Jex

by Maia Starr

  Now she was safely inside the belly of the mountain with the leaders. I raced toward the front lines ready to take on the Waysaw maniac that was trying to come for her.

  “Commander Trent Qoln; I'm coming in. Tell me what you know,” I said as I approached our battalion spread out over the outlands. We had the vantage point because we were already perched on the cliffs. Looking down over the Flatlands that led to the Waysaw City, you could see the Waysaw soldiers in battle speeders racing towards us.

  “This battalion is led by Commander Jenku Vade. His ship is on the right about four lines in,” the soldier reported over the radio.

  “Copy that. I am going to take out the commander. The rest of you hold the line. We can’t let them get to the village. Squads four, seven, and forty, I want you on the outside of the battle watching and chasing any stragglers that stray from formation to head to the village in lone battle style. You know the drill,” I said.

  “Yes, Commander,” I heard in responses.

  “Fire at will!” I shouted. We were the ones to fire first. We fired upon the Waysaw. They fired back. The battle had begun. I flew past flying laser blasts with my focus on Jenku Vade. No way in hell was he going to get away. As I flew toward him, his ship suddenly went high and shot over the battle. It was leaving the battle behind and heading for the mountains. I knew what he wanted. I knew that he was after Samantha. He was using this battle as a distraction and taking off to the mountains himself. He must have thought all our forces were out here, but they were not. We had many battalions at the village ready to greet him.

  “Where do you think you are going? You are not getting anywhere near her,” I said as I turned my speeder and raced after his ship. When I was in range, I fired shots directly at the engine. I wanted to bring that ship down. The ship went into evasive maneuvering.

  “I'm going to get you no matter what. He will not have her! She is mine,” I said as I maneuvered with the ship and continued to fire. Finally, I made a fatal blow to the ship. It went down, crashing into the outlands and skidding across the rocky terrain.

  I circled over the ship, waiting for the soldiers to come out. But I could not wait any longer. I had to get rid of him once and for all. I landed the speeder right next to the ship.

  “Jenku Vade!” I shouted as I got out of my speeder.

  I shouted his name again. After a few seconds, he crawled out of the rubble. He stood and faced me.

  “Commander Qoln, I thought you were dead,” he said.

  “You wish,” I said.

  “There is no need for this battle. I only come for the human female that you rebels have. She is my property. She carries my child,” he said.

  “Yes, the human female that I have been bedding. I see why you want her back,” I said.

  He growled. He did not like hearing this. It was precisely why I had said it.

  “She is mine. You will never touch her again. Hand her over, and this battle will be over. You do not want more to die just for one human,” he said.

  “No, only one more needs to die,” I said as I shot my blaster gun toward him. He ducked and jumped across, landing on the ground and rolling. He pulled his gun and shot at me, and I ducked out of the way. We shot at each other, and I used the speeder for cover, and he used the wreckage of the ship. He was a good shot, nearly hitting me. So was I. We were equal in our gun skills. We weren't going to get anywhere like this. I had to get closer.

  As soon as he reached to recharge his gun, I charged at him. I jumped on him. We wrestled across the ground. I pulled my knife and held it above his neck, but he stopped me with his arm. I applied pressure as he pushed back. We rolled again across the ground wrestling, punching, and fighting.

  “You will not have her. She is mine. I will make your child my own,” I said.

  Jenku had a burst of rage. He pushed me off of him with a growl. He jumped on top of me and took my knife. He slashed at me, getting me in the arm, but it was just a slice, not too deep. I quickly grabbed the knife from him and shoved it into his side. He stopped fighting. He rolled onto his back.

  “As I said, only one death needs to happen.” I pulled the knife from his side and then slit his throat. He died with a gurgle and a menacing growl. Finally, my enemy was dead. Finally, Samantha was safe.

  I picked up the heavy Waysaw and pushed him into my speeder. It was grotesque, but it was the only way to stop this battle. I flew back to the middle of the battle and hovered low on the ground. I kicked him out of my speeder and flew away. It was obvious that the Waysaw were able to identify their commander. Within minutes, they retreated from the battle. We had victory. I had Samantha, and Earth still had its ambassador.

  Chapter 15

  Ambassador Samantha Gaines

  Waiting in the emergency bunker was hard. I paced back and forth while the leaders told me about the details of how they conducted battle, but I could barely listen. The only thing I could think about was Trent. I just wanted him to return to me.

  Hours had gone by, then finally we heard the news.

