Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Drex preferred his feet on the ground. Flying wasn’t anywhere on his list of things he liked doing, unlike his brother, who got twitchy from being on the ground too long.
They stood on the deck of Trak’s ship as it moved soundlessly over the surface of Virilia.
It was a surprisingly clean ship, although not without clutter.
The command deck, which Anna called “the bridge” for reasons he could not understand, was an open space with several consoles for officers to sit and work, and a wide observation window.
Trak’s communications officer, Niir, and his first officer, Pizol, sat at their terminals, bent over data that Drex could not begin to fathom.
It reminded him of the main reasons why he disliked travel—so much could go wrong in space.
The craft had been nicknamed The Crib, since it was where baby Reo James was born.
The child was napping now, with his nanny, Nandi, watching over him.
Watching the child interact with Madison had provoked surprising feelings inside him.
Warmth and longing had been the most uncomfortable among them.
The female had a natural way with children.
It was clear she would make a wonderful parent.
He gazed down on the expanse of sand and rocky ground that he and Madison had crossed by foot.
During that time, his feelings for her had changed.
Or perhaps, they had been allowed to grow outside the confines of his palace, where reminders of Tuli and all that pain had remained fresh and unchanged.
Madison stood next to him, gaze locked on the shifting terrain, the colorful sky, the occasional creature cutting through the sand. She looked as though she was soaking it all in and trying to commit what she saw to memory. Did she think he still intended to send her back to Earth?
That wouldn’t be happening. Even now, he felt the urge to pull her against his side and feel the curve of her waist beneath his hand.
He wanted to strip her naked and run his tongue over every inch of her skin.
He wanted to learn more about her, to show her the wonders of his world, and to find more ways to draw out that amazing laugh.
He just wanted.
When they returned to Exir City, he intended to revisit their relationship and work out a new arrangement. He didn’t know how much he could give her, but he knew one thing for sure: Madison would not be returning to Earth.
“Approaching Exir City,” announced First Officer Pizol. “We’re going to high altitude to scan for Sifter vehicles.”
“Nothing is showing on our visuals, but that doesn’t mean they’re not here,” added Trak.
Niir, an older, battle-scarred Virilian, who had first learned that Sifters were planning an ambush, narrowed his eyes. “They’re here.”
Trak shrugged. “Then we’ll find them.”
Arms crossed, feet braced apart, this was the most natural place in the world for his brother.
He looked utterly at ease on a ship with his equally capable mate.
It made Drex smile to see his brother so perfectly adapted to the life he had built for himself.
He couldn’t help but wish for the same sense of satisfaction for himself.
The ship came to a stop and suddenly shot up vertically. The ground disappeared in the blink of an eye. The colors of Virilia’s atmosphere flew by in a smear.
They came to an abrupt halt far above the surface, sitting at a place at the very edge, where the blackness of space stretched above them and the orange-pink haze of the sky lay below them.
Madison let out a gasp. Her eyes went wide with awe and she took a step toward the window to get a better view.
“We can scan at this height,” said Trak, dropping into the seat at his console and working the screens. “But they can’t detect us. Hopefully.”
“They can’t,” said Niir, who frowned as he held a hand over a listening device clamped onto one ear.
“It’s looking clear down there,” said Pizol. The beefy Virilian with piercings everywhere glanced up at Trak. “My scanners aren’t picking up any vehicles or life-forms.”
Drex raised a brow. “That’s good, correct?”
Instead of replying, Trak’s frown deepened. “Pizol, go to the auxiliary deck and charge up Nala for me. Anna, take over for him.”
Trak’s mate slid into the seat vacated by the first officer and looked over the screens. “I’m still learning all this, Trak.” She flicked him a nervous glance.
“You’ll be fine, love.” Her mate sent her a grin. “Just do like we practiced.”
“Ah.” She leaned forward and pointed to Niir. “I’m getting something. Are you getting it too?”
Niir nodded, eyes flinty. “Putting it up now.” A stream of fuzzy-sounding chatter filled the deck. Some of it was in Virilian, some was in one of the universal languages that Drex was not very familiar with. He focused on the Virilian words. What he heard made his jaw clench.
“What are they saying?” Madison moved close to him, pressing her shoulder against his arm. “My translator can’t pick out the words.”
“They’re saying to be on the watch for incoming Virilian transports.” Drex swallowed. “And to destroy every single one of them.”
“Oh God.” Madison grabbed Drex’s hand and held tight. “The transports aren’t coming, are they?”
“Not until I give the word,” he gritted out.
“Pizol,” Trak snapped into the v-link on his ear. “Activate Nala when fully charged.”
“What is Nala?” Drex asked.
“It’s ah, a sonic wave distorter,” replied his brother, slightly sheepishly. “I’ve always wanted one. I had my engineer build me one when we salvaged a few parts from a downed freighter.”
“You’re not serious.”
“I know, I know. It’s against galactic law to have one equipped. Blah, blah.” Trak waved a hand as his face turned obstinate. “I don’t need a lecture right now while I’m saving your city.”
