by Maia Starr
Chapter 10
SERENA SWANDS
I saw it. I saw Prana in a completely new light. He had a dark side and it was scary. After Jaylin and I had returned from space, everything had altered. I now had deep feelings for the commander and I did not want to be sexual with Prana anymore. He had seemed like such a nice and understanding warrior. But the first time I told him that I no longer wanted to bed him, he became angry and aggressive.
The first time I told him was when I was leaving the living quarters of Maria and Elizabeth. He had run into me and said, "There you are. I've been expecting you to find me to run off for one of our sessions. I was afraid after I would never see you again after seeing you try to escape. I'm glad that you're safe."
"Thank you, Prana. But I can no longer run off for our sessions. It was fun while it lasted, but I truly belong to the commander now in every way. I can be with no one else."
He laughed for a second until he realized that I was being serious. Then his face took on an angry look as he said, "You will not reject me. No one rejects me, especially not for that commander."
"I do not think you understand. I am not going to bed you anymore. Leave me be," I said as I walked away from him. I heard him let out a snarl as I walked away and it frightened me. But I was a strong woman that knew how to defend myself if it came to that. But what frightened me was how easily he switched from kind and fun to this dark creature. Could this have been him all along and I did not see it? I let my spite for the commander blind me to the sweet words of Prana, when he could've been playing me all along.
After that moment, I became the commander’s in all ways. We continued to make love on a daily basis. I was falling for him. Then one morning, I woke up and I was feeling ill. I assumed that something that I ate was not working with me since it was foreign food to me. I thought nothing of it. But then the next morning I had the same feeling, and then again and again I was feeling nauseous. Then I had a completely different feeling. I knew it. I was pregnant! But how?
Everyone knew it was impossible for a human female to become pregnant from a Kalazaron male. It had never happened before as far as we knew. It was outrageous. I thought perhaps it could be Mason’s, but so much time had passed and I would have received the morning sickness on the journey to Kaethon from the Madera. And I did not have the feeling that I had now, that feeling that something was inside of me.
I made my way to the reconstructionist, Pentor. I remembered that when I had arrived he scanned my body, and if I had been pregnant at that time, he would have noticed. Now I knew for sure that I did not become pregnant by Mason. It happened after I arrived on this planet. I felt sick to my stomach knowing that I would have no way of knowing who the father was. Was it Prana's baby? Or was it Jaylin's?
"This is unbelievable," Pentor said as he scanned my body with a projector tool. "You are correct. You are with child."
I gasped in shock. "What do you see, Pentor? Is it human?"
"It is reading both human and Kalazaron. It has DNA from both. This is extraordinary. This has never happened before."
"Listen, Pentor. You must keep this a secret for now. I will come to you for checkups and visits, but you must keep it to yourself. Is there a way to know who the father is, as there are two Kalazarons that might be the father?"
"Yes, there is away. But not for a few more weeks. We must wait until it has grown a bit. Then I can do the test."
"Thank you. Remember: Keep it a secret for now until those test can be run. Promise?"
"Yes. It is a secret. I will tell you which foods to eat and only drink water, not the Icannet."
I left the reconstructionist and was now carrying a big secret. I had a secret, alien baby inside of me. I did not know who the father was. The timing couldn't be worse because the raid on Belvenreed was happening the following day. Jaylin was the only warrior that could hit the target. It was all up to him, so I could not tell him about this, even if I wanted to. There was too much at stake.
The next day the warriors gathered in the landing point and the raiding party was preparing.
"Let me go with you. I can take out the electrical box. I can do it," I said to Jaylin.
"No, it is too dangerous. You must stay here," he said to me. He gave me a deep, long kiss and hugged me. When he pulled away, I saw Prana across the room with anger on his face. He jumped on top of a ship and began to address the crowd with some shocking news.
"Warriors! Listen before we raid! There is a spy among us! This spy has made sure that this attack will fail! There is your spy! The human female!"
He pointed at me and the crowd grumbled and gathered closer around me. Warriors surrounded Jaylin and I was completely confused as to why he was saying this. Was he simply that bitter about being rejected? There had to be more to it.
Then he continued shouting, "She had planned to be the target shooter. She was going to pretend to shoot the electrical box and instead shoot at the tower guards to let the Belvenreed outpost know they were being attacked. She has been in communication with the Belvenreed outpost. They have promised her freedom in exchange for information from the base. She told me she did not want to be here and would do whatever she had to in order to get out. I did not know what she meant until I followed her and secretly put it together! There is your spy! She threatens to ruin this for all of us!"
My mouth fell open at his lies. He must be very angry indeed that I rejected him to go to such lengths in order to separate me from Jaylin. Jaylin was shouting at the warriors that were coming toward me trying to defend me. But it was too late. They had already sided with Prana and were putting me in cuffs and leading me away.
