21. CHAPTER 21

His handsome features shifted into a myriad of expressions, all without him speaking a word. He was on edge; it was like I could feel his anxieties washing off on me. I stroked his face to soothe him, and he seemed calm when he pressed his lips to my forehead as he smelled my hair.

I omitted a human involvement in taking Connor; I was still afraid it would lead to him wanting to fight them… us. So far, I enjoyed being with him without hearing about mating and warring, and I wanted to keep it that way for as long as I could. But what if there was a human out there making deals with aliens to build an android army?

What could they gain from such an exchange, enough to involve one of Lorvian"s people?

My head hurt big time; I didn"t want to be on this massive ship again. It was like being inside some mechanical giant that swallowed me whole. Now that smaller ship was nice and cozy, I felt I could be useful there if I had the chance.

I knew how to fire a blaster and use a gun turret! I was confident, really confident in my chances for survival, and having a tall, handsome alien warrior who loved to fight by my side helped a lot. But a war? That was still out of my league, and being onboard a warship, even one that wasn"t in a war, was enough to deflate my built-up confidence.

"What do I have to do to ensure some form of goodwill between our species? Apparently, loving me isn"t enough to stop you from finding a reason to fight my people."

"It would seem as if your people are already handling the goodwill portion of first contact by offering their people to my brother. He has succeeded where I have failed."

"What do you mean?"

"I"ve received word from my brother about the existence of humans and the possibility that he had impregnated one. Little does he know I already know…strange that he"s requesting a meeting with me at the location of your destroyed colony ship." He then chuckled unexpectedly. "He must think I was involved and wish to give me a tongue-lashing for it."

A human was pregnant with an alien"s baby? I couldn"t imagine what she went through. Or maybe, like me, she enjoyed it, though I remembered what Tavi told me about what some other Valisians would have done to me if I was on their ship.

A part of me was now furious with humans; if someone in charge of Outer Worlds was willing to sell us out for their own safety, then I would love to find out who it was and take care of them myself. I was hit with a violent urge to tear this nameless person apart, followed by a mind-splitting headache.

"Are you okay?"

"No!" I yelled without meaning to. "I"m sorry." I sighed, hating this new piece of trouble that came my way. "I"m sure none of the women agreed to this!" I said, giving in to my rage. "I can"t imagine what she went through…"

"Knowing Xil, he fucked her every single night and had her consistently tested. Or he could have passed her about his ship." He shrugged without a care.

"Yeah," I said, not wanting to think about either method.

"Perhaps we should accept this invite and visit my older brother and his human, congratulate them on their bundle of joy."

The last thing I wanted was for a pregnancy to become an invitation to enslave people. But what if this woman was out there, like me, doing whatever it took to survive and was lying to save herself? I wouldn"t blame her.

Would they kill us if we can"t have their children? But then again, they didn"t kill all the other aliens; they just ruled over them. All of my doubts came flooding back again. Did I cast my lot in with Lorvian? Have I fallen for him already? Has he with me? For real and not just for what I could do for him and his people?

"Do you love me?" I asked in the spur of the moment; I needed to know where I stood once and for all, and honestly, I wasn"t interested in dissecting if it was the truth or a lie. I just wanted to hear the words.

"Haven"t I told you already?" He asked, caressing my shoulders. "I"ve done more for you than I have anyone I"ve ever met. So, I suppose the answer is yes."

"I love you too." I know it can be shameful how much importance we place on words, but sometimes, it"s nice to hear it. Like the words themselves were enough to manifest the feeling. "I won"t just wait around in your room." No more being cooped up and waiting.

"Fine." He gave in surprisingly easy. He held up his arm and pressed a few buttons on the device he had on his gauntlet, and I realized for the first time since we were back that he kept on this slimmer armor. "I"ll know where you are, so explore the ship if you wish, but linger nowhere where many of my people are. They know the consequences of touching what is mine, but life on board can be a bore, and soldiers have needs, even women. I"d rather nothing happened than to have you hurt just to prove my threats are true."

He walked away, leaving me alone. I didn"t want to explore the ship, though it intrigued me how a ship like this operated. What does a warship do when there is no war? I gazed out the large windows that ran the length of the hall. Space was darker than I"d imagined, and it felt so alone out here.

