Page 10 of Nanny for the Alien Prince (Alien Recruitment Agency #4)

9

AMELIA

Free time yet again!

My whole existence these days seems to be a life of leisure.

With a whole bunch of empty hours before me, I decided to read a good book.

When I got a little peckish, I called the servants, asking them where the food was. Rather than forcing me to go to it, they brought it to me!

All of it.

I wasn’t expected to lift a finger, it seemed.

I could imagine how easy it would be to get used to a life like this.

A life of pleasure, of ease.

But it was one that I would heavily discourage for Elijax.

It was too easy to spoil someone, especially a child, and I would ensure that never happened.

It was certainly not possible when it was just me looking after him.

You actually had to have things to be spoiled by them.

I perhaps should have been a little nervous to think of Nath alone with Elijax after the Shriim experience, but I felt relaxed.

Nath had shown his true intentions towards me, and by extension, Elijax.

I had complete and total trust in him.

So long as Elijax was with Nath, no harm could come to him.

Although, I might have to be a little more careful…

Last night was the greatest night of lovemaking of my entire life.

Three times!

And none of them had been quickies either!

The Ulsen was a monster!

He never failed to excite me, to turn me on, to attack me just the way I liked.

I liked to think of our lovemaking as a kind of Pleasure Dance.

One of us was constantly attacking, the other defending, switching roles endlessly.

He’d bent my body into so many positions that it was like I’d had an intense yoga class!

On top of that was the heavy cardio routine when he allowed me to take charge.

Allowed me.

Ordinarily, admitting I had little control over the situation was not something I strived for.

But his strength and command and control really showed me who was boss.

Was there anything sexier than a big, strong male dominating you? I didn’t think so.

Even now, rubbing my legs together, I could recall him inside me, hammering away at me, hard and powerful and intense .

To think we might do that each and every day…

I quivered with joy.

I’d been promised a new start and my life had already changed vastly for the better.

There was a commotion outside and I turned to peer through the tent flap at what was happening.

Servants rushed back and forth.

They were always busy, particularly this morning as they rushed to get things packed away on the shuttles, but this was a different kind of frantic.

Something big had obviously happened.

I dogeared the page I was reading — the same page I’d been reading for the past hour or more as I was constantly distracted by memories of the previous night — and moved to the flap.

I raised it and peer outside.

The servants whispered amongst themselves, words I couldn’t hear.

A pair of the servants glanced over their shoulders in my direction before immediately lowering their eyes to the ground.

Others glanced at me, shuffled their feet, and kicked the dirt.

Something had happened and I couldn’t help but feel that it had something to do with me somehow.

But what?

I was safe and comfortable, reading a book and stuffing my face.

I was in no danger.

There was no threat to me—

“Oh my God.”

My hand raised to my mouth in horror and panic immediately leaped into my racing heart .

Something had happened… but not to me.

Elijax.

It must be Elijax.

I raced toward the servants. “What’s going on? Is it Elijax? Is it my son? What’s happening?”

They turned to me, the blood draining from their already pale faces, and lowered their eyes.

“Tell me what’s going on?” I snapped. “What’s happening?”

A hush came over the entire crowd.

They parted as Nath limped through them with a contingent of guards in his wake.

My mouth turned dry.

He was soaking wet, his hair astray, his clothing torn, and blood seeping from one corner of his lip.

I assumed the worst.

I broke down right there in the dirt, unable to bear my own weight any longer.

My brain was numb and I didn’t know what to think — I didn’t want to think.

But where my mind was attempting to protect me from the horrors my imagination could conjure, my emotions ran over me like a runaway freight train.

I was angry, terrified, torn apart… a complex miasma too difficult to describe in words.

Nath crouched before me and held my face in his hands.

He spoke clearly, his voice firm, his eyes boring into me.

“Elijax was taken but I swear to you on my life that I will get him back.”

I screamed with fear at the first few words and cried with relief at hearing the last.

“He’s… He’s alive?” I managed, surprised at being able to even say that much .

Still alive meant he could be returned to me.

Still alive meant there was still hope.

I balled my hands into fists and wanted to beat at Nath’s fists but realized my anger was not directed at him, but at the situation.

“Bring him back to me,” I wept. “Bring him back to me. Please.”

