Rescued By Tordin: Olodian Alien Warrior Romance (14 page)

“I have to. The other options cannot bode well for anyone.”

“Now you see why I must ask you to do what you can to make this situation turn out for the good. I know you do not wish to be Emperor, but if something were to happen, I want you on the throne. I do not want it to fall into IGA’s control, nor do I want Cordin manipulating any loopholes to sit on the throne, either. Do you understand my wishes?”

“Yes, father, I do.”

“Good. I will send you a copy of them with the official signatures, expressing my will, should anything happen to me.”

“Yes, father, I understand. Thank you for the blessing, and I will do what I must to make this turn out for the best.”

They ended the communication, and Tordin had to sit in silent anger for a moment. He didn’t like the way his life was being disrupted to save his father’s throne. He had to stop his brother from making matters worse in a delicate planetary situation that could spread into a galactic war at any moment, if his brother was involved.

Talk about a way to start off a mating.

“
T
his is Nenndi
?” Kyra asked as the green planet came into view from the observation window of Tordin’s private office.

She tried hard not to despise the planet that was taking Tordin away from her. She admired his loyalty to his father but not when it took him away from their mating bliss. Her desire to keep him close was selfish, but she was new at being honorable and majestic like her mate. Kyra reasoned she had time to grow into that more mature viewpoint, sharing him with the many worlds his father governed. Just not today.

“It seems mighty small to be causing so much havoc,” she said, eying it with a hint of distaste.

“Yes, but it’s also one of the largest exporters of what you know as crystal and precious gems. It might be small, but it’s a big player in export and trade. If its control falls into the wrong hands, innumerable things would happen. It could cause our entire galaxy to fall into war and civil unrest. Cordin is no fool; he knows a win in this situation could help his case tremendously.”

“I see. So they export stuff like diamonds?”

“Yes, but they also export power. The crystals that grow here are some of the most potent for amplifying power. They export them to our galaxy and beyond. They are the top producer, and we have to keep this resource safe.”

“Hmm. This is way more serious than you let on before, Tordin,” she said, starting to worry for his safety even more. “How long before you leave?”

“Soon. We have to get permission to land or run the risk of them thinking we’re invading. Malm is contacting the different provinces to acquire a location to land. Once we do, I’ll go down and gain as much information as possible on what is going on and what havoc my brother has possibly wrought,” Tordin said, hugging Kyra from behind as they looked at the planet in chaos.

They’d spent the better half of the previous evening talking about what this mission meant for the safety and on-going peace of the galaxy as a whole. He’d made light of how important the green planet was. She knew he had to go, but she didn’t have to like it.

“Listen to me,” she said as seriously as she could, “I need you to be careful and come back to me. You got that?”

He pulled her in a bit tighter as he said, “I’ll take more precaution than ever before. And I won’t do anything that keeps me from you any longer than necessary. Promise. I don’t want to be away from you for a moment.”

“Good, you know that’s what I needed to hear.” She turned in his arms to look up at him. Playing with the amazingly durable yet elegant fabric of his shirt she asked, “When do you break the surface?”

“Listen to you sounding technical. I like it. We’ll go as soon as Malm gets the location and permission to land.”

“You know… I could come with you as a show of non-aggression. If they see you arriving with your mate, they should know you mean no harm and have no intent to fight them, only to help.”

She wrapped her arms around his narrow waist, watching as he fought the immediate ‘no’ from escaping his mouth.

After another few moments of concentration he said, “Allow me to go down and gauge the activity. Once we know what we’re heading into, if it proves best, I’ll send for you to join me on the surface. Remember, I’m only going because it is the right thing to do. If Cordin does manage to make things worse, you now know why and how it could start a domino effect of violence throughout the galaxy. I’m ultimately doing this for us, our freedom and peace.”

As usual, his response was full of sound wisdom and logic. She knew what was at stake and grasped that it was Tordin’s honorable duty to intervene.

Malm entered in a hurry, which was out of character for him.

“Sire,” and seeing Kyra, he added a new address, “and Lady. We have a location not too far from where most of the conflict is happening. They appreciate your presence and offer to assist. They await our arrival. If you are ready, we can leave now.”

