Gamma Raiders: Storm Squadron Alpha: Scifi Alien Romance Novel (32 page)

What would she have done, if she had known the truth about him from the start? She detested the rule of the Kamaran Empire. Adaar gave up his claim to the throne to escape it. And he was working to undo the damage that their rule had caused.

And he cared about her, too. He had risked his life to protect her, time and time again. The passion in his eyes was obvious, but his need for her body didn’t overpower his decency, his respect for her. The only man she’d ever known who deserved to wear a crown was the one man who passed it up.

If only he had been honest with her. The poison of betrayal coursed through her, even as her feelings for him grew.

“We’re almost to the entrance,” he said. “We lost radio contact with Ja’al when we came into this place. Seems that even our tech is no match for thousands of meters of stone. But the crew will be there with the shuttle.”

“Shit!” The cry echoed through the cavern behind them. “What the hell?”

“Sounds like they’re closer than we thought,” said Adaar. “Let’s move.”

The sound of approaching footsteps grew louder behind them, echoing through the halls of the cavern.

The pair quickened their pace, winding their way down through the steep grades of the cavern. The moisture hung heavy in the air as their descent continued, leading them ever further into the darkness. A brilliant glowing blue and fuchsia covered the rocks ahead, iridescent in the darkness. The luminous clumps of algae led them onward, shepherding them along the narrow path.

Ahead, Lana heard the crash of a waterfall. As they rounded the corner, she saw the surging jets of water spilling out over the entrance to the cave. The radiant light of the evening sunset pierced the waterfall’s flow, painting a rainbow mist of prismatic colors on the wall.

Lana scanned the path ahead of her. The cavern came to an abrupt stop, its easy natural exit eroded away by years of the surging current.

“I don’t see a way out,” said Lana, stopping abruptly at the edge of the passage.

Adaar shook his head. He scanned the room, looking up to where the waterfall broke through into the cavern. It was easily a hundred-foot climb, and the rock face was worn smooth. Even with the proper gear it would be difficult. Unprepared, it would be damn near impossible.

Just then, a tight group of laser bursts hammered the cavern wall.

The roar of the falls had masked the sound of their pursuers. A small squadron of soldiers rounded the corner and filed into the room, weapons drawn and ready.

“Give it up,” their leader called out, his voice barely audible over the crashing falls. “You’re outnumbered and trapped.”

“We’ve killed soldiers now. They’re not going to let us go,” said Lana.

“If they know who I am,” said Adaar, “they were never going to let us go, anyway.”

Lana wondered whether he was referring to his royal blood or his years of piracy. Either way, the result was the same.

The crew of soldiers filed forward, the barrels of their rifles aimed at the pirate’s heart.

Lana froze. This was the end.

Adaar gripped her arm firmly. “Do you trust me?” he said.

Lana’s eyes went wide.
Are you fucking kidding me?

Adaar squeezed her arm again, harder. “Do you trust me?” he asked again. The raw urgency in his voice demanded her attention. She didn’t have any options. The soldiers were closing in. She had to act.

“Lana?”

“Yes.”

He dug his hand in beneath her shoulder and jumped from the side of the path. Taking Lana with him as they leapt from the edge, they disappeared into the waterfall’s misty spray as they plummeted to the water below.

Chapter 16

Lana’s eyes shot open. The fiery taste of salt water spilled over her lips as Adaar pressed his hands into her chest, forcing the water from her lungs.

“Lana.” Adaar’s voice called her back from the void of blackness.

She coughed and sputtered. Her soaking body ached. The bright light burned her eyes as she shook, and she saw Adaar standing over her. A firm pair of straps held her fast as she tried to keel forward.

“What happened?” she said as the memories flooded back. The soldiers were closing in. And they jumped. “Where am I?” she gasped.

“Lana,” said Kira, charging to her friend’s side. “Thank the gods! I was so worried about you.”

“Shhh, Lana. Everything is okay,” said Adaar, cupping her head in his hands. “We’re safe. We’re back on the Vendetta.”

Adaar stared down at her, lines of relief forming on his cheeks. “The doctor examined you thoroughly,” he said. “You’re going to be okay.”

As Lana’s awareness crept back, she heard the familiar sounds of the Vendetta around her. The low, soothing drone of the engines calmed her racing mind.

“That was seriously insane, Riley,” said Kira as she held her friend’s hand. “I can’t believe
you’re
the one who went cliff diving.”

Her face cracked into a painful smile. “It wasn’t like we had a choice,” she said.

“I’m just glad you’re safe.”

“Yeah,” said Lana. She looked up at her friend, and then over to Adaar.

“You should rest, Lana,” said Adaar. “We have a lot to talk about. You probably have a lot of questions. And I will answer them for you. Those that I can, anyway. If you need anything, just call.”

