Angel in the Badlands: space opera sci fi romance (Sons of Amber Book 1) (3 page)

“Mother Rachel, I—” Angela didn’t struggle out of his arms, which he found intensely gratifying. He could tell by the rising flush on the delicate skin of her neck that she was embarrassed.

The older woman held up her hand to forestall any explanation Angela would have tried to make, a benevolent smile on her serene features. She advanced into the room and took a seat in the chair at his bedside, inviting them to sit with a wave of her fingers. Zeke let go of Angela, maneuvering around so that he could sit, pulling the sheet over his lower body.

“Ezekiel, there are a few things you should probably know about our colony.” Mother Rachel began, surprising him. He sat back to listen, wondering what this woman of authority was going to tell him. “As Angela told you, we have been cut off from the rest of the galaxy here for many years. That was by design.” Her gaze narrowed on him. “You are the first person from outside our enclave to visit us since we settled here.”

“So you did have contact with others, at least for a while,” Ezekiel observed. Mother Rachel nodded.

“Only those of our Order knew where we’d gone. They were sworn to keep that secret until the day of ruin many of our people had foreseen.” Mother Rachel used her words deliberately, Ezekiel saw, his eyes widening as her meaning penetrated.

“You’re talking about people with the psychic gift of foresight?” He had to clarify. Although psychic abilities of various kinds were known to exist throughout the human-settled worlds of the Milky Way, it was still something of a rarity.

“Yes,” she answered simply, watching his reaction. Whatever she saw in his expression must have reassured her because she continued speaking. “Our community began on our homeworld, Espia. Our founders were all members of the Order of Espian mystics known as the
Hakuzar Chionadra Noblis,
or more simply as the Order of Chion. Many years ago, the most gifted in our Order all began seeing a desperate future for not just us, but all of mankind. In secret, our founders formed a plan to evacuate many of our number to this planet. Over the years, ships have come, bringing more supplies and more of our people. None has ever betrayed our secret, or our location.” Her gaze was steely as she said it, but after a pause, she softened slightly. “No one new has come from the homeworld for many years. We feared the worst and your arrival has confirmed it.”

“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” Zeke replied, feeling a bit self conscious, which was a new feeling for him. Then again, he’d never had to explain the death of billions of people before.

“You are that, but you are also the sign we have been waiting for.” Mother Rachel’s gaze honed in on him, but her expression was more determined than upset. “As I said, it was our foreseers that led us to evacuate our Order from Espia. I too, have the gift of foresight. It’s that gift which has helped me lead this colony. Most of our people still have psychic gifts of one kind or another, but the one in each generation with the strongest foresight is usually chosen as leader.” She bowed her head modestly, but her knowing eyes did not leave his. “I have foreseen the danger you bring to our people—and the hope of salvation for all humanity. Your actions in the next few days will bring either disaster or epiphany.”

Zeke shook his head, startled by her revelations. He had never met anyone who claimed to be able to see the future before, and it was more than disconcerting. It was downright freaky.

Mother Rachel just smiled at his reaction. “You crashed here on the run from jit pirates, is that not so?”

“Well, yeah,” Zeke admitted.

“They search for you,” Mother Rachel told him. He wondered if she was just guessing or if she had some knowledge. He didn’t have long to wait for his answer. “Within two cycles, they will find your crash site,” she told him. “You must get there first.”

Zeke felt the back of his neck itch. “I’d planned to go out as soon as it got dark. There are some things on my ship I could use, and I have to try to contact my base.”

Mother Rachel nodded. “Good. It will be dark soon.” She checked her chronometer. “Sister Angela will accompany you.”

“Begging your pardon, ma’am, but I work better alone.” He saw Angela stiffen as if she was insulted by his refusal. “Sweetheart, you’d only slow me down,” he told her as gently as he could. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Mother Rachel stood. “No. You don’t understand. There are creatures that hunt in the darkness on this planet. You don’t know their ways. Sister Angela must go along to protect you.”