Tordin gave Kyra a tight squeeze and a kiss as he prepared to leave with Malm. “I’ll leave my vo-link on so we can communicate. Please stay close to the quarters or here. I don’t know what we’re going into, and I need to know you’re safe.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said with a wave of her hand, trying to appear casual when she was anything but. “I’m going to work in Operations. That will keep me busy and not so worried about what’s going on with you every second. Trust me, you want me busy and not keeping you on the vo-link while I listen to you breathe,” she said with a laugh, trying to deflect her fears for him.

He smiled, catching her apprehension and agreed, “Okay, off you go. I’ll make sure to let you know when we land and you…” he bent down for another kiss, “are to stay in our rooms, here in the office or in the operations area. No roaming around. You hear me?”

“You need to include the Healing Section, too. I’m going to check on Phoebe today, especially since Malm will be with you. I think she’ll be able to tell he’s not there, and I want to make sure she has someone with her.”

“Yes, my love. That is wise to check on her. I’ll leave Jalek here on board if you require anything.”

She watched him leave with Malm. The emptiness of his absence crept in fast as she hurried to the operations room to keep herself busy.

T
his day seemed
like the longest she’d endured in her life. She fought the urge to contact Tordin every few moments. She didn’t want to act like a typical worried wife, but she couldn’t stop her thoughts from drifting to him and what might be happening. She couldn’t get settled since he’d been gone, distracted by a niggling in the pit of her stomach. She hoped it was simply nerves and the fact that this was their first time apart as mates and not something more sinister.

She had a mate to think about now. It was surreal to think of herself as a mate or wife, especially to an alien superhero of a man. But that’s what she was. Kyra was in awe at how fast her life had changed in such a short time. Maybe she didn’t have to harbor bad feelings toward Brantley—he was the indirect reason she met Tordin.

Brantley had been mighty quiet of late; Tordin mentioned he’d received reports that Brantley was sleeping most of the time and not being his usual annoying self. Kyra had to confess that last part was her commentary and not Tordin’s. She felt a laugh sneak up at the thought of Tordin ever saying that something was annoying. He seemed to glide through life, taking on all things with a majestic grace she found beyond sexy.

Tordin. That wonderful man was hers, her mate. She sighed in contentment. He had no problem letting his crew on all the ships know she was his mate, and that she was to be treated as such. The operations crew she worked with showed a new reverence for her now. She didn’t know if she liked it or not, but she’d live with it.

Kyra felt uncertain about having no tangible symbol of her joining with Tordin, though. There was no ring. What signaled to others that they were mates? Sure, they hadn’t had a ceremony, but he’d explained that they were considered to the be the Earth equivalent of married. Kyra, however, wanted a ring. With their mutually agreed-upon mating and joining, his father had given his blessing and decreed in the records back on Olodia that they were mated. She didn’t want to be a whiner, but she wanted a ring or some such symbol. He assured her that their mating was binding forever. There was no such thing as divorce or going away from each other, and she knew she’d never want to, anyway. She was a stick-and-stay kind of woman. At the moment, though, she was a married woman, worried about her husband—and she wanted a ring.

With that loop now banging around in her head, she tried to concentrate on working. What must have been at least a few hours passed, and her vo-link buzzed. “Thank you, Goddess,” she whispered. Tordin was calling. When she answered, an unfamiliar voice resounded in her head.

“Who is this?” she asked, startled and a bit panicked.

“Lady Kyra, please come to the Healing Section. Something appears to be wrong with Phoebe.”

Her heart leaped into her throat at the mention of Phoebe. What could be wrong? Then she mentally kicked herself for not following her instinct to go to her sooner. But who was this talking with her?

So she asked again, “Excuse me, but who is this? Where are the Healers?”

Silence.

The intuition of deception snaked up and down her spine. Something was not right. She knew it just as surely as she knew she loved Tordin.

“I’m going to ask you one more time. Who is this, and what have you done to Phoebe?”

