Bane: Xian Warriors 3
Page 4
“I am sorry,” I said with sincere sorrow.
“All of them?” she asked with a sob in her voice.
I shook my head. “No. I do not have the exact number, but many of your sisters of mating age have been changed, including Shuria. But they are alive, as are the others that are still unchanged.”
“But how many died? And how long before that bastard desecrates the others?” she asked, tears welling in her eyes.
I wouldn’t lie to her, but also didn’t want to truthfully answer in light of the pain it would cause. Knowing my sire, as soon as he finalized the last steps with the current mutations, he would order his bioengineers to immediately apply treatment to the remaining Mimics whose population now counted less than four hundred individuals. I had promised to do everything in my power to save her people. Now, it no longer seemed possible.
“Where are they?” she asked.
“Those still unchanged are already on Zekuro. The others will travel there with Khutu.”
I didn’t need to give her further details to understand what that meant. Silzi’s attractive face crumpled into a mask of pure sorrow as a choked sob rose from her throat. I pulled her into my embrace and let her shed her tears on my shoulder. Sparing her meaningless words, I held the petite Mimic tightly, gently caressing her hair for comfort while flapping my wings in an extremely fast but barely visible motion which created a soothing hum.
Silzi eventually pulled herself together and took a step back, freeing herself of my embrace. With the back of her hand, she wiped the tears from her face and straightened her shoulders with newfound resolve.
“I’m going to Zekuro to find them,” she said with determination.
“Silzi…” I cautioned.
“I have to save them, Bane,” she said with an almost angry voice.
I cupped her face in my hands, my thumbs caressing her high cheekbones in an appeasing gesture. “You know what will happen if he catches you,” I said in a pleading tone. “You can’t just go alone. I promised I would do everything in my power to help you. Let me finish this mission, and then we can go after your family.”
Silzi wrapped her hands around my wrists but didn’t pull away from my touch.
“You have a good heart, Bane, and I know you mean every word. But it might be too late by then. You know how quickly Khutu acts once he’s set his mind on something. If he finds me, then I will welcome whatever death comes my way,” Silzi said defiantly. “I have done horrible things under his command in a vain effort to save my people. Not a day goes by without it gnawing at my conscience. But we are the last of our kind. If he destroys them, there will be no point in me going on. Are you not doing everything you must to save your people, no matter the cost to yourself?”
“You are my people, too, Silzi,” I argued gently, although it was clear she wouldn’t be swayed. In her shoes, neither would I.
She gave me a trembling smile and tugged on my wrist to pull my hands away from her face.
“Then save your mothers and brothers and then, if at all possible, come for us. Hopefully, I’ll have gathered enough information to help us get them out. They will not find me because they are not searching for a Mimic. They will only see what I want them to see.”
Squeezing my hands in a last goodbye, Silzi turned around and walked away. I watched her receding back with an aching chest. I felt like a helpless parent, watching his child head into a hostile world that would seek to destroy her at every opportunity, with no power to dissuade her.
* * *
As we were closing in on the breeding ships’ small fleet, the sense of impending doom that had plagued me ever since leaving Khutu’s vessel grew another notch. I hated the level of uncertainty and the number of unknowns surrounding this mission. Too many lives depended on the events that would take place in the next few hours. But worse still, this escort didn’t make much sense. Based on their point of origin and our rendezvous coordinates, they’d already completed a little over a third of the journey. If the General had felt confident enough to let them travel that long with their current escort, why not have simply ordered us to head straight to Zekuro?
And what a joke that escort was.
After a quick glance around the bridge to make sure all my brothers had extruded their small mandibles—and checked that my own were out—I turned to Viper, our navigator.
“Hail them,” I ordered.
My stomach dropped when the insectoid face of Jorox appeared on screen, all my senses going into full alert. Jorox was not only one of the weakest Soldiers of the Kryptid army, he was also one of the most incompetent.
“Why the fuck would the General put one such as him in charge of escorting his brides and sons?” Dread asked me telepathically, standing a few feet away from me.
“To bait us into attacking since it would be an easy victory against that idiot,” I replied, now more convinced than ever that this was a setup.
“Soldier,” I said in a clipped tone to the Kryptid on screen, “what the fuck kind of pathetic escort is this?”
Jorox bristled, his large mandibles snapping frantically before he responded in the clicking Kryptid language.
“What is wrong with our escort?” he asked. “We have fifteen powerful vessels, and we’re flying within Kryptid space knowing you were coming. What’s the problem?”
“Your ships are all scattered, too far to assist each other in case the need arises,” I snapped back, grateful for his incompetence which would further justify me taking over command of the mission. “The liveships, especially my father’s brides, should be flying in stealth mode.” I couldn’t believe I hadn’t choked on calling that monster ‘my father.’ “You don’t even have anyone scouting ahead, and your weakest vessels are guarding the rear. Do you know what the General will do to you if any harm comes to his brides and offspring?”
