Determinant -Guardians of Vesturon [3] (42 page)

“If we’re not careful, we may have a houseful of little Therrons running around before we know it.”

Rykerian stopped and stared at me with those incredibly stunning eyes. “Would that be so bad then, love?” he whispered curiously.

I wrapped my hand around the nape of his neck, pulling him toward me. When his lips met mine, I said, “Whatever gave you the idea it was bad?”

I felt his chest rumble as he kissed me back. Then he said, “Maybe then we would stop arguing over who gets to hold the baby!”

*****

The universe was still at war. The Xanthians had made it clear that Earth was their intended target and they would not stop until they had gained control of it. The Guardians had divided their efforts between the two planets, but a full-blown war was now in progress.

Saylan had yet to be found and Xarrid was still searching for her. Rykerian and Jurek were doing everything they could to help, but so far they had found no sign of her.

The task of building our own home had fallen to me and I gladly took that over, with Annalise’s help. The work would begin in the next few weeks and our home would be located within walking distance from the palace grounds.

Little Therron was getting bigger every day. He was a perfect blend of his father and me. He had my eyes but Rykerian’s unmatchable hair color and his impossibly flawless smile and I think he was going to have his father’s build because the kid was huge! He was exactly like his daddy—the sweetest baby boy ever and lucky for us, he loved to sleep!

Jurek visited me frequently, but he was fairly obscure about it. When he had agreed to assist the Guardians, it was understood that the only ones that would be made aware of the Praestani’s existence were the Yarristers. Jurek and Xarrid were quite close now, and Rykerian had finally come around, but I wouldn’t call them the best of friends. No one but the Yarristers knew of the existence of Lare-Stell and we all planned to keep it that way.

My brother and sister were doing as well as could be expected. Tommy had been giving my parents problems because he wanted to go back to Earth, as did Sarah. They had never gotten very comfortable on Vesturon and missed their old life and friends.

My parents didn’t help much either. They complained about everything, especially the fact that they should have been allowed to live in the palace and that as my parents they shouldn’t have to work.

One day, Rykerian who was probably the most patient person in the universe, had had more than he could take and had reached his boiling point. My parents incessant whining about every insignificant thing had finally pushed him over the edge. They had shown up this time fussing about my father’s supervisor at his job.

Rykerian looked at me, tore his hand through his hair, shook his head and said, “You ungrateful people just will not stop will you? Lives are being lost every day in a war going on and you are oblivious to everything except your petty needs and complaints. What will make you shut up?”

They stared at him, jaws on the floor. Ever since the first time he had met them, he had never spoken to them like that again, but he had finally reached his limit.

“I believe I know what will do the trick and I am going to show you!”

“Rykerian? What are you doing?” I demanded.

“Sweetheart, I should have done this months ago. It would have saved us all from hearing their nasty comments over and over again.”

He tapped his shadars and they disappeared. I knew exactly what he was doing. He was giving them a view of how they could be living right now on Earth if it hadn’t been for the two of us. I could hear and feel his thoughts. He was laughing his rear end off too!

He took them to their house in Spartanburg...or what was left of it. Then he took my dad to the place he used to work. He gave them a brief tour of downtown Spartanburg. Everything was either burned down or a crumbling mess. Next, he teleported them to downtown Atlanta. What hadn’t been destroyed was covered with massive vines of kudzu; it was barely recognizable. The world they had known no longer existed and in its place was sheer hell.

When they finally returned to the palace, my parents were both pale faced and trembling and Rykerian was grinning from ear to ear. I shook my head and smiled back at him.

“You probably should have done this a while ago.”

“Yes...perhaps it could have saved me from mountains of headaches!”

“Mom, Dad, now please get out of here and leave us alone. You know, Rykerian’s only letting you stay here out of the kindness of his heart. He doesn’t have to and he can send you back to Earth whenever he wants. Is that what you want?”

“No... I guess we’ll go home now,” she said.

