by Eden Ember
“Don’t worry, I will not slap you again. I’m sorry that I slapped you before,” she told him.
The warrior alien smiled. “I’m sorry that I assumed you wanted to kiss me as badly as I wanted to kiss you.”
“Oh, but I do,” Blaire told him as she leaned in once again. His full lips softly melted into hers again, her body awakening with a deep desire that she’d never felt before. The scientist was ready to give herself to him. She wanted to know what it was like to feel him all over her. Blaire wanted to feel his hands on her bare skin. She groaned as she adjusted herself, ready to surrender to the strong warrior’s desires.
Kezon gently rocked with her until they were lying on their sides facing one another. He pulled her to him in a tight embrace, his hand caressing the side of her cheek. “You’re so lovely; so beautiful. You do not understand what you’ve done to me,” he quietly told her.
“Hey, mister, you have no idea what you’ve done to me. Even I don’t understand what you’ve done to me. This is all so new,” Blaire said as she smiled.
Their lips met again as his chest burned beneath his tunic. Blaire’s heart beat wildly as she felt liberated in her emotions for Kezon. No longer did she want to hold back and no longer did she hold up her hands to try to stop it. No, she wanted him.
There was a rap at the door that wouldn't stop. Kezon moved away from her and stood up before he strode to the door and pressed his hand against the panel. Blaire quickly sat up and smoothed her hair and clothing.
“Sir, Uza needs you on the bridge,” Roth said immediately. The Hjott pivoted with Kezon on his heels, leaving Blaire behind in the room. Was it meant to be that they would be together in his bed? She could not know as she sat quietly and replayed in her mind all that had happened over the previous few minutes.
Chapter 9
Kezon
Kezon shook with frustration at having to leave Blair behind in that way. Uza had better have a good reason for calling him to the bridge. He was on the verge of claiming Blaire and making her his. He stepped loudly through the corridor and then through the door, his jaw flexing as he made his way to the bridge.
"Sir, the rebel ship has found us again. It is keeping its distance and I keep maneuvering the ship to ascertain if they are indeed following us. They are," Uza said as he turned Kezon.
Kezon’s hand doubled into a fist as he gazed at the screen in front of him. He slammed his hand down on the rail of the bridge and checked several coordinates to see what choices they had. He pointed to two out of the way wormholes. "The only way to lose them is to jump. Luckily, we have a very large selection of wormholes before us. This one will allow us to double back in the opposite direction and lose some time, but it may be just what we're looking for. If they're following us, they must know already that we're heading to Arthexei." He pointed his finger at the screen, the location of a wormhole visible.
"Yes, commander. I believe this would be our best course of action." Uza pulled up the star map and the selection of wormholes they could use once they had traveled through the selected one. "And then we could jump back. It would take us around to the top of the Vada System," he told Kezon.
"Yes, this may be our only option for now. Wait for me to get Blaire to sick bay so that she will be safe from the series of jumps we’re about to take," Kezon said as he rushed out the door and up the corridor. He arrived back at his quarters where Blaire awaited him.
"Blaire, please quickly go to the sick bay and lie down while we make a few jumps. A rebel ship is following us once again, so we will be going through at least two wormholes to lose them again. Unfortunately we will be entering and exiting at hyper-speed and I fear that could make you ill once again," Kezon told the Terran scientist.
Blaire didn’t argue with him. She nodded as she quickly got up and he escorted her to the sick bay.
Kezon explained to Ahlan what was about to happen and the ship doctor made a great suggestion. "Perhaps I’ll start the infusion now so that it will help to stop the space travel illness before it happens.”
"I'll do anything I need to do to get back to the lab and work on the virus," Blaire interjected. Her eyes swung up to Kezon and locked onto his for just a moment. The Hjott warrior alien smiled slightly and nodded at her. She smiled and nodded back at him as she sat down on the bed. Blaire then willingly held out an arm for Ahlan to do what he needed to do to start the infusion.
By the time Kezon made it back to the bridge, Uza's eyes were darting from a screen to the giant window before them.
"They have increased to hyper-speed and are catching up to us, sir. They will surely see where we go," Uza surmised.
"Thrust forward and go to the wormhole anyway. Maneuver once we pass to the other side and then go through the next wormhole, and possibly even the next. We will lose them eventually," Kezon replied.
Just as they reached the wormhole, the rebel ship opened fire, hitting the hull of the ship in the back. An alarm sounded, but the protective energy shields continued to hold. "We will continue to move forward and deal with any damage once we have reached the other side," Kezon told his crew.
Uza increased the speed once again and the Gamma Revolution rushed forward as they darted into the wormhole.
"We made it through without the rebel ship," Uza said as he carefully watched the screen.
"Hyper-speed to the next one. We’ll travel to sector 1712," Kezon commanded.
"Yes, commander," Uza replied.
Kezon settled into his seat as he held onto the controls, helping to keep the ship at hyper-speed and directed toward the next wormhole. One last glance at the monitoring screen showed nothing but blank space. No one appeared to be following them as they sped forward and made their way through the next wormhole. Finally, they slowed down as Sector 1712 appeared. After careful examination of the monitor behind them, Kezon began to better understand their desperate need to make it to Sector 1712 to repair any damage to the aft of the ship.
