Found: BBW Alien Lottery Romance (Warriors of Karal Book 2) (11 page)

“Protect the mission. I get that. And I understand.” She removed her hand, rubbing her face. She looked so tired, and he saw how much this journey was taking out of her.

“Do you feel unwell?” he asked, concerned for her and their child.

“No. Just tired of being in this cruiser. Tired of not feeling the earth beneath my feet.” She looked at him, willing him to understand her next words. “When I was a child, my mom taught me how precious life is. She told me to protect it, to nurture it. I lost sight of that a long time ago. But now I need to be in touch with life again.”

“I understand. The Karal always follow what their parents teach them. But that is not always the right way. As we grow up, we must learn to make our own choices.” He had followed his father’s teachings almost to the letter, but doing that hadn’t enabled him to grow, to become his own man. Gaia was showing him a different way, and he wanted to embrace different thoughts and beliefs. Yet it made him feel guilty, disrespectful to his father who raised him.

“When I was seven, she had an episode.” Gaia’s voice trembled.

He didn’t know what she meant, but he could guess by her downturned mouth that this
episode
was not good. “What happened?”

“My mom was prone to bouts of depression, but this time she stayed in bed for three weeks, all she kept saying was she could feel the Earth dying.” He could feel her sadness, and he couldn’t help himself, he reached over and touched her, sending her his sympathy, and mixed in with it, his love. Her eyes flew to his, widening in wonder at this new, unexpected sensation. He should have withdrawn his hand, should have left her to her tears, but he couldn’t. He wanted to comfort her, to protect her; if this meant giving in to his feelings and allowing her power over him, then so be it.

“You were only seven. How did you survive? Did your father take over running the house and looking after you?” He often forgot that on Earth the children were lucky enough to have two parents, not one.

“No. I never knew my father. He left before I was born, if he was ever there at all. My mom used to think that sex led to a person being in touch with their hidden power. That it was a way to get in touch with your life force.”

He looked puzzled. “I don’t understand.”

“Neither did I until I came on board this cruiser with you. But sometimes when we make love, I know what she was searching for. A way to tap into the power of life. It’s the same when you touch me. I can feel the life force in you, through your skin, when the colours are brightest, the feeling is stronger.”

“So what happened to you?” he asked, needing to skirt around that idea; it was too alien for him. He knew of life, he knew of death, but he never considered the life that flowed beneath their skin. And he didn’t want to know, not when they were faced with their possible doom at the hand of some mysterious alien race.

“The people in my town rallied around and kept me fed and clean. The authorities never knew, so I stayed with my mom and finally she snapped out of it. But by then I had begun to distance myself from her and what she believed.”

“You turned away from her?” he asked gently. It sounded as alien as Gaia herself. He had always followed and blindly believed what his father had taught him with no exception. It was who he was, what he was. In so many ways, he was his father.

“Not exactly, but from that time, as I was growing up, in some ways I began to treat her as child. One who didn’t live in the real world. I couldn’t understand why she behaved the way she did. And I learned to rely on myself. Then there was an acid rain storm and most of her plants died. It sent her into an even worse depression. I remember going out into the remains of her garden and picking up what few plants were alive. With the help of some friends we managed to make her a makeshift greenhouse out of some salvaged supplies.”

“Did that help her?” he asked.

“Yes. A little, but my mom, the woman who I wanted to be there for me, to nurture me, she was gone. And I couldn’t allow myself to believe in things the way she did. Yes. Life is precious, but not to the exclusion of all else. Of your child.” She took a shuddering breath. “But now, I think that she might have been right.”

“We were right to leave the ship,” he said again. “Your people are more important. To you. And that is sometimes the difficult decision we make. My father always taught me that the Karal, my species, were the most important thing. As a warrior you have to believe that. Because it leaves you with no doubt, no need to question your motives.”

“But I’m not a warrior, and maybe I should listen to what the voice in my head says is right. My mom’s voice, like a moral compass.”

