by Maia Starr
LAND SENTINEL TERIK VUNA
"Any word on Lieutenant Rix’ whereabouts?" King Jarith Rykor asked me.
"No, after his escape we have kept guards searching for him in the vicinity, as well as here on Mooreah. I am sure he will turn up." I said to him.
"Good, keep on top of it. But my word is final on Captain Mordikye. Continue to question him until he breaks down and gives the information about the illegal cargo and whom it was sold to. We also need to know who on Earth gave it to him."
"Yes, King Jarith Rykor. I understand you loud and clear. Captain Mordikye is to be prosecuted and endure life in prison. He will be subjected to questioning until we know the truth, however long it takes. The navigation system was pulled from his ship and we should be able to pull the records, even though they attempted to wipe it clean. We have data diggers that can work around it. We should know exactly where the ship has been in a week or two. I shall return to Sala to carry out your orders," I said to him.
"Good, keep me informed," King Jarith Rykor said as he left my side. I walked out of the conference room, ready to depart back to Sala.
"Sentinel Vuna, I have been looking for you," Luqan said as she approached me out of breath.
"Luqan, when did you arrive? I did not give you leave to come here to Mooreah from Sala," I said to her sternly. I needed someone on top of taking care of Captain Mordikye and that situation and I trusted Luqan.
"Yes sir, I know that. But I knew that this was too important to sit on. I knew that time could be of the essence and also your happiness," she said to me. I stopped in my tracks and turned around to her and said, "What are you talking about?"
"This," she said as she handed me a page. I looked it over and my eyes grew wide with shock. I could not believe it! Could it be true? I would have to run this by the king, but I couldn't be happier.
"Where did this come from?" I asked Luqan.
She smiled a big smile and said, "It just came in from the registration office. It seems that Dr. Adriana Adams had you down as her number one choice for husband. The registration office has been contacted and knows of Adriana's new situation. They have allowed her to match with one of her other choices, and since you had responded and chosen her in return, they have granted you permission to marry Dr. Adriana Adams and take her as your human female wife."
I was in complete shock. How did the registration office know what was happening? I had not given Adriana access to a communication line to tell them, though it was on my list since she had requested it. This was too good to be true. Now that I had orders from the king to lock up Captain Mordikye forever, Adriana was legally free to take a new husband. Now the registration office on Earth had granted her permission to wed a new match, and that match with me. I could not contain the smile that was on my face.
"You're welcome Sentinel," Luqan said smugly.
"Make sure that my ship is prepared to return to Sala. In the meantime I am going to go look for Dr. Adriana Adams," I said to her.
"Yes sir, right away," she said walking away.
I found Adriana sitting at a table examining a small piece of flagion that she had collected from the ravine. It was a memento of our special day together in that ravine, my favorite place. Just thinking about it made me feel passionate all over again, especially now that I had good news for her.
"Adriana," I said as I stood next to her.
"Sentinel? I'm sorry I did not see you there. Are we to return to Sala?" She asked.
"I have something to show you," I said as I handed her the page.
"What is it? I cannot read Drackon," she said to me. "I am ready to go back to Sala with you, but I have not heard back from the registration agency, Queen Marissa had allowed me to call them on a communication line."
"That is what this page is. Adriana, I know that you made me your number one choice. But what you do not know is that I also chose you, not as my number one choice, but as my only choice. I had never chosen any human female before until I saw your photo and read about you. I knew that you were a match with me. But by the time I responded to the registration office you were actually landing on the base with Captain Mordikye."
Her eyes were wide with shock. Those brown eyes that had me from the very first time I saw her photo. She was silent and said nothing.
"I thought you would be happy to hear this news, Adriana."
She came out of her frozen state and said, "I am. I really am. It just seems too good to be true, Terik. I want to be with you, and nothing else seems important other than that. I just wasn’t expecting that it would actually happen. I thought I would be sent back to Earth."
"I feel the same way. I wasn’t expecting it either. The King has ordered Captain Mordikye to be in prison forever. You are free to marry another. The registration office on Earth has given you permission to marry me. Will you Adriana? Will you be my human female wife?"
"Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!" She said as she threw herself at me, jumping up and putting her arms around my neck. Her legs wrapped around my waist and I picked up and kissed her hard. It was a long and sensual kiss that said in movements what we could not say in words. It was official. She was mine. No one could take her from me, not even Captain Mordikye. Nothing was going to ruin this for us. Finally something good had come of this complex scandal of illegal cargo, and I would do it all over again to end up with her. I finally pulled away from her as I thought about the situation that was still my responsibility. I had to get back to Sala and deal with my new orders from the King. But I had to admit that a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders now that I had secured Adriana as my own. Not only secured her, but found out she WANTED to be with me. She was going to be my human female wife, and we would spend our days together examining and studying the land. I knew that great adventures were yet to come with her. I smiled and looked at her beautiful face and pushed my fingers in her hair.
