Chapter Fifteen
Sa’Mya smiled up to the sun. “We are on Thalassa.” She had recognized Thalassa immediately. The supposed birthplace of the Great Ancients—a race of beings who had populated and enlightened the universe.
All the children of this galaxy were required to learn about Thalassa. She remembered spending hours looking at satellite pictures of the ancient planet. She had never thought to visit here in her wildest dreams. Now here she stood.
“Sacred Thalassa.” She clasped her hands together and glanced around in shocked elation. “Beautiful.”
Kane held on to her elbow and escorted her down the metal ramp to where the others were starting to congregate. As she descended, she let her gaze scan the horizon. Blue waters in front of her as far as she could see. Rays from the sun sitting high in the cloudless blue sky shined bright and warm.
“Captain, we’ll be over here.”
She turned to catch JB pointing to an area where he intended to let Yazmine and Moira relax. She briefly wondered if her aides recognized this place as well.
She looked around in wonderment, amazed with all the beauty. Finally reaching the bottom, she slipped off her shoes and let her feet sink into the cushion of grass. If her feet could talk, they would oh and ah their approval. After walking on the hard metal flooring of the vessel, they welcomed the luxurious feeling.
She noticed there weren’t any tress or bushes, nothing that needed deep roots. Small flowers of varying shapes and colors dotted land that was barely large enough to accommodate the spacecraft.
Supposedly, before Thalassa had become this water world, it had been known for its many modern cities. There had been kingdoms here that rivaled any in existence today.
“You know this place?” Kane asked.
She let her head fall back and closed her eyes. She welcomed the warm sun’s rays. She hadn’t been in sunshine or had fresh air since leaving Sonis.
“You’ve broken more laws than you can imagine, Captain.”
“If you would please enlighten me on where we are and on the rules I’ve broken, I would forever be indebted to your highness.”
The sun’s rays washed across her face. It really wasn’t the humans’ fault they sought refuge on an ancient and protected planet. In their defense, they came from a small remote planet and didn’t know the ways of the universe.
She angled her head to peer at him. “We are on Thalassa and you are in an insurmountable amount of trouble.”
He leveled his gaze with hers. “Explain yourself.”
How could she explain a sacred planet to a male who, for all intents and purposes, had just found out that other worlds existed besides his?
“By abducting me and my crew you would have earned imprisonment. By landing on Thalassa you have insured your death. The Galactic Council might not give you a trial, Captain.” She shrugged and walked past him toward the water’s edge. “You remember to explain to the Galactic Council that you forced me here and made me swim in its sacred waters!” she yelled over her shoulder.
Sa’Mya pulled her dress over her head and ran toward the water in her undergarments, all the while giggling as if she were a child.
She put all grace aside and plopped on the edge of land. She dangled her feet and legs in the clear, brilliant-blue water below.
Kane started to follow her. She held her breath and slid off the edge.
She let the weight of her body drop into the water’s depth. She opened her eyes, amazed at how well she could see. No, she didn’t see the remnants of any great cities. The water seemed to be a bottomless pit.
Wonderful.
She kicked off and swam farther out and explored her new surroundings. Nothing, she was totally alone.
She came up for air and took another breath to dive again. As Kane swam toward her, the splashing he made disrupted the calm and peaceful waters.
“Don’t ever do that again. You scared me shitless.”
“Do what?” she snapped.
“You know what I mean. You dropped into the water and when you didn’t resurface I thought you drowned.”
Is that worry in his voice?
She blinked in surprise. “I wasn’t going to drown. I know how to swim.”
“So far, Princess, I can count all the things you can do on your own on one finger.” He warily scanned their surroundings. “We shouldn’t be out this far.”
She ignored his retort and flipped on her back. “Why do we have to go so soon?”
The water instantly blanketed her body so only her face and toes broke through the surface. Her hair fanned out around her. She opened her arms and allowed the water to sift through her fingers.
“It’s beautiful. I can’t believe I’m actually here.” She glanced at him. “You might as well enjoy yourself.” After turning back to the sky, she added, “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“I’m sorry that once it’s found out you’ve breached the sacred planet, you and your crew will be put to death. If I had known you were coming here I would have persuaded you against it.”
“We haven’t been caught yet. I’m sure no one knows we’ve been here.” After a moment of silence, he added, “Is there a way to track who has come onto this planet?”
She tilted her head in thought. “There has never been a need for such a reason. Everyone is forbidden to land on Thalassa.”
“Good.” He slipped onto his back.
“May I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.”
“Where is your mate? Was she sold in the slave market as well?”
He paused before answering. “No. She was killed.”
She caught her breath. “How did it happen?”
“Aliens.”
Whenever they docked here, the eerie waters put him on edge. He always had the feeling he was being watched. Since they’d yet to encounter any kind of life form, the creepiness made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Sa’Mya floated quietly next to him, not at all worried about what strange creatures might be swimming around down there. He couldn’t imagine the princess would submerge herself in water where killer sharks and stingrays lived, so he too relaxed.
He floated on the water and tried to put Sa’Mya out of his mind. Something he had been trying to do since the minute he met her. In truth, he couldn’t. Even now.
The dreary lighting on The Vengeance did her no justice. With the sunlight on her skin she looked more golden, vibrant even. Light danced off the highlights in her hair. Her brilliant, sparkling eyes mesmerized and entranced him.
He closed his eyes and allowed himself to fully relax. His thoughts drifted to a time when Earth was still his home planet. A time when his biggest worries had been his credit score and paying the mortgage. A time well before the alien invasion and before his world fell apart. A time when he had a beautiful, loving wife. A time when he was going to be a daddy.
His once beautiful planet was no more.
With the varying extreme temperatures, Earth was unique, the same as the inhabitants who had inherited it. Humans had been so consumed with how different their appearances were from one another that no one focused on how alike they really were.
It all seemed like a cruel and sick joke now. When the Loconuist came, they hadn’t discriminated between people from affluent neighborhoods versus those from poverty-stricken ones. It hadn’t mattered if you were from America or from the Congo.
The Loconuist had enslaved them all.
As his thoughts saddened, his heart also lightened. The hatred and despair that had strangled and wrapped itself around it began to lessen and float away in the calming waters. As his heart became lighter, so did his body. No longer fully submerged in the water, he floated on top.
His home. Gone. His family. Gone. His former life. Gone.
He realized he had something billions of humans didn’t.
A new start.
He had survived.
“Let’s go.” Kane rolled off his back and waited for Sa’Mya.
“You’re right,” she said. “It’s time.”
He met her gaze. Her eyes sparked with renewed energy. Whatever had transpired in these sacred waters had forever changed them both.