No Words Alone (19 page)

Namae looked nonplussed. "I suppose we are
sisters."

Xera pressed her advantage. "That's right, so
spill. Let me guess; you like Shiza.”

She made a face. "Ew! You aren’t
serious.”

“He watches you.”

“He watches
all
women. He acts like an
onta
who is never fed.”

Xera wasn’t familiar with the reference but
understood the gist. “He has a special look for you.”

“Probably annoyance,” Namea retorted. “I
don’t fall under the spell of his commander’s star and pretty eyes.
I grew up with him, you see. It’s difficult to take seriously
anyone who you’ve watched pee off a balcony when he’s eleven.”

An unexpected laugh made Xera choke. “You
spied on him?”

“He was out there in the open for the world
to see,” Namae said indignantly. “I told him as much when he saw
me.”

“What did he say to that?”

Namae blushed and refused to answer. She took
a corner of her skirt and flicked it out of her way, as if
annoyed.

Undaunted, Xera said slyly, “But you think
his eyes are pretty.”

“It’s a fact. The sky is blue. The Khun’tat
are our enemies. Shiza’s eyes are pretty.” Namae’s expression was
determinedly blithe. “Are you pregnant yet, sister?”

Xera stumbled and looked at the other woman
in disbelief. “That was dirty! I didn’t think you had it in
you.”

Namae sent her a superior look, clearly
pleased with herself. “I have sisters, too. Aunts, brothers,
uncles, a father. Did you think I would be undefended?”

Xera shook her head with new respect. “Silly
of me. As for whether I’m pregnant…no, there are no babies here. I
know your brother wants to have them, but it may not be possible.
As far as I know, our races have never interbred. To be honest, I
don't mind; I don't have much mothering instinct. Incidentally,
will the line go to Toosun if we don't produce an heir?” Oddly
enough, she’d hadn’t been worried about becoming pregnant prior to
this. She’d faithfully taken her biannual dose of contraceptive
just in case, and by her calculations it should still be in her
system for another…she frowned, suddenly unsure of her math. What
month was it?

“Perhaps, though I doubt Ryven was concerned
about it, since he wed you."

"But I'm an alien. Would that be taken into
consideration?" She didn't want to be held responsible for messing
up the noble lineage. Ryven may not care, but her new relatives
might shun her. Families could be touchy about that sort of
thing.

"It might, but don't worry." Namae patted her
shoulder. “You won't be held responsible. We like you well enough.
If Ryven hadn’t chosen you, we might have ended up with some
hideous foreign princess. Far better to have an alien sister than
one of
those
." They had reached Xera’s quarters. Namae
gestured for her to move first through the door.

Xera entered, unsure whether to be comforted
or not.

Chapter 15

Xera was in the ready room, talking with her
father-in-law, when the alarm claxon sounded. They broke off their
conversation to exchange concerned looks and hurried to the bridge,
which was nearby. Ryven snapped terse commands as he scanned
proximity readouts from his command chair. He stood and surveyed
the forward screen. A magnified view of an embattled space station
showed a large Khun’tat warship parked close by. A great deal of
the outer ring of the spoke-shaped station was damaged, and the
smaller, ovoid Khun’tat fighters swarmed everywhere, dodging its
sputtering weapons.

Ryven turned his head to send an order and
spotted his wife and father. He finished a series of rapid commands
and came to them. “We investigated the station’s unnatural silence
and found this. Other warships are on their way, but we’re point
for now.” They’d originally had two other warships with them at the
meeting with the GE and Interplanetary Council, but he had sent
Shiza’s to investigate a distress call and the other on a border
sweep. They had expected an easy journey back to Rsik; the Khun’tat
should never have been able to penetrate this deep into Scorpio
territory.

Ryven put a light hand on Xera’s shoulder.
“The bridge is too busy right now; you’ll be safe in our quarters.
I’ll send a link there so you and Namae can watch what’s
happening.” He shot an inquiring look at his father.

“I’ll wait with them,” Lord Atarus assured
him. “Be victorious, son.”

Ryven flashed him a smile, kissed Xera
quickly and turned his attention back to the battle.

