Chapter 15

HER WORDS resonated deep within him, stirring something primal that he had long suppressed. It was a yearning for connection, for belonging, for a life beyond duty and sacrifice.

He had found that connection with Winn, ahuman female, abeing he had been conditioned to see as inferior, not to love. And yet, her love had shattered his preconceived notions and opened his eyes to a world beyond the rigid confines of his Vettian upbringing.

He wanted to tell her that. He wanted to tell her how much she meant to him. How she had changed him. How she had given him a reason to believe in something beyond the cold, harsh reality of his warrior’s existence. But the words caught in his throat, trapped by the knowledge they could be overheard and the information shared with Skarrp.

Winn threw a quick glance over her shoulder at the nearby crewman, then reached for his hand, her fingers intertwining with his, her touch a silent reassurance. “Tell me, Jo’Nay,” she urged, her voice soft and gentle. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

He drew a deep breath, the air filling his lungs, asurge of determination coursing through his veins. “You have given me hope, Winn,” he confessed, the words a mere whisper, afragile offering. “You have shown me that there is more to life than duty. Than sacrifice. You have awakened something within me, something I thought was lost forever.”

Her eyes widened, amixture of surprise and joy, aradiant warmth that melted the ice around his heart. “You know I feel the same way, Jo’Nay,” she murmured, her voice trembling with emotion. “You’ve given me strength and courage and a reason to believe in a future, afuture we can build. That we will build, as soon as we get out of here. And the two of us will figure this out.”

“Just like we did before,” he said, his voice firm, his gaze holding hers, willing her to believe, to understand the miracle she had been granted. “You survived cancer and the threats on your home world. You are here. With me.”

“Because of you.” She said, her voice filled with wonder. “You saved me then, Jo’Nay. You healed me. It gave me a second chance. Achance to live. To love.”

He remembered the night he had found her, broken and bleeding, on the side of the road. The night he had used his Vettian technology to heal her wounds, to erase the traces of the disease that had ravaged her body. He had not expected to find love or feel the stirrings of a bond that defied the boundaries of their different species, their different worlds.

He had been a warrior, programmed for destruction, his life measured in battles, in conquests, in the inevitable approach of his Final Flight. She had changed everything. She had shown him the beauty of life, the power of love, not to mention the possibility of a future he had never dared to imagine.

“I never intended to fall in love with you, Winn.” He confessed, his voice husky with emotion. “It was not part of the plan. Iwas dying. My Final Flight was inevitable. Ihad accepted my fate. But then you crashed into my life, and everything changed.”

“I wasn’t supposed to crash, literally, into your life.” She teased, her voice light, awelcome relief from the darkness that surrounded them. “But I’m glad I did. I’m glad you were there. To save me.”

He reached out, stopped by the manacles. He longed to touch the warmth of her skin, to stroke the softness of her hair, to feel the reassuring beat of her heart. “Tell me more, Winn. Tell me about your life. Your world.”

“What more do you want to know?” she asked, her eyes shining with a curiosity that matched hisown.

He wanted to know everything about her, to delve into the depths of her soul, to unravel the mysteries of her being. He wanted to understand what it was about this human female that had captured his heart.

“Tell me about a time you faced danger. Atime you were afraid.”

He wanted to know her fears and vulnerabilities, to understand what it was that made her strong. What it was that had allowed her to survive the darkness and emerge with her spirit unbroken. Something to compare to what they were going through now, so she could see that this, too, was survivable.

She hesitated, her gaze drifting to the nearby Marauder, ashadow passing over her face. “There was a time before I met you when I was attacked. By… by a group of scavengers.”

He felt a surge of anger, aprimal urge to protect, to avenge. “Scavengers? Like these Marauders?”

He had encountered creatures like these before, predators who lurked in the shadows and ducked in and out of the Nine Galaxies. They preyed on the weak, stealing from those who couldn’t defend themselves. He had seen their brutality, their callous disregard for life, their willingness to inflict pain for their amusement. They were scum, the lowest of the low, and he would gladly eradicate them from all the universes, one by one, if he had the power. The thought of Winn, his Winn, facing similar monsters, filled him with a rage that threatened to consumehim.