"Let her go! He lies!" Jaylin shouted.
"If that is so, it will be sorted after the raid. To be safe, she will be put into prison until the raid is over and her fate and innocence can be decided," another commander said. I was helpless against the majority.
"Do not worry, Serena! I will come for you after the raid!" he shouted to me. I believed him. But I was afraid that he would not return to the base after the raid. Not because I did not think he was a skilled warrior or that it would not go well, but because of Prana. There would be lots of chaos in battle, and I felt that Prana may take it upon himself to use this time to kill Jaylin.
I quietly went along with the warriors that were escorting me. I had to figure out a way to get out of this. I was a strong, female soldier, but I could not find my way out like I had done so many times before. I had a child in my belly now and it made things more complicated. I could not use my physical strength as I had always relied on. I would have to use my wits.
They pushed me into a room and locked it behind me. I could hear the sounds of speed pod racers leaving the mountain base. I had to be on one. I had to go to the cliff side and shoot the target.
"What are you doing in here, Serena?" a voice said to me. I turned to see that it was the human female Lisa. She had become a friend and someone I talked too often about my situation.
"Lisa, I am so glad you're here. You must get me out of here. I have to help with the raid. I was put in here falsely by Prana when I no longer allowed him to touch me."
"Prana. He has treated me badly as well. He is a dark Kalazaron. I believe you. But if I help you, you must not tell anyone that it was I who released you."
"I will tell no one," I said to her. She quickly unlocked the door from the outside.
"Thank you." I quietly left the building and made my way to the landing port. I snuck into a speed racer pod and clumsily flew behind a fleet of them. I followed them to a flat plateau along a ridge. In the distance, I could see the Belvenreed outpost. I watched as a large group of speed racer pods were approaching the fence of the Belvenreed outpost. They must have already shot at the electrical box and brought the fence down. I landed the speed racer pad on the flat plateau and ran towards the edge. Then I heard shouting over the radio.
"The fence field is still up! The shot did not take it down!"
"Impossible! I hit the box myself!" I heard Jaylin's voice over the radio.
"The fence is up!"
I ran to the edge of the cliff and grabbed a gun. I peered through the scope. I could see the damaged electrical control panel on the fence. He was right; he had made the target.
"What are you doing here?!” a voice shouted at me. It was a warrior stationed on the plateau.
"Official Treen let me go. I told him I was needed, as I was the only one that can make the long distant shot besides Jaylin. It seems like I am needed now," I lied.
"Commander Jaylin shot the control panel and he took it out. I saw it myself. But it did not bring down the fence."
"There must be another control panel. Do you see one? I can take it out!" I shouted.
I carefully got on all fours and then lay gently down on my belly. I took the gun in my hand and scanned the fence line. Then I saw it. There was another control box. "I see it! I see the control box! Firing!" I shouted as I fired at the box. It was a direct hit. We could see the energy field go down.
The warrior ran to the radio and shouted, "The fence is down! The fence is down! "
Chapter 11
PRANA QABOEN
If she wasn't going to be mine, then she wasn't going to be anyone's. I came up with the brilliant plan to mark her the spy that Jaylin was suspicious of. It was the perfect plan. She had already acted strangely by escaping and everyone was already suspicious of her. She needed to be punished and this was the ultimate punishment; she would probably be executed. She would no longer be the commanders and that is all that mattered to me.
I had my fun with her and I was done with it. She was too much of a distraction, but she had turned out to be a great source of information. It was information that I used and that I communicated in secret to the Belvenreed outpost. Yes, I was the spy. I had been the spy all along. I had never been exposed and could continue on my work and bring down the rebel base. I had always been in this plan of vengeance since I was a youngling. I had every right to act out on my revenge.
When I was ten years of age, the rebels raided a part of the capital city. A few Kalazaron died in the process. My mother and father were among the dead. Since that day, I had vowed vengeance against the rebels. Instead of fighting against them, like most of the capital city Kalazaron, I decided to go further than that. I would dedicate my life like a true Kalazaron warrior and infiltrate the base from the inside. I was at the perfect age to do it.
I joined the rebel cause in the city and eventually gained trust to be transported to Blue Mountain Base. I had lived and trained at the rebel base while communicating vital information to the Belvenreed outpost and the capital city. Because I was a youngling that had lost mother and father, no one suspected me. They all believed my lies that I had lost mother and father to the capital city instead of the other way around.
So when I discovered the information about this particular raid through the human female slut, I quickly gave the Belvenreed outpost the information. They were ready and waiting for the raid. Just as they were ready and waiting for Jaylin to return into the atmosphere when he went after Serena and her escape pod. I had warned the Belvenreed outpost that a rebel ship would be entering the atmosphere. I wanted them both shot down. It was punishment.
