Chapter 22
T’raat
Leigh’s love for others, her acceptance of all beings, brought on an arousal that I could not deny. It took every ounce of restraint I had not to ravage her in the galley in front of H’rran and her aunt.
It was only after my tyr’il was well and fully sated that I finally allowed my own release. The sight of my purple-hued brrt dripping down her smooth thighs excited me.
I knew we should have been more cautious. I should have used one of the many zi’in available in the med bay.
After we finished, I retrieved a damp cloth from the lavatory and wiped Leigh clean of my excess. Her lithe body jerked and spasmed when I ran the cloth over her kash , and I stroked her skin gently to ease her. I worried that I had done damage, but she reassured me that I had merely overstimulated her.
My love was so spent that she fell asleep shortly after I changed the sheets and laid her back down in their soft embrace.
Once I was certain that Leigh would not wake in my absence, I slipped out of our quarters and trotted down the corridors in search of Director Ann. I had to speak with her, and time was of the essence.
I found Ann in the cockpit with H’rran and a severely bandaged X’nit. I had not noticed the extent of his injuries when we rescued him. From the looks of it, he was quite fortunate to be standing. A quick glance at the navigation controls confirmed my suspicions: Ann had ordered H’rran to redirect our trajectory back to Earth.
She planned on rescuing the Earthbound Xalanites.
I did not disagree with this plan. In fact, it was my hope to aid her in this endeavor. One thing had to be done before we could undertake this mission, though, and that was what brought me to Ann.
Since all in the room could speak Xalanite, I did not bother with translating.
“Director Ann, I must have words.”
She turned from the display that held her attention with one eyebrow raised. “Yes?”
I cleared my throat before I began. “I realize that we must save the Xalanites on Earth, but I have a request before we do. It is a request I believe you will grant, but it must be done prior to the mission.”
“Go on.”
“We must return Leigh to the safety of Harrison’s farm.”
Ann’s eyes widened as first shock, then understanding crossed her features. “You do not believe we will be successful?”
I shook my head. “It is not that. I fear that Leigh may come to harm if she joins us. It would only add perhaps one time unit to our journey to do this, and I think that is a worthy delay.”
The director rubbed her chin in thought as she contemplated my request. “She won’t wish to leave you. She may resist.”
“That is why we must do this now, while she sleeps.”
To my surprise, H’rran reacted quite violently to my suggestion. She slammed a fist down on the console and leapt to her feet. “You cannot do that! As your tyr’il , it is her right to be at your side if she chooses. You cannot take that choice from her.”
Most Xalanites would not share H’rran’s opinion on Leigh’s supposed rights. I knew my friend spoke from a place of love and affection for my mate, but I could not let her anger cloud my judgment. I had to keep Leigh safe.
Nothing else, not even the success of the mission, mattered.
“She is not a warrior, H’rran. She is a farmer. A gatherer. If she joins us, she will be killed.”
Tears welled in H’rran’s eyes. “She has a warrior’s spirit. Is that not enough?”
“No, it is not.”
“But—”
My voice rose to a roar as I cut off her protest. “I will not risk my child!”
Silence fell on the cockpit. X’nit’s jaw dropped, and Ann closed her eyes. “You didn’t use the zi’in ,” she said, switching back to her native tongue.
“Not every time,” I replied in English. “But it is too late to bother with regrets now. Now, we must get Leigh to Harrison’s farm. To safety. Anything else is secondary.” I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to appear more commanding.
“And what about Agent Timber?” Ann asked. “She’s pregnant, and I doubt we could keep her away from this fight.”
I shrugged. “Then deliver her to the farm as well. Prince N’kal’s child should also be safe.”
X’nit shook his head. “N’kal is no longer a prince. His claim to the seat of power has been revoked, at his request. His child is no more important than any other. Why should we punish his mate by preventing her from aiding us?”
“It is not my point that he is—was—a prince. It is my point that we should not be risking unborn lives.”
