by Maia Starr
"It is all right. We are with friends. We were rescued by an Earth ship known as the A.R.S., and they are helping us. This is Dr. Maltra. She is going to check you out to see if you were injured. She is to be trusted," I said as I looked at Dr. Maltra standing beside me. She looked at me with a soft smile, as though she appreciated me introducing her in such away. I don't know how long we were staring at each other, but it felt like a few minutes and must've been obvious, because my brother interrupted and said, "If you are done staring at the human female, do you think you can unstrap me, brother?" His tone was stern, and I knew why. He was thinking about the promise, the promise we made to father. His tone was his way of reminding me.
"Yes, I'm so sorry," Dr. Maltra said as she began to unstrap Eral. She began to nervously ramble as she said, "Your vitals look normal; please tell me if you experience any feeling of injury or dizziness."
I looked at my brother, who was staring at me with a cold stare. His eyes never moved from mine and I sort of rolled my eyes at him and took a few steps back as he sat up and then walked around on his feet. He stretched his arms high over his head and twisted at the waist. He lifted his knees and did a thorough check. "I think I'm all right. What about you, Drin?"
"No need to worry, brother. Just a little injury on my left arm, but the doctor here is taking good care of it. She was just about to bandage it," I said as I looked over at Dr. Maltra and smiled. Just when I was going to feel excited to continue our little massage and bandage routine, the door to the infirmary opened.
"Dr. Maltra, please report." A human male with silver hair and a muscular build walked in with purpose. Judging by his uniform, he was a captain. He stopped in his tracks when he saw my brother and I and said, "Pardon me, Drackon. I was not aware that any of you had awakened. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Captain Jones. You are on the A.R.S., a research vessel from Earth. We are glad to be able to assist."
"Captain Jones, I am Captain Ky-Vesa. On behalf of my crew and of the Drackon, I would like to thank you for your assistance and rescue. We were in dire straits. Thank you for your medical care as well; it is top rate," I said as I looked over at Dr. Maltra. She blushed a little.
"I would like to think the rescue would be returned if the situation were reversed," Captain Jones said to me. Then he continued, "Captain, are your warriors in good condition?"
"Yes, all is well; a few minor bruises and cuts. I know the others will awaken shortly, as they were just knocked unconscious by hyperspeed and not being belted into seats. Perhaps minor concussions, but nothing major is expected."
"That is good to hear. Captain, if you are up to it, would you join me in my office to discuss the circumstances and details of what happened? It will need to be logged, as you know the procedure," Captain Jones said to me.
"Of course. I am ready to do that now," I said stepping toward him.
"I will join you," my brother said.
"No, Eral it is best that you stay here so that when the other warriors awaken, they have a familiar face that can explain to them what has happened," I said to him.
"Yes, of course, Captain," my brother said to me.
"Lead the way, Captain Jones," I said as I followed him out of the infirmary and into the halls of the ship. I wasn't worried at all to leave my brother alone in case Dr. Maltra began to question him; he would have the same asteroid story that I had. It is what I was going to tell the captain for his log and for the relations between Earth and Mooreah.
As I sat with the captain in his office, I found him to be an honest and honorable human. I explained the asteroid story and how our ship became damaged. I explained hyperspeed and knocking us unconscious and our distress signal. He seemed to believe the story. When all was logged and final, he looked at me and said, "After your rescue, Captain Ky-Vesa, we made the jump to hyperspeed as we were unsure about how your ship was damaged. If you were under attack, we wanted to move as far away from any sort of threat as fast as possible. We are very close to Earth and because of that, we are going to go ahead and enter Earth's atmosphere. There, you can meet with the Earth Council and establish communication with whomever needs to be notified on Mooreah. I am sure Earth will be more than happy to get you on the next cargo flight to Mooreah for you and your crew."
"Thank you, Captain Jones; that is more than suitable. I will need to notify my superior once I have established communication from Earth. My crew and I would be honored to join you on the journey to Earth, as I have never seen the beautiful planet, and neither has my crew. I hold you in the highest esteem for your rescue and hospitality. How long before we arrive on Earth? I hope that we are not taking up too much space and resources aboard your ship?"
"No, not at all. We arrive in a week. This research vessel was equipped to handle six more months in space, so we have plenty of resources, food, and water available for you and your crew. And as for space, you, the captain of your ship, will have your own quarters in the guest cabin. However, it is the only sleeping space we have free and I'm afraid the rest of your crew will need to make camp in the infirmary. We shall make it as comfortable as possible for your crew."
"That is more than adequate, Captain Jones. Thank you again. Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to see if my crew has awakened and if they are in good medical standing," I said as I stood up, ready to leave the office.
