Page 7 of Relyn (Warriors of Etlon #6)

Nora

T he fact that she heard someone talking above her was a good sign.

Nora was still alive. It was not, however great that she didn’t understand a word he was saying.

That’s right. All women leaving the planet were injected with a universal translator so that they could talk to their husbands.

She, however, had not. The male voice was trying to unwrap her.

“I don’t know,” a female voice said above her. Wait. That was English.

“I’ve been shot,” Nora said. Her words sounded weak to her.

“Shit. She’s not dead,” the female voice shouted.

The male voice spoke again.

“Yes, of course I want you to carry her. I may be in shape, but I’m not dumb.”

More male questions.

“Yes, in the plastic. We’ll unwrap her when we get to a med kit. We gotcha, hun,” she said.

A pair of strong arms scooped her up and carried her along and up a hill to a flat meadow, where even through the plastic, Nora could make out a shuttle. He laid her out in the bay and starting cutting the plastic out from around her face with a wicked looking knife.

“Where you from, sweetheart?” The woman looking down at her had a short bob of black hair. The man was busy carefully cutting away the plastic. All she could tell was that he was bald and green.

“Philly.”

The alien spoke again.

“Yeah, she’s Terran.” He didn’t seem pleased with that information.

“I don’t know why they keep sending them all banged up! I’m not an expert! I’m Jane, by the way. This is Zenik.”

“Nora. I have to...”

“Yeah, I know. But first we’ve got to take care of this hole in your side. I’ll see you when you wake up. Welcome to Etlon 2, by the way.”

“But-”

Nora wasn’t able to respond because Jane smiled and poked her with something that sent her into a blissful cloud of sleep.

“I don’t know. I’m not in charge of every Terran on the planet. I keep telling you this.”

“I just want to make sure that everyone knows that this is not my fault. I did not send for this one. She just appeared. Unless someone else sent for her?”

“He’s just hoping that we eventually forgive him for Odette and Val.”

“You have forgiven me for them. You have told me so. You like Odette and Val.”

“Yes, sweetheart, but they like to make you squirm.”

The voices continued to chat around her as Nora slowly awoke from sleep. Her mouth was chalky, but a quick wiggle of her fingers and toes proved that everything was working right. Her hand went to her side, and found it not only dry, but without a scar.

“You’re all healed up as promised,” Jane said.

Nora opened her eyes to find a group of five people around her.

Two towering green aliens were bald but bulging with man chest and wearing tiny black shorts.

Swirling tattoos that Nora recognized as the Mahdfel badges of honor covered the six packs and biceps.

The other three were human women, as far as Nora could tell.

She sat up. The world swirled around her.

“Whoah, there, I said healed, but you lost a bit of blood there. It’ll take a few days to get you back to full strength.”

“What coward shot you and wrapped you in such a demeaning way?” One of the aliens asked. The medical treatment must have included a universal translator, because Nora could actually understand him.

“Kave. Give the girl a moment to catch her breath.”

“I need to get back to Earth as soon as possible,” Nora said, sliding her feet to the floor.

“About that,” Jane said. “This wasn’t exactly an easy two way trip.”

“Etlon 2 is just about as far away from Earth as you can get. But it’s beautiful here, and you are welcome to stay. I’m Meadow, by the way. And that is Kave. He’s the leader. And his wife, Humility. And you’ve already met Zenik and Jane.”

Nora tried to process all the introductions, but she was already trying to read into what she hadn’t said, but implied. Getting back to Earth was going to be a problem.

“How long will it take to get back home?”

Meadow looked at the floor. “According to Mahdfel law, anything Earth sends through the portal becomes property of the Mahdfel.”

“Are you telling me that I’m property?”

“No, no, no,” Humility stated. “Just that the law seems to think so. And we’re pretty good at bending the rules around here, aren’t we?” Humility poked her husband in the ribs.

“I don’t know what you're talking about. I follow all the laws. I am an honorable Mahdfel.”

She actually rolled her eyes at her husband.

“I’m sure there will be some clause for exigent circumstances. I’m sure you’ve been through some of those,” Meadow prompted.

“I was shot,” Nora said.

“Yes, by whom?” Kave demanded.

“You know, even if you find out, you’re not going to be able to do anything about it,” Humility said, patting her husband’s arm.

“Injuring females and shipping them out to the middle of a jungle is not honorable!”

“True, but what are you going to do about it?”

“Athen will send his best to-”

“ You are Athen’s best,” Humility said sweetly.

He paused to think on this. He didn’t seem pleased with the result.

“I was shot by a little gangster named Tommy. He was trying to turn my student into a drug runner.”

“I will find this Tommy,” Kave grumbled.

“You’re going to Philly to find a drug dealer named Tommy. Good luck to you, pal,” Jane said, shaking her head.

“Are there many Tommies on Terra?”

“First of all, yes. Second of all, Tommy probably isn’t even his real name,” Jane counted off on her fingers. Nora knew she was right. Her only hope is that the undercover officer had kept very good logs of his suspicions.

“Has he no honor? Men with no name have no honor.”

“I saw him kill a cop. That’s why I have to go back. I’m a witness. They dumped his body into space, and I have to tell them where and when. Otherwise, they will get away with it.”

“I’m sure that we can work on something,” Meadow said. “Write a deposition or-”

“I have to make sure I protect Marco. He was only trying to get some Blue Cure,” Nora said.

“Blue cure doesn’t work very well,” Humility said quietly. “I know, we tried it on my dad.”

“I’m sorry,” Nora said.

“That’s fine,” Humility said. “This one practically killed me to get my dad here. The Mahdfel med bays are amazing. They can cure just about anything. We still have a doctor. He’s attending a new mom right now. Otherwise he’d be here and be annoying.”

“You were in no danger, my love. I had everything under control,” Kave said, practically cooing at his wife.

“Sure you did, big guy,” Humility reassured him even while she shook her head.

“In any case, you are quite welcome to stay here with us. I mean, there aren’t any unmatched mates here, but we’re expecting a new group in a few months. And there’s plenty of space,” Meadow said.

“Thanks for the invitation, but I have a job back at home. I was right in the middle of Pride and Prejudice. Subs just won’t do it justice.”

“You’re an English teacher! I’m a librarian. Or I was a librarian. Here, I’m kinda like the unofficial reception committee. Jane and I, we greet the new ladies and give them an orientation, that sort of thing.”

Nora got the distinct impression that Meadow liked to ramble when she was avoiding the bad news.

“How soon can I leave?”

“About that,” Meadow began.

“It’ll take at least a month to get a ship here. Another month to travel to Etlon, and probably another month to actually get to Earth. Like I said, we’re really far out there,” Jane finally said.

Three months? By then, she’d miss the rest of the semester and a good chunk of the year will have gone to hell. They’d probably write her off as dead and fill her position.

“I-” Nora didn’t even know where to start.

“For now, you are safe, you are healthy and you are welcome here. The rest we can work on, okay?” Humility said.

She took a deep breath. “Okay.” Nora could handle this. She was an inner city high school teacher for goodness sake. She had been thrown curveballs her entire teaching career and she’d always managed to come out on top. “So what’s the fastest way to get home?”