Gamma Raiders: Storm Squadron Alpha: Scifi Alien Romance Novel (31 page)

“I’m sorry, Lana. I had no idea.”

“And those Imperials who are supposed to uphold the laws and protect us? Corrupt. Every last one of them is under the thumb of any gangster who wants to offer them a bribe. Every day, we fear for our lives. We have very little food. We have no access to medicine. Anything that would cut into the Empire’s profits…”

Ellistra looked at her for a long moment. “I don’t doubt you, Lana. I can see the truth in your eyes. I suppose it’s possible that the stories I’ve been told were polished and changed to reflect what they needed me to believe. Nevertheless, I don’t see that happening here.”

“I was afraid you’d say that. But I had to try. The Anarans aren’t my people. They’re not my responsibility. But I’ve seen enough suffering to last a lifetime. If there’s anything I can do to prevent them from sharing our fate, I have to try.”

Ellistra smiled at her. “You know something, Lana? You sound a lot like somebody that I once knew. The Kamaran Prince, Adaar.”

Lana froze.

“Don’t look so startled. The prince was a wonderful man. Kind, thoughtful, and more concerned about the good of the people than anyone I’ve ever known. If
he
were the one I was supposed to marry today, I wouldn’t have put it off for so long.”

Lana shook her head, her brow wrinkled in confusion.

“You don’t know this story? Even if you don’t get all the Imperial gossip back on Tarksis, surely you would have heard this.”

“No,” she said.

Ellistra nodded and continued. “It was about ten years ago. Just before Tarksis was annexed by the Empire, in fact…which may have had something to do with it, now that you mention it…”

Lana sat in shocked silence, listening to Ellistra’s words. It had to be a coincidence.

“Anyway, Adaar was a great and noble young man. He was the heir to the Kamaran throne. And his growing dissatisfaction with the way the Kamaran Empire was running things was no secret. And then one day, just when he had reached the age of adulthood, he disappeared. Just vanished. There were plenty of rumors that his personal attendant, a young commoner named Ja’al that he’d grown close with over the years, arranged his escape. It makes perfect sense to me. Neither of them were ever seen again.”

Lana’s mind reeled. She had her doubts. Adaar could be a common enough name. But the story fit. It explained why he knew so much about the Empire. It explained his thorough familiarity with their military and their tactics.

“But why? Why would he just leave like that? Why not try to change things?”

Ellistra shook her head. “In a perfect world, that’s exactly what he would have done. But things are never so simple.”

“You knew him?”

“He was a friend, yes. Negotiations between our two worlds have been in the works for a long time. We met many times when we were young. He didn’t keep his feelings about the Empire a secret. If
he
were the Emperor, I’d marry him in a heartbeat.”

A pang of jealousy shot through her. And fear. And complete unfettered rage that he’d never told her any of this. It was too much to process.

“That lying, rotten…bastard!”

Ellistra turned and stared.

“A prince. A gods damned prince! How could he have never told me?”

“Lana, calm down. What are you talking about?”

She took a deep breath and looked at the princess, weighing her options. She felt hurt and betrayed. After all that about trust…and his entire life, his whole existence, and everything she knew about him was a lie.

Lana glanced at the door. She wanted to run. She wanted to give Adaar a piece of her mind. But she remembered Ja’al’s words of warning. This was what he meant. It was all part of the plan.

She gathered herself. Despite her rage, she couldn’t let the Anarans suffer the fate of her people.

“I can’t explain…but you have to trust me about this. Don’t go through with it. For the sake of your people.”

“I can hardly call this off on the advice of someone I just met a few moments ago. I like you, Lana, but that would be insane.”

“Alright,” she said. “Then would you do it for Adaar?”

Ellistra’s eyes shot up. Lana felt them scrutinizing her, judging her intentions.

“He’s the reason I’m here.”

“Adaar is…alive?”

“He’s alive. And he’s no fan of the Empire. It was his idea to come here and talk to you.”

