Laura Jo Phillips (35 page)

“Lariah, do you feel all right?” she asked, suddenly concerned.

“Yes, I’m just a little tired,” Lariah replied.  “These three kids were bouncing around in there last night having a party or something.  I didn’t get a lot of sleep.”

“Has Riata looked at you today?” Saige asked.

Lariah rolled her eyes.  “You sound like Garen,” she said.  “Yes, Riata was called in bright and early to tell them what I had already said.  I am fine, just tired.”

“Okay, I’ll back off,” Saige said, though she still thought Lariah looked more than tired.  Now that she was looking more carefully, she noted that there were also circles beneath Lariah’s eyes.

The sound of the side garden gate caused Tiny to leap to his feet, his eyes and ears pointed alertly toward the garden path where the visitors would appear as they approached, though his tail wagged, indicating he was familiar with whoever the visitors were. 

Saige turned to follow Tiny’s gaze in time to see three very tall men step into view of the patio.  Saige stared at them for a long moment, unable to help herself. 

The newcomers were even taller than the Dracons, but much leaner, their long limbs wiry with hard muscle.  Their eyes were yellow with narrow pupils, their shaggy hair a dark tawny blonde, reminiscent of Earth lions.  The distinguishing characteristic between them was their tail-lock, a feature unique to Clan Katre while in their human form.  It appeared to be no more than a thick lock of hair that emerged from the back of their necks and hung down over their left shoulders.  It was, however, more than a simple lock of hair.  It was a thin tail-like appendage covered with thick fur which the Katre’s could move independently if they wished.

“Greetings, Royal Cousin,” said the one with the black tail-lock as he bowed to Lariah. 

“Greetings, Maxim,” she replied with a smile, though she did not try to stand up.  “It is good to see the three of you again.  I would like to introduce you to my friend from Earth, Saige Taylor.”

The three men turned slightly to face Saige, their eyes curious.

“Saige, these three men are the Consuls of Clan Katre, and personal bodyguards to their Grandfather, Eldar Hamat.  This is Maxim, Lonim, and Ranim.

The three men bowed briefly as Lariah said their names.  Saige already understood that the order in which they were introduced was the order of their birth.  Maxim was the eldest, with a black tail-lock, Lonim was the middle brother with a dark red tail-lock, and the youngest brother, Ranim, had a white tail-lock.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Saige said, trying not to stare at them.  They had a mesmerizing grace to their movements that was difficult to look away from.

“It is a great pleasure to meet you as well, Saige Taylor,” Maxim said with a smile.

“Easy there, Cousin Maxim,” Lariah said with a mischievous smile.  “Saige is Arima to the Lobos.”

“Ah, what a waste,” Maxim said with a dramatic sigh as Faron stepped out onto the patio.  “I am certain a mistake has been made.  She is far too beautiful to be Arima to any other than Katre.”

“Obviously not,” Faron said as he crossed the patio to Saige and placed a hand lightly on her shoulder.  “You should be so lucky as to have an Arima such as our Saige.”

Maxim grinned, his eyes bright with real happiness for the Lobos.  “Congratulations, Lord Protector, to you and your brothers.  And to you as well Miss Taylor,” he said.

Saige smiled up at Faron, the love in her eyes clear for all to see.  The Katres were not jealous of their brother warriors.  Rather, they took this new Arima as further sign that things had changed for the Jasani, and they gloried in the hope that they too might one day find their own Arima.

“I did not know you were coming to visit today,” Lariah said.

Maxim hesitated, uncertain how to respond to that.  Val stepped out onto the patio at that moment and rescued him.

“They are here for a meeting, my heart,” he said, brushing her cheek with a kiss.  He leaned back and studied her face carefully.  “After our meeting, your cousins can visit with you for awhile,” he said.  He glanced at Saige.  “I would ask that you keep Lariah company for a time,” Val said carefully.

Saige nodded, understanding Val’s concern.  “Of course,” she agreed at once.  “That is why I am here.”