That guy approached; for a long moment, I had forgotten his name. Although he was the same species as Lorvian, he didn"t seem to stand out all that much compared to him or even someone like Elvira. He was shorter and slimmer, and he kept his blond hair clipped short and neatly combed. His sharp eyes zeroed in on me and made me feel uncomfortable. It seemed like he wanted to speak to me, and my fears were realized when he stopped in front of me.

"You would be better off trying a little harder to return home to your people."

"I think it"s too late for that. It"s not like it will take long for you guys to find our planet if you haven"t already. At least here, I might be able to do something," I said, explaining myself, and I didn"t even know why I felt the need to.

"The only thing you"ll do here is whatever Lorvian tells you, just like me and everyone else here. However, if you wish to return to your people, I can arrange for that, and Lorvian will not be able to find you until it"s too late."

"Whatever you"re trying to do, you better stop right now. I won"t tell Lorvian about this if you don"t talk to me again."

"Fair enough." He smirked and walked away from me, and I felt unnerved by the encounter. How could someone have such a short conversation and make someone"s skin crawl without saying anything creepy? Ugh. Could he be the Valisian who helped take Connor? Jesus, this place was annoying.

Cormac exited the medbay, most likely after the tests. Connor was running on his body, and apparently, I was changing, but Lorvian didn"t go into detail about what that meant. I hoped that whatever the doctor did to me wouldn"t have any adverse side effects.

"I didn"t think he would finish so soon," I said, surprised.

"A lot of poking and prodding, but you know androids, they work fast. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I"m feeling better. A headache is lingering, but it"s better."

He stared at me for a long moment before touching my ears before stating that he couldn"t help himself. "Do you think something got inside of us while we were running around with no gear on?" He said, still staring at my new ears.

"It"s possible. I"ve heard of the possibility of getting sick when we reached the colony. The Gen Ten created vaccines, but overall, it"s up to the body to fight off some of the bacteria. What worries me was how this trip felt so rushed. We were just shuffled into the ship, and before I knew it, a needle was in my arm. How do we know if it was the right vaccine?"

"I didn"t get vaccinated. Maybe that"s why there"s no change with me?" Cormac shrugged. "But also, I heard the doc here pumped you full of shit or whatever. I"m surprised your ears are all that"s changed."

"Fuck. What did Connor say while testing you?" I asked, feeling even more anxious.

"Nothing. He"s analyzing the data. In the meantime, I"d rather wait on my ship."

"Your ship?"

"Hey, your boyfriend promised me a ship, and I plan to make him keep his word. Might as well be that one."

"If you steal it, I think he could have you shot down."

"I"m not stupid," he said, walking off.

I went inside the medbay while Connor worked at a machine I had no clue what the heck it was.

"If Lorvian is ready, I"m here." He said, glancing at me and then back to the screen.

"I"ll make sure he knows," I said, sitting down in a nearby chair. "You know he doesn"t like AI. He believes you will gain your independence and rise or some sci-fi nonsense. I would say he"s been watching too many movies, but it seemed to have actually happened to them."

"My creator prepped me on the mistrust organics can have for machines. She designed me to be more human because of it. I can"t do that with him. The only way to alleviate his mistrust is to make myself more useful. However, if he dismantles me, then I will have no choice but to accept."

"It isn"t his decision; it"s mine."

"With respect, I don"t think you could cease hostilities should he become hostile."

"Well…" I placed my hands on my hips, trying to think of a rebuttal, but I had nothing. "I won"t let him do it. Even if it means putting you on an escape pod or something." I could at least do that much!

"Why are you telling me? Is it your wish that I run?"

"I"m just saying it"s a possibility. I mean, everyone on Earth needs to know what"s happening right now. We can"t leave our fate in the hands of a possible enemy."

"I see." He nodded. "You would like me to return to Earth and report on the situation," he whispered.

"Yes."

"That has already happened."

"Wait, what?!" I said in confusion and dismay.

"Yes. Approximately four years ago. HQ was informed of an intelligent alien presence in this sector."

"Four years ago? How?"

