the rest of the people on the planet too, to make it feel more like home if she gave back instead of just taking.
“I’d love to try something from Earth,” Naia said. “I don’t really know anything about the planet.”
Olivia smiled. “It’s a deal then. I’ll make you some Earth food.”
They continued to eat and chatted about their respective cultures and previous homes. Halfway through dinner, Mito woke up, but he was in a cheery mood and gurgled happily as they fussed him.
“Do you want to hold him?” Naia asked.
Olivia only hesitated for a second, and then accepted the happy baby into her arms. She cradled him how she’d seen Naia holding him, and cooed at him as she had been doing. He immediately grabbed her finger and began to gnaw on it with his gums.
“Sorry,” Naia apologized, going to remove the hand for her. “His teeth are coming through.”
“It’s fine, I’ll stop him if it hurts,” she said, smiling.
The baby felt so right in her arms. She wished that Kraev was there behind her, holding her close and looking just as excitedly at the infant, more than ready to have their own baby in their arms. She had never much considered being a mother before. With her studies, it hadn’t been a prevalent topic in her life. But now, she wondered if she could somehow combine her studies and motherhood.
“He’s perfect,” Olivia said.
Naia laughed, looking like she was about to make a comment about how he could be a nightmare some of the time, but then her face softened. “Yeah, he really is perfect.”
Olivia completely ignored her food to keep playing with the baby in her arms. A strange warmth filled her as she did so. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d held one, maybe it was never. All that she could think about now was how excited it made her to hold her own baby. Her and Kraev’s baby.
She just couldn’t wait for him to be home.
CHAPTER 18
KRAEV
The flight to the teleport base wasn’t long. They kept the two places at a fair distance for this exact reason. If there was an attack, the main target would almost always be the teleport base. From the teleport base, the Suhlik could immediately bring in massive reinforcements that would allow them to turn the tides on a battle.
It would also prevent the Mahdfel defending the base from doing the exact same thing. Unlike the Suhlik, the Mahdfel were stretched more thinly across the universe and so they would only call in reinforcements if they absolutely had to. It hadn’t reached that point on R-2841 yet.
But there was a reason why the base wasn’t right by the volcano, either. It couldn’t be, because the volcano was filled with hellstone that prevented teleportation, but it was also a strategic choice. If the Suhlik were at the teleport base, it meant they weren’t close enough to the volcano base to get to the mines or cause any collateral damage. It meant the women and children would always be as safe as they could be.
The teleport base, however, was not safe at all. There were a dozen Suhlik ships in the air above it and no doubt quite a few ground forces too. It was a full-blown battle when they arrived, but still, the Mahdfel numbers were higher and Kraev wasn’t worried.
“Getting ready to enter the battle,” he told everyone over the comms system. They all had small earpieces inserted so that any noise of the fighting wouldn’t stop them from speaking to each other. “Brace yourselves.”
Delyn, on the weapons, sat ramrod in his seat awaiting instructions.
Although Kraev wasn’t technically the captain of the ship, it normally made the most sense for the pilot to delegate because he knew where the ship was going and he could tell people that so that they’d know how to work around it. It was much harder to suddenly change a ship’s course because the weapon’s expert had loosed a missile than it was to loose a missile in response to the ship’s change of course.
More than anything, it was a dialogue.
“I’m going in from the left,” Kraev said. “Can we do anything about that right-hand ship? It’s a bit larger. It’ll have an important commander onboard most likely.”
Cynto, who was on the comms, relayed this to their own commander. The Warlord was on his own ship on the outskirts of the battle with a team of logisticians who would be tracking everything that was happening and getting ready to let the fleet know of any sudden changes in the battle that might affect it.
It was a complicated operation when they were in outright battle like
this. The Warlord was responsible for coordinating both ground troops and the fleet, and that meant a specialist team of people who could process the information well and feed it to him in a way that allowed him to give effective commands. They then had to be able to get those commands back to the relevant people.
With their previous Warlord, they’d had a lot of practice at such things, but their current Warlord had only been on the job for a year and he was still unused to the high-paced environment of a full-on battle. Kraev hoped that wouldn’t make or break them today.
“Getting ready to launch missiles at target,” Delyn said.
“Fire at will,” Kraev replied. “I’m bringing the ship in real close soon. We can use the close-range guns.”
“I can see a hole in her defenses,” called Gryp, who was working their logistics. “If we can come in close to the left-hand side, there’s a damaged shield generator that we might be able to take out.”
From the engineering bay, Zevyk replied, “They’ve got heavier artillery on that side of the ship though. We have to be careful bringing her in too close.”
Kraev only had a few moments to process all this information and make a call at the speed he was currently going, but he knew almost immediately what he was going to do.
“I’m going in close,” he said. “We’re going to take out that faulty shield generator. Zevyk, can you keep the shields operational for long enough, and Delyn, can you take out that shield generator quickly enough to start defending us with the weapons when the shield can’t take any more hits?”
“Yes, sir!” Delyn responded.
“Yes, brother,” Zevyk replied.
The sudden turn of the ship to go in close to the larger Suhlik warship pushed them all back into their seats, but it wasn’t fast enough that it would do them any damage. He was staying way out of that limit for such close-quarter fighting.
The impact of the Suhlik ships’ guns on their ship was immediate, and Kraev tightened his grip on the joystick, ready to pull them back if it all went wrong, but the rounds weren’t piercing the hull.
