Aria came to her side. “We all are. None of us can drop out now. We built this peace agreement, and we’ll be the ones who finish it. All five factions are depending on us.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Anna remarked. “We can do so much for so many people, and communicating and negotiating is so much easier for us than it would be for the men.”
Aria smiled at her. “It’s a joy.”
Chris turned to Aimee. “Are you running home with Turk and Caleb? The warriors will want your full report.”
Aimee opened her mouth to answer when something caught her eye at the edge of the trees. She shut her mouth.
Marissa’s hand flew to her mouth to suppress a gasp. “I never thought I’d live to see the day.”
“He’s the best ally we could ask for,” Anna exclaimed. “We would never have accomplished anything without him on the other side.”
“He’s more Alpha than Aquilla ever was,” Emily remarked.
Piwaka stepped into the open and approached the other Alphas. He shook hands, first with Renier, then with Donen. “You’ve done good work here these last few days. I promise your efforts won’t be wasted.”
“None of us has done better work than you,” Renier told him. “Our messengers will come to you in a few days to arrange the border inspection.”
Piwaka waved his hand. “Don’t worry about that. I’m sure the border is fine.”
“The Eastern Divide is the most important border,” Donen broke in. “We can’t allow any time to pass before we establish exactly where it is. Aquilla was right about that.”
Piwaka only smiled. “That was Piwaka’s idea to get Aquilla to negotiate with you,” Aimee told them.
“We still owe you our thanks,” Emily told him. “This peace agreement means so much more with the Avitras involved. I hate to think of any faction being left out.”
“You don’t have anything to worry about from the Avitras,” Piwaka replied. “I have my own messenger ready to come to you very soon.”
“What about Aquilla?” Caleb asked. “What if he makes more trouble?”
Before Piwaka could answer, a bright golden flash shimmered between the trees, and Penelope Ann strode into the open. She beamed at her friends. “I hoped I would catch you before you left. I couldn’t leave without saying good-bye.”
Aria gave her a hug. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going home to my own village,” Penelope Ann replied, “but only as long as it takes to pack up. Aquilla and I are moving.”
Caleb scanned the forest behind her. “Where is Aquilla?”
“He’s already gone,” Penelope Ann replied. “He’s gone back to our village to make the arrangements. We’re moving to another village deeper in the heart of our territory. We’ll be fifty miles at least from Piwaka.”
Chris frowned. “Does he resent the peace agreement? Why would he withdraw from his own Captain?”
Penelope Ann smiled at them all. A deep sense of peace emanated from her. “Aimee kept it a secret, but I can tell you, now that the negotiation is over and Aquilla is gone. He’s abdicated. He’s no longer Alpha. He’s handed the position over to Piwaka.”
“Then why are you leaving your village?” Emily asked. “You could finally relax and enjoy your home without all the Alpha’s responsibilities.”
“He wants to leave Piwaka free to run things his way,” Penelope Ann replied. “If we stayed in the same village, Aquilla wouldn’t be able to keep his nose out of faction politics, and the other Avitras would always come to him with questions and requests and suggestions for how he could interfere with Piwaka. He wants to live somewhere quiet, away from all of it.” She burst into excited laughter. “I can’t wait!”
Marissa hugged her. “I’m so happy for you.”
Penelope Ann hugged her friends one after another. “I’ll see you all again very soon, but it won’t be as the Alpha’s mate. Once the borders open up, we’ll be able to travel and visit each other whenever we like.” She shook hands with the Alphas. “Be good to Piwaka. He deserves your respect and your cooperation.”
Donen put out his hand to Piwaka. “He’s got that already.”
Piwaka and Penelope Ann waved and moved off toward the trees. Emily sighed. “She’s happier than I’ve ever seen her. She and Aquilla have finally found their ground.”
“I thought she never would,” Anna remarked. “I thought Aquilla would always be a millstone around her neck. I’m glad none of us will have to deal with him again.”
