by Celeste Raye
That thought gave her a small measure of courage. She had had everything ripped away from her by those people, by The Federation and its power-mad elite. If this was war, how could she hide from it? How could she not make a stand and fight for the life that she wanted so badly?
She whispered, “What do we do now?”
His hand came out and rested on her upper arm. The strength and warmth of his fingers seeped into her skin but could not halt the chill creeping through her. His voice was no less calm. “We fight.”
“We're all going to die, you have to know that.”
“Of course I know that. But every fight could mean death. We faced death before. You and me. We faced it on the pleasure planet that we had to go to together. We faced it on the wrecking ship. You faced it on your own planet, and not just once.”
He was right but each time she had escaped death unscathed for the most part. This time she would not be so lucky. The thought of losing her life, now, when she carried a life within her that was so precious, made her desire to live too large to deny.
She should tell him. He should know that she was pregnant with his child. She looked over at his face, and her heart nearly stopped. For all the calm tone of his voice, there was a haunted look on his face, a look that said he wanted this no more than she did.
Her hand fell toward her belly and rested there. If she was going to die, and if he was going to die as well, there was no sense in telling him about the baby. It would only serve to make his death seem even worse and harder. If he did not know, it would be easier for him to bear if she died right before him. Her fingers pressed into her flat abdomen and a pulse of sheer primal rage began in her stomach. It wasn’t fair.
She whispered, silently, to her unborn child. “I will fight for you. I will die for you. My death will mean yours, but I will not die lightly or let them kill you without a battle. I swear that to you, little one. You will know; it seems to me that you will have to know that we fought for you.”
Her eyes went back to Jeval’s face. She had seen what he was capable of. That power that rested within him was enough to destroy an entire ship. It was enough to send men screaming to their own deaths, deaths that they created with their own hands. He had refused to use that power again even when they were facing the gravest danger. Would he refuse to use it now even knowing that she had within her his child?
Her eyes went back to the skies. The Federation ships began to lower, the heavily armored bodies sinking toward the only accessible landing place on the planet: the short docks that had been built to jut out over one side of the sea.
There were far too many ships in The Federation’s armada for them all to land. Maybe that would be their chance to halt whatever was happening immediately. Perhaps they would have the chance to destroy the ones that were on the ground, or take over them. They had captains with great skill there on the planet surface.
Talon alone could fly like the devil himself, and he was skilled in combat both in the air and on the ground. He was not the only one either. Surely there must be some way for them to survive this. If they could not survive it, they would take as many of The Federation down with them as possible.
Her breath sucked in and held as she watched the bay doors on The Federation ships begin to open and officers wearing Federation insignia begin to step out. Behind them came soldiers, heavily armed.
Talon and Jessica appeared, both of them bearing arms. Marik and Jenny, as well as Renall and Clare, also came into sight. The people they led took cautious steps back, huddling behind their leaders.
The crew of the ships that Talon and others piloted came running, bearing arms and with expressions that said they were ready to begin whatever war The Federation intended to bring upon them.
One of The Federation officers held up a hand. He wore five gold stars on the chest of his olive-green tailored tunic, marking him as one of the highest ranking there. His voice was smooth and full, rolling across the distance with ease.
Jeval started forward. Margie gathered her courage, wrapping its tattered ends around herself as she followed him, determined to always be right there at his side no matter what. This was the creature that she loved. She did love him. She loved that stubborn and prideful Revant who was also the kindest and gentlest and sweetest thing she had ever known in her life.
The Federation officer was still speaking. He said, “There is no need for war between us. We do not come here on a mission to govern your planet. Nor the sister planet that lays slightly to the east. We have no interest in your planet, to be truthful…”
Jessica retorted, “When has The Federation ever been known for truthfulness?”
A large and angry mutter rose from the crowd. That sound made Margie’s hands wrap around her body and draw herself inward. It reminded her of that day that she had gotten into an argument with that woman and man inside the greenery house and the dreadful consequences of her actions then.
Talon stepped forward. “She speaks the truth. The Federation is not known for keeping its promises or for giving honest words to those it means to rule.”
Marik, Jeval, and Renall stepped forward. Marik said, “Indeed, The Federation is not known for those things. What do you really want?”
The Federation officer said, “I seek to hold a conversation with those who rule this planet.”
Jeval spoke. “Our citizenry rules themselves. We govern, but here every being is free.”
The Federation officer didn’t blink. “Then I would speak with you, those who govern. Those who own this planet. This is a matter that requires discretion, and I will speak with you and solely you.”
Jeval shook his head. “I do not govern alone. My siblings govern with me. We will not be trapped alone with you and your officers. That would be foolishness personified. Do we look foolish to you?”
Shivers worked their way through Margie’s skin as The Federation officer’s eyes, cold as a winter day, rested on the faces of the siblings and then the faces of the women gathered beside them. The Federation officer’s lips lifted in a slight smile. “No, you do not look foolish. I’m not here to harm; I have no desire to have my officers carry weapons into whatever place you wish to speak with me in.”
