Knight in Shining Alien?: Athrian Warriors Book One (14 page)

He could feel the time slipping through his hands and needed to get this finished. He had fifteen minutes left at the most before they discovered the rescue mission and started searching the ship for them and firing on his own. Before the laser cannons started firing he needed to be sure that his team was safely aboard his ship and headed towards Athria with all speed. If only a few of his other battle destroyers could arrive in this sector of space. That would make Mr. Stinky, as his beloved called Varill, pause and retreat. The third double-click sounded in his ear. All the bombs were in place and both his brother and daughter were safe in his people's possession. Hopefully, they had rescued the other woman that Darthos was talking about.

Jarrek sent a prayer to the Goddess, that when he joined her she would allow him the boon of watching over his Cordisa and daughter. If he could not be with them in life, then he wanted to protect them in death.

Getting closer to Varill and the bridge, Jarrek still worried over the fact that he was having too easy a time. Just running into two Krakill while heading to the bridge was wrong. By this time on any other mission he had laid between ten to twenty down. This felt wrong. Taking the advice of his gut, Jarrek peeled off the corridor to enter the first unoccupied officer's quarters he came to. As he was one level away from the bridge, he was right next to their living quarters.

The first room he came to looked empty on first glance, he was halfway across the room before he noticed the sleeping figure in the bed. Jarrek pulled his sword and knife in smooth, fast motions and slowly approached the bed.

He was standing next to the bed, ready to plunge his blade home when he noticed that there was no breath coming from the body. What the hell? Going to the computer, he checked the duty roster and found all but Varill's personal security confined to their rooms by Commander Varill himself.

What was Varill playing at? Confident that he had found the reason for the empty corridors, although clueless for the reasoning, Jarrek continued towards the bridge and Varill himself. Varill without realizing it was aiding in his own destruction.

Not two minutes later, Jarrek realized he should have kept the stealth, as he was bounding down the hallways towards his objective, he was running right into Varill's personal guard. They made sure that Jarrek regretted losing his caution before they presented him to Varill's brand of greeting. They surrounded him and the leader grabbed one arm while another did the same to his other side. Wondering what was going on and about to morph out of the group, they stabbed him in the chest with a needle and pushed the plunger. His body immediately burned and his symbiot screamed inside his head. Shit! They did have a way to disable their morph. They proceeded to beat him around the face and ribs, before dragging him to Varill and dropping him at his feet. He quickly engaged his comm unit, so that his team knew he was taken and to save his brother and daughter.

Hailey ran into Sidhawk just as she was leaving the Goddess' chapel. She was so happy to see him she immediately smiled and jumped into his arms and planted a big kiss on his cheek. “I am so happy to see you! I need your help. Jarrek is about to make a bone-headed move and I need to save his ass, so we can live happily-ever-after.”

Sidhawk saw Hailey exit the Goddesses chambers and was surprised she had found it. They had tucked it away in this section on purpose. This way, ensured that the ugliness of their war did not reach her. She was unsullied by their fight and no warrior would come here unless cleansed from any battle. When Hailey had looked up at him and smiled, he was surprised again. Then she astounded him by jumping into his arms and kissing his cheek. What was going on? She had just left from a tense scene where Loku was being an idiot with tears on her face. He expected that he would need to comfort her and even cheer her up before they could discuss what had happened. “You are well Hailey?” He asked tentatively.

“Fine and dandy, Sid, let’s get started. How do I work the bond?” Hailey questioned. Sidhawk looked confused, and she needed him to keep up.

“Look, Sid, I don’t have time to play twenty questions with you. I need you to tell me how to work my bond with Jarrek. Keep up here. Things are happening at a rapid pace and I need to be in time. I have a wedding to plan and I need to make sure the groom will live to be there.”

