Spending the next hour scheming, Maiko made sure she had all the necessary information loaded onto her holographic com device. She strapped a laser pistol onto each hip under her billowing formal gowns. For good measure, she stuffed her trusty dagger into the front of her robe. She didn’t anticipate needing such advantages but was quickly learning to be prepared.
In the absence of her brother, her choice of guards was solely her own discretion. It felt good to make decisions for herself. She chose a compliment of six younger and more malleable guards. They were less likely to challenge her when the time came to act. She took her two most loyal female attendants. Both had been with her since she was a child.
Leaving strict orders for all their remaining entourage to be sequestered in their room, packing everything she and Mamoru owned, got her a few strange looks but none balked. She turned grimly to the task at hand. This was one adventure she suspected they wouldn’t return from.
She stood on the landing pad as the Shardon shuttle hit the ground with a light thud. Turning to Rose and Jen, she tried to find the right words to say a final goodbye. “No matter what happens to me, don’t tear yourself up about it. This is what I want. I’m tired of living in someone else’s shadow.”
Jen nodded, holding back tears. “Grab your destiny by the balls and kick its ever-loving ass.”
Rose was more tearful and less inclined towards rough speech. “Like Jen said, grab yourself a slice of life and enjoy. Here, take this. Hitting the red button will take you through the set up.”
Maiko watched as Rose snapped a small metal cuff around her wrist. It was pretty and must have some purpose, though she was too distracted to worry about it at the moment.
“Take care of yourselves and I wish you well with the babies.”
Both pregnant women stepped back and her attendants adjusted her dress as she walked up the gently sloping plank.
Upon approaching the Shardon ship, Maiko was relieved to find it was the same one who had treated Jen. Seeing strange new faces would have made things harder. The clone named Jacob approached her at the docking ring.
“We are pleased you decided to have your vision corrected. I have everything in place for the procedure.”
They made small talk all the way to the medical center. The procedure was performed as she sat in a specially designed chair. Several optical lasers ran over her eyeball and in a matter of minutes, it was finished. Everything that had been blurry was now clear. It turned out to be a metaphor for her life, she thought wryly.
“I wish to speak to the person in charge of this vessel.”
Jacob looked momentarily taken aback, but recovered almost immediately. “Our leader is Shar Jalon. He insisted upon protecting Korban’s brother himself.”
She was taken to a conference room and another clone joined them fairly quickly. He stopped in his tracks upon seeing her. Stumbling slightly, he stepped forward as he noticed her assistants and guards.
“Is all well, imperial Earth princess?”
“All is well, Prince Jalon. I would like to ask a favor of you.”
“If it is within my power to grant, I will be happy to accommodate you in any way possible.”
“I wish to join the armada at the eastern front.”
“I am uncertain if this is a safe course of action for you take, princess. The darkness continues to swallow everything in its path.”
“I thank you for bringing issues of safety to my attention. However, I would like you to escort me in spite of any reservations you may have. I know you will think me naive, foolish, or flawed in the way of Krylon females, but I can assure you I am not. I have studied similar phenomenon and I believe I may be able to render some assistance in this matter.”
“I will speak with the alliance and we will determine if we can spare the ships for this endeavor.”
“Any assistance you could provide in this matter would be greatly appreciated. I would also like to contact Prince Oracha.”
Without comment, he dialed the holographic com unit to the correct frequency. A disheveled but smiling prince appeared on the view screen.
“My little dancer, it is nice to see your pretty face. We are doing all in our power to hold back the darkness, but our efforts are in vain. The entity has thus far absorbed a space station and several battleships. Nothing we throw at it is stopping its slow progression towards the Krylon home world.”
She made a motion to shove her nonexistent glasses up. “We are looking at this from our own perspective, believing it is intentionally heading for our world. I believe it is moving, but not particularly towards any world. We need to get it to change direction slightly.”
The prince nodded his understanding. “Change the trajectory to a direction that avoids populated worlds.”
Exasperated at the pace of the conversation, she corrected him. “It’s more than maneuvering around one world. We will need it to maneuver around all worlds, for if you remove one from orbit around a sun, there is no way to anticipate what kind of effect such a change will have on the remaining worlds.”
“You are correct. Such was our assessment as well.”
Regarding her curiously, the clone asked. “Do you actually have a plan of action, princess?”
“I believe the ancient guardians of light encountered this phenomenon before. We have had this idea that the ancient guardians were some species of space explorers who happened across populated worlds and shared their genetic material with those they found most worthy.”
Oracha stated matter-of-factly. “It is the common explanation for why some people are formed like us and others are not. It makes more sense than any other theory.”
“Well, try this one on for size. What if an ancient race encountered a strange anomaly? When they stopped to have a look, they realized it was swallowing up world after world, blinking millions of lives out of existence in a heartbeat.”
As the importance of her words slowly sank in, she spoke again. “What would happen if you were the one ship that noticed what no one else did? What would you do about it?”
Shar Jalon’s head came up and his dark eyes peered into her very soul. “We would sound the alarm. Save as many people as possible. Study the anomaly and try to…” His voice trailed off. “You think they found a way to destroy it?”
