by Maia Starr
Hours later, we were landing with an invisible shield in place in the middle of something Melody called a vineyard. There were rows and rows of high vines shielding us from the buildings half a mile away on a hill.
“This is good. I can walk to those buildings. It will be a winery and it is a public place. I am safe walking through these vineyards. Who knows? I might even run into a tour,” she laughed sadly.
I stared at her as she leaned against the wall of the ship. I had shut down the engines, and we were now sitting in a silent ship. I looked at her for a long time. I did not want to let her go, but I had too.
“Remember the promise you made. You will speak about us Draqua and Kelon to no one,” I said trying to give orders.
“You don’t need to remind me. I would never expose you,” she said. Then we were quiet again. She looked at me and said, “So that’s it then? This is the end? You’re not going to promise to come back for me at some time? You are not going to change your mind and take off right now and take me with you?” Her bottom lip trembled.
“No, I can’t do any of those things. I can’t come back for you. Then it will be the same mess all over again. You are too important here on Earth. I can’t change my mind. I will need to find another,” I said. I knew it would hurt her, but I had too. It was the only way that she was going to let me go.
“What do you mean find another?” she asked. I knew that she would pick up on that.
“I am a prince. I need to produce offspring. I will need to eventually find a mate that can provide that,” I said to her as stoicly as I could.
“I see. Of course. That would be expected. I guess I just did not really think that far ahead,” she said. “I guess I should go now.”
“Yes,” I said as I moved toward the door. Then I stopped. “We have to say goodbye. We have to do this. It is the best for both of our planets,” I said.
“If this is goodbye, then let us not use words,” she said as she pressed her body against mine. She put her arms around my neck and pulled herself up to me. She pressed her mouth against mine and kissed me hard. That was it. It was all that I could take. I opened my mouth and slipped my tongue into her mouth. I picked her up and cupped her bottom in my hands. “Oh, Melody… fuck…” I whispered as she wrapped her legs around me.
I pressed her against the wall. She greedily moved her hands up and down my body. “Take me, take me one last time,” she said to me. I pushed her dress up to her waist. I pulled my cock out of my loincloth. I pushed the tip of my cock inside of her. We both moaned in satisfaction from the elation of being together again. “Yes, yes,” she whispered. Then I pushed deep inside of her. She yelled out in passion. I groaned and grunted like a wild Draqua. I moved fast and hard pounding her. I was moving quickly. It was hot and messy. “Yes, yes,” she said. “I’m going to cum,” she continued.
“Good; I want you too. I want you to cum while I’m inside of you,” I whispered in her ear. She pressed her fingers into my flesh and let out a scream as she released. I moved faster in short movements in and out of her then I released. “Oh fuck, oh fuck, Melody, I’m cumming.”
I collapsed against her body breathing in her scent. The vibrations rocked through me. She was exceptional. This was a goodbye that I would never forget. She held onto me and squeezed me tightly. Then she began to cry.
“Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. Please don’t do that,” I whispered as I looked into her eyes.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I think all of this, the whole thing is just really getting to me finally. I should go now,” she said.
I pulled myself out of her and set her on the ground. She moved to the washing room and ran the water. I moved to the windshield to make sure we were still alone. The area was clear. Melody came out of the back of the ship.
“Goodbye, Cylo. Thank you for the adventure. I will never ever forget it,” she said.
I pulled her to me and kissed her. Then I walked her to the door. I opened it and helped her out. “Are you sure this is the place?” I asked her.
She looked at the building. “Yes, it is good. I will be safe here. They will help me,” she said. “Go now before someone sees you. I could not bare it if I was the reason you got caught here. They would do horrible things to you and experiment on you. You need to go.”
I quickly boarded the ship and closed the door, but I did not leave. I watched as she walked down the vine rows, making her way to the building. When she arrived there, two women ran out and greeted her. They hugged her and carefully helped her walk inside. She turned her head back, looking in my direction. Though I know that she could not see the ship, she knew I was still there.
Once the group was inside of the building, I started the engines and then slowly and carefully moved into the air. The ship shot straight out of Earth’s atmosphere and out into space. I had done it. I had left the human female that I loved on Earth. It stung like hell, and the ride back to my planet of Kelon was complete torture. I tried not to think of her every second, but the ship smelled like her. The bunk in the back of the ship where she had slept smelled like her, and I could not stop thinking of her every time I inhaled it. I made double light speed on the trip back to Kelon simply to get there as fast as I could and have a distraction. Figuring out who shot us down would be a good distraction, and it was one that I could not wait to get started on.
“You did right, my son,” my father said as I reported to him as soon as I landed on Kelon.
