by S. E. Smith
Trelon pushed away from the wall where he had been standing out of the way when medical had come to remove the injured female. He would claim this female before any other warrior had a chance. His dragon was practically prancing with excitement. All Trelon could hear was mine, mine, she’s mine, mine, mine! Before Trelon could take another step, his symbiosis brushed past him and charged the female, shifting into the form of one of their werecats, a ferocious beast known for gutting its prey and eating it while it was still alive. Trelon’s dragon roared in rage at the attack on the female it wanted to claim. Unable to contain it, he felt his body begin to shift as he roared out his own denial against the attack on the woman he wanted. Never before had he felt the desire to destroy something that was so much a part of him. If his symbiosis killed the female he didn't know what he would do as pain filled him at the thought of losing her before he even had a chance to know her.
Two warriors assigned to security grabbed his arms, yelling for him to get control of his dragon. Trelon breathed in deeply forcing his dragon to back down while he strained to break the grip holding him back. Other warriors who had been assigned to the transporter room quickly surrounded his symbiosis. Trelon growled for the men to release him. Everything might have been fine after he heard the giggles from the female lying pinned to the floor. Everything would have been okay, especially after he saw her roll onto her knees and start to rub her hands over his symbiosis who was acting unlike anything he had ever seen before. Everything, that is, until one of the warriors who had been watching the exchange decided to reach out and touch the female’s hair; stroking it gently and causing her to scream.
Trelon, the man, the dragon, and the symbiosis were suddenly on the same page; no one touched their female but them. Within seconds, Trelon’s symbiosis had morphed from gentle, loving werecat into the real thing flipping over and attacking the warrior who had dared to touch the female. At the same time, Trelon’s rage peaked and he released his tentative hold on his dragon, letting it take over. Chaos took hold of the room as warriors moved in to try to save the warrior being attack by the symbiosis and others scattered to get out of the way of an enraged dragon in a room that suddenly seemed much, much smaller than it was.
All Trelon could think of was to get the female out of the room and somewhere where no other warriors could touch her, preferably his bed in his cabin. Yes, yes, yes, mate. My mate. Trelon’s dragon kept saying as it snapped at anyone between him and the female. Trelon groaned as he tried to get control of his more primitive self. He had to remember that the females from this planet were not used to seeing dragons, or shape-changing symbiosis’, or aliens, for that matter. He kept trying to get his dragon to remember what Abby had told them but it was thinking with a different body part at the moment.
Cara’s surprised scream turned into a terrified scream as she saw the gentle creature she had been playing with suddenly turn into a not-so-gentle creature. She had been startled when someone suddenly touched her which is why she had screamed; but, for some reason, the lovable creature who moments ago had been licking her like a little puppy had taken offense to the touch and was now attempting to gut the poor guy who had touched her hair. Cara crawled for the console in the center of the room trying to get out of the way as the suddenly huge, golden creature and a pile of equally huge men converged in a pile on the platform she had been kneeling on. When someone was the size of an ant-like her, compared to the size of an elephant-like them, you learned to move really quickly. On top of that, the dragon she had thought was so beautiful before was now trying to eat anything in its way. Unfortunately for Cara, it seemed to be heading straight for her! Cara quickly moved to her feet and kept low as she circled the console making sure it was between her and the snapping dragon. She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see the golden creature stand up and shake its body throwing men in all directions. She caught a small glimpse of blood from the man who had touched her and heard him groan but he seemed to be able to move as he was trying to get up and away from the hissing wolf-lion. Cara sighed with relief, at least he wasn’t dead! Cara’s head jerked around when she heard a loud roar coming from the black and gold dragon who was trying to come around the console. One warrior didn’t move fast enough for the dragon who swept out his tail catching the man in the stomach and tossing him across the room where he landed with a sickening thump.
“Time to get the hell out of Dodge!” Cara muttered under her breath. Letting out a loud whistle, she hoped the golden wolf-lion would follow her as she made a dash for the door.
The door opened just as Cara was reaching it which happened to be good for her but bad for the men who were trying to come in as the golden wolf-lion had responded to Cara’s whistle. It made it to the door just before her and plowed into the four men who were rushing in. Cara muttered an apology as she did a tic-tac-toe hop through the tangled limbs of the men on the floor. She had stopped thinking at that moment and was going on pure adrenaline and prayers following the gold wolf-lion down the corridor and around a corner to some type of lift. Behind her, she could hear the enraged roar of the dragon followed by a multitude of moans and groans.
It wasn’t until the lift doors closed, enclosing a shaking Cara and a suddenly, gentle looking creature resembling a bear cub that Cara was able to release her fear into uncontrollable laughter. Sinking down to sit on the floor of the lift, she wrapped her arms around her new BFF and wondered for the second time that night what in the hell had she gotten herself into this time.