The kiss rattled Xera. If he was being so
demonstrative in public, he must truly feel the need to comfort
her. It didn’t bode well.

“Come, daughter. He will be a better commander for
knowing his wife is safe.” Lord Atarus placed her hand on his arm
and escorted her from the bridge. Two guards she didn’t recognize
fell in behind them. Two others joined them on the way and
stationed themselves outside her room.

Ignoring them all, Xera told Namae what was
going on and turned on the viewscreen. Scorpio fighters engaged the
enemy in a bloody game of tag. The screen split into two sections.
The smaller portion showed a Khun’tat transport already docked with
the space station. Scorpio fighters concentrated their fire on the
transport. Xera felt a chill as she realized the aliens were
already taking prisoners.

There was a sudden flash from the alien
battle cruiser, and the ship shuddered slightly around them. Xera
blanched. "What was that?” Namae cried, wide-eyed.

Lord Atarus frowned. "The battle cruiser
fired on us. That's unusual. Normally, they would get out with as
many prisoners as they could and jump for hyperspace, with or
without their fighters. There might be a breeding queen on the
ship, which would make them more aggressive. They're very demanding
when they're hungry. If I'm right she'll have a hatching chamber
full of developing larvae."

Their warship’s laser cannons returned fire
on the Khun’tat battle cruiser. Both ships’ shields stayed strong;
for the moment.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to have the food
before she laid eggs?" Xera asked. Not that she approved of the
Khun’tat method of grocery shopping.

The LG shook his head. “They aren’t logical
like that. The queens especially are at the mercy of their
instincts, and drones follow her lead. If she’s hungry, they get
food. She won’t back off until her own ship is endangered.”

“Why can’t they just start a farm or
something?” Xera demanded.

He ignored her question, knowing it was
rhetorical.

Namae had a better one: “How long until her
ship is endangered, father?”

He was silent for some time as he stroked his
long mustache. He seemed to be calculating as he watched the
battle. “The station didn’t have fighters of its own, but it was
not defenseless. Many of the enemy fighters are disabled….” He
indicated the floating wreckage.

Another blast flashed nearby, and he widened
his stance to retain his balance. Calmly he went on: “But the
mother ship is whole. They will not stop trying to take the
prisoners; and Ryven will not stop trying to prevent it. We do not
ever let our people be taken.”

Which put them in a dangerous spot. They had
to disable the mother ship before it beat them. The good news was
that there were friendly ships coming. The aliens didn’t have that
advantage.

Xera opened her mouth to say so...and two
more Khun’tat battleships jumped out of hyperspace. Namae went
white. Xera saw her face and helped her sit down, feeling shaky
herself. This was not good.

Even the LG looked grim. He watched as their
ships opened fire on the two new arrivals, but they were grossly
outgunned. The Khun’tat targeted the single-man fighters first,
decimating their numbers. They also soon had the battleship’s
shields down. They began to take out its cannons, destroying any
chance the Scorpio had to fight back.

The battleship rocked by blasts, its engines
trying to keep its shields and stabilizers working, things seemed
desperate. Then the situation took a turn for the worse. The
Khun'tat battleship began to launch fighters. Minutes later, it
launched a prisoner transport.

Xera felt the blood leave her head. They were
coming for her. They were coming for them all.

"Come." Lord Atarus collected the two females
and headed for the door. "Now is the time to go to the bridge.”
Their escort of soldiers closed around them, looking tense. Xera
didn't have to ask why they were going to the bridge. It was time
for a last stand. She did not want to end up on the meat wagon.

Trouble was, the Scorpio felt the same way.
She knew from the videos she'd watched that they would blow the
whole ship rather than be taken for food. They'd fight to the
bitter end first, though. “Never lay down arms” might as well be
the motto of the race. She was proud to be a part of the group and
terrified at same time. It was an ugly way to die.

Ryven gripped her shoulder as they entered
the bridge, and he sent a grim look at his father. Without a word,
a warrior came up and handed them each a laser rifle. He showed the
women how to use it.

