Feral Flaw
Page 16
Memories so often revealed a person's perspective. What would they say about Darla? She saw possibilities in what was there. Like me, the war, and our future. I shoved up to watch her face in case more memories came to her.
Her gaze wandered as if searching for the clouds in the room's dark recesses. "My friends looked up. They said they saw the castle too. Maybe I'm not crazy." Her smile melted into deep thought. "There aren't any children here, Goro. This isn't where I want to raise my child."
I hadn't thought about a child needing friendship. How odd something so simple would be her first concern. She would make an amazing mother with all she could teach the child. And there should be other teachers. "Aboard a starship, our child will find friends."
Her determined gaze locked on mine. "But Voldon attacks the nurseries. We can't risk the baby there."
How could I not have thought of that yet? So Shandul realized so much more about my life than I had. My past was just testing and winning Darla over. That's suddenly changed. Forget starships. I can no longer risk death in combat or on a starship because Darla and our child of legend need my protection. How could I have missed such a crucial point to hold above all else? Especially after Red Trekaar experienced the same debilitating blow over a year ago. I have been reborn the bridge to free thinking through mating. I'm more than a simple warrior who must see my child to adulthood. My blood is the key to the future. To die means my mate's days are numbered. And so would be my child's.
Or Voldon will beat Destiny.
"You look like you're going to hurl," Darla said.
So she can read me. Did I really look that way? I forced a glare on my face. "And how do I look now?"
"Ferocious." Her arm slid around me, her fingers tickling my lower back.
Too damned low.
I went rock hard.
She chuckled. "Well, it looks like your blood-lust nausea has come full circle. But I, however, just seem to be hungry."
From blood lust or pregnancy? Time would tell.
"Goro." Her hot breath on my breast sent shivers down my spine.
My body screamed ravage her.
Again. What if she carried his child? Inter-species pregnancies were so risky. Nobody need do anything to cause a miscarriage. And here he was planning to mount her. Again. "We must take care now that you might be with child. Perhaps we should adopt a celibate path?"
She smirked. "Please don't torture me. Don't you love me?"
How could she speak those words? I stared into the dark pools of her eyes framed by her halo of loose brown hair.
Was that curiosity or inquisition? "Darla. I never should have brought you to The Cause without creating our blood bond. For that I apologize. Your life was on the line for little more than my promises of love. I left your soul raw and yearning for what I had neglected to provide, my love. I should have done more for you up front. But I failed you in seeking vengeance for the Xquine race."
Her mask softened.
Did that mean she grasped reality?
She cleared her throat. "I love you too. And I think I forgive you."
* * * *
Goro stood before the Jennian priest's muted glow in his garden, wondering what would come from this meeting.
"Have you pondered my words?" Shandul asked in mindspeak.
More than he could ever know. "Yes." I nodded. "I came to bid you love and light."
"You are departing?"
"Yes."
"What plans do you have?"
Telling Shandul anything left an opportunity for Voldon to find Darla. "We will seek out a safe place to live as Destiny wishes."
Shandul nodded, walking toward Goro, his long straight robe nary moving with his floating movement, his cold calculating omniscient gaze boring a hole through Goro. "And what will you name your daughter?"
Daughter? This was a trick to see if Darla showed sign of gestation. "A girl? How do you know?" Countering with a question should distract the priest.
"I've heard more than the common legends. Your daughter is to wed Red Trekaar's son and unite the universe."
What? The priest toyed with me. "How is it that you're privy to that information?"
"I am the last of my line."
A Jennian priest who would not recycle? Shandul could see the future. Destiny must have led me here to hear Shandul's words.
Shandul stopped a step away. "I suppose the stars took pity upon me and showed me what others could not see. It is a stark revelation because in seeing your daughter I learned of my death." A train of thought consumed his mask. "I too face my own unforeseen change. But if my purpose has been to pass on Destiny's plan to you, I pray I've served my life well."
