Alien Knight Steals The Bride Read online

  “You’ve been hiding your royals on Caldor and didn’t tell us?” Dagan’s eyes narrowed.

  “It was not my decision. Sevron and Torrin are heir apparent to one of twelve royal houses of Lumeria even though they were born on Caldor. The queen was pregnant when Lumeria was attacked. She instructed us to put her into stasis until we could protect her children from our real enemies. The Vilitos are only mercenaries. Someone else was responsible. We were waiting. Watching. Then the queen’s stasis unit began to malfunction, most likely because the chamber was designed to regulate only one life, not three. We were not ready. Sevron and Torrin must be found.”

  Dagan stared hard at Falden. “So, you did know they were brothers. Twins.” He frowned as the deeper implications of who they really were penetrated his anger. “They’re Lumerians. And you knew.”

  A muscled ticked in Falden’s jaw as he met his king’s accusation. “Always.”

  Dagan took his time answering. His grandfather had warned him that the Lumerians had secrets, but to give them time. They were an honorable people. Their secrets would be safe with the Caldoians should they ever be shared.

  Dagan chose his next words carefully. “I wish you had trusted me with this sooner. Whatever your plans, my family has always been ready and willing to help. My grandfather always said Lumeria was our greatest ally. Caldor is your home now. The decision to stay hidden has been yours. But know this; your fight became our fight the day you came to Lumeria seeking refuge, and we protect our own.”

  Falden stood tall, a warrior who’d seen too much, done too much in the service of his people. “My thanks, Caldorian,” he bowed ever so slightly. “Your Majesty,” he acknowledged. “We stay hidden and scattered to protect those who would offer us sanctuary.”

  Chapter Three

  Vilitos Cargo Ship; Space Dock 626

  Survival instincts long buried rushed to the fore as Juliette checked Torrin’s vital signs. He had a very weak pulse. She’d gone to nursing school to save people. Comfort the sick. The dying. Her worst fear was being the cause of someone’s death, the possibility haunting her dreams at night.

  The ship couldn’t take much more, shaking with each blast from the pursuing Vilitos. Juliette was relieved the autopilot was engaged and they were slowly pulling away, but she was afraid the ship wouldn’t hold up long enough to get out of range. She had to get them out of there, or they would both die.

  She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, choking back a sob. There was no time for self-pity. Doubt. Recrimination. Their lives hung in the balance.

  Eyes swollen, she sniffled, not bothering to wipe away the constant stream of tears as she rolled to her feet with determination. She dragged Torrin’s limp body, one agonizing inch at a time, as fast as she could, to the back of the ship to strap him into the cargo hold as the whole ship tremored from another blast. There was no way she could lift him into one of the chairs. He was huge, and she strained to move his dead weight. “Come on, come on, dammit!”

  Alerted by the sound of grating metal, Juliette whipped her head from side to side, scanning for damage. “Shit! Shit! Shit! I think we’re about to be space garbage.”

  Torrin moaned.

  “Agh! I want out of this damn place!” she yelled in frustration.

  Juliette swayed as the small craft rolled to the right. A pleasant, disembodied female voice said something in an unfamiliar language. Maybe the voice was telling them to get out. Maybe telling them to buckle up. She was completely at a loss as to what she was expected to do, but trying anything was better than staying where they were and getting killed.

  “Earth. Take us to Earth!” she shouted as she dragged Torrin a few more inches. The creepy reptilian guards were still firing on the craft, the small vessel shaking with every blast. “Maximum speed,” she shouted, feeling slightly hysterical. This wasn’t a movie, or television show. This was real. But what the hell? She’d give it a try. “Maximum warp! Engage!”

  The craft shot forward. Juliette didn’t have time to watch. Didn’t have time to celebrate their escape or stop and wonder if the A.I. system understood her language or where she wanted to go. She would have to trust that Torrin knew what he was talking about. Trust the ship. All her skill, all her focus, had to be on saving Torrin.

