21

- Cori'ax -

He came to and saw the ceiling far above him, as well as Harper and the rescue pilot. The man was kneeling beside him, rummaging through a large open case with a red cross on the side.

“He's back,” the pilot said and shone a light into his eyes. “Are you all there, warrior? Hey, no, you just stay down. You took a heavy fall.”

Cori'ax felt a strong hand on his chest and laid back on the hard deck, and the pilot just had time to slide something soft under his head.

He sought Harper with his eyes, and she knelt down on the other side. Her eyes were radiating worry.

“Were you injured during the mission? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have sprung all that on you before your checkout. It's just that you looked totally fine.”

“Not injured,” he managed to croak. “Charlotte- where?”

Harper frowned. “Isn't she with your unit? She said ... no, you should probably just stay down.”

Cori'ax raised his torso and felt for his sword, fear coursing through him. “She's not with me nor Squad Nine. I haven't seen her for months. Has she not been here?”

The look on Harper's face scared him more than anything he could remember. “She was here yesterday. She had just returned from Earth, and she wanted to have the baby here. She said she was going to you and your squad to tie everything up and then come back here with you. But she didn't show up? Wait.”

Harper said something into her wristband, then listened.

Cori'ax laid his head down on the deck again. He had not heard from Charlotte at all since she'd left his camp. And now it sounded a lot like she was missing.

The loudspeakers in the hangar came alive. “Pilot Charlotte Taylor, report to C&C in any way you can. Pilot Charlotte Taylor, immediately report to C&C in any way you can.”

The voice was pleasant, and the translation in his ear was neutral, but still it sent a chill down Cori'ax's back.

Harper slowly straightened up. “Yeah, I had them page her, just in case. I sent someone to her quarters, too. She seems to be nowhere on board, judging from our systems, but I'm taking no chances.”

She looked at the rescue pilot. “Where is Charlotte's dropship?”

The pilot pointed to an empty space. “Usually right there. She likes to park it close to the ammunition dispenser. I wondered why her craft wasn't there today.”

“That explains it. I don't think we'll find her onboard. She's gone somewhere without telling anyone. Any way to track that thing?”

The pilot got his pad out. “If it's still in this solar system, it should show up here. The transponder should send a very clear signal.”

Cori'ax laboriously got to his feet, and neither Harper or the pilot protested. His forehead and his nose both felt tender, but apart from that, he seemed to be fine. The shock of realizing that Charlotte was indeed his Mahan had only lasted for a few seconds, but still he knew that everything had changed. Once and for all. And to the better.

Probably.

Unless something had happened to Charlotte.

The pilot shook his head. “Nothing. Only Acerex traffic, and not much of that, either.”

Harper looked at his pad. “Can she turn off that signal?”

“Not easily. She'd have to smash the transmitter with a hammer. And I don't see her as the kind of person who'd deliberately damage her ship.”

Harper listened to a message on her wristband. “You're right. It still works. She's recorded as leaving this ship twelve hours ago, wanting to test a new system on her craft. C&C has a record of her going down to Acerex, but then they lost track of her because she was on the other side of the planet. They were about to declare her missing anyway.” She looked at Cori'ax. “Any idea where she might have been going on your planet?”

He thought fast. “Only one idea. My village. Skato, the Neriud tribe. She liked it.”

“Okay. We'll send a shuttle. Or six. You can just go straight to the medical section. We'll find her.” Harper started talking into her wristband and walked off with quick steps.

The rescue pilot started packing up his first aid kit. He glanced up at Cori'ax. “She's right. You really should after a fall like that. Sounded like a ton of bricks hitting the deck. I'll come with you.”

Cori'ax frowned, tried to get his thoughts in order. He was missing something. Something that had been said here ...

“Your Highness!” His voice resonated from the entire hangar. Some mechanics hundreds of meters away ducked reflexively at the mighty sound of his voice resonating from the metallic floor and ceiling, but he hardly noticed it.

Harper spun on the spot and crouched, then straightened and tilted her head to the side quizzically.

Cori'ax ran to her, realized everyone was looking and made sure to bow when he reached her. “'Have the baby?'” he hissed. “What baby?”

The queen's hand went to her mouth. “You didn't know? I thought she'd told you ... I mean, she must have been showing for months ...”

Cori'ax froze, totally focused on Harper. He swallowed in a dry throat. “Told me what, Your Highness?”

“Stars, you shouldn't get this from me. But I suppose the cat's out of the bag now. Charlotte's pregnant. Cori'ax, you must have seen that?”

“She's pregnant?” His voice came out pained and hoarse. Certainly he'd noticed that she'd been getting a little rounder, becoming even more feminine and attractive to him. But he'd never seen a pregnant woman before. He had no idea what that looked like.

Harper was distressed, too. “She's due any time now. Doctor Heming was preparing everything. That's why I really want to find her right now.”

A thousand thoughts battled for attention in Cori'ax's mind. But one stood out more than any. “Your Highness ... I mean, Harper ... do you think ... The baby ... is it ...?” His voice trailed off.

Harper put one slender hand on his arm. “Is it yours? That's what she tells me. Don't faint again, warrior. That's good news.”

Cori'ax felt heat and cold coursing through him, and it was as if he was standing beside himself. His lips felt numb and he had to concentrate to form sounds. “And she's due to give birth any time now?”

“Today, in fact. Short pregnancy. Heming was going to gently help that along, but until we find her, there's not much we can do. We'll find her, don't worry. You just go get fixed up. You've had a lot of things happen today.” Harper squeezed his arm, then turned and walked fast to the shuttle that was powering up.

Cori'ax realized what that meant: the queen was going to get Charlotte herself.

Cori'ax stared after her, feeling himself become complete. He wasn't afraid for Charlotte anymore. Everything was falling into place. The news he'd gotten fit perfectly with Charlotte being his Mahan. Of course she was carrying his baby. Of course she hadn't told him. How could she trust him?

It didn't change much.

Except one thing.

He looked around. It should be – ah. All the way over in a dark corner he could see his squad's old shuttle, the one they'd always used before Charlotte came in her new Earth model. It was fast, but old, and it looked like no one had used it for months. No wonder – the Earth dropships were changing the entire way the Acerex army fought their battles, and the Acerex ones were now badly obsolete.

He walked calmly over to it. He'd have no chance to pilot any of the Earth shuttles. But this one he had flown many times before.

He got inside and did a quick systems check. It had fuel and no error messages. It was ready to fly. There was nobody close, and no one seemed to notice that he powered up the engine in the noisy hangar where Harper's shuttle was also going through its startup routine at the other end.

He turned off the communications module. There was nothing anyone could say that would be much help now.

He lifted off from the floor and hit the throttle just enough for the craft to crawl slowly out of the hangar and out into space. The sneaking wouldn't help much longer, but as soon as he was away, they couldn't catch him. Earth shuttles were powerful, but also heavy. And this Acerex-made one was almost as powerful, but much lighter. Armor had never been a priority for warriors.

He took a deep breath. He didn't think Charlotte was on Acerex. She might be, of course. There was a remote chance she'd go to his village to give birth there or just to visit before the event.

But he thought she had something grander in mind. Something worthy of a warrior like her. Something that would shake all of Acerex and make the child special.

If he was wrong, Harper would find her. But if he was right ...

She had gone to do it alone, and her choice must be respected. She didn't want to get rescued. And she very probably didn't need it. But he would be there with her, keeping her safe. At any cost. Her and the baby.

She just wanted to win, that was all, and he understood her perfectly.

Spirits, such an idea!

How could she know about that prophecy?

He suddenly laughed out loud in happiness and excitement. She was sensational!