Knight in Shining Alien?: Athrian Warriors Book One (16 page)

“So Sidhawk explained to me exactly what a bonded couple can do for each other and I have a plan. I am quite sure you won’t like it, but I am telling you right now, this is how it will be. Your job will be to back me up. I am coming to you with this for two reasons. One, you are Jarrek’s best friend as we have already established. Second, because as you pointed out earlier, you are the Second in Command of this ship.” Hailey told him once he had seated himself across from her. 

“What have you come up with? I will tell you right now that if is risky I will stop you. Jarrek would kill me if I did not.” Loku shot right back.

Hailey rolled her eyes at him. Men were the same everywhere it seemed. They really liked to puff out their chests and make big sweeping decrees. They were clueless. “I plan on using the bond to morph to Jarrek when he is close to death and morph him to safety.” Hailey new this would work. The only problem was that she was having a hard time not trying it now. She was here with Loku having this conversation, but also with Jarrek suffering unthinkable torture. She was trying to reassure him that it didn’t usually last long and then they would give him a break, but didn’t think that he cared. He kept trying to push her out so that she didn’t have to suffer with him. She pushed some of her own terrors at him, so that she could reassure him she knew of what she spoke. He only got angry and wanted to morph away so that he could seek revenge on her behalf. Then became even angrier when he realized the drug they had given him was still killing his ability to morph at all. “The problem I have and wanted to speak to you about are that the Krakill have found a way to prevent your kind from morphing. They have given Jarrek some kind of drug that burns his symbiot and has rendered him without his extra abilities. I need to know what kind of effect this will have on us when I try to save him.” Hailey asked coming back to herself again. She briefly wondered what she looked like when she was pushing stuff along the bond, then pushed it away. Too many things going on to let herself get sidetracked.

“Unknown. I do not think that it should be an issue, as if he is close to death, than as his bonded you can morph to him and morph him out. Unless they are right there to give you an injection within the three seconds that you are there, I do not see it as an issue.” Loku said after a moment to contemplate all the issues. That they had found a way to stop their morphing was the most horrifying fact. He wanted to start firing on the ship to wipe that information out of existence. Only Jarrek’s presence onboard stopped him from giving that order.

“Great. I was thinking along those lines as well. Now, how do we go about this? Sidhawk didn’t tell me how far I could morph to, when I went to his side and then morphed away. Can I morph from our ship to theirs without a problem? Can I morph back that far with Jarrek?” Hailey questioned and hoped for the best.

“No Hailey, that is too far. If you were on a planet, it would be possible to go from one side to the other without a problem as bonded couples are very strong together, but with his symbiot unable to morph at all, you would be doing it all under your own strength. There is just no way that a novice could do something like that. You do not even know how to morph.” Loku told her shaking his head almost before she finished the question.

“Well I was hoping for good news. So, how can I save Jarrek and get us back onboard before we blow the ship. We are running out of time. I feel it slipping with every minute that Jarrek is still in Varill’s hands.” Hailey was beginning to get scared that she had waited too long to get her head straight, but then took a deep breath and forced it away. Part of that was Jarrek freaking out at the idea of her anywhere near Varill. “Too freaking bad,” She pushed back towards Jarrek. He wasn’t in a position to deny her.

“Hurry Loku, I’m not kidding about time running out soon.” Hailey said again, feeling the dread balloon bigger in her stomach.

“Let’s get to the launch bay. We can get Bruthus to bring you back closer to Varill’s ship. I will send Marthos and Rometho with you to help you nurse Jarrek’s injuries while getting you back to the ship with all haste. Rometho can also calculate how far away you have to be before you blow the ship.”

Loku practically dragged her down the hall. She felt as though she was a stuffed toy he was pulling, just flopping along boneless. They reached the elevator and Loku called for landing bay twelve. Thirty seconds later the elevator open to many people shouting and moving around very quickly.

“What’s going on?” She was scared the Krakill was attacking them.

“This is just the typical chaos of a returning ship with injured men. That we have an injured woman, and the Princess on board that ship, well it is making all the men rush to get the ship docked correctly and the medical personnel ready to take their charges as soon as that is accomplished. Look to the left. They just finished backing into the bay. Now, they are ready to take charge of the injured. As soon as they complete that I will get them ready to head back out with you.” Loku had to speak up, before he was heard above the shouting of orders.

She watched as the back door lowered to the ground with a dull thunk, before it had completely touched the floor two men were jumping on board towards Sameth and his first patient. It was the other woman from earth.

Horrified by the condition of her body, she screamed up at Loku that the woman should be covered from the warriors’ eyes. She would not appreciate a bunch of men seeing her so vulnerable. She hated that a large group of them had seen her naked and vulnerable. That they had not looked at her differently did not matter. She thought that they had also kept their promise not to talk about it, but still that didn’t matter to the main issue of not wanting to be seen so vulnerable. No woman would want that. Sure, a lot of them were medical personnel and had to see the injuries to treat them, but the rest of these warriors did not need to see that poor woman like that.