Val nodded, knowing that Saige understood him perfectly.  Faron had told them of Saige’s fighting abilities, and they had all noticed her protective behaviors with Lariah.  He felt safe enough leaving Lariah on the garden patio with both Saige and Tiny to guard her.

He turned to the Katres.  “Welcome Maxim, Lonim and Ranim.  If you would accompany me, Garen would like to begin.”

Faron bent down and whispered quickly into Saige’s ear.  Whatever he said caused her to smile happily.  He kissed her quickly and rose to follow the others into the house when Ban came bursting out. 

“Hurry, everyone, into the office now,” he said.  He then turned and hurried back the way he came.  Faron glanced quickly at Lariah and Saige.  “Remain calm,” he said as the Katres and Val hurried inside.  “Whatever is happening, you are safe here.”

Saige nodded and looked at Lariah, who looked even paler than before.  “Go ahead Faron,” Saige said.  “We will be fine.”

Faron nodded to Saige, trusting her to keep an eye on Lariah, a rush of pride filling him.  He then hurried into the house after the other warriors.

Chapter
30

Garen, Trey, Val, Ban and Dav sat in the Dracons’ study waiting impatiently for the other warriors to arrive so that they could begin their meeting. 

“Val, please go and see if the Katres have arrived yet, and if they haven’t, get an ETA please,” Garen said.

Val nodded and left the study, closing the door being him.  Trey’s vox beeped softly in his ear, indicating an incoming call.  He reached up and tapped it to accept the call and winced as a voice screamed in his ear.  He tapped the vox to lower the volume, then listened, his eyes widening.

“There is a Hydrogen fuel tanker running out of control straight towards us,” he said quickly before listening more.

“Damn, the projected trajectory indicates it will hit on the Lobo’s ranch, not far from our southern property line.”

“Put it on speaker,” Garen ordered.  “Ban, round up the Katres, Val and Faron please, get them in here as fast as possible.”  

Ban ran out the office door as Trey finished punching codes into the vid system to transfer the vox call.  There was a brief moment of static, then the transfer kicked in.

 “...repeat, our estimated time of impact is 16 minutes 42 seconds and counting. Please evacuate the area, we are locked out of guidance, attitude and drive systems and have no control.  Mayday, mayday, mayday, this is the fuel transport J-12 E6839, we are in uncontrolled powered descent.  Our estimated point of impact is coordinates 42.8 degrees south, 114.9 degrees west.  Someone please inform the Dracons they must evacuate the area.”

“Captain, this is High Prince Garen Dracon,” Garen broke in.

“Highness, thank the stars!  This is Captain Liam Katre.  Please get yourselves and your Arima out of the impact zone.  We are unable to control our descent and we are carrying a full load of fuel.  Our impact velocity is going to be at least 8000 meters per second.”

“Captain, we have received your information and we thank you for it.  We will take precautions.  How many of you are on board?”

“There are six of us, Highness.  Myself and my brothers, and a Falcoran male-set.”

Damn, Garen thought.  Like the Dracons, there were not many Falcorans left.  They could not afford to lose a young, healthy male-set.

“Captain Liam, I want you to all eject.”

“But what if control is re-established?” Captain Liam asked.  “I have a man working to reset the system.  We might be able to avoid this.  Even if we can only slow the impact we can reduce the damage.  As it is....” 

“Captain, what is your maximum distance for safe ejection?”

“About ten minutes from now, Highness.”

“If you can’t reset before that time is up I want you to all eject, that’s an order,” Garen said.

The captain started to argue, remembered who he was talking to and sighed. 

“Captain, you and your men are more important to us than buildings and land.  You have warned us in time.  We are heading towards the impact zone now to attempt containment.  We will keep in touch via vox.  Let us know when you eject and we will pick you up.”

“Affirmative,” the Captain replied.  “My Prince, may I ask, is the Princess safe?  I would not presume so much, but ever since we calculated our impact zone, it’s been the biggest concern of all on board.”