I collapsed into him.

He wrapped his arms around me, picked me up, and carried me back towards my tent.

Tables were hastily assembled in Nath’s tent and adorned with graphs, charts, and schematics of far and distant planets.

I sat on a sofa in the corner, staring into space, thinking of Elijax.

My number one task was to keep him safe… and I had failed.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and tried to appear strong.

I felt anything but.

A servant with kind eyes replaced and refilled my tea every few minutes. I thought she did that to keep it warm but maybe she just wanted something to keep her hands busy.

Nath stood in his torn, wet clothes before a wall of ministers and advisers cast in grey holographic images.

A medic had come to treat the cut to his lip and he had waved him off.

He wanted them to see what the Ordres had done to their Crown Prince .

I heard each and every word and they rushed over me like a river.

It seemed a contingent of Ordres had come to kidnap Nath, but failed, and only succeeded in taking Elijax.

I pictured him somewhere, his tiny form, hugging his knees, far from his mother…

It always set me near to tears.

But tears would not help now.

It was all about getting him back.

Nath slammed a fist on the table and everyone became silent. “I don’t care about my life! Understand? When the Ordres ask us for re-negotiations, and trust me, they will, I will go to them myself, in person.”

His advisers shook their heads with disapproval, refusing to allow Nath, the Crown Prince of the Ulsen empire, to put his life in danger.

“This was my decision,” Nath snapped. “And I shall be the one to pay for it.”

Another argument erupted and it felt like we weren’t ever going to get anywhere.

An assistant came up to Nath and whispered in his ear.

“Bring him online,” Nath said.

There was a flicker as an old but clearly distinguished Ulsen appeared alongside the other holographic figures.

He sat on a large imposing throne and I didn’t need three guesses to guess who he was.

“I have received disturbing reports that an attempted kidnap was made on your life,” the Emperor said.

Nath nodded. “It’s true. It was the Ordres.”

An adviser spoke up. “We must not jump to conclusions. It might be that one of our enemies only wished for it to appear like it was the Ordres—”

“I saw them,” Nath said calmly. “They were well armed, obviously military trained. The attempt was made directly by the Ordres.”

The Emperor pursed his lips before returning to look at his son. “What are your suggestions?”

“Confront them in negotiations. Promise them whatever they wish.”

“And then?”

“Then tear apart any and all agreements and declare open war.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

The Emperor was silent too and considered his son’s words carefully. “I understand a young human was also taken.”

My breath caught in my throat.

What was a ‘young human’ to everyone else was my heart and soul to me.

Whatever the Emperor said next would determine Elijax’s fate.

“He was taken because of my actions,” Nath said. “I take full responsibility. And I will take full responsibility for what happens next.”

“You cannot throw Ulsen lives away on a war with no benefit.”

I wanted to speak out, to shout, but Nath beat me to it:

“Does an ally attempt to kidnap the Crown Prince of one of their most valuable trading partners?” he spat. “Does a friend attack our colonies, kill our people, and steal our resources?” He turned to the other advisers who had fallen silent. “How much longer must we tolerate this before we take action? Already our true allies have lost respect for us. They treat us with less dignity than we deserve because we put up with this from the Ordres. Well, I say no more! ”

He slammed his fist on the desk, causing some of the servants to jump.

“Now I’m going to say something that should have been said a long time ago.” Nath peered from his advisers and across to his father. “Not one of you possesses the grit and determination our people foster each and every day when they stand the risk of being murdered, of their livelihoods being stolen from beneath them. Not one of you.”

His eyes passed to the Emperor and then swiftly away again.

“I, and our people, cannot stand for this any longer. If you decide not to take action now, then I make you this promise: When my time has come to assume the throne as Emperor, you will all immediately lose your positions, your titles, your lands, and your riches. They will all be forfeited and handed to the colonists. You have grown fat and cowardly while our people struggle and starve.”

If I thought the room was silent before, it was deathly still now.

With this speech, the rich and the powerful elites of the Ulsen empire would see what their future Emperor was made of.

This wasn’t just about rescuing Elijax any longer.

This was about rescuing the future of the Ulsen.

Nath crossed to his servants who stood grasping the silver jugs of refreshments around the outer edge of the room.

