Defender of the Stars

by Lucee Joie

  I reach up, my hands hanging in her long dark hair and I pull her to me, our lips colliding as I kiss her with a frenzy. How on Ochekia did I get so lucky?

  “We will approach shortly,” Horgeer says as I remain focused on the spacecraft outside.

  Our ship has been cloaked but I am still anxious. Mary assures us that there will be no way for the Leonida to recognize the Prennia with it turned on.

  Still, I worry. Until this actually happens, until we are on board and there is clear evidence that what Mary has been saying is true, I will continue to assume the worst.

  I had wanted to use the reconnaissance vessel to get closer, to gain access to the Union’s vessel. However, there was no way we could fit everyone in it. And, if we are successful, or even if we need to leave in a hurry, it would be better if we could all leave at once, rather than risk several trips to return the captive women.

  As a result of this decision, I am now figuratively shitting myself.

  “It’s gonna be okay,” Shirley says, her hand resting on my shoulder as she leans over me.

  She knows me better than anyone, better than Horgeer, better than my father. The need to keep her safe adds to my anxiety.

  A light blinks out at us and I swallow hard. It is Mary’s signal. I draw the Prennia to a stationary position and wait as the door to the docking bay starts to rise.

  Turning to Shirley, I watch her closely. Her face is pinched, the color bleaching out as the door opens.

  “Are you okay?” I whisper, leaning into her so that our foreheads touch. I can hear her swallow.

  “I’m not sure,” she finally replies.

  I squeeze her hand. There are no words that will help to quell her fear at re-entering the Galactic Union’s stronghold. She sighs deeply as she tries to contain herself, to control her emotions.

  “We’ve got this, Shirley,” Beth says from behind.

  I hope so.

  The door opens slowly. It is only halfway there but I ready the Prennia to start moving once more. As soon as it is three-quarters open, we will be able to fit through. I want to get this over and done with. The quicker we are in, the quicker we can get started and I can work out exactly what I am dealing with.

  Finally, I ease the ship inside and feel the vessel shudder as the landing gear lowers.

  I hold my breath as our ship lands. There is noise but it isn’t great. Still, I worry that someone will hear, even though the dock is situated well away from the sleeping quarters for this very reason.

  There is an audible and collective sigh from everyone once I turn the ship off and we look around to a vacant loading dock.

  Well, nearly empty.

  Looking out, I see a woman standing in the shadows and I wait for her to step forward, for Mary to reveal her true identity.

  What I don’t expect is the realization of who Mary really is.

  “Mary fucked us over,” I shout as the woman approaches the Prennia. “That’s the emperor’s wife out there greeting us.”

  Chapter Thirteen: Shirley

  “I’m sure there’s an explanation,” I say as Ece stands. Although, I can’t imagine one where it would make any sense. Missy is Ece’s stepmother, the wife of the emperor. From the little that I know of her, she is abrupt and nasty but apparently loyal to her master, Thahars.

  Looking to Ece, I can see that he is enraged. My gaze darts around the dock, waiting for the moment when the guards will appear, when our lives will be at threat.

  I am terrified of being captured, of going back into servitude and being used as a sex slave once more. Although considering our rebellion, I am pretty sure that will be the best-case scenario.

  Beth reaches out to me; grabs my hand and I turn to look at her. Her face is frozen in terror and the women behind her mirror the same expression.

  None of us, except Beth, have ever encountered Missy but there have been stories about her.

  I turn back to sight the woman once more. She has crossed the dock and is standing outside the vessel, waiting for us to open the hatch.

  “What do we do?” Beth asks. I am too terrified to speak, or to look in Ece’s direction.

  “Let her in,” Horgeer says quietly. “There appear to be no guards nearby. Once she is on board, we may be able to use her as a hostage for negotiations.”

  Ece presses a button and we can all hear the whoosh of the airlock releasing. We wait as Missy mounts the stairs and crosses the main room inside the Prennia.

  “I can explain,” she finally says.

  “You’d bloody better,” Horgeer roars.

  “I have come alone, the emperor doesn’t know about my plan,” Missy says quickly. “I want to help the women on board, I want us all to be free like you are.”

  She reaches out, her hands opening out flat as though she is imploring us to believe her. I chew on my fingers as I wait for a reply from Ece. I can’t look at him, I am too scared to see his anger shining out at me. After all that we have been through and to finally be together once more, I don’t want to see that expression on his face directed solely at me. I never want Ece to be angry at me again. Yet, I know without a visual that he is right now.

  “Please, say something, Ece,” Missy whispers and I finally break my promise to myself and turn towards him.

  His face is a mess of seething rage. He glares at Missy, his pupils so greatly dilated that they appear to be black. His tail swishes rapidly from side to side, slicing through the air with grievous agitation. He looks ready to pounce, much like cats on my own planet do when they are watching a bird or other prey.

  His response is not at all adorable.

  Turning back to Missy, I can see her quivering. Her silken robe is actually shimmering due to her fear.

  “If you have put Shirley at risk, I will kill you. I will shred you with my own claws,” Ece hisses.