"Team Alpha was sent to Scion 37y ten years ago to begin exploration and research for colonization. Once a suitable location was found, we were to begin the construction of the colony with aid from Earth. Team Alpha split into Teams Sigma and Delta. This unit was on Team Delta. The mission was to transport supplies between Earth and the colony. 2101-03-07 at 0900 unknown alien hostiles attacked and boarded us. We sent two units to Earth during the attack to report on the presence of a sentient space-faring alien life form."

"Well, what happened?!"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Just nothing?"

"The aliens took one of our pods and we made our report and continued with our objective."

What the hell? That was what I was thinking, but with a few more exclamation points to drive it home. They knew! Those rich bastards! Maybe they made a deal, but four years ago?! Were we sent here as some bait? Whatever it was, it didn"t seem as if Lorvian knew about it. He seemed surprised to hear we sent androids first.

"All crewmen prep for takeoff," a machine-like voice announced on the loudspeakers.

"Take off?!"

"We must strap ourselves in. The ship is preparing to move."

"No, not here. Let"s secure ourselves onboard our ship."

I didn"t want to stay here, so I told Connor to take whatever he needed with him. Giving a damn was not on my menu; we were gonna take whatever we could from this place and put it on our own ship where I felt safe. Lorvian would find me anyway.

We wheeled out the two pieces of equipment Connor said were missing on our smaller ship—one large and the other rather small. Thankfully, it was a straight shot to the hangar bay.

We wheeled the equipment up the ramp into the cargo bay and wasted no time heading to the single elevator connecting each floor.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Cormac asked over the speaker.

"Stealing!" I shouted, though I wasn"t sure if he heard me.

"Why?"

Okay, great, he heard me! "Because we need it, and you won"t believe the news I"ve got for you!"

Lorvian"s footsteps were heavy as he entered the cargo bay, this time dressed in something fancier yet not as extravagant as when I first met him. A plain black high-collared tunic with a strange set of curved markings on the edges, a black cape with a dark grey fur collar, black pants, and boots. I think I saw the glint of a few weapons on him, as well as silver chains and cuffs.

He looked like he had showered, too, which made me all too aware of how shitty I looked. I sniffed my pits and smelled nothing. Well, it was better than smelling like BO.

"How did I know you were already here?" He smiled and kissed my forehead. He touched my ears and lifted my face by the chin, and I looked away from his dark eyes as I"ve always done. God, they got me every time, and I didn"t even think I"d like a guy with dark eyes.

"Lorvian, I have something to tell you." I didn"t want to tell him everything, but I didn"t want to keep him in the dark; perhaps I was still looking for a way to defuse the tension of a possible attack. I now knew I couldn"t trust humans as much as any alien, and if something shady was going on with our own, then I needed to have as many bases covered as possible. "Connor told me that a human helped the Valisian kidnap him."

He looked past me as if thinking about something, and then he looked at me again. "Hm, the only Valisians I know who have had contact with humans are my brothers, Xil and Regis. Feion mentioned the possibility of contacting my siblings. I wouldn"t be surprised if he already had dealings with one of them while he was making one with me." He sighed. "Though I find it hard to believe Xil would entertain speaking to him. Regis seems the likely culprit."

"What will you do if this woman is pregnant?"

"I don"t know yet. But I haven"t forgotten what you told me."

He took me by the hand and guided me further onboard.

"Did you know I was coming back to the ship?" I asked, pleasantly surprised to see him.

"I was on my way to come and get you." He smiled.

"I guess we"re on the same page about not wanting to stay on that ship."

"Don"t you worry, we"ll leave soon."

We waited on board our smaller ship as the much larger capital ship transported us. I didn"t know where this ship was going, and Lorvian didn"t volunteer any details.

I smiled, thinking of how he, like us, remained inside the smaller ship for the journey even though we didn"t have to.

But I loved it. Lorvian seemed… more accessible and perhaps calmer now. Connor tinkered with the equipment before calling Lorvian in for tests.

Cormac talked my head off about what he would like to change about the ship"s color scheme. We needed some games or, better yet, food! I was getting hungry.

After a few hours, Lorvian ordered us to take off in the smaller ship. Once we left the hangar bay, I saw where we were for the first time. The massive white and grey ship floating in the vastness of space was our colony ship!