The waiting was tense. Ryven positioned his
family far away from the doors and stood by them. Screen after
screen showed armored Khun’tat getting closer, taking prisoners.
They shot out the cameras as they came, but those on the bridge
could see the fighting getting closer. Big and ugly, with their
hose-like tails at the back of their skulls, the Khun’tat crushed
anything inanimate that got in their way but only stunned their
other victims, either with guns or the venomous spines on the end
of their head hoses.

The Scorpio resisted but were being swarmed.
In twenty minutes the Khun’tat were amidships. A quarter hour more
and they were past the galley.

Xera closed her eyes and faced the fact that
she was going to die.

The Khun’tat were suddenly at the door to the
bridge. Loud noises came from the other side as they fought to
dismantle it. All the defenders could do was brace themselves and
aim for the hole that would soon appear. Anything coming through
would be greeted with lasers.

Xera looked at Ryven. He appeared very grim
and very alone. She believed he was preparing to order the computer
to blow the ship. Or perhaps she was wrong; maybe he’d already
started the countdown and was just bracing against death.

She caught his eyes. A wordless symphony
passed between them, sweet and doomed. She closed her eyes. His
fingers curled around her arm.

The blasting at the door suddenly
stopped.

Everyone froze. There was a variety of
noises, sounds of exchanged gunfire. Shouts. Someone was battling
outside the door! Tense minutes passed until suddenly the ship’s
com crackled to life.

“Ryven? It’s Shiza. I don’t mind telling you
that you’ve got lousy hospitality.” He had to repeat himself twice
over the shouts of relief on the bridge. “Open the door, will
you?”

Xera’s muscles went liquid with relief. Ryven
put his arm around her and kissed her hair. His grip was crushing,
but she didn’t care. Lord Atarus had his daughter in his arms,
hushing her shuddering breaths.

They had to work a bit on the door controls
before they could oblige Shiza, since they mechanisms had been
disabled in the attack. Even afterward, the door would only come
halfway open before it jammed.

Shiza hunched under the vertically rising
door and stood in his stiff battle suit, his head still covered in
a helmet. He nodded to Lord Atarus and clasped forearms with Ryven.
“Getting into trouble without me, are you?”

Ryven flashed him a grin. “What’s our
status?”

His bridge crew hurried to their stations and
got to work while Shiza filled them in.

“The distress call was a decoy. A small ship
was attacked, but by the time we got there, it was already
destroyed and abandoned. I was already concerned when we got your
message.”

Shiza’s battleship had taken out the original
alien craft and rescued the prisoner transport. He’d then engaged
one of the remaining battleships while the backup cruiser he’d
summoned took out the other. He’d launched fighters as soon as he
could to dock with Ryven’s and stop the boarding process. They'd
almost been too late.

Ryven’s ship was heavily damaged. They had no
shields left and no working defenses. The hull had been compromised
in several places and would not stand a jump to hyperdrive. The
engines had not been harmed, though. The ship would have to fly
straight back home as they made repairs, a lengthy and dangerous
proposition with Khun’tat popping in at will.

It was Ryven’s ship and he wouldn’t abandon
it or his crew, but he refused to permit his family to remain in
danger. Shiza was tapped to take them home, along with the
survivors of the space station and any wounded. More ships would be
arriving within the hour to escort all of them.

While everyone else was working on logistics,
Xera happened to glance Shiza’s way. He’d removed his helmet and
was caught in an unguarded moment, his gaze on Namae. Quick,
piercing and quite revealing; he wouldn’t have wished anyone to
witness that glance, she was certain. Xera let her eyes slide away,
pretending not to notice his secret heart. Perhaps she pretended
too hard. He sent her a warning glance then looked away.

Xera felt in the way on the bridge. Namae
looked strained. Xera didn’t want to divert necessary manpower, but
she wanted to get herself and Namae a chance to recoup. Namae
particularly needed it. She lightly touched Ryven’s sleeve.

He glanced at her, alert. “Yes?’

“We’re underfoot here. Is it safe to go and
pack? We’ll need a few things, and it will hurry us along.”

He followed her gaze to his sister’s strained
face. “I see. Let me check the security scans.” He looked over the
surveillance data and sweeper reports. “You may go. Your bodyguards
will go with you. And, Shiza...?” He looked inquiringly at his
friend.