She dared to stroke his cheek. “They weren’t aliens, Jo’Nay. They were human. But they were just as cruel. Just as ruthless.” She shuddered, the memory clearly still fresh, the scars still visible.

He wanted to hold and comfort her in order to erase the traces of that pain. “What did they do to you?” He forced the words out, his voice strained.

“They tried to rob me. To hurt me,” she admitted in a barely audible voice, her words trembling, the memory a nightmare that must still haunt her. “But I fought back. I… I wouldn’t let them win.”

He felt a surge of pride. She was a warrior, too, in her own way. She had faced her fears, her attackers, and had emerged victorious. “You defeated them?”

“I wasn’t that strong. Imanaged to escape. To run away,” she said, her voice soft and filled with pain. “But it changed me, Jo’Nay. It made me realize that the world— my world—wasn’t as safe as I thought it was. That there was evil lurking in the shadows waiting to consume the unwary. That I had to be on guard and look for any way to change my circumstances when life turns dark.” She spared a glance toward the guard. “Like now.”

He understood. He had seen the darkness, had fought it, had tasted its bitterness. He had been a protector, ashield against the chaos that threatened to engulf the Nine Galaxies. “There is always darkness, Winn. It is part of the balance. But there is also light. There is hope. And love.” He reached out, his fingers stretching toward her, aspark of connection in the darkness. She laced their hands, clinging. “You are my light, Winn. You are my hope. You are my love.”

She squeezed his fingers, her touch sending a jolt of warmth through his weary soul. “And you are mine, Jo’Nay. You are my everything.”

He had to believe her, clinging to that hope and love, that connection that transcended the boundaries of their different species and different worlds. It was all he hadleft.

Winn spared a swift glance toward the Marauder, who no longer watched them, but examined an electronic device he held. “Tell me about a time you faced the Marauders, Jo’Nay. Tell me about a victory.”

Did she need to hear about his strength to remind herself that he was a survivor and a being of immense power and cunning. Did she need to believe he could escape this prison, and defeat Skarrp and his ilk? That he could protect her and ensure their survival.

He smiled, aghost of his warrior’s grin, the memory of a thousand battles, athousand victories, flashing through his mind. “There was a time, Winn, when my unit, the Alpha Legion, encountered a band of Marauders preying on a mining colony. They had raided the colony, stolen their resources, their women. They had left the colonists broken, their spirit crushed, their hope extinguished. We were sent to eliminate the threat and restore order.”

He could see the admiration in her eyes, the awe that filled her gaze as he described his unit’s tactics, their coordinated movements, their precision strikes. He was a warrior, aforce to be reckoned with. “We tracked the Marauders to their hidden base, aderelict space station, its hull scarred by countless battles, its corridors reeking of death and decay. We infiltrated the station, using stealth and cunning to overcome their defenses. We fought them, room by room, corridor by corridor, until we had eliminated the threat.”

He spared her the gory details, the blood and the screams, the cold efficiency of their kills. Instead, he painted a picture of a glorious victory that stood as a testament to his warrior’s prowess. He hoped to reassure her and fuel her belief in his strength and his ability to overcome this challenge, this prison, this threat.

“We rescued the captives, Winn. The women, the children. We returned them to their homes. We brought them hope and helped restore their faith.”

He paused, the memory bittersweet. He had been both warrior and protector. But he had also been a destroyer, akiller, aweapon forged in the fires of war. He had seen the horrors of battle, the cost of victory, the price of peace. He had carried the scars, physical and emotional, of a thousand conflicts, athousand deaths.

“That’s amazing, Jo’Nay.” She whispered, her voice filled with awe. “You’re a hero.”

