Page 27 of Interstellar Love Song (Villains in Space #3)

ZIGGY

I momentarily debated throwing the Lodger into reverse before anyone could recognize my ship, but Honnor had already star hopped into the cockpit.

Fuckfuckfuck.

“How exactly are you two arriving at a battlefield that only my squadron leaders know about?” they growled.

I wanted to reply—to apologize while also explaining the stake we had in this situation—but I couldn’t. My entire being had frozen to the point where I could only wait for the punishment that was coming to me.

Micah gracefully rose from his chair, protectively placing his body between me and Honnor. “As the lead investigators assigned to this ongoing case, the question is, why were we not directly informed of this latest development?”

I peered around him just in time to witness Honnor cocking their armored head, silently observing their opponent like one predator assessing another .

What if my maker attacks my mate?

Will I be able to kill them if I have to?!

No doubt picking up on the fear I was emanating, Honnor’s attention snapped to me.

“Ziggy?” they said in an oddly flat tone, but the instant they took a step toward us, Micah unleashed dozens of tendrils—mechanical and otherwise.

“Micah!” I hissed, gripping his hips to try and snap him out of the dangerous game he was playing. “Don’t?—”

To my shock, Honnor backed down, raising their hands in surrender. “You cannot possibly think… I would never harm any of my soldiers for such trivial disobedience, especially not my offspring or their mate.”

“But your predecessors would have,” Micah coldly replied. “I’m sure Ziggy knows deep down that you wouldn’t hurt us, but unfortunately, his trauma is what’s calling the shots at the moment.”

Dr. Micah to the rescue.

Of course, my mate had effortlessly interpreted my reaction for what it was, which not only comforted me immensely but helped alleviate the shame of how I’d frozen in the face of perceived danger.

There is no danger, Ziggy.

This is family.

Honnor flipped open the visor on their helmet.

“Forgive me, my child. I was out of Astrum Force’s reach for so long, I had forgotten the terror they inflicted on their own Star Units.

While I am not happy to learn you managed to infiltrate my secure messaging system,” they pointedly looked at Micah, “I assure you, that was not my main concern.”

As soon as I loosened my grip on his waist, Micah retracted his tendrils and stepped aside, although he remained close.

After a few moments of awkward silence, my maker sighed heavily. “I was simply wanting you both to enjoy your honeymoon—to take the break you deserve. Otherwise, of course, I would have included you on this bulletin.”

“Yeah, well… It’s always the mission before family around here,” Micah replied bitterly. “At least you can say you’ve passed down that trait to your descendants.”

Ouch.

Wait a minute…

Before I could begin to assess why my mate was including me in that inflammatory statement, Honnor gasped, glancing around the cockpit as if searching for something. “Do you mean to say…? Have you managed to create ? —?”

Micah threw his hands up. “The fuck if I know! Ziggy insisted on coming straight here once we heard about Tarkare. So you might as well cough up the new intel so we can catch up and then move on to family matters.”

What is happening?

Now that my nervous system had mostly returned to baseline, I began to register how uncharacteristic Micah was behaving.

While my mate defending me wasn’t out of the ordinary, he was noticeably more aggressive at the moment.

Even more confusing was that Honnor didn’t appear to mind Micah’s heightened disrespect.

Maybe it’s a common occurrence after a couple gets married.

I’ll have to check the Pinterest board…

“I only recently arrived on the scene myself,” Honnor reported, as if Commander Babygirl truly was in charge. “But it is thanks to your list, Micah, that a Star Unit was able to catch this Planet Eater in the act.”

Micah’s shoulders slumped, his bravado instantly evaporating. “And thanks to me that 172 Star Unit soldiers are now dead.”

Oh, Commander…

“Every Stellarian in the service of Astrum Force—including a lowly mercenary like I was—knows there’s a possibility of meeting our end in the field,” I gently explained. “As with most militarized planets, it’s considered a great honor to serve and die for the greater good.”

Even if Astrum Force is run differently these days.

One of the first changes Honnor had implemented upon taking over as Head Commander was to give all currently enlisted soldiers the option of honorable discharge.

While some did take them up on the offer to rejoin Stellarian society as civilians, the vast majority chose to remain with their Star Units despite the risks.

It was similar to the naturally ingrained loyalty found within supe clans.

While Earth wasn’t ruled by a military dictatorship—at least, not officially—I knew supes often ran their families like mini-armies, or mafias.

Micah’s parents may never have sent him into battle, but the possibility of losing a sibling, or getting caught in the crossfire, was always there.

Unfortunately, regardless of his familiarity with death, my mate was a hero at heart—a self-proclaimed fixer.

He’d only wanted to aid the cause by providing his list of hypothetical targets for Astrum Force to monitor, not realizing a Planet Eater caught in the act would devour anything that stood in its way.

“I don’t believe those 172 soldiers are dead,” Honnor thoughtfully replied, which had me leaping from my chair.

“What do you mean?” I demanded, more forcefully than I meant to, but it turned out, I also felt responsible for their deaths.

Hero problems all around.

My maker soothingly resonated as they elaborated, “The remaining Star Unit soldiers reported a blinding flash of light, followed by the sensation that the galaxy was rippling around them as they star hopped a safer distance away.”

Micah and I exchanged a glance as I recalled his comments about gravitational waves. “Why would the Planet Eater bother with such a show of power against a primitive planet like Tarkare?” I mused.

“I doubt they would have if a bunch of powerful Stellarians hadn’t shown up…” Micah tapped his lip before addressing Honnor, “What makes you think the 172 didn’t die?”