  Missy looks around the room, as though trying to search me out. I am frozen in fear, not wanting to give up my identity but she makes eye contact with me and I know that she knows who I am. It doesn’t help that I am the woman who stands the closest to Ece.

  “Shirley?” she asks quietly and Ece pushes me behind him, as though sheltering me. It’s absurd when I think about it, that he would see Missy, the scrawny little woman in front of us, as a threat to myself or anyone else in the room.

  “You will not speak to her,” Ece says.

  His claws are out and they jab into me. “You’re hurting me, Ece,” I say under my breath and he instantly retracts his claws.

  “Leave her,” Missy says and I can see the fear in her eyes as they widen. “There is no need to harm her, I have brought no others with me.

  “Please, can we all just settle down?” Beth asks. “Ece is not going to hurt Shirley, he’s just scared. Can we talk about this?”

  Ece turns, looking out the window once more and I follow his gaze. The dock is still eerily empty.

  “We need to believe her,” I say close to Ece’s ear. “We have no choice if we want to help everyone else.”

  Even in my terror of the situation, I still want to free the others. They have been trapped here long enough and I know just how delicious freedom tastes after being stuck on board this horrible ship.

  I reach up and brush my fingers along Ece’s arm. His muscles are tight but I can feel him clench them then release, as though my touch is enough to make him relax.

  As he settles, I step forward towards Missy. “How much time do we have?”

  “Everyone was asleep the last time I checked but I do need to return before you leave in order to monitor the situation. If we all tune our headsets to the same frequency, I will be able to let you know if the situation changes.”

  “Seriously, Ece, we need to do this,” I say to him as I turn towards him. “We’re here now, we may as well give it a go.”

  Ece’s jaw is working and his eyes are still as black as night but I can see his shoulders drooping slightly.

  “Please, Ece, we might never get this c
hance again.”

  Ece stands taller and looks over my head at the other women present. I wait patiently as he scopes the room.

  “Okay,” he finally says and the ship erupts in a chorus of cheers.

  The corridor is dark as we sneak along. A deep dread forms in the pit of my stomach as the situation starts to swallow me. I remember this place, remember it so well and a cloud of darkness rolls over me with all the memories. My breath quickens as panic starts to settle also.

  “Control it,” Beth says but I can hear her terror as well and I know that she is speaking to calm herself as much as she is doing it for me.

  “I thought I’d never come back here and I was glad,” I say as we continue to make our way to the holding cells.

  Since our escape, the women have been moved out of their normal rooms and into this central area. While it is the same place we initially escaped from, it makes more sense to hold them all here together.

  There are several passages that will get us all there and we have broken up into small groups in order to surround the place. We will all leave together but, for now, we don’t want any surprises.

  My headset crackles a moment before I hear Mary’s—no Missy’s—voice. “There is a man about to cross over your corridor. He appears to be heading for the kitchen.”

  Beth and I freeze, shrinking back against the wall as we wait for further instructions.

  The ship is silent except for the low hum of the vessel’s driving mechanisms and the pad of the man’s feet as he approaches. There is an intersection just ahead and I expect he will cross shortly. So long as he continues to follow his path, we should be fine. And, so long as he doesn’t glance in our direction.

  I ready my weapon regardless.

  His gait is unclear, indistinct, as though he is swaying from side to side and I wonder what is wrong with him.

  Holding my breath, I continue to watch and wait. The footfalls pause and I hold my breath, wishing for the man to appear, for this to be over, but also wanting him to stay there, to pause this moment for just a little longer as I ready myself the onslaught.

  His steps resume once more, slow and indistinct.

  Finally, he crosses our path and I can see him staggering as he walks, obviously drunk. Without a glance in our direction, he continues on his own path and I let out a sigh of relief when he passes and his footsteps start to drift away as he continues on his path away from us, oblivious to the anxiety he has caused us.

  Beth gives out an audible sigh and I feel her reach out and squeeze my hand.

  Still, we wait until Missy contacts us again and gives us the all-clear to move forward once more.

  Our journey continues until we hear the murmur of other voices. We are close now and yet I still startle when I see the first darker shadow ahead. It is one of our own people but I inhale sharply all the same as my fingers squeeze at my weapon in response. With a concerted effort, I relax my hand, easing my finger off the trigger, averting danger.

  We join the main group that is mingling close to the entrance of the cells. I can feel the buzz of excitement pulsing through us all. Even though we are scared and the horror of our past lives here are overwhelming, there is still the joy of knowing that we have returned, that we have come in an attempt to release the other captive women.

  Finally, a silence spreads over us and I can hear Ece speak out.

  “Let’s do this!”

  Chapter Fourteen: Ece

  Everything is so quiet that I can hear only the muted breathing of those directly surrounding me. The smell of fear is rank in the air as weapons are handed out. Women stand by ready to fight once more.

  I am still not sure this will work, that we are not just walking into a giant trap orchestrated by my father, and with Missy as his dastardly puppet. But Shirley has asked me to take a leap of faith and that is what I must do. The sky knows that believing in what is around me, in my father’s word, has not worked out so well in the past. So, blind faith might be worth a shot.