  The ship was gaining speed, but she couldn’t feel anything beyond a constant shudder now, so she stopped trying to strap Torrin down, instead rolling him to his side so she could see where she suspected the worst of his injuries lay. Assess the damage. He panted. Groaned in pain.

  A few inches to the right of his spine, between his shoulder blades, was a small wound, blackened and charred around the edges. There was no blood. She gently pulled at the edges, trying to see deeper into the wound. All she could see was blackened flesh, but it didn’t seem too deep. Pulling her hands back, she breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time since her capture, hope blossomed in her heart. “I think we’re going to make it.”

  As she watched, the small charred hole in Torrin’s back grew just a fraction. She frowned, stripping the top potion of his suit from his body. What she saw was disturbing to say the least. Deep lacerations and bruises covered nearly every inch of his body, but it was the newest wound that worried her the most. “What the hell?”

  Leaning in close to the blackened wound, she smelled deeply. No odor. Burned, charred flesh normally had a distinct smell, as well as other necrotic, dying tissue, but she detected neither. Strange. A cold frisson raced down her spine, wiping out all traces of happiness. She sat back on her heels, her gaze narrowing worriedly. “No blood loss. But the wound is growing?”

  Juliette groaned, a low mournful sound as she placed her palms on her forehead, her hands slowly clenching in her hair. “I wish I could contact Earth and ask Doctor Jorvin how to fix an alien gunshot wound? Laser shot? Dammit!” she shouted in frustration.

  “Contacting Earth,” said a pleasant, disembodied female voice.

  “Oh my god!” Juliette jerked around, startled, instinctively searching up and down even though she knew the voice was coming from the ship’s artificial intelligence, or AI, system. “You speak my language now?”

  “I have sufficient language input data to determine operator preference,” said the A.I. system.

  “Yes! Yes, this is my preference,” Juliette nodded vehemently. “Are we headed for Earth? What happened to the other ship? Can you contact Earth from here?” She’d never felt so completely out of her depth. She was talking to a spaceship. Was she having a really vivid dream? The lucid kind where part of your brain was aware that you were dreaming? If so, then she was the captain. What did captains do in these situations? Juliette swallowed her fear, copying her favorite late night sci-fi show. Straightening her shoulders, trying not to sound too ridiculous, she said, “Uh.. I need a status update?”

  “I have set a course for Earth. Arrival time is four days at current speed. Three small vessels are in pursuit. Automatic evasion program running. I have contacted Earth and requested immediate communication with all Doctor Jorvins. Awaiting response.”

  Juliette slumped in relief. Trembling with emotion, she checked Torrin’s other injuries, torn by her inability to help. To heal. Another tear slipped out. Broken bones. Raging fever. Now another life-threatening injury, and I can’t even help with the pain. How can he survive this, too? She leaned close, taking his large hand in hers and willing him to hear her words. “Hold on. Do you hear me? Help is coming. Just hold on!”

  The A.I. voice announced, “Receiving secure video transmission from Earth. Accept?”

  “Yes! Where?” Juliette rose from her position and followed instructions toward the monitor. A large man in a dark green uniform stood patiently in the viewscreen.

  “This is Doctor Jorvin,” he began. “With whom am I speaking?”

  Juliette raced to the screen. “Doctor Jorvin! It’s me! Juliette Rosen! From Earth!”

  Doctor Jorvin’s eyes widened in shock. “Nurse Rosen? We th
ought you died in the attack, were still buried in the wreckage!”

  “Please! I don’t have time to explain, but I need your help!”

  “Of course. Anything. How may I assist you?” he asked.

  “I’m okay, but my friend needs help. I need your advice.” Juliette listed Torrin’s injuries, describing the charred wound on Torrin’s back as best she could, finishing with, “I have no medical supplies. I don’t know what kind of weapon it was. Please. Can you help?”

  “Without examining him myself, I can’t give a true diagnosis,” he said, hesitation in his voice. “You said he’s bleeding from other injuries but not that one? And it’s growing?”

  “Yes. It’s black, like dry gangrene, but without the smell. I think it’s something else. Not a normal looking wound. I wanted to talk to you because I think he’s Caldorian. He has markings like your people.”

