Defying the General

by Maddie Taylor

  “Thank you, Lana,” Adria murmured once they were outside, walking the few blocks to town.

  “What for?”

  “Making him happy. For too long we’ve had darkness, and despair, and very little hope.”

  Tears filled her eyes as she glanced at the woman who on Earth would be the equivalent of her sister-in-law.

  “Don’t start,” Adria warned, “or we’ll both be blubbering.”

  Laughter floated up from Lana’s throat. “It’s amazing, as much as we are different, we’re also alike. We use the same term where I’m from.”

  “I agree. To be from opposite ends of the universe and be so similar is truly remarkable.” She put her hand out, bringing them to a halt at the bottom of the stone steps of the capital center. “We’re here,” she said while passing her a square of soft woven fabric. “Dry your eyes or word will get back to Trask his mate was weeping in public and he’ll hold me responsible.”

  Lana dabbed at her eyes and wiped her cheeks. When done, she looked up and asked, “Better?”

  “Much. Now, we better get going if Jarlan is expecting you. Like most men, our physic doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

  ADRIA STAYED WITH HER in the exam room until the physic arrived. But with the med-bay and hive of activity today, he put her to work elsewhere.

  “But Trask requested I stay,” she argued while he essentially pushed her out the door.

  “The general isn’t in charge here, Adria. She will be safe in my care, and I’ll arrange her escort home.”

  His tone brooked no further debate, and with an apologetic glance her way, she hurried off. When the door closed behind her, and she was alone with the physic in the small examination room, he leaned back against the counter and studied her.

  “I see your fair skin has fallen victim to our twin suns, I’ll give you a preventative cream to soothe the burn, but you’ll have to be cautious from now on.”

  “I had the same problem at home, so I’m used to taking precautions.”

  “I could call you General Trask’s mate,” he said, with a kind smile, “but I’ve learned human females prefer a first-name basis, as long as it’s their own.”

  She imagined that would bother some of the others, but she didn’t mind it so much.

  “Please call me Lana.”

  “And I am Jarlan, the lead physic. I treated you aboard the Reliant on the journey here, but Trask tells me your memories haven’t come back yet.”

  “I had hoped when the other symptoms passed they might return, but I remember only bits and pieces from the morning after the capture until I awoke in Trask’s stateroom on the ship hours later. He filled me in on the details, but not having my own memories is very disconcerting.”

  “I imagine. No further headaches and stomach upset?”

  “None.”

  “Good, good,” he murmured as he picked up a handheld device that looked very much like a tablet. His fingers flew over the touch screen, pausing now and then to study one thing or another. Then he nodded. “I won’t keep you long. The samples I'll take today, and in the coming months, will help me monitor your adjustment to our environment. I like to use a proactive approach with a focus on prevention of problems and early identification of health issues should they arise.”

  “Trask explained; I understand.”

  He moved across the room and opened a recessed wall cabinet. “You’re not squeamish about blood, are you?”

  “I’d prefer to keep it on the inside where it belongs and I don’t have to see it.”

  “Understood,” he said with a chuckle. “We don’t use needles like I’m told you do on Earth, but the device can be intimidating. It won’t hurt. However, you may want to close your eyes.”

  That didn’t sit well with her, and she was on the verge of changing her answer about an upset stomach when he approached with what looked like a weapon in his hands.

  “Are you sure it won’t hurt?” she squeaked.

  “It isn’t as bad as it looks. I’ll place it over the large veins in the bend of your arm, and—” He stopped. “You’ve become pale; perhaps you should lie down.”

  She shook her head, held out her arm and closed her eyes. “Could you do it fast and not talk about it? If you do, I might not get sick all over your floor.”

  He gripped her wrist, she felt something cold on her skin, and then a rush of warmth accompanied a faint whooshing sound.

  “All done.”

  She opened her eyes when he released her. He’d gone back to the counter, already, his back to her, the phlebotomy gun out of sight, thank goodness.