What could a man say to that? "I'm certain you have. You deserve the luxury of being at peace in your afterlife. Love and light." Goro nodded.
Shandul's eyes shut as he reciprocated nod. Then he locked another jolting stare on Goro. "I knew you wouldn't fight the transition as Red Trekaar did. Thank your Xquine mental training. Depart for earth now. Voldon searches for the thirteenth crystal skull in a last-ditch effort to alter Destiny's plan. You must be his distraction."
So I must distract Voldon from the skull on Dalna? What else did Shandul hide about the last skull? Darla wasn't going to be happy after being told she could decide where we'd raise the baby. She wanted nothing to do with starships. Yet an enlightened Jennian priest has seen the future. Answers and honor lay in staying true to Destiny.
Chapter Eighteen
Against his mate's wishes, Goro risked everything by taking her to The Meditator and facing the gray-headed Arken alone inside the commander's dark map chamber just to give him the respect he was due. Although Arken wore the white garb of the crew-a choice for comfort given the man obviously had defended himself out in space enough to land a senior position over The Cause's fleet as well as the purple robe of a Council member-he didn't demand any less respect in his simple attire.
Arken pushed into Goro's mind. "Why have you returned, Goro?"
To regain my honor was the lie that avoided mentioning a Jennian priest knew the future. And Darla expected me to fulfill my promise. She'd be happier hearing my reply instead of fuming alone in our personal quarters. "I have no desire to command again."
Arken's aged mask pinched with wonder. "This is unlike the warrior charging battle sword high into every battle breaking out near earth's waters. What makes you turn from driving back darkness?"
"A greater battle demands my attention."
"I have yet to hear of this one. Pray tell me of its location."
Did Arken toy with me for answers he already knew like Shandul? "It lies deeply buried in the hearts and minds of those who dwell in my personal quarters." I bowed slightly to imply I wished to explain no more about my marital affairs.
"Marriage can be the most trying endeavor," Arken chuckled and stepped through the soft blue bands of light among his projected astral charts.
A Jennian priest and a commander relaying the same message? How could I have been oblivious to that reality all along? War definitely ranked a distraction.
"I will send you to The Undertaker. Commander Bruden has agreed to offer you sanctuary and provide your wife with all she needs while you assist with his requests."
As if I ever needed a favor. "Agreed to offer? You say that as if I'm no longer welcome in the fleet." Could the point be any more insulting?
"I feel your choices were due in part to Destiny's promise of a child. So you remained true to Destiny's calling and protected your mate. For that, I commend you. Others still question Darla's loyalties."
Those questions were a reflection of fear.
"But bringing your mate aboard a starship risks the life of the child of legend," Arken continued. "The Undertaker avoids most battles in guarding earth. From The Undertaker, your job is to ensure there are no Bramyllion skulls on earth. The Undertaker will safeguard your mate while you are away. If you tire of this duty, return to me for another."
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br /> So I am Arken's responsibility now. I've lost respect of all who fight for The Cause. All but Arken. Maybe his little errand might win back some of my honor. But Destiny wasn't my peers or a starship. Nor was she my mate. Darla wasn't going to care for Arken's orders.
* * * *
"Why do I have to stay on this tin can while you go dashing off on a mission? Something smells fishy to me, Goro. And I don't care for the way I'm treated aboard your Good Ship Lollipop." His mate glowered with her hands on her hips, adopting the universal angry mate stance inside their personal quarters on The Undertaker.
There was no avoiding her confrontation, Goro thought. But now wasn't the time for making skin to skin contact and procrastinating through lovemaking to lessen her unhappiness. And only a fool would declare he was off to save the universe by finding the crystal skulls before Voldon did. Especially when one skull was tucked away in Quadrant 3. She might yell somewhere public about how they left the only skull that made a difference on Dalna. Every treasure hunter in the universe would jump space to claim it first. Skirting the issue was best. "I don't want you captured or injured. I can take the blood syringes and handle this on my own. Besides, no one bothers you. You hide out in this room all day."
