CHAPTER 32

ALEXANDER

T he creature was alternating between clawing at the quarantine shields and throwing itself at them. I was watching from my hiding spot behind the computers in the control room, Morgrid taking up the space beside me. Neither one of us could really fit, but even though we’d barricaded the door with desks and cabinets in an attempt to keep the vicious thing out, I doubted it would do much to stop it.

Luckily for us, it didn’t seem interested in exploring so much as trying to break onto Nova Station and leave the docking bay behind. Unluckily for us, we weren’t the only ones who’d taken note of the threat and we were locked inside with it with no way out.

I braved a glance out from over the top of the desk, the holo-screens no longer in the way, and tried to get a better look at it. A long, purple, lithely muscled body. Four ears, all swivelling in different directions. Six large red eyes. A tail that could kill in an instant. I caught a flash of bright red, the same shade as its eyes, glinting from within its snout. But it was its claws that truly grabbed my attention, and not because of how wickedly sharp they looked. Long, black and curved, they seemed to drip with a red poison that, when smeared against the quarantine shield and the floor, looked remarkably like blood. But what made them so interesting to me was how much they reminded me of Tornu spikes. My gaze bounced between those claws and Morgrid’s spikes, something niggling at me, attempting to push through but unable to.

I could brush up against it, but as soon as we made contact it would rush off back into the recesses of my mind. It was almost on the tip of my tongue. I could almost taste it, but still not quite.

The holo-tab on Morgrid’s belt started discretely buzzing, and both of us winced. We waited with bated breath to see if the creature would noticed, but it thankfully seemed too intent on breaking through the shield. Or it couldn’t hear, but with four ears I assumed it had better hearing than most, so I was hoping it was simply uninterested in us.

With delicate fingers – not the typical way I would describe any aspect of the burly Tornu woman – she pulled the holo-tab from its pouch. Her expression pinched at the caller, and she turned the screen around for me to see, bypassing the hologram. Tormik.

‘Answer it,’ I mimed. Her eyes darted to the chaos right outside the window and she shook her head. ‘Answer it,’ I pushed, miming turning the volume all the way down and putting the device against her ear.

When she still didn’t comply, I snatched it from her hands and did it myself. Tormik’s voice came through like he was at the other end of an endless tunnel and the echo barely reached me, but I was able to discern what he said.

‘We’re opening the quarantine shield. Artemis is overriding the controls. Stand back.’

Feeling like my eyes were about to pop out of my head, I swung my wild gaze back to Morgrid. She must have caught what he said because her own expression was practically feral with fear.

Motherly instinct must have won out, however, because with one last panicked look at the docking bay’s shielded doors, she leapt over the desks, smashed through the window, and dropped into a crouch in front of the creature.

He turned to her, already growling and that blood-like substance dripped from his snout like drool. She growled back, her own sounding just as ominous and deadly. The creature snapped its teeth at her in warning, which made another alarm bell ring in my head. Why wasn’t it attacking?

And that’s when I saw it. The three eyes on the left side of its face flickered toward the blocked-off exit. It didn’t want to fight. It wanted freedom.

Its aggression came from fear.

I was in the process of figuring out how to stop Morgrid from hurting it when she made her first move. With a shriek that sounded like it belonged in the nightmares of nightmares, claws that matched the creature’s extended from the tips of her fingers that she used to slice five jagged lines down its side. Blood welled immediately, spilling over and dripping to the floor, mixing with the venom until I couldn’t tell which was which. It whimpered and whined, backing away from the new threat as quickly as it could. It twisted its big head to sniff at the damage while keeping its eyes on her.

The way it backed away reminded me of a child waiting for the blow of an abusive parent. It wasn’t something I had ever experienced myself, but I’d known many who had. Addy was one of them. It was the same look she used to get when she’d first been assigned to my crew when people loomed over her to accentuate their taunts.

My heart clenched as Morgrid raised those claws for another swipe, but the barrier fell before she could, a body slamming into her with a robotic yell that had my spine straightening in an instant.

‘You keep your dirty fucking hands off him!’ the new woman threatened, her voice bleeding with a mechanical quality while she straddled and restrained the giant Tornu with far too much ease. It wasn’t just her voice that was robotic, however, but she seemed to be made from metal as well.

Was that… Artemis?