“Thank you, father,” I said.
“You had to return that female even if she is the one you want to mate with. She is too much of an important person on Earth. What you did was for the good of the Draqua. You will see that in time. We cannot have the humans knowing about us at this time.”
“Yes, I do see that, father,” I said as I stood there.
“But why did you show up in a different ship, son? Was there a problem?” he asked as he handed me a glass of lana juice in celebration of my successful mission.
“We were shot down,” I said.
“What?! Why did you not say this first? Why did you not report it as soon as it happened over transmissions?” my father said panicked.
“The shot knocked out my communications on the ship. It was as if the shooter was going after it on purpose. As though the shooter knew exactly where it was on my ship. I could not send a transmission before we crashed. Once I found a ship to continue my journey, I found it best not to send a transmission. If the shooter was still out there, they could intercept the message and come after me again. I thought it was best the shooter and whoever the shooter is working with thought I was dead.”
“That is wise, son. I should have never let you go without an escort. Who could have known that you were on a mission? It was only decided the night before that you were leaving. That is not enough time for the information to travel to our enemies on other planets,” my father said.
“Yes, I thought the same thing, father. That is why I think this shooter was not from another planet. I think it was a Draqua,” I said.
“What?! A Draqua shooting at our own prince?” he said.
“Yes. I was so convinced of it that I almost thought I would return to a civil war in progress,” I said shooting down the lana juice.
“Do you mean you think it was the opposition?” he asked.” No, they are not a violate group. They only like to argue their point, and that is all.”
“No, I don’t think that, father. I think the group has evolved to violence. You don’t see the contempt that is thrown upon me by those in the opposition parties. They look at me with hate in their eyes, and hatred leads to violence.”
“No, that can’t be,” he said in denial.
“Think about it. What better way to get the message across that Draqua should not be mating with humans and that hybrids should not be in the Draqua race? Shooting down a hybrid that has a human mate is the perfect way to mark all those items off the list in one shot. It makes a massive statement. Not to mention the hybr
id is the prince. It goes to show that the opposition is going against the crown. It has all the markings of starting a civil war,” I said.
“It is possible that you are right. I will keep an extra eye out and send my eyes and ears out into the village to gather information for me,” he said as he gave me a big hug. “I am happy that you are safe. I do not want to lose you, son. Because of that and this danger that you have come across, I am going to appoint a personal guard to you,” he said. “Guards!”
“No, father, that is not necessary,” I said.
“Yes, it is very necessary. Someone shot you down, and you believe it is a Draqua; that is enough to know that they will not stop there. They will fly to your window and kill you in your sleep,” he said.
Two guards entered the chambers. I gestured for them to leave, “It was a mistake. Please carry on,” I said. They walked out the door and closed it behind them.
“Look, father, if you want me to have guards then at least let me use those that I trust. I will get Baca and Jix to guard me,” I said.
“Very well,” he said.” Guards!” he shouted again.
The guards came back in. “Go and find Baca and Jix, the hybrids, and bring them to me. Tell them their prince wishes to see them.” The guards nodded and left.
“There, now sit and wait. You will not be unguarded for a second,” he said. I sighed. I knew there was no use in fighting this. I poured myself more lana juice and then another. An hour later, Baca and Jix showed up, and the king gave them his orders. They were now my guards.
“We honorably accept,” they said. Then we flew to my hut. We sat around drinking lana juice, and I told them about being shot down. But they knew that I was more melancholy about something else.
“Maybe you should have a turn with your women, Sarah and Michelle,” Jix said. “I’m tired of hearing about this other human already.”
“Yes, that is a great idea. I will go fetch them now,” Baca said.
“No! That is not necessary. I don’t want them. I just need some sleep. Will you keep watch while I lay and get some rest? I have not slept since I left Kelon for the mission.”
“Yes of course. We will keep watch and patrol. No one is getting in here tonight. I will even fetch the food myself so that it is not poisoned,” Jix laughed.
“I will take fresh fish when I wake,” I laughed. Then I moved to my bed and laid down. The first image that came to mind when I closed my eyes was Melody. She was crying and being sad on the ship as I held her in that last goodbye. Shit, how would I ever get any sleep?
BROTHER FISHY 500
The next morning I met for a council meeting with my brother and my father.
“Why would you think it is one of our own Draqua? It must have been a space thief,” my brother Greia said.
“Because I have my suspicions. My intuition. And I think I am right about it,” I said annoyed.
“Oh, you mean you’re stupid mind power has told you that it is a Draqua. I don’t think your mind powers are as strong as you think they are, brother,” he said.