Loku gave a loud whistle and told them to cover her up and just like that she was covered and they were rolling her away to the medical ward at top speed. Next were Kirrek and the other warrior with him. She wished she could remember the name that Marthos said in the message, but figured that if she was successful in rescuing Jarrek, she could meet him later, and if she failed then she would be in Hell and want to die, so it would be the last thought on her mind.

Sidhawk ran alongside Kirrek’s stretcher, cataloguing his injuries with his eyes, but keeping a tight grip on his hand. She knew that grip. It was the grip of a lover trying to keep the beloved tied to the plane of living. A grip that said he was not going to give up and let Kirrek succumb to his injuries. Hailey prayed she would be able to grip Jarrek like that. She was still going to kick his ass for being stupid.

The last group of medical personnel seemed to be the largest. Hailey began to move closer. She knew what this was going to be, her daughter. She was terrified and grateful that so many were there for her unborn child. Loku, sensing that she was overwhelmed with emotions, wrapped an arm around her to give her comfort. She took the warmth gratefully. She hoped that Jarrek was with her, watching as she got the first look of their daughter. The baby was growing rapidly, which scared her more than a little. She was technically only about three days conceived, but she looked as though she was closer to twenty-two weeks, or four and a half months along. When she had first seen the video from Mr. Stinky the baby had looked about eight, 9 weeks, or two months along. That had worried her, as she couldn’t fathom how so much time could have passed and her not be aware of it, but that she was a mom at all had filled her with love, panic and fear. Now she could hold this baby in the palm of her hand. She looked like a little miniature person. Just forming eyelashes and brows covered her face, and she was currently sucking her thumb and kicking her legs. You could see the vulva quite clearly. Holy moly this was real. She wished her mom could see this. “Loku, can you ask them to record everything? I want to be able to show my mom how she grew and developed. She would love to see this.” Hailey whispered to him while tracing the outside of the glass. She knew that time was running out for Jarrek, but looking at the daughter that while engineered from their genetic material, was awe-inspiring. She wished every mother could watch their child grow inside them like this. It was mesmerizing. She just wanted to sit and stare at the miracle of her child and watch her grow.

“Of course they will Hailey. Jarrek will wish to watch it as well do you not think? Let them take care of your daughter now, Hailey. I promise they will let no harm come to her. Once you rescue her Prati, he will want to see her. Come on, let them in.” Loku said while trying to steer her away.

She let her fingers fall from the glass and turned to the man in charge of her care. “Guard her well and record everything please.” She told him with tears in her eyes. She was not a mother in the typical sense where the baby was growing inside her, but she felt her daughter all the way to her soul.

Wiping the tears from her face, not ashamed in the least of her emotions for her child, she looked over to the remaining men on the ship. Bruthus, Marthos, Rometho and the twins Heathrick and Shemrick were all there looking back at her. She quickly stepped forward and told them the plan of what she and Loku thought to do. Bruthus turned and began charging the fuel so that they could be on their way as soon as possible.

Heathrick and Shemrick volunteered to go to medical for healiogel and other materials they would need to replenish what had been used on the flight back here, and disappeared out the doors soon after.

Rometho was quiet and turned to calculate the distance needed before they safely blew the Krakill ship without harming Hailey. He would have risked any warrior there and blown it up as soon as possible, including his commander and Prince, Jarrek but he would never risk her. Hailey had charmed him with her small stature and large personality. She had such fire to her, that he was jealous of his Commander.

Marthos was the toughest sell. He had agreed to take charge of Hailey, to see that she remained safe and delivered immediately to his uncle and King.  He had to agree though with Loku’s passionate explanation, that now that Hailey and Jarrek had bonded, if he was near death, she would automatically try to morph to save him. If they were not close to help, then she was doomed along with Jarrek. It was the only argument that they could have used to persuade him to allow the mission to continue.

Unfortunately, he made the mistake of saying that aloud. Once his face stopped stinging he automatically covered his privates as she threatened him with castration. He well remembered her definition of that word to the crew of the bridge. He would have to avoid her for a while. He would take no chances with his manhood. He liked everything right where it was.

God save her from men. Well, make that Goddess save her from men. Postulating peacocks every one of them. She hoped he felt her slap for a month. She felt she extra prizes for hitting anyone of the behemoths as they all topped her by a foot and a half deserved an extra award. She may have been round, but she could jump and had excellent aim.

“Move out. I have a mate to rescue.”

Bruthus nodded and checked to see how much fuel had recharged. Pleased to see that they were close to full. They would easily be back before there was a danger of them running out of fuel. “We are good on my end.” He told Hailey, getting back in the ship and readying it for immediate departure.

“Excellent. All we need are supplies from medical and we can go. Rometho you can work on your calculations on the ship, right?” she asked, turning towards him.

“I am almost finished with them now, but can definitely finish during the flight.” Rometho told Hailey with a smile. He was going to have to go to her small marble and look for one of his own.

Heathrick and Shemrick came back in with a cart piled with medical supplies. She started grabbing supplies as soon as they got to the ship. They were loaded and ready to depart within another two minutes. Loku wished them all luck and stepped out of the ship to return to the bridge. Heathrick asked Hailey if she thought she would need them, as they thought to watch over the little female they had rescued.