“I am going to boost us straight out of the atmosphere,” he said, “It’s risky, we’ll leave a trail, and if anyone is looking for us, we will be obvious to them. But if they are not, it gives us more chance of remaining unseen.”
“OK. You’re the expert at these things,” Gaia said, and then held onto the arm rests as they began a steep ascent back towards space. She already missed the beat of the planet’s heart beneath her feet, the feel of its core pulsing through her veins. She smiled to herself as they erupted into the vacuum of space. She sounded so much like her own mother it was worrying.
A nervous Rikka banked. Turning them abruptly to head back towards the wormhole from where they had come. “Six hours?” she asked.
“I’m going to try to make it in three. We have enough power, and I think we need to be more worried about what is behind us rather than what is in front.” He eased the cruiser forward, making them pick up speed. All the time he kept an eye on the screen, even though the computer was still on audio and would alert them if it picked up a trace of another ship.
The time dragged, and the emptiness around them did nothing to speed it up. They ate, they talked, but both of them were too nervous to relax. Until they had exited this solar system, they were vulnerable.
“And once we’re on the other side?” she asked.
“We need the beacons to open the wormhole. If they don’t have the same technology, they will have to wait for it to pulse open. If they even see us. We don’t know if they did; we don’t even know if they would follow us. It may have been a completely innocent crew, maybe refuelling, collecting water or food.”
“Once we reach the other vessel, let’s hope they can give us answers,” she said, her mind whirling. What if everyone on board was dead? What if they had inadvertently started an interplanetary war, simply by not going to their aid? On Earth, she was sure the old ships which sailed across the seas were ordered to rescue any other ship that sent out a distress call.
“Arrival in half an hour,” he said, and then, a very faint beep came through from the computer. “Are we being pursued?”
“Inconclusive,” the computer answered.
“What does that mean?” Gaia asked.
“It means that the ship is too far away, the computer can’t yet determine if it is following us, or simply traveling in the same general direction.”
“Can we go any faster?” she asked.
“Not without risking damage to the cruiser. The last thing we need is to push too hard and damage the engines. We would be stranded like that other vessel then.”
She shuddered at the thought, but not as much as she shuddered every time the computer beeped to tell them the other ship was still within its range.
“It’s not getting closer,” he said. “If they were intent on catching us, they would be gaining on us.”
“Unless they are going at maximum speed too,” she said.
“True. Let’s hope the distance between us is enough for us to get through the wormhole and pull the beacons through before they can follow.”
“And if they have the same technology?” she asked.
“Then we keep on running.”
She didn’t like his answer, yet she knew he was right. “What if we lead them back to Karal, and then they find their way to Earth too?” she asked.
His look scared the hell out of her. “Gaia. If we can’t lose them, we will not be returning to Karal. My people, my planet, are the most important thing. We would be a small sacrifice to keep our planet safe.”
“So what do we do?” she asked.
“We will make those decisions when we need to. One step at a time. Let’s get through the wormhole and see if we can close it.” He set the target and deployed the beacons, the wormhole opening in front of them, dark and menacing. “We should make it. They are not gaining on us.”
They hurtled in, going too fast. The computer beeped at them, and its voice said, “Contact velocity. Decrease speed.” Instead of slowing, Rikka flipped the switch to silence the voice and kept their course and their speed firm. Gaia opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing, but she already knew; he was trying to save them.
They were buffeted along, their cruiser bouncing off invisible walls as they flew blindly in the darkness. A red light began to flash, and Gaia thought she was going to be sick, her stomach flipping in fear that they were both about to die. Then from deep inside her, a warm relaxing sensation covered her and she was reminded that there were three of them now. The miracle of life was growing inside her, and that miracle had a father who would save them at all costs.
The end was sudden. Blackness gave way to a sea of stars, and only now did he slow. “If we’re going too fast, the beacons won’t dock.” He pressed a button and she held her breath while the sound of the cruiser opening its docking port could be heard, then the thud as the beacons were brought inside.
Behind them, the wormhole was closed, but whether it stayed that way, they wouldn’t know and weren’t going to hang around to find out. Powering on, the cruiser flew towards their next destination: the vessel that might just hold the key to who the other ship was, and what their intentions were.
Returning to the exact coordinates of their encounter with the dead ship, they waited while the computer scanned for any sign of them. “Nothing,” Rikka said. “Computer scan for fuel residue.”
“Possible contaminants.”
“Proceed,” Rikka said, and they moved again, heading into the unknown, away from the safety of their next wormhole, which would have put them further out of danger.
“I hate this,” Gaia said.
“We’ll be all right. There is no sign we are being followed. And if we are, we run. I know it may mean leaving the others to their doom, but we have to look after ourselves.”
“Unless the others were good guys,” she said.
“Yes,” he answered.
“Ship located,” the computer stated.