The hatred and contempt in the Kryptid’s face immediately faded away at the thought of what pain the General would inflict upon him if such a thing came to pass. The Soldiers hated my brothers and me but knew better than to move against us. They only partially feared that our sire would retaliate. After all, he was a strong proponent of the survival of the fittest. He wouldn’t want a son that could be easily defeated in single combat. But they were terrified of our battle form, with good reason.
“I am taking over the lead of this mission,” I said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Prepare the Brides Ship to receive my father’s younger sons. Considering the poor job you’ve done so far, I will leave a couple of my mature brothers aboard to make sure both the brides and the children are traveling under optimal conditions.”
“But—”
“Silence! I haven’t finished,” I snarled. Only confident dominance would cow him into obedience. If I even remotely gave off the impression that I doubted my right to command him, he would balk, and things would escalate. “Once my brothers have finished unloading the children, they will take a proper escort position in pairs around the Brides Ship. Each of your vessels will take position between one of those pairs.”
“But what of the other breeding ships?” Jorox challenged.
“Interrupt me again,” I said in an icy tone, “and I’ll come onboard your ship to rip those crooked mandibles of yours right out of your ugly face with my bare hands.”
“Now THAT I’d love to see. You should do it either way,” Dread mind-spoke to me teasingly.
“Given the opportunity, I sure as damn will,” I retorted, keeping an evil smirk from showing on my face.
Jorox’s mandibles quivered, and he nervously scratched the chitin plates covering his left shoulder with the claws of his three-fingered hand.
“I don’t give two shits about the Soldiers larvae or Drone eggs. As the humans say, your kind are a dime a dozen. I didn’t come to babysit grunts but to take the General’s brides and offspring to the safety of Zekuro. Those ships are only extra baggage to tow along. What condition they travel in is of no concern to me.”
“Have all of your vessels link into my ship’s hive mind as surrogates—yours included,” I said with a taunting smirk, letting him know I hadn’t missed how he’d almost screwed up. “You may now speak.”
“I will need the General’s authorization to link into your hive mind as a surrogate,” Jorox said with a haughty tone, trying to at least partially save face. “Why do you even want to have so much control over our ships?”
“Because you are clueless,” I said, matter-of-factly. “Because if we come under attack, I want to be able to command our fleet into appropriate action immediately and not have to rectify your fuck ups first. But if you want to contact my father first, feel free to do so and enjoy explaining why you had to relinquish command due to your incompetence. Once the General finds out in what state I found your so-called escort of his females, I will be in the front row enjoying the punishment he’ll mete out on you. Now prepare for our first vessel to dock with the Brides Ship. Bane out.”
Efficient as ever, Viper terminated the communication without giving Jorox a chance to respond.
“You’ve always had such a gentle way with words,” Dread said teasingly.
“It’s a fundamental part of my charm,” I said, flicking my shoulder-length silver-blond hair over my shoulder like a diva.
My brothers on deck chuckled, the sound filling my hearts with affection for them. They had too few opportunities to be happy or laugh. But as long as I drew breath, I would do everything in my power to grant them a happier future than whatever the General had in store for us.
“I guess I should go prepare our little ones for transfer,” Dread said with a sigh.
My chest constricted with worry for my young—and still mostly defenseless—siblings. But the lancing pain clawing at my heart also stemmed from my mother being so very close to me and yet completely out of reach. Visiting her would be a dead giveaway of the undying love I bore her. However, if all went well, soon, very soon, I’d be able to hold her in my arms. For now, I would hold off touching her psychic mind, at least until we had everything under control and the fleet had resumed its journey to Zekuro. If she was lucid enough, I would take her on a mind-walk, a dream world where we would be free and happy for a short while.
* * *
Two days after us joining the escort, we still hadn’t encountered any type of trouble, not that we truly expected any—at least not trouble against the breeding ships. The General’s complete silence had my teeth on edge. I continued to believe this was either a test or a showdown where he would attempt to wipe us out. But for now, I could do nothing more than play along and prepare for our defection.
I still hadn’t managed to get through to my mother. After nearly thirty-three years as the General’s broodmare, not much remained of the strong woman she’d once been. Her mind had begun to fracture more than two decades ago. She would find refuge in self-induced dream-walks. At first, Mother would draw me into hers whenever I reached out to her. But more and more, as she remained isolated for extended periods, I would simply meet an impenetrable wall whenever I tried to reconnect, and she would remain deaf to my calls. As a Soulcatcher, she had a limited psychic range which had prevented me from reaching out to her at will. Ayana, Legion’s mate, was the only psychic human with endless range like us.
My heart warmed thinking about the young female. Beautiful inside and out, her depth of empathy had struck a special chord with me, echoing greatly my mother’s personality. Had she birthed a daughter, Ayana is exactly what I’d imagine my baby sister would have been. That she had helped saved Dread’s life had earned her an even bigger place in my hearts alongside Liena, another beautiful soul.
How I envied the Xian Warriors being surrounded by women with such wonderful souls, strong both physically and mentally, loyal to a fault, and willing to follow their men to the ends of the galaxy and even into death for the greater good of their people. Although they didn’t have Gomenzi Dragon blood, they were very much Dragons like us.