“ These are the true heart and soul of the Empire! Not the merchants! Not the military! These people!” He turned to the first drink bearer. “If your home was set on fire, your family threatened, what would you do?”

The servant glanced nervously at the holographic images staring at him and couldn’t bring himself to speak .

“Fight back!” another of the servants said.

It was the young female refilling my hot tea.

She had mottled green hair and a determined stance.

All attention shifted to her she did not quail beneath it.

“Fight back,” Nath said, repeating her words. “And what if the odds were against you? Would you still fight?”

“I am an Ulsen,” the young servant said, raising her chin. “I will fight to my last breath to defend my family and my countrymen.”

Nath turned to the holographic images. “That is the spirit of our people! That is our duty and that is our honor! That is what is at stake here. Not just a young human boy, not just the murder of innocent Ulsen, not just the pillaging of our natural resources. But our future and everything we are.”

He marched back to the table, took a deep breath, and let it out. “Father, you gave me this responsibility because you believed in me. Believe in me now. The Ordres reacted this way like a child throwing his toys out of its pram.”

My ears pricked up at the sound of my own words coming from Nath’s mouth.

“They reacted this way because they fear us. Because they know how powerful we are when we fight for what is right. They fear us because they cannot stop us. It is only we that can stop ourselves. Father, I ask you to continue to trust me with this responsibility. If not…” He paused for a moment before continuing. “If not, then I abdicate my position as Crown Prince of the Ulsen.”

Gasps echoed around the room, followed by hurried whispers.

“I would do it with a heavy heart,” he added. “But if the head is rotten, eventually so will the body be. I cannot protect the people if you cannot protect yourselves. ”

And with that, he turned on his heel and marched out of the tent.

An explosion of conversation broke out and I realized my place was not there but at Nath’s side.

I hurried out to follow him.

He marched through the camp, avoiding the shocked expressions from the servants, and entered the nearby forest.

I caught up to him and he slowed his march through the thick undergrowth and wrapped me in his arms.

He kissed me violently on my cheeks and neck, and hugged me so tight I thought he would crush all the air out of my lungs.

“You didn’t need to do that,” I said. “You didn’t need to abdicate the throne.”

“Yes, I did. It’s taken me a long time to realize my father’s weaknesses. And if they can’t see the sense of what I am saying, then the Empire we built is not one I want to be a part of any longer.”

“What will you do?”

“Form an uprising,” he said simply. “It has already begun.”

I blinked at him. “An uprising?”

“The colonists make up twenty percent of our population. Without them, we cannot produce the food or energy we need to survive. They needed a leader to rally behind. That will be me… if those fools don’t accept the obvious and fight the Ordres.”

“But more innocent people will die.”

He shook his head. “It shouldn’t come to that. I’ve been the Warrior-General for years. The military is loyal to me. It will split in half. Half loyal to me, half loyal to the Emperor. But their half will not fight with the heart and soul mine will. They believe in something bigger than themselves.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “But he’s your father.”

“And I love him dearly. But I do not love the Emperor the same way. It is a title, a crown, nothing more.”

He turned and continued his march through the dense undergrowth.

“Where are you going?”

“To negotiate with the Ordres. It’s only a matter of time before they issue an invitation for a re-negotiation. They think they have me right where they want me, and perhaps they do, but I can distract them long enough for the Death Squad to track Elijax down and rescue him.”

The forest gave way to a narrow clearing barely big enough for the two shuttles standing ready.

“Death Squad?” I said. “What’s that?”

I became aware of a group of three or four Ulsen figures in the cargo hold of the second shuttle.

They saluted to Nath as he passed.

“The moment I returned to camp, I issued orders for our elite soldiers to launch a rescue mission for Elijax.”

“For Elijax? But you don’t even know where he is!”

“He’s wearing a locater bracelet. I gave it to him when we climbed into the fishing boat. I thought it was pointless as the lake is hardly a dangerous place. But I took the precaution anyway. It turns out, safety first really is the best policy.”

He beamed at me. “The bracelet’s signal is weak. We lost it the moment their ship left our atmosphere. But when the Ordres ask for a re-negotiation, they will tell me the location. And that’s where Elijax will be. The Death Squad will follow it, track it, and rescue him. The moment he is safe, I will end the negotiation. ”

The information sent my mind whirling. “But… but they won’t just let you go! They’ll kidnap you!”