Chapter 6
Cara had no idea where the golden creature was taking her but since it seemed to like her and was protective of her she figured she couldn’t go wrong. Besides, it wasn’t like she knew where to go anyway. She had followed the creature after the lift had stopped down a few more corridors and around two or three turns before it had walked through the door of what appeared to be some type of living quarters. Cara was surprised to see how opened and large it was. She had always thought living quarters on a space ship would be about the size of a postage stamp. This one had several rooms to it. Cara looked around the outer room noticing a sitting area, what appeared to be a small table for dining, and a strange looking device in the wall that looked suspiciously like the ones from Star Trek where they got their food and drinks from. The next room was smaller but mostly because in the middle of it was one of the biggest beds Cara had ever seen! If she ever slept in it, someone would have to send a search-and-rescue team to find her, she thought with a giggle. The next room was a bathroom of some sort. She could tell what it was but there were a few things in there she didn’t have a clue as to how to use, at least not yet. She pushed a panel on the wall and it opened to reveal some towels, washcloths, and some additional toiletries. Another panel revealed clothes neatly folded and stacked by what they were. Cara pulled one of the shirts out and held it up to her shoulders. It reached almost to her knees. She wondered whose room she was snooping about and had a bad feeling it belonged to the man who was the black and gold dragon. Dragon! Cara thought in disbelief. She felt like she fallen down the rabbit’s hole or been transported to an episode of the Twilight Zone. Life couldn’t get much weirder than this, she hoped.
Cara replaced the shirt and closed the panel before moving back into the bedroom area. When she glanced at the bed, she couldn’t help but laugh at the image before her. The covers were all messed up into a pile in the center of the bed and sprawled in the middle of it was the shape of the biggest rabbit Cara had ever seen, fast asleep. Cara couldn’t resist walking over and crawling up next to it. It barely lifted its head as she began stroking it between its ears. As she rubbed, thin strips of gold began weaving around her wrists and up her arms. Cara shivered as she felt the warmth of the creature moving over her skin, twirling and twisting to form delicate bands around her wrists and upper arms.
“Oh, my.” Cara whispered in awe. “This is just like what Abby had!” The golden creature gave a delicate sneeze before lowering its head back
down and drifting off again.
“All the excitement really wore you out, didn’t it little guy?” Cara murmured as she gave it one last stroke before she climbed back off the bed.
“I think it is time to do a little exploring.” Cara said out loud to herself. Pulling her shoulder bag around so she could look in it to see what all she had with her, she silently mourned the loss of her tool belt. Pulling out a screwdriver with multiple tips hidden in the top, she decided to go to work on the device in the wall in the other room.
Trelon looked down as he waited for his brother Kelan to speak. He knew exactly what his brother was looking at, the destruction of the transporter room. Trelon glanced out of the corner of his eye as two warriors helped a third out of the room. They were the last to leave except for him and Kelan. The silence of the room, except for the occasional pop, hiss, or creak from damaged equipment, was overwhelming.
“Do you want to tell me what in the hell you were thinking?” Kelan began through gritted teeth as he stared in disbelief at the destruction around him.
Trelon looked up trying to think of what he could say to defend the actions of him and his dragon but winced instead when sparks flew from a panel next to his brother showering them both. Muttering a curse, Kelan moved a couple of steps over and clinched his fists.
“What the hell happened to you?” Kelan asked in a frustrated voice.
“It’s not as bad as it looks…” Trelon began wincing again as another panel shot out smoke causing the automatic fire retardant to engage.
“Not as bad as it looks?!” Kelan said looking around the room for the hundredth time. “You are seeing the same thing I am, aren’t you? Not to mention I have eight of my security force in medical for broken bones and six more out while their symbiosis heal them for cuts, muscle pulls, and contusions.”
“Yes.” Trelon tried again. “I can fix this. It will only take a few days. I will definitely have it done by the time we get home.” Trelon said watching as a panel fell from the back wall where his dragon had flung one of the men. Well, it might take a little longer, he thought as he took in the dents to the side wall.
“I don’t understand. You have never… never lost control of your dragon, much less your symbiosis. What the hell happened?” Kelan asked once again shaking his head and looking at him like he had lost his mind.
“It was the female.” Trelon replied softly running his hand through his hair. If he had been paying attention to his brother’s expression instead of grimacing as he noticed the crack in the transporter’s platform, he would have noticed how still his brother became suddenly.
“Which female?” Kelan asked in a strained voice.
Trelon replied absently, “The tiny one that came on board with Zoran and Abby. You had already left with the others by the time they were transported.”
Kelan released his breath at Trelon’s reply. “Yes. Well, where is she?”