  “That’s amazing. It didn’t even hurt.”

  “As I told you. I’ll want you to check in every few months, but I’ll remind Trask when it’s time.”

  More doctors, more blood. Just great.

  “I’ll summon a warrior to escort you home.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yes, for now.” He gathered his sample and the tablet, and with a nod, was gone.

  Left alone, Lana climbed up on the table again to wait.

  Time dragged, and becoming impatient, she got up to pace.

  When an hour passed, and no one came for her, she figured she’d been forgotten. She went to the door and peeked out. The hallway was crowded and men in the black-and-white medical tunics were rushing every which way. She ventured out, and no one seemed to notice.

  She stopped one man and asked about her escort. He looked at her in surprise, appearing a bit flustered before he rushed off saying he would check. He never returned either.

  “This is ridiculous,” she muttered, heading for the main door. “I can walk a few blocks on my own.”

  Leaving without anyone saying a word, she walked out of the clinic area and down another busy hall to the doors where she and Adria had come in. Outside, she was down the stairs on strolling down the sidewalk in minutes.

  It was a beautiful day, sunny and a perfect 75 degrees by her estimate. With only more gardening awaiting her at home, she veered off her path to a park across the street. She took in the manicured grass and flower beds bursting with color, and the startling though beautiful blue and yellow trees lining the perimeter. She found a bench and settled in to people watch.

  Beyond the park was a row of busy shops with men and women going about their business like any small town back home. Noticeably absent in the scene were children. In the time she sat there she only saw one, a boy. She felt for Trask and Adria, and the others who had suffered such loss.

  As she sat there, lost in thought, a parade could have tromped by without her knowledge. It took a shadow crossing her face and blocking out the sun to draw her back to the here and now.

  “He lets you out alone.”

  The sun was behind the back of the woman in front of her, casting her face in shadow. Lana threw up a hand to block the glare but didn’t have to see her to know her identity. “Eryn!”

  “Hartman,” she said in a hard voice and took a seat on the bench next to her. “It appears you’ve drunk their alien Kool-Aid as well.”

  “What?”

  “You’ve obviously embraced your Primarian captor, and all is good in your world.”

  She frowned at her accusatory tone. “I wouldn’t say that.”

  “Really? Where is your guard?” She jerked her head toward the warrior who stood nearby. “You move about freely; he must trust you for a reason.”

  Immediately on the defensive, Lana threw out an arm toward the capital center behind them, the hub of power for Ariad and the entire planet. Considering their Princep lived there, and the ruling council met there, it was like the White House and Supreme Court rolled into one.

  “Have you looked around to see where we are?”

  “I know precisely where we are, and who they are, but that doesn’t mean I’ve rolled over and accepted this as my fate.” As her voice rose, the guard shifted. Eryn stiffened and faced front, speaking to her in a harsh whisper, low enough so the warri
or wouldn’t hear. “Good God, Lana, what is wrong with all of you? We have a mission to complete and a duty to our people. It’s like in your sex-drunken state, you’ve forgotten our lives before coming here.”

  “What do you expect us to do? There are so many unknowns; we don’t know how things work, how they communicate, or their security. And if we did, there is still one essential piece of the puzzle missing; we don’t have a ship. Lack of opportunity doesn’t mean I’m a traitor, Eryn.”

  The chief stared back at her as if she’d grown horns and sprouted a tail until, abruptly, her expression changed. “You don’t know.”

  “Know what?”

  Wrapping her hand around Lana’s upper arm, she stood and pulled her to her feet. She moved them both toward a small grouping of trees several feet away, and farther from the guard.

  “Where are you going, female?” her guard barked. “You will not leave my sight.”

  “Calm down, warden,” she shot back as she twisted toward him. “We are light skinned and don’t do well in the heat of your twin suns. We’re moving into the shade, not perpetrating an escape.”

  He grunted, stalked to the end of the bench they’d vacated, but stopped there.