“Yes. Unless the Emperor and his advisers conclude that I was right. That we must stand and fight. They will send our entire military not only to rescue me but to every planet the Ordres inhabit. They can either keep me or keep their planets. It will be up to them.”

Tears stung my eyes. “But what if they don’t agree with you? What if they leave you to the Ordres?”

“Then I’ll be their prisoner. Either way, Elijax will be safe. And that’s all that matters.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “That’s not all that matters! You matter too! I want all of us. All three of us. Not just two of us. Please. There must be some other way.”

He kissed me. “This is the only way. Believe me, I wish it wasn’t.”

“Let me come with you! Maybe there’s something I can notice or help with—”

He stroked my cheek. “Not for all the riches in the known galaxy.”

“Then I will go with the Death Squad.”

“I will not put your life in danger—”

“I am putting my own life in danger, thank you very much. If we don’t find Elijax, if he’s not returned to me…” I might as well be dead. I didn’t say it but he must have read the meaning in my eyes. “And with you taken by them too…”

The tears spilled unbidden down my cheeks.

He could see how serious I was. I needed to be doing something. Finally, he nodded.

“Very well. But you are not to take up arms. You are there as an adviser, nothing more. If you must do this, I want you to survive in one piece.”

I took his hands in mine and kissed the back of his fingers. “You be careful too. Without you, we have no husband, no father.”

We kissed, giving into each other unlike ever before, knowing that this could well be the last time we ever saw each other.

I hated that it tasted like salty tears.

Nath’s communicator buzzed.

He answered it and listened for two seconds before turning it off.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s the Ordres. They’ve invited me to the re-negotiation.”

Once Nath received the coordinates of where the renegotiation would take place, he passed them on to the Death Squad.

We followed his shuttle at a discreet distance.

I felt an itch on my arm but couldn’t get at it due to the armor suit I wore covering me from head to toe.

The helmet was heavy and felt like I was doing a resistance training regime at the gym with every step I took.

In the heads-up display was a series of flashing images, colors, letters, and real-time video links to all the other members of the team.

None of it made any sense to me.

And not for the first time, I wondered why I had thought that this would be a good idea.

I was not a soldier — I barely even knew their Death Dance moves.

I did not expect to have to use them and would be nothing but a hindrance to the squad on their mission .

But a twisting sensation in the pit of my gut told me I had no choice but to be there.

As well-trained as the soldiers undoubtedly were, they had zero knowledge of Elijax, of how he thought and might react.

Would my knowledge of him serve any purpose on our mission at all?

I had no idea. But so long as I kept out of the way and didn’t cause any problems, it shouldn’t cause any issues either.

I scratched my arm again, my fingers meeting the hard metal shell.

“Have a scratch, huh?” the death squad member beside me said. “Here. This is the best way to deal with it.”

She — and I sensed she was a female as her body size was significantly smaller than the others — handed me a metal rod that she took from a hook on the shuttle’s wall.

I just stared at it, not knowing how to use it. “Um…”

She took it from me and slid it down the sleeve of her suit and moved it up and down to scratch herself.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

The reason I couldn’t use it was because I assumed it would be some kind of high-tech device.

Instead, it was just a stick.

She handed it back to me. “I know, right? Spared no expense.”

I soothed my itch and immediately felt another one, and another.

I moved from one to the next until I felt fully satisfied.

“Nothing quite like scratching an itch, is there?”

The male sitting opposite us — his shoulders were at least twice as wide as the female’s — leaned forward. “You don’t need to tell me that about you, Green. ”

The female soldier moved so fast that I heard the slap before I saw it.

She slapped the helmet of the soldier opposite hard but he laughed good-naturedly in response.

I guessed they were a couple.

That filled me with a little more confidence, knowing I wasn’t the only one with something to lose on this mission.

The Death Squad didn’t use names and instead referred to each other by the subtle tints of their suits.

The female was Green, her male partner opposite was Blue.

In the cockpit sat the captain — Grey — and his co-pilot, Yellow.

Green turned to me and placed her hand on my knee. “We all think you’re very brave for coming on the mission with us.”

