Craving: A SciFi Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 8) (33 page)

After Kalij had left, Lucina shuddered in my arms.

"Are you okay?" Jidden asked me, his tone much softer than when he had spoken to his men.

"No," I said, looking at Gallia. "I'm not."

He addressed the soldiers once more. "This will be a day of mourning," he declared. "We will mourn for the woman and the Surtu children she would have borne. And the children they would have borne. And the children they would have borne. Especially their daughters. The greed of one man will destroy an entire line of our people."

"What will happen to Gallia?" I asked, remembering the way the Surtu sent off their dead – by summoning a light that took their bodies. It was beautiful and powerful, but it was not what Gallia would have wanted. She was loyal to her people. She had died for them and given her life to the Fortuna to protect them.

She would want an Earth burial.

Jidden understood this without me having to tell him. "She will be placed within your temple. You may mourn her as you like."

"We bury our dead," I told him. "If someone dies while they are in space, their body is sent home to be laid to rest."

"I'll see what I can do," he said, sounding uncertain. "After today, I doubt Earth will accept any ships from the Fortuna, not even a cargo ship."

"What does that mean?" I challenged.

He didn't answer.

* * *

J
IDDEN

What had we become?

This was not the Surtu way. We were honorable soldiers. When we killed, it was to serve a purpose. We did not kill out of self-indulgence.

At least, not in the time of my father. My father had been honorable. He was a well-respected soldier. That was why the military was eager to take me in when he died. He had served my people well. But he was only a soldier, like me. Promotions in the military didn't come easy. The men at the top were in an elite club.

They didn't share their power with just anyone.

But they were still honorable, not like the next generation of soldiers – soldiers like Kalij and his heathen friends. They were my age, but I lived in the old world while they lived in the new. They refused to work hard, believing their uniform alone entitled them to take what they wanted.

Maybe it was true when it came to human women. A Surtu man could claim the woman of his choosing, as long as a superior approved the match. But any man who would kill a woman so recklessly, the way Kalij had, was corrupt.

The question was – had Kalij always been corrupt? Was it inherent within him, or was his failure a consequence of being trained to take without remorse?

Either way, it was not honorable. My father would never have tolerated it. And neither could I.

I did not care about the fate of the women of Earth when I believed them to be nothing more than a means of survival, but my time with Terra had changed my views. Along with our survival, they could offer us intellect and art and humor.

We needed to mate with the human women. That could not be changed. However, we could allow them some dignity in the process.

We could offer them more than a generation of entitled heathens. We could offer them more than a dagger in the heart.

I sat at my desk in my office, my head in my hands. I was conflicted. I wanted to serve my people the way my father had, but I was not sure if I could.

How could I teach a pack of dogs integrity?

The light on my communicator came on. I watched the small circular device buzz on my desk, wishing it would disappear. In frustration, I picked it up and threw it against the wall.

It didn't break. Of course it didn't. Nothing about the Surtu was breakable.

"Sir, the Captain is waiting to resume your call," the soldier in charge of communications informed me, poking his head into my office.

"I know," I grumbled, and I stormed down to the communications room where Captain Fore waited on the video screen.

"What the hell was so important you had to leave your Fleet Captain waiting?" he roared, speaking in our native language, which was much more fluid than the languages on Earth. "We attack Earth today!"

"A woman has been killed," I told him. "By the hand of one of our soldiers."

Captain Fore instantly went still. There was no worse offense than killing a woman. "Who is responsible?" he asked calmly. He was still angry, but now it was like ice.

"Kalij, the soldier who was to be light bonded today. His claimed tried to stab him with a hidden dagger before the ceremony. To punish her, he killed her friend."

"And why didn't anyone stop him?"

"Because there is a problem among some of the soldiers. They forget why we are here. They believe this is a joy ride, like a raid on a candy store."

"Then bleed the corruption out," Captain Fore instructed. "I didn't get this far by playing fair. I earned everything I have by being a tyrant. My men tremble when I'm near. Yours should do the same."

"I have already sent Kalij to you on a glider," I said, speaking of the small vessels we used to transport goods between ships. "I'll take care of the rest."

Captain Fore had already lost interest. "The remainder of the fleets will arrive within the hour. Soon after, the light out will occur. It will blind the Earth, including the useless military stations that guard it. During that time, our ships will land on the planet. The takeover should be quick."

"It's best not to underestimate the humans," I warned. "My time with them on the Fortuna has taught me they are capable of much more than we realize. Their will is resilient."

"I never doubted they were resilient," Captain Fore said. "But a lamb cannot destroy a wolf, no matter how hard it bites."