Maybe that was the problem. At least on The Seeker she had a huge forested recreational chamber to stretch her legs. These minimalist personal quarters only pleased a meditating psychic.
"You would hide all day too if they weren't all lurking, staring from afar. Watching that earth nut. You should understand. They're terrified of me. Don't you recall asking me to act like a crazy bitch back on your ship?"
If that point was supposed to set me off, she would have to try harder. "They have better things to do like fight a war for freedom of thought than stand around observing an earth specimen, heart of my heart."
Her lips curled down. "I am not a specimen. And I'd like to know what they're sending you to do. Are you going to be safe? Were-assassins aren't sent on vacation. You can get killed. And where would that leave me? Stuck in space on a tin can full of people who'd rather see my lifeless body jettisoned into deep space. If they don't kill me, I'll just be alone." Her voice trailed off to nothing like she was already living in isolation.
To press my mouth over hers and suck out all her tension.
To breathe peace into every cell of her body.
Now was not the time for touching. Darla was strategically toying with me. Trying to get her way. "I'm every bit capable of returning." Or she would implode any moment, the pregnant female. Highly volatile in her condition with extremely vacillating emotional outbursts. A sign any man awaiting a child would love to witness. Unfortunately, now is not the time for this display. At least she isn't dowsing the room with tears. The only way to depart without setting off the deluge was to make a sweet pact. He grabbed both of her dangerously soft cheeks between his palms and waited for her gaze to lock on his.
She was paying attention. "You're just deep under the spell of motherhood, heart of my heart, light of the darkness. You must try to relax. Try to take care of the child for you are everything it has now." Dare I tell her it's a girl? That might set off another emotional episode. "And I will not fail you."
Her furrowed brow softened a bit.
Bless the never-ending universe those words broke through to the sensible Darla hidden beneath the cloak of pregnancy hormones. "I promise to do whatever you like upon my return, Darla. We'll walk around. I'll beat the stars out of someone who looks the wrong way at you if that will help." Maybe that lie was too extreme. "Just please make certain you're the same loveable you when I return. The you I chose for your wit and charm." I grabbed her shoulders, planted a kiss on her forehead, and darted for the door of our personal quarters.
She stood there in the center of their personal quarters, stunned by the shock consuming her features.
Maybe the trick with her was to talk about what I loved about her. Be more open. By Devros, if I was lucky, she wouldn't have memorized the corridor layout aboard The Undertaker. Yet.
The door swooshed shut behind me.
Her footsteps thundered at my heels.
Or so I thought the door had shut her inside our personal quarters.
"You are not abandoning me on a ship named for burying bodies. I am not here to swab, poke, wrap, or swing the hammer at nails in some morose ritual involving death. It's like I've got to dig your grave or something. Do you hear me?"
Every crew member aboard had to hear that on a psychic starship rarely echoing with little more than absolute silence. And what a translation of a ship's title meaning merely taking on an enormous task. I stretched my stride to the limit. To endeavor to outpace her.
She hopped into a tapping trot, a thunderous cacophony of wild footfalls, until a glare no man wanted to face on his mate, her glower, blocked my path. "Have you been listening to me?"
Was there any way around listening? "Who could have missed a thing you said?"
"Well then if you leave me here, don't expect me to be here when you return."
An ultimatum. How wonderful it is to be with a woman who doesn't cower beneath an Xquine stare. "Are you saying I should have you detained until I return?"
Her eyes pinched with malice. "You're cruel," she snarled and brushed past him with a stiff shoulder, heading back the way she had come.
Cruel or not, it's all about survival. A warrior has to make certain things are safe back home while he's out ridding the universe of pestilence. I'll be back soon. I watched her straightened spine disappear into our personal quarters.