“Very brave or very stupid,” I said.

Blue laughed. “That too. But even that is bravery, in a way.”

“I know that if it was my son, I would be out here too,” Green replied.

“You have a son?” I asked.

“Not yet.”

Blue leaned forward again. “But we’re working hard on it. Very hard.”

Green slapped him once more and I couldn’t help but smile at their familiarity.

“Strap in,” Grey said. “We’re about to enter hyperspace.”

We were already strapped in but Green reached over and tightened mine like the conductor at a fairground ride.

“Activating cloaking device now,” Grey said.

He pressed a button but I didn’t notice any difference .

Perhaps it was something that happened on the outside of the ship, not on the inside.

“Here we go,” Grey said.

A hush settled in. I peered out the window and watched as the stars shifted, drifting from single points of light and stretching out into a long line before becoming dots again.

It didn’t last long, just a few seconds, but my stomach lurched behind me like I was on a roller coaster.

When we stopped, my stomach lurched the other way, like a ball swinging on a pendulum.

I thought I was going to be sick.

“It passes,” Green said.

Through the cockpit window I made out the blue-purple planet that had not been there a moment earlier.

I made out Nath’s tiny gray shuttle and the glow of its blue engines as it sped into the planet’s atmosphere.

Good luck, my love.

“Adopting evasive maneuvers now,” Grey said.

Green leaned in close to me and lowered her voice. “You won’t want to make a sound until we reach the planet’s atmosphere. The Ordres might expect an elite unit to follow Nath so we’re taking a slight detour to evade their scanners.”

I just nodded.

The ship moved one way and then another, randomly as far as I could tell.

But the planet grew larger through the window when it was visible, so I guessed we were still heading in the same direction.

“Entering the atmosphere now,” Yellow said.

The ship shuddered as we met turbulence.

I grabbed hold of the armrests in white-knuckled fists and shut my eyes .

I didn’t like flying in a regular airplane, so I was unlikely to enjoy riding in a tiny ship like this, was I?

After a few minutes, it settled, although there was still an occasional bout of turbulence thrown in for good measure.

Green touched me on the arm. “Hey, you did great. Blue threw up his guts the first time.”

Blue’s helmet arched toward Green and I could imagine the scowl on his face.

“It’s what first attracted me to him,” Green said. “It’s been downhill ever since.”

Blue couldn’t help but bark a laugh.

We descended closer to the planet’s surface.

“The target’s signal is coming up on scanners,” Yellow said.

“Is it in the same location the negotiations are taking place?” Grey asked.

“Positive. It appears they prefer to keep their negotiation cards close at all times.”

It took me a while to realize that the ‘target’ they were referring to was Elijax.

My heart rate doubled and my hope soared.

“You found him?” I said. “Where is he? Is he close?”

“He’s in the facility where the negotiations are going to take place,” Green said. “With any luck, he won’t be too heavily defended.”

Green and Blue’s helmets pointed slightly towards each other, making me think that hope was all it would be.

We set down somewhere in the midst of a set of old ruins .

They reminded me of those reclaimed by the jungle in parts of eastern Asia.

The trees were strange blob-like things with leaves that dropped like water onto the soil that quickly dissipated into the earth.

It was like the trees were creating their own form of rain.

The soldiers leapt up from their seats the moment we set down and lifted the compartments on the shuttle’s sides, revealing large weapons of all types.

They suited up, inserting weapons into little spaces that opened up automatically on their suits.

Then they placed their hands on a panel and a strange bright blue-white liquid was pumped into their suits.

They shone for a moment before the juice dissipated.

Some kind of fuel, I thought.

“Here,” Green said, offering me a small plasma pistol. “It’s not much but you never know. You might need it.”

She showed me how to place it on my thigh, where a compartment opened up and automatically took the weapon from me.

“If you get into any trouble, just call for us on your comm system,” she added.

Then she showed me how to do that too.

Once she was done, Grey strode over and took her place.

“You will be here strictly in an advisory capacity. You will hang back, keep your eyes peeled, and let us know if you see anything strange. Otherwise, you are merely a tourist here. Let us handle the mission and take out any enemies we come across. You hang back. If any one of us gives you an order, you must obey it immediately. Is that understood?”

