by Maia Starr
“Everything is going to be okay, Mila,” I said, kissing the top of her forehead. “You will see. And the ship will come soon and take you to a world far from here, where you will no longer be in danger.”
Mila released a soft, shuddering sigh, and then we released each other.
“Come now,” I said. “We must prepare for the launch.”
***
“Oh good, you found her,” Kerglan said, eyeing the human as we walked into the camp. “What was she doing?”
“She thought she had heard her group of humans,” I said quickly. If Kerglan suspected that the girl had wanted nothing to do with him, it could set the tone for the rest of their lives together. I could not allow that to happen to the human. She already had enough on her plate with my brother in the picture.
“And what did you learn from this experience, human?” Kerglan asked in his most annoyingly condescending tone.
Mila hesitated. “Don’t go off on my own?”
“Good. If you insist on sneaking around then for the duration of our stay on this awful planet, you will have to share your quarters with me.”
“That is highly unorthodox, Kerglan,” I said, prickling at the thought of Mila sharing such a small space with my brother.
“I must protect my mate, Lazan,” he said, eyeing me contemptuously. “Perhaps one day you will be able to understand.”
I sighed deeply. I could not let my brother get under my skin. It was a joyous day. For in two days’ time, there was going to be a ship landing on this planet that was going to take us away from the dangers and the strife and back to our own home.
And although that came with the price of losing Mila to my brother, there was also the comfort of knowing that, when out of sight, she would always be safe.
***
“Lazan! Come, fetch the cables! We are receiving communications, but they are patchy. We need you to work on this!”
I ran to the control panel, the sound of the Resha Federation’s patchy communications filling the room. My heart thudded in my chest as I worked quickly to resolve the disconnect, until finally, their words came in clear as day.
“Can you hear us?” the stern female voice asked. “We are coming in for a landing. We have to know if our coordinates are correct.”
Kerglan grabbed the microphone and spoke into it, his voice needlessly loud.
“We are here. Your coordinates are perfect. Please, proceed with caution. We are ready.”
It was difficult for us to contain our excitement, but the truth was that we were also wary. It had been quite a long time since our ship had crashed on Hexa, and it seemed that one thing after another had been going wrong. We would allow ourselves to relax and celebrate once the mission was accomplished, and not a second sooner.
Before long, we were standing outside, the dark shadow of a stealth fighter ship hovering above our heads. One by one, Raithers were gathered inside, each of them carrying bundles of supplies that had been left in the ship. It was better that they be brought back to Hexa than to be left there to be discovered by some other creature. That much was certain.
Finally, it was just the human, Kerglan, and myself left, and Kerglan nudged the girl forward. She glanced back at me, her face pale, and I frowned. There was something strange about this: something that went beyond even Kerglan’s claim upon her.
But before I could try to consider what it might be, Kerglan was nudging her forward, and Mila stumbled forward toward the ship. She was helped inside by the Resha Federation’s crew, and soon Kerglan and I were walking side by side into the safety of the ship’s doorway. There was no telling what was going to happen now, but we were inside, safe and sound, heading back to our own planet and leaving the hellish prison planet behind us.
I could only hope that the secret that Mila and I had shared would never be discovered. If it was, I would be doomed to come back and live out the rest of my life in exile.
***
“I’ve never seen such a sky,” Mila breathed, stepping off the ship in front of me. I smiled down at her.
“I told you that it was beautiful here.”
“Did you not believe him, human?” Kerglan asked, butting in and ruining the little moment that I had been sharing with the female. “I don’t blame you. He can be kind of unreliable at times.”
I prickled. It had been I who had saved the human from mortal danger in the first place. He had a lot of nerve to project his own inferiorities onto me. But that was common fare when it came to my brother. What could be done about it?
“Kerglan! Lazan!”
My chest tightened at the sound of our father’s voice, and I turned just in time to see him greeting my brother. They bowed to each other, their foreheads touching: a sign of affection amongst the warriors. When it came time for him to greet me, he simply smiled.
“Welcome home.”
“Thank you, father,” I said, pushing down my resentment.
“And who is this?” my father asked, quirking his brow. “A human?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but Kerglan pushed in front of me and grabbed Mila by the arm. “Yes! My mate. I claimed her on the planet Hexa. Father, we must prepare the ceremonies at once. We have already waited far too long to make this official.”
My stomach dropped at the look on Mila’s face. She was terrified and intimidated, and shrank away from the cool gazes of my brother and my father, unable to find anything that might give her some semblance of normalcy. There was nothing familiar about this place. And I had learned that this human was most comfortable when she felt secure.
She had blossomed once she had gotten used to the camp, coming and going as if she might one day be able to reclaim the part of herself that had been lost when she had been abducted and thrown into the unfair situation on the prison planet. It had been nice to see her start to thrive. Perhaps on Yala she might be able to do the same.