She smiled as he turned and left the room. The reality of the situation hit her harder than she expected.

“How’re you feeling, Riley?” asked Kira, dragging a chair across the floor and taking a seat by Lana’s side.

Lana shook her head. “I don’t even know,” she said. “How am I supposed to answer that? How much do you know?”

“I’ve got the gist of it. When you guys went off-comm, Ja’al filled me in.”

Lana squeezed her eyes closed. The whole thing seemed like a nightmare. Like it had never even happened. “So you know that he’s…”

“Yeah.” She chuckled softly. “I told you a prince was going to rescue you.”

“You’re not serious.”

Kira shrugged. “Why not?”

“You are serious. Why are we even friends?” said Lana.

Kira squeezed her hand. “Because I love you, Riley. Besides, without me, you wouldn’t have anyone to save you from yourself. Just look at what you get up to when I’m not by your side. Jumping off cliffs like a maniac. Between that, flying through the Dennegar belt, and your stunts on the magnecycle, I’d almost think you had a death wish. You don’t, do you?”

“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.”

“That’s my girl,” said Kira. “Just double checking. I wasn’t sure how you were going to take all this.”

“Yeah. I’m still figuring that part out. Gods dammit, Kira. It was stupid to ever get mixed up with them.”

Kira shook her head. “No, Lana. It wasn’t stupid. Risky? Definitely. But not stupid. Think about how much good you did down there. Princess Ellistra
did
call of the wedding. Anara won’t be joining the Kamaran Empire any time soon. What you did down there was heroic, Riley. Think about all the suffering you prevented. All the lives you saved.”

“But not Tanner’s. We didn’t get the serum. We didn’t get the money to pay to for any serum either. And worse, The Kamaran High Command is going to be looking for me now. And the Consortium isn’t going to be too likely to trust us with their high-priority cargo anymore. There’s no going back.”

“We can always stay here. Join the Raiders for real. If you’re not convinced yet that they’re good people, then there really is no hope for you.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Sure you can. We can get a message to Sakaj. We’ll talk to the crew about smuggling Tanner off the planet, and we’ll find a way to get him treated. Hell, you just made friends with Princess Ellistra
.
If she can’t get you the serum, then no one can.”

“I don’t think she’s my friend. She sent the guards after us.”

“I’m sure there was more to it than that.”

Lana shook her head. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I can’t stay with the Raiders.”

“Why not, Riley? What’s the problem?”

“Because I still don’t believe I can trust him.”

“You understand why he kept his past a secret, right? He was trying to protect you.”

“And it almost got us killed. But more importantly, why spend all this time running?”

“He’s been doing his best to make things better for everyone.”

“But he was the prince. Why not use that? Behind his bravado, Adaar is a coward.”

“I think must have hit your head harder than you thought, Riley.”

“Maybe. I guess we’ll find out soon.”

“You’re planning something.”

“I just need some answers.”

***

Lana slept fitfully, starting awake in a cold sweat. She couldn’t get the image of Tanner out of her head, staring back out at her through the open window of their little clay home back on Tarksis. He was a tough kid, and he had Onni to help take care of him, but Lana had already been gone for too long. And he didn’t need any more trouble than life had already given him.

Tanner wasn’t the only one. And Tarksis wasn’t the only world. As the Empire grew and spread, things were getting worse. She had to help her brother, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. The sheer terror of helplessness spread through her. Some things in the universe could be chocked up to fate. Or to simple bad luck. But injustice? That was more than she could bear.

The moment of clarity hit her like a herd of stampeding morgelo. She realized what had been bothering her. She had to talk to him.

Lana bolted upright and drew a deep drink from the bottle of water that Kira had left at her bedside. Pulling the drip-needle from her arm, she worked her jumpsuit over her legs with purpose and certainty.

The halls of the ship were deathly quiet as she walked through the darkness to Adaar’s cabin. The crew’s celebratory game of Traps long since finished, no one haunted the corridors, though the faint smell of cooked meat and liquor still lingered in the air.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she lifted her palm to the wall panel outside of the great cabin and waited.

“Lana,” came Adaar’s groggy voice. “I didn’t expect you until morning.”

“We need to talk now. I need answers.”

“It can’t wait?”

“No.”

A long pause. “Give me a moment.” Three high-pitched beeps ended the transmission.

When the door slid open, Adaar stood before her half-dressed, his golden skin glowing softly in the dim light. “Come in, Lana. Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

She couldn’t help admiring his bare-chested body. The memories of his flesh pressed against her rushed in. She felt his mouth on her body, the hunger of his kiss. The passion of his hands as they explored her.

But that wasn’t why she came here. Not today.

“Can I get you anything, Lana? A drink?”

Lana shook her head.