“It should still be their choice,” H’rran huffed as she adjusted navigational settings.
“And I choose to stay behind.”
We all turned at the sound of Timber’s voice. She stood in the doorway with N’kal and Marcus. The newly widowed man’s eyes were red-rimmed and empty of all light, as though his gyrp had been sucked out of him when he lost John. Timber and Marcus exchanged a somber glance, and Marcus nodded.
“We’re staying behind. Marcus, N’kal, and I,” Timber continued. “We can protect Leigh on the farm while you guys go to the intake center to deal with AXL.”
A frown crossed Ann’s face. “All three of you? That leaves us in a bit of a bind.”
“I’d like to keep X’nit on the farm as well. He and N’kal are too badly injured for this kind of venture. I won’t stop him if he wants to join you guys, though. While I’m not coming along, I understand the urge to stand by your tyr’il .”
“Which is why Leigh should have a say in this matter,” H’rran grumbled.
“No.”
The protest came from a surprising corner: Ann.
She stood with her eyes closed, weariness showing in the slack of her shoulders, in the depth of the lines on her face. Ann looked defeated, as though she’d lost a physical battle. When she opened her eyes again, though, a steely resolve rested in her grey irises.
“I’ve put my brother through enough. He’s already lost his wife, and I took his daughter—his only child—from him. It’s only right for me to return her to him. To bring her home.”
“He lost his tyr’il ?”
Ann turned to H’rran. “Yes. She died from cancer several years ago. I don’t think my brother ever really got over that loss, and I know he wouldn’t recover from losing Leigh, really losing her.”
The cockpit fell silent once more as Ann’s words sunk in. I took the opportunity to try one last time to sway H’rran.
“My friend, you are a parent, yes?”
She nodded. “Of course. You know this.”
“Then you know the heart hurt that Leigh’s father feels, what pain he would feel if she died on this mission. You know the fear I have for my future child. I would rather give my own life than risk Leigh’s. Please understand that we are not planning this to punish Leigh. We are trying to protect her. To spare her father further grief.”
I held my breath, waiting for her response. Finally …
“You say she sleeps?”
“Yes. She is resting now.”
H’rran sighed. “Then let us deliver her home before she wakes.”
**
Leigh
I slept so well after the lovemaking with T’raat that I woke up confused and disoriented. My sex-addled brain seemed convinced that I was back home on the farm again, in my own bed.
It also seemed convinced that Timber was sitting at my bedside, reading a book, wearing what looked like borrowed clothing. Everything was too big for her petite form, and I could have sworn I recognized the hoodie she had on as one of my own.
I sat up and rubbed my head, as if that would clear things. Surely if I could just wake up fully I’d be back on the Xalanite ship, headed for my new home on Xalan with T’raat.
“Oh, you’re up.” The imagined Timber set down her book and stood, stretching her back. “Good. I’ll go get Harrison. He’s been dying to see you again, but T’raat insisted we let you sleep until you woke naturally.”
“Dad?” What was going on? Why would Timber get Dad? “Dad’s back in Wisconsin. We’re halfway to Xalan by now, aren’t we?”
Timber groaned. “Oh, Christ, this is gonna be tough.” She handed me a pile of folded clothing. “Put these on. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and I’d rather do it over a hot cup of coffee.”
A sinking feeling hit as Timber left to let me get dressed. I’d been awake a few minutes, but my mind still had me on the farm. I didn’t understand what was going on.
Where was T’raat? Aunt Ann? Where was the ship, and how did I get home?
Since the only way to find out was to get dressed and go downstairs, that’s what I did.
I immediately regretted not insisting on the kind of implants that LoJacked us for each other. I didn’t like how cryptic Timber was being, or the fact that she was the one waiting for me to wake up and not my fiancé. Something felt really, really wrong, and my sinking feeling turned into a hard pit in the bottom of my stomach before I even got downstairs to the kitchen, where I found Timber, Dad, N’kal, and Marcus. No Aunt Ann. No X’nit. No H’rran.
