Belong

by C. R. Jane

  "Maybe some of the females have medical training," Derrial exclaimed, hoisting me up into his arms and racing out the door of the flight deck and down the hallway to the room I had visited earlier.

  "Do any of you have medical training with pregnancy?" Derrial shouted as we made it into the room. He startled the females, and several of them lunged for cover, obviously thinking we were under attack. I'm sure our panic wasn't great for their already fractured nerves.

  Hasso was at my side in a flash, another Vepar holding her baby. She knelt by my side. "I have a little bit of training. When I was in school, I thought I would learn what I could just in case I ever did get pregnant," she explained as she softly started pressing on my stomach.

  The pains continued. The only thing that comforted me at all was the fact that I could still feel the little butterflies every couple of minutes, signaling that the baby was moving.

  "Do you have anything I could use to listen?" Hasso asked.

  "I'll go check what Corran left with us," Thane answered as he jumped up and sprinted out of the room.

  "Lay her down," Hasso ordered Derrial, and he quickly obeyed. Thane returned a few minutes later with something that resembled a human stethoscope. Hasso grabbed it and pressed it against my stomach as she listened from the other end.

  "The baby's heartbeat sounds strong, but obviously without imaging capabilities, it's hard to know for sure," she said somberly.

  Everyone was silent for a minute as they watched me grit my teeth as pain ripped through me.

  Hasso suddenly jumped up, startling all of us. "Wait. Has she done the Arcathian ritual yet?" she exclaimed.

  Thane and Derrial looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

  Hasso rolled her eyes, looking decidedly less like she thought I was in mortal danger, and more like she was angry with the guys.

  "Every pregnant Vepar must bathe in the Arcathian waters at the start of her pregnancy. The flowers in the water give off some kind of compound that is necessary to the vitality of the baby. Ella might be human, but that baby is part Vepar, and she must complete the ritual in order for this pregnancy to make it."

  "How did your baby...?" Thane began, closing his mouth when he realized how sensitive his question was.

  "My baby does not have Vepar blood, so there was no need to complete the ritual," she explained fiercely, protectiveness over her baby springing forward again. Hasso was the exemplification of a mother, her love for her child practically bled out of her.

  "How do we get to these waters? I've never heard of them." Derrial asked a bit suspiciously like he didn't believe that it actually existed.

  "It's something that's passed down from mother to daughter. It's why you haven't been told of it," Hasso responded as she sent a sympathetic glance my way. Not that my mother would have known about these waters either. She would have been able to help me decorate the nursery though, I randomly thought as another streak of pain hit me.

  She fired off a set of strange words that evidently were the coordinates in Veon. Derrial looked like he had a million questions, but he hustled out of the room to steer us to our new destination.

  Evidently, I was about to take a swim.

  7

  Luckily, the Arcathian waters were only a few hours away, because the pain I experienced was almost unbearable. If pregnancy could feel like this already...what was labor going to feel like? I sure hoped that Corran had some alien version of an epidural, because I was not prepared to have a natural pregnancy after this.

  I told Thane this, and he barely repressed his grin. He obviously didn't realize how serious I was.

  I felt a small shake as Derrial landed the ship, and a minute later he was back in the room. Thane already had me in his arms though.

  I wasn't going to complain about being carried everywhere. The pain was enough that it would knock me to my knees every time.

  Hasso followed us as I was carried off the ship, but the rest of the females chose to remain on the ship. Which I was grateful for. I'd gotten the impression from Hasso's description that this was usually a private event. I'd already been impregnated with a room full of scientists, a fact that I couldn't think about. It would be nice to have some relative privacy for some parts of this pregnancy.

  We stepped off the ship, and I gasped as I looked around. The area looked completely different from the other parts of Veon that I'd seen. I was quickly learning that Veon had just as many different terrains as Earth. I wasn't sure why it surprised me still every time. We were surrounded by what looked like sand. Except it was the whitest sand that I'd ever seen. A more brilliant white than even the beaches I'd visited once as a child in Orange Beach, Alabama. The sand was so bright that it hurt my eyes after being in the relative dimness of the ship and my eyes watered as I adjusted. I had expected the water to be lavender-colored like the sea in the area we'd been in before. But this water was more like water you would find on Earth, with the exception that it was far clearer than any water you would find there. The clarity of the water allowed me to see that there didn't seem to be any creatures around at least this part of the water. At least I would be able to see if a predator was about to attack me.

  Besides its remarkable opacity, what made the water even more unique were the giant gold flowers that covered every inch of the sea's floor. The petals were at least three feet long, and they shimmered as if they'd been sprinkled with gold pixie dust.

  Without realizing it, I had started to push away from Thane. It was like my body knew that it needed whatever power was waiting in those waters.

  The pain I'd been experiencing seemed to be abating a bit already as well.

  Thane reluctantly put me down as he eyed the water distrustfully. It was true that some of the most dangerous things on this planet were also the most beautiful. But something told me that water wasn't one of those dangerous things.

  I walked towards it, taking off my shoes as I did so. I stepped into the water and immediately, a tingling sensation started to spread from my toes up towards my head. Without thinking about any modesty, I began stripping out of my outfit until I was left in nothing but my underwear and bra. I continued walking into the water until I was covered up to my chin.