‘A! Stop! Get off her! She’s my mother!’ Tormik shouted as he rushed in, Foryk on his heels. I shouldn’t have been surprised. It was obvious those two were related somehow, I just hadn’t figured out how yet, and the distance they kept between them provided some insight about old grudges still being held.

What did surprise me was how Morgrid refused to acknowledge her relation to Foryk. He seemed like a solid man who had shown immense amounts of loyalty and protection to those he cared about. What was the story there? Did it have anything to do with the scandal Morgrid had alluded to before?

Artemis looked up, her expression twisted into cold, lethal loathing. But when she lifted her head she also revealed something tucked away beneath her clothing. Another head. A child.

Was it hers?

Something shifted in her gaze when she caught sight of the Tornu males’ thunderous expressions, and she removed herself from on top of Morgrid. She didn’t let up entirely, however, moving protectively in front of the creature. It nuzzled her hand and she scratched it between the ears, shocking the shit out of us all.

Morgrid especially, if her disbelieving laugh was anything to go by.

I took that as my opportunity to start unpacking the barricade, going through the door a much kinder option on my body than jumping through the now broken window.

‘Of course, you’d bring a Kikshrut with you. I guess that explains the change of plans,’ she said.

Artemis didn’t move from her protective stance, but she did tilt her head to the side in confusion. ‘Kikshrut?’

‘That monster behind you,’ Morgrid gestured with a wave of her hand. ‘From the Forbidden Planet.’

I inhaled sharply through my nose. I’d heard a few horror stories about the Kikshrut, especially during my childhood, but I never thought I’d actually see one. Those stories didn’t do it justice. This thing was huge.

‘What he is, is a baby, ’ Artemis spat, just as venomous as the creature’s fangs.

‘That thing isn’t a damn baby. It’s a monster,’ was Morgrid’s droll response.

‘Agree to disagree. If you ever come near him again I don’t care whose mother you are I will end you before you can even blink.’

I didn’t doubt her.

‘Watch your tone with me, girl. I’m still your elder,’ Morgrid warned, but Artemis was having none of it.

‘Earn my respect before you demand it, bitch.’

‘That’s enough!’ snapped Tormik, and I noticed Foryk had moved back in line with the others, taking up position beside Bromm.

‘Indeed,’ I agreed, finally stepping through the doorway and moving to stand beside Artemis. I eyed the Kikshrut nervously but took a page out of Artemis’s book by pretending not to be so afraid. Not that I thought she was afraid of him at all. She clearly wasn’t. But if he thought I wasn’t a threat then maybe he wouldn’t treat me like one. The first step to earning an animal’s trust is to prove you won’t hurt them, right?

‘Artemis,’ a familiar weathered voice called out before none other than Corporal Stanson stepped forward, his white hair tied back messily in a low ponytail at the base of his neck. Thin strands escaped at the front despite the braids weaved through it to keep it neat, and from the injuries he sported and the blood coating him from head to toe, it was clear now that a serious battle had just occurred.

It was then that I finally took stock of the crowd, a mixture of officers and cadets, and that the quarantine shield was somehow re-erected behind them. That would explain how the battle hadn’t joined us in the hanger bay. It had been blocked off. Was that Artemis’s doing or someone else? My eyes made contact with Eloria Stanson’s and she gave me a nod of acknowledgement. So it was her, then. Good.

‘Corporal Stanson,’ Artemis responding, showing him the respect she had just denied Morgrid. I liked the woman, and in my opinion had earned my respect, but the situation with Artemis was different. Morgrid needed to put in some serious grafting if she wanted any sort of friendship with the other woman.

Quite frankly, so did I, I internally acknowledged.

‘The Kikshrut is with you?’ asked Stanson.

‘Yes, sir.’

‘And he is… trained?’

‘Uh, no. He won’t harm anyone unless you try to harm him first, though. He’s just a baby and he’s learning just like every other.’

A frown deepened the already cavernous wrinkles on his face. I didn’t let his age deter me from acknowledging his continued prowess on the battlefield, however. He had been a strong and steady presence within the IU’s military since long before even my parents were alive, and he was showing zero signs of slowing down. The fact that he was here, blatantly abandoning the organisation he had so faithfully dedicated his life to for so many solars was proof of how far we had fallen.

‘That’s… a big baby,’ was his only response. I was just as stumped as him. The thing was enormous, already reaching my sternum in height, and I was no small guy.