  “Damn shadow,” Eryn grumbled, while turning back. When she continued, she pitched her voice low, so he couldn’t overhear. “Eight against their numbers is daunting, I agree, but we number three hundred as of today.”

  “What? How?” Lana exclaimed.

  The fingers on her arm tightened. “Keep it down,” she insisted. “The bastards went after the Odyssey and took the others captive. The few they already had weren’t up to the task of global re-population, evidently.”

  “No. They wouldn’t.”

  “How can you say that? They took us, what’s a few more when they have males needing mates.”

  “Trask didn’t say a word.”

  “And why would he tell his captive of his plans? He only needs you to spread your legs and spawn his children.”

  Lana pulled her arm free and faced her chief. Beautiful, with bright-blue eyes and porcelain skin, she didn't look the part, but was a soldier, through and through, and tough as nails. As angry and belligerent as she was, her time with one of their dominant warriors couldn’t have been easy, but that wasn’t Lana’s experience. “I saw the collar, Eryn. It was awful, and I can only imagine what you’ve been through, but Trask doesn’t see me that way. He is kind; he wouldn’t—”

  She cut Lana off by catching her chin and forced it up, searching her face—specifically, her eyes.

  She dropped her hand and stepped back, a look of despair crossing her features. “You’ve changed.” As suddenly, her mouth took on an unpleasant twist, and she didn’t lower her voice for her parting shot. “Which tells me you have accepted a lot more than your fate. I hope his cock is worth fucking over the entire human race.”

  Tongue-tied by her crude condemnation, she could only stare as her chief walked away, her guard dogging her heels.

  “Lana!”

  Hearing her name coming from the opposite direction, she glanced over to see Adria hurrying her way. “Thank the Maker I found you. We’ve been looking everywhere. Why did you leave?”

  “I needed air. After waiting for an hour in that tiny room, I was getting claustrophobic.”

  She hesitated, staring at her in confusion. “I don’t know what that is.”

  “The walls were closing in,” Lana explained.

  “If you have such an ailment, I can’t imagine how you survived three years in space.”

  “The Odyssey was a lot bigger than the closet you call an exam room, Adria.”

  “Trask mentioned it was a small ship; I assumed...” She held up her hand. “We don’t have time to discuss claustro-whatever now. The clinic is in chaos today. It delayed things longer than acceptable, still, you should have told someone instead of leaving without saying a word.”

  It dawned on Lana why Jarlan never came back and sent Adria off to help, and why the technicians were all in a tizzy. The clinic was busy processing the nearly three hundred additional members of her crew.

  “Jarlan was in a panic and ready to alert Trask. We better get you back before he does.” She grabbed her wrist and pulled her along behind her, much like her brother often did.

  “If he’s so busy, why can’t I just go home?”

  “Because he told Trask he’d watch out for you and get someone to take you home. And, because he’s the lead physic. He treats the Princep’s family and all the leaders personally, including the general. You didn’t wait as he instructed, so now you’ll have to soothe his ruffled feathers and beg his forgiveness.”

  “Didn’t you hear how long he kept me waiting? He should be the one begging my pardon.” They reached the stairs, Adria taking them too fast for Lana to keep up. “Can you slow down, please? You’re almost as bossy as your brother, and, like him, forget I’m not over six feet tall and don’t have legs a mile long.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, adjusting her pace, though not by much. “But I’m trying to keep you out of trouble. You don’t want him to tell Trask, or you’ll be apologizing to two irritated males.”

  Lana doubted that in either case. She was angry at Trask for keeping the news of the Odyssey’s capture from her, and Jarlan could get over himself. “Your females do a lot of ass-kissing I’ve noticed,” she muttered between panting breaths.

  “What’s that?”

  “Soothing ruffled feathers,” she said more loudly, “and apologizing.”

  Adria shrugged. “We’ve found it’s easier to let them think we’re complacent then go about doing what we want anyway—within reason.”