No T’raat.
None of this made sense.
I tried to hide the tremor in my hands as I put them on my hips and took the most imposing stance I could muster. “Where’s T’raat?”
They all exchanged grim glances, but no one spoke. It was like they were mentally arguing over who was going to break the bad news to me, whatever that bad news might have been. The tremor spread throughout my body, and I struggled to maintain an outward appearance of calm anger.
Struggled and failed.
Tears fell. Snot ran. I sniffled and shook and sobbed. “Please. Where’s my fiancé? Where is he?”
From the look on Dad’s face, T’raat hadn’t spilled the beans when he dropped me off. Hell, from the looks on everyone’s faces I started to think he hadn’t told anyone yet. I knew we hadn’t come up with a game plan for the big reveal, but why would he leave me here without letting anyone know we had gotten engaged?
Dad recovered first. “Your fiancé?”
“Please, Dad. Please, tell me where he is …”
It was all too much. I fell to my knees, a blubbering pile of skin and bones and tears and worry. The only people here were too pregnant, too injured, or too human for a dangerous mission like the one Aunt Ann and T’raat had been discussing. Hell, Aunt Ann probably shouldn’t be wherever they were at, but I knew my aunt was too damn stubborn to let anyone else risk themselves if she wasn’t right in the thick of it herself.
I knew. Even though no one said anything else, I finally figured it out.
They’d gone to New York, to the intake center.
Dad and Timber knelt next to me, each resting a hand on one of my shoulders. I wanted to yell at them, to scream at them for letting T’raat dump me here instead of making him bring me along, but I couldn’t get much out past the wracking sobs and violent tremors. Nothing coherent, anyway. I screamed my frustrations, a primal sound ripped straight from my breaking heart. Timber pulled me into her arms and rocked me back and forth, right there on the kitchen floor.
“Shh. He’s alive, sweetie. He’s alive, okay? But it’s not safe for you there. We all thought this was best.”
I leaned into the smaller woman and dripped snot and tears all over her, well, my hoodie. Dad rubbed my back and made more shushing sounds, but I didn’t want to shush. I wanted to keep screaming until my tyr’il was back at my side.
Finally, after maybe twenty minutes of my hysterics, my chest burned so much that I couldn’t scream anymore. I could barely breathe, and my swollen eyes had just about dried up. Even my sinus cavities were on E. As the hyperventilation slowed, I sat back up and wiped my face on my flannel overshirt. “I gotta go there,” I croaked. “I gotta get to him.”
“Leigh, honey, be reasonable.” Dad pointed at the small TV in the corner, which I saw was turned to a national news station. The image on the screen wobbled as the cameraman ran towards a chaotic intake center. Fires burned across the grounds, and screaming Xalanites ran for cover. I couldn’t make out T’raat or Aunt Ann in the throng of people darting back and forth, dodging bullets and bombs. Why couldn’t the cameraman just hold still for a second? “You can’t go there. What would you do if you did? It’s better to wait here until things settle.”
“He’s right, Leigh.” Timber tried to hold me again, but I jerked out of her grip and surged to my feet. “Leigh! We couldn’t even make it there in time to do any good.”
Her words came and went, but I ignored them. I stormed outside and ran for Dad’s private garage, where he kept his vintage sports cars.
Dad had never let me go in there. His cars were one thousand percent off-limits, and he swore if he ever caught me in there he’d disown me. This was a desperate moment, though, and I’d likely get disowned for getting engaged to an alien anyway, never mind what might happen now after T’raat and I had unprotected sex. None of that mattered, though. What mattered was my panicked brain seeking any and every way to get to New York, even if it meant stealing one of Dad’s restored vehicles.
I heard the thundering footsteps behind me, but I didn’t stop. They’d have to tie me down and sedate me if they wanted to keep me away.