Garen felt his throat tighten.  “Captain, I assure you that Nahoa-Arima Lariah is safe, as are our babes.  Your coordinates have your impact point approximately 100 miles southeast of our current position.  We thank you and your men for your concern.”

“We thank you, my Prince,” Captain Liam said, true relief in his voice as it came through the speakers. 

Garen looked up as the door opened and his warriors filed in.  “Captain Liam, we are going to shift and speed travel to the coordinates you gave.  Give us about three minutes, then call your brothers’ vox.  We wish to remain in contact with you.”

“Aye, Sir, understood,” Captain Liam replied.

Garen closed the connection and met the stony faces of the Katre brothers, knowing that they had heard enough of the conversation to realize their brothers were on board the fuel tanker.

“I have ordered them to eject,” he said.  The Katre’s expressions did not change, but their relief was felt by all in the room.  “We cannot afford to lose them, or the Falcoran male-set on board with them,” Garen said gruffly. 

He turned his eyes to Faron.  “The tanker is heading for your ranch,” he said.  “We will speed travel there, but you may wish to call ahead and warn your hands to begin evacuating.”

Faron glanced at Dav who nodded and reached for his vox as he stepped out of the room. 

“Val, please tell Saige and Lariah to remain within the house and the garden where they will be safe.”  Val nodded and followed after Dav.

Faron clenched his jaw but said nothing.  Garen’s eyes swung back to him as though he had heard Faron’s silent concern.  “There is a barrier around the house and the garden that will prevent any who intend harm from entering.  So long as they stay within the barrier, they should be safe.”

Faron nodded.

“Lets move,” Garen ordered.  “Whatever we decide to do, we have little time in which to do it.”

Val hurried across the living room and out to the patio where Saige and Lariah were still sitting over coffee.  He quickly told them the situation and warned them to remain within the perimeter of the house and garden.  He kissed Lariah quickly, then raced back through the house in time to exit the front door with the rest of the warriors.

“We can transport only one of you at a time in your human forms,” Garen said.  “However, if everyone shifts we can transport the entire group.”

Without further discussion they all shifted into their alter forms, Trey taking a moment to enclose his vox in a special pouch to prevent it from shorting out due to the electromagnetic energy caused by his shift.  Moments later three dracons, three loboencas, and three katrencas filled the large area in front of the house. 

Garen, Val and Trey formed a circle around the Katres and Lobos, stretching their leopard spotted wings to their full 35 foot span so that they touched tip to tip.  Garen lifted his large, wedge shaped head toward the sky and roared.  There was an odd whooshing sound, and the yard was empty.

“Wow, that was cool,” Saige said from the front window where she and Lariah had watched the men gather. 

Lariah smiled faintly.  “Yes, I suppose it was.”

Saige’s eyes narrowed as she studied her friend.  “I think you should be sitting down,” she said.  “I’m worried about you.”

Lariah made a greater effort to smile.  “I’m fine Saige,” she said as she turned from the window and spotted Riata coming out of the kitchen.

“Hello, Riata,” she said brightly. 

Riata smiled, though she ran concerned eyes over Lariah.  “You should rest today Lariah,” she said.

“I will,” Lariah said, forcing herself not to roll her eyes.  “Would you like to have lunch with us?  We were going to eat on the patio, but if you would prefer we can eat inside.”

“The patio sounds lovely,” Riata replied.  “Pater’s garden is always very soothing.  He has a good hand with growing things.” 

“Yes, he’s wonderful,” Lariah agreed.  “He’s taught me so much, yet I am certain it is only a tiny fraction of all he knows.”

The women chatted easily as they wandered back to the patio and settled themselves, though both Saige and Lariah could not stop themselves from gazing south towards the Lobos’ ranch every few moments. 

“Look,” Saige said in a shocked whisper as she stared into the southern sky.  Riata and Lariah immediately followed her gaze and gasped to see a brilliant white ball shooting through the sky, leaving a bright trail behind it as it raced towards the ground.  Even as they watched, the white ball appeared to slow, the glowing gas trailing behind it beginning to catch up to it, making it more difficult to distinguish between the two.