“I think the ancients fashioned a device to steer it slightly. I believe they took it upon themselves to be the GUARDIANS OF LIGHT, meaning they followed the anomaly and made sure it didn’t eat any more worlds. They didn’t share genetic material with us because we were worthy, but rather because they were desperate. Trying to keep their ship populated and enough resources flowing in to sustain them would have taken a virtual armada. They probably had smaller ships stopping at different worlds, sucking up resources, creating us to help them.”
The prince’s voice took on a tone of genuine awe. “Gods of chaos, it explains everything that was a mystery until now.”
Maiko nodded. “I believe they created huge light-refracting devices designed to nudge the darkness. I have identified three worlds with artifacts that fit the story. No one has ever been able to explain why three such similar artifacts were found on different planets or for what purpose they were placed there.” Pulling up a star map, she highlighted all three worlds. They were located in an arc in the path of the anomaly.
“All the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.” Shar Jalon’s voice sounded in their ears. “Our alliance has agreed to support you in your quest to join the battle. The Sylon home world is in danger of being sucked into the darkness as well. This we will not permit.”
An angry voice sounded off. “Hold on a damned minute. I forbid you to come here. It is dangerous.”
Maiko turned to Shar Jalon. “I have our belongings packed and ready. When do we leave?”
“I said no. Is anyone listening to me?” Yep, the man was getting ready to blow his stack.
“We can leave immediately, if it meets with your approval.”
/> “Estimated time until arrival?”
“It will take three and half years if we remain aboard this vessel. We are to rendezvous with a Krylon battleship under the command of the alliance in thirty-seven microns. You will have twelve ships at your disposal and the trip to the front should take around two hundred microns.”
Doing the math in her head, she estimated they were about two hours from the Krylon battleship. “You have my thanks. We will need to stop at three worlds along the way.”
“You will collapse your cloning units and take them with us.”
The prince had given up his argument against her coming to the front. Now he just sounded morose. “What use could that possibly serve? We do not require additional warriors.”
Standing, Maiko leaned over the conference table and looked him right in the eye. The prince straightened as if he knew something life altering would come out of her mouth.
“Forget ruling Krylon. Such was never your destiny.”
She watched him struggle to understand her meaning.
Stepping forward to look at his gigantic face on the view screen, she hit him with it. “We are now the Guardians of Light, you and I.”
Instead of the total meltdown she had expected, she watched his lips curve into a slight smile. That’s when she knew, he was her one.
CHAPTER 11
~ ORACHA ~
MAIKO MUSIC MIX SONG ELEVEN
“You shouldn’t have come.”
“It’s nice to see you too, sweetie.”
The female was infuriating. She was beautiful, smart, and daring as well. But in his opinion, infuriating was at the top of the list. “You were supposed to wait for me on the ship.”
“And you were supposed to pick me up on the way down to the planet. Since you didn’t, I commandeered a shuttle and came down myself.”
“Will you never follow my lead?”
She sincerely appeared taken aback. “Don’t be absurd. I’m in charge of this mission.”
Tilting his head knowingly, he responded curtly. “If that is so, why do I lead the armada?”
“Okay, how about a compromise? You can be my general.”
“How about you let me do what I do best, lead?”
Stepping back, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine, lead the way.”
Closing his eyes, he counted to twelve. He had absolutely no idea where he was going. “Fine, you can be in charge of this one mission on this one planet.”
Throwing up her hands, she stated nonchalantly. “Great. I’m in charge. Maybe next time it can be without all the unnecessary male posturing.”
Jerking his head in her direction, he commented. “No Krylon warrior has ever murdered a female in cold blood before. I thought you might want to know this, since you are being a real slin about this whole who’s in charge thing.”
“And you wonder why we’re not sleeping together. This would be why.”
Stretching his neck, Oracha tried to get rid of the pain there with her name written all over it. What had he ever seen in her that made him think for a second of bedding her?
She stumbled on the rock facing as she entered the cave of enlightenment. Stepping forward, he grabbed her by the hips. “Careful, beautiful, you don’t want to twist an ankle.”
Smiling sweetly at him, he found himself forgetting all about this shifty attempt to leave her behind on the ship. He probably deserved the last verbal exchange for being deceitful. Giving her a little hoist, she cleared the lip of the cave in one leap. Her ass sure looked good in those form-fitting pants. They hugged her body all the way down her legs. Her oversized shirt had a cute face on it. Her long dark hair was divided into two halves and pulled up into long strands. It was a good look for her. Climbing up after her, he tried to remember what they were after. Oh, that’s right. They were looking for ancient artifacts to save a billion lives. It sounded like an action adventure vid, even in his own head.
Someone bumbled into him, knocking him aside. It was the strange clone, Shar Jalon. He didn’t care for the way the man rushed to Maiko’s side or hung on her every word. In fact, he was busy trying to figure out a good place to stick his blade when Trajon’s voice hissed a warning.
“You may not kill the clone, so stop daydreaming about it, my prince.”
Chortling a laugh at the older warrior’s keen observation, Ora removed his hand from his blade and approached the enthusiastic pair.
