by Abel, Regine
Even as I spoke those words, my chest constricted painfully, and my stomach churned. Because of our Gomenzi Dragon DNA, causing harm to our people—or those we considered as such—could actually make us physically ill. With us having twice as much dragon blood than the Xian Warriors, it made us even more sensitive to this genetic trait.
“We do not wish to harm you either, Bane,” Chaos said in a severe tone, “but we also have a duty to the Coalition. How do we know that ship doesn’t contain another sick experiment like the Scelks, which the General intends on unleashing upon the Coalition?”
“I promise you, on my honor, that nothing and no one aboard that ship is a threat to you or—”
“Bane,” Dread said, interrupting me. “The bugs are powering their weapons and sounding the alarm.”
“Stay away from the cloaked ship,” I reiterated to Chaos after nodding at Dread. “The Kryptid troops are led by an idiot. You’ll have no problem wiping them out. Enjoy the fight.”
As always, Viper knew to end the communication. But I’d still managed to catch a final glimpse of Tabitha’s dreamy elven face, wishing I’d also gotten to hear the sound of her voice.
“Dread, direct the Kryptid vessels to attack the Xian fleet. Lock them in the hive mind so that they cannot flee the battle, even if they are being decimated,” I said. “The rest of our fleet is to fly in defensive formation around our mothers. Viper, open a channel to Storm.”
“Channel open,” Viper responded, moments later.
“Storm, take the helm of the ship and push it to its highest speed without going into warp. We’ll adjust according to you,” I ordered, pulling up on screen the star map to our destination.
“Staying the course or…?” Storm asked, not going further in case this non-encrypted channel was being spied upon.
“Staying the course. There are no nearby moons or planets that would protect our father’s brides against the Warriors if the Soldiers fail to hold them back,” I added to further mislead anyone who might be eavesdropping.
Less than five minutes later, our long-range scanners gave us a view of the skirmish between the bugs and the Warriors. As expected, the Xian’s superior vessels and tactics were mowing through the Soldiers. Before long, Jorox was hailing us requesting our assistance, or to at least release their vessels from the hive mind. Dread coldly rejected their demands, not even bothering to pass the com to me, and reminding them of their duty to protect the Brides with their lives if needed.
The rest of my brothers and I chuckled at their distress, wishing we could join the Warriors in their extermination. However, I quickly sobered, uncertain whether Chaos would follow my demands that they stay away from the cloaked ship. And yet, a part of me wished he didn’t.
“Power up our weapons and set all of our shields to maximum,” I said.
“You think the General tipped them off?” Dread asked.
Before I could answer, and as if summoned by the question, the ship’s com beeped with the unique tone of an incoming call from the General. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I straightened and nodded to Dread to open the channel.
“Father,” I said in greeting as soon as the General’s face appeared on screen.
“I see that you have company,” he said in that cold and dead tone that always spelled trouble for whoever he was addressing.
“It appears someone betrayed us and somehow leaked this mission to the Xian Warriors,” I said with genuine outrage at the set up I believed to be his.
“Whoever it is, they will be found and handled accordingly,” Khutu said in the same harsh tone. “The question is why are you not engaging them?”
I’d both expected and dreaded that question the instant he appeared on screen.
“I’ve directed your Soldiers to fight them, which they currently are. The rest of us are hastening to Zekuro with our best defenses protecting your brides,” I explained.
“Defeating—and preferably capturing—the Warriors and their Soulcatchers must be your priority,” the General said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Word is they are now bringing Black and Asian psychic females to battle. They cannot be Soulcatchers. Bring them to me. I would know what their powers are.”
They’re Portals and Shields, you twisted piece of shit. And you’re never getting your claws into them.
“You wish us to abandon your brides?” I exclaimed, a disbelieving expression on my face.
“If they can be saved, great,” the General said dismissively. “If not, it is a necessary sacrifice. They have served me well, but most have reached the end of their fertile years. The biogenetic enhancements to extend those years have caused the birth of a number of defective offspring. We must look to the future, my son. You and your queens will pave that way. So, do not worry about my brides, and bring me the Warriors’ new psychics.”
Searing anger raged within me, but I schooled my features to remain stoic. Viper lowered his head, struggling to hide his own fury.
“As you command, Father,” I replied in submission.
“And Bane, do not disappoint me,” the General repeated before ending the com.
“Where the fuck is he?” I demanded.
“He’s nowhere near us,” Dread said. “I received confirmation he attended the summit with the Queen and the other Generals yesterday morning. Even at warp speed, he wouldn’t reach us for at least two days. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t sent other troops to attack us if we defect. But I’m still not detecting anything on any of our scanners.”
“What are your orders, brother?” Rogue asked.
“We break rank,” I said without hesitation, then opened the com to Storm. “Brother, take the ship home. You are now in command of our fleet. Alpha Unit will join us to go handle the situation with the Warriors,” I said in the noncommittal way that wouldn’t yet giveaway our defection to any potential spy.
“Time to squash some bugs,” Dread said with a feral grin.