Jeval said, “I have a better idea. You alone may speak with us. Your guards and your soldiers must all return to the ship. We will hold a conversation with you, but we will not hold that conversation with you when your armed men stand with their boots upon our planet.”
The others nodded their heads. Jessica said, “They return to their ships, or we open fire.”
The officer said, “I see. But perhaps that would be foolish of me, to go alone with you to have a conversation, unarmed and unguarded.”
Clara said, “That is the only concession they shall make. I can promise you they are the most stubborn beings that you will ever have the fortune of meeting. You won’t change their mind and once they have decided on a path, that is the path they shall take no matter where it leads.”
Margie felt an unwilling smile start on her own face. Clara had the right of it. Her eyes went back to Jeval, and her heart skipped a few beats. He spoke in a casual and dismissive tone. “Your entire army resides above us and on the surface of our planet. We are vastly outnumbered. To kill you would be suicide for us. Do we seem suicidal to you?”
The Federation officer mulled that over for a bit. Tension grew thicker and thicker in the air. Margie’s eyes flickered upward yet again, judging how many ships were up there because they were too numerous to count. At least a hundred, perhaps more. They cruised back and forth and some, obviously flight and fighter craft, darted across the sky, leaving white contrails blazing along the cerulean blue heavens.
The officer nodded. “But just you four. I’ll have no one else in there.”
Jessica stepped forward. Her hands balled into fists, and her shoulder met Talon’s. “Where he goes, I go. There are no exceptions to that. Never.”
Clara echoed that, as did Jen
ny. Margie cleared her throat. “I too go wherever he leads.”
She felt his body stiffen slightly, but she didn’t look his way because she was afraid of what she would see there on his face. Had the words pleased him or upset him? She didn’t know. It was as open a declaration of love as she could make. Her heart beat even faster, making her slightly dizzy. The enormity of war loomed over everything, but even that was overwritten by the knowledge that she had just admitted her love for him and done it in a public way.
She had basically just said he was her mate when he had never asked her to be his mate and she had done it in a way that ensured that she would never be able to deny those words or the feeling behind them.
If they managed to live long enough for her to have to deny it, that was.
Talon said, with a fierce grin, “They are but women. Surely you cannot be afraid of mere women. Human women, at that.”
Jeval muttered, so low and below his breath that she almost didn’t hear it, “I would hate to be in your shoes later tonight.”
The Federation officer said, “Oh, I have heard of your women. In fact, I recognize the one beside you as a former Capo and one of the leaders of the efforts on Old Earth.”
Talon said, “That is a fight we will never have a chance to finish, and you know that. We have pulled back our efforts there because they proved to be futile; they were futile since The Federation would not keep its promises and until the people there are given what they need, then they will simply continue to fight each other for whatever resources remain.”
The Federation officer nodded. “I shall meet with you, but only you four. Leave the women outside.”
The four brothers exchanged glances. Margie said, “We shall guard the door for you then. If anything occurs in there, we shall be right there.”
The smile that came upon Jeval’s face held equal parts of amusement and something else, something she didn’t recognize, but her heart fluttered in response to it.
The Federation officer ordered his officers and guards back upon the ship. They went reluctantly, but they went. The officer then followed the four siblings up the hill to the small building that they used for council meetings. Margie walked beside Jenny, not daring to look at any of the other women. They had all heard her throw her lot in with his, and she was not sure if they felt sympathy for her or not. They had to know that he did not want to mate. That he refused to mate and all the reasons why.
A flutter of disquiet settled into her new system. He had said that most children that he would sire would die. That only the very strongest could survive and that he was not willing to sire a child knowing that.
But there was a child.
There was a child growing within her at that very moment and if she lived through this, if they lived through this and that child was born, would she have to watch that child die?
But the odds were fifty-fifty, right?
None of his siblings had been born with the gift. Even though he had it in great strength, it was entirely possible that her human blood had somehow diluted it down, that her own child would be born without it.
She and the other women extended themselves against the wall, their backs to it and their eyes trained on The Federation ships. The citizenry still stood outside, all of them clearly frightened and unwilling to go back to their homes in case they missed whatever clear signal might come.
It was Jenny that spoke first. “I must admit, I never imagined that this would be my life. When they put us on that bride ship, well, the slaver ship that they claimed was a bride ship, I thought that I would be shuttled off to some horrible and forbidding planet and be forced to live out my life with a creature that I could scarcely stand.”
Jessica said, “I don’t remember going onto the ship because they drugged me, and when I did wake up, they were already throwing me into the cryo-chambers. I really had no idea what was going on at first and when I woke up, all I could think of was escape. But you’re right; I never would’ve imagined this would be my life either.”
Clara said, “Nor I.”
Margie’s back met the sun-warmed stones of the wall behind her. Her voice was quiet and reflective. “It may yet not be our lives.”
Jessica, ever practical, replied with a simple, “We shall see.”
Jenny leaned in closer to Margie. One of her hands came up and touched down lightly along Margie’s ribs. “How far along are you, Margie?”