He couldn’t help it. He laughed out loud at the idea that petite little Angel would need to defend him from any sort of predator. He realized she was offended by his reaction and he tried to rein it in. He figured he had just hurt her feelings. He had to apologize.

“I’m sorry, Angel, but I’m a highly-trained soldier. I’m usually the one doing the protecting,” he tried to explain.

“Not this time.” Angela was serious. He wiped the smile from his face when confronted by her anger. The angel could be fierce, it seemed, when she wanted to be.

Mother Rachel moved toward the door as if the matter was settled. “You’ll soon learn why she is going with you, so don’t scoff at what you don’t yet understand. We’ve lived here for a long time. We know this planet and its creatures.”

Zeke could see the wisdom in that and backed down as graciously as possible.

Besides, having his angel nearby made him feel good in a way he didn’t quite understand.

An hour later, Zeke found himself bouncing across the barren landscape in a rattletrap land vehicle that looked like it had been cobbled together from the spare parts of a dozen ships of a dozen different vintages. He and Angela were chugging along the darkening surface of the most inhospitable ball of rock he had ever seen. If not for the hidden settlement below ground, there was no way human life could last long on the hard-baked surface. The all-too-close binary suns saw to that.

He heard a strange barking call off to his left at the same time he noticed Angela scrambling to add some kind of cone-shaped device to the gunnery position in the rear of the vehicle. She had given him a basic course in driving the vehicle, then taken up a vigilant stance behind the gun mount after they left the series of tunnels, and emerged onto the surface.

“What is that?” Zeke asked over the sound of the wind and the vehicle’s engine.

He sped the little craft along, homing in on his crash site using the handcomp that had been in the pocket of his flight suit. It was a minor miracle the somewhat delicate handcomp had come through the crash and Zeke’s ordeal on the baking surface of the planet. Good thing the short-range locator beacon on the ship was still functional too. He knew he could at least locate the ship, but what condition it would be in when he got there, he had no idea. He didn’t remember much after crashing.

Zeke had been in a lot of pain when he left the ship days before and not focused on its post-crash condition. Instead, he had been more concerned with finding shelter from the binary suns, and a little delirious with pain from his leg, along with a nasty head injury. He couldn’t recall exactly what had been damaged on his ship. He knew it was in reasonable shape, but also that it wouldn’t be flying anytime soon.

“Gaks.” Angela spit the word at him and he took a moment to look back at her disgusted face.

“What?”

“Gaks,” she repeated. “They hunt in packs. Depending on the size of the pack that’s tracking us, we can either outrun them or fight them off. They have huge ears and hunt by sound. That’s what this is for.” She pointed to the conical device now on the end of her energy cannon. “It’s a wave amplifier. I can chase quite a few of them away with one well-placed shot, but they come at you from all directions. How we do will depend on how many there are.”

He listened to the sounds of the desert night, understanding almost immediately why the colonists had named the creatures
gaks
. It was the sound of their cries. Like short coughs, multiplied over and over, the creatures called out to each other with that eerie noise. Judging by the number of calls, there were at least fifteen to twenty of the things coming up on either side of their vehicle. Luckily, the ship was nearby. It would be close, but they might possibly reach the safety of the ship before the creatures closed in.

And if Zeke could get the vehicle to the ship quickly enough, they could use what remained of the ship’s shielding to keep the gaks at bay. Nothing on the surface of any planet could get through the energy shielding on his ship. It had been designed to keep interstellar debris from fouling his engines down to the level of cosmic dust. It would surely keep out a bunch of odd-sounding pack animals.

Without warning, Angela fired the cannon mounted atop the rickety land vehicle. The whole thing shuddered. Zeke turned his head in time to see three of the most hideously ugly creatures he had ever encountered, scrambling away from their left. The animals had long, pointed ears and big snouts filled with sharp teeth. They were an indeterminate gray color and ran nimbly on four legs, using an additional two front appendages like short arms.

Angela fired again and five more went running from his right.

“Keep driving!” she called, aiming and firing again. More creatures ran, but even more came rushing in to take their place.