His comment seemed to break the tension running through the lines of Artemis’s body, a laugh bursting out of her as she continued to stroke the creature with a fondness that belied mutual trust and affection.

‘Dave Junior might look big now, but you should’ve seen Dave Senior,’ she smirked, pride filling her at the prospect of how truly massive the thing was going to grow.

‘Wait,’ I started. ‘Dave? Junior?’

She merely shrugged. ‘Long story.’

‘Xander,’ called the one voice that could have made me stop time if she’d demanded it.

‘Adara!’ I shouted, searching the crowd for a glimpse of pink. I found it, though she wasn’t in the crowd, but one of the carts, a familiar head of silver hair peeking out the top alongside her.

I rushed forward, desperate to hold her in my arms after so long apart and to ensure she was safe and unharmed. She hauled herself over the edge, though not without Reece’s help to lift her over due to her exceptionally short stature, and I caught her before her feet could touch the ground. Lifting her into my arms and crushing her to my chest the way I’d wanted to for so long, I breathed her in.

Only, her scent wasn’t what I expected. She smelled like sweat, fear, blood, and something distinctly metallic.

I ignored all of that, though, when her arms wrapped just as tightly around me.

‘Are you okay, baby?’ I asked her. ‘Are you hurt?’

‘I’m fine now. Arty saved us. We can talk more about it when we’re far the fuck away from this stars-damned station,’ she said.

Her tone rang a multitude of alarm bells inside my head, but she was right. We would have time for a proper reunion once we were deep into space the opposite direction from Nova Station.

I clutched Addy to me as I strode back towards Artemis and the group that had formed around her and the creature while my focus was on the woman now safely tucked away in my arms. No, not a creature, I corrected myself. The Kikshrut . Dave Junior.

Stars, what a name.

We returned to my previous spot to find the Griknot Princeling and his shadow standing beside Artemis, the other members of their teams – barring Reece, who was still inside a laundry cart for some reason – gathered around and gazed with varying states of curiosity at the creature of myths and legends. What was perhaps the most surprising was how Cadmus Alaida had positioned himself so close to Artemis and Bromm, almost as if he were trying to climb into their skins.

Adara noticed the direction of my gaze and shook her head with a smirk, only it melted into a heavy expression of sadness soon after. ‘Later,’ she told me.

I pursed my lips but nodded anyway, pushing her head back down to rest on my shoulder while I stroked my fingers through her hair.

‘You were supposed to stay on the ship, Junior,’ Artemis scolded, and the animal lowered his eyes in submission as if he could actually understand her words. Perhaps he could, or perhaps he was merely responding to her body language.

No, that wasn’t it. Her words may have been chastising, but she was hugging him to her with gentle affection. He understood.

She rose and turned to Corporal Gwym whom I’d missed on my initial once-over of the group. Hum’Rit was right beside him, Stanson on his other side, the trio of combat instructors clustered together.

‘Can you grab the Nutri-Bars? I need to check out the damage Junior’s done to the ship when he got out and fix it before we can leave.’

He nodded and jogged off, Hum’Rit and Stanson in tow.

Right as they left, a commotion sounded from the laundry carts, Reece’s voice rising above the sound of what could only be babies whining. Oh, no…

‘A little help here!’ he called, and Henrik dragged his team over straight away. ‘There’s poop all over this one’s back!’

‘The children are waking up,’ Addy stated, concern lacing her words.

‘How many?’ I asked.

‘Hundreds,’ she responded glumly.

I let that sink in. ‘Shit.’

‘Lots of it, apparently,’ Artemis joked, and I wondered how she could be so calm and collected in the face of being responsible for so many parentless children. One look at the baby stirring inside her jumpsuit and I had my answer. She was well-versed in caring for babies it seemed, poop and all.

‘I need everyone on board the ship before I can fix any external damage,’ she changed the subject, bringing us back onto a topic with equal priority. We needed to get off the station as soon as possible, and the little Kikshrut may have put a serious wrench in those plans.

‘What do you need from us?’ I asked.

She contemplated me for a moment, taking in the way Addy and I clung to one another with a curiosity I didn’t know how to interpret. ‘Round everyone up. Get them inside my ship. I docked at the rear of this one,’ she said, gesturing to the broken-down hangar door behind her, the cog/DNA logo hidden from this angle.