Gaia looked at Rikka, seeing her own nervousness mirrored in the usually cool and confident Karalian. “If you don’t want to do this, we can just go home,” she said.
“If you were not here, I wouldn’t have any thoughts to the possible danger we might be putting ourselves in. My mission would be clear, collect information and knowledge for my people.”
“Don’t you think you can depend on me?” she asked, hurt that he might be put off his mission by her.
“You misunderstand, it’s not because I don’t trust you or think I can’t depend on you. It’s because you are carrying my child.”
“Oh, of course,” she said, a bittersweet feeling washing over her.
“And because I love the mother of my child,” he said.
“Rikka.” She undid her seatbelt and went to him, her arms flung round his neck as she drew his face up to hers and kissed him fiercely. “Thank you. I didn’t think you ever would.”
“You have brought a light into my life that I never knew I needed. I want you to bring that same light into our child’s life. I want him to feel your love and joy in the world around us.” He held her close, but then pulled away. “We need to go.”
“Of course.” But before she returned to her seat, she kissed him lightly on the lips and said, “I love you, Rikka. And our son will be lucky to have a father as strong and patient as you.”
“Let’s go,” he said, and smiled at her, with a longing in his eyes that broke her heart.
Chapter Twenty Four – Rikka
They approached slowly. The communication channels were open, but he didn’t hail the ship. Drawing alongside, they waited for the computer to scan the ship just like before.
“Ten life forms. Five very weak,” the computer said.
“They are dying, Rikka,” she said, worried that they could have saved them if they had helped them earlier.
“Do not blame yourself, Gaia. We made our decision,” Rikka said.
“So what do we do?” she asked.
“See if
they can talk,” he said, picking up a handset and talking into it. “We are here to assist.”
He repeated the phrase over and over, watching the computer screen for signs that there was any movement. Slowly, one of the aliens began to drag itself towards the front of the ship. Rikka repeated his words, and then they waited.
“We are in urgent need of assistance,” the computer said.
“Is that what they sound like?” Gaia asked.
Rikka shook his head. “No. The computer translates the words. Now we have to decide what to do.”
“We help them in whatever way we can.”
“What assistance can we be?” Rikka asked the alien vessel.
“We need air. The ship’s life support is almost depleted,” the answer came back.
“Can we board you?” Rikka asked.
“No power to docking bay.”
“So what do we do?” Gaia asked helplessly.
“We have two choices. Either leave them to die, or tow them back to the planet.”
“Through the wormhole?” she asked.
He thought it through, and then turned to the computer and fed in some data.
“Risk to Karalian cruiser ten percent termination,” the computer said.
“What does that mean?” Gaia asked.
“There is a ten percent chance we will all die,” he said, looking at her beautiful face and not wanting to take even that small chance of killing her and their child. But her face was resolute. “I’ll begin the preparations.”
“We can take you to a planet. If we can successfully enter the atmosphere, we can break you out,” Rikka relayed to the vessel.
“Too dangerous,” the computer voice said.
“You will die anyway,” Rikka said.
“Why risk yourselves for us?” the voice answered.
“Damn it. What about the other ship?” he said to Gaia, remembering the aliens who were chasing them.
“Ask them,” Gaia said.
“Who attacked you?” Rikka asked.
“Slavers.”
“There was a ship, through the wormhole. It followed us. It was black with silver markings on the side.”
“Black. Silver marks. Are you positive?”
“Yes. Our ship identified it from data collected from your computers.” That might not go down too well; they might not be pleased that the Karal had taken their information without asking.
“It is a search ship. Of the Wambano.”
“What is the Wambano?”
“We are Wambano.”
Rikka smiled across to Gaia, seeing her relief. “Can they help you? If we take you to them, can they help you?” he asked the vessel.
“Yes,” the voice answered.
“Then that is what we will do.” Rikka placed the radio back in its cradle, and began to quickly input course and speed. The computer beeped on occasion, not liking what he was planning, but eventually he and the computer seemed happy and they began their first manoeuvre.
Impact.
“Can’t you switch that thing off?” she asked after the computer said the word for the thousandth time.
“No. It helps,” he said.
“If you say so,” she said.
“Go and make some tole. It will do us both good,” he said, and watched her walk off the control deck, trying not to make the ship bounce too much on contact with the alien ship, which they were nudging towards the wormhole.
With her gone, he went through the manoeuvres once more in his head. He knew it was risky, and he was going against all that his father had taught him, all that the Karal expected of him. He had fulfilled his mission; he should be returning to Karal with the information and soil samples. Instead, he was risking himself and the ship for a species they had no need for and who would likely have no technology they could use.
He was going explicitly against the Hier Council’s orders.
“Here,” she said, handing him a cup of tole.
“Thank you,” he said accepting it and sipping the hot liquid. He immediately felt his brain buzz as the caffeine hit.