“He might not be so bad when you get to know him,” Aria added. “None of us really understands him.”
“I think I understand him.” Aimee faced her friends. “I’m leaving, too.”
Emily seized her hand. “You can’t leave! Where will you go?”
“I’m going with the Avitras,” Aimee replied. “I’m going with Piwaka.”
Their eyes widened, but none of them really showed any surprise. Anna nodded. “I expected something like this. You’ve changed since you met him.”
“I’m going to be his messenger.” Aimee blushed. “I mean, I’ll be his messenger in addition to... everything else. I’ll be the Avitras runner between all our factions, negotiating the borders and the peace agreement. I’ll see you all the time. You’ll be sick of the sight of me.”
Emily blinked back tears, but she couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m happy for you. I only wish you weren’t leaving.”
Aimee put her arm around her cousin’s shoulder. “We would be saying good-bye even if I went back to the Lycaon.”
“What about us?” Chris asked. “You could be the runner for the Lycaon. What will we do without you?”
Aimee laughed gently. “Anybody could be the runner for the Lycaon, and the warriors don’t need me anymore. I was never really settled with the Lycaon. You know that as well as I do. I’m going to a much fuller life with the Avitras.”
Chris lowered her eyes. “I know.”
Aimee exchanged hugs and kisses with all her friends. “This isn’t really good-bye. It’s see you later.” She cast a glance over her shoulder to where Piwaka waited for her at the treeline. “I better go. We have a long journey ahead of us.”
“And no one to welcome you when you get there,” Emily added.
“I’ll be all right.”
Aimee turned to go, but at that moment, Turk’s shout made them all jump. “Incoming!”
A ball of fire streaked over the far eastern horizon, rocketed across the sky, and plunged below the western horizon. Smoke dissipated in the sky, and sparks crackled and faded in the air.
The friends exchanged glances. “What was that?”
A deafening shriek answered them, and the blazing fire ball exploded over the eastern horizon again. It vaulted high into the clear blue sky with a flickering tail of flame trailing behind it. Then, with a thunderous explosion, it slammed into the ground right in front of them.
The ground shook with the impact of a thousand earthquakes and threw all the friends to the ground. Dust and rock rained down all around them. Aimee cowered with the others and covered her head with her arms. Penelope Ann crawled toward them. “What happened?”
Marissa raised her head. “It must have been an asteroid. Look at the crater over there.”
Mountains of soil and uprooted trees lay heaped around the impact site, but a low growl rumbled out of Turk’s throat. “That was no asteroid. It was a space craft.”
The planet lay quiet under their feet, and one by one, the friends lifted themselves off the ground. They peered across the plain at the round hill. Something black shone in the center of the crater. Aimee moved forward to take a closer look, but Donen grabbed her by the arm. “Don’t.”
“We should look,” she told him. “Someone could be hurt in there.”
Donen frowned at the crater. Then he whirled away and snatched a case sitting on the ground nearby. He tore it open and started shoving so
me small metal cylinders into everyone’s hands.
Aimee looked down at the thing. “What are you doing? What is this?”
Emily shifted her cylinder to her right hand. “It’s a phase reciprocator. It’s a weapon.”
“What do we need weapons for?” Chris asked. “We should see if there’s anyone on board. They could need medical treatment.”
Donen took the last reciprocator for himself and hit a button on its side. “No one is going anywhere near that ship. Stay right where you are and arm your weapons. Stand ready to defend yourselves and the planet from invasion.”
“What are you talking about?” Aimee asked.
Donen pointed toward the crater. “That’s no ordinary space craft. It’s a Romarie ship!”
Chapter 18
The friends took their positions in a line facing the Romarie ship. Donen went down the line and showed each person how to use their weapons, and just in time. A humming noise sounded from the crashed ship.
“If anyone’s alive in there,” Donen murmured, “they’ll be working to get out. We have to be ready for them.”
