As if he was in a bottomless pit, he could hear his father’s voice in faint echoes. It was a chant in the ancient language. Soon the soft mantra was joined by the rebels around him.
So deep in despair, he was barely aware of the tug on his waist as his father drew his belt from his pants. Zon took the thick strap and gently weaved it under Aimee’s arm and then across Zak’s forearm, fastening them together.
Zon touched that binding strip and continued his chant, regaling the tale of the first deities to settle on Ziratak. A man and a woman, whose love was so complete that upon their death they took the form of two suns and forever watched over their planet and their flock of children.
I’m sorry, Zer-shay. I envisioned this being a magical moment between us. I dreamed about it. I don’t want to ever be apart from you. I want us to be as one.
Bending close and pressing his lips to her ear, he whispered, “I love you.”
On a final summation, Zon drew the ceremony to a close. Traditionally, there would be applause and hugs. On this day there was silence and weeping.
Blood soaked the ground around Zak’s knees. If they were back on the Horus she could so easily be saved. Raja would whip up a serum to coagulate the blood. Fusion rays could reduce the laceration to nothing more than a faint scar.
Raja.
When she had spoken of the healing serum for solar ray trauma, she had also been experimenting with another vaccine, a concentrate that could work in minimal doses. With just the tip of a needle she had healed the wounded paw of a sumpum, a gaping laceration that spread across the spongy sole of the furry creature.
What if she had infused that serum with the potion Aimee carried?
“You,” he heard Zuttah shout over his head. “Take ten men and continue down the river. We can’t underestimate them. Make sure they are all gone. If there are survivors, they could not have gotten far.”
With no other tangible options, Zak freed one hand and reached into Aimee’s pants pocket for the small vial. Parting her shirt at the waist to reveal bloodstained flesh, he opened the vial with his teeth and suspended it atop her stomach.
“Yes,” Gordy urged in a whisper nearby. “Please work.”
A clear liquid dribbled onto her flesh, leaving a white rivulet in the pool of crimson.
Shaking the vial upside down until it was empty, he pitched it onto the sand. That was it. Barely three drops.
Reluctantly, he slipped his arm free from the belt that bound them so as to return it to her wound. Her pulse was weak, and perhaps it was his overwrought imagination, but the stream beneath his fingers seemed to ebb as if there was little left to flow out—or the heart just stopped circulating it.
With his free hand, he fisted his fingers in her loose hair, dropping his head until their foreheads connected.
“Come back to me,” he commanded.
Her pallid cheek moistened from his tear. The wisp of her breath was so faint.
A hand landed on his back, jarring him, but he ignored his father’s support. He also ignored the distant shouts, and the constant drone of rushing water. Paying no mind to the sympathetic murmurs, or the whistle of wind against sand, he pressed his head closer—listening—listening—waiting for her to answer.
Something tickled his cheek. An insect? Had one of the cursed zing centipedes crawled up from the sand, already looking to claim her?
No. There it was again. Soft, like a feather. He drew back far enough to study her face and found himself swimming in a tumultuous ocean. Sea-green eyes stared up at him. Was she gone?
“Aimee?” he whispered, incredulous.
Long dark lashes fluttered, casting spiky shadows beneath her eyes. They had been the source of the brush against his cheek.
“Zak?” she croaked.
It took all the strength he possessed not to weep at that sound.
The hand that was fisted in her hair now cupped her face, while his other remained steadfast in its lock against her stomach.
“Zer-shay?” He touched his lips to hers. Still cold.
When he drew back, she was staring up at him, her eyebrows furrowed.
“What happened? The Korons? Are
they—”
“Shhh—” his throat closed.
Withdrawing his hand from her abdomen with the same trepidation as yanking a stick from the dam, he eyed her wound. There was no fresh blood. Had Raja’s serum worked?
“You did it, Aim. Your dam worked.” It was so hard for him to speak—to get words past the emotion clogging his voice. Keep it casual.