Or an injured Xalanite could tackle and restrain me. That might work.
Renewed screams ripped from my raw throat as I fought against N’kal. As damaged as he was, though, he held me down with little effort.
Damn alien strength.
“Let me go!” I balled my hands into fists and tried to punch him, but he had me held in such a way that I couldn’t even land a solid hit on him. “You’re not like most caveman-minded Xalanites, N’kal. You should understand.”
“While I understand your desire to be with your mate, I also understand his desire to keep you safe.”
“I don’t want to be safe if it means being away from him!” I managed to get one foot free long enough to kick him square in the gaak —sorry, Timber!—but he didn’t budge.
Damn. One more way that Xalanite men were superior to humans.
A loud, shrill whine suddenly filled the air as a strong wind picked up, whipping my hair into my eyes. N’kal cursed in Xalanite, and a moment later he went limp.
Shit! Did Timber’s husband get shot? I scrambled out from under him and checked for wounds, but all I could find with my hair in the way was a tiny pinprick on his neck. It was way too small for any Earth bullet I was familiar with. I rolled him onto his stomach and found the culprit: a miniscule metallic dart of some sort. Definitely not a human design, so I bet that a Xalanite weapon fired it.
Sure enough, as soon as the wind died down, I brushed the hair out of my eyes and saw a sleek Xalanite ship about the size of a compact car land next to Dad’s barn. My heart soared for a moment, but disappointment tamped it back down as H’rran got out, not T’raat.
The Xalanite woman held a small weapon in one slender hand as she waved at me to join her. “Hurry, Leigh! I do not have enough projectiles for all of them.”
I whipped back around towards the farmhouse and saw that the others were still chasing after me. N’kal’d had an edge on them in the speed department as a Xalanite, and I guess my own adrenaline had given me more of a boost than I’d realized. Dad, Timber, and Marcus were still several dozen yards away.
Plenty far enough away for me to climb into a Xalanite ship and book it to New York.
Not one to look a gift alien in the mouth, I ran to H’rran and jumped in. She shut the door and started punching buttons on the control panel. The ship lifted off the ground, and we left the others back in Wisconsin as we shot eastwards.
Towards the intake center. Towards total chaos.
Towards my tyr’il .
“Thank you,” I said as I fought to regain my breath. Between the crying, the screaming, and the running, my lungs were very, very angry with me.
H’rran grunted acknowledgement but seemed focused on her controls. After a few minutes, when the farm was no longer even a speck in the rear windshield, she sighed and sat back. “You are welcome, though I doubt T’raat will ever forgive me.”
“Is he okay?”
She nodded. “He and Director Ann were in the process of evacuating the intake center when I snuck away and stole this vessel. Something about using an old, submerged locomotive pathway to get the residents to safety? I did not understand how that could be beneficial, but it gave me an opportunity to retrieve you.”
“Locomotive …?” Realization blossomed within me, and suddenly the devastation at the intake center on the news didn’t seem quite so bad. “Oh, my God, the Underground Railroad?”
“That is what I said.”
I smacked the console, careful not to hit any buttons on accident, and let out a celebratory whoop. “Yes! Aunt Ann is a genius!”
“This will help?”
I nodded and started rifling through the ship for some kind of armor or weaponry that I could borrow. “Yep. She probably had the intake center built there for that very reason. Human slaves used the Railroad over a hundred years ago, during the Civil War, to escape captivity.”
“Your species was enslaved by another in the past?”
“Huh?” I stopped buckling on the weird, rigid vest I’d found. It must’ve been made for a Xalanite woman, because there were three extra cups in the chest area, making for an awkward fit. “No. We enslaved each other.”
H’rran gaped at me. “How barbaric!”
“Yeah, well, that’s humans for you.” Since time was of the essence, I didn’t bother with any more of a history lesson. We could save that for later, after T’raat and Aunt Ann were rescued.
The only thing that mattered now was getting back in time.