Ellistra shook her head. “I don’t believe that. I can’t. Adaar is dead. He has to be.”

“He helped me sneak in.”

“Adaar is
here?
”

Lana nodded.

“This changes everything. If Prince Adaar is alive…”

“You’ll call off the wedding?”

She looked at Lana through heavy eyes. “I’ll do what needs to be done. Go to him.”

Lana lowered her head and bowed.

As she turned to leave, the princess reached out and touched her shoulder. “Thank you, Lana.”

Chapter 15

Lana didn’t notice the faces of the people as she wound her way back through the crowd. The Prince of Kamara? How could he have kept it from her? Everything they’d been through, everything they’d shared…

Lies.

All of it.

Well, that’s what you get for trusting a Kamaran.
She should have known. All the signs and all the red flags should have kept her far away. It was stupid to let herself fall for his charm.
There’s always an angle.

It shouldn’t have surprised her. What did she expect, getting mixed up with a pirate?

No,
she told herself.
Not a pirate. A gods damned prince.

Tears of rage welled up inside her as she pushed her way through the gathering. Rage at him. Rage at herself, for trusting him. She let her guard down. She let him in. And now she would pay the price.

Adaar stood waiting for her at the entrance to the grand ballroom with a look of anticipation painted across his stupid, lying, asshole face.

“Lana, how did it go?”

She dug her heel into the ground. The words spun frenetically in her mind. She bit her trembling lip and stared straight ahead through watery eyes.

“Lana, what happened?”

“How could you?” came the whisper at last.

He reached out to comfort her, but his touch burned her shoulder as she shook him away.

Adaar drew a deep breath. “Lana, I’m sorry. I should have told you.”

“I trusted you,” she said. She shook her head, fighting back tears. She couldn’t let him see her cry. “Was it all a lie?”

Adaar looked at her with sympathetic eyes. Before he could answer, they glimpsed a flurry of movement above.

Ellistra stepped onto the balcony, accompanied by a pair of guards, broad-shouldered and fully armed. The princess stepped out from in between them and whispered to the Head of the Ceremony.

His head shot up, eyes wide.

The quartet stepped forward together, looking out at the crowd.

Lana watched through her sobs, waiting for the announcement.

The princess scanned the room. When she spotted Lana, the two shared a brief moment of eye contact. But Ellistra’s face was inscrutable. She leaned over to the large Kamarran guard, whispering as she pointed out towards Lana and Adaar.

The large man nodded and stepped away, raising a finger to his earpiece as he spoke.

“Shit,” said Adaar under his breath.

Lana looked up at him.

“Time to go, Lana.”

He turned and moved back through the crowd, pulling a reluctant Lana along by her hand. The crowd provided some cover, but it wouldn’t be enough. The guards had their descriptions now, and it would only be a matter of time before they found them.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests,” came the voice of the Head of Ceremony. “I’m sorry to announce that the ceremony will be postponed. Please make your way to the exits.”

“They’re trying to flush us out,” said Adaar. “Guards at every exit.”

“What do we do?” said Lana.

“Follow me,” he said. “Stay low. They’ll be watching.”

Adaar led her through the crowd as they swarmed back towards the palace gates. Lana kept her head down, her heart pounding as the heavy booted guards circled the room.

“This way,” said Adaar. He pulled her around behind the towering statue that they’d marked on their way into the palace. Adaar reached down to the statue’s base, sliding his fingers along the metal plating until his hands found purchase.

The roar of the crowd swelled up around them. Not accustomed to being herded like cattle, the royals and the nobles bickered amongst themselves in a panicked frenzy.

Adaar took a deep breath and lifted the plate as quietly as he could. It creaked and groaned as he slid it along the stone, but the tumult of the fleeing crowd masked the sound.

“After you,” he said to Lana, pointing down at a narrow granite stairway hidden beneath the plate.