“Who I am is no concern of yours, but if you want to see your precious Phoebe again, you’ll come to the Healing Section now.”

Tingling pinpricks of numbness ran through her fingers while her stomach flipped with anxiety. Someone had Phoebe or wanted her to think they did. With a quick look around the operations room, she spotted the lead warrior and strode quickly over to him.

“Excuse me, Palon, but I need your help with something. Someone who refused to identify himself just contacted me on my private vo-link and said I had to come to the Healing Section, or he’d do something to Phoebe. Is there anyway you can help me find out who he is and what’s going on down there before I go?”

“Oh, Lady, most certainly. Please, give me your vo-link, and I’ll run a scan to see if it is working properly. Did this just happen now or some time ago?”

Kyra was too charged with adrenaline to focus clearly, but she tried to give Palon the answers he needed. “The male just called. It’s the only call I’ve received since Tordin left for the surface.”

Palon placed the disk into what looked like a centrifugal spinner and allowed the machine to hum and work. When he retrieved it, it had turned into something akin to a piece of coal.

“Lady, did anyone have access to your vo-link? It has been compromised. It also looks like the commander’s link to it was severed.”

“What does that mean? Is Tordin hurt?” she asked, trying to keep panic from overtaking her.

“No, it means his calls to you will not connect.”

“Is there a way to see if he’s attempted to contact me? Is there ever a time when someone might not answer a vo-link call? I don’t want him to think I was ignoring him.”

“You might not answer a call by ignoring it or the link being corrupted or compromised. I suspect your issue is the latter. I’m pulling the activity from your vo-link now.” Palon moved quickly, running reports and working to get her some answers. He shot looks of concern over to her a few times but kept working fast. After a few more minutes, he read the results from his tablet. “The commander has attempted to connect with you four times in the last…” he paused, mentally calculating time into her earth clock equivalent. She was grateful for his accommodation and realized they’d had this entire conversation in English. “Four Earth hours. Yes, he’s attempted to contact you four times in four hours.”

“Would he think something was wrong if I didn’t answer?” she asked.

“He might not, since the atmosphere on Nenndi is full of raw energy from the crystals and interference from all the explosions and fighting. He may think the link is weak on his end.”

“Sugar! I need to get in touch with him. Is there another more secure vo-link where I can contact him privately?”

“I can configure one quickly. Please give me a moment to get it online with his frequency, and then we can try it. In the meantime, I’ve had some of the others working on what is happening in the Healing Section, and it looks like something is amiss.”

“What? Don’t just stand there, Palon. I have to figure out what to do. Phoebe is down there.” Kyra knew she had spoken rudely and quickly corrected herself, “Palon, please forgive me. I just need to make the best decision that will keep everyone safe, and time is ticking. He said I had to come now, and it’s been a few minutes since then.”

“Yes, I know, my Lady. Please remember it takes time to walk from here all the way down there, so we’re using that time to put in a patch that will send back visuals from her compartment.”

Another warrior called out, “Got it, Palon. Sending the link to your station, and you’re not going to like what you see.”

Palon’s huge monitors changed to what looked like a live feed of Phoebe’s room.

“Brantley! That bastard!” Kyra yelled, unable to hold in her anger any longer. “Palon, quick—who are those other…things with him?”

Palon stared at the screen with undisguised horror. “My Lady, we have to shut down that space immediately. Those are Skleen! They are deadly, parasitic, humanoid-like beings who suck the life force out of others. They kill indiscriminately. They are usually mercenaries for hire. Someone called or sent for them. They don’t come unless there is payment and/or life force to be harvested.”

“But how did they get on board and into Phoebe’s room?” she asked, not believing her eyes.

The ’Skleen’ as he’d labeled them, looked almost translucent, with waxy skin and hollow eyes. They stood about the same height as Brantley’s 5’9” and looked like something from Halloween. There were five of them in the room, surrounding Phoebe as Brantley paced back and forth. She watched as one of them used a vo-link to attempt a call. Kyra imagined it was attempting to contact her again. When there was no answer, she saw them push Brantley out the entrance as they began to walk down the corridor.