"I must go. The King has me under urgent orders to return to Sala and oversee this business with the captain. You should stay here, and I will return for you when I am done with this responsibility. The King and Queen are more than delighted to have you as their guest. Besides, if you are with me on Sala I will not get any work done. You are too much of a sensual distraction. I can’t keep my hands off of you," I said to her putting her back down on her feet.
"No! I do not want to be parted from you. Will you not take me back with you? I can stay in my old living quarters while you work, and you can come to me at night. Please Terik," she pouted her lips at me and I could not say no.
"How can I say no when you're looking at me like that? Those lips..."
"Good, I am ready," she said with a big smile. I knew that I would give her anything at that moment, now that I knew she was going to be mine. I would never deny her anything.
Chapter 10
DR. ADRIANA ADAMS
I walked into my living quarters on the base at Sala. I had been gone less than forty-eight hours, yet it seemed like a lifetime, because of everything that had happened. Not only had I coupled with Sentinel Vuna, but also the registration office had come through for me. I was going to be his wife. It was official. I no longer belonged to the criminal Captain Mordikye. I now belonged to my first choice husband, Land Sentinel Terik Vuna. I was astonished to find out that he had chosen me in return and he had done it before we had met. I knew that was why he knew me that day on the Beti, but I didn’t want to admit to myself that I would have such good luck with him. If I had known that he had chosen me in return things would have been so much easier. I began to wonder if I was a source of the very first fight between Mordikye and Terik that day when Terik nearly beat him to death. Was it because he was angry at seeing the one and only human female he had ever chosen as a wife, with the Captain? I smiled to think that I had that effect on Terik. I felt happy and complete. It was everything that I had hoped for the first time I saw his photo and read his biography, but there was something still very wrong. I was on a mission to find the fl
agion rocks. I had done it. I had reported it. Now, I felt like a big betrayer, not only to Terik but to the Drackon weredragons who had taken me in. The king and queen were so hospitable to me and trusted me and I had betrayed everyone. I wished that I had not made that communication line to Richard. But I did not foresee that I would actually be allowed to wed Sentinel Vuna. I assumed that I was going to be sent back to Earth, and I did not want to go back there without taking the chance to further my career with the flagion. Now, I had made the choice to marry Sentinel Vuna, because as soon as he told me the agency had contacted him I knew that I loved him. I knew that I had fucked up. I had to figure out a way to warn him about the plundering of the ravine without incriminating myself. Was it possible? I didn't even know what Richard would do with that information, if anything. What if I confessed to Terik and then Richard and Xander Black actually took no action on plundering Mooreah for flagion? Then I would have confessed for nothing and lost the love of my life. No, I couldn't do it.
I paced my living quarters feeling hot and flustered by this problem. I was going to ruin everything if I didn’t do this right. I opened the French doors to the outside to let in the cool night air to calm my anxiety. I stepped out onto the small balcony and looked up. There were billions of stars like glitter in the sky. It nearly took my breath away. I had been so preoccupied with my own drama that I had not looked up at the night sky since I arrived in the alien world of the Drackon. Suddenly it felt like everything would be okay.
Boom!
The doors caught on the wind and slammed against the wall. Suddenly, Mordikye was standing in front of me in dragon form.
"Mordikye? What are you doing here?!"
"No time to answer questions Adriana," he said as he picked me up in his arms and flew into the sky. I squirmed, "No! Put me down! What are you doing?! Ahhh!"
"Be quiet," he said as he put a hand over my mouth with his other arm around my waist. I did not know what was going on and I was frightened. Minutes later I was in the Beti and he was shouting orders. Lieutenant Rix strapped me into a seat. The engine roared to life and the Beti shot forward into space. I could not believe what was happening. Just when I was about to have happiness with Terik, it was suddenly taken away. This criminal had snatched me out of the night, and now I was floating into space. Did anyone even know I was gone? What if Terik thought I left with Mordikye on purpose? Shit. What if he didn’t find out I was missing until I was far away, never to be found? I was thinking these thoughts when suddenly the Beti was bumped hard. It was another ship.
That is how I found myself in the middle of a firefight between the ship Beti, commanded by Captain Mordikye, and a smaller speed ship that Terik was in as he tried to hunt down the captain and reclaim me. Now, the Beti was behind Terik’s ship, and Captain Mordikye yelled fire!
I grabbed onto the joystick that controlled the ship and with all my weight pulled it to the right. The entire ship quickly went diagonal and everyone went flying. The fire lasers that left the ship did not hit the ship in front of it. I had succeeded. Red lights alarmed everywhere!
"It's the engine! It's shutting down," Lieutenant Rix shouted. "They must have installed a disabler. They might have known we were going to steal the ship!"
"Shit!" Captain Mordikye shouted. Then he looked at me and growled "Were you with him? Were you with Terik? What did you do with him? You are mine!"