Relief eased the lines around her eyes. “Thank God,” she drawled weakly.
Her gaze shifted, catching the worried looks of Gordy, Zuttah, and Zon. She hastened back to Zak’s eyes.
“What—?” Her stare widened in fear. “Did we lose many? Who—who did we lose?”
Zak’s head collapsed into his palm. A hasty prayer was offered to the suns above for restoring this beautiful creature. Rather than answer and reveal his stilted voice, Zak parted her blouse and inspected her stomach.
“That tickles.”
It was remarkable. The wound was merely a faint crescent across her sleek abdomen. At the accelerated pace in which it was healing, he wondered if it would even scar.
“Zak?”
Her voice was coming back. And once it did he knew it would not stop.
It made him the happiest man in the universe.
Chapter Fifteen
“We’re bonded?” Aimee looked up at Zak from her reclined position in his arms as he carried her towards the foothills. “And I missed it?”
“Well—yes.”
His neck, which her arm was wrapped around, felt hot to the touch.
“But, I know someone who is capable of performing the ceremony again,” he defended.
Zak and I are bonded.
Aimee beamed with delight. Her arm hooked tighter around his neck as she leaned in, pressing her chapped lips against it.
Unleashing one hand, she reached down to scratch her stomach. Damn, it itched.
“Zak, you can put me down. We’ll make much quicker progress if I’m walking.”
“Are you implying that I’m slow?”
Long shadows trailed behind the legs that trudged purposefully across the sand. Over Zak’s shoulder she saw Gordy in an animated conversation with Zon, and beyond them she witnessed the splendor of the Zargoll. Its meandering stream now charged with tiny whitecaps from the current. With the influx from the mountain, it had been transformed to nearly a thirty-foot wide bed. As long as nature could continue feeding it without interference from the Korons, the river would thrive as it once had. The banks would grow fertile again. Life would return. Images of grand stone architecture and beautiful people dressed in white flowing garments filled her mind, just as Zak had depicted.
Broadening her search, a final indication that the Korons were gone was the fact that anyone possessing a shield had it resting atop their heads. With this barrier removed, she was able to study Zak’s pensive profile. Sunlight danced across his eyelashes. Shadows accentuated the straight line of his chin. A muscle pumped in his jaw, and dark hair curled up at the ends from perspiration.
“We’re bonded,” she repeated in awe.
There it was—that fleeting glimpse of a dimple. He hooked a quick glimpse at her and that smile twinkled in his eyes.
“Yes we are.”
Scratching her stomach again, she bounced with the urgency of his stride.
“Why are you in such a rush? I thought you had wiped out the Korons. Are you afraid there are others out there?”
The cleft in his cheek evaporated. “We will worry for a time that there are others unaccounted for, but what is left is by no means a substantial threat. We can manage them now, and they won’t come near the river. Believe me...they are stupid creatures, but they will avoid the Zargoll now at all costs.”
“Then why are we practically sprinting towards the mountains?”
; As if suddenly conscious of his wide stride, Zak reduced his pace.
“Maybe I’m eager to get you back to the cave,” he nodded towards the mountain. “After all, we are bonded.”
Aimee laughed and hugged him tighter. But, a peripheral glimpse of Gordy’s anxious expression stole her mirth.
“As much as that notion delights me, I don’t think that’s why you’re in a hurry.”
When he did not elaborate, her patience dwindled.
“Zak. I want to walk.”
Pain lanced his face. “I can’t chance that.” His step faltered. “Aimee, you were seriously injured today. Your recovery is a—miracle. I will carry you back to the Horus where they can examine you properly.”
“The Horus?” She sat up as straight as possible in his arms and felt his muscles strain to accommodate.
“You want to know the urgency?” he challenged. “We are practically past the window to catch up to the Horus. If we miss it—”
“—it will be five more years.”