  Doctor Jorvin nodded thoughtfully, his eyes full of concern. “I see. What you’re describing sounds like the result of a Ziphrion blaster. If you’re unable to reach medical treatment soon, the wound will continue to grow, eating away at the flesh until reaching vital organs, causing multiple organ failure and sepsis.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head sadly. “I’m sorry that I don’t have better news. Does he have family we can contact?”

  “I don’t know. We were being held on a Vilitos ship,” Juliette replied sadly.

  Suddenly the doctor was gone from the screen. In his place appeared a very large, fierce-looking man with dark hair and intense, icy blue eyes. “What is his name?”

  “Torrin,” Juliette replied without hesitation, even though her instincts warned her this man was dangerous. Very. Very dangerous. “Please, can you help?”

  “Listen carefully,” he said, urgency in his voice. “We’re tracking this signal. We know exactly where you are. You’ll never make it to Earth before he dies. There aren’t many things that can kill your friend, but a Ziphrion blast is one of them,” he said grimly. “You must reroute to Mora Five immediately.”

  Juliette’s heart thudded. “Okay. Then what?” she asked when he didn’t continue. Instead, he nodded at something or someone she couldn’t see beyond the monitor before turning back to her.

  “Once there, you must find and procure a liquid substance called maju water,” he instructed.

  “Water. Okay. I’m good at getting things I need,” Juliette replied, very much relieved to have a plan of action and a means of saving Torrin.

  “Do not celebrate yet,” he cautioned. “Maju water is made from maju stones, which is a natural resource on very few planets: Mora Five not being one of them.”

  Juliette frowned. “I’m sorry. I don’t see the problem. I’m sure I can find something worth trading.”

  “Intergalactic law forbids the sale of natural resources from any planet. We trade technology. Information. Synthetic material. Voluntary laborers.”

  She swallowed past the constriction in her throat. “You’re saying I can only get it on the black market?”

  The man’s blue eyes hardened even more. “That is exactly what I’m saying. Mora Five has a thriving black market, and an even bigger blood market. If anyone has a supply of maju water, you’ll most likely find it there. Mora Five is an unforgiving planet, but you must go there, figure out who has maju water, and get it from them. No one will stop you from landing, as there is no police force willing to stay on the planet and provide security. Use any means necessary to get that water into Torrin. Do you understand? Any means necessary.”

  Juliette nodded. “I understand.”

  “One more thing.”

  “Yes?”

  “Memorize this,” he ordered, holding up a sign with strange alien symbols. “Show the dealer only after you get the water. If you get it at all. I’m sending you there based solely on a rumor that maju water can be found there. Don’t get caught. Torrin will never survive a longer trip. This is our only hope to save him. It’s better if they don’t know you’re human but do whatever you have to do for mission success. We’ll rendezvous with you as soon as we can.”

  “That’s more than one thing,” she countered absently. “And why does it matter if I’m human?”

  “Human blood is very hard to come by. A rare, precious treasure on the blood market. We’ve also just learned that the Vilitos have issued a bounty for human females.”

  She kept her voice from cracking with fear and tension, but just barely. “Right. I’m an alien. No human blood here. Got it.”

  “Make no mistake, human,” he rumbled, “out here, ‘alien’ is exactly what you are.”

  Juliette switched off the monitor with trembling fingers. A cold sense of dread pervaded her body. She was essentially on her own. Walking numbly back to Torrin and the lifeless blue Targo, she sank slowly to the floor. The past few days closed in on her, shattering her like fragile glass.

  A tiny trickle of tears turned into a raging storm. She’d been on Earth when the Caldorian base was attacked. Newly hired to work on the base as part of an outreach medical group, she’d been inside the main building when the first blast came. She’d watched colleagues and friends die. Caldorians, too. Then she’d been taken. Aware, yet unable to move, they’d transported her to another alien ship. Poked her. Prodded. Assessed. She shivered through the tears. The process had been humiliating.