“You know, at some point, we have to be our own person. You have to do what you think you should do. I have to think what I want to do, not what my father would have expected me to do.”

“So do we go through the wormhole?” she asked.

“We have come this far, Gaia. Yes. I believe we do. If the planet is what we need, then we will make a quick survey and then go back to see if the vessel is still there. Only then will we trust in ourselves as to whether we risk everything to help those strangers.”

“Agreed.”

He pressed a button, deploying the beacons to open the wormhole, and they entered the unknown.

The wormhole was black. It was as if every particle of light had been sucked from it to leave nothing but emptiness. It reinforced the way the cruiser made her feel, completely out of touch with the life force of the universe. In the emptiness, she asked her mom for forgiveness. She had never understood, not completely, how her mom sensed the life force in the world around her.

In the darkness, she cried unseen tears of regret. Why hadn’t she tried to be more understanding towards her mom? Why had she begun to resent her and her beliefs?

“Not long,” he said. “This is a short wormhole.”

“Let’s hope once we get to the other side it will have been worth it and there is nothing waiting for us.”

“Except your new Earth.”

“Except the new Earth. Although how will we live out here with such uncertainty?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” he asked, his voice low, sexy in the darkness. She longed to take hold of his hand and feel his warmth. Anything to chase away the unease of this darkness.

“If there are people. Aliens, who mean others harm. How would a new colony survive out here?” she asked.

“The Karal would have to provide support. Cruisers, weapons. We have never gone to war. But if there is a rogue race of aliens out here, we will either negotiate with them, leave them to their own way of life, or we will destroy them.”

“Just like that.”

“Just like that. You have to remember that we have travelled long distances and have never met a species stronger than us. If anyone had technology we needed, we have always taken it, to make sure no one is ever more advanced than us.”

“So in some ways you are the bad guys.”

“In some ways, yes. The Karal are like the big cats. We hunt, we are top of the food chain, but we do not toy with our prey. The only time we have taken females was when we needed to breed. You may see that as wrong. But we did it to ensure our survival. We have never taken anything simply for our amusement,”

“But to many species in this universe, you are the bad guy. The monsters that lurk in the darkness and pounce when they want. On people who cannot defend themselves.” She was trying to understand what it meant to be the mate of a Karalian, and the mother of one. Would she simply have to accept how they behaved, how they put their own needs above all others?

“Yes. Our survival is paramount. I do not expect you to understand. Maybe when we have a child, you will.”

She placed her hand on her belly. Would her child be one of those monsters? Or would this plan work and render the pursuit of a new generation of females to be mothers for their children, her son’s child, a thing of the past?

“Let us find the planet your species needs and make us the good guys for once,” he said, and then they burst out of the wormhole into almost blinding light.

They were silent, both listening for a warning that there was another ship close by, but there was nothing. Rikka edged the cruiser forward slowly. If anything happened, he had said he would try to re-enter the wormhole before they were seen. However, as they moved further away, they both knew that their exit could easily be blocked. Another spaceship could appear from anywhere. But it didn’t.

“I’m going to set the course to the planet. We will go at half speed. At least that way, if there is anyone else out there, and they are traveling towards us at speed, we will be able to pick them up on the radar before it is too late.”

“So we pull the beacons back in?” she asked.

“Yes. It’s safer this way. At least we don’t have to watch for anything appearing suddenly through the wormhole behind us.” He pressed a switch and the ship shuddered before there was a clanging noise.

“Beacons retrieved,” the computer said.

“This should be an exciting part of our journey, Gaia. Don’t let it be spoiled,” he said gently.

“I think it already is. For the most part.” Gaia lifted her head and smiled at him, trying to summon her enthusiasm. “But you know, all I really want to do is feel the ground beneath my feet. And smell clean air.”

“Then let’s see if we can arrange that for you. It will take six hours for us to reach the planet. Why don’t you go and get some rest?” he said.

“What about you?” she asked.