“More or less. Ziratak has different rotations than your planet, but still, it will be a long time. We have to take off immediately.”
Aimee’s head bobbed with his stride. It jarred the exotic landscape—a horizon rich with a blend of coral sand and lavender foothills. In the distance, the majestic white-capped peaks of the crater mountains loomed like a stockade. The pungent smell of fresh humidity clashed with the heat of the desert as the Zargoll charged by.
This was a beautiful planet.
“We can stay here, Zak. This is your home. You worked so hard to save it.”
Amber eyes pinned her. “This—” he gazed into the distance, “—this is not my home. It was as a child, but I spent most of my life aboard a ship. And as much as I am fond of the Horus, there’s still something missing there.” He hesitated and his voice dropped. “My—home—is where you are.”
Aimee’s throat clenched. Bonded.
“You are my home too,” she whispered. “If we don’t make it back to the Horus, we can live happily ever after right here.”
“Listen to me,” the strain summoned lines around his lips, “you don’t know how badly you were injured. The wound may have closed. You may be healing. You may very well feel just fine...but we do not have the resources here to verify that. At least, not yet. Soon they will rebuild here, and the technology will return—but I will not leave your welfare to chance. I want you back under the superior care of the scientists on the Horus. I want Raja to see what she has done. If she tells me that you are okay—then, maybe I’ll start to relax.”
It was hard to conceal her grin. That was so Zak. Before she could respond, he was talking again.
“And we have to get Gordeelum back to his family. Of course, he’s not eager to return because he knows he will be sanctioned to his chambers for the next ren, if not the next twenty.”
Which was all her fault. She looked over Zak’s shoulder at the blond hair gleaming under the suns like a pot of gold. She should have stopped Gordy. She should have tried harder.
“You’re right, Zak.” Guilt besieged her. “We have to get him back.”
Now she was edgy. She fidgeted in his arms. By the sheer virtue of him having to carry her, she was holding up their progress. She wanted to run ahead and get started. Already, Wando’s calculations were siphoning through her brain.
“We have a problem,” she announced.
“I imagine we have many,” he smirked at her expression. “What one are you adding to the pile?”
“A vacuum. We need a vacuum.”
A vacuum? His lips formed the words.
“Wando said that old terra duster can only take off inside a vacuum—because—because—” she snapped her fingers, “—the area needs to be void of ionized particles. The duster would basically choke to death in this oxygen, and never get off the ground. Once in space, it will be fine.”
“I understand your concern,” Zak mentioned quietly, “but could you lean into me rather than trying to stand up in my arms?”
“You can put me down,” she countered with a smile.
Zak grinned back.
“Terra duster?” A voice called from outside the scope of Aimee’s view. “Did you say, terra duster?”
A beard jutted out beside Zak’s shoulder. Increasing his gait, the profile of a man emerged. Zon drew his graying hair behind his ear and cast her a keen look.
“I haven’t seen a terra duster since I was doing my apprenticeship. You know they’re not supposed to fly, don’t you?”
Aimee leaned forward in Zak’s arms and he grunted at the shift in weight.
“Yes,” she said. “But we redesigned it. It will work, except for the whole ion drive problem.”
Zon jogged to keep up with Zak’s stride. The terrain had altered as they reached the foothills and the granular surface made the incline a slippery one.
“Where is the duster?” he asked, leaning forward to meet Aimee’s eyes past Zak’s bicep.
Ahead a carpet of boulders and bush grass climbed into a thicket of white-trunked trees, and behind that grove, the austere mountain face spouted a waterfall from its core. Shaded ravines carved paths in the slope, like a zebra’s hide. And in the distance a grassy ridge rolled like a giant putting green.
When they first arrived, there was so much chaos embroiled in their landing, but she was certain they had set down on a grass plain similar to that field.
“I think it’s over there.”
“Don’t worry, Zer-shay, we know where your ship is,” Zak assured.