His tone was harsh and abrasive.

No doubt, he was one of those who thought my actions were stupid rather than brave .

I didn’t blame him. I was beginning to think the same.

But there was nothing for it now.

I was with them and would stick with them through thick and thin.

The moment the hatch opened, the elite squad acted as a single entity.

They spread out, moving through the overgrown ruins in short bursts, filing in behind one another like the coils of a snake.

They might have been short bursts, but I would have quickly lost them if not for the map in my display, pointing out each member as a tiny dot ahead of me.

I followed behind as they scoured the jungle, moving continuously forward.

They didn’t stop or look back at me, so I supposed I was doing what I was meant to be doing.

Hanging back. Staying out of the way.

In my display, I could see they had stopped moving forward and were lined up in a horizontal line.

I drew up close, crouching the same way they were.

I felt completely awkward and out of place.

We were perched on the lip of a hill overlooking an ugly squat building shaped like a cube.

I made out no Ulsen on the ramparts.

I guess sentries and guards were too old school?

On the left, I made out Nath's great shuttlecraft.

The hatch door was shut so I assumed he was already inside.

The squad’s helmets moved back and forth as they discussed what they were going to do next.

I could hear them through my helmet’s speakers but had no chance of understanding them.

They used terms I couldn’t wrap my head around .

Then Grey gave the nod and they descended the hilltop they were perched on and ran at lightning speed towards the facility on the other side.

I raced after them and, to my shock, found the suit aided my movements, making me move lightning fast, seeming to predict how I wanted to move.

I covered the distance quickly… too quickly as I was barreling head-first toward the facility’s wall.

I realized the suit’s predictive ability didn’t think I wanted to stop but plow right through that solid wall!

I was going to crash and it was going to be ugly.

Green saw me coming and quickly said: “Suit six. Override. Stop.”

My suit came to an immediate and abrupt stop.

My body lurched inside the suit and produced a sensation worse than entering hyperspace.

I had stopped just three inches short of the wall.

Green tapped me on the shoulder. “It took me a while to get the hang of it too. Just remember that you need to anticipate your movements or the onboard system will act based on your previous movements.”

Well, that’s as clear as mud…

I decided I would just not push myself to run in future.

“Got it!” Blue said, stepping away from the terminal.

A doorway opened on the side of the building.

The soldiers remained standing back, waiting.

Shouldn’t we be heading in as quickly as possible? I wondered.

“Suit six. Cloak.”

That’s when a Ordres appeared, plasma rifle held out, scanning the terrain.

How could he not see us? I wondered .

I peered at the Death Squad but realized they were no longer there…

Except the tiny blips pointing out their location confirmed they were there.

Cloak. That’s what Green had said. We were cloaked.

They stood completely still, their suits absorbing the color of their surroundings.

One moved toward the Ordres now, and I could make out a subtle ripple as the suit fought to maintain its visage.

It was Grey.

He slipped up behind the creature, brought his arm around — which momentarily turned the same color as the Ordres’ — and drew a blade across the creature’s arm, severing it.

The plasma rifle fell to the ground.

Grey immediately set about tearing the Ordres open until it was nothing but a steaming pile of dead alien.

Grey dragged the creature’s body to one side while Yellow kicked dust over the creature’s spilled blood.

“Why didn’t he just cut his throat?” I asked.

“What throat?” Green countered.

Good point.

It was a gruesome way to go but I had no sympathy for the creature.

Take my son, and you become my enemy.

Already, Grey and Yellow were inside the facility, checking the hallways for more enemies.

I followed in their wake as they once again performed their strange shuffling maneuver, pressing constantly forward.

Each step brought me closer to Elijax, to the spinning blue dot in my display.

The soldiers could kill every Ordres in existence for all I cared, just so long as it brought me closer to that blinking blue dot.

And it turned out, I would see a lot of Ordres bodies before we reached it.

Every few corners we turned, I came to another mutilated body, hastily being dragged aside and dumped in a less conspicuous spot.

I followed the trail of destruction, drawing nearer, ever closer, to Elijax’s location.

I thought about Nath and how he was doing surrounded by enemies at the negotiation table.

I hoped he was safe.

I hoped the Emperor and his advisers would come to the right decision.

I hoped.