Captain Jones stood up and extended his hand to shake mine and said, "Of course. A good captain is always thinking of the crew. Dr. Maltra does have some experience seeing to the medical needs of weredragons, so you are in good hands."
"I do not doubt her expertise," I said as I began to walk out the door, but the captain stopped me with one last question.
"Captain Ky-Vesa, one last question. We have heard rumors on Earth of a sudden revolt against the Drackon mating with human females. It is just rumors, yet enough to have us take certain precautions. Is it true?" he asked.
I did not know what to say, because this captain had rescued me and my crew and I owed him honesty, yet I was under specific orders from the king not to speak of the revolt. I had to honor my king.
"It is unfortunate those rumors have been circulating, but there is no reason to think there is any danger in it. The Drackon, just like humans, are full of different thinking minds and not all the minds think in the same way. Captain Jones, there is no reason to think there is any danger involved in a few thinking an opposition of the majority. Now, if you will excuse me," I said as I quickly walked into the hall before he could give me a follow-up question.
Chapter 3
DR. FELICITY MALTRA
I wanted to force myself to think that my fascination with Captain Ky-Vesa was purely medical, but I knew I was kidding myself. He was unlike anything I had ever seen. Not only in the attractive sense, but also just in his overall being. He was different than the typical Drackon warriors I had seen before because he was not typical, he was special… he was a hybrid.
I knew of their existence, but I had never seen one in person before. Even though he was not shifted into full dragon form, where I could see the spectacular colors of a hybrid weredragon, there was still something very different about him. I guess it was because he was more human than Drackon. His tall, muscular form was like the form of a human male, only so much taller. His strong, muscular body was very tone and firm, more so than a human male. His eyes were that of a Drackon, with the yellow, vertical pupil, like a cat, crossing over his brown eyes. His strong facial features with a squared jaw and full lips were almost romantic and more human than alien.
I hoped that I would get a chance to see him shift into a weredragon. I knew the hybrids were faster in speed than your average Drackon and were something to look at. But the unusual circumstances of this rescue made it very unclear to me what would happen once we returned to Earth and I knew I may never get a chance to see Captain Ky-Vesa in his full weredragon form. Of course, I didn’t know then that this mysterious hybrid was going to be intertwined with my fate.
I knocked on the door and quickly straightened my hair, fixing my bangs that rested on my forehead and pulling my ponytail tighter and higher. The door opened and Captain Ky-Vesa stood there with his shirt off and a large grin on his face. My eyes went directly to his toned, six-pack abs—not that I had a choice. At my five-foot height, his abs were directly in front of my eyes.
"Dr. Maltra, nice of you to visit. What can I do for you?" he asked, leaning against the side of the doorway.
"It is what I can do for you," I said as I held up the ointment on the one hand and a roll of bandages in the other.
"Oh, the possibilities…” He grinned. I gasped at his reply, as though it offended me, but deep inside, those possibilities he spoke of had me growing heated. I had to ignore it. I was a professional doctor, after all.
"Come in, and Dr. Maltra, call me Drin," he said, moving aside and gesturing for me to enter his small quarters.
"Thank you, Drin. You may call me Felicity. Please, have a seat so that I can do my work," I said as I moved over to the desk with the chair in front of it.
"As you command, Felicity,” he said playfully as he sat down. I began to remove the bandages from his muscular arm. I felt my body tense up at the closeness and the manly scent radiating from him. His warmth was intoxicating and his silence was letting my mind wander to naughty thoughts. I needed a distraction. So I began to ramble on.
"I checked on your crew. They are all doing very well, including your brother, medically speaking. They seem to be excited to go to Earth as they have never been, or so they say. Have you been, Drin? I am sure you will love it if you have not been and—"
"No, I have not. I think I can speak for my crew when I say they have not been to Earth either. We are all very excited to see the beautiful, blue planet. I have heard great things."
"I have heard great things about your planets of Mooreah and Sala as well. I hope to one day be able to see them," I said to him.
"Oh, is that so? Have you registered? Is that what you mean by seeing it one day? You're waiting for your chance to marry into a Drackon marriage arrangement?" he asked me.
"Registered? Me? No, absolutely not. I am not a human female that is ready to be taken away just for breeding purposes. I have far too much going on for that. I merely meant I wanted to experience your planet as a visitor. Especially from a research perspective; it is very fascinating."
"I understand, Felicity," he said to me quietly. I wondered if I had offended him.
"I don't mean that marrying a Drackon is a bad thing. I just meant it's not for me," I said, trying to cover up my offensive comment.
"It is not for me either, marrying a human female." Drin said. I noticed that his tone had changed from playful to bitchy and I realized that I had offended him. I needed to talk about something else and quickly. I poured ointment into my hands and began to massage his injured arm. His strong muscles underneath my fingertips were very distracting. I turned and looked into his face and he was staring down at me with what I could only decipher as anger.