Trelon looked up in surprise. He had been so focused on the destruction around him after he had been able to take control back from his dragon that he forgot for a moment to see where his symbiosis had taken her. It wasn’t like he had forgotten her; just momentarily put her to the back of his mind as he dealt with his brother’s fury at having his favorite warship trashed by his own family. Trelon closed his eyes and concentrated on his symbiosis. For a moment there was no reply then he received a surge of warmth as he felt his symbiosis’ joy at being rubbed by the female.
“She is safe in my living quarters.” Trelon replied with a grin.
Kelan looked at the destruction one more time before he turned to throw a stern look at his slightly younger brother. “Make sure she stays there if this is the type of thing that happens when she is around.” Trelon nodded once as he watched Kelan walk out the door. Trelon’s shoulders drooped as he looked at the ruined room knowing it was going to be a very, very long night before he was able to see the female who, unbeknownst to her, was his true mate.
The long night turned into almost three days. Trelon was on auto-pilot as he worked. He had been eating and catching what few hours of sleep he could in the transporter room. Fortunately, most of the men had returned within a few hours, healed by their symbiosis. From what he was able to gather from the bits and pieces of conversation among the men, four remained in medical. Two for injuries from his dragon, the one who had touch his female from his symbiosis, and one who was trying to get the attention of the injured female who had been brought aboard the warship. On top of all that, his dragon had done nothing but growl, claw, and whine. He tried to tell it that it was all its’ fault for losing control in the first place but that just made him feel even worse. That was the down side of being two halves of one whole; he felt everything his dragon did. He hadn’t been much better. He had snapped, argued, and cursed at every man in the room to the point none of them wanted to come near him. Then, to make a bad situation even worst, his symbiosis was happily sending them both visions of their mate snuggling up in his bed, showering, eating, and….Trelon’s tired mind couldn’t figure out what the female was doing but it looked like she was tearing something apart in his room.
“TRELON!” Kelan roared as he entered the transporter room.
Trelon let out a muffled expletive when he bumped his head on the top of the compartment he was working on. Rubbing at the pain, he tiredly wondered what he had done now.
“Over here.” He called out. I don’t even have any of my symbiosis with me to make the pain go away. Trelon thought in self-pity. He hadn’t seen any of his symbiosis since Cara, he had finally learned her name from Kelan on one of his many visits, came on board. Usually, he always had at least his arm and wrists bands but even they had deserted him.
“You HAVE to do something with your female. She is going to destroy my warship!” Kelan growled in a loud voice.
Trelon noticed several of the men had stopped working so they could watch the confrontation. They were probably placing bets in the hope he got his ass kicked after everything that had happened, he thought glumly.
“Why do you think she is going to destroy your warship? Have you seen her? She is too small and delicate to be of any threat.” Trelon said thinking of the images his symbiosis sent him. It was the only thing that had kept him going, especially the ones of her in the cleansing unit.
“Delicate? Too small?” Kelan snarled. “She has hijacked our computer system four times in the past sleep cycle. The cleansing unit in the training room has steam pouring out of it. She says it is called a sauna and is good for relaxation and cleaning of the pores of the skin. She has uploaded music from her planet and has been playing something called Opera in the dining area.”
“Opera?” Trelon asked tiredly. “What the hell is Opera?”
“I’ll tell you what it is! It is the screeching of the Death Birds, is what it is. Your delicate, tiny mate says it promotes a better understanding of culture, or something. I couldn’t understand half of what she was saying. Then, she reconfigured the food replicator. Wait, the men and I liked some of the things it is making so take that one off the list of things she has done.” Kelan said running both hands through his hair. He had enough to deal with right now; case in point, the female named Trisha. He hadn’t been able to get into his own living quarters since he had installed her there two sleep cycles ago.
“It’s not like I’ve had much time to make sure she behaved herself.” Trelon said. “I’ll have a talk with her. Has she been fitted with a translator yet?”
“Yes. Doc went by and implanted it. He wanted me to tell you that if he hadn’t already had a mate of his own, he would challenge you for her. That she was, quote ‘a delicate Swifter, who is as beautiful as she is graceful and should be protected at all cost.’” Kelan replied drily. The delicate Swifter, one of the small, colorful flying creatures from their home world, had never made as much trouble as this one tiny creature from a primitive planet.
Trelon growled. He was in no mood for any other male to be making commen
ts about his mate; especially since he hadn’t even had time to be near her. “The men can finish up here. There isn’t any need for me to remain. I am going to claim my mate!”
Kelan watched as Trelon strode out of the transporter room. He hoped his brother had better luck than he was having. After calling out some orders to the men working, Kelan decided he needed to train some of the younger men in the hopes of getting rid of some of the frustration he and his own dragon were having.
