“That confirms it, then,” he said. “We’ve arrived before Meria was even founded.”
Lashyla shook her head. “Where are the maidens?” she asked in a sudden, panicky voice.
“They haven’t even been born yet,” he whispered.
She shook her head, and he squeezed her in a tight hug, holding her still. “Lashyla, I think all those people you knew, or most of them, anyway . . .” He took a breath as the truth really hit him for the first time. “They’re our descendants.”
Her eyes grew wider still. “Our . . .”
“That sculpture that was here, that was us. We were the first king and queen of Meria.” He smiled faintly and gestured broadly to the dark and lonely halls of the city. “We have a lot of empty space to fill.”
Lashyla broke free of his embrace and turned in a quick, dizzy circle. He watched shock warring with confusion on her face. She cast a fearful look behind her, as if the empty corridor might suddenly be filled with some unseen terror. “Everyone is gone?”
“Everyone.”
She turned slowly back to face him, and then they just stood there, separated by a few paces, staring into each other’s eyes and quietly sharing their shock. After a long while, Lashyla cracked a wry smile. “Not everyone is gone.”
He cocked his head, and she reached up to circle her arms around his neck and pull his lips down to hers. Then she kissed him, long and passionately, and when she finally broke away so that he could breath, her eyes were shining with hope, and her lips were stretched into a broad grin. “I still have you, Aurelius. You are my everyone.”
Aurelius grinned back at her and pulled her close, kissing her fiercely, and for the first time since he’d met her, he didn’t try to fight the rushing warmth of feelings he felt for her. He didn’t have to. She wouldn’t be like the other maidens had, constantly looking for a new man to mate with. The strange culture and politics of her people had disappeared. Her world had narrowed down to population one—so had his—and somehow, it didn’t matter to either of them. It just felt right, and that made their world population two.
Other Books by Jasper T. Scott
Dark Space
HUMANITY IS DEFEATED
Ten years ago the Sythians invaded the galaxy with one goal: to wipe out the human race.
THEY ARE HIDING
Now the survivors are hiding in the last human sector of the galaxy: Dark Space—once a place of exile for criminals, now the last refuge of mankind.
THEY ARE ISOLATED
The once galaxy-spanning Imperium of Star Systems is left guarding the gate which is the only way in or out of Dark Space—but not everyone is satisfied with their governance.
AND THEY ARE KILLING EACH OTHER . . .
Escape
Kieran Hawker is a junior prospector on the frontier of civilized space, just trying to escape from all the things that weigh him down: his father’s death, his brother’s enviable success, and his best friend, Jilly’s, indifference to his long-standing romantic feelings for her. At just the right time he catches a lucky break, finding a tetrillium-rich rock in an uncharted belt, but everything is not as it seems, and as time goes by, Kieran realizes the horrible truth: he wasn’t the only one trying to escape. . . .
"This is Kieran Hawker, piloting the transport, Interloper, requesting permission to dock." There was a long, hissing pause on the other end of the comm, then came the whisper of a reply:
"Get. Help!" It was so softly spoken against the background of static, that at first Kieran had trouble making out the words, and he wondered if maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.
"Say again, control?"
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