Theron Destiny (Brides of Theron) (28 page)

After what seemed like a long time spent fighting the winds, they finally had made it back to the fighters. Kurtz opened the door to their fighter and shoved Zeb and Avery inside before jumping inside and closing the door quickly behind them. All three looked as if they had just taken a shower in dirt and dust. There was not a crevice on any of their bodies the dust hadn’t managed to settle into.

While Kurtz got the fighter fired up and ready for takeoff, Zeb had sat down on the closest seat with Avery in his lap. In an instant he pulled the safety harness straps over the both of them.

“Get us out of here Kurtz!”

“You got it Commander!” The fighter took off at full power. The winds of the storm tried to stop their escape but the fighter wasn’t going to let that happen. Within minutes of leaving the ground, the fighter pulled free from the storm’s clutches and slipped out of what was left of UV-47’s atmosphere and into space. Behind them and hot on their tail were the other fighters that had landed on the planet.

Kurtz voice boomed over the speaker issuing orders, “Airborne fighters take out that base. Leave nothing standing.”

Back down on the planet’s surface, the fighters started their attack on the Drylon base. They fired endlessly at the hastily rebuilt structure until it was all engulfed in fire and flames. Though the sand storm was still raging, the heat and size of the fires burning below managed to glow through. The fighters took turns in bombing in waves and firing upon the base. They were going to make sure that nothing survived this time. In the combination of smoke, sand and dust making it seem like the fighters were trying to fly through a black wall.

“The base has been destroyed Sir.” they heard over the speaker.

“Good job. Proceed back to the ship.” Kurtz looked back at Zeb who was still sitting strapped in the seat clutching his mate. “How is she?”

Kurtz got up out of his seat and moved to help Zeb. Zeb was unstrapping himself and Avery from the seat when Kurtz had pulled out a make shift bed that was folded into the wall of the fighter. Zeb laid Avery down on the bed.

“Do you know the extent of her injuries yet?” Concern filled Kurtz’s voice as he watched Zeb.

“Not yet. I don’t have the proper equipment on board. The best that I can do is to make her as comfortable as possible. I will notify Zane of the injuries that I can see but he will have to do a full body scan to see if there are any internal injuries.” He opened the package of one of the cleaning cloths that were stored in the emergency kit. He gently wiped away the dirt that covered the face of his beloved. She began to stir as he wiped away the filth.

“Oh, Nea hela. I am so sorry. I have failed you.”

Avery turned her head in the direction his familiar voice. Her head hurt so badly and the light caused her good eye to water when she opened it. Her vision was blurry but she was able to make out the features of the face of the man she loved. She brought her hand up to his face and laid it on his cheek. She gave a weak smile and fell back to sleep.

His much larger hand covered hers, “I will kill Lars for doing this to you. I will hunt him down until his last dying breath. No one will ever take you from me again. That is a promise.” He said this as more of reassurance to himself than to her. He sat next to her the rest of the journey back to the Theron mother ship. He had Kurtz notify the ship that they were returning and that Avery had been injured.

As soon as they got back to the ship, he would make sure that Avery was out of harm’s way and safe with Zane in the clinic.  The next item on his agenda is to spearhead the repair efforts, making the ship safe for travel.  Once the ship was repaired enough for safe travel they would immediately set their course for home. Now, more than ever he wanted to get Avery and the other earth females to their home on Theron. There the security was so tight on Theron, that no one got access to the planet without permission.

He would take her to his home where she would feel safe again. She would never see Lars’s face again. He was sure of that. His mother lived with him since his father was gone, so she would have company as often as she liked. Gracie too would be close by since he and Zane had built homes very near to each other in the same sector. He would enjoy showing her his planet, almost as much as he enjoyed exploring her body.

Kurtz voice interrupted his thoughts, “There’s the mother ship.”

Before the air attack on the base had begun, Lars had managed to find a ship that was sitting right outside one of the alternate entrances to the base. Behind him a Drylon soldier was following close obviously hoping that Lars knew where he was going. He had considered just shooting the soldier but thought twice and asked, “Do you know how to fly this thing?”

