by Terra Wolf
“Also, your people are safe. They have moved them to another colony on Jubar which was not hit by these wandering monsters. Alliance fighters are there protecting them and they have been given aid. As for your younger sister, she is the talk of the ship. You see, the Alliance doesn't allow females on this vessel. And the last time there was a girl on board, she and her Alliance bodyguard ended up becoming mates.”
Mates? “My sister does not need to become some fighter’s mate!”
“No, no.” He put his hands up in surrender, as if she were an angered animal that he was trying to soothe. “Of course she doesn't. They're all treating her like a princess, and they recognize that she is a child. But she is still something new to them, a shiny new toy for them to play with. She has been living a very fine life the past few days, while you've been recovering.”
“Days? How long have I been out for? And how can you be sure that they won't return and take out that colony? We’ll deal with the sister issue when I see her.” Anger boiled beneath her skin. Of course Maggie was living it up. She just hoped no fighter had fallen in love with her yet. She was a child, to her, and to the men onboard, but to Maggie and the Jubarian people, she was an adult who could make her own decisions and feel consequences for her actions.
“That's not for me to decide. That decision is entirely up to the commander, but I do agree with his ruling. Your people need to be on their planet. We could relocate them all to a space station, but there was a Chancellor remaining, and he wanted them to stay. I think that was probably the best decision that he could have made at the time. His colony hadn't been touched by the plague and he knows nothing of these traveling monsters that abducted your people. We need to focus on one problem at a time.”
The doctor walked over to Ivy again after checking some monitors. “Right now, the biggest issue is getting you well. I’ll be back with some medicine shortly. It will help with the pain.”
The doctor dipped his head in her direction and then nodded at Aevar before walking out through glass sliding doors.
Once the doctor was gone, Aevar pulled up a chair. “I’m glad you’re awake. It was pretty scary for a while there.” He blushed a little at his over excitement.
“Yes, I'm awake, and thank you. I know what sacrifice you made for me. You didn't have to do that.”
“If I hadn't, you wouldn't have made it. Taking a blaster directly to a human’s heart is more electrical shock than it can handle, I mean, that is the point of a blaster. Seeing you like that…” He shook his head like he was at a loss for words.
“I understand that I would have died, but I still want to say thank you. You don't know me. And you were still willing to do that for me.” She reached out her hand and intertwined her fingers with his. “That was beyond the call of duty.”
He dipped his head at her. “It was the highest honor, I assure you. How are you feeling?”
“Like I've been in the dark for several days. Tell me about my people. How could you let them go back to Jubar without knowing if those things are wandering around in the woods?”
He sighed. “It wasn't up to me. The commander contacted the Chancellor of the colony and that is the decision that they made. Did you even know that there was a colony on the southern tip?”
She rolled her eyes. “They're hardly a colony. Just a bunch of traders. I doubt they even speak the language. But if that's where they decided to go…”
“I assure you that they made that decision on their own. We didn't push them in one direction or another. Plus, there's an entire squadron of Alliance fighters protecting them. Nothing's going to happen to them.”
“I wish I could believe you,” she said dejectedly. “I never expected anything like this to happen to us to begin with. I never expected to see those things,” she said, making a disgusted face at the man beneath the sheet.
“I don't think anyone would have expected that. I've seen some very different looking species, but nothing like that.”
“Me neither. I don't even understand what it is.”
“None of us do, but once the doctor has some answers, we will figure out what’s going on here. Why the plague is effecting that species in particular and turning them into those beasts.”
“I wish I could help you.”
“I know. I want to help you now, but we have to be patient.” He squeezed her hands and she felt another surge of electricity run through her veins, but this time it was entirely different than the blaster piercing her heart. This was a warm energy, and it made her feel like she might be glowing from the inside out, even though she knew that was ridiculous. Not that she didn't know any glowing species, but humans didn't glow.
“You will be able to help us once you're feeling better. I can't have you out there injured. I can't tell you how it made me feel to see you like that in the pod. It was one of the worst moments of my life.”
She could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks. Why was he saying these things?
“Aevar, why did you give me your plasma? What made you want to do that?”
He shook his head. “I'm not really sure. I just felt like I had to.”
“You said something about the last female that was on board, that she's no longer on the Titan. You said that she found her mate? Does the Alliance believe in those things?”
She hadn't heard the word mate used except for one time on a space station when she was a child. Her father had been trading with some Alliance members and she specifically remembered their elders talking about mates and how some of the outer planets made decisions based on the people that they loved. Her parents certainly loved one another, but they weren't mates. They were just two people who were made for each other. Only alien species believed in mates. Or so she thought.
“Yes, she went to live with her mate on an outlying planet, but that's all I can tell you. The rest is classified.”
“I'm not specifically asking what happened to them, I'm asking what happened between them. How did you all know that they were supposed to be together?” How could she tell that for herself, she thought.