Adaar grabbed a bottle of Anaran spiced coffee and poured it into his mug. “We have the crew to thank for this little luxury,” he said. “I’ve learned that in this line of work, it’s important to find joy in the little things when you can.”

“It doesn’t seem like there’s much joy to be found in this universe, Adaar.”

“No,” he said. “It doesn’t. Please, have a seat.” He slid into the large chair opposite her at the table.

Lana appreciated his ability to take a hint. She wasn’t in the mood for their usual playful joust. She slid herself into the morgelo leather chair across from him.

“Lana,” he began. “No apology on my behalf could ever earn your forgiveness. I deceived you, and I put your life at risk. I will own the consequences of that decision.”

Lana sat motionless. “Yes,” she said.

“And you’ve no doubt worked out the reason.”

Lana braced herself for his rationalization. She found herself hoping that he could justify himself. She wanted him to convince her there was a reason he’d turned his back on his people and his throne. She needed to believe that there was a larger plan.

“What I’ve worked out, Adaar, is that you thought hiding the truth would keep me safe.” She didn’t have time for games. She needed to know. “At least, that’s the story you’re telling yourself. But I’m not sure it’s true. Even now, you can’t be honest. Not with me. Not even with yourself.”

“You’re angry with me. I can’t say I blame you.”

“You turned your back on your people. You turned your back on everyone.”

“Lana. It’s not so simple. I’m doing what I can to help them.”

“Really? Because it seems like you’re running, Adaar.”

He stared off into the distance for a long moment. “What I am doing, Lana, is trying to make life better for everyone.”

“And you think that flying around the Gamma quadrant hi-jacking transport ships makes a difference?”

“The supplies we recover make a difference to the people who receive them. In the last three years alone, we’ve secured food and medicine for tens of thousands of people who would have died without it. We’re doing what we can, Lana.”

Lana stood, digging her heel into the ground. “But you see it, Adaar! You see how the Empire has destroyed them. You see their corruption. Their greed. And you…” She threw her hands in the air. “If it were someone else, anyone else, I would have thought it was admirable. But you? This is a drop in the bucket. It’s not enough, Adaar. If you’re so committed to your mission, if you really wanted to change things…you had the chance to do it. You could have taken the throne. But instead, you’re running around playing pirate.”

Adaar looked at her through narrowed eyes. “Do you think for a second that if I’d stayed, I would have able to do half the good I’ve done?”

“You would have become Emperor, Adaar. And you could have changed things.”

“No, Lana.” He stood and turned away from her. “It’s never that easy. You spoke with Ellistra. She told you why I left?”

Lana hesitated. “No,” she said. “She said that you disappeared. That everyone thought you were dead.”

“That was the way it had to be,” he said. He drew a deep breath and fixed his eyes on her. “When I was a boy, Lana, I thought the world was a magical place. I thought, as my father had taught me, that I had a divine right to everything. That the universe itself and all its people existed to serve me. My life was filled with anything I wanted. We had the finest foods, the best entertainment. Anything I wanted was mine. I just had to snap my fingers and ask, and a whole cadre of servants and attendants would appear to make it happen.”

Lana tasted bile in her mouth.

“And as you would expect when things come so easily, I wasn’t satisfied by any of it. I always felt like I was missing something. Everyone around me was so eager to please. Everyone wanted to be my friend, to be in my good graces. But even at a young age, I sensed something was off. Even though I had all the
things
I could possibly dream of, I had no real connection to anyone. I had no
friends.”

Lana pursed her lips. It was tough for her to feel any sympathy.

“There was one boy, though, my personal attendant, Ja’al…who didn’t seem to
want
anything from me. Like most of the palace servants, he came from outside the walls, and he had a very different take on life. The two of us had all kinds of adventures together. We got into trouble. We ran around and played games. And unlike anyone else, Ja’al never
let
me win. He wasn’t afraid of my station. To him, I was just another kid.”

“Smart guy,” she said.

“As we grew older and started to mature, Ja’al kept me in check. He never let my head get too big. He was a voice of reason in a world of excess, and he never took anything for granted. It was a quality I appreciated, even though I didn’t quite understand why.”

“You knew something was wrong.”

Adaar nodded. “But I didn’t know
what.
Ja’al could sense my growing discontent. And unlike me, he seemed to understand the cause. We were the same age, but he knew things I didn’t. I had the best tutors that money could buy, but Ja’al’s knowledge came from a different place. A place of wisdom. A place of experience. That crucial thing I was missing.”

Lana had never been able to put her finger on it, but it made sense. “Ja’al told you about the world outside the palace walls.”

“He didn’t tell me, Lana. He showed me. One night, when everyone was asleep, we sneaked outside the gates. It took a few months of planning. Figuring out how to trick all the sensors and trackers, learning the schedules and routes of the palace patrols. But we waited for the right moment, and we managed it. And nothing could have prepared me for what I saw out there.”