He shook his head, the praise unwelcome. He was a soldier, acreature programmed for destruction. He was not a hero. “I was doing my duty, Winn. It was what my government created me for, to protect the weak and eliminate threats. To maintain order.”

“But you did it with compassion, Jo’Nay. You saved those people. You gave them back their lives,” she insisted, her voice firm, her gaze unwavering.

He couldn’t deny her words. Not when they resonated with a truth he had buried deep within, atruth he had tried to ignore. He had been a warrior, yes. But he had also saved those poor, innocent souls. And now, here, in this prison, in this darkness, he was Winn’s savior. He would not fail her. He would find a way out. He would defeat Skarrp and the creatures under his control. He would ensure their survival. He would build a future for them, afuture filled with love and light, afuture where the darkness would never touch them again.

They clung to each other, their hands intertwined, their bodies pressed together, seeking connection in the darkness of their prison. They had found love in the most unlikely of places, amidst the chaos and brutality of their captivity, atestament to the enduring power of love. They would face the challenges ahead, together, that love a shield against the storm, their bond an unbreakable chain that no force in the universe could sever.

Winn’s words , “We’ll get through this together,” echoed in Jo’Nay’s mind. He squeezed her hand, drawing strength from her touch, atestament to the enduring power of their bond. As Winn spoke of her cancer diagnosis, he felt a surge of protectiveness, afierce determination to shield her from further harm. He understood the fear and loneliness, the desire to retreat into the shadows and bear the burden of suffering alone. He had lived that way for centuries, asolitary warrior, his heart encased in armor, his emotions suppressed. Taking his Final Flight alone. Ever alone.

But Winn had shown him a different path. Her love had chipped away at his defenses, revealing the depths of his own longing for something more, something beyond the rigid confines of his warrior’s existence.

“Jo’Nay,” Winn whispered glancing once again at the inattentive Marauder, her voice barely audible. “I have something for you.” She reached into the pocket of her tunic. “The women and I saved these. For you.” She opened her hand, revealing the apple seeds, the miraculous fruit that had reversed the effects of his Final Flight.

“Winn, how…?” he breathed, his voice laced with wonder and disbelief. How had she managed to hold onto these precious seeds amidst the chaos and brutality of their capture?

“I convinced Skarrp to feed the women the apples and we saved the seeds for you. Iknew you would need them. Ijust had to find a way to get them to you,” she said, her voice soft but unwavering, her gaze filled with a determination that mirrored hisown.

He couldn’t express the depth of his emotion, the gratitude that overwhelmed him, the love that threatened to shatter the cage of his pain. “These could make all the difference.”

“That’s my hope.”

The Marauder looked up, focusing briefly on the two of them. Winn deliberately snuggled against Jo’Nay, the pet snuggling against her master, close enough so his hand could cup her cheek as though he were caressing his creature.

“Do you think you’ll be able to escape?” she asked, her question whisper-soft. Her eyes shone with a fierce determination. “Can you kill Skarrp?”

She spared the Marauder another swift glance, reassured to discover his attention had returned to his electronic device. She gently placed the apple seeds in Jo’Nay’s mouth.

He bit into the seeds, the bitterness a tangible reminder of hope, of a future they would fight to reclaim. The cyanide within them, apoison to most, held the power to reverse the genetic modifications, but more importantly to heal what Skarrp had done to him. He looked at Winn, his heart overflowing with a love that defied the boundaries of their different species, their different worlds.

“I love you, Winn.”

Her eyes softened, reflecting the depth of her own love. “And I love you, Jo’Nay,” she replied, her voice filled with a tenderness that soothed the turmoil withinhim.

As he swallowed the seeds, he felt a surge of warmth spread through his body, afamiliar sensation that signaled the beginning of the healing process. He closed his eyes, leaning against Winn, drawing strength from her presence as the apple seeds began to work their magic, repairing his damaged cells, restoring his vitality, renewing hishope.

Then he opened his eyes, fire burning in the violet depths. “Who has my sword?” he whispered harshly. “Because whoever it is, he won’t have it for long.”