I thought the conversation was over, but he added, "You've done well, Jidden. We were only the vanguard fleet, meant to assure the safe arrival of the other fleets. Not only have you secured a command center for us, but you did it without harming the women we came here for. I won't hold the actions of Kalij against you. Rest assured, when we return home, your promotion will be discussed."

"I'm pleased to hear it," I said, trying not to let my surprise show. Captain Fore rarely acknowledged success so formally.

"When should I expect the light out?" I asked.

"By the end of the day," he answered. "Be prepared."

* * *

T
ERRA

"And so we bid goodbye to our dear sister," Bellona said to the women of the Fortuna. We were all gathered outside the temple. Beside her, Juventas held Gallia in her burly arms.

Gallia's wounds had been cleaned, and she wore a fresh jumpsuit, but her face appeared restless even in death.

I didn't believe Gallia would ever be at peace until Earth was safe.

The temple was usually a place of great beauty, with ivy cascading down the small Roman structure. As I looked around today, I only sensed a terrible sorrow. The sadness ripped through me as I stood at the back, listening to Bellona say farewell to our Commander.

Lucina could not bear it. She slept away her grief in my quarters, unable to return to her room after being trapped there for so long. I wanted to hide away with her and exchange the nightmare around us for the bliss of slumber, but I couldn't.

Bellona needed me. We needed each other. We were barely holding it together. I knew what she was thinking because I was thinking it too. We had to kill the Surtu and rip them apart one by one.

It didn't matter if we died in the process. It was better than letting them win.

"...as brave as the solitary moon. Let us leave our sister with the goddesses she now walks beside. She will be another star to light our path."

Juventas turned and entered the temple with Gallia to lay her on the altar, followed by Bellona. Slowly, the women filtered in to say their individual goodbyes to Gallia before returning to the inner station. I watched them leave, understanding the cloak of anger and sorrow they wore.

I felt it too.

I was the last to enter the temple. When it was only Bellona and me beside Gallia, I ran a hand across the altar, afraid to touch our fallen Commander, knowing there was no warmth left in her.

"Some of the soldiers saw you," I said to Bellona. "They stand guard on the edge of the wood."

"There are three hundred women on this station. I'm sure they'll forget my face soon."

I doubted it. Her fiery red hair and amber eyes made her a rare beauty, even when those amber eyes held an assassin's chill.

Standing next to her with my mousy brown hair, I felt like wood next to a flame.

"I think the Surtu are about to attack Earth," I said.

Bellona didn't flinch. "It was only a matter of time. We have to escape before Earth succeeds in shooting us down."

"We don't have to make it to Earth. Not initially. We just have to make it to the next military base."

"True," Bellona said. "But how?" She wasn't asking. She was thinking.

"We have to take back control of the cargo ships in the docking bay. I don't think we can use the underground tunnels to sneak away, but we can use them to launch a sneak attack. We'll find some way to distract the soldiers on the Fortuna, and then we'll raise the divide that cuts off the docking bay. That leaves fewer soldiers to fight. We can use the tunnel that leads to the docking bay to attack."

"Once the hatch is open, anyone not on a ship will be swept away into space. Some women may have to sacrifice themselves."

That included us, but I didn't argue. We were never going to be able to save everyone.

"We'll get to that," I professed. "First we have to figure out a way to distract the soldiers on the Fortuna so that we can access the tunnels."

Bellona nodded, distracted by her grief. She went to Gallia and slid her fingers down Gallia's already closed lids. "Will they send her to Earth to be buried?"

"I don't know."

"Then we must take her with us."

"Of course."

A tear trickled down Bellona's cheek, the first and only I had ever seen come from her eyes. "I'll miss her. She was tough on us, but it made us better."

"We will remember her," I promised. "As our friend and as our Queen Sister."

Bellona smiled a sad, broken smile. "Our Queen Sister. I like that."

Suddenly, the Fortuna trembled, indicating the arrival of another ship. "We better get out of here soon, before the entire fleet lands," I murmured.

Bellona looked at me with heartfelt resolve. "Be prepared," she said. "You are the one the women will follow. You really are our Commander now."

* * *

T
he moon was almost full
. With the limited sunlight on the Fortuna, the moon was like our sun. Sitting alone on a stone wall that surrounded the wildflowers in the gardens, I embraced the moon and absorbed its feminine power.

I was not the same woman I had been before the Surtu arrived. I felt a darkness brewing in me and boiling my blood black.

It wasn't because of my relationship with Jidden. With his dark hair, a strong body, and flecks of light dancing around his blue elfin eyes, his touch was the one thing keeping me from shattering. The way he ran his hands lightly over my bare skin when we slept next to each other sent shivers down my spine.