Would telling her I loved her make a difference? Comfort her. I'd been draining myself of blood for days to support her through part of what lay ahead of her for motherhood. Just in case I failed. Yet blood bags weren't exactly warm breathing beings she could cozy up to. And Darla wasn't in the mood for pondering the intelligence of a blood bag. I pivoted back to the docking bay.
A little mission was just what a warrior needed to clear his thoughts as good as any lengthy meditation with a war sword dangling above one's head. I stretched my stride.
* * * *
Darla sat cross-legged, staring through her portal at deep space's twinkling expanse. This was her future, she mused, rather attempted to. Sitting. Waiting. Wondering if her only barbarian would ever return while she tried not to lose the baby. And damn it if he didn't even tell me he loved me when blasting off to save the day. That was the clincher back home with men. And he'd studied earth culture as much as any free thinker who would eventually mate with an earthling. So what was his problem in his really bad departure? He either didn't really love me… Okay maybe he said something along that line with the heart of my heart thing. But he knows what's said back on earth in my culture. He could have gone the distance and just said it. Or he didn't care if I feared he didn't love me. "I am afraid, universe. That's it. This is just fear. It's true."
That wasn't difficult to say. "I'm afraid of being alone."
Truer still. But nobody was listening.
Because I'm not even psychic enough to mindspeak. I'm not much of anything. And what will the baby look like? Me with fiery orange eyes? If so, I won't ever be able to take my child to Earth. The past no longer exists for me as if Earth has been obliterated by the last Xquine warrior. You'd think he would be sympathetic to my heritage given he's lost almost all of his, thanks to Voldon. But I'm married to an extraterrestrial. What could I possibly have expected? I'm in space now. And when this child comes and I'm all alone, I'm not going to be able to return to Earth.
And then there's the part about being stuck in a foreign freaking place. Nobody will have anything to do with me because Crazy Darla's reputation precedes me. Just how can I function with a child without Goro? It's not like Voldon building his Frankenstein baby. This is my child. Goro's child. But what do I do if Goro is killed running off on these maneuvers?
Emotion welled up from deep inside her and threatened to dribble from her eyes.
Why did my being with Goro always get me so damned emotional? I'd rather be with him. Facing the future. Knowing I'm not alone. Just being happy. And safe with him. Alone sucked. I don't want to be alone.
* * * *
By the time Goro flew over the Yucatan's forested karst topography pitted with glinting pools and lakes that teased they harbored a Bramyllion skull, he doubted one extraterrestrial crystal was anywhere to be found. Treasure hunters had combed these continents centuries upon centuries. But I had been sent. Orders were orders. "Computer, scan for Bramyllion."
The mineral deposits could still be there though. However, earthlings couldn't detect the slight variation between quartz and Bramyllion to differentiate between the two minerals. But the fascination earthlings had with the glowing crystals proved as strong as that of any species in the universe. All easily overpowered and controlled by the strange rocks of unknown origin.
"I only detect Angstrom and Wrext from a Crellon bounty ship."
Scum out to traffic earthlings. No matter the efforts The Cause went to in order to protect the planet, extraterrestrials came and conquered. Enslaved. The question then revolved around how long ago the spacecraft crashed. "Calculate how long the wreckage has been here."
"At least forty years. I detect no remnant signature extraterrestrial radiation. Or the power crystals were scavenged."
The power crystals could have easily been dragged off for posterity. Any local would find them fascinating. The color was a unique green these earthlings found extremely pleasing. Especially the jungle peoples of the Americas. But where would Voldon search for the skulls if they weren't in the jungle? "What's the name of that island where that Mayanist thinks he can witness the end of time?"
"Apocalypse Island."
"Go to Apocalypse Island. En route, continue scanning for Bramyllion."
The pod shot west so quickly that the small rocky island simply materialized out of the blue Pacific Ocean.
One rock with surf yapping at its heels. Or so the island appeared in its craggy form of broken layered stone.