Drex shook his head. “But you named it after your mother.”
“That’s right.” Trak pointed to the screen. “Just look what it does.”
Just then, the whole ship vibrated hard enough to rattle bones.
A wave of heat swept through the deck, and a flash of light, then every warning light in the ship pulsed red and an earsplitting siren wailed.
Madison clamped her hands over her ears and turned wide eyes to Drex.
This time he did wrap an arm around her and tuck her to his side.
“Ignore that,” shouted Trak above the noise. “Just the ship letting me know I’ve done something illegal.”
At the first officer’s seat, Anna’s fingers flew over the screens before her. The siren stopped and the lights turned off.
Drex shook his head, honestly impressed with his brother’s capabilities. And his ability to not get caught. There was little doubt this ship was loaded with illicit equipment. “How do you get past inspections?”
Trak shrugged. “Same as everyone: two sets of ships logs and technical reports. I would be ever so grateful if you pretended you never saw this.”
He never got a chance to respond, for the main window turned solid black, then switched functions to a giant screen. A closer view of Exir City came into focus. Before his eyes, the image blurred, then returned to focus. One by one, ships came into view.
“See?” said Trak with a wide smile. “No one can hide from the eye of Nala.”
Drex sucked in a breath. “There are so many of them.”
“And half of them are capable of spaceflight,” said Trak grimly. “Your enemies are well equipped. They have been planning this for a long time.”
Niir pressed his receiver tighter to his ear. “They know we’re here and assembling. Prepare for engagement.”
“What?” Madison’s body tensed at Drex’s side.
“I would sit down and strap in, if I were you,” said Anna. “This could interrupt the gravity field.”
They sat in empty seats along the wall as all the lights on the deck turned blue in preparation for combat.
The window turned clear once more, revealing a plummeting decent toward the planet’s surface.
Madison closed her eyes and squeezed Drex’s hand.
He couldn’t deny it—this was kind of scary and exactly the sort of thing he hated about spaceflight.
Trak, on the other hand, had a grin on his face and was shouting orders over his v-link to his large crew, stationed all over the ship.
Anna’s eyes sparkled as she snapped out status updates and bellowed commands into her own v-link.
The two of them worked together seamlessly.
Trak piloted the ship himself, sending them into a tight corkscrew spin before pulling up mere feet above the surface.
His gunners let loose a barrage, showering the nearby Sifter crafts with a combination of lasers and projectiles.
Bombs peppered the land where Sifter ground vehicles maneuvered, making Drex worry at the possibility of the impacts caving in parts of the city.
Madison’s lips were parted and her eyes were wide as she took it all in.
“Yes!” Trak pumped a fist in the air as the largest of the Sifter ships crashed to the ground while trying to escape.
A bubble of fire and smoke billowed up, then exploded in a scattering of metal.
“Mark that location,” Trak said into his v-link to someone.
“I want to see if we can salvage one of their cores.”
The remaining ships scattered. They were small and fast. Three managed to fly away, and two ground vehicles roared away, leaving a gust of sand in their wake.
“We have twenty enemies in the city,” said Niir. “I’ve detected multiple detonations.”
The ship stopped above the main part of the palace, which was mostly laid below the sand, but contained several domes.
Trak peered at his screen. “They have targeted the palace.”
He angled the ship to offer a better view outside. “Stars…I’m sorry, brother.”
Drex’s heart beat low and thick at the sight before him. The main palace domes were destroyed. His gaze slid over the ruins with grim assessment, then stuck on the small dome that had covered the little garden containing Tuli’s grave. His gut twisted in pain.
Thick shards scattered among the dead and dying plants. Rubble was strewn everywhere. Standing in the center of the ruins were eight armed Sifters, looking defiantly up at the ship.
Only days earlier he had stood in that garden and coldly ordered Madison to leave it. He’d watched the bright smile and joy of discovery fade from her face into an expression of distrust and hurt. What a terrible mistake it had been. He had made too many of them with her.
With a jolt, he realized that one of the things he had been looking forward to was returning to this garden and sharing its beauty with her. It was high time it ceased to be a shrine to the dead and became a place of life.
He rose from his seat on a growl of fury. Heat rose like a wave within him. He jammed his helmet on his head. “Return me to the surface.”
His tone offered no refusal. Trak sent him a skeptical look. “We can kill them from right—”
“Now,” he bellowed. “I will tear them apart with my bare hands.”
Trak shared a look with Anna, whose fingers flew over a screen.
“Lowering anterior ramp,” she said, and Drex stalked to the exit.
He did not look back at Madison. A red film had covered his eyes, boding something dark and shocking, even to him.
He could not let her see him now. “Do not watch this,” he growled over his shoulder, then continued toward the exit.
“I’d better go with him,” said Trak, scrambling from his seat and snagging a helmet on the way out.
“Should I send a squad?” Anna asked.
“No,” came the quick reply. “No one else gets hurt.”