Chapter 15

15

- Maeve -

"Getting ready to board a ship," Bari says excitedly, her tail wagging. "Just like pirates!"

"You may want to stay back," I suggest as I shift my grip on the ray gun. "There's going to be fighting."

"Hey, I can fight if I must. I just choose not to."

I get the first aid pack out of my jumpsuit pocket. "Exactly. You can also choose to not get in the way."

"I'll try. But in the excitement, who knows what might happen."

Arelion comes striding. "You're not needed for this, Maeve. Virlu and Sponz will pick a few of the freed males to take part. Some of them have a military background."

"They're Bululg," I tell him. "I was trained to hurt them as much as possible. Stand still. I'll clean that wound."

"At least stay in the rear," he seethes as he lets me tend to his new injury. "Do not take any chances. There won't be many Bululg aboard a ship that small."

I cut away the fabric around the wound, then quickly disinfect it and apply the last band-aid I have. "So there's no reason for you to be in the first line, either. Some of the captives are big and really eager to take on a Bululg crew. Let them do this. All right, all done for now." I wrap up the pack and straighten up.

"They might kill the Bululg," he points out. "I need at least one of them alive. I'd like to know why that ship suddenly arrived."

Virlu has picked out some of the freed captives and given them ray guns. Now they're all by the airlock, ready to go into the other saucer.

"Boarding a ship is forcibly entering a vessel," Virlu instructs them, "often against the will of the captain or crew. This can involve using force or intimidation to gain access to the ship."

Arelion gets ready by the airlock, big and colorful, grinning and looking excited about the battle, like a pirate captain from the old days. "Just follow me. Don't kill any Bululg. We need them." He hits the airlock release, and then we're looking straight into the other saucer. All I can see is that it's darker than this one. The specter that is Sponz flickers as he enters the enemy saucer.

Arelion walks fast into the other ship, gun held out in front of him. The freed captives follow right behind him. I quickly join them, not sure how smart this is.

In the corridor inside the enemy saucer, they all turn right, which should take them to the control room where the Bululg will be.

Realizing they don't need me there, I turn left instead and make my way through its constant curve, aiming the gun in front of me. The curve is much sharper than the corridor on our large saucer.

I hear squealing ahead, suddenly cut off.

Slowing down, my heart pounds in my ears when I turn the final corner and find myself in the small control room.

Two Bululg are on the floor by the consoles, their limbs in awkwards positions.

Bari trots into view. "They look dead. Suicide?"

I relax a fraction. "What are you doing here, Bari? I thought you'd stay back."

"And I did. I was behind you the whole time. Because I thought, it looks like the control room in this ship is to the left, not to the right. Ah, I think the others have just realized it, too. A little late, guys!"

Arelion comes storming into the room, followed by Virlu. "Ah. We're too late." He gives me a curious look.

"They were dead when I came in," I quickly tell him. "I didn't shoot them."

He goes over to a dead Bululg and nudges it with his foot. "Looks like stab wounds. But they don't have knives. Must have been something else."

I look around the room. "I heard them scream right before I came in here."

"Blasted void that I picked the wrong direction!" Arelion seethes. "I wanted one alive!"

"You want to get somewhere quick, better follow the girls," Bari yips. "Maeve and I came straight here."

Arelion kicks at every console, making sure none of them are hiding places for a Bululg that might come storming out. "Well, at least we have taken the ship with no casualties on our side. I'll pilot it back to Gigori, while Cerak flies ours."

More of the freed captives come in to look at the control room. They take the dead Bululg with them with the intention of throwing them out into space. They all go back to the Revenge , which is much more comfortable. Soon we're leaving Sprenk behind.

Arelion steadies himself on a console as he flies the ship with the alien controls. "That could have gone really wrong. If there had been armed Bululg in here…"

"... then I would have shot them," I tell him. "Not to kill, though. You told me you wanted them alive."

He gives me a tight smile. "Well, if the Bululg are now so scared of us that they'd rather kill themselves than be captured, then that's kind of a victory, too."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you didn't have to risk your life again. Sometimes it's all right if you don't lead from the front."