“I am not the one carrying our child,” he said.

“That doesn’t make me weak and pathetic,” she said defiantly.

“I know.” He pulled her to him and kissed her. “What I should have said was, if there is trouble, it is better I am here at the controls. There is no use us both being here. The ship’s alarm will go off if we encounter trouble. That will wake you.”

“OK,” she said, although she doubted she would sleep. Nevertheless, it would be good to lie down and let go of some of her tension. There was a nagging thump beginning in her temples and she wanted to try to sleep it off.

Without undressing, she slumped down onto the bed, not even removing her shoes. If the alarm went off, she wanted to be able to go to Rikka’s aid in an instant. Not that she would be any use. What weapons the cruiser had, she had no idea.

A sob bubbled up and erupted from her mouth, After all the days, and weeks of travelling, of looking forward to the moment when she would set eyes on the possible new home for humans for the first time, it was as if she had been robbed of it. Just as her mom had robbed her of her childhood. Only after sharing her story with Rikka, did she understand how hurt, how scared, her mom’s behaviour had made her.

She had never really given up on her mom’s beliefs, of her own beliefs on how important life was. Instead, she had buried them, and meeting Rikka, coming out here in the tin pot of a spaceship, had been the catalyst to her remembering. Because only here, surrounded by nothing instead of surrounded by life, did she acknowledge what was missing.

She closed her eyes; her hand strayed to her belly, where the tiny life was growing inside her. As she drifted off into a dreamless sleep of exhaustion, this time, she felt comforted by her son’s presence. Although deep down, she knew it was her imagination, she still said a silent thank-you to him for giving her a small glimpse of hope.

***

“Gaia,” Rikka said softly, shaking her shoulder gently until she woke. “We are nearly at our destination.”

“We are?” she asked. “How long have I slept?”

“Not enough,” he said kissing her lightly. “But I thought you would want to see the planet; it really is beautiful.”

She got up, having to pause for a second to stop the room from spinning. He held her hand, looking at her with concern. “I’m fine,” she insisted. “I just got up too quick. Right. Let’s go.” A thrill of excitement filled her and she followed him out of the bedroom and down the corridor to the control room.

“Oh. Wow,” she breathed. The planet before her was green, an emerald turning lazily in space. Only the occasional blur of white cloud broke the vibrant colour. “It’s not blue. Does that matter?”

“No. There is more landmass, whereas your Earth has more water, so we can see the green. Forests and grass, I expect.” He looked at the computer screen, flicking through data. “The air has sufficient oxygen. There are no poisonous gasses, and the temperature is warm. But not hot.”

“So it’s safe?” she asked, her past fears washing away as excitement consumed her.

“I believe so,” he said, although he still seemed concerned.

“Are we going to land?” she asked.

“First we do a complete orbit, while the computer scans the surface. It will look for anything that signifies that sentient life is already there.”

“OK.” She sat down. This was going to be a long wait. Her feet were itching to stand on the ground and feel the dirt beneath her feet.

“So what do you think?” Gaia asked. She was next to him, fidgeting in her seat as he checked through the data one last time.

“It would be much easier for me to concentrate if you sat still,” he said, although his colours skimmed lightly over his skin, showing her he found her amusing. And sweet, so very sweet, in her excitement.

“I’ll try,” she said. “But you have to remember this is all new to me. I bet you have landed on loads of other planets. This will be my third, and to be the first human to set foot on it would be amazing.”

He sighed. “I think it’s safe. I will monitor readings as we go in to land, but there is no sign of any thing that resembles a civilisation.”

“That’s good, right?” she asked.

“Yes. It means if the air is clean and suitable for man, and there is soil for crops to grow, then this could be your new Earth.” He took hold of the control stick, and guided the cruiser down towards the planet. They passed through the atmosphere, and down towards a spot the computer had highlighted as having everything they would need to test. Fresh flowing water and low-lying vegetation. There may even be some indigenous animals too.