“Wedding, groom, twenty questions game? I do not understand your speech Hailey, what is going on in a fast manner? If you can tell me plainly what is happening, then I will be glad to assist you.” Sidhawk had tried to understand her speech, but she was talking rapidly and practically dragging him back down the hall towards her room. He needed a clearer understanding of her language. He vowed to spend hours with her learning all the ins and out of her language, if he only could live through whatever she was planning now.

“I want you to tell me how to work the bond that Jarrek and I have so that I can let him know that I love him and accept the bond, before he lets Varill kill him to give me a freedom I don’t want. Savvy?” Hailey told Sidhawk, adding a little Captain Jack there at the end, just to tweak his nose. She loved how so many of those she had spoken with had such difficulties understanding her language. It had her laughing on the inside so much that she was surprised she hadn’t peed herself yet.

“Oh, yes. Of course, I will try. We may need to find Loku and ask whom the eldest man aboard is. I have knowledge, but no practical experience you know. No one has had a Cordisa in thousands of ansis’, we may need help.” Sidhawk was so happy to hear that she changed her mind, he was reluctant to ask what had changed her mind, but as she was dragging him along at a fast pace he was not sure if he should. She may need to slow to catch her breath for the explanation, if that was the case, then he should ask.

“May I ask what has happened to change your mind? Not that I am complaining mind you, I am just curious.” Sidhawk decided that he had nothing to lose in asking, so went ahead and did just that.

“I met your Goddess while I was visiting her and she told me to get over myself, because she really had made Jarrek just for me or me for Jarrek I guess since he’s older.” Hailey told him matter of fact.

Sidhawk stopped dead at her words. The Goddess had spoken with Hailey? Wow.  “She really spoke to you?” He asked in a voice full of awe.

“Yes, really Sid, like I would make something like that up. Jeez! Look, the point is that she told me that Jarrek and I were supposed to be together and that if I wanted to keep that love I would need to learn about the bond, as he had made a bone-headed decision and was about to die if I didn’t figure it out.” Hailey told him pulling at his arm in an unsuccessful attempt to move him along.

“Wow. Hailey you are going to tell me all about it. This is momentous!” Sidhawk replied, excited.

“Move your ass, Sid and I will tell you when we save Jarrek.” Hailey told him and finally succeeded in getting him to continue moving.

Sidhawk directed her left when she was going to turn to the right, certain that her room and the lift to the bridge was that direction. “My rooms and by extension the elevator to the bridge is to the right Sid. Where are you taking me?” Hailey inquired.

“There is more than one lift Hailey, I am simply getting us there faster.” Sidhawk replied in the sarcastic tone of voice he had heard Hailey use on more than one occasion.

“Snark, Sid? Progress, I like it. Of course, there is more than one elevator to the bridge. I should have realized. Sorry.” Hailey said and rolled her eyes at her mistake.

Not even thirty seconds later, they were striding onto the bridge and Hailey was calling for Loku. Loku took one look at her face, stopped what he originally was going to say, and instead asked, “How may I help you, Hailey?”

“I need to know who can tell me how to use the bond that Jarrek and I share. I need him to stop his bone-headed move and get his ass back onboard this ship.” Hailey told Loku, for now skipping over their earlier scene in an effort to concentrate on what was more important. Saving Jarrek’s very sexy behind.

“I can tell you what my father told me. We have mayhap a handful of men that could describe the use of the bond. If you will give me three minutes, I will have them come to the war room. While we wait, perhaps you will do me the courtesy of telling me what has happened?” Loku was happy that she was not tearing into him over their earlier meeting, but he was still the First Officer and in charge of this ship in Jarrek’s absence
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He led Hailey and Sidhawk towards the war room while he gestured for his aid to send out the necessary messages to the older crewmembers.

Sidhawk stepped up and answered the questions Loku had. “Hailey has spoken to the Goddess, who has assured her that she and Jarrek are meant to be together, however, Jarrek is in danger and if Hailey cannot figure out how to work the bond, so that Jarrek is aware that she is willing to accept him and their bond, Jarrek will succeed in getting Varill to kill him.”

