Alien General's Beloved: SciFi Alien Romance (Brion Brides) (3 page)

Lana took comfort in the fact that Fraly agreed with her. The Palian had been acting odd ever since the first report came, but so far Lana had let him be. She had a good working relationship and an understanding with him, very like the one Terra shared with the Palians in general.

They both had the best interests of the galaxy in mind, which made them natural allies. That meant not delving too deeply into each other's secrets when it wasn't necessary.

Fraly said nothing about the reason for his unease, but he was one of the few that agreed with Lana. The others were either terrified or dismissive, which was a common sight on a rogue ship whose crew saw much of the galaxy's darker side. Lana had let that be as well, not wanting to cause panic without reason.

And now she was reading that the unseen enemy was targeting more and more Terran ships. Looking for them, in fact. Seeking them out with clear purpose.

That was the most unsettling thing about the whole affair to Lana. The Brions as a species had little to do with Terra. Other than the recent news of a few Brion generals unexpectedly binding to human women, the two species barely had any contact at all.

She didn't like it.

Lately, the Brion Elders had started nudging their terrible, bloodied species in a new direction, hoping to mend ancient wounds of war and carnage. Lana was ready to admit that even the famous generals were trying to appear less savage these days. That made dealing with the Brions almost tolerable, even if she still felt the hairs stand up at the back of her neck whenever she had to meet one.

They embodied raw, barely controlled rage, no matter what they claimed to be.

General Worgen and his lost ship... that was something different.

He—
if it was really him, a ghost of days long past—was not the new kind of Brion, ferocious but benevolent. Worgen was a relic, the manifestation of the dark days in the Brion history. Lana had read up extensively on him, all the legends and stories she could get her hands on, just in case.

Every word made her blood turn to ice and turned her dreams into nightmares. The stories didn't describe a man, but a monster. The kind that couldn't be stopped.

"Captain," Fraly interrupted her, entering her rooms after a polite knock.

Lana looked up, sitting behind her desk with the screen in front of her still showing the last paragraphs of the report she'd been reading.

"Yes," she said. "Have we arrived at the beacon?"

The Palian confirmed that. A few hours ago, they'd picked up a distress signal, coming from the Terran trade ship
Wanderer
. It was far off course, but even more so, it was close to a spot where an attack had taken place. Lana had immediately ordered a change of course.

She'd done so with a heavy heart, but an easy conscience. It was her job to go and check out situations like that, to see if she could solve them quickly and without casualties.

On the other hand, if there was even a shred of truth to the rumors, she was putting her crew in danger they couldn't possibly hope to match. The
Raptor
had guns, of course, but they would be practically useless against a Brion warship. Years ago, Lana had seen one of them, so huge they said it could tear through asteroid fields, pushing celestial bodies out of the way. Like moons.

The captain took one last look at the screens. For weeks, she'd tried to keep her crew's spirits up by joking they'd get to meet the intergalactic
Flying Dutchman
. Of course, only the human members of her crew understood that, but they explained it to the others as well as they could. It
did
make them feel better for a while, as fleeting as the feeling might have been.

Lana closed the screens, willing herself to focus on the task ahead. She'd find the beacon and the
Wanderer
and escort them back to safety.

"You seem worried, Captain," Fraly said when they were walking.

Lana sighed, smiling. "It's the agony of waiting, as Terrans say. I don't like it. I want to know. If it turns out to be another ghost scare, fine, we'll deal with the bastard. If it
is
Worgen, fine, we'll deal with a long-dead invincible Brion general as well."

Fraly smirked, nodding.

"I get that," he said. "It's always better to know what you're facing, even if it is bad."

"So," Lana said, changing the topic. "How's the
Wanderer
? Is the ship intact?"

"It's not the
Wanderer
itself," Fraly said. "It's only one of its escape pods. And Captain—this time we have a survivor."

***

The
Raptor
was pulling the pod in. Lana stood on the bay deck, watching the little cone being dragged in by the magnetic arms extending from
her ship.

It was really nothing more than a box, she noticed. A cone small enough to house one person, if they were hunched. There was a survivor, a witness, Fraly had said. Lana wondered how they'd managed to sleep or eat in that thing. From what she gathered, it had been days since the pod launched from the
Wanderer
.

The bay workers ripped the doors open and a figure—a young girl—stumbled out. For a moment, she looked around her and then practically collapsed on the floor. Lana rushed over, catching the girl in her arms. Her features were pale and it was clear she was malnourished, and probably exhausted.

Her eyes were wide open, terrified. Lana didn't think for a second that she was the cause of that fear. No, she'd been right to suspect something was amiss.

"
Leave
," the girl whispered before she could say anything. "
Run
."

"Relax," Lana said, "we are here to help you. Tell us where your ship is and we can go and—"

The girl was shaking her head so hard she nearly twisted herself out of Lana's grasp.

"No, no," she said frantically. "We have to go now. It might be too late already. You can't help, no one can help. He is here."

He.

"Who are you talking about?" Lana asked, knowing the answer already. "Who attacked the
Wanderer
?"

"
HIM
," the girl almost screamed. "
Worgen
. I saw him when they took the ship. He walked by right in front of me when he was looking for his fated. His eyes were completely black and his skin was burning, I could see it..."

Well, that is going to do wonders for morale,
Lana thought.
I should have questioned her in private.

She stood, helping the shivering girl stand as well.

"You need rest," Lana said, hoping to salvage what was left of the situation. "We can talk more once you've had some food and a good night's sleep."

"You don't
understand
," the girl pleaded. "He's coming, he might be here already. Nothing will stop him until he finds his fated."