“Zer-shay,” Zon mused. “I used to call your mother that.”
Wincing, Zak continued, “It’s just over that ridge.”
“And you’re going to carry me uphill, on these loose rocks?” she challenged.
Opening his mouth to respond, Zak was interrupted by his father. The man had an enthusiastic gleam in his eyes. “Can the terra duster still use its rudimentary skills?”
“What do you mean?” Aimee asked.
“It was designed to hover over the ground, not fly. Originally, its purpose was for farmers to maintain their crops. In essence, it was a utility vehicle to transport equipment. Can it do that? Can your duster move if we need to relocate it?”
“Ummm—” Aimee replayed Wando’s endless dialogues over in her mind. Had he mentioned that simple function?
“I really don’t know. Our sole intention was to get it into space.”
Zak was shaking his head. “I still can’t believe you risked your life like that. You didn’t even know if it was going to work.”
“Oh bah. It worked, and here I am, saving your sorry ass.”
There was a delay until she saw him recall the translation of ass. Zak’s eyebrows hefted and he laughed. “What’s so sorry about it?”
Aimee rolled her eyes. “Men and their egos.”
A commotion ahead alerted her.
“There it is!” Gordy yelled, charging over the knoll.
“Now, if you’ll just put me down, I can try to answer your father’s question.”
The older man’s eyes volleyed between them, a smile toying with his lips.
“Actually, I know how to operate one,” Zon inserted. “Quite well. I can help.”
Reluctantly, Zak drew his gaze away from Aimee.
“Really?” he questioned.
“That’s great!” Aimee gushed.
Zon laughed at them and patted Zak’s back. “At some point you will need to set her down.”
Stricken, Zak uttered, “I can’t. Not yet.”
Father and son’s eyes connected. Zon clasped his shoulder. “I understand,” his tone was solemn, “I really do.”
Zak lowered his head and she felt his arms constrict around her. In answer she looped hers tight around his neck and leaned into the warm skin at the base of his throat. She tilted her head, brushing her lips along the patch of flesh just below his ear.
“I’m okay,” she whispered. “And I love you so mu
ch.”
Zak came to a halt. He lowered her legs to the ground, but looped his arm tight around her back in case they failed her. With that grip, he drew her against him as he dipped to caress her hair with his lips. “And I love you.”
“I’ll just go see to that terra duster,” Zon murmured, backing away.
Unaware of that retreat, Zak continued. “I almost lost you. Do you have any idea how concerned I am right now?”
She stroked the back of his neck in assurance. “Yes. You hold yourself together like a Warrior, Zak—but your eyes can’t hide your emotions.”
“They used to. It’s the blasted solar ray,” he mused with a faint smile. “Or maybe I had no emotions back then.”
“I’m okay.” She squeezed both sides of his head. “I’m okay. And we will figure out how to get Gordy back to the Horus, and then—”
“You made it here in this?” Zon’s voice pitched in the distance.
Zak glanced over her and shook his head. “You do realize that I would have never let you take off in that.”
Aimee craned around to view the tarnished elephant. With its shell burned from the approach to Ziratak, and the series of pockmarks and dents that dotted its hide, it looked like the offspring of a wooly mammoth and a leopard.
“And yet,” she murmured, “you’re about to board it with me, so you must have some modicum of faith.”
“In you—yes.” They watched his father squat down and bang his fist on the protruding foot of the craft. “I’m not sure how much he knows.”
“Well, his son had to get his smarts from somewhere.”
* * *
“We have to move it?” Was his hearing going as well as his eyesight?
Zak waited for his father to elaborate.
“Yes. It appears to be inoperable in a traditional hovering capacity.” Zon waved towards the mountain. “We need to get it to that cave that sits up above the ridge. You know the one—it has a wide cliff overlooking the valley.”
So that if you take off from it you could plummet to your immediate death.
Beyond : Series Bundle (9781311505637) Page 41