  “We have victory! The Waysaw have retreated!” a soldier announced when he opened the door. Everyone cheered. We piled out of the emergency bunk, and I could not run down the hall fast enough. I ran all the way out into the blinding sunlight. The battalions were returning. I was looking for Trent, but all the speeders look the same to me. Injured were being brought in on gurneys. I ran up to every soldier wondering if it were him.

  “Looking for me?” I heard the familiar voice.

  I turned around to see Trent standing there. There was a bandage around his arm, but nothing else except dirt and grime on him.

  I ran to him, but he stopped me and stepped back with wide eyes right before I was ready to jump on him and plant kisses on him.

  “Remember where we are,” he whispered to me.

  I stopped right in front of him. He was right. This was still our secret, that we were together, and it was still forbidden.

  “I am so happy to see you, Commander. What happened? Are you alright?” I asked with a smile.

  “I am all right. I have a knife wound to my arm, but that is all,” he said.

  “Come inside and I will see to your injury,” I said with a wink.

  “Thank you, Ambassador. I could use your help,” he said. I led him to my dwelling. It was hard to restrain the happiness I felt until we walked in. All I wanted to do was kiss him and hug him. I opened the door to my dwelling and then closed it and locked it behind us once we were inside. I turned to him, and our bodies crashed together as he put his arms around me. His lips pressed against mine. I kissed him with such longing and appreciation that he had returned.

  “What happened? Tell me everything,” I said pulling my mouth from his but not my body.

  “He is dead. I killed him myself,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Jenku Vade: he will never bother you again. You are free; you are truly free,” he said.

  I broke out into tears. “Really? He's not going to come for me ever again?”

  “No. I killed him. I watched him die. He will never harm you again. You’re free to raise your child without that monster hunting you,” he said.

  “Oh, thank you, Trent. Thank you. I don’t know what to say. You have saved my life more than once now,” I said crying.

  “I would do anything for you, Samantha. I love you. I am in love with you. There's so much that I want to tell you. I don't know how we can make this work, but we will make it work. No matter what, it is going to be you and I,” he said.

  “Us?”

  “Yes, us,” he said.

  “Oh, Trent, I love you too,” I said.

  We kissed again. We kissed over and over until I felt like I was going to pass out.

  “Let me see to that arm now,” I said pulling away.

  He groaned. “Do we have to now? I have other needs, you know,” he said looking down at his crotch.

  “Yes, now. We don't want it to get infected.
Follow me to the washroom,” I said.

  I cleaned his wound and bandaged it and prepared a bath for him. I washed the dirt and blood of war off of him. I realize that some of this blood was not only his own, but it was also the blood of the father of my child. I felt some guilt in depriving Jenku Vade of his child, but I knew it was the best for the child. Being raised by a monster, he would only turn my child into a monster as well. That would be something that would break my heart and that I could not be strong enough for. I knew that this was for the best.

  The next day after the aftermath of the battle was in control, and the wounded were being treated, I was called in front of the leaders with Trent. I was worried. Something told me they knew.

  “Ambassador Gaines, it has come to our attention that you were the slave of Jenku Vade. That his raid yesterday was in order to get you back,” Leader Nizok said.

  I took a deep breath. I had to come clean and tell them everything.

  “It is true. I was the slave of Jenku Vade, but I did not know that he would launch such a raid in order to get me back. I apologize, and I am ready to receive whatever punishment you see fit to give me.”

  “Leaders, if I may. This is not the ambassador's fault. It is an act of treason by one of our own.”

  There was a commotion over the audience as well as the leaders. I looked at Trent in shock. What was he doing?

  “This is an act of treason from a female Zenkian that has been scorned, and because of that she betrayed us,” Trent went on.

  “This female was the one that informed the Waysaw scouts that the human was among us. She told the scouts that the human had become an ambassador and was the reason that we had a new agreement with Earth. That was why they came for her. They thought that if they could take her back that it would break our agreement with Earth. The ambassador would be seen as a traitor and a Waysaw spy to the humans on Earth. That was why they launched such a raid.”

  “I understand, Commander, and who is this female Zenkian that you speak of?” Leader Nizok said. I suddenly felt very sorry for Malaya, but what she had done was treachery, and it cost lives.”

  “Malaya. I caught her myself after we chased that patrol the other day back over to the Waysaw lines. I went to the place where that patrol was parked and found her leaving the area. She then informed me that she had told the Waysaw about the human.”

  There was commotion and shock once again.

  “And why would she do such a thing? Malaya has always been a loyal Grantsion. She is a true rebel. She has treated many wounded before.”

  “There was a reason that made her turn,” Trent said as he looked at me. I realized what he was about to do, and I braced myself.