  The tingling sensation continued to spread and with it now came a soft heat that made me feel like I was bathing in a warm bath. I was aware that Thane and Derrial were watching me, a quick glance around told me that Hasso must have returned back to the ship, because I couldn't see her.

  I floated on my back, enjoying the sensations. The pain in my stomach had completely disappeared. The fluttering of my baby had picked up though. The water seemed to have excited it.

  "Are you going to join me?" I asked the guys. "I'm feeling much better. The water is incredible." I closed my eyes again as I heard the sounds of the guys stripping. Light splashing told me they were in the water, but I didn't bother opening my eyes. I was too comfortable.

  Derrial and Thane both softly stroked my stomach as I floated. I opened my eyes and smiled at them. "Doesn't it feel wonderful?" I asked.

  "What does it feel like for you?" Thane asked, cocking his head as he studied my surely euphoric expression.

  "There's tingling all over and a warmth, almost like I'm having a hot stone massage or something," I explained.

  "It doesn't feel like that for me," responded Thane with a fake pout.

  "Nor for me," added Derrial. "It must have special properties that only affect women...or pregnant women.

  "Mmmmh. Regardless, it's amazing. I wish Corran was here. His science mind would be exploding right now." No sooner had the words left my mouth than I stupidly realized that I shouldn't be enjoying myself right now. Corran was in trouble still.

  "Relax, pet," soothed Thane. "Derrial heard from him while he was flying here. Corran's safe on his ship and headed to the next laboratory."

  "You promise?" I prodded, wanting to make sure he wasn't just saying that to try and make me feel better, like they'd be
en prone to do in the past.

  "I swear," Thane answered, and I let myself relax again.

  Finally, after at least an hour had passed, I stopped floating and stood back up. "Did Hasso say I was supposed to do anything special besides swim?" I asked, dunking myself for good measure, just in case I had to get completely covered by the water for the ritual to work.

  "She said that you needed to eat a petal from one of the flowers," Derrial said, diving down under the water and plucking one of the large petals from the luminous flowers.

  "Is she sure?" I asked, eyeing the flower.

  "She hasn't let us down yet," said Thane. Agreeing with that, I tore off a small piece of the petal and placed it in my mouth. Immediately a sweet flavor exploded in my mouth, the taste exceeding even the best food that I'd ever had. I devoured the rest of the petal, unable to stop myself as Thane and Derrial watched me, amused.

  "This is the best thing I've ever tasted," I tried to say with a full mouth. This time, both Derrial and Thane flat out laughed at me. But I didn't care, I was too busy stuffing my face.

  It was so delicious that as soon as I was done, I took a deep breath, preparing to dive under and get another petal to eat.

  Thane stopped me before I could dive under. "Sorry pet, Hasso specifically said you were only to eat one petal. More than that can be addictive."

  I did feel like a druggie desperate for a fix at the news that I could only have one. "I need it," I whined, realizing how crazy I sounded as soon as the words came out of my mouth.

  Derrial just kissed me in response.

  "Do you think I've stayed in the water long enough?" I asked as I realized that as many healing properties as the water seemed to have, it also held a bit of danger as well that I wasn't in the mood to test. "I could stay here forever, but I don't think that's wise."

  "I think we are good to go whenever," answered Thane, and I closed my eyes and soaked in the warm, tingling sensation one more time before I started to swim towards the shore when I spotted another smaller flower. And I couldn’t help myself but take it with me, figuring it might be something I could have when I was alone. The temptation to not put it all in my mouth now was almost unbearable. I immediately missed the water the second I got out, and it took all I had to drag myself back to where the ship was waiting for us.

  But the pain was gone, and my little baby's kicks felt stronger than ever.

  Veon was a strange but magical place.

  When we got back on board, the women were all in the same place we had left them and Hasso was rocking her sleeping child. I mouthed thank you and blew her a kiss, not wanting to wake up the baby. I would need to do something else to show her my appreciation when all of this was over.

  I went to a room to change out of my wet undergarments. Corran, ever prepared, had attached compartments of our clothes when we left the other day that although appeared to be as thin as an envelope, held several changes of clothes along with other supplies. I was never going to get used to Vepar technology, but I was grateful for it now that we had lost our ship that held the rest of our supplies.

  After I'd changed, I placed the tiny flower in a small paper and wrapped it up before placing it into my pocket as I didn’t want the guys to think I was weak and couldn’t resist the plant. Which clearly, I couldn’t, but I’d keep that to myself. The flower made me feel incredible, and I was doing this for my baby.

  Then I headed to the flight deck where Thane and Derrial had gone as soon as we'd returned to the ship. They'd already taken off by the time I got there, and they were discussing the best place to drop off the rescued women before we went to meet up with Corran.

  There didn't seem to be any good options besides Derrial's parents for where to leave the women, but we'd already asked a lot of them by taking on and nursing my father back to health. Twelve women plus a baby was too much.

  "What if we took them to one of the safe houses for the time being?" I asked, and Derrial put a hand to his head in frustration.

