Chapter Fourteen
Angh, Planet Vesper, Helios Retreat
“This is notthe flank ship in Sector 216,” I commented, turning in a slow circle, taking in our surroundings. This was not a transport room.
Kira was beside me, which meant I wasn’t losing my mind. She began to laugh and I had to question whether she’d lost hers.
“Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore,” she replied, although I had no idea what the hell she was talking about.
I gripped her arm, suddenly panicked, then tugged her behind me. She stumbled, but I held on as I wrapped my arm about her, holding her against my back. My beast came to the front and I felt it taking over. It wasn’t the fever, but beast mode. “Was our transport intercepted? We have no weapons.” My beast was the only weapon I had.
“Angh, calm down. Tell your beast to chill the fuck out.” I felt her hand as she patted my back.
“Calm down? What does getting cold have to do with anything? Where the fuck are we? How did we get here? The flank ship should have the blackness of space out of the portals, not land. Sand. A green sky.” I walked closer to the large doorway, which was open to the warm air, pulling Kira along with me. “And two suns. In order for us to see two suns, then we have to be about…three light years from Sector 216.”
“All I can see is the back of your shirt,” she grumbled. Kira pushed out of my hold, but only because I let her, but I didn’t let her go far. “It’s beautiful here. I’ve never seen two suns before.”
I looked down at her, frowning. “Out of everything I just said, you’re focused on the number of suns?”
She smiled. “Yes.” Turning, she took a step out of the doorway, but I grabbed her about the waist. “Angh, we’re at some kind of resort or hotel, not in Hive territory. We’re definitely not on a battleship. Look, there’s a pool.”
I followed the direction of her hand as she pointed. There was a pool, the colored tiles making the water look deep blue.
Kira spun about. “We’re in a bedroom, not a prison, not a transport room. The bed is built for an Atlan. See?” She pointed again.
“Warlord Anghar, Captain Dahl, greetings.”
I spun about at the words that came from behind us. I had the male in a grip about his neck and had him lifted two feet off the ground, his body pressed against the doorframe before Kira even gasped in surprise.
“Who the fuck are you?” I asked, my voice booming.
Kira came over, tugged on my elbow as the male’s eyeballs began to bulge, his pale face turning purple. His hands gripped and tugged at my forearm, but was absolutely no match for my beast.
“Let him down!” Kira shouted.
“He is a threat.”
The man dropped one hand slapped it against the wall until the room’s comms unit came to life.
“Surprise!” Cadet Melody’s perky voice had me turning my head, loosening my hold on the male.
“Angh, put the poor man down. He works here.”
“Here? Like I said, where the fuck is here?” I narrowed my gaze at him as he put a hand to his neck and coughed. His normal coloring was returning. He wasn’t Atlan, didn’t have the darker skin tone of a Prillon. I had no idea what his home planet was.
“Will you stop saying fuck?” Kira asked.
“Hi, Kira and Angh!” Melody’s face took up most of the comm display. Denzel was behind her, arms crossed in his familiar stance, although he was smiling. Smiling.
“I know you’re probably freaking out. Don’t panic. Really. I heard about your mating in the brig—not very romantic—and talked with Vice Admiral Niobe and told her she wasn’t a very good matchmaker. Newly-mated couples need candles, wine, romance, not prison walls and conjugal sex for their claiming. Sheesh.” Melody rolled her eyes, clearly disappointed in the Vice Admiral. “Anyway, she cleared it with Governor Rone on The Colony and we rerouted your transport. You’re at the Helios Retreat for your honeymoon!”
She was excited. Too excited for another couple’s leave for a honeymoon. I wasn’t familiar with Earth’s suns and moons and so I had no idea why it was called honey. I gave up trying to understand all the Earth slang after spending so much time with Denzel. As for her exuberance, I didn’t understand that either, but the surprised and pleased look on Kira’s face told me she did.
I eyed the male before me who’d surprised us, who clearly was an employee of the retreat. It was obvious now with his black pants and green shirt that had an unusual graphic on the chest with the word Helios below. He eyed me with fear, but hadn’t moved or fled, and I was impressed with their level of service. I angled my head out the door and he bolted.
I took a deep breath, then another. I took in my surroundings with a calmer demeanor. Helios Retreat. I’d never heard of it, nor Vesper. But, I knew of retreats around the galaxy that many used for vacation. I hadn’t been on a vacation in years, not since before I became a warlord. Before battle. Before the Hive. The idea of being someplace where there was no war, no danger, most likely not even talk of the Hive, was strange.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I turned my attention back to the screen.