"Sometimes," he agrees. "Hopefully, soon I will never need to lead a charge again."

"Hopefully," I echo. "No sign of the archmagus yet?"

He sighs. "None. At this point, we have to assume that he will not acknowledge me as the legitimate Supreme Leader of Eo. It means that the war ahead will be much tougher. Buroteo's men will now fight instead of give up. More Eoans will die."

I squeeze his massive shoulder. "You spent a lot of time and effort on finding the archmagus, just to avoid that war. I think you've done more than what could be expected. My love, I have to ask: do you really need to go to war?"

He looks away. "I've been thinking about that. I could spend the rest of my days inside Gigori, looking at artworks and slowly eating through the military supplies that were really meant for the war of liberating Eo from its tyrant. In my place, could you do that?"

I shake my head. "You're talking to someone who went into space just to fight the Bululg."

He chuckles. "Exactly! You couldn't just watch things be so wrong without wanting to put them right. I can't, either."

I stroke his arm. "I think you will succeed. You'll have all the Eoans on your side. Or at least most of them."

"I hope so. I'm counting on it. Because my actual army will be much smaller than Buroteo's. I'll make sure we attack in a place where we can make a big difference right away. It would be best if we killed Buroteo, but he's smart. He makes sure that nobody knows where he is at any one time."

Outside the big displays, there's only the weirdness of hyperspace.

"I'm sorry that stupid Archmagus didn't come through for you," I tell him. "I never liked him. He seemed… unstable. He made us go through those deadly experiments because he thought it was funny."

"I assume that powerful beings think they can play with other beings for their amusement," Arelion says, adjusting the controls. "And they may be right. Sit down there, Maeve. I'll show you how to control this ship."

I sit down in a small Bululg seat and grab the controls. "What does this do?"

Arelion calmly teaches me how to fly a Bululg saucer, standing right behind me and looking over my shoulder. He sometimes guides my hands, and sometimes my legs.

"That's it. A little further up… good. That would complete the sharp turn. It's not something you'll do a lot, but it's nice to know. I think you're a natural at this."

I can't help it — his caring, his ‘accidental' touches, his closeness, and the danger we were just in make me think of what else we could be doing right now, seeing as we're alone in a flying saucer.

I lean back against his hard stomach and gaze up at him. "This is exhausting. I need a break."

"But you're doing so well," he protests, confused. "Don't worry about those small mistakes— oh, I see. Yes, we absolutely need a break from this extremely taxing work." His hands slide down my front until he's cupping my breasts outside the armor plates and the jumpsuit.

"Maybe we can take that break right here?" I suggest, getting up from the small alien seat and turning around.

"There's really nowhere else to do it," Arelion says, busy taking my armor off. "The Bululg haven't installed a break room."

"But they have installed a floor," I observe, stomping on it to demonstrate.

"So they have," he says as if noticing it for the first time. He dumps my armor suit to the ground and pulls down the top half of my jumpsuit. "They must have known we needed one."

I grin, feeling the last of the tension from Sprenk and the boarding leave my system and being replaced by something much nicer. I reach behind him to grab his firm, round butt. "Let's make good use of it."

- - -

W hen we finally get to Gigori and drop out of hyperspace, he lets me handle the controls and pilot us into the asteroid. He gives me gentle pointers and tips, making me feel the thrill of piloting a spaceship in space.

When we're inside, I feel my shoulders drop. "This is fun."

"Good," he says. "You know how to fly it."

I get up and stretch. "Thanks to my teacher."

"Your teacher is incredible," he replies modestly as he comes in to embrace me. "But I always say that the teacher is only as good as the student."

I don't want to leave the saucer. Outside, reality is waiting. And if I remember correctly, it's a bleak one.

I hug him back. "No, I think the teacher has to be better. If he were only as good as the student, what would be the point?"

"I suppose a good teacher has to be better than the student. A moderately good one only has to be one lesson ahead."

I gaze up at him. "Oh, is that what you're doing?"

He gives me a smirk. "And the wise teacher never tells the student which one he is."