Chapter 3
Tabitha
Even as I stood in command of the bridge with our men off to battle aboard smaller, but very powerful chasers, my mind remained stuck on the cloaked vessel and the mysterious man defending it. I didn’t understand why he always elicited such a strong reaction from me. Granted, he was incredibly handsome, and I always had a certain weakness for the grumpy, brooding type. But after swearing off bioengineered warriors of any kind, I couldn’t explain why he made me feel things I’d only ever felt with Rage—things best forgotten—especially since I didn’t even know him.
Forcing myself to focus on the battle, my analytic mind couldn’t forget his genuine shock, subtle though it had been, that we’d been tipped. Our pilot Linette—also Wrath’s Soulcatcher—made sure we remained out of harm’s way but still within range of our men if we needed to catch their soul. Since the Kryptid forces were proving to be no challenge to our men, I decided to seize this opportunity to pursue a hunch.
“Tyonna, perform long-range scans, as far as you can go, with the cloaked liveship as central point,” I asked our Science Officer, who also served as our Portal.
She gave me a surprised look but didn’t question my orders. I sensed Violet’s intense gaze, but she also didn’t question me. It still baffled me that such a doll-like, delicate looking female could be our Weapons Specialist. But despite our troubled personal history, from a professional standpoint, I respected her abilities.
“Fuck me,” Tyonna said with that delightful Jamaican accent of hers. “How did you know?” she asked, displaying on screen the results of her scan.
Three fleets were headed directly towards the cloaked ship and its escort. The ships were approaching in stealth mode with their weapons powered.
“The hybrids didn’t know we were coming,” I responded absent-mindedly, my mind racing. “Whatever is in that liveship is important to them. I may be completely wrong, but I’m thinking whoever emitted those whispers was trying to create a diversion to snag the ship from them while they were busy fi
ghting us.”
“A small group of hybrids have detached from the escort and are headed towards us,” Tyonna confirmed.
“They’ve powered up their weapons,” Violet said. “What are your orders?”
“Do not attack them unless they attack us first. Send a warning to all of our other ships about both the incoming hybrids and the stealth fleets,” I said to Violet. “Tyonna, probe the nearby moons and planets for signs of other hostile forces.”
I’d no sooner finished saying those words than two of the hybrid ships focused their fire on the same Kryptid ship harassing Wrath’s chaser, instantly destroying it.
Thank God!
The extent of my relief that we wouldn’t have to turn on the hybrids was reflected on the faces of the other women. While Tyonna had not been with us during that epic underground battle alongside the hybrids, she and the other women of the Vanguard had heard of the fragile alliance between them and us.
“Protect the hybrids,” I said. “Tyonna, hail them.”
“Err… They’re actually hailing us on an encrypted channel,” Tyonna said, with a surprised look on her face.
“On screen,” I said.
My heart skipped a beat when seconds later, Bane’s face appeared, sitting in the pilot’s chair of his battle chaser. An expression I couldn’t define fleeted over his noble features. Sitting next to him in the co-pilot’s chair, a hybrid I didn’t know appeared to have taken over the controls and was leading the fight to allow Bane to speak with us.
“Tabitha,” Bane said with a deep, purring voice that had goosebumps erupting all over my skin, the subtle clicking of his voice making it even more exotic. “We are requesting a temporary alliance, and your fleet’s assistance to get the liveship out of Kryptid space.”
“We will join forces with you defeating the Kryptids, but you will need to tell us what’s in that ship before we can commit to help you bring it into Coalition space,” I said in a firm but gentle tone. “Whatever it is, others are apparently after it, too.”
“What do you mean?” Bane asked, his face suddenly tense.
I signaled with my head for Tyonna to send them an image of our long-range scan results.
“How is that possible?” Bane’s brother asked. “We have all his stealth signatures!”
Bane let out a series of expletives in the clicking language of the Kryptids. I had absolutely no idea what he’d said but could easily guess. Still, while the Kryptids’ voices and language were grating beyond words, Bane managed to make it sound sexy.
He could make anything sound sexy.
Despite the anger marking his features, his face going still told me he was mind-speaking to someone, probably warning his brothers of the incoming attack on the cloaked vessel. Moments later, he refocused, visibly struggling with himself about something. He then suddenly appeared to make a decision.
“Get everyone back to defend the ship,” Bane said to his brother without answering his question, before looking at me. “The ship contains our human mothers and our hybrid infant siblings. The General intends to use them to keep us in line and to punish us. This is our only chance to free them and to free ourselves of him.”
My jaw dropped, and my Vanguard sisters gasped.
“You’re defecting,” I whispered, understanding dawning on me.
“We are,” Bane said.
“He knows?”
“I believe he suspects it. Our mothers are all former Soulcatchers. Help us get them to safety.”
Although the words came out commanding, I didn’t miss the plea in his voice. I barely knew him, and yet I knew asking for help wasn’t an easy thing for him.
“You can count on us,” I said, signaling Yumi—our Shield and main Operator—to relay the gist of this conversation to all our Warriors.
I didn’t need to ask our men if they would assist the hybrids. In the early years after the first human females became Soulcatchers, many had been abducted by the Kryptids due to lack of training and poor security measures. To this day, the Warriors whose Soulcatchers had thus been lost kept beating themselves up over it—Chaos especially.