And my Queen ranked high among them.
I immediately chased the stunning elven face with the black pixie haircut that haunted me since the first time I’d laid eyes upon her onboard Sornax’s liveship. He’d abducted her and two other Soulcatchers after their Xian Warriors had fallen into a trap on Jaylon. But that mere thought of her had sufficed to awaken my mating glands. The last thing I needed was for them to swell and throb painfully for the next few hours while my fangs burned with the need to bond with the only woman I could ever mate and yet could never have.
With a sigh, I turned back to my monitor to finish the message I’d be broadcasting in the next fifteen hours to the Intergalactic Council and the allied planets closest to Arkonia. I couldn’t send this request of a peace treaty between our peoples just yet. As soon as the word was out, the likelihood of leaks was too high to risk until we’d already made a clean break. I still couldn’t decide whether to reach out to the Vanguard, or more specifically to Ayana. While Legion didn’t trust us, the blossoming friendship between his mate and me was genuine. Although she would undoubtedly sway him into assisting us, I didn’t want to use Ayana that way unless we truly faced desperate times that I hoped would never come.
The high-pitched sound of the ship-wide alarm going off startled me. It stopped within seconds though, slow-blinking red lights broadcasting that all hands were needed to battle stations. I jumped to my feet, my back stiffening as a million questions popped in my head, the main one being whether the General had unleashed his troops against us.
“A hostile fleet just dropped out of warp south from our position. They will be upon us in less than five minutes,” Dread said telepathically just as I reached the door to exit my quarters. “Bane, they are Xian Warriors.”
My hearts skipped a beat, and my brain froze for half a second. What the fuck were the Warriors doing here, and so deep into Kryptid space? My blood turned to ice at the thought that the General could have tipped them off. It seemed far-fetched, and yet what better way for Khutu to eliminate his enemies than by having them fight each other? If we survived, he’d have thinned our numbers and proven our loyalty. If we died, we’d be unfortunate casualties of war and not an admission that yet another of his projects had failed, especially one three decades in the making.
“On my way to the bridge,” I said, breaking into a half-run. “Have the bugs detected them already?”
“No. We’ve got a wider scanning range. But it won’t be very long before they do,” Dread replied.
“Keep their weapons and navigation locked through our hive mind for now. Keep our own weapons powered down, but our shields ready to go up.”
“Acknowledged,” my brother replied.
“Intercom on,” I said to the ship’s artificial intelligence. “All hands to battle stations. Keep all weapons on standby. Our targets: the Kryptids. Do not open fire until otherwise ordered.”
I stepped onto the bridge to find my four officers—all of them my brothers—already at their posts. The tension in their eyes reflected the same one I felt. Still, this unexpected turn of events was actually opening new possibilities that could very well play in our favor.
“Hail them on an encrypted channel,” I told Dread before turning to Viper. “Perform the deepest scans possible on all frequencies. I want to know if the General has other troops nearby.”
“On it,” Viper said.
“They’re answering,” Dread said.
“On screen,” I commanded.
My stomach dropped seeing Chaos appear, knowing this meant his Soulcatcher would be with him and exposed to the mess that would soon go down. And yet, my hearts soared when I caugh
t a glimpse of my Queen sitting at the Science Officer’s seat on their deck. The throbbing of my mating glands came back with a vengeance. I sank the tips of my fangs into my tongue as they instinctively began to descend. As I’d hoped, the pain and taste of blood helped me refocus on the situation at hand and push back the burning need to claim my woman.
“Hello, Bane,” Chaos said in a neutral voice. “We meet again.”
“So, we do,” I replied in a similar tone. “What are you doing in Kryptid space? And more specifically, why are you here?”
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, putting my senses on alert. I couldn’t explain how, but I instinctively knew he thought I was expecting his presence. That freaked me out even more.
“I was hoping you would be able to answer that,” Chaos said after a slight pause, which told me he’d likely conferred telepathically with the other Warriors and Soulcatchers on his bridge. “We’ve received interesting breadcrumbs that lured us into this region of space, and that made us quite curious about that high-grade liveship currently cloaked between those breeding ships.”
I felt my blood drain from my face to learn they could see through our cloaking shields. Wrath and another Warrior I didn’t know both frowning indicated their shock at Chaos revealing such an important tactical fact. But finding out they’d been tipped off about the escort only seemed to confirm my worst fears.
“That ship is none of your concern,” I said in a hard voice, taking one menacing step forward. “You will stay the fuck away from it.”
“Why should we?” Chaos challenged, crossing his golden arms over his broad chest.
“There is no time to explain,” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. “If you’ve been tipped about this mission, then we’re both being set up. The Kryptids will detect your presence any second now. When they do, I will order them to attack you while we take the cloaked vessel to safety. Feel free to obliterate the Kryptids and the breeding ships. We do not wish to fight you but, dragon blood or not, you go anywhere near that liveship, we will destroy you. All of you,” I added my gaze flicking towards my Queen.