After they left, Rykerian said, “At some point, we are going to have to decide what to do about your siblings. Tommy keeps insisting on learning to fight like a Guardian. He wants to back to Earth to defend it January.”

“I know, but I worry about him. He’s so young.”

“Well, he is too young to fight right now, but we could put him in the program that would channel him into the Guardian Academy. I think he would be happy there and he is only twelve right now.”

“He’ll be thirteen next month.”

“He cannot enter the Academy for another five years then. If he knows he is being trained for that, he will be more motivated to work hard. He will also gain the respect of his fellow students.”

“So you think it’s the right thing to do?”

He put his arm around my waist and pulled me to him, “Have I ever steered you wrongly?”

“No.”

“I think it is exactly what he needs. Then he could go back to Earth and be proud of his accomplishments.”

“Yeah, you’re right...as usual. What about Sarah?”

“I think she should do the same. Of course, she would not enter for what, eight more years?”

“Yeah, she’s only nine now.”

“That would work well for her, and who knows, she may change her mind by then. We can make her think for now that she can be following her big brother’s footsteps. When he’s gone, she may go in a completely different direction.”

“I am so glad I married you. You are the smartest man.” I stood on my toes and kissed him. I should’ve known better. We weren’t very good at just a quick kiss or two. It usually developed into much more, like this one did. In no time, I was being carried upstairs.

“It’s a good thing I don’t weigh very much.”

“Why is that, love?”

“Because you’re always carrying me up the stairs!”

“Ah, I see. Well, do you think I am that weak then?”

“No, I would rather you save your strength for other things.”

“Hmm...what other things?”

He’d reached our room by this time and kicked the door closed behind us.

“Why don’t you put me down and I’ll show you?”

He gave me one of those smoldering looks that literally sent currents of heat racing through my veins.

“Have I told you that you are more beautiful with each passing day? When you were pregnant, I thought I’d never seen you look lovelier, yet here you are, stealing my breath away again.”

*****

Somehow, even though war raged around us, Earth was under siege, our beloved Therron was gone forever and Xarrid was searching for his missing soul mate, we had managed to persevere. We had quite a long way to go before things were rectified and we knew life would never be as it was, but together, we knew we could carry on. We had been given new hope in the gift of Therron Rykerian and we took that as a message, giving us faith in what the future held. Life was amazing and so were the promises it held.

Saylan had been busy in the small warehouse teleporting all the crates to the Star Freighter. She had devised a system so she could find everything when she got all the crates back on Vesturon. The main thing was to keep it all in some semblance of order.

She had about three hours until she was supposed to meet Xarrid. She still had a ton of stuff to get done between now and then.

She was so excited. She could not wait to tell Maddie her news. Xarrid and she had decided to unite. They had met at the graduation party after she and Maddie completed their Guardian training. What a night that was! They had all been celebrating when Saylan had accidentally mentioned the incident about Maddie’s brush with death with that nasty heptamorg (a large, venomous, seven-tentacled beast living in the Unforgiving Forest on Vesturon) and Rayn went ballistic. Maddie hadn’t shared that tidbit of news with him, and being the Vesturion that he was, his protective instincts went into high gear and he became so angry with Maddie. Well, in all honesty, she did deserve some of it because, after all, she had hidden just about everything, including the fact that she was even enrolled in the Academy for Guardians from Rayn. She had been sending him on one wild goose chase after another and this one was the final straw.

Saylan still felt remorse for letting that cat out of the bag, but Maddie and Rayn had mended their differences and everything had worked out for them in the end. And now Saylan and Xarrid were going to announce to the Yarrister family that they were going to have their very own unification ceremony. Saylan couldn’t wait to see the look on Maddie’s face when that happened. Maddie was the one who suggested the two of them get together in the first place.

She chided herself because if she didn’t stop daydreaming here, she’d never get her list of chores completed and she’d never make it back to the Star Freighter in time.