He pushed the little rattletrap vehicle as fast as it would go. They were almost there. Angela was firing continuously now, but the creatures kept coming. Zeke tried to devise a plan to get them inside the ship and hopefully to safety, but he wasn’t entirely sure if the ship was whole enough to keep the gaks out. It was a risk, but then, he was a Wildcard. This was the kind of thing he’d been born to do.

Tapping out a series of commands on his handcomp, he prayed to the Maker that the bay doors were still functional. When he saw a light growing in the distance he released the breath he’d been holding. The bay ramp was deploying and the light from within the cargo hold shone brightly as it was revealed. At least that part of his ship was still working.

Now if he could time this just right, he could get himself, Angela, and this crazy little land vehicle inside, get the bay door shut again, and get the shield up before the gaks found a way in through any of the wrecked areas of the ship.

Piece of cake.

Chapter Three

Zeke’s risky plan worked like a charm. Only a few of the gaks tried to follow them up the ramp but Angela repelled them with a final blast from the energy cannon. The rise of the bay door prevented any of the hunting pack from entering that way.

Zeke vaulted from the land vehicle and headed for the computer console as soon as he was inside. He felt Angela following at a slower pace.

“Thank the Maker.” Zeke input his codes and raised the ship’s energy shield. It was intact and more than powerful enough to repel the night creatures. He turned to look down at his little angel, standing quietly at his side. “We’re safe. The gaks can’t breach the shield.”

Adrenaline pumping through him, he couldn’t help but pull her close for a hug. She came willingly into his arms and even raised her lips to his. He kissed her, feeling right away that there was something very different about this woman’s kiss.

The feel of having her in his arms made his senses swim, and the taste of her fired his blood, but he knew there was something he had to do first. Before he gave in to temptation, he ended the kiss and set her away from him.

“Much as I hate to say this, we have work to do, before pleasure.” He couldn’t resist swooping in to place a silly kiss on the tip of her nose. “I assume the gaks will scurry away just before sunrise?”

She nodded. “All the hunters and prey retreat in the hour before dawn.”

“Good.” He turned back to the console and tapped a few more commands. “We have to check the integrity of the ship and hope the communications gear came through unscathed. Or at least, not so badly damaged that I can’t repair it with what I have on board. I have to get a message to my base as soon as possible.”

He looked over the readouts to be certain the shield would hold. He could also access internal diagnostics from this station to make certain nothing indigenous to the planet had already found its way into the ship to lie in wait for them.

“Everything looks clean. At least I remembered to seal the hatch before I took off across the surface in search of help.” He laughed at himself, and at the damage a little bump on the head could do to an otherwise sane individual. “I really don’t know what I was thinking.”

He paused a moment, facing away from Angela, but he could almost feel her curious eyes boring into his back.

“At the time…” he admitted softly, “…I could’ve sworn I heard someone, or maybe something, calling out to me.” He chuckled at himself. “Probably the concussion and pain making me hear things.”

He turned to face her as she shrugged. It was not the reaction he had expected.

“You don’t think so?” he asked, trying to interpret her expression.

“Maybe you did hear something. Such things happen among our people. It’s not that astonishing to think a higher power would help you find your way to us.” Her eyes evaded him as she went on, her cheeks flushing just the tiniest bit. “I normally don’t make a habit of roaming the surface in the middle of the day either, but I knew I had to go out that day. Perhaps you were calling to us as much as we called to you.”

“Fate?” he mused, reaching out to slip a finger under her chin, raising her eyes to meet his once more. “You think it was meant to be that you found me and saved my life?”

She nodded slightly. “So Mother Rachel said. How else can you explain it?”

He let her go and shook his head, uncomfortable with the subject. He moved away and headed for the inner bay doors.

“I can’t,” he mumbled, but he knew she’d heard him.

He waited for her to join him before heading out into the corridor that led to the command center of his ship. He would have to do the rest of his checks from there, and if the comm system was working, that’s also where he would need to be to transmit his all-important message.