  “It was out of jealousy. Malaya had her heart set on me, to my surprise. I did not feel the same way about her. When she found out that my heart was set on this human, she turned on me. This was an act of vengeance against this human because I am in love with her.”

  There was commotion again.

  “And where is Malaya now?”

  “I have searched the village for her. I have not been able to locate her. My guess is that she vacated the village after I discovered what she had done.”

  “Send out an alert for all those on the lookout for Malaya. She is a wanted criminal now. Her acts were selfish and cost many lives. She must be brought before us,” leader Nizok said to the advisors near him. They nodded in agreement and began to type some things into a tablet.

  “As for you, Commander, you have also broken the rules,” leader Nizok said.

  “I am aware of my actions. I am ready to take the consequences. But this is no fault of the ambassador's. It was all my doing. She was not the reason for this raid, other than the betrayal of Malaya letting them know that she had become an ambassador negotiating this pact between Earth and us. She is free of any guilt. She is very important here. She is the bond that holds this agreement with Earth together. It is important that she continue in her position. As far as my punishment, let it be known that I am aware that I broke the rules and the punishment you give me, whatever it may be, is just,” Trent said.

  The leaders looked at themselves. Then Nizok said, “You know that the punishment for interactions of intimacy with humans is banishment. We have no choice but to also offer you this punishment.”

  “I understand,” Trent said.

  “No!” I shouted. I did not plan on it, but I could not help myself. I would not watch them banish him.

  “Let it be known that I am with child. Trent is the father of this child. If you are going to banish him, then I will go with him. Your agreement with Earth will be void.”

  “You are putting us in an unusual circumstance, Ambassador,” Nizok said.

  “Changes must happen when change is happening,” I said.

  The leaders looked at each other and then Marca said, “You must excuse us while we convene on this. This session will resume tomorrow morning.”

  Trent and I look at each other as the leaders left the chamber. Then we turned and walked out. All eyes were on us. We were like circus freaks because we were suddenly seen differently. We were romantically connected, and it was forbidden among the Zenkians.

  We finally made it to his dwelling and did not leave again.

  “Why did you say those things?” I asked him.

  “The same reason you declared the child inside of you was mine. It is us against everything else now. We have to do whatever we can to stay together, and I did not want them to punish you, even if it meant that I would be punished,” he said.

  “Yes, but your punishment was them taking you away from me,” I said.

  “I know, and that is something I was not prepared to endure, but the most important thing was your safety and the agreement with Earth,” he said.

  “I understand, but I don’t want to be here without you,” I said.

  “Which is why you said what you said to the leaders. That was a ballsy thing to say,” he said.

  “I meant every word. If they banish you, I will go with you, and they would have to deal with the Earth agreement on their own and their sudden loss of the human ambassador,” I said.

  “Which we both know they are not going to let happen,” he said.

  “Precisely,” I said with a grin.

  “You are very clever, aren’t you?” he said.

  “I try to be,” I said. “Now, no more talk of this. If this is our last night in the village before we are banished like outlaws, then let us make the most of this time with your bed,” I said.

  “That sounds like a good plan to me. Though I am injured,” he said, grabbing his arm. “So you are going to have to be on top, I am afraid.”

  I laughed. “I think I can manage that,” I said as I untied the dress from around my neck and let it slip off of me to the floor.

  He sighed. “I think I am going to need help with this uniform, too.”

  “Yes, Commander; is that an order?” I asked playfully.

  “Yes, it is,” he said.

  I smiled and then got on my tiptoes to reach the zipper on this chest. I pulled it down and helped him out of the top, and then I took off his boots and trousers. I led him over to the bed.

  We made love that night, with me on top, as he wished. But it was different this time. This time there were no secrets between us. This time the whole village knew that we were together.

  The next morning we stood in front of the leaders again. We would now know our fate.

  “Commander Trent Qoln, you have put us in a position that does not allow us to give you the standard punishment for the rules that you have broken. In fact, this is new territory for us Grantsions. We have never had a human living among us and we have never had one that was pregnant by a Grantsion Zenkian either. Therefore, in light of this news and the unique position that the human Samantha Gaines has as Earth ambassador, we are going to allow you to stay here in the Grantsion village,” Leader Nizok said.

  I was so relieved and a
big smile came upon my face.

  “You have proven yourself an excellent commander and you took down the Commander Jenku Vade, who has led many raids on us. You found out the treachery of Malaya on your own, and therefore you are a valuable soldier to this military. You shall stay on as Commander,” Leader Marca added.

  “Thank you, Leaders. I will not fail you. I will protect Grantsion and I will protect the ambassador. As you said, she is important to this pact with Earth. I would give my life to protect her,” Trent said.