A whimper escaped from the blonde head poking out from beneath her clothes, and she gazed down at him with so much love I was almost knocked off my feet. I felt an overwhelming love for Adara, but I didn’t know what the kind of love Artemis was expressing felt like. The parental kind. She adored that kid, and it was clear in that spark behind her eyes that she would lay down her life for them.

Actually, she already had.

‘Hey, sweet boy,’ she cooed, her voice so soft and tender that it even tugged at my own heart. Watching her place the sweetest kiss on the top of his head I could see how great of a mother she would be. Already was? Was that her son?

‘An’ie A,’ the boy spoke, confused before a wide smile split his face. ‘You came!’

‘Of course I did, Bal,’ she grinned back down at him.

‘Mama?’

Her breath stalled in her throat as she worked through the emotions that question brought on, though I wasn’t privy to them. It only made me more curious. ‘She’s safe, but I left her behind to keep her and your baby brother or sister safe. I’m going to take you to her as soon as I can, though, okay? And we can talk to her when we’re on the ship. Look, Bal, you’re going in a spaceship!’

The boy – Bal – squealed in delight. ‘Yay! Yay! Yay!’

Suddenly, breaking through the heartfelt moment, an anguished cry cut through the air, almost as if it were a moan of pain. I spun to stare, wide-eyed and shocked as Morgrid dropped to her knees, Tormik barely catching her as she wailed long and low, the sound overwhelming in its misery.

‘Her mate was murdered by The Program earlier today,’ Artemis informed those of us who had no clue what was happening. ‘T must have just broken the news.’

Gwym and Hum’Rit chose that moment to return, arms laden with large, heavy boxes of Nutri-Bars. They gave the grieving woman a wide berth, and my own heart panged with compassion for her loss. I’d felt a similar way when Addy had been taken, and the Tornu woman’s intense emotions had me hugging her even closer, but at least with Addy I knew she was still alive. Morgrid would never see her mate again.

‘I think that’s my cue to check on the ship,’ Artemis bowed out, waving the box-carrying corporals over to follow her inside.

They weren’t the only ones to trial behind her, Bromm and Foryk right on her heels, and I decided that the best place for me would be inside as well. Whilst I felt for Morgrid, her pain was too close to my own fresh wounds, and I couldn’t handle baring witness to it any longer.

I breathed in Addy’s scent again, using it to ground me.

When we reached the back of the ship, I could see exactly where Artemis’s ship was docked, because there was a gaping hole between connecting the two. Artemis tsked and cast a disapproving sidelong glance towards Dave Junior. He didn’t seem to care, instead trotting inside like he’d done nothing wrong. His glance back proved he knew otherwise, a smug gleam in all of his six red eyes.

‘Well,’ she said. ‘It’s not ideal, but it’s an easy enough fix. I just need everyone already on the ship because I’ll have to weld it shut. No time for anything else.’

‘Weld it shut how?’ I asked. ‘You don’t have any tools.’

She levelled me with an indecipherable look. ‘It’s probably better if you don’t know.’

‘I’m going to have to look away again, aren’t I?’ Bromm asked, though it wasn’t really a question.

She gave him a sheepish smile. ‘Yes, please. You don’t need to see this.’

‘I’ll herd everyone on board,’ I informed her, turning back around to do just that, but a gasp and a thud had me turning back, confused at what was happening.

‘Bromm!’ she shouted, her alarm clear.

The Griknot Prince was suddenly ten shades paler than his normal pallor, his eyes wide open but unseeing as Artemis cradled him against her as much as she could while still carrying the boy. Nothing else seemed to be wrong with him, no wounds visible for us to see. His sudden collapse made no sense. What was happening?

‘Bromm, what’s going on? Can you hear me? Bromm!’

Foryk stumbled back, his own countenance paling as his breathing turned ragged. His legs gave out and he went crashing to the ground, his eyes never leaving his friend’s suddenly unresponsive body.

Artemis’s fingers found their way to Bromm’s neck, checking for a pulse, but her response didn’t give me any hope. I didn’t know what happened, but he was suddenly just… empty.

‘No… No! Bromm don’t leave me. Come back! Please, Bromm, stay with me! ’ Artemis shouted, smacking at his face and shaking his limp body with no response.

Addy’s breath hitched as a tear fell down her cheek, and then she buried her face in my neck, refusing to watch. One moment Bromm was alive and well, and the next…

He was gone.

To be continued…