“Congratulations, Kerglan! Lazan, isn’t this wonderful news! Your brother is truly becoming a man worthy of respect!”
I gritted my teeth and nodded, though my father wasn’t truly expecting a reply from me. He was simply throwing another great accomplishment of my brother’s in my face. He was proud of Kerglan and always would be. When it came to me, I would have to conquer the galaxy before I would even register to him as important. The most he had seen me as was a way to elevate his own status, so he could have two upstanding sons he could brag about, and not just the one.
“And what is your name, human?” my father asked, his tone overly sweet and simplistic, as if she were nothing but a dull toddler. “Do you like this planet?”
Mila looked startled by this change in my father’s voice and quirked her brow before answering. “My name is Mila. Yala is beautiful. It is a lot better than Hexa, but I would really love it if I could return to Earth.”
My father laughed awkwardly, glancing from Mila to Kerglan as if slowly beginning to understand that Mila might not be as invested in my brother as my brother was invested in him. And yet it didn’t deter him.
“Yala will grow on you in time. And Kerglan is a very successful soldier. It would take no time at all for him to take you for visits back to your home planet. The two of you will be very happy together.”
Mila looked hopeful, and then lost, as my father turned away from her and beamed at Kerglan.
“Come,” he said. “Let us register your claim with the bureau. Then we can head back to the house. A lot has happened since you have been here last. There is much to discuss.”
***
“The human does not like Raither food,” Kerglan said to our father. I felt uncomfortable on Mila’s behalf as she shifted in her seat.
“Actually, I like it very much. But I caught a bug or something while we were on Hexa…”
“Of course, I’m sure it was difficult for you there considering the way the human immune system works. You poor things can’t catch a break at times. Luckily, our strong Raither genes will ensure that your futur
e spawn will be healthy and strong in all conditions.”
Mila’s face flushed a deep red, and for a moment I thought that she was going to burst into tears right there at the dinner table. She closed her eyes for a moment and then looked up at my father, a bright smile pasted on her face.
“That is good news,” she said.
Something in the sound of her voice bothered me, but it was hard for me to identify what it was. She was miserable, certainly. Even I was miserable dining with these two, and I had done so for all of my life. But there was something more to it than that. As if she had something on her mind that she just couldn’t shake off. Something more than simply being stuck on Yala with my brother for the rest of her life.
The conversation lulled after that until my father and Kerglan began to speak to each other about all of the details of our adventure. Mila and I remained quiet, listening in and contributing only when necessary. She picked at her food and excused herself early.
My father had already prepared a room for her to sleep in, and before long, I also left the table, feeling more unhinged than I had under even the most critical pressure I had endured on the planet Hexa. My family had a way of making me feel nearly beside myself with misery. It was no wonder the human was unhappy as well. There was no telling how difficult all of this could be for her.
And yet, no matter how much I wanted to, I could not go to her to speak of such things. She was now shut away in her own little world, and I had to return to my own bedroom in the family house, where I would remain until I made my claim as well.
I shut myself in the room and sighed miserably. That would never happen. There was only one female I wanted to be with, and it was the female that would be my undoing should the truth come out. I was stuck there with my father forever, and would probably never be seen as a warrior worthy of respect in his eyes. Such was the nature of life with my family.
And yet, we were free from the accursed planet full of monsters and barbarians. Even if my tryst with the human was discovered, I would be able to live the rest of my life knowing that at least for the duration of her stay on Yala, she was going to be safe no matter what happened. That would just have to be good enough.
Chapter 8
Dr. Mila Voss
The architecture of the Raither’s world was incredible, and I took a few moments to take in the sweeping ceiling of the bedroom that Lazan’s father had assigned to me. Half of it was made of glass so that I could see the dazzling sky as the sun began to set behind the clouds.
I had never seen anything more beautiful in all my life. The planet had an ethereal aura about it, and the sky was lit with a magnificent spectrum of color unlike anything my own planet was capable of producing. There must have been some kind of gasses in the air that contributed to the spectacle.
But even the gasses were no match for the plethora of stars sweeping across the night sky. It was so much more beautiful than I could ever describe: as if the planet Yala sat in a crux within the galaxy, having the vantage point of being in the midst of star clusters that were packed full of stars of all shapes and sizes and colors. I had no idea a sky like this was possible, and now that I did, I understood why the Raithers preferred to sleep outdoors whenever possible, without anything above their heads except the sky.
When I had had my fill of gazing at the stars, I sank down onto the bed and let the sob that had been caught in my chest finally spill out into my hands. How would I ever be able to come to terms with living in this world? Especially knowing that soon, everybody would know my secret and Lazan would be in serious trouble.
I was pregnant. Every single day seemed to prove that to me more and more. And it seemed that the Raither children grew at an excessive rate because I was having symptoms many women didn’t experience until their second trimester, and it had only been a few weeks. I was terrified that I was going to start showing.