  "I obviously haven't been sleeping enough. Of course, that's the best option. There are unlimited food and clothes at our safe houses, and they can always camp out on the floor like they have been on the ship."

  I nodded eagerly, glad we'd come up with a solution.

  Derrial typed in the coordinates for one of the safehouses and away we went.

  We'd been traveling for about an hour when the ship seemed to hit something. The whole vessel rocked and shook, throwing us out of our seats. I managed to grab on to a handle on the console in front of me and prevented myself from flying across the room with the impact.

  The ship righted itself and we all got unsteadily to our feet. Thane and Derrial flew to the controls, pressing buttons and trying to read on the scanner what had happened.

  All of a sudden, the screen flicked on in front of us and one of the Council members appeared, armed with a cocky smirk.

  "Distracted on the job?" he sang as he looked at Derrial and Thane gleefully. "The old you would never have missed a Council ship tracking you down."

  My guys looked like they wanted to jump through the screen and choke the Council member. Fear gripped me like a vice.

  We were never going to be safe.

  8

  Thane

  Fuck! I seethed as the Councilman smiled at us through the screen. He was right. We had been distracted, and I was furious that they’d managed to track us down.

  "Surrender," he ordered.

  All I could think about was how much I wanted to shove my fist into his face. Instead, I jabbed a finger at the off button on the screen and just growled under my breath.

  "They're going to shoot us down?" Ella's panicked voice melted my heart. Getting caught by the Council wasn't an option. Not when we'd be locked up for life...if they didn't kill us first. And what would they do to Ella and our unborn baby? The Council was behind the virus spreading through Vepar, taking so many lives. Their experiments led to this disaster, and suddenly I knew what they were going to do. Frame everything on us.

  I checked the radar with a wide radius to another ship speeding up behind us from a fair distance. Even in this cloud cover, he’d track us down with ease.

  "They're not going to get a chance," Derrial murmured, and I realized belatedly I’d been speaking out loud.

  I glanced back to see him holding Ella tight and looking at me with fear in his eyes. Hell, we were fucked, alright.

  "So, what are we going to do?" Ella asked, her voice shaky as her gaze drifted to the coms screen. "What about all the women in this ship? The baby? We can't endanger them." The worry on her face twisted an invisible blade in my heart. She was right. Of course she was, but our choices were limited.

  "We're going to jump out of ship," Derrial announced.

  Ella's mouth dropped open as she stared at him incredulously. "Are you crazy? How is that woman's baby going to survive a jump?" She pulled out of Derrial's arms and started pacing back and forth.

  I met Derrial's gaze and nodded. "I think it can work. We leave the women on the ship."

  "Exactly my thoughts," he responded.

  "What are you talking about?" Ella asked.

  “Pet." Derrial reached out and took her hand before taking it to his mouth to kiss her fingertips. I adored seeing the affection she received, because she deserved so much more.

  "Thane is going to set the cruiser on auto-pilot with a destined landing position, which he’ll give to the Council. There’s heavy cloud cover farther ahead, and the ship’s got exactly three parachutes with non-detection shielding. It's how those bastard Khonsu have been sneaking into cities to steal women."

  Ella was shaking her head. "I've never jumped out of a plane and I don't know what to expect." Her words were running into one another. She was so adorable when she got nervous.

  Derrial held her tight, covering her face with kisses. "You won't be alone. But it's the only way for us to escape, and the women to survive. If the Council gets ahold of us, I’m worrie
d what they’ll do to you. We need to leap to safety right under their noses."

  Derrial gave me a nod, and I turned in my seat to the controls, sending the Council coordinates of where I'd be landing. A perfect spot right in the middle of a park near residential homes to draw just enough attention from locals to see the terrified women emerge from the cruiser. For one main reason - the women's presence would gain a lot of attention, and meant more time before the Council sent a search party for us. By then, we'd be long gone.

  I shot the message to the Council and waited for their confirmation. Moments later, a word flashed up on my screen.

  Agreed.

  I set the coordinates in auto-pilot, then shot Corran a message of our change of plans and where to come and meet us next. I hoped he wasn’t caught but just distracted. Then I sprung to my feet.

  My heart thumped in my chest as I marched across the flight deck. I approached Ella and cupped the sides of her face. "Hey, gorgeous. I need you to do something while Derrial and I prepare our jumps."

  "What is it?"

  She looked at me with those heartfelt eyes that gripped my very soul. I would do anything she asked, anything that kept her safe. My heart hammered and gut twisted at the idea of her and our baby hurt. I'd kill before I let anything happen to her. She was mine to protect, because if anything happened to my beautiful Ella, I'd never forgive myself.

  "I need you to speak to the women and explain to them the ship is taking them to safety. That they are to tell everyone that we saved them from the Khonsu, in particular the media."

  "So, you want them to give everyone our names?" She arched a brow, as if questioning my decision.

  I nodded. "Their arrival will gain media attention, and we might as well use the opportunity to show people we aren't as evil as the Council paints us."

  "That's a good idea," she said. "Don't think it will change their minds, but we’ve got nothing to lose, right?"