Saylan turned back to the next stack of crates and began counting before she would teleport these. Her mind was focused on Xarrid and their upcoming plans so she never heard the footsteps enter the warehouse.

She bent down to snap the lid on the last crate and when she did she noticed three sets of legs behind her.

“Stand up slowly and put your hands in the air,” a deeply accented voice commanded.

They were Xanthians. She knew immediately by their odor. It was distinct...overpowering and gamey.

She did as she was told. One approached her from behind and removed her shadars. When he did, her anxiety level just shot up one hundred percent.

“Ahhh...an adrenaline spike on this one. Can you smell it?” one of them rasped.

She heard another of them make a sniffing sound and respond, “Yesth, she isth frightened. That isth good.” This one spun her around to face them. She wished he hadn’t. He was hideous looking with his huge, deformed teeth bulging out from his thick, slobbery lips. No wonder he lisped, she thought.

Xanthians were disgusting. They were a most unattractive species. Their large stumpy bodies made them appear awkward and uncoordinated, however, they were anything but that. They possessed quick reflexes and had tremendous strength. Their large heads had scale like formations projecting from the top with scraggly hair shooting out behind and around them. Their huge noses were red and bulbous and their yellow teeth were oftentimes large and misshapen.

They always smelled gamey, like wild animals and they had no respect for personal space which was a bad thing because they had the worst breath you could ever imagine. It could seriously make anyone gag.

One of them grabbed her by the chin with his pudgy grey fingers, lifted her head and said, “Hmm, this one could fetch a pretty price on the black market. Beautiful slaves are always in demand. Look at her. That black hair alone would make her worth a lot.”

“Haldar, take her clothes off so we can see what she looks like. Maybe we can sell her as a prostitute and make even more.”

“Sthop it! You know what our ordersth are. We are to take her to the Rebel Leader. He will insthtruct usth where to go. Now move!”

They bound her wrists and dragged her along with them. Saylan’s eyes darted around, trying to seek out a way to escape. If she were going to make it off Xanthus, it would have to be before they arrived at the Rebel Headquarters. If not, she doubted she would survive. The streets were deserted. Everyone had fled the area as the streets here were unsafe and teeming with all sorts of unsavory characters.

Unfortunately, Saylan didn’t spy any viable opportunities. She tried to reach out to Xarrid telepathically but for some odd reason, she received no response. Perhaps he was blocking all communications. Too bad she hadn’t been gifted with the Powers of Telekinesis or Command. They could have certainly helped her at this point. They rounded a corner and she decided to take a chance and run. She would have to depend on her Power of Speed alone.

Saylan didn’t get very far before she was stunned. The beam hit her and she dropped like a rock.

When she regained consciousness, she was strapped to a table. She couldn’t move a thing. There was a strap that ran across her forehead, one across her torso and her hips, which also bound her arms and legs. She was essentially locked down. Her mind screamed for Xarrid for she knew she would die if he couldn’t reach her.

She struggled in vain against her restraints. Tears poured down her cheeks. How could she have been so careless to let her guard down at that final critical moment?

She heard voices off in the distance. Tuning in to what her captors discussed, she felt herself freeze with terror.

“Remove her tracer and destroy it immediately. We do not need any Guardians breathing down our necks here. If they discover this place, our mission will be ruined.”

Footsteps approached her and she felt a hand tightly clench her arm. Something punctured her skin and gouged into her flesh. She screamed for they didn’t give her anything to numb the area before retrieving the tracer from beneath the muscle in her arm.

“Shut up or I’ll do the same to your other arm,” the Xanthian said as he bent into her face.

He was so putrid smelling she nearly threw up on the spot. The only thing stopping her was the pain in her arm. A wave of nausea slammed into her, but she swallowed, forcing down the burning mass of bile. Her eyes darted around the room and she noticed there were other beds like the one she was on with more people strapped to them.

Robots were moving about with drill-like tools. Whatever was going on in here was totally creepy and now she wished they would just kill her. They were performing some kind of twisted experiments on these captives.