It was a disappointment when they eluded the Belvenreed outpost attack. So I had to make sure that on this raid, the attack was successful from the side of the Belvenreed outpost. I told the Belvenreed outpost about the control box and how the warriors were training to shoot it from a long distance. The Belvenreed outpost responded to this by installing dummy control panels. Then they prepared for the raid. Now, as the speed racer pods raced toward the fence line, they were ready and waiting for us on the other side. I held back toward the back of the formation, falling further and further back, little by little.
When the fence opened and Belvenreed outpost racer pods zoomed out, the radio became chaotic.
"We are under attack! They were waiting for us! It must be the spy!" various voices shouted as we were suddenly in a dogfight, pod racer against pod racer. All around us, pods were dropping onto the ground. There was hand to hand combat and gun combat in the chaos. It was an all-out battle and no longer a surprise raid on the fort.
I smiled at my handiwork. but I was not done. I still had a responsibility. I was going to find the Commander Jaylin Brakin and kill him. It was part of my vengeance. He had made a fool of me by taking Serena from me and now he was going to pay for it.
I knew which speed racer pod he was in ahead of me. I lined up my racer pod directly in the line of fire behind him. I locked on and fired. To my disappointment, his racer did not explode, but instead fell to the ground and skidded across towards the fence. Then my engine shut down. I had been hit in the crossfires.
The speed racer skidded across the ground as well. I moved out of the pod and grabbed my blaster gun. I ran with the rest of the warriors toward the fence line, but my destination was not the Belvenreed outpost: My destination was Jaylin Brakin. I could not see him in all of the chaos. I ran toward his racer pod and found it empty. Then I heard him shouting, "Retreat! It is a trap! Retreat!"
"Not so fast!" I shouted as I aimed my gun at the back of his head. He put his hands up in surrender and slowly turned towards me.
"Prana! What the hell are you doing?" he shouted at me.
"You are going to die!"
"All of this over Serena? She does not want you. Move on! I have warriors to command here!"
I laughed at his stupidity. "Do you truly believe this is over a human female slave? No, my vengeance goes further back than that. I am the spy you fool! I have been a spy since I first came here as a youngling! The rebels killed my mother and father and I have been helping the capital city as a spy ever since to bring Blue Mountain Base down!"
"You! You are the spy? I knew there was a spy among us. Good work, Prana. I did not believe it was you. Simply because of the fact that you came to us so young!"
"Of course you did not! And now you will die!"
Chapter 12
COMMANDER JAYLIN BRAKIN
I knew that Prana was a jealous ass, but I did not think he would go as far as to accuse Serena in order to punish her for her rejection toward him. He did it at the worst time for me, but the best time for him. It was right as we were prepping for the raid with minutes before departure. It broke my heart to see her carried off the way she was accused as a spy and taken to the prison. But there was nothing I could do in the moment. Everyone was in a rage and high off the adrenaline of the coming fight. No one would risk such a thing as to let an accused spy room free. I could only promise her that I would deal with that when I returned—if I returned.
Now I faced her accuser on the battlefield. He was the one that warned the Belvenreed outpost about this raid. He had put all of the warriors in danger. Now I knew why. He had always been on the side of the capital city Kalazaron. He was on a quest for vengeance.
Now he held me at gunpoint. I was not going to let him win this fight. Or I would die trying. It was the Kalazaron way. He smiled and I knew that he was ready to shoot me as soon as he was finished with his confession. Then out of nowhere his leg buckled from under him.
He went down and I ran and jumped on top of him. I knock the gun loose from his hands and punched him in the face. He kneed me in the stomach. We wrestled across the ground as the battle raged around us. We fought just as we had fought before. But I noticed that he was groaning in pain. It was then that I looked down at his leg and saw that he had been shot in the back of it. I had a mind to only arrest him and not cause him any more harm. He was worth more alive now that I knew he was a spy. We could hold him for questioning for the rest of his life until he caved, if he ever caved and told us what he had told the capital city about the rebel base.
It was in this fleeting second that he rolled away from me and grabbed the gun once more. He aimed it at my head, ready to fire. Then he collapsed. I was in sh
ock. I moved over toward him. He was shot in the head. Could it be that he was so unlucky as to get caught in the crossfire twice? I looked around and did not see anyone that would have knowingly shot him.
I grabbed the gun and began to command the retreat of the warriors once more. Then I noticed a few speed racers moving out of the Belvenreed outpost. They were our speed racer pods. They had successfully made it inside, and I assumed raided some supplies. One of them landed next to me and the door opened. "Commander, quickly!"
I jumped into the speed pod racer and we all retreated back toward the base. The battle was over, but we had lost many. We had walked into a trap, and it was because of Prana’s warning. He knew every detail of the plan and it was just as I had feared when I called the meeting to cancel the raid. My expertise and word was rejected and now we had made a mess and lost many.
