2
Normally the dark expanse of space calmed Drake, but today he was far from peaceful. He felt murderous. Tension coiled around his very being, and his broad shoulders tightened to the point of breaking.
Suddenly this spaceship, The Journey the crew laughingly called it, felt infinitely smaller. It was the last hope of his people. Their last refuge since most of his home galaxy was destroyed by the Da’Nesh over a decade ago.
He was fresh from the academy when it happened. A young warrior that lived in a world where nothing bad occurred. One where nothing could touch him.
Drake’s brow furrowed as pain seeped from his heart. He had been so wrong. When the attacks began his parents forced him onto this very ship. He had lost his entire family, but then again… so had everyone else.
The remnants of his people were now a scattering of social class and skill levels, but his royal heritage meant nothing. Their leader he may be, but to Drake the monarchy had perished with his father. The King and Queen had died for their people. Drake couldn't even get them through a month without a skirmish. The General was making certain Alium would never return home again.
Drake gripped the handrail tightly, his knuckles going white and the metal began to give. The General would pay for his treachery. Drake would see to that personally. One way or another, the General would die a slow and agonizingly painful death. Not just for Drake's galaxy, either. But for all that the General had destroyed in his reign. And if Drake had anything to say about it, the entire Da’Nesh system would come crashing down.
“We’re getting ready to dock,” his second in command, Zane, said as he walked up to him. “So far the cloaking shield is working. Da’Nesh scanners have not detected us.”
“Thank God for that,” Drake whispered under his breath. “And what of the prisoners?”
Zane crossed his arms. “Kala was able to do a heat signature trace on the ship. If our inside information is correct it should be relatively easy to get them all out. There are only a few guards. We should be able to take care of them easily enough.” He shrugged as if the plan was simple enough, but Drake knew this would be anything but easy.
They weren’t stealing fuel from a far-reaching outpost. This was Ellis, the headquarters for the Da’Nesh. It’s where the General lived, slept, and ate – if he even did any of those things. There was a slight jerking of the ship and Drake raised an eyebrow and moved to grab his gun. “Looks like we’re here.”
“Whoa,” Zane knocked his hand away from the weapon. “Don’t even think about going in there. We’ve got plenty of guys to do this. We can handle it without you. Trust us, we've got this.” Zane gave him a meaningful look, before taking the gun himself and charging purposefully out of the room.
Zane was still an idealist, something that not everyone on this ship agreed with. He believed that Alium would one day live to be better than it was before the destruction, and he believed Drake would be King.
There is certainly one person who would have something to say about that, Drake’s thoughts grimly reminded him. He couldn’t forget – couldn’t ever forget - that there was a traitor amongst them. He could have forgiven an outright attack. A knife to his back, a laser shot to his chest, even poison in his drink. But this went beyond comprehension. Someone on this ship, someone from his home world, had betrayed him. A lock of hair, a bit of saliva… it didn’t matter. His DNA had been given to the enemy. An enemy they knew full well would use it to kill him. But not just kill him. It would destroy the lives of many innocent people. 25 women, to be exact.
Kala walked onto the bridge and must have sensed his tension and anger. She did not look to him or give him any words of sympathy. She knew better. Instead she walked over to the main console and brought up footage from a camera Zane must be wearing in his armor. “I thought you might like to watch. Make sure everything went according to plan.”
He gave a slight nod, wishing he could say something, but a coiling tension was twisting his stomach into knots. There was a bright light on the screen, and then everything began happening at once. A silent flash bomb was set off to disorient the guards so they could take them out easily enough. Soon they were cutting through the iron bars to the prison door.
Drake felt his breath catch at the sight of the first woman. She walked by the soldiers, and then the next woman quickly replaced her image. They were being ushered onto the ship in rapid sequence. He ticked off the numbers in his mind, all the while bracing himself for the first glance.
His Beloved. He hadn’t thought of her in years. Soul matching had become a thing of the past. People were more concerned with survival than love these days. For Drake it simply wasn’t an option. Thinking with anything other than his brain was dangerous, for himself and everyone on this ship. They were his responsibility; his burden to bear. Now he was adding a woman to the mix. And a soul match was not just any woman. It was his woman. The other half of his soul.
He couldn’t help but feel Kala’s eyes on him, watching his reactions to the women. Kala was a romantic at heart, and he knew she was concerned for the safety of these ladies. But she was also intrigued at the prospect that their emotionally distant and confirmed bachelor leader had a soul match. She would never let him live this down.
But as the soldiers began to fall back, Drake felt a chill claw his spine. Something wasn’t right. The women began to enter the room, looking unsure, emotional, and elated at the same time. A rescue like this had never happened before, and would likely not happen again.
“Let’s get out of here,” Zane instructed Kala as he shrugged off his gun and laid it on the table. “I have a feeling they’re going to notice something’s missing in a minute.”
“Stop!” Drake shouted, effectively silencing everyone in the room. He stared blankly at the women. “There are only twenty-four here. Where is the other?”
“Other?” One of the soldiers repeated.
“The twenty-fifth,” Drake stated, anger vibrating through his voice. “Where is she?”
Zane’s eyes flicked to the ground before meeting his glare. “The woman from Earth went into the arena just before we got here.”
Drake grabbed the man by his vest, pulling him up to his face. “What do you mean she’s in the arena?” He ground out between clenched teeth.
“It’s just Earth, she’s probably already dead by now. We need to get going!” A woman standing near the front shouted, her green eyes were blazing with anger and disgust. “The Da’Nesh will find us all if you keep us here any longer, you fool. It’s just a stupid human.”
Zane raised his hands in surrender and Drake grudgingly loosened his hold. Zane looked to the girls and then his friend. “Are you sure one of them isn’t…”
Drake didn’t answer. He couldn’t answer. He just grabbed the gun on the table and marched towards the door, daring anyone to try and stop him. He didn’t care if the General himself caught him. He wasn’t going to leave until the Earth girl was free.
When he saw the other women he had felt nothing; nothing but relief that another innocent life had not been taken because of him. However that could only mean one thing. His soul match, if he indeed had one, was an Earth woman.
An Earth woman who was presently in the arena with a beast bred for one thing: murder.