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Chapter Eleven

N erx splayed his fingers on Britta’s closed door, trying to wrangle in a decent breath, while willing his Fuyra-hard malehood to quit throbbing. Alodon’s balls, if this is not important, I am going to kill Edon. With murder in mind, he sprinted to the comm room.

“You had better have valid reason—” Nerx stumbled to a stop at the sight of a battleship dominating the display vids.

It was like nothing he’d ever seen. Despite having the sheen of Maloidian steel, it was a deep metallic blue.

An elongated code to a point made it clear which was its bow from its stern.

A glowing green came from the far end—perhaps their propulsion engines?

Tiny lights scattered across its jagged surface, as if they were windows. Narrow slits shone white.

“Did you hail it?” Nerx asked, not wanting to blink.

“Yes, and had Ziot begin a full scan.”

“No response?” He frowned. “No identification markings?”

“None to both. And they are blocking our comms.” Edon threw Nerx a glance. “We will have no assistance from our battleships should we need it.”

Maker . Isolated, vulnerable, with two Dar Eths and a damu on board? Nerx gritted his teeth. “Comm the king.”

The display vid didn’t even flicker. No connection formed.

“The comm stations?” Edon stiffened. “Do you think this thing—”

“Let us not leap to conclusions, Pilot Edon.” Nerx sucked in a shuddering breath, then touched his O.D.I. “Ziot, are you able to read—”

“Yes, Supreme Commander.”

“Which means they can scan us. I will hide the humans in the engine room, close to the power source. Perhaps they do not know how many are on board. Sub-Commander Matir, Ziot, and Sena, get down here.” Nerx studied the star charts on the display vids while racking his brain for solutions.

He waited for his males to arrive, then granted them a few seconds to gape at the battleship before saying, “Edon and Ziot will pilot while gathering what data you can. Matir and Sena, I need you on the viewing deck, directly above this position. If anything happens to us, you two can fly this ship to Etteria, saving the females…and Lily.”

He spun and tapped a panel, opening a mini armory. Blasters, swords, daggers, spare med-guns made their way to various parts of their anatomy. He carried an extra blaster for Britta. He’d rather have her armed than vulnerable.

“Surely a male guarding the females would be wiser?” Matir asked while arming himself. “After all, the engine room can hide more than a few heat signatures.”

“True, but what if you are injured defending the females? Who will fly the ship?”

“If we are killed as the last bastion, then the scimitar and the females are lost. I will guard them. Double tap your O.D.I. should you need aid. Sena, stay in the viewing deck. That will place you closest to the comm. Aldur will remain in medical as expected of a medic.”

“A good plan. I concur.” Nerx placed his palm above Matir’s heart. “May the Maker bless us.” With Matir trailing him, Nerx raced to the officer’s quarters. He barged in, uncaring in what state he might find the pair. “Aldur, arm yourself. Lady Dahlia, with me.”

“What is it?” she asked, looking up from her tablet.

Aldur squeezed past Nerx to reach the common where additional weapons were stored.

“Matir will explain.” Nerx crossed to Britta’s door where moments ago his only concern was claiming her.

He entered and held out the blaster, grateful that she was still in the dress and not naked.

Although, that imagery would be something he’d die for.

“An unknown battleship approaches; it will be passing too close to this scimitar. I need to hide you and Lily.” He glanced at Lady Dahlia, clutching a tablet to her chest. “And your mother. Take the blaster. Tap the yellow for stun, red to kill, and do not touch the white.” He ran his thumb along a slider, setting stun to maximum. “Come, let me close your garment.”

She offered him her back. Her skin looked so soft that he stroked a finger from the nape of her neck to the base of her spine. She clutched the blaster to her chest but said nothing, despite the tiny bumps forming. Sighing, he guided the zip up.

“Go, get Lily,” she said, brushing past him to reach her mother.

Fetching Lily, still bundled in her pink blanket, was the easy part. With her in his arms, Britta, Dahlia, and Aldur followed Matir through the locked door to the shuttle bay, storerooms, and engine room beyond.

Britta shivered. The engines released warmth, so none of them would be cold for long.

She didn’t barrage Nerx with questions he couldn’t answer.

For that, he was grateful. In the engine room, he took them to the closest fusion drive at the center of the grated floor—its pulse hummed too loud for his ears.

Other drives lined the walls with conduits traveling between them, fueling each other.

More tubes networked across the bulkheads and ceiling for sol harvesting.

