Page 7 of The Arabis Triad

The medi-bed finished its analysis. Various lights flickered within the chamber. There was a quiet hiss as the chamber filled with mist that contained medications and nutrients her body needed. It was also imbued with a sedative so that she would be able to rest while her body healed.

There was nothing more they could do now. Even then, they stood around the medi-bed, looking at their precious wonder, none of them wanting to leave her side. Once they had her back in their Homeland and their bed, Ashir for one, would never let her out of his sight. He vowed to keep her in a constant state of sated pleasure so she would never remember what had happened to her.

“Any clue to where we are?” Ashir asked Coltan. He dragged his gaze from their mate to his brother. The gash on his forehead had disappeared into a thin red line as it healed.

He shook his head. “Those clouds drew us into a wormhole. Have you ever seen anything like them before, Paxt?”

Paxt shook his head, the numerous abrasions on his chest and arms also healing. “Never. But the scaled ones are also on this planet somewhere.”

“I followed them down to the surface as close as I could.” Coltan moved to the main comms-panel on the wall and worked through some commands. He sucked in a surprised breath and muttered, “Hells.”

Ashir stood next to his brother, reading the star map. His hands fell to his sides. “It can’t be possible.”

They were in the outreaches of the farthest galaxy of their known universe. It would have taken a good month, going at a hundred times the speed of light, to reach this planet from where they had been.

Coltan fiddled with the comms. They waited until the star-map populated again, showing their location to be the same as before as he checked for a second time.

“We’re here, all right,” he said. “Sudal.”

It was an uncharted, unpopulated planet. Apart from the wildlife that was un-discovered, it was a relatively harmless planet. There had been talk of turning it into a wilderness pleasure world, where people might come to hunt and relax on the shores of one of the large lakes strewn across the land, but distance had been a major hindrance to those ideas.

“How is that even possible? It’s so far away from the central galaxies” Ashir murmured, more to himself than his brothers. “And why here? Why this planet in particular? It’s basically an uncharted planet with no population or technology to speak of.”

Coltan shook his head. “It’s going to take us a month to get back to our planet from this distance away by the time Trum comes to retrieve us.”

“That’s two weeks before we have the help of our General and warriors. Two weeks to be alone on a planet alone with the scaled ones. They can do anything they like on a distant planet like this and they have the time to do it.” Paxt said. “Coltan, can you detect the Arabis crystal? They must have landed with it somewhere here.”

Coltan dashed from the medi-bay and returned with the scanner and chip of the Arabis tower they’d been able to track the crystal down with. He entered a command into the scanner. Beneath the chip, a topographical layout formed, along with a light blipping to indicate the location of the crystal. Coltan had done a good job following them. It wasn’t too far from where they had crashed. “Thedrumasturds have it right here.”

A slither of unease worked through Paxt as he understood their position. “They have the crystal, they have time and they can work undisturbed doing whatever the hells they’re doing with it.”

“The only thing they don’t have anymore are human females, thank the gods,” Ashir said.

“They did have a whole cargo full of the poor females.” Coltan’s lips pressed together in displeasure, worry lines bracketed his mouth.

“The Ozar said the scaled ones are using the human females’ energetic bodies to fuse our crystals power with. Using them as power boosters. Why else abduct so many,” Ashir said.

“If they connected the power of the crystals to so many, the power they could generate would be unstoppable,” Coltan said.

“This makes our mate a target while we’re stranded here. We have to keep her protected at all times. If there’s one thing they’ll want, it is her,” Paxt said.

Ashir ploughed his fingers through his hair. A pulse beat at his temple. “She’s nothing to them but a tool to use.”

“And she is everything to us, brother,” Paxt said, and placed his hand on Ashir’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

Ashir looked at the mist-filled medi-bed and placed his palm on the cool top. It was so thick, he could barely make out the still, small form concealed inside. A powerful urge of protection washed over him, unfamiliar, but not unwelcome. It was as though his life now had an extra dimension, an extra element that had been missing before.

“Coltan, set the rescue beacon so that General Trum can retrieve us as fast as possible. We must prepare ourselves for the threat of attack from the scaled ones. First, we’ll treat our wounds and wash off the last battle. Then we’ll go outside and protect the perimeter. If they come to attack, I want to be ready,” Paxt said.

Ashir crossed his arms over his broad chest. There was no way he would ever let one of those Drumas-born pieces of turd get anywhere near her again. They’d already done enough damage. He would be happy to wipe out the whole shipload of them before they had a chance to even blink. Any species that harmed unarmed, helpless females deserved nothing less.

“I think we should be more than ready,” he said. “Once we have a secure safety net around our mate, I say we attack first.”

Chapter Four

Evelyn

Evelyn drifted through layers as delicate as concrete, forcing her way toward the light behind her eyes. It would be such a temptation to drift away from the aches and pains and heaviness of her body, but she needed to be on guard. Awake and aware. With a will born of sheer determination and her eyelids feeling as heavy as lead, she blinked awake to find herself in a cloud.

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