The soldier raced by and shouted, “Of course I do. I flew it here.” The door to the ship slid open and they both entered it. The soldier asked Lars, “Where do you think you are going Theron scum?”

Lars charged forward and grabbed the soldier around the neck and lifted him off the floor, “I am going where you are going. Is that a problem?” The soldier’s face was turning purple from lack of air but he still managed to shake his head in response to the larger man’s question. “I didn’t think that would be a problem.” He pushed the soldier away from him and laughed when he hit the floor. He looked at the Drylon soldier with contempt and said, “Call me Theron scum again, and I will kill you on the spot. Now fly this thing off this shitty planet.”

The soldier scrambled to the front seat and got the ship started. It wasn’t a moment too soon either.  The minute they started to fly away was when the first wave of air strikes on the base had begun.

Chapter 28

The fighter carrying Zeb, Avery and Kurtz was the first to land the mother ship. From the outside they could see that the ship had taken quite a beating but otherwise had survived the attack. Inside the docking bay was filled with activity as warriors and crew moved about assessing and fixing the damage while waiting for the fighters to return.

“Kurtz, would you please see to the repairs on the ship and get her ready to move? I cannot leave my mate and I trust you to see to the ship’s welfare.”

“I would be most honored to help you in any way that I can, you know that. I am at your disposal for as long as you need me, my ship, and my crew.” Kurtz placed his hand over his heart as a sign of his promise to his friend and ally. 

As the fighter moved into its final resting spot, Zeb could see through the window that Zane was there waiting. The door to the fighter opened and Zane rushed forward to get to Avery.

“Let’s get her to the infirmary quickly so I can scan for internal injuries.” Zane was barking orders to the medics that had come to assist him in escorting Avery. “Zeb, I know this is hard but please move out of the way.” He pushed the big warrior to the side allowing the medics to move the hover stretcher into the fighter.

“Zeb, please, she will be ok. Let me get her to the infirmary.” It was heart breaking to see his friend this way. Normally the fierce warrior didn’t crack under any kind of pressure or situation but this was entirely different. His mate had been in mortal danger and still wasn’t out of woods until he had the chance to thoroughly exam her.

Zeb growled at the men approaching Avery. He moved out of the way of the stretcher but he wasn’t willing to let any other person touch Avery. He picked her up gently and moved her to the stretcher.

“Zeb…” A soft voice called for him.

“I am right here, Nea hela.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. The stretcher moved out of the fighter and into the docking bay. Silence had come over the entire area as Avery was brought through. Zeb wasn’t paying attention his surrounding and didn’t see the looks from those around him.  His only thoughts were of Avery.  He did not notice the anger that flashed across each one’s of his crew member’s faces followed by worry. They had no desire to see one of the Earth female injured. All of them knew who had been the guilty party in betraying them. Lars was a wanted man now and rest assured, no warrior on the ship would ever rest until he was brought to justice.

The group swiftly made their way to the infirmary. Once there, Zane and the other medics went to work on Avery immediately. A small hand held scanner was placed on her forehead to check for any brain tissue damage or skull fractures. It would take time to run the entire scan on the brain but Zane needed to be sure there was no unforeseen damage there. Zane had one of the medics turn Avery onto her side so that he could see to the injury on the back of her head.

At first glance it looked bad but after washing away the dried blood he was glad to see that there was only a small superficial gash. He quickly applied skin sealer to the cut and put a liquid bandage over it. He wasn’t sure though if her hair would grow back in the area of the injury but luckily it was in a spot that would easily be covered.

“How is she Zane?” Zeb paced back and forth in the infirmary.

“I’m still checking her out. You need to calm down before I have both of you out of commission. She will be fine Zeb.” He glanced up from his work and gave his friend a reaffirming smile.

“I will calm down once I know for sure that she is ok and is awake. Why won’t she wake up?” He stopped in front of the table where Avery now laid.

“It is common to see this happen when one has a head injury.  It is a way that a person’s body reacts in order to protect itself from going into shock. However, I am almost guaranteeing that she has been given something to help ease some of the pain. I am about to draw some blood for analysis before I give her any medications.” He had the needle in his hand as he spoke. He pushed the needle into crook of her arm and Zeb watched as her life’s blood filled the small tube that Zane was holding.