“Thank you, Tabitha,” he said, his alien face taking on an oddly gentle expression that had me tingling in all the right places. “Bane out.”
The screen went dark, quickly replaced by a view of the battle outside, but his face remained burned in my mind’s eye.
“So, that’s Bane?” Tyonna said in a wistful tone. “You bitches never told me he was that hot!”
Linette snorted. “They never told me either. And his brother certainly didn’t hurt my eyes.”
Violet chuckled but didn’t chime in, her eyes focused on the battle, ready to intervene at the first sign of trouble for our men. My respect for her grew yet another notch. She’d come a long way from the rich spoiled daddy’s girl she’d been upon her arrival on Khepri.
“Well, if they’re all that hot, and defecting, I’m calling dibs on the first single one that steps on Khepri,” Yumi said, licking her lips in a suggestive manner.
The other women burst out laughing. I rolled my eyes, tuning them out. Under different circumstances, I might have joined their playful banter—had they been talking about non-bioengineered males—but my mind was still stuck on what Bane had said. Something didn’t add up.
The hybrid hadn’t been part of the escort during our scans by the drones before our departure from Khepri. When we arrived here, they’d been flying alongside the Kryptids and even appeared to be in command. Why would the General have lured us here if his goal was just to hold the hybrids’ mothers over their heads? He already had them under his thumb. Why bring us into this? And why the incoming stealth ships?
“Chaos, I’m sending the incoming ships’ cloaking shield signature to Bane. The hybrids can’t fight them blind,” I telepathically said to him.
“Do it,” Chaos said, his psychic voice filled with tension. “You and the women must protect that ship at all costs, even if that means leaving us behind. We’re going after the intruders.”
“Acknowledged,” I replied. “Chaos, I don’t think the incoming vessels belong to the General. It’s just a hunch, but I think there are bigger things at play here.”
“Noted.”
I felt his mind disconnect from mine.
“Tyonna, open a channel to our entire fleet,” I said.
“Done,” she replied, seconds later.
“Ladies, we’re going to rescue our long-lost sisters inside the cloaked vessel,” I said, battle excitement overtaking me again. “The Typhoon will remain within Soulcatching and Portal range of our men. All other vessels protect the liveship and the hybrids. Use extreme force as necessary.”
Linette immediately set us in pursuit of the vessel, four of the other five battleships of our fleet following in our wake. With the Kryptid Soldiers getting decimated, a few of our Warriors flew ahead of us in their chasers while the others remained behind to finish off the original Kryptid escort.
I ordered Tyonna to send the cloaking signature to Bane’s ship. Moments later, I felt his mind brush against mine in a psychic caress. A violent shiver coursed through me, and my skin erupted in goosebumps again.
“Thank you,” Bane said, then immediately retreated from my mind before I could respond.
A furtive glance around the bridge reassured me the other women had been too focused on their tasks to notice my strong reaction—Violet landing a few nice shots on some Kryptid vessels as we flew past them. I had never touched minds with Bane before, but this had been beyond intimate despite the innocence of the gesture. That I wished it had lasted longer terrified me.
“The hybrids have changed course from the path of the whispers,” Linette said.
“Stick to them,” I said.
My gaze flicked to our long-range scanners which displayed the cloaked fleet closing in on the hybrids.
“The newcomers are powering up weapons,” Tyonna said.
“Linette, keep us within defense ran
ge of the hybrids’ ships, but out of the thick of the battle. Violet, you only open fire once the incoming fleet starts attacking.”
“Why not do a pre-emptive strike?” Violet asked. “They’re bugs after all.”
“Because there’s something fishy going on, and I want to know who they are and what they’re after before we obliterate them,” I replied. “I don’t think Khutu sent them.”
“You think others are also defecting?” Yumi asked.
“I’m—”
“Shit. They’re hailing us!”
“On screen,” I ordered, heart pounding.
As soon as the face of a Kryptid General appeared on screen—and not that of General Khutu—I realized something even bigger than what I’d speculated was going down. I had many qualities, but diplomacy sat at the bottom of the list. Chaos, Myriam, or Ayana would have been far better suited to handle whatever this would turn out to be.
“Vanguard fleet, this is General Lexot, Commander of Queen Aitxa’s personal guard,” said the Kryptid on screen. His higher rank in the hierarchy of the Kryptid breeds was clearly visible by his greater size, imposing mandibles, the thickness of his chitin plates, and the five fingers on each hand instead of the mere three Soldiers normally possessed. “You are violating Kryptid space. However, the Queen will turn a blind eye and not deem this an act of aggression if you leave peacefully after eradicating these hybrid abominations.”
My stomach dropped as every piece of the puzzle fell into place.
“Those whispers… You tipped us,” I said in a semi-accusatory tone. “You want us to do your dirty work for you.”
“We’ve long suspected General Khutu had gone rogue. We now have the proof of his treachery. And this also gives you proof that our Queen has been misled by her soon-to-be former military leader,” Lexot said. “Once we have brought back Khutu’s whores and bastards to our Queen, she will likely wish to open a dialogue with your Coalition to assess the extent of her First General’s deception.”