“No, I did not say that. I gave the reasons for why I think it is the opposition,” I said. “Now what are we going to do about it? If we don’t seek out those that are leading this group into violence, then it will be too late when we finally do take action!”
“Yes, maybe you are right. I have had my little birds gathering information amongst the villagers, and there are those that feel the opposition is growing bolder,” my father said.
“No, that is idle gossip. Do not believe that, father. The opposition is harmless,” my brother said. “There beliefs are not without warning. It is not natural to breed with the human females, so they are only concerned with the future of the Draqua, as anyone would be,” Greia said.
“Your brother is born of mixing with human. Don’t you forget that. He would not be here if it wasn’t for that,” my father said.
“You are taking great sides with this opposition, brother,” I said to him eyeing him suspiciously.
“They are still Draqua. I take into account the needs and wants of all Draqua, not just those that believe what you believe. I will be great king because of it. I cannot decide that one group is wrong and the other is right. I have to understand where both sides are coming from,” he said.
“Yes, yes, that is correct. You are right, Greia,” my father said.
My brother grew an arrogant smirk on his face and thrust his chest out as he boasted that father was siding with him.
“We should not take any action on this opposition group. Let us just keep an eye out for them. For now, Cylo, keep your guard with you,” my father said.
“Guard? What guard?” my brother asked.
“I have Cylo keeping a guard with him for now, until we can find out who shot him down,” my father said.
“That is not necessary. No one is after him, and I am sure that it was a space thief that shot down his ship. His ship is shiny and brand new. What space thief would not try to get their hands on it when it crossed paths with it?” Greia said.
“Yes, but space thieves hardly ever shoot on what they want to collect as bounty. What is the point in going after a ship you want to steal if you are going to shoot it down? Then there is no more ship, now is there?” I said looking at my brother. He was silent.
“What about Veiras?” I asked.
“Veiras?!” My brother shouted. “What about him? He is old and harmless,” he said.
“Yes, Veiras, his name has come up a few times in my reports,” my father said.
“For what? He is just an old Draqua,” Greia said.
“No, he is not. He was once an advisor to my father. My father fired him because they did not see eye to eye on a lot of things my father thought were very important,” my father said.
“He was an advisor to grandfather? I did not know that,” I said.
“Yes, an old advisor. Then he retired and went to live on Cuama Reef. He has been there since,” my brother said.
“Yes, that is right. But I have noticed a lot of elder Draqua have also migrated there as well over the years,” my father said.
“Yes, away from the noise of the village. I see why the old Draqua would want to retire there,” my brother said.
I thought it was odd that he was sticking up for this Veiras more and more with each inquiry that my father and I made.
“I think he is the leader of the opposition,” I said as I stood in front of my brother and crossed my arms in front of my chest. I stood solid in front of him, not letting him walk away. I watched the reaction of his face. There was a flicker of something. I did not know what it was, but he wasn’t speaking the whole truth. Then he recovered and went back into his laid-back, nonchalant tone. He picked up fruit from the table and bit into it. “Veiras is no leader. I do not think the opposition has a leader at all. It is merely a set of beliefs that some Draqua have and others don’t,” Greia said.
“Why do you think he is the leader of the opposition, my son?” my father said. Greia sighed, annoyed that my father wasn’t dropping it.
“Because he has isolated himself in an area where he can build strength in numbers for his cause. He does not like the crown, I am sure because grandfather fired him from a high position where he was allowed to live in luxury. I have met Veiras many times, and there is a lot of bitterness there,” I said.
“And because of that you hold him accountable for being the leader of a violent group?” my brother said.
“Yes,” I said.
“These are all good thoughts. I will have a special team look into it. Now speak of this to no one. You are both dismissed to your duties,” my father said.
My brother shifted and was off before my father could even finish his sentence.
“He’s in a rush,” I said as I walked out on the veranda and watched him fly. He was flying in the direction of Cuama Reef. I did not bother mentioning this to father. Perhaps there was nothing to worry about. But I would keep an eye on
the situation. I had too. If I did not occupy my mind with something, then I would think of her and I could not think of her. I had to let go. I had to let time bury any memory of her, but that was easier said than done.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MELODY REEVES
“What do you think caused your fall, Ms. Reeves? Where do you think you fell to give you this amnesia?” the reporter asked.
Cameras flash flashed all around me as I sat behind a table with the Santa Barbara police chief answering the questions of the media circus that had shown up there since I was found.
“I don’t know. I can’t remember,” I said to the reporter. This was becoming my answer to almost every question, and I congratulated myself and how perfect of an excuse it was: amnesia.