"Well, I think you're a good one." I let one finger circle his chest. "Was it hard to fight in space? To lead your squadron?"

He thinks about it. "It's hard in a way that makes it fun. It's demanding, but satisfying. Especially when you're defending your planet. There's no retreat, then. You can focus only on winning without any thought to what might happen if you lose. There's a great freedom in fighting for something with either victory or death the only possible outcomes. You know that feeling, too."

"Not that cleanly," I admit. "Because there's not just my own fate at stake. I have to find Tara."

"Ah yes. That reminds me." He leans on a console, pulling me with him. "Gereaon, the Eoan who was shot on Sprenk, told me something."

I tense up. "The one without feathers."

"Keep in mind that this could have been anyone at all. What he said was that he saw an Earth female at the space station where he was taken. She had been captured as a spy some time ago, he said. She was supposed to be sold at an auction, but she was too dangerous to attract a buyer, and now she was scheduled for execution. He said she looked just like you, so much so that he thought that you were her."

"Tara!" I exclaim, both excited and horrified. "That's what the Bululg would do if they caught her!"

Arelion puts a hand on my shoulder. "There are many Earth females in space, my love. And the Bululg are in the business of selling them. It was almost certainly not her."

But I know more about Tara's ways than he does. "No, that was Tara. We're not identical, but everyone can see we're siblings. She must have taken some big risks and gotten caught."

"Gereaon may well have thought that two completely different alien females of the same species look alike, even if they really don't," Arelion warns. "You need more information before you can be sure."

"I think I can tell Eoans apart," I point out. "I'm sure the reverse is true, too. Even if it's not Tara, she's an Earth female in danger."

He frowns. "Surely they're all in danger as long as the Bululg own the planet. Why focus on one? Who is almost certainly not your sister?"

I can hear the colonel back on Earth: Don't get caught up in anything else.

But this could just be Tara. I can't ignore it. If nothing else, I have to check this out. "What space station was it?"

Arelion pierces me with his bright eyes. "I suspect that if I tell you that, you'll drop everything and hurry to go there."

"It's my mission," I tell him, disengaging from his embrace. "It's why I'm in space in the first place. You understand about missions, I know that."

"I also understand about not pursuing the wrong target," he counters. "I can't come with you to keep you safe. The war against Buroteo has been launched. My forces are already going to their starting positions. I'm leaving here the moment Virlu arrives."

I think I know why he doesn't want me to go: he wants me safe. "I was trained for this mission. I don't want you to risk your life for it. But I may have to."

He opens his arms. "Stay here in safety while I take back Eo! After that, I can help you on your mission. Your chances of success will be much greater with my navy by your side!"

I look away. "That could take months. And you may not survive it. It may not even work. I'm sorry, I know you'll win. But every war is risky."

"You have an answer for everything," he snaps, pacing around the room. "I need you to be safe! Don't you get it? I love you, Maeve! I Marked you! What would be the point of taking back Eo if I have no one to share the success with? How could I possibly enjoy that victory if something happened to you?!"

The control room is silent.

I go over and hug him. A strong declaration of love from Arelion is beyond anything I ever thought I'd experience. And it hits me right where I feel it the hardest.

"I'll think about it." I sniff. "I will not go now, and if I go, I will be careful. I ask the same of you in your war. Because I love you, too."

He sighs heavily. "It was Xap Station. In the Xap solar system, right next to my solar system of Eo."

I squeeze him tightly. "Thank you. I just had to know."

He lifts me off my feet. "It's not easy, having to save your home planet. But we have to try. Virlu will soon return, and then I'll be on my way. I want you to wait here. Like you said, it might take months. But it might also take only days."

We leave the little Bululg saucer. Outside, the big Revenge is already here.

Arelion gets busy assigning places for the rescued captives to sleep. He has a lot of military equipment, and even three hundred guys don't make much of a dent in it.

"How will you get rid of these guys?" I ask when he and I share a quick emergency ration meal standing up. "Suddenly they're your problem."