My maker nodded, as patient as ever. “When our units collectively star hop to a destination, it is not a coordinated effort so much as an aerodynamic advantage, powered by those in the front line.”

“Like migrating birds in a V formation reducing energy expenditure!” my stellar collision exclaimed, seemingly back to his sunshiney, scientifically-minded self.

“In a way, yes,” Honnor huffed in amusement. “When the Planet Eater expended their flash of light, the reserve line felt a pull from the front. They were apparently far enough out of range to resist the pull themselves, but they witnessed the front line disappear in time with their opponent.”

That means…

My blood ran cold as realization hit. “Planet Eaters can star hop.”

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, considering our opponent was somewhere on the Caelestis family tree, but it was unnerving to think of a creature that dangerous having the ability to show up anywhere at any moment to destroy everything in its path…

Just like a Stellarian would.

“It appears so,” Honnor sighed. “The first wave of backup scoured this galaxy and the surrounding ones, but found no trace of them. Where they went is a mystery.”

“Maybe they went somewhere no one could track them…” Micah murmured, almost to himself before scoffing humorlessly. “It would explain why the front line Stellarians haven’t just hopped back to this universe.”

Did he say universe?!

Before I could ask my incredibly intelligent mate to share his latest hypothesis, he clapped his hands. “Okay! I’m gonna go out there to collect surface samples from the debris. ”

“Good idea.” I grabbed my helmet and prepared to star hop to my closet for my armor. “I’ll?—”

“No,” Micah bluntly stated, back to his oddly aggressive persona, strapping the Photon Lance to his thigh for some reason. “You’re staying here—where it’s safe.”

EXCUSE ME?!

“Why in Stellaria’s name would I remain in the Lodger while you put yourself in danger?” I growled, my true form writhing beneath the surface as I faced off with my overprotective mate. “Just because the Planet Eater star hopped to wherever doesn’t mean it won’t come baa….”

A tidal wave of nausea hit me so intensely, I doubled over. I may have collapsed completely if Micah hadn’t unleashed his Eki tendrils again to prop me upright and gently sit me down on my captain’s chair.

“Stay,” he hissed, his commanding tone affecting me in a way I did not appreciate at the present moment.

Not in front of my maker!

“Are you all right, my child?” Honnor star hopped to my side. “Are you… somehow… ill?”

I’m as baffled as you are.

“I don’t see how I would be,” I grumbled, watching in confusion as Micah appeared to battle with his own tendrils to let me go. “Perhaps I picked up a parasite on Rildrea…”

How ironic.

“Parasite, huh? Bet…” Micah chuckled humorlessly, finally wrenching his tendrils off me and tucking th em away. “Please, Zig, just… stay here with Honnor while I grab these surface samples for testing. I-I won’t be able to concentrate if you’re in danger.”

We’re always in danger.

“So it’s acceptable if you’re in danger, but not me?” I crossed my arms, feeling every bit the petulant child but unable to curb my behavior.

I don’t WANT to stay behind on the ship!

Micah dramatically waved his hands as his full-body shields engaged. “Look. No danger.”

“Shields won’t help if you’re dragged through the ether by a star hopping Planet Eater,” I huffed, even if my true form felt mildly appeased by his Stellarian-proof defenses.

“Hmm… good point.” Micah tapped his lip again as he puzzled through a solution.

3…2…

“Allow me to send away all units except my personal guard,” Honnor muttered, pointedly focusing on the message they were tapping out on their cube instead of our battle of wills. “That should assist your concentration.”

1…

“I got it!” Micah crowed before briefly plugging a mechanical tendril into the Lodger’s mainframe before disengaging. “There. Now I’m tethered to the ship.”

How?!

“Keep the emergency break on, baby. Love ya, byeeeee…” Micah disappeared before I could continue protesting .

I might have followed him out there, directives be damned, but I truly felt ill.

And the last thing I need is to puke in front of my Head Commander’s personal guard.

To their credit, Honnor didn’t comment on either of us being benched for today’s mission.

Instead, they simply retrieved my armor for me before sitting in Micah’s chair to silently watch as my mate unleashed multiple mechanical tendrils—tipped with various tools—and collected the samples needed for his next great scientific discovery.

“So did you have an enjoyable honeymoon on Rildrea?” Honnor asked with the same air of amusement as when I’d first mentioned it. “Bron and I took a vacation there early on in our relationship—as Rildreans, of course.”

“Where is your worse half today?” I steered the conversation to less scandalous waters. “I’m shocked they wouldn’t want to be in the middle of the action.”

My maker chuckled proudly. “Oh, that troublemaker has been busy working closely with our public relations team all day to perfect the final cut on your wedding announcement.”

Ugh.

I slumped down in my captain’s chair, finding that placing my hands on my armored abdomen seemed to calm the churning in my guts. “I suppose I need to be at peace with all of Stellaria witnessing the ceremony.”

Honnor placed a hand over mine, which weirdly helped settle my stomach. “Stellarians will be thrilled to see you marry your incredibly impressive mate—even more so when they learn of stellar collisions. ”

“What?!” I hissed, sitting up and swiveling to face my maker as panic clawed its way up my throat. “No. You can’t… Didn’t Micah ask you to wait on telling our people about stellar collisions?”

“I assumed he meant wait until after the wedding ceremony…” Honnor mumbled distractingly as their Celestial Cube lit up the same instant mine did.

Along with every soldier’s cube who still remained outside the Lodger 79.

Oh, fuck.

Yet again, I froze like prey, unsure how to fix this catastrophic event.

I promised the Planet Eater we wouldn’t tell a soul…

Then a dark shape appeared behind an unsuspecting Micah, blocking out the stars, and my worst nightmares were realized.