  Then she’d been put in a holding cell next to A’Lingua. Juliette turned her head and looked at the big blue creature. A’Lingua had somehow communicated with her without speaking. Juliette had never been psychic, yet somehow the blue Targo had communicated with her. Asked for her help. She’d been unable to say no when she’d explained the reason behind her fear. So, Juliette had taken on more responsibility. Everyone was depending on her now.

  She lay quietly until her tears dried, her fingers carefully monitoring the pulse in Torrin’s wrist, the steady beat reassuring her that he continued to fight for his life.

  Juliette lay awake, unable to sleep even though she was exhausted. For long, long hours she lay beside Torrin, willing him not to die. Thinking about her life, her friends and family. Her future.

  Turning her head slightly, she looked at the man lying next to her. He’d risked his life to save her. Below all the cuts and bruises, he was big. Really big. Strong. And he had markings like a Caldorian. Who was he?

  Chapter Four

  Mora Five

  Juliette took a deep breath. She could do this. Disappear into the crowd. Steal a weapon. Find the maju water. Save Torrin. Just like old times. Pretend you’re back on the streets. Hungry. Desperate. You can do this. You have to do this. Don’t think about it. Just do it. Remember the rules and don’t get caught.

  Checking on Torrin one last time, she placed the back of her hand against his forehead. He was burning with fever. She stroked his hair with shaking fingers, murmuring, “Hey, tough guy. Don’t even think about dying before I get back.”

  She’d never dreamt of visiting other worlds, other than perhaps as a child. Those dreams consisted of arriving as a royal princess, with a full entourage. Never, ever, had she imagined slipping undetected onto the planet, then turning pickpocket to get what she needed before sneaking away again.

  She shook her head at the irony and stepped through the ship’s airlock, out into the clearing. She quietly stepped down and turned in the direction of the village. The A.I. system had landed them in a small clearing about a mile outside of the largest village in the area.

  Thankfully the cargo ship was faster than the Vilitos ships sent after them and built for long hauls. The evasion system had worked properly and they’d lost the reptilians following them before entering Mora Five’s star system.

  Not all of the ship’s systems were fully functional. The A.I. unit had informed her that repairs were to have been made while docked on the Vilitos warship. Apparently her ship, at least that’s how Juliette was beginning to think of the cargo vessel they’d stolen, was old and badly in need of upgrades and repair
s.

  Evading the Vilitos hadn’t been easy. They’d gone out of their way, doubling back several times to make sure no one followed them here. Still, Juliette couldn’t help but look around for the nasty reptilians. She never wanted to see those things again, and they’d lost precious time evading the giant creatures. She only hoped they hadn’t wasted too much time; time needed to find the maju water.

  If she had any hope of saving Torrin, she would have to use every ounce of skill she had to find her way to the right place, either steal the maju water or steal something worth trading for the maju water, and then find her way back to Torrin.

  He could easily be dead before she returned if she didn’t move her ass. Her heart gave a sharp pang at the thought of never seeing him again. “Don’t be an idiot. You hardly know the man. So, he saved you. So he’s a good man. Honorable. Courageous. Brave. Smoking hot, if you look past the cracked lips and swollen eyes,” she mumbled to herself as she sprinted from the edge of the ship to the tree line across from the clearing. The terrain was full of sand and silt, almost like they’d landed in a dry creek bed. “Not that I was looking.”

  She looked back toward the ship. The old clunker didn’t have cloaking technology, so she’d spent several minutes collecting branches and twigs to camouflage the vessel as best she could, which wasn’t saying much. She looked around, getting her bearings, taking a mental picture of her surroundings so that she could find the ship on her return.

  The big blue-eyed alien had said no one would try to stop her from being there, but if she were caught, she didn’t want anyone to find the ship. Find Torrin. “Just have to rely on good old-fashioned skill to find my way back before anyone finds this place.”

  Juliette turned and ran, dodging alien shrubbery and jumping over dead tree limbs. She couldn’t afford to be overly careful. Get in and get out. She didn’t pause to catch her breath until she saw a few dwellings through the thinning trees.