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Bellator slowed, worried she was slipping, though it didn’t feel like it.

“That bridge is huge,” she added with awe in her voice.

Bellator sighed and continued running, glad nothing was wrong; she was simply impressed by the sight. The stone arch spanning over the waterfall tumbling down the mountainside was picturesque. The mist from the churning water, along with the sun striking the glossy stone added to its beauty. As urgent as the situation was, his heart swelled, happy he could experiencethis with his queen. That was one of the joys he was discovering, seeing things all over again through Isa’s perspective.

“How common are these bridges, buildings like the hive, and the farming terraces on your planet?” Isa asked as they crossed the bridge, her voice suddenly somber.

Bellator’s brow furrowed at her change of tone. She was curious, but also worried. It was unfortunate this emergency had ruined her first tour of her new world.

“Somewhat common, though construction materials and methods are different in different territories,” Artifex replied.

“Hmm.” Isa nodded.

After that, their queen was grimly quiet, and so was everyone else in the group as they followed Militus. They were all worried about the new queen. The legionnaire beta exited the main path taking the route leading into the valley. When they finally reached the bottom of the mountain path, Bellator spotted the omegas pulling the egg out of a muddy hole just up the riverbank.

“We got lucky it didn’t take out this bridge,” Artifex declared as they hustled across the bridge spanning the river.

From the skid mark crossing the river, if the egg landed any farther downstream it would’ve struck the bridge. That would’ve been very bad for the poor queen inside.

“Truth,” Bellator agreed as he went off the main path and headed up the riverbank.

The Vorto surrounding the egg parted for him and the other alphas.

“It started beeping as we got it out of the muddy hole,” one of the omegas reported.

Bellator frowned. He was no expert but this egg looked skinnier and longer than the one Queen Isa had been in. Something didn’t feel right.

Isabella

“That’s not a stasis pod!” Isa stared in horror at the missile.

The strange sinking suspicion she had since seeing the farming terraces and bridges coalesced in her brain. Anger and shame instantly flooded her, bile rising in her throat. There was no way the probes her people sent scoured the planet and concluded it was unoccupied. The Unified Federation knew Tellus was inhabited by a sentient race.

That’s why they needed me, a specialist in cultures.Her breath heaved out faster, the conversation with Audre on the tarmac coming back to her.The government needed people skilled enough to repurpose what was here after they killed off the native inhabitants.Why stop at stealing a planet when you can steal its cities and infrastructure, too?! Bastards!she angrily cursed her people.

The beeping on the missile tugged her out of the downward spiral.

“Oh god!” She scrambled off Bellator’s back. “Don’t touch anything! Get back!” she screamed as she ran toward the missile.

“My queen, what is wrong?” Bellator followed her along with Phara and Artifex.

She ignored them as she panned the missile then ran to the other side. There it was, the display with the blinking countdown.

“Oh god. Fifty-four minutes,” she murmured. The omegas must’ve hit something to trigger the countdown when they were unearthing it. “It’s counting down. We don’t have long.”

“We will find a way to get the queen out.” Phara wrapped an arm around her.

Her eyes widened at his response. “There’s no queen in here. It’s a weapon. It explodes,” she informed him while studying the display.

“Explode?!” Phara barked, instantly tugging her off her feet and leaping backward.

“Take her and go!” Bellator roared.

“No!” Isa shouted before Phara could take off running with her dangling in his arms.

“We have to get you to safety,” Artifex insisted.

“We have some time before it goes off,” she countered.