Margie looked down at her belly, which was still flat, and then over at Clara, who was clearly pregnant and swollen by that pregnancy. “What?”
She had no idea why she was trying to avoid that question. Jenny was a natural healer, and she could sense things about people.
Jenny lifted an eyebrow and said, “Is this something you did not know?”
Margie’s head drooped down toward her chest. “I know. He doesn’t. He doesn’t want a child.”
Jessica said, “I have heard that from Talon. And the reason why. Are you afraid?”
Margie’s hand went to her stomach and stayed there. She decided to be honest. “I am afraid that this child will never be born.”
Clara sigh was gusty and heartfelt. “As am I. If it comes to war, then I will fight. Even if it means our deaths and the deaths of our unborn. What else can we do?”
Jessica said, “If there was ever a time that I was grateful for what The Federation did to me, it’s now.”
Clara asked, “What do you mean?”
Jenny said, “Yes, tell us what you mean, Jessica.”
Jessica said, “They sterilized me. Before they put me on the ship. They sterilized a lot of women they put on the ships, you know. Not all, but some. Those that they felt would be the most problematic anyway. Also, the brothels and the pleasure planets that use sex slaves pay more for human women who cannot bear children. It is too inconvenient to have a woman who can reproduce aboard these planets. Makes it difficult to work I guess.”
The expression on Jessica’s face was so bleak that it broke Margie’s heart. She held out a hand and laid it lightly on Jessica’s shoulder. “At least you don’t have the worry that your child will be murdered while still within your womb.”
Jessica looked down at her feet. “I know. I don’t envy you that.”
But did she envy them the ability to bear children?
Jenny said, “There are many here who are with child. Did you know that some races have those who are about to be with child and it’s the males who do that?”
Jessica burst into laughter. “I did. I’ve seen it here on the planet, and every single time I see it, it’s so odd to me that I can’t help but stare. Then I feel badly, like I’m looking at them inappropriately or something.”
They all burst into laughter, and that helped to lighten the mood just slightly. Jessica stuck her ear to the door, obviously trying to hear through the thick thing. Her face took on a look of frustration, and she shook her head. “I wonder what it is they could be talking about.”
Jenny said, “The Federation officer is probably hoping to broker a peaceful surrender of the planet.”
A small streak of hope lit up within Margie. “Do you think they will ever surrender? They do believe in always doing things for the greater good. Would they drag us into war if it wasn’t necessary?”
Jessica said, “War against The Federation is wholly necessary. There’s no way around it. The Federation has become too corrupt. They cannot be allowed to stand, and you know that.”
That little flare of hope died out as fast as it had lit. Jessica was right. The Federation had to be stopped, but would they be the ones who had to make that stand?
Chapter 6 - Jeval
The siblings stared at the officer, who had introduced himself as General Bates. He lounged against one wall, his neatly attired figure relaxed and seemingly at ease. None of them would fold. This was a mission that he was on, and he would not stop until he had the answer that he wanted or until they and all the citizens in their small little city
were annihilated.
That was Jeval’s thinking at that moment, and he found himself wondering if there would be any satisfaction at all in just going ahead and killing the man, in unleashing his gift against those ships. He knew that he had not allowed the ship on the pleasure planet to communicate the news that there was a Revant aboard the ship that had taken Ruckland and his supposed consort and slave off that planet, but perhaps The Federation had heard that from someone who had been on the planet and seen them all together.
Talon’s fingers drummed along the surface of the table. His eyes were narrowed with thought, and Marik wore a blank expression that said he was thinking hard. Renall leaned forward across the table, his fingers forming a steeple before his chin. He said, “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
General Bates said, “Oh you did. You heard me very well.”
Jeval asked, “Do you truly think that we would believe that you wish to topple The Federation?”
Bates lifted a gray eyebrow toward his equally gray hairline. He was an older human, and the lines in his face marked his age. He said, “Do not pretend that you do not know this must happen. War is inevitable. The Federation is falling apart; it was corrupted long ago, and it has no reason to try to right itself.”
Talon asked, “Did you swear a loyalty oath to them?”
Bates said, “I swore an oath to uphold and protect the universe. I swore an oath to do whatever was necessary to end terrorism and to help abate war. I have thought long and hard about this decision. I assure you there is not one person on any of the ships that are above you and on your surface that does not agree with me in this decision.”
Jeval said, “Or so you say. It’s quite possible this is a Federation trap as well. We agree to join forces with you to take them down and then you have just cause to blow our people to smithereens and take our planet.”
Bates came to the table and took a seat across from the four siblings. His face held a weary cast, and his fingers rested on the surface of the table, held together lightly within each other. He said, “I understand that you don’t believe me. I don’t blame you for that. I chose you, all of you, because each and every one of you has reason to hate The Federation. Each of you has been declared an outlaw at some point or other in your life, and some of you still are. Each of you is a warrior, and from what I’ve heard, your women are too. Or at least, the ones who have skills equally as good.”