“The Goddess spoke to Hailey? That is amazing!” Loku exclaimed and then the rest of what Sidhawk said kicked in. “I knew that no good cruvek was going to do something stupid.” He growled.

“Yes, Loku, we can all growl at him later. Tell me quickly what your daddy told you.” Hailey said and rolled her eyes at him, before taking Jarrek’s seat at the table.

“Well my father did not tell me much.  He only said that if I were ever lucky enough to find a Cordisa, I was to close my eyes and think of her, all that we are to each other. We are essentially the same person through the bond and it should not be a struggle to understand the other half of ourselves.” Loku told her.

“Save me from existential garbage please. I need clear and precise instructions. I don’t speak woo-woo.” Hailey snarked to Loku, and wondered why did the damn instructions to stuff that was really, really important have to come wrapped in nonsense or mystic haiku crap?

“I do not know the language woo-woo, so was not speaking it. What did you mean by that, Hailey?” Loku asked, as confused as others by her weird speech.

“I meant that I don’t understand the instructions Loku. Can you please explain it to me again, in a way that I can understand it?” Hailey explained, not even bothering to explain what she really meant. Now was not the time for the language issue to crop up. She had to save Jarrek. She was starting to get a horrible feeling in her gut.

Loku was about to try again, when the chime sounded for entry. Giving permission, he welcomed the warriors and asked them to take a seat. “Briefly, as we are short on time I will say that the woman seated with us is Jarrek’s Cordisa and they have just bonded a couple of hours ago. The Goddess has spoken with Hailey and let her know that Jarrek is in trouble and about to get himself killed. She is looking for information on how to work their bond so that Jarrek knows to come back to the ship immediately as Hailey does love him and will accept the bond. We need any information that you can give to us on how that this can be accomplished quickly. Did I miss anything Hailey, or is there anything you wish to add about the situation at hand?” Loku asked turning to her.

“No Loku, I believe that sums it up. I will need you to be very specific with me on how to reach the bond. Cryptic information is a waste of my time and not something I am willing to try to deal with.” Hailey told the waiting men.

They all looked to each other for a moment and then turned back to her and said the same thing at the same time. “Just close your eyes and think of your bonded mate.”

“Seriously? Just close my eyes and think of Jarrek?” Hailey tried to verify with them. It sounded too simple. She didn’t want mystic woo-woo crap, but thought it would be a little harder than that.

“I am not sure you understand exactly what a bond entails, Your Highness. You and Jarrek are now one. The same person, but separate. You should be able to feel what he feels, experience what he does, and know what is around him and how to change it. It is the same with him. He should know how you feel, what is going on around you and what he needs to do to change it or fix it, if it requires fixing. However, if he is being hurt or tortured, he may try to keep you out. Not that he will be successful, but he can limit you somewhat on the access side. You just have to be more determined.” Calmron B’el Sassony tried to explain the bond to her in a way that he hoped she would understand.

“Oh determination won’t be a problem. I was told by the Goddess that I need to let him know that I accept him or he will get himself killed.” Hailey said in a dry tone of voice. That caused all of the warriors to murmur their astonishment that she had met the Goddess. Hailey didn’t understand what the big deal was.

“Well everyone needs to pipe down. I am going to try to let him know right now.” Hailey said as she called for quiet. She mentally crossed her fingers and tried to reach Jarrek. Thinking of the way his skin felt against hers. How warm it was and the delicious sent of his skin when he surrounded her with his body. The drugging influence of his kiss and the way she felt as he filled her with his cock. Feeling the tingle begin to cover her skin, she knew somehow that it was working. She was reaching him on a level she never knew could exist between a couple. She tried to sink into his body and be Jarrek, so that she could perhaps slip inside his mind and he could absorb the love she felt for him. The conversation she had had with the Goddess, and that she really wanted him to come back to her. Except, she found pain, broken ribs and a scream of “NO!”, ringing in her head, before everything leading up to that moment, just seemed to rewind and show her in fast forward what had occurred.