No one moved. No one breathed. Then an almighty clang echoed across the plain. The ship shuddered, and one gleaming black panel slid back. Aimee clenched her teeth, and her hand tightened around her weapon. Could all their peace efforts end like this, with the Angondran factions fighting together to repel the Romarie?
She steadied her hand and aimed her reciprocator at the ship. Another panel slid aside to reveal a bright metal door. Faded memories fluttered through Aimee’s mind of her time on board the Romarie ship that brought her to Angondra. She hadn’t seen much of the ship at the time, but she recognized the door latch. What would come through it? Would this moment spell the end of her hopes for a happy life on this planet?
Donen raised his reciprocator. “Get ready.”
Another crash reverberated through the stricken ship, and the door latch snapped. Another metal panel slid out from under the door and formed a ramp to the ground. Then, with a hiss of rushing air, the panel shot back to reveal a shadowy cavern inside. Before anyone could react, five Romarie rushed through the opening. Aimee recognized their purple coloring, and they had no arms. They ran down the ramp, over the rim of the crater, onto the plain.
They ran with their mouths gaping open, and a feral shriek set the hair on Aimee’s neck on end. The Romarie ran in wild panic from their own ship. They cast their eyes one way and then the other, and when they spotted the group nearby, they headed straight for them.
“What’s wrong with them?” Carmen asked. “Are they hurt?”
Renier charged his reciprocator and pointed it at the oncoming Romarie. “Shoot them all down. Don’t let them come near us.”
“They may be hurt,” Marissa suggested. “They certainly aren’t armed.”
“Don’t be fooled,” Penelope Ann replied. “They have telekinetic powers, remember? They can attack us and kill us without weapons.”
Donen raised his weapon, too. “Fire.”
He squeezed his reciprocator, but before it could go off, another group of figures appeared in the ship’s open doorway. Aimee gasped in surprise when she recognized human women. They rushed down the ramp and planted their feet on the ground. Each woman carried a huge gun. The weapons were so heavy they used both arms and all their strength to support them.
Donen lowered his weapon, but only slightly. Seven women stood arrayed across the plain, and he brought his weapon back up in a hurry when they leveled their guns across the crater. He opened his mouth to call an order to his friends, but he never got the words out.
The woman in the center of the group said something to her companions, and every one of them fired. The blasts streaked across the crater toward Aimee and her friends. Aimee aimed her reciprocator to return fire, but the blasts struck the Romarie instead. In an instant, all of them lay motionless on the plain. Puffs of smoke rose from their charred bodies.
The friends stood open-mouthed. The strange women held their weapons ready to fire again, but the Romarie didn’t move. The woman in the center said something else to her comrades, and they advanced on the fallen Romarie.
The woman surveyed the friends with flashing eyes. She and her compatriots poked the Romarie with their guns, but they were dead. Only then did the strange women lower their weapons.
The woman in the center nodded to the group. “Who’s in charge here?”
Donen looked around. His own mate, Aria, Renier, and Carmen stood on one side of him. Caleb and Marissa, Turk and Chris stood on the other side. Piwaka, Penelope Ann, Aimee and the others completed the ground. Donen swallowed. “None of us is in charge. We’re all friends here.”
“Who are you?” Aria asked. “How did you get onto that ship?”
“I’m Sophie Dean, from Oshkosh, Ohio.” She arched her eyebrows at the women. “You’re human, aren’t you? How did you get here?”
The women exchanged glances. Who should answer? Marissa broke the silence. “We were all abducted by the Romarie. Most of us crashed here on the way to the slave markets. We’ve been here ever since. You are welcome here, too. This planet is inhabited by peaceful people who have made us welcome.”
Sophie nodded. “Thanks, but we won’t stay. The Romarie abducted us, too, but we mounted a revolt on board and seized control of the ship. We were planning to execute the Romarie and fly the ship back to Earth when they managed to land here. I guess it was their last chance to escape. Now that they’re all dead, we’ll go ahead with our plan to ride the ship home to Earth.”
