Page 21 of Devin (Warriors of Etlon #5)

Devin

I t was exactly the reaction he had hoped for. Kave walked to the transport with a smile on his face, and watching the smile turn from bewilderment, to stern, and then to downright grumpy was almost worth it. Almost.

Devin had taken the coward’s way out, leaving Val without saying goodbye, but he knew if he caught a whiff of her, still mingled with his own scent, he’d never be able to leave her there and if he brought her, she would constantly be distracting him.

It would only need to be for a few weeks, he told himself.

He’d lived for years without a mate. Now, he could spend a few measly days without her.

Devin passed Kave without a word. He went straight to the command module and checked to see what damage might have been done in his absence.

Despite Kave’s outward actions, he was not incompetent.

All the pieces were neatly lined up and ready for deployment with another orbital window opening up in about two hours.

That was just enough time to inspect the site and make final adjustments before lowering the structures into place.

Jane apparently thought it necessary to check in on him.

She was quiet, as was her way, nearly as quiet as a Mahdfel sneaking up on a Suhlik.

She just stood in the back with her arms crossed, her ridiculous belly protruding out front.

Devin suddenly wondered what Val would look like, pregnant with his son.

She would look ridiculous too. Ridiculously beautiful.

“I’m going to the site. You are staying here,” Devin said.

The slightest miscalculation could lead to a cascade of falling buildings from the sky. He would not risk the life of his Mahdfel crew, much less a pregnant mate.

Jane just rolled her eyes. She stepped in front of the door.

“Where’s Val?” she asked.

“Back at the other camp. It is best this way,” he answered.

“Oh, really?” It was the ‘oh, really’ of someone who had already won a bet and had their bluff called, but she didn’t press it. She stepped out of the way.

Devin strode passed her and both of them knew that was not the end of the conversation. He continued down the path to the site, thankful that he heard no footsteps behind him.

Up ahead, though, he saw a problem. Charlette was sunning herself on a rock near the force fence. She was wearing a very small bikini and had spread her hair out in the sun like someone posing in the Terran magazines. When he paid her no mind and continued past, she seemed to take offense.

“Oh, space man, what are you doing?” she asked.

“Working,” Devin replied, not even glancing back.

“Come talk to me for a while. I’ve got a favor to ask of you.”

He turned, and that was probably his mistake. She hopped off the rock and bounded over to him.

“In less than thirty minutes, a few tons of steel and rock are going to fall from the sky, and if I’m not over there to make sure it’s ready, the whole thing may collapse. I have no time for silly Terrans!” he exclaimed.

Charlette’s response was one that Devin had begun to recognize in its early stage.

The trembling lip, the hiccup of breath.

He turned and punched the access code into the force fence.

He was on the other side before she broke out in full hysterics.

He set the fence on a timer and it closed ten seconds after he was on the other side.

Devin ran before he could feel any obligation to her or her mate came looking for him.

Terran females were incomprehensible sometimes.

At least Val was not prone to tears. And he could honestly say that he’d never seen Jane cry, but the rest of them were annoying and got on his last nerve.

He’d be happy when the city was complete and he could move on to another job.

Though, would Val be happy far away from her species?

This was his city. The bones were there, and it could take years to flesh it out.

Weren’t they talking about filling it quickly?

There could be dozens of cities left to build, and not all of them would be next to Kave.

There would be no need to move planets just to get away from the ridiculous habits of one rogue Mahdfel.

Devin arrived at the observation spot, high up on one of the trees, that he’d chosen for watching the spectacle of the supply drops. The other Mahdfel on his team would watch from the safety of the command center. Most of the work was done by the computer, but final adjustments were not uncommon.

Devin began the climb with ease. It was a giant tree, perhaps a thousand years old.

He’d had to shift the whole city slightly to the right to accommodate it.

Tearing it down would have been too much effort, and besides, it would be a crime in and of itself to kill something that ancient.

If left alone, it would add flavor to the city.

He imagined Etlon having trees this size that his ancestors had climbed.

They were natural tree people before the Suhlik had corrupted their DNA.

From the top, he could see nearly the whole site.

He pulled out his tablet and checked. Everything was going smoothly.

He put on his shielding glasses and stared up at the sky.

Sure enough, he spotted the first structure lighting up as it came through the atmosphere.

Flanked on all sides, it was followed by four more pinpricks in the sky.

Devin’s communicator beeped. He ignored it.

The telemetry data was perfect. It came down, blazing in a fiery light.

The air trembled and the tree buzzed with the force of the tons of the building being lowered slowly to the ground.

It hit, and the foundation bolts locked.

The force fields protecting the windows and interiors lowered, and as soon as the quick gel set, the building would be as permanent and strong as they came.

Devin didn’t have time to celebrate because the next four buildings were nearly down as well, with two more waves in the sky.

He watched with an overwhelming sense of pride as they dropped, one wave at a time, until finally as the dust settled, 21 buildings formed the heart of his city.

There was still plenty to do — sky bridges to install, walkways to finish, landscaping to establish — but the main design of his city was finally real.

He practically hopped down the tree and ran towards the buildings.

He reached out, touching the first building of his first residential block.

It was still warm from the descent, but otherwise unscarred thanks to the force fields that had surrounded and protected it.

The quick gel in the foundation was nearly set, but given another twenty four hours, it would be able to survive a direct Suhlik assault.

Devin rounded the corner of the building.

He would be the first to enter each of the new city’s structures.

He told himself it was a safety inspection, but he knew better.

It was pride in his work that drove him to be the first. Everything was perfect, except an unknown object lying on the ground outside the door.

He moved to look closer and noticed that it was dusty and a bit charred on the end, but its shape and green color made it unmistakable and clearly recognizable.

It was an Etlonian hand.