“Well, how convenient could it possibly be to steal this artifact? It is lying right out in the open.”
Maiko rolled her eyes and rushed over to a small group of natives. They shared an animated conversation, going back and forth as if debating. An older male in the group blanched and made the “take it away” gesture as the others nodded their agreement. She bowed to him, earning her a gentle smile.
“We’re good to go. He gave it with his blessing and commanded we use it to save innocent lives.”
Eyeing the huge metal contraption, Oracha scratched the back of his neck. “Easier said than done. This thing is huge and the weight must be several thousand kelver.”
“It must be moved carefully. We cannot risk damaging it.” Leave it to Shar Jalon to state the obvious.
Motioning several men forward, Oracha crudely strapped hover boards to the long calendrical object with the intent of levitating it off the ground.
“What a clever idea. I never would have thought of such a work around.”
Smiling he teased. “Does that mean I’m officially in charge again?”
Chewing her bottom lip, she responded playfully. “Sure. You can be in charge of all the heavy lifting.”
Who was he kidding, Oracha loved her light playful side. It kept them from spiraling down into a dark depression over their current no-win predicament. The loss of life on the space station had been mitigated because he had ordered an evacuation. The two ships were Terillian freighters who wouldn’t listen. It had been a sobering slap in the face, alerting him that he didn’t have control of the situation.
Suddenly, a small pair of arms slid around his waist. His entire body tensed as he realized Maiko was laying her head on his chest. Unsure what was precipitating this latest gesture of affection, Oracha quickly brought his arms up around her. Nuzzling his face into her hair, he murmured supportive words.
“Everything is going to be okay. We’ll have the other two devices in no time.”
Turning in his arms, she peered up at him, all smiles and innocence. “After we’ve secured them, we still have to figure out how they work.”
“The Shardon might have the best medical technologies in the verse, but few species have better tech than the Krylon.”
“We’ll unravel the mystery one step at a time.”
“I like the thought of us traveling the verse, protecting worlds from begin sucked in the anomaly. We could be happy living a life of action and adventure together.”
Turning her back to him, she leaned into his embrace. “We’re not going to get a choice about this. We might as well think of it as a gift.”
Reveling in her scent, it hit him she was becoming the most important thing in his world. “It’s quite a responsibility for two people who, just a couple of lunars ago were running from responsibility.”
Her laughter hit him square in the heart. “Necessity is the mother of all invention.”
Before he could unravel the meaning of her cryptic words, his men levitated the huge device and floated it out of the cave structure.
CHAPTER 12
~ MAIKO ~
MAIKO MUSIC MIX SONG TWELVE
“You’re stepping on my heels again.” The man was infuriatingly overprotective. Hovering over her so close she couldn’t breathe was bad enough. Actually, stepping on her was an entirely different matter.
“Move your pretty little ass or you’re going to lose it.” God, how she hated when he picked her up and ran off with her. Yet, he did it for the third time in as many days. Wrapping her arms around his neck and w
rapping her legs around his waist, she hung on for dear life.
Ora looked like pure eye candy, sporting his new duds. She’d put him in some Earth clothing, circa twenty-first-century adventurer and he looked fantastic. The man could run faster than a racehorse. Cutting her eyes to watch him out of the corner of her eye, she sighed. One of the natives had hit him with a poisoned dart, yet again. Reaching over, she plucked it from his right pectoral muscle. He barely seemed to notice. They’d both taken anti-venom serums, so at least she didn’t have to worry about them dropping over dead or any other adverse reaction.
Finally, he stopped and dropped her to her feet. “Thanks, Tarzan. What a thrill ride!”
Pulling out his three-dimensional imager, he flicked open a topographical map. “Tarzan better mean sexiest male alive, or I’m going to spank that pretty little ass of yours again.”
Rubbing her backside, she glared at him, unable to remember why she thought he was so adorable. “You have inordinately large hands and I don’t appreciate…”
“That is not all I have.” Grabbing her hand, he brought it to the bulge in his pants.
A couple of weeks ago, she might have been shocked by his behavior. Krylon men were sexually aroused by danger and a proximity to females. It was only natural he would sport wood after carrying her from a bunch of rampaging aliens. Giving him an appreciative squeeze, she purred. “I could help you with your little problem. Be happy to do it, since you’re my hero and all.”
More poison darts flew past them and he grabbed her up again, barking a complaint as he took off running. “I’m beginning to think you only ever offer me sexual favors when you know I can’t accept.”
Grinning madly, she thought to herself. He ain’t wrong about that. Zigzagging across a plain of blue grass, he stopped near a huge pit in the ground.
Standing straight up in the middle of it was their artifact. Bringing his com to his lips, Oracha spoke to the small craft that had brought them to the surface of the planet as he threw a sticky homing device down next to the huge contraption.
While they waited, Maiko studied the artifact. It was similar to the first one, but there were some major differences. This one was the exact same metal but little flippers opened around the device, covering the entire outer hull of the device instead of only on the top half.
Celestial Mates Complete Series Box Set (Books 1-5) (Alien SciFi Romance) Page 35