“Nash said that he felt an overwhelming sense of protectiveness for her. And that she made him calm and that he needed to care for her in order to survive. She felt similarly, I guess. I never spoke to her about it. Now they have a beautiful little girl and they live a very complete life. Nash always said he felt like something was missing before he met her.”
“Do you feel like something is missing?” she asked sheepishly. His eyes locked with hers and she saw for the first time how the blueness of his eyes seemed to move in the light. It was mesmerizing.
“Sometimes.”
She nodded. For now, sometimes was enough.
Chapter 8
Aevar
“I'm happy to see you moving around the ship on your own. Though, I have to admit that it would be nice to accompany you.”
Ivy smiled at him; she looked better than she had in days. Those first few days when she was in a coma, Aevar could hardly sleep or eat. For some reason, this woman had taken such a strong hold on him. But now that she was up and about, he realized he still felt the need to protect her even though she was on the mend.
“Well, I could use a guide. I'm starving. Where is the mess hall? Maggie was supposed to come show me but she hasn't been down all morning.”
He laughed. “That's because she's been teaching all of the pilots how to play cards. Your sister has a knack for taking people’s money.”
Ivy smiled and it reached her eyes. It was the first time he had seen her truly happy since they met. There was a brightness to her face that he hadn't seen. “She's known for that. She might look all sweet and innocent, but she's cutthroat when it comes to cards. She used to play with my father and his friends.” Suddenly she stopped speaking and Aevar knew why. She was still without answers about her family. He felt sorry for her.
While the doctor had done an autopsy on the beast, he hadn't learned much. The only thing was that this monst
er had originally been a human. Somehow, the plague reshaped his genetic structure. It had made him into this new species, but that was all they knew. The only other clue was that the man had a tattoo on his left shoulder. It was like he had been branded. Aevar and the commander weren’t sure what that meant. They had reached out to all their intelligence sources to give them information about what someone might know about the emblem, but no one had any information. They were out of people to ask. But Aevar hadn’t told Ivy that yet; he wanted her to be fully healed before he gave her the bad news.
“The mess hall is closed, but I can make something for you,” he offered.
“You can cook?”
“A little bit. Do you like real cheese sandwiches?”
“Grilled cheese, you mean?” She laughed and it lifted the worry on his mind. “I thought only humans ate grilled cheese.”
“That might be true. But I know how to make it, at least.”
She nodded to him. “Well, that's something, I guess. I'll follow you.”
He walked her through a maze of hallways, occasionally saluting another lieutenant as they passed, but he constantly kept looking over his shoulder at her. Was this too long for her to walk? Could she keep up or was she overly exhausted? He nearly wanted to carry her, but he knew that she wouldn't go for it. She was too strong for that. Finally, they reached the small galley kitchen that connected some of the Lieutenants’ quarters. He pulled out a chair and she sat down at the small two-person table.
“That was a long way.”
Immediately, he felt panicked. “Can I get you something to drink? Some water, maybe? I should have thought about how far it was.”
“No, I'm fine! I just didn't realize how huge the ship was. I've only seen the medical bay. And that's not very big compared to the rest of the ship. This place is huge!”
He relaxed. “I guess you're right. For such a large ship, we don't have a very large medical facility. It's mostly used for research. If anyone is seriously injured, they usually take them back to base. There's a very large hospital there.”
“You guys also just don't get hurt very often, do you? I know all about the Titan. You're the very best the Alliance has.”
He began grabbing ingredients. “Yes, we are. It's our job to be the best.”
“Well I'm glad that you heard our distress call. I don't know what would have happened if someone else found us.”
“I don't know either,” he admitted.
He looked over his shoulder at her and she sat at the table, suddenly interested in her fingernails. He knew she was upset, but he didn't know how to reach her. How to make her feel any better.
“Why don't you tell me about your family?”
She sucked in a breath. Clearly he had chosen a sore subject. Way to go, Aevar.
“It was always just Mama, Daddy, Maggie, and me. And then they were gone.”
“Because the monsters took them?” he asked her.
“I assume so. Or they're dead back on Jubar. I guess I can't really be sure.” She paused for a moment as he grabbed some bread. “Do you have any more information about the monsters? Anything new since the autopsy?”
He knew she would ask sooner rather than later, but he was hardly ready to break the news to her. “Not much,” he said as he put the cheese on the bread and threw it in the pan. “We know that once, he was human. And he had an emblem branded onto a shoulder.”
She sat up straighter. “An emblem? What emblem?”
“Nothing we've ever seen before. We've asked all of our contacts, all over the Galaxy, but no one knows what it is. I'm afraid that we’ve hit a dead end.” He turned and looked into her dark green eyes. What would she say?