“You look exhausted,” she said, sitting next to him and looking at him with concern.
He laughed wearily. “I have never been on a mission where another member of my crew was so concerned with my health. We are bred to be hard; I have the strength and stamina to endure this.”
“I hope so. How much longer?” she asked.
He looked at his screen. “Soon we will be in range. And then it becomes more tricky. I have to open the wormhole, then push the other ship in and push it along.”
“Is there a chance we could lose them?” she asked.
“Yes. Although I have asked for them to try to steer their ship,” Rikka said.
“At least they are still alive, and still conscious.” It made what they were doing worthwhile. If there was any chance of the Wambano being saved, they had to try.
“Yes. But I don’t think they will last until we get to the planet,” Rikka told her.
“We need the other ship to come to us,” she said.
“Yes,” he paused. “It is completely against everything the Karal are trained for. But once we reach the other side, I plan to send out a distress call. I will use their original message, not our translation and see if they pick it up.”
“And hope that no one else does,” she finished.
“Yes.”
“I think it’s the right thing to do. If we can get any information from these aliens about who did this to them, then surely it isn’t against your training. They may hold the key to us making Lilith a new colony.”
“That is what I will argue, if I receive a court-martial for my actions.”
“Will it come to that, Rikka?” she asked sadly.
“Not if this plan works and we return with what we need.” He pushed the alien craft one more time and then moved out to the side of it to deploy the beacons. In front of them, the wormhole opened and he pushed the Wambano ship towards it.
Taking hold of the radio mouthpiece he said, “Are you ready to steer?”
“Yes,” came back the reply, but even through the computer translator the word was breathy and weak.
“We have to go now or they will be dead before we get to the other side of the wormhole.”
With one final nudge, they sent the Wambano ship through the wormhole and then followed. Rikka only hoped they would all get out of this alive.
Chapter Twenty Five – Gaia
Darkness like death consumed both ships, and they flew slowly though the wormhole towards the only hope the Wambano had. She tried to shield herself, tried not to think of how bad it must be having no air to breathe. Earth might be polluted, but the air still provided enough oxygen for life.
“There,” she said, looking past the ship in front of her to where a small amount of light was beginning to fill their horizon. “We are so close.”
Rikka gripped the control stick harder, his concentration making sweat bead on his forehead. Then they were through; he nudged the Wambano ship harder and sent them flying forward while he waited for the beacons to return to the ship. As soon as they were docked, he switched on the distress call.
“Do we wait?” she asked.
“No. I think we head back towards Lilith. If there is no further contact with the black ship, we might at least try to land there.”
“But they will crash to the ground with no power.”
“Then we try to come up with a plan,” he said. “The Karal never give up.”
But as he said those words, a beep sounded. The other ship was heading towards them. Gaia felt sick; there was still a chance that they would be shot to pieces. What if the Wambano thought Rikka was trying to steal the Wambano ship or that they were the slavers?
“Your friends are on their way,” Rikka said to the stricken ship.
“Thank you. Let them be soon,” the computer said faintly.
Rikka and Gaia watched helplessly as the minutes ticked by and
the other Wambano ship steadily grew closer. Eventually, Rikka grew impatient and broadcast a message, which he had the computer translate.
“Wambano ship. This is the Karal. We have assisted your ship. Your people are dying. Make haste,” he said.
“What if they think it’s a trap?” she asked.
“Then their people will die,” he said resolutely. “We have done all we can.”
The ship didn’t hesitate. Their speed to intercept increased and within minutes, they were pulling alongside their stricken friends. Unable to see or hear what was happening, Rikka and Gaia could only wait as the precious minutes ticked by. And then a voice sounded over the radio.
“Karal vessel. Thank you for your assistance,” the computer relayed.
“Are your people alive?” Rikka asked.
“Yes. Just,” the computer confirmed.
Gaia began to cry, silent tears of thanks running down her cheeks. “I can’t believe we did it.”
“Wambano vessel. Request details of ship which attacked your vessel,” Rikka said.
There was a long pause, and Gaia wondered if they were not going to speak again. Maybe they were secretive too and wanted to keep the information to themselves. And then the computer spoke.
“Open channel. Sending data,” the computer said.
Rikka opened the computer’s receiver and watched the screen as reams of data were transmitted. Gaia had no idea what it all meant, but the surprise on Rikka’s face was worrying.
“What?” she asked. “Are they so bad?”
“This confirms aliens who attacked the Wambano are slavers. We have the schematics of their ships,” Rikka said.
“So we can return to Karal and hand this information over. Will it make the Hier Council happy?” And spare you a court-martial.
“More than that. They have provided schematics for a defence grid which would protect Karal.”
Found: BBW Alien Lottery Romance (Warriors of Karal Book 2) Page 10
