Warrior's Valor (42 page)

“No. We found him this way when we came out of a patient's room.”

Kellen wanted to groan aloud, but then she glimpsed something. A quick movement and a red lounge suit. Ayahliss. She dove in her direction and managed to pin her to the wall in the next room.

“What do you think you're doing?”

“He doesn't deserve to live.”

“No, he doesn't, but that's not up to you.”

“Armeo is my responsibility. You placed him in my care. This man endangered him on the Keliera station and hurt Rae's mother. He nearly took Dahlia from you, from us, and he had no right.” Large blue tears of what Kellen determined was true fury ran down Ayahliss's cheeks.

“Dahlia gave me something nobody else ever has. She made me feel like I belonged. Like I deserved to belong. When he stole her, kidnapped her from her family, he took that feeling away from me, as well as my purpose. I couldn't save her when the kidnapping took place...” Ayahliss gasped for air, over and over, unable to speak.

“You decided to create your own sort of justice and kill a man that Dahlia fought so hard to keep alive when they were in the forest?”

“She was dehydrated, hurt from the crash, and apparently not thinking clearly.”

“She wasn't incapacitated in any way.” Kellen spoke firmly. “She was trying to—”

Blaring alarm klaxons drowned out Kellen's words, and for a moment she thought the unconscious guards had been found and the authorities were looking for the culprit. The klaxons became a little quieter, even if they were still active, and a dark female voice spoke over the ship-wide communication system.

“All hands, this is your captain. All SC military personnel, take your battle stations. All civilian passengers, move to secure facilities in the center-ship corridors. The SC Council has declared a state of emergency. Onotharian forces are attacking our borders. I repeat, Onotharian forces are attacking SC borders.”

Kellen and Ayahliss stared at each other in silence. Then Kellen whispered, “It's happening. It's finally happening and we will now have the chance to free our homeworld.”

“And vengeance.” Ayahliss's eyes challenged Kellen to contradict her.

“The Onotharians will find out what justice means,” Kellen said hoarsely, “but not from any of us. We will return and do our duty to our
people
. Nothing else matters. Vengeance is for people like M'Ekar and his likes. Don't lower yourself to their level. You are a Gantharian. Understood?”

Ayahliss had paled and now nodded slowly. “Yes, Kellen. Yes.”

“Good.” Kellen knew her impromptu speech was true and reflected her innermost feelings. As she looked up at the ceiling, the communication system hummed again.

“Gamma VI and SC headquarters have confirmed more incursions of our borders,” the captain announced. “Thus, I regret to inform you that the Supreme Constellations are now officially at war with the Onotharian Empire.”

Award-winning author Gun Brooke lives in a Viking-era village in Sweden, where she writes romance and science fiction full time. When she isn't working on her latest novel, Gun enjoys training her dog, a German Shepherd mix, and plans to buy a Labrador puppy this summer. Gun spends part of the brutal winters in Texas, and it is during these journeys that she collects her characters and goes looking for sceneries and locations for future stories. Another recent love is creating digital art, a hobby that Gun finds inspiring since she can create the images of her characters on her computer. Her romance
Sheridan's Fate
is a 2007 Lambda Literary Award finalist.