The off-handed comment that Lazan’s father had made about carrying hardy Raither children had nearly brought me to the edge of my tolerance. I had hoped that I could escape the horrifying fate laid out for Lazan should his people discover what had happened between us. I hated the thought of him being returned to one of the prison planets, especially after just having escaped the one we were on. Sure, he could handle himself, but there was so much stress involved in ensuring one’s survival. And not only that, but I loved him. I wanted to know that he was safe and sound no matter what. I would rather spend all our lives on Hexa together than to be apart from him.
I halted my thoughts. They were probably just my hormones. It would do me no good to get caught up in thinking that I cared more about this Raither than I truly did. Sure, he was intense and passionate, and he was able to make my body experience pleasures I had only before imagined, but he was also a man I had been stuck in a stressful situation with for far too long. That wasn’t love. That was a trauma bond. It had nothing to do with genuine emotions, right?
And yet, I was carrying his child; nestled and growing within me was the spawn of one of the bravest and most intelligent men I had ever known. And not to mention, the most handsome. I couldn’t help but wonder whether our child would favor him, and I found myself laying down on the plush mattress, my eyes heavy as I considered what a future might be like with Lazan and me raising our child: a happy family.
***
All thoughts of a happy family were gone from my mind the next day when Kerglan burst into my room and barked at me urgently to get up.
“Human, it is time for us to prepare for the ceremonies. We must get you fitted for the proper gown. In the meantime, wear this. We do not want you to stand out too much on this planet.”
Kerglan thrust a gown at me, and I sighed, looking down at it. It was actually very beautiful, but the idea of walking around on Yala as if I belonged there was strange. I had already been through a huge multitude of tests that were conducted by the scientists of Yala: Raithers who looked at me with a strange combination of curiosity and suspicion. I had no interest in seeing what the other Raithers might think of me. I had a feeling that outsiders were not tolerated very well on this planet.
“What are you waiting for? You must get up! There is work to be done! Raithers do not tolerate idleness, no matter what you and your kind are used to getting away with. You are going to be held to Raither standards from this moment onward, and you had better get used to it.”
I sat up quickly, covering my stomach compulsively with my hands. I wasn’t showing a lot yet, but I could already tell the difference. What if the Raither who would be in charge of fitting me for the gown was able to detect something? The prospect was terrifying.
“Is that necessary?” I stammered, gathering the blankets up around my stomach. If Kerglan ever found out about the baby, all hell would break loose. He would know that we had never consummated things, and there was no way of telling how likely he would be to destroy the child, and probably even me along with it.
“Of course it is necessary!” Kerglan exclaimed, looking at me as if I were an absolute imbecile. “If we do not do everything right then I will be a laughingstock. I am a man of noble rank, and as my mate, you would do well to understand that what you do reflects upon me, and should you bring me any shame, there is no end to the misery I am capable of putting you through.”
I wave of cold fear swept through me, and I remained quiet. How had I gotten myself into this? Why couldn’t I have just managed to stay with the humans after the attack on our camp? Whatever became of those women anyway? We all had intelligence on our side; they were probably fine. I couldn’t help but worry though…not that I had been very close to any of them.
“Be ready to leave by the time I come back, human. I mean it.”
Kerglan’s eyes were dark and angry upon me, and I nodded numbly. I did not want to do anything that might make him angry. The idea of getting on the wrong side of his temper was horrifying.
Fortunately, he left, and when I looked down at my stomach, a felt a little bit of r
elief. Only I knew what my body normally looked like. While some Raithers might be able to sense a pregnancy without medical intervention just as some humans could, it was unlikely that my secret would be discovered. I would just have to keep it under wraps for as long as possible. And at least all of this was beginning to happen before it was too obvious that I was pregnant. Maybe I would be able to find a way off this planet before anybody ever found out.
I slipped into the gown that Kerglan had thrust at me and looked in the mirror nervously. As long as nobody knew that I was pregnant, then everything was going to be okay. But the second it became impossible to hide, there was no telling what might happen. All I knew was that the worst-case scenario would see the Raither I cared most about in the world condemned to a life that I could not bear the thought of.
Maybe I should tell him. Let him know the danger that we were both in and give him the opportunity come up with a plan. But I had already overheard during the conversation at the dinner table that the Raithers who had returned to Yala would not be allowed to leave again for quite a long time. They were going to be monitored and researched as a part of an initiative for the Resha Federation, who were curious about the effects of long-term stress on the most dangerous of prison planets.
Even if I did tell him, it would only just worry him. He would not be allowed to escape. There was nothing that would happen. No good would come of a confession. It would only put Lazan in mortal danger and make him worry himself over things that were beyond his control.
“Human! Let us leave. Now!”
I sighed. Apparently, the fun was just beginning. I headed out to the hallway, where Kerglan was waiting, his dark features impatient and angry.