Lana glared at him. She hated everything about this. Climbing down into the darkness, fleeing for her life. How could he expect her to trust him now?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the extended barrel of a pulse rifle as the guards made their way through the room. She knew her window of opportunity was closing. Whether she liked it or not, Adaar was her only way out of this.

She began her descent down the rocky steps as Adaar slid the cover back into place above them.
This is crazy
, she thought.
This is utterly insane. How did I get myself into this? It was stupid to ever fall for him. Stupid to go along with this plan.

As she cursed and berated herself, she wasn’t focused on the path ahead. Her heel caught in a small crevasse, and she teetered forward.

Adaar reacted fast. He caught her, wrapping his strong arms around her body and pulling her back to safety. The feel of his skin seared her. She flailed violently against his touch, but his arms held her steady.

“Watch your step, Lana,” he said.

She steadied herself and shook free from his grasp. “Yeah,” she said. She lowered herself to the ground. Her body shook with fear and anger and pain. It was too much. For a brief and shining moment, she had allowed herself to hope. To think that maybe the universe had a plan, and that everything would work out. That she could help her brother. That she could save an entire planet from the suffering she’d endured. And that maybe, just maybe, happiness was possible. Even love.

Adaar bent down beside her. “I’m sorry, Lana,” he said gently. He lifted a finger to her chin. “I should never kept it from you. Are you okay?”

What the hell kind of question is that?
She wanted to scream at him. Lana’s chest shook as she fought to control herself. She couldn’t let him see. Couldn’t let him know how much she cared.

“We have to keep moving,” he said. “It won’t be long until they’ve cleared the crowd and realized that we’re not there.”

She knew he was right. It wasn’t safe to stay there. If the guards caught up with them, they’d break more than her heart. She swallowed hard, stuffing her feelings back down inside her, just as she’d done a thousand times before. She drew a deep breath and pulled off her heels, tossing them over the railing into the abyss below. “Let’s go,” she said.

Ahead, the passage opened up into a large, cavernous room. A deep ravine hugged the edge of the path, and the roar of rushing water heading out to sea masked the sound of their footfalls as they continued onward. The massive rocks were enough to keep her focused on the path ahead. This wasn’t the time to lose control.

As they neared the end of the room, their precarious sense of safety was shattered by the crackling of a rifle blast as a pulse projectile hurled past Lana’s ear, shattering a large stalactite ahead of her.

Adaar pulled her to the ground on the far side of a rock.

“Stop!” The soldier’s voice echoed out through the room, muffled by the crashing water below.

Lana peeked out around her limestone cover as three more soldiers filed into the room, weapons drawn and ready.

“The tunnel branches off just ahead,” said Adaar in a low voice. “No chance for us to lose them, but we can buy some time.”

The group of soldiers pushed forward steadily in formation, their pulse rifles trained ahead. The lights on their barrels painted the walls as they scanned the room, searching for their hidden quarry.

Adaar grabbed a hunk of fallen rock from the floor and held it tightly in his hand. “Fifteen yards back to the tunnel,” he said. “Can you run?”

“Of course I can run.”

“Listen,” he said. “I’m going to cover you. You have to get out of here. Whatever happens, whatever you hear, don’t stop until you’re safe. Will you do that for me?”

Panic filled her body. Her legs quivered as the adrenaline shot through her. “What are you going to do?”

Adaar shook his head. “I’m going to buy us some time.” He snatched a second hunk of rock from the floor and held it in his hands. “As soon as I throw this, go.”

Lana’s eyes widened. “You’re not going to…”

“Just get yourself to safety. I can handle my own.”

She swallowed hard and nodded.

The quartet of soldiers pushed forward steadily as Lana braced herself.

Adaar sprung up from the beneath their cover, hurling one of his stones past the quartet. It ricocheted off the wall, echoing behind them.

The soldiers spun on their heels and opened fire, peppering the wall with their blasters. Lana raced for the corridor as Adaar charged the nearest soldier, plowing into the man’s body with the full force of his weight.