“You can't just give up! They took hundreds of people! Who knows where they took them? Or what they're doing to them! We have to find them, Aevar. You have to promise me that you won't give up.”
She was so strong in her convictions, swuya, she was sexy when she talked like that. No other woman had ever challenged him like Ivy did; it was just another delicious quality of hers.
“And how do you expect us to do that? I told you, we've spoken to all of our contacts. No one knows anything.” She folded her arms across her chest and stared at him defiantly. She looked so sexy like that, that he ached to move closer to her. To touch her…
“That's not true. No one is talking, perhaps, but someone know something. I've worked in the world of traders my entire life. Someone always know something.”
She was a determined little thing. “So where do you suggest that we go to get information?
She rolled her eyes at him. “Goya.”
His mouth dropped open. “That place is full of Pirates and crooks. No one goes there from the Alliance. It would be putting a target directly on our backs.”
“I didn't say the Alliance had to go there, but I'm going to get information about where my people have been taken. Whether you choose to accompany me or not is your choice. I'm not going to force you into anything, Aevar, but I'm not letting this die. So come with me, or don't. It’s up to you.”
But it wasn't up to him. His heart was practically beating out of his chest knowing that she wanted to go to Goya by herself. There was no way he was letting her do that.
“So what do you suggest? I defy orders to keep you on the ship and take you Goya?”
She sighed. “I don't want you to have to disobey your commander. I want him on our side. You can trust me, Aevar, I've worked with people on that planet a million times before. I’ve traded there with my father, and I have friends there. People who will tell us the truth about this emblem. And trust me, if they're stealing people from my colony, you know they're taking people from others. No one wants these guys to survive. People will give up the information willingly, I'm sure of it. We just have to get there and get a face to face with them. At least ask your commander, we have to try,” she pleaded with him.
As the sandwich finished cooking, he decided she was right. Visiting Goya was risky, but just letting this go might be a risk that he wasn't willing to take.
Chapter 9
Ivy
“You stay here with the rest of the Alliance and take care of yourself.”
“But I want to go with you,” she whined, sounding more childish than she had in years.
“I'm sorry, Maggie, but you can't come with me.”
“You’re always treating me like a child! You know I’m an adult now.” She stood a little taller. It was sweet, really, but not convincing.
“Like it or not, yes I do. But that doesn't change the fact that you're my little sister and I want you to be safe. I know they'll take care of you here on the Titan. Besides, we're taking a very small pod. We're lucky that the commander is sending us do this voyage at all. I promise anything that I find I'll come back and share with you,” Ivy said, looking into her sister’s matching green eyes. “This could help us find Mama and Daddy.”
Maggie wrapped arms around Ivy's waist. “Fine, but promise me that you'll be careful?”
“I'll have Aevar with me. He shown that he's worthy of a good fight. I'm sure I'll be fine.”
Ivy had waited four more days before they would allow her and Aevar to take a private pod to Goya. They wanted her to be fully healed prior to letting her off of the Titan. She was also given explicit instructions on how to behave and to make sure that they didn't mention the Alliance at all. Another day was spent preparing the pod, removing the emblem from the side of it and enhancing its security features. Finally, they were ready to take off. But she had waited to tell Maggie about leaving until the very last second; she was afraid that she would try to stop her. It turned out she was right.
“You stay close to Raelor. Do you understand me? He’ll make sure that you're well fed and taken care of.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know that, but just stay close to him. And stop playing cards! You're going to have more galactic coin at the end of this trip than all of these me
n put together. Teach some of them how to play.”
Maggie smiled at her. “But then it's no fun!”
“Do as I say.” Ivy kissed her on the top of the head and turned around to walk to the transport bay.
“You're not going to say goodbye?”
She looked over her shoulder at her younger sister. “No. Because this isn't goodbye. I'll be back soon.”
In the hallway, she only heard the sound of her heels clicking on the metal floor. She knew the task in front of them was dangerous. They could be mugged or worse on Goya. It was why her father hadn’t taken her in a few years, but this was the only way to get the information they needed. She’d have to be strong, for her family, for Maggie. She walked toward the pod and got into the seat next to Aevar. He was already suited up and ready to go with his communication device in his ear and face and some fancy goggles over his eyes.
“What do those do?”
“They link me with the pod. That way I don't have to use my hands to control the navigational systems. Instead I can just focus on using them for weapons if we should need them.”
“You're really worried about going to Goya, aren't you?”
“I can’t say it gives me warm fuzzies, no. The commander feels as though my concerns are warranted. I understand that you don't, though.”
“I've been working with these traders for years. Sure, they’re rough around the edges, but people might say that about you, too. But I know what you're like on the inside now. You can't hide behind that rough and tumble façade anymore.” She was trying to convince him as much as she was herself.
“But I'm an Alliance fighter. These are Pirates, the people I'm constantly trying to keep the Galaxy safe from.”