  I count to three, calming myself before the flurry begins. Raising one arm, I pause before bringing it down, the signal that we are moving forward.

  “Wait,” Missy says through my headset. “The Qorcin have arrived.”

  “The what?” I hiss into my mouthpiece.

  And, just like that, I know what Missy’s plan has been all along. The Qorcin are a brutal breed, hired for this very attribute. They are the sort of warriors that have no allegiance, not even to their own kind.

  So, they are the perfect warriors for my father to hire in order to take out his own son.

  I fight against the involuntary jab of pain to my gut.

  “I was hoping they wouldn’t appear,” Missy is saying but I am not entirely listening.

  Instead, I have raised my arm back up as I call everyone to a standstill. There is shuffling and apologies as the women jostle about, harrying to stop suddenly.

  “Was this your plan all along?” I say bitterly.

  “No,” Missy replies. Her voice is calm but I don’t believe for a moment that she isn’t just making shit up as she goes along. “I knew your father had hired them since your escape but I had no idea that they were being implemented other than to scare the women on board. I was careful, I made sure that no one was listening. So, I think that they are just a precaution, that it is a coincidence that they have turned up just now.”

  “I don’t believe in coincidences,” I grumble. “And, I don’t believe a word you’re saying either.”

  “What do we do?” Shirley’s voice comes in over my headset and for the briefest of moments I feel calm once more. She has that ability, to settle my nerves, to make me think that everything will be all right, even in the middle of absolute chaos.

  “What do you think we should do?” I want to be reasonable with Shirley. She may center me but it doesn’t mean I can’t be furious with her right now. “This is your mess, why don’t you get us out of it?”

  “How was I supposed to know?” she interjects, not missing a beat.

  “Perhaps when I told you that it was a trap?”

  “Enough, already,” she hisses back at me. “Rubbing this shit in my face is not going to fix the problem.”

  “Like I said, this is your mess now, you fix it. If I had known the Qorcin were involved, even on the outer, you can bet everything you own that I would never have agreed to this. Now, I just want to get out of this alive.”

  “Fuck you, Ece,” Shirley says.

  “What do we do now?” a quiet voice behind me asks.

  I turn and see a multitude of eyes sparkling back at me like some new galaxy has been formed here in the corridor of the Leonida.

  Shit.

  I have no choice but to help. My hand has been forced and I don’t like it but I must proceed with the plan regardless. These women will die without me, they will be trapped on board the very ship they wished to never see again. And, thanks to my father’s involvement in all this, I feel obligated to fix it, as though it is also my mistake merely by way of being related.

  I feel the messiness of the situation and I don’t like it. I never wanted to become involved with the breeding program for this very reason. Humans are just so endearing. They work under your skin and somehow end up taking over your heart before you even have a chance to back away. I have fought it all along and even I couldn’t avoid it. I wonder how many others of my kind also feel this way. It is something never spoken about, as though we are all ashamed to have feelings for the very women we mistreat.

  As I quaver in my indecision, there is an explosion of gunfire in the distance and I figure that Shirley is implementing her own plan of attack now. She has no qualms about what to do next.

  “We need to continue on with what we had planned,” I finally say. “The Qorcin are vicious and will take out people before asking questions. So, you need to know now that your lives are at risk. If you want to head back to the Prennia, now is the time to do it. I won’t tell you that you can’t
go. But, without everyone on board the likelihood is that none of us will survive today.”

  There is an eerie silence. I can see the random blinks of women and in between, their eyes are wide, bulging, as they try to process what I am saying.

  “Who’s in?” I finally ask, raising my hand again, ready to release the group onto the prison. I hope that I have someone other than myself included in this battle now that they know what they are dealing with.

  A multitude of hands goes up. Some confidently, ready to die trying to free the other humans. Others are hesitant and these are the ones I respect more than the first wave of hands. These are the women that know the dangers but will take the risk anyway. They are the ones that will likely be more cautious, more careful in their attack.

  These are the ones that likely won’t get us all killed.

  Thankfully, there are more in this second group than the first.

  “Right, then, let’s go!”

  I release my hand and we all surge forward.

  The corridor is dim with the soft blur of the night light system. While it is always dark in outer space, there is some semblance of normality onboard every spacecraft. Having the lights on day and night mode is a common feature. It doesn’t help us presently, though.

  Surging forward, there is the jostling of figures in the relative darkness and it becomes a confusing mess. As we turn the corner and enter the prison, it becomes more so. At this point, I can’t even tell who is on our side and who is the enemy.

  The light of gunfire helps clear that up pretty quickly, though.

  The Qorcin are not tall but they are broad, muscular like no other breeds that I know of thanks to their rigorous training program that starts from a very young age. So, they are comparable in height to human women. However, they are broad, so much broader that it is easy to spot them out in the short blasts of laser fire.

  Even in the chaos, I search for Shirley. She is mad at me; I am also angry in return. However, to know that she is likely in the middle of all this and that the Qorcin might take her from me, well, that is like a knife to my side. The pain burns through me and I nearly gasp with the agony.