Kezon carefully steered the ship towards Sector 1712, calling in a plea for a maintenance bay to repair the damage taken on by the rebel ship. Sector 1712 was friendly with the Vada System and knew very well of the rebel uprising. After carefully setting course to Sector 1712, Kezon left Uza in charge of monitoring to make certain the rebel ship did not again get close to them. They requested that the maintenance bay provide a shield that would hide them from any enemy ships within monitoring range.
When Kezon exited the ship at Sector 1712, his uxormea burned brightly underneath his tunic. Even though he had plenty to keep him busy while repairing the damage to the ship, his mind remained on Blaire. He knew she would probably go to the laboratory and continue her work. He didn't have to look down to know that his uxormea was as bright as ever for the Terran woman. Anyone could see even through the chain-mail over his chest that someone had lighted his fire. Kezon busied himself to find a mechanic team and offered a hefty fee to do the repair job as a high priority.
"It's imperative that we get back to the Vada System as soon as possible. I have a very special package that I need to deliver to save us from the rebels," he told them.
A few of the mechanics were Hjotts and understood the importance of the fight against their common enemy. They quickly made their way to the ship and then into the hull where they had taken fire from the rebel ship. Thankfully, there was only light damage to the outer hull and not so much inside. Kezon left the ship quickly and went in search of supplies to help hold them over until they reached Arthexei.
It took only five hours to repair the ship, and Kezon paid the mechanics as promised. When he came back onboard the ship, he sent word to everyone there that they would soon be back on their course to Arthexei.
The Hjott warrior hated not seeing Blaire. His thoughts remained on her as he undocked the ship and left the Sector 1712 station behind. He carefully scanned the space around them with the ship’s instruments and noticed a familiar image at the very far edge. Kezon ground his teeth together as he m
ade a fist, realizing that the rebel ship had found them yet again.
"The rebel ship is closing in on Sector 1712. They probably figured we would take it here for repairs. Quick, we must increase thrust and move through the wormhole."
"Commander, there is a hidden wormhole beyond this that I know of. I have a star chart of the uncharted wormholes in this region. Once we jump we can get back on course to the Vada System through a little known wormhole," Uza replied.
Kezon nodded. "Good thinking, we’ll do just that." He tapped the cuff on his wrist. "Ahlan, please get Blaire back to the sick bay and keep her there until I tell you we're done."
"She's been in the laboratory for three hours," the doctor answered back.
Kezon figured as much. But he trusted Ahlan to take good care of her while they traveled at hyper-speed and made their way through the wormhole. The ship maneuvered until the rebel ship was finally out of their sensor range as they lurched forward through the wormhole. Once they were through it, Kezon steered the ship toward the hidden wormhole that Uza had mentioned earlier. Looking again at their monitoring screens, they saw nothing in deep space nearby. The rebel ship hadn’t appeared to have come through the wormhole yet as they continued to travel at hyper-speed and into the uncharted wormhole.
Once the ship arrived on the other end of the wormhole, Kezon ordered that they remain at hyper-speed for a while even though no one appeared to be following them. "We will travel to wormhole 12-8 which will put us around the other side of the Vada System," Kezon told Uza. It was a desperate move, as well as one that would add a day or two to their trip. As much as Blaire had been sick, perhaps she needed the added time anyway to work in the laboratory before they reached Arthexei.
Kezon made his way to the sick bay and found it empty. Ahlan met him in the corridor just outside. “Blaire requested to stay in the lab during the jumps.” Kezon nodded his head in understanding. He knew Blaire would have fought with the doctor if he had tried to keep her out of the laboratory against her will. Kezon left the sick bay and made his way to the laboratory in hopes of finding her upright and not in a heap on the floor, sick from all the jumps. The Hjott commander smiled slightly as he did so, his thoughts on the beautiful Terran scientist.
Chapter 10
Blaire
An alert sounded again as Blaire put together a new batch of AI nanobots. She closed her eyes as she found a seat nearby and breathed through the sickness. She knew what to expect now. Since she and Kezon connected in his quarters, her space travel sickness had strangely improved. As the ship moved forward at hyper-speed through the wormholes, she focused on one thing more than anything else now; him. The alien had captured her heart, which was something that she never dreamed possible for herself.
After the ship passed through the wormhole, Blaire kept her eyes closed a bit longer while counting her breaths. One. Two. Three. Finally, the ship settled down and she opened her eyes to realize that the dizziness had gone away. Blaire stood and marched right back to the table where she secured the nanobots in the dish. The scientist made a few adjustments to the AI so that it would attach itself more readily to the host. This would allow them to infect the cyborgs once they reached Arthexei.