The pair rolled as they hit the ground. Adaar reached for the fallen soldier’s side arm and pulled it free from its holster, firing a pulse into the man’s core.

His body toppled backwards under the force of the blast, spinning the light of his rifle into a wide arc that illuminated the room.

Lana reached the edge of the passage and stopped in her tracks, hidden safely around the corner. Her body screamed at her to keep running. To flee as fast as she could. But her feet didn’t respond. She couldn’t tear herself away.

Shielding himself behind the body of the fallen soldier, Adaar snapped up the fallen pulse rifle and aimed it up at the nearest soldier. A spray of pulses burst from the weapon’s tip and into the charging Kamaran.

But the two remaining soldiers closed in from the sides.

“No!” Lana shrieked, charging back into the open room.

Thrown by her outburst, the soldiers shot their heads towards her.

The moment of distraction was enough. Adaar whipped the butt of the pulse rifle out in a large arc, catching a soldier with a solid blow to the ankle. As the man fell, he unleashed a cluster of shots that shook the stone from its foundation.

“Lana, get back!” he yelled.

Lana tripped forward over a stalagmite protruding from the floor. She lurched forward, bracing herself to break her fall as she toppled to the rocky ground.

Scraped and bruised, she saw the final soldier with the tip of his pulse rifle pressed into Adaar’s temple. The bright circle of light from the end of the barrel illuminated his face like a morbid spotlight.

“One wrong move and you’re dead,” said the soldier as he kicked Adaar’s weapon out of the way.

Lana crawled forward on her belly, quietly as she could, oblivious to the pain of the debris digging into her soft flesh.

“I should just kill you,” said the soldier. “They want you alive…but only the gods know why. Nothing would give me more pleasure than ending you right now.” He kicked Adaar hard in the ribs. “Give me an excuse.”

Lana reached the fallen soldier, extending her arm across his blood-soaked body, fumbling for the pulse rifle still clutched in his hands.

It was heavier than she expected, but she didn’t need to pick it up. She angled the weapon over to where the soldier stood, towing above Adaar.

The weapon might have had a safety. But there was no way it was still on; the guy had shot at them only moments ago. Lana inhaled deeply as she aimed the rifle up at the Kamaran’s chest.

Adaar grunted as the soldier kicked him again.

The others would have heard the gunfire,
she thought. She knew she didn’t have any time to hesitate.

She took a breath. Steadied herself. And squeezed the trigger.

The pulse rifle kicked back hard into her shoulder as a fury of bolts erupted from its tip. They ricocheted off the walls, igniting the room with fire and sound.

The soldier stumbled back; at least one of her shots had landed. His weapon clattered to the ground as he lurched backwards and dropped to the cavern floor.

The crashing water below still roared through the room, an ominous white noise that shielded Lana from her thoughts.

She shot a man. To save Adaar.

With a low groan, Adaar pushed himself to his feet and stumbled forward, gripping his chest. His breath was labored as he worked his way through the room, leaning against the wall to support his heavy frame.

“Adaar, are you…”

He placed a cracked hand up on her shoulder. “You saved me, Lana,” he said.

Through teary eyes, a faint smile emerged. “That’s twice now.”

Adaar shook his head and smiled back. “This time it counts,” he said.

Lana hugged him tightly. The anger boiling up inside her was overpowered by her relief. She wasn’t going to lose him. He didn’t deserve to die.

“There will be more on the way,” he said. “We have to move fast.”

Adaar picked up the flashlight that had dislodged from the fallen soldier’s pulse rifle. “This should be helpful,” he said, placing the sturdy steel tube in Lana’s hands. “You lead the way.”

Lana turned on her heels and headed back toward the small tunnel. She was surprised by the relief she felt at his safety. After everything he’d put her through. She had fallen for him harder than she’d imagined, harder than she’d thought possible.