"I think I might be the only one on the ship not excited to go back to Earth," I said trying to make small conversation so that I wouldn't think about how I wanted to move my hands from his arm to his chest and tight abs.
"Are you not excited to go home? Are you not excited to be in the arms of your husband, Felicity?" he asked.
"I do not have a husband or lover. I am devoted to my work. It took a lot for me to be on the A.R.S. as I was given the position as doctor on the ship only to have it taken away from me a month before departure. It was given to a male doctor."
"Because he had more experience than you, a female?" Drin asked. I looked at him and narrowed my eyes in frustration for thinking such a thing. But he was from the Drackon alien race and that was how they viewed females, so I had to excuse his ridiculous comment.
"No, I am more experienced than he. He was given the position because the Earth Council feels that human females might be in danger in space venturing near any Drackon areas. So they gave the position to a male, but he grew sick a few days before departure. So I was given my position back. We were supposed to be in space for another six months and I have a lot of projects and experiments I’d hoped to conduct. Now, however, I don't know if this mission will be relaunched or canceled. But I do know that they will probably replace me with a male, so you see, that is why I am not excited to go back to Earth," I said as I finished wrapping the fresh bandage around his arm.
Then I was shocked as I felt Drin’s fingertips underneath my chin. He lifted my face and stared into my eyes as he said, "I am sure that all will work out in your favor, Felicity. You are a great doctor, and I can attest to that to your Earth Council, if it will help you."
I looked into eyes. They were so exotic, and yet I could see that he was so sincere and delicate in this moment. It was such a change from the brash and arrogant comments that he had been making playfully since we first met. This was a side of Drin that I had not seen yet, and it was tender; it was hypnotic. We stared at each other for a moment and he began to lean down toward me as though he were going to kiss me. His lips were so close to mine and I lost myself in the moment. I had never been kissed by a Drackon before, and now I was itching to have that experience. My lips slowly parted ready for him. He lightly brushed his lower lip across mine and I ached for him to press harder. But then…
"Drin!" We both turned to see his brother, Eral, standing in the doorway. I didn't even hear the door open. We both quickly moved away from the almost kiss.
"Yes, Eral?" Drin growled the words.
"The crew wishes to meet with you in the infirmary. They have many questions and desire answers," Eral said as he looked at me with an angry face. I got the feeling he did not like me. I didn't see why; I had treated him and all of the Drackon, making sure their injuries were healed rapidly. He should have nothing but gratitude for me instead of that sourpuss face he was giving me.
"I should go," I said as I grabbed the bandage and ointment and stepped out of the quarters, closing the door behind me. As I walked away, I heard raised voices; the brothers were fighting. I assumed it was about me, but why? It seemed to me like the brothers were hiding something from me, but what? Could there be more to the circumstances of their rescue other than an asteroid hit? Maybe there was something to the rumors about human females being seen in an unfavorable light amongst the Drackon alien warriors.
This got me thinking about my future on this research vessel. I made my way to the office of Captain Jones to tell him just how much I wanted to continue to be a part of this research, to see if he would fight for me. I didn't knock; I just walked right in.
"Dr. Maltra, come on in as usual," he said, putting a folder down in frustration.
"Captain Jones, I am very concerned. I must be heard," I said walking back-and-forth in front of his desk in a fury.
"But of course you must to be heard," he said sarcastically.
"I must know when this ship returns to Earth, will it re-launch? Will I be on it? What is to happen to me? You know how I was passed up to begin with simply because I am female. It is most unfair! You must appeal to the Earth Council upon relaunch that I pulled my weight on the ship. I demand it!"
The captain stood up from his desk and came around the front of it where I was paci
ng back and forth and said, "You demand it, do you?"
"Yes! If you were to plead with the council that I am vital to this ship and the mission upon relaunch, then they will not say no. I am almost sure of it; are you not? They treat me very unfairly! Just because of some silly rumors…" I rambled on passionately and angrily.
"You, Dr. Maltra, are absolutely infuriating… and irresistible…" Captain Jones said. Before I could respond in shock to his sudden admittance of his feelings, his hands were on my shoulders and he had pulled me toward him. He planted his lips firmly on mine. What the hell was this? I put my hands on his chest and pushed him away from me.
"What the hell, Captain?! Are you out of your mind?" I shouted at him. Before he could answer, I was out the door and storming down the hall. This was bullshit.
"Felicity!" It wasn't the captain that was yelling after me; it was Drin. He jogged a few steps and caught up with me. I was breathing heavily and angry.
"I wanted to find you and apologize about my brother. There are some things between my brother and I that…" Then he got a look at my face and said, "What is it? You are flushed. You are angry. What has happened?"