  “You manipulate them, while they keep you under their thumb. Doesn't that get old?”

  This time she stopped and turned. With Adria more than a half foot taller, Lana always had to look up, but with her standing one step higher, she had to crane her head back to meet her eyes.

  “I can see how it might seem that way to an outsider, but just because our ways differ from yours, doesn’t mean they are wrong. Our males can be domineering, especially our warriors, that isn’t in question, but they are also caring and staunchly loyal.”

  The very definition of wrong was holding captive three hundred females who were free people, but she didn’t debate that with her. She’d reserve argument and outrage for the general of the Primarian Army.

  Instead, she countered, “Don’t they have to be loyal once mated?”

  “Yes, we were endowed with a foolproof system to ensure fidelity.”

  “A blistered you-know-what will do that, I’m sure.”

  She smiled, cheeks pinkened. “I was referring to the mating fire. With an inextinguishable desire for your lifemate why would you ever think to stray? Also inherent to the males of our species is a need to protect and our women to nurture. Neither is a bad thing as both are necessary for our survival. When the tragedy occurred, both instincts intensified because we were helpless to do what was ingrained in us. Does that make sense?”

  “Yes.” Lana couldn’t fathom what it would be like to lose so many at one time, and then to suffer through the long, painful aftermath. “Your tragedy has gone on for two decades.”

  Her lips curved into a sad half smile. “We overlook their domineering ways because they are determined to keep us safe from anything so horrible again. In return, they bend when they can because we need something to plug the vast hole in our lives.”

  Children, something “unlikely” for her and Trask. Adria couldn’t know how close to home her words hit.

  The utter sadness of her tale and the pain in her eyes stirred Lana’s already-raw emotions from all she’d discovered today—check that, all she’d discovered in the past hour. The tears bubbling beneath the surface welled up and overflowed.

  Adria moved down to her step and clasped her hands. “I’m sorry. I didn't intend to lecture, and I certainly didn’t mean to make you cry.”

  “It’s all
so heartbreaking.”

  “Yes, it was an awful time. I didn’t experience it directly, but I lost my mother, and my chance to be a mother. But you give us hope of a future, Lana. Through you, I will have the chance to love and spoil my brother’s children and see our next generation blossom. And ultimately, Primaria will flourish once again, which is truly a blessing.”

  The knowledge that Adria would probably never see those children or experience that joy was like a hand reaching into her chest and yanking out her heart. If she didn’t have one, this would be so much easier to bear.

  She cleared her throat to keep from choking on her words. “For someone so young, who has lost so much, you’ve kept a remarkable optimism.” She tried to lighten the moment by adding, “Except when it comes to gardening, that is.”

  Her smile flashed, so much like Trask’s it was uncanny. “Does being gloomy and negative get us anywhere? No. Besides, I was raised to think positively, and to never give up, even when fate drops adversity in your lap instead of good fortune.” She nudged her with a hip. “My big brother taught me that.”

  She didn’t even try to fake a smile. Adria had given her the answer, using words similar to Trask’s. Because he was the honorable man he was, he’d take the mate dropped in his lap and try to make something positive out of it.

  “Come on. We need to get back inside. And try not to dwell on the sadness of my story. You look like someone shot your pet purrada, and that surely will get back to Trask.”

  Feeling physically ill, she let Adria lead her by the hand back into the med-bay. When Jarlan readily accepted her apology then insisted on running a few more tests, Lana knew she looked as bad as she felt.

  Chapter Seven

  ON THE BACK PATIO, one of her and Trask’s favorite spots, Lana reclined on a lounge chair where she’d been since the warrior escorted her home hours earlier. She stared up at the Primarian night sky, inky black except for the countless stars. One of them wasn’t a star at all, but the orbiting space dock. The Odyssey was undoubtedly moored there tonight; so close, yet so far.

  She suspected somewhere in the city, Eryn was thinking about it, too, her mind in overdrive, plotting her strategy for escape.