He looks over at a group of captives, laughing and joking and apparently enjoying their newfound freedom. "They all have somewhere they want to go. Virlu and Sponz will take them to those places while I'm gone. Sponz is transporting the first batch to planet Mub right now. That was on my request. Mubians have a strange smell to them."

I take a sip of alien fruit juice. "You can't use any of them in the war, I guess. Your people won't like it if you bring aliens to fight for you."

"They really won't. I can only fight with Eoans."

I squeeze him again. "Remember what I said? You don't have to be in the front line always. If you die in the war, most of the point of the war might be lost."

He shrugs. "It's no great loss to Eo if I die and our side wins the war without me. They will elect a new Supreme Leader, one that will be better than Buroteo. Just about anyone would be."

"It'll be a great loss to me, " I point out.

He reaches out and strokes my cheek with infinite gentleness. "I will do my best to?—"

A hush goes through the room, and everyone looks towards the entrance. No wonder — Peroena just entered, looking more resplendent than ever.

"Supremacy," she says as she comes over, her silky voice having taken on a harder edge since last time. "Your forces are deployed and ready for battle!"

She doesn't seem to notice the many aliens in the room.

"Very good, General," Arelion calmly replies. "We'll finalize the plan, and then we'll go."

I watch for a while as the freed captives help load Peroena's battleship full of the supplies for the army, eager to do something for their rescuers. It only takes maybe thirty minutes.

Then General Peroena and Arelion start a deep discussion and planning of the first battle. I get the feeling that they would rather not have spectators, so I give Arelion a kiss and bring one of the military tents to the small, new saucer. The Revenge is full of captives, sleeping in most of its many rooms.

The small saucer only has one room aboard where the tent fits, so I let it erect itself and crawl inside.

It's dark and cool, and the smell of the alien tent reminds me of sleeping safely in Arelion's arms. And it reminds me even more of what we did before that.

I should be able to sleep soundly. But I can't stop thinking about Tara in a cell, about to be executed. Even if it's not her, if it's just a random Earth girl, I should probably see what I can do.

My overthinking kicks in. Tara being taken out of her cell right now, brought into a room with some horrific machine that she knows is going to kill her. Thinking that nobody's coming to save her, that the Resistance has forgotten about her, that her sister is still on an occupied Earth…

"Shit." I sit up, wide awake, my heart beating fast. "I've spent too much time not trying to complete my mission," I mutter to myself. "I've mostly been helping Arelion with his."

And now I've got a way to get back on track. Tara may have only hours left. Or minutes.

I check my suit. I've still got one first aid pack left. The fighting stick is in its holder, and I hope Arelion won't mind if I borrow one of his ray guns.

A cold spear goes through my heart.

Arelion. If I do this, there's a good chance I'll never see him again.

No, I can't think about that. I have to do what must be done. He was a distraction, nothing else.

I make my way to the control room.

"There you are," Bari says, standing in the middle of the floor. "I thought you were asleep."

"Couldn't sleep," I tell her as I go over to the controls. "I'm about to leave. I recommend you stay here on Gigori. It's much safer than where I'm going."

She jumps up on a console and sits down. "Do I sense some kind of intrigue? You're not being banished, are you?"

I pick the armor pieces off the floor and put them on. "There's something I have to do. My mission."

"Does that blue bird-man know about this?"

"He will know when he sees the saucer missing. Have you heard of a place called Xap?"

"It's not far from Eo," the robot puppy yips. "Is that where you're going?"

I made sure to check how Arelion turned the saucer off, and now I'm doing the opposite to turn it back on, pushing panels and touching screens. "There's supposed to be a space station there."

"There is," Bari says. "Not a safe one, I hasten to add."

Some lights come on, and there's a slight wobble as the saucer quietly rises. I carefully, slowly fly it out of the asteroid and into the blackness of space. "There's only one place in space that's safe for me," I tell her tightly. "Arelion said so. We're leaving that place right now. Which direction?"

Bari shows me, and then I'm on the way.

My heart sinks as I see Gigori grow smaller on the screen. It's not the place itself that was safe, of course.

It was safe because he was there. Anywhere he is, I am safe.