“How will you do that?” Emily asked. “The ship must be disabled.”
Sophie shrugged. “I don’t think so. When it crashed, I only had time to run a check on the electrical system before the Romarie tried to break away. It was fully operational. Samantha over there is an aircraft mechanic with Boeing back in San Antonio. She’ll take a look and fix anything that’s wrong. I’m sure we can get the old boat to fly.”
Marissa blinked. “I always thought the Romarie operated their ships by telepathy.”
“We all thought the same thing,” Sophie replied. “But after we got control of the ship, Samantha found out it isn’t true. They just have different controls for everything. She learned how to fly the ship.”
“How did the Romarie manage to land here?” Chris asked.
“We had them locked in a storage compartment,” Sophie replied. “We planned to kill them as soon as we figured out how to fly the ship, but they must have hacked the computer system through the wall. We couldn’t stop them before they entered orbit around this planet.”
Carmen shook her head. “This is amazing. And now you’re flying back to Earth, just like that. It doesn’t seem possible.”
Sophie looked from one face to another. “You could come with us if you like. There’s plenty of room and plenty of supplies now that the Romarie are all dead. You don’t have to stay here.”
The women looked at each other, but no one answered.
“How long have you been here, anyway?” Sophie asked.
Carmen looked at the ground, and Penelope Ann gazed toward the trees. Marissa answered. “We have been here for years. We have families and children here. We’ve been very happy here.”
“That’s lucky for you,” Sophie replied. “I hate to think of the other women the Romarie must have taken from Earth. Who knows where they ended up? But you all must have families and friends back on Earth. They’ll be wondering where you are. They’ll be happy to get you back.”
Marissa glanced at Chris and Aimee. Carmen stole a glance at Renier, and Emily took Faruk’s hand. “I don’t know about my friends, but I’m staying here. I’ve got all I need here. Thanks for the offer, though.”
Sophie turned to the others. “What about the rest of you? Does any of you want to come back to Earth? This could be your last chance.”
No one moved. In the end, Aria took a step forward. “We’re all
happy here. We’ve made lives for ourselves here, and we’ve worked hard to make this planet our home. We’ll stay here.”
Sophie let a puff of breath out through her lips. “I don’t understand it, but I won’t try to argue with you. I never expected to find humans out here in space, but I can see your minds are made up.”
Aria shook her hand. “Thank you. I hope you have a quick and easy journey home.”
Sophie shot her a grin over her shoulder. “I don’t suppose it would do any good to tell anybody back on Earth where you are or that we’d seen you.”
Aria smiled back. “I don’t think so. If I was you, I would find a way to get back so no one knows you were gone. The fewer questions asked the better.”
Sophie nodded and hefted her gun onto her shoulders. She kicked the nearest Romarie corpse. “You don’t mind if we leave them here, do you?”
Marissa waved her hand. “Leave them. They’ll be dust in a few days, and no one will know they were here.”
Sophie and her friends strode back to the ship. They waved to the friends, and the door slid down in front of them. The black outer panels slammed into place and sealed them inside. A whine of machinery burst out of the hull, and the ground quaked. In a moment, the whole hulking vessel lifted out of its crater and levitated into the air. It hovered overhead for a long moment, turned, and sailed away over the eastern horizon.
The friends watched until the ship faded to a speck in the sky and finally disappeared. Anna sighed. “They’ll be having pizza for dinner in a few weeks.”
“They’ll be shopping for bikinis and talking to their friends on their cellphones,” Marissa added.
“And they’ll be spending Christmas with their families,” Aria put in. “That’s the part I miss the most.”
Donen eyed her. “You could have Christmas with your family here—whatever that is.”
She smiled up at him. Her eyes glistened. “You’re right. There’s nothing stopping us.”
Rohn (Dragons of Kratak Book 1) Page 71