"No I am not! You do not own me! Let me go. Give it up! The ship is going nowhere. You have been caught," I said to him. He grinned a menacing grin and said, "Good, let me be caught. I want to see Terik face-to-face so that I can kill him."
"No!" I shouted.
"Take her away! Lock her up until I come get her. Prepare to be boarded by the enemy, fire at will!"
I kicked and screamed as they were taking me away. I could feel the ship being reeled in by a beam, tracking us in. I knew that any moment Terik and his guards would be boarding the ship and there would be an all out fight. Captain Mordikye was set to kill him.
Suddenly I heard the sound of blasters and battle. I was frightened. I was never going to see Terik again. It was all too much to handle. I had to get out of this locked room but it was no use, I was stuck. Then it became eerily quiet. Tears began to flow down my face, as I knew exactly what it meant.
The door opened. I was shocked by what I saw. There standing in the doorway, bloody from battle, was Terik. I ran into his arms.
"I thought I was never going to see you again, Terik!"
He placed kisses on my head. "I thought the same thing. I couldn't handle it. My heart couldn't handle i,t Adriana," he said, as he picked me up and carried me out of the Beti and into his ship. He gave orders for his guards to return both ships to Sala. The fight was over.
"I thought Mordikye was going to kill you. He said he was going to try to kill you."
"He tried. He failed. I killed him. It is a great loss. There was much information that I needed to get from him, but he gave me no choice. It was either him or I, and I had a wife waiting for me. So I had to do what I had to do," he said to me.
I kissed him hard and passionately. Moments before I had thought I would never kiss these lips again, so now I was going to cherish every sensation I was feeling. I would not take this for granted. He was the one; he was my number one, my first choice husband.
Chapter 11
LAND SENTINEL TERIK VUNA
It had been a week since Mordikye had stolen Adriana from Sala, and from me. We were back on Mooreah and dealing with the aftermath. I had come closer to solving the cargo mystery and found out it was an element called plutonium. But I did not know who Mordikye had received it from on Earth, or whom he sold it to. It was going to take some intergalactic investigations. There was much work to be done. But one thing was certain, I was going to marry Adriana Adams and because of this I could not be happier. We were in our living quarters just south of the castle on a Mooreah.
"I am very happy, Adriana," I said as I gave her a kiss that morning.
"So am I, Terik. I will be happier once we are wed and I am officially yours," she said to me. I liked hearing those words from her mouth. After almost losing her to Mordikye, I had learned to appreciate her more and more. She was too good to be true. Not only was she a beauty and set my passions on fire, but we had the same interest in the land.
"Sentinel! Sorry to bother your morning. It is an emergency!" Luqan burst into the living quarters. It was unlike her to be so brash and I knew that something very important must be happening, very dangerous.
"Luqan! What is it?!" I said running to her side.
"Scouts spotted a cargo ship over the Duton ravine. They are not Drackon cargo ships. We are unable to identify where they are from. But it is clear that they are taking large chunks of flagion into their cargo hold. The ravine is being plundered!"
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Adrianna sit down quickly as though the wind had been knocked out of her. I knew she loved that place and that must hurt her to know it was being destroyed. My anger was at a high-level because that place was special to me as well, especially after what she and I had done there.
I ran to the panel on the wall and opened a communication line to the military base and shouted, "This is Land Sentinel Vuna! I need a battalion of fifteen ships with as many warriors that can be spared sent to the Duton ravine! It is being plundered by an unknown race. Take hostile action is needed. Go now!"
"Yes sir, right away! Launching now!" The base master shouted back.
"Luqan! Get my ship ready!" I shouted at her.
"Yes!" She shouted as she ran out of my living quarters. I quickly dressed pulling on my boots while Adriana grabbed my arm. There was an enormous amount of fear in her eyes.
"Terik! They are there to steal large amounts of flagion!" She shouted.
"How do you know?" I asked her.
"Because I am the one that told them where to find it," she said as she began to cry. "I am so sorry, Terik. I didn't think they would c
ome. When I told them my circumstances were different. Everything was different. I'm so sorry. I was excited about the discovery. The power that the flagion holds on Earth is unimaginable. I am a geologist and I was sent to find it here and promised that I would be able to study it on my return to Earth. But then everything changed, I met you and I fell in love with you. You must forgive me."
"How could you? You are not the woman I thought you were! You are a criminal! You are just as bad as Mordikye! Who are you? You have fooled me!"
"No, it is not like that, Terik. Please, you must believe me. I beg you to hear me out. The way it happened is not the way you think. I did not use you and manipulate you. I know it looks that way but…"
I cut her off. I was pissed. I was outraged. But most of all, I was hurt and my heart was broken. She had used me and I fell for it. I even put my life at risk for her, and she was playing me all along. But I had no time to deal with this when I had to stop the theft from happening. "Get out of my way. I have work to do," I said as I pushed her away. She fell to her knees and cried.