“I apologize,” Nerx muttered. “It will not be comfortable to hide here, but I need them not to know you are on board.”

“Makes sense,” Britta said, gesturing for him to lower Lily into the only comfy available—locked in place in front of the diagnostic console. His daughter didn’t stir when he did so.

While Aldur hugged Lady Dahlia, Nerx took Britta aside.

“Not where I wanted to be,” she said, offering him a shaky smile.

“Indeed.” He cupped her cheek, pressed a kiss to her temple, then crushed her in a hug, taking a second to inhale her scent. “I will collect you if all goes well.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Matir and Aldur will protect you.”

She tapped her bare foot on the floor and tried to fold her arms with the blaster in the way. If their situation wasn’t so serious, he’d smile, at least.

“And if they die? I don’t know how to fly anything, Nerx.”

He caught her hand and ushered her to a panel.

“Touch here at the side.” It slid open to reveal a pod big enough for three Etterians.

One of four on this ship. Its door shot up revealing two benches facing each other.

“Inside is a white lever. Buckle Lily and your mother in, yank the lever down, then strap yourself in too. I will find you.”

“Nerxie, I—” She swallowed and raised wide eyes.

“You, as a human, can survive my death, but I cannot exist without you.” He brushed a kiss across her lips. “Lily is yours now.”

Britta glanced at their daughter, squared her shoulders, and nodded. “You better be all right, or so help me, Nerx, pepper spray will be the least of the things I’ll do to you.”

He laughed. “It will not matter if I am dead.”

She glared at him, despite a teardrop forming on her lashes. “Just…live, okay?”

He hesitated, not wanting to promise he’d survive this. It would be a lie when he had no idea what could happen. Aldur strode to the engine room door, snagging Nerx’s gaze. He touched the panel, shutting it—the thunk of the pod door confirmed it closed too.

“What will you do?” Britta asked, hurrying after him when he headed to Aldur.

Nerx glanced at her, memorizing her face in case it was for the last time. “Learn who they are and what they want. Listen to Matir, please. Now is not the time to be reckless.”

She scoffed. “Attacking you was calculated.”

He chuckled. “Fine, do not do anything calculated.”

It took all his strength to walk away, the swish of the engine room door like a death knell.

It didn’t help that scalding pain radiated outward from the center of his chest. His future, everything that mattered to him, was behind him.

Ahead lay trouble. He couldn’t say how he knew this, but instinct drove him to be cautious.

Rather have his family be safe than endanger them because he didn’t anticipate and prepare for the unexpected, that worst case scenario.

Thank the Maker for Matir’s advice. If they lived through this, Nerx would recommend all his males for promotion.

Aldur grimaced, then withdrew his blaster. “I assume no help is forthcoming?”

“Yes.” Nerx clenched his jaw as he headed for the comm.

“Nothing, Supreme Commander,” Ziot said the moment he entered. “The scans are at twelve percent. This could take a while.”

“Keep trying to comm the king or the nearest battleship, hell, the closest comm station will do. And do not change trajectory or increase the speed, Edon. I want nothing to alarm them.” He stared at the ship, focusing on the massive canons running the length of every second row of lit rectangles, and the odd way the entire ship spun with its nose remaining static.

“It is most ominous,” Aldur said. “Each canon is aimed at us. What kind of a threat do they think us? We are in a scimitar with but a few chokaars.”

What if Etteria’s most powerful canons couldn’t compare to the might before them? How would Etteria defend the weaker races? “What are they waiting for?” Nerx asked the comm in general. “They could obliterate us, and no one would know.”

“Perhaps we are first contact?” Ziot said, his fingers flying over the console. “The metal is a derivative of Maloidian steel but different. I do not know if a chokaar will have any impact.”

“How different?” Nerx unsheathed a dagger and blinked at the blade. “We have never met an empire more powerful than Etteria.”

His mind reeled. They’d lived invincible, perhaps overly confident.

But they were honorable and appreciated culture, differences, and diversity.

What if this new species didn’t share their values?

What if their agenda was to kill, to dominate, to destroy?

Etteria, no matter how many ships Xeus had in his armada, might not be able to win if a war was on the horizon.

“Hail, strange ship.” A delicate face with a square jawline flickered on the display vid.

Nerx blinked at what looked like an Etterian youngin except for the copper-scaled skin and shaven head. Black eyebrows denoted what the hair color would’ve been.

“Greetings, I am Supreme Commander Nerx,” he said.