Even as she worked, what surprised Blaire more than anything was the romantic hum that drifted from her lips. It was a tune that she'd heard on Earth when she was younger. Kezon’s face stayed always in her mind, including the way her skin felt when he touched her and the way she felt when their lips met. Such a thing had never happened before with Blaire and another human being. Why was it happening now with an alien? She didn't know and she didn’t care. Blaire felt as if the walls she'd surrounded herself with her entire life were tumbling down as feelings deep inside her heart blossomed for the alien warrior. Kezon brought out something from inside her that she didn't realize she had. There was a softness and a reason to live for other than her science experiments. Maybe deep inside Blaire figured it was more of a logical study on her part to see how a Terran and an alien could be together. It didn't matter. She wanted to spend more time with him so that she could explore these newly emerging feelings that seemed so foreign to her.
"Perfect!" Blaire smiled and jumped when her laboratory door suddenly opened and Kezon walked in.
"What's perfect?" he asked as he strode over to her.
The Earth scientist held up a small dish. "I've created the nanobots to carry the virus. Once we land on Arthexei, infect the control center with them and they will then send the virus out to all the cyborgs to render them useless," she replied happily.
"That's why I came by here. Even after all the chasing by the rebel ship, we are very close to Arthexei. It won't be long until we arrive and land before finding a way to the control center. But until then, this is very good news. There is reason to celebrate," Kezon said.
"I'm assuming that reaching the control center will not be an easy feat," Blaire surmised as she peered at him and took note of the serious look on his face.
Kezon’s head shook. "No, it won't. I'm not certain what we’ll find once we arrive. The rebels will have it very surrounded and guarded. But I still believe we’ve made many strides in coming up with a solution. Besides, you came highly recommended and I knew that you would deliver on your promise of helping us. My warriors will gain entry to the facility and put your nanobots into the control center.”
"Honestly, I need to put it in myself. It's not something that you can send your warriors to do. It's not like plugging in a small drive to deliver the virus. I need to set the parameters on their systems so that it will send it through to the cyborgs," Blaire told him flatly.
"You can tell us how to do this. I’ll march right out there to the facility myself and help them upload it," Kezon promised.
Blaire chuckled. She couldn't see him sending her by herself, anyway. But she was very serious. "I've come this far, I will not leave you to figure out how to use my technology. I must be the one to do this, so you can send someone with me who can protect me while I do it.”
Kezon frowned and his countenance suddenly turned sour. He looked bothered, and Blaire didn’t know why. She stepped toward him and placed her hand on his forearm.
"Is something wrong? Or is there something else I can help you with?" she asked. Blaire thought that Kezon would be ecstatic that she had found the answer to their problem and that he would be more than ready to send her with his warriors to upload the virus.
Kezon lifted his violet eyes and looked at her. "It's just that once we fulfill this mission, I will have to take you back to the Terran system. I'm not very happy about that part. I've grown rather fond of you and I guess in a way I was hoping that it would take longer to figure everything out," he admitted to her.
"But if it took much longer, the Vada System would risk the cyborgs being loosed upon them and wreaking havoc. I've done a good thing and you should be happy with that." Blaire turned around to straighten up her workstation, carefully storing the nanobots that she had created. A thought suddenly occurred to her and she turned back to face him as she smiled.
"Why don't you come back with me and stay on Earth for a while. I would be happy to show you my home planet and how the Terrans do things," she suggested.
For a brief moment, the Hjott man smiled. It also seemed as if his chest began to glow brighter. Kezon swallowed, his giant Adam's apple bobbing while taking her into his arms. Blaire lifted her chin as he leaned in, and their lips met once again. There was something about it all as he pressed his hard body into hers that caused her to want to give herself to him. The young woman swooned in his arms and nearly toppled over before he quickly lifted her. They made their way to a bench nearby.
"I'm fine, Kezon. I'm just dizzy, but not because of the ship sickness," she told him. Blaire’s hand reached out and brushed against his chiseled jaw. She memorized every detail of his beautiful face, including his strange skin that seemed so tough yet soft. His violet eyes; she could get lost inside them. No longer did Bl
aire think of him as a brute, but as someone who could make her very happy.
Kezon didn't say a word as he leaned into her again. Their lips met as his hands roamed over her back. Blaire let her hands move along his body, feeling the definition of all his muscles and their tension as he moved. The scientist wanted to feel his chest and to see if the glowing there felt hot. Her hand moved between them and rested on his heart. Kezon pulled his head back, his eyes wide. Blaire smiled.
"The skin over your heart is hot. Are other Hjotts like this?" she asked him.
Kezon turned, suddenly appearing sullen. His hand came up and he pulled his tunic firmly over his skin. "No, it's a male thing," he replied. His jaw tensed as he looked away before turning to gaze back into her eyes.
"What's wrong? Why do you act so angry?"
"I'm not angry, Blaire. I suppose I'm struggling somewhat with the thought of you leaving. You know, we could use someone like you here. There will always be some enemy that will be looking for a way to attack us. Having someone who could work in a lab the way you do would be of great benefit to my people. You would be of great service to Jatra," Kezon told her.
Blaire sighed. "No, Earth is my home. I don’t think I would be happy away from the Terran System. The invitation stands though, for you to come back with me. I'm sure Earth would welcome you as well," she replied.