“That should do it. Decame would you please run this for me.” He handed the tub to the medic that was standing next to him. “Now let’s scan the rest of her. Hopefully there are no broken bones.” He reached for the scanner that was about the size of one of his hands. It didn’t look like much but the amazing things it could reveal made the scanner priceless.

He started at Avery’s neck and slowly made his way over every inch of her body. If any form of an injury was found the scanner would emit a loud beep to inform the user.

“That’s good nothing is broken in her arms. Excellent!” Zane was concentrating on the scanner and wasn’t aware that Zeb had moved in close to the table and was watching as Zane spoke.

Next he moved the scanner over her chest and rib cage. Finding nothing he moved the scanner over her abdomen.

“Wonderful! The baby is just fine.” He thought he was talking to himself when he realized that the entire room had gone silent. He looked up to see what the problem was. Zeb was standing in front of him all the color drained from his face.

Zeb wasn’t sure he had heard Zane correctly but apparently whatever he had said caught the attention of everyone in the room. “Did you just say the baby is fine?” he swallowed nervously as he waited for Zane’s reply.

Now Zane fully realized he had been talking out loud to himself, “Shit, I forgot that you didn’t know. She wanted to be the first to tell you.” A smile spread across Zane’s face. “Congratulations  Zeb, you are going to be a daddy. Now why don’t you go take a seat before you end up in the bed next to Avery?”

Zeb wasn’t quite sure what to do. His legs wouldn’t move when his brain was telling them too. It was like he was paralyzed. He just stood there staring at Zane with his mouth hanging open. He was pretty sure he didn’t look like much of a commander at present. Nothing in his life had ever left him so bewildered.

“I am going to be a father?”

Zane looked up at him again, “Yes, Zeb you are going to be a father. Now go sit down.” Zane and the other medics were trying to conceal their laughter but it was becoming harder and harder with the commander of the ship just standing looking so dumbfounded.

“Jeeka would you please bring Commander Zeb a chair since he cannot seem to get his legs to work.”

Jeeka, one of the medics helping Zane, grabbed one of the silver chairs that lined the walls of the infirmary and carried it over to where Zeb was standing.

“Here you go sir. Go ahead and sit right here that way you can still be close to your mate.” Jeeka was one of the few Theron women of the few aboard the ship. She laid her hand on her commander’s arm, “Commander, please sit down. It will not do your mate any good if you harm yourself while passing out.” She pushed the chair to the back of his knees a bit harder than she should have, but the trick worked. The Commander sat down immediately when he felt the pressure of the chair hitting the back of his legs.

Zane was finishing up the scan of the rest of Avery’s body. Thankfully, she didn’t have any other injuries other than on her face and the cut on back of her head. Zane knew that Lars could have easily inflicted a lot more damage to her and to Gracie for that matter. Both of the women were very lucky to be alive.

He needed to try to wake up Avery at least for a few minutes in order to check her hearing and her speech. The scanner was still running the full brain scan and would be able to detect any form of permanent brain damage.

“Avery this is Zane. I need you to wake up and open your eyes.” He took her left hand in his and began patting it gently. “Come on Avery. You can open your eyes.” He felt her hand twitch in his. He watched as her good eye was moving beneath the lid and the lashes were starting to flutter. “That’s it. Open your eyes. Zeb, come here.”

Zeb rose from his chair and was up and over next to Zane in a flash. “What do you need me to do?”

“Take her hand and talk to her. Get her to open her eyes.”

Zeb replaced Zane next to the bed and took her hand. He swallowed before he spoke, “Nea hela open your eyes for me.” He stroked the side of her face with the other hand while he threaded his fingers through hers.

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and waited. “Why isn’t she waking up Zane?”

“Looking at the final report on her blood analysis I am correct in saying that she was given a large dose of sedatives. It was probably administered to her to help with any pain she might have been experiencing due to the injury to her head and additionally to keep her quiet. Didn’t you find her alone?” Zane was standing next to Zeb and looking over the papers in his hands.