That's the second time you've said that.

"Worgen is looking for his
gesha?
" Lana asked.

"Yes," the girl said, sighing in relief. "You see now? We have to go. Hurry! He's heard of all the Brion generals binding to human girls. He wants one too, to be more powerful than ever. Ship after ship, he's looking for her. That's why he attacks Terran ships."

Oh, wonderful. Just when I thought she couldn't say anything more damaging. Now they know we have a crazed maniac on our trail, looking for a bride,
Lana thought, barely suppressing the eyeroll she felt coming on.

She sent the girl off to sleep, despite her desperate pleas that they should run at once. To ease her growing concerns, Lana took the next watch on the bridge. The monitors showed nothing, but the emptiness unnerved her.

"Do you feel it?" she asked Fraly, who was standing loyally by her side. "The gun pointed at our heads?"

The Palian nodded, a grim smirk on his lips. It was an unusual expression for him, but considering the situation, it fit.

"The scans came up empty?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lana said, checking for what had to be a hundredth time. "Nothing near us. Not the
Wanderer
, not any other ship. The first signal I can find is the Gromus Station, five times the distance a pod like that could fly."

The bridge was almost empty except for them. In anticipation of trouble, Lana had ordered everyone to sleep. They were on the verge of something, she could feel it. The pod they'd picked up shouldn't have been where it was. There was no ship that could have dropped it anywhere near them.

"I feel like a fish that just swallowed the bait," she murmured.

Fraly didn't have time to respond before the space slipped away on the screens in front of them. For one mad second, Lana thought that the
Raptor
had somehow jumped into hyperspace, because all the stars disappeared. There was no light, only darkness. In a completely absurd way, she felt like the
Raptor
had run into a wall,
in space
.

The truth was much worse. A cloaking shield had slipped away from a ship right in front of her, the huge front screen of the command bridge showing it to be so close the captain imagined she could almost reach out her hand and touch the surface.

It was obsidian black, rough and horrible, and scarred from ancient battles.

The nightmare was over. It had made a swift journey from her dreams to reality, but surprisingly it didn't bring fear. Lana found herself peculiarly calm, focused. The worst had happened, and now all she had to do was deal with it. She checked the monitors, now picking up multiple contacts, a whole fleet of them.

As well as a very ominous message that couldn't possibly be misinterpreted.
Don't run
, the warship warned.
Any message you transmit will be your last words
. Looking at the guns as long as her entire ship, Lana was forced to agree.

"Wake the crew," she ordered. "Get the
Raptor
ready, we're about to be boarded. Every human female needs to hide, immediately."

Her second hesitated only for a moment.

"Captain, what about you?" he asked.

Lana grinned. "I'm staying right here."

As Fraly rushed to obey, she slowly walked to the front panel of the bridge, if only to confirm to herself that her eyes really weren't playing tricks on her. But there it was, right on the prow of a ship larger than any she'd ever seen.

One word, in gigantic, red letters taller than her.

Abysmal.

CHAPTER THREE

Lana

Getting the
Raptor
ready was more like a joke than actual preparation for battle, but it helped. Lana made no illusions to herself. Her ship was the best little vessel there was, but it had been built for subterfuge and stealth missions. Usually her job included lightning-quick strikes, rescue missions, and so on. Not taking on a Brion warship.

It could blow her to pieces in one barrage, Lana had no doubt of that. But it gave her terrified crew something to do rather than go mad with fear. Over the comms, Lana coordinated her main mission, which was to hide the part of her crew that the enemy might be interested in. She'd be damned if she let anyone cart off her friends and subordinates like war trophies, only to see if one of them fit the bill.

Distantly, Lana was aware she was in the same kind of danger, but she pushed that aside. She was the captain of the ship and wouldn't be found hiding when the enemy breached the
Raptor
.

The fighters from the
Abysmal
were already moving her way, which was almost comforting. It meant the girl had been right and the
Raptor
was out of danger, at least for a while. Until they had something the general wanted, the ship would remain intact.

Before leaving the bridge, Lana took a good look at the fleet surrounding the warship. After the
Abysmal
's cloaking shield had fallen, they had appeared as well. There had to be some distraction signals at play, but that was a question for another time. The space around her was packed with ships. From the
Abysmal
's shadow, numerous others appeared. Most of the ships were Terran and none of them looked damaged.

Just,
afraid
? They trailed after the huge warship, staying in neat formation by its side like fish swimming with a whale. One look at the
Abysmal
's guns and Lana understood why. So that explained why they hadn't been able to find survivors or even signs of a battle, only missing ships signaling that something was wrong.

The fighters had almost reached the
Raptor
. Lana took a deep breath. There was no going back now. She could hope the women were able to hide themselves, but once the enemy had seen
her
there was nowhere she could run.

Taking courage from her earlier thought that the worst had already happened, Lana went to meet the legendary general with burning skin and black eyes.

***

They were waiting for her.

Her crew was held at gunpoint when Lana entered the bay. One quick look told the captain that her orders hadn't been strictly followed. Here and there, several human women stood, all looking at her. Lana caught a quick head-shake from one of them, realizing their intention.

Stupid brave bastards,
Lana thought.

Like her, they'd stayed in sight, to allow their friends to remain hidden. It worked out for the better, the captain knew that, to have more than one Terran woman aboard, but she still feared for them.

Looking at the Brions, she thought she had a very good reason.

Lana had met a few members of the warrior species before. Like their brothers, these new ones were towering, vicious-looking hunks of men with battle spears strapped to their backs. It was the differences between them that bothered Lana, although she didn't let it show, taking her place at the front of his crew.