Chapter 1

~ Tara ~

Tara woke up with a thumping headache radiating all the way down to her jawline. Raising her hand, she gingerly touched her face. It felt swollen, hot, and it hurt when she ran her fingers over it. Pushing herself up from the floor, she tried to sit. What a futile effort that turned out to be. Someone eased her back down to the cold floor and her world slowly dimmed again.

As the darkness closed in, she wondered why the ship was jerking so violently beneath her. Even though she could see nothing, the sound of panicked female voices sounded off all around her. As the voices slowly receded, she was left lulling in a strange void with only her own thoughts to comfort her.

Her mind drifted from one unpleasant memory to another. Since her mother passed away, she’d been shuffled from one family member to another until Earth lost its ozone layer and was hit by a huge solar flare. Millions of people lost their lives in a few short years as the population of Earth was driven underground. It was then that her extended family abandoned her completely. The world after was a harsh place. Obsessed with survival, people preyed on each other with alarming regularity.

Memories of being rounded up off the street by Commander Connor floated through her mind. She’d gone willingly, thinking he was still with Earth Gov Military, finding out all too late that he’d turned pirate. Shifting restlessly, she tried to wake herself up again. That’s when the memory of being hit in the head with a rifle by one of his men came flooding back. After she was down, he’d viciously kicked her in the head as well.

Her eyes drifted open to a blinding light. She vaguely recalled that people with a head injury were not supposed to sleep. Banking her fists against her body, she tried to force herself fully awake. Gasping for air, she hurled herself to a sitting position. Holding still, she stared straight ahead and waited for the room to stop spinning.

A strangely accented voice whispered in her ear. “You are very ill, little queen. You must rest.”

Reaching out, her hand landed on something warm and hard. Blinking, she saw it was a person. In fact, it was actually a strange alien that she didn’t recognize. The man had large dark eyes, antennas, and plum colored skin with a strange pattern running through it.

Trying to speak, her voice was dry and rough. “Who are you?”

“I am a healer, what your people call a physician. My name is Vraden.”

“Where am I?”

“You are safely on the Maruvian home world. All will be well, little queen.”

She wanted to ask about being abducted but, her thoughts were disorganized and the questions drifted away.

Words that she hadn’t intentionally chosen tumbled from her lips. “I’m scared.”

“You were in a battle.”

“With my abductors? I remember one of them hitting me in the head.”

“No, little queen. That was long ago. You fought in the great battle against Kabelda. You were injured.”

Easing back down onto the small bed, she mumbled. “I don’t remember that.”

“Sleep, and let the healing platform do its work.” The man’s kind voice did sound a little familiar.

Unsure how long, or even if, she slept, Tara’s eyes drifted open again. Only this time there was a terrifying face hovering over hers. The creature had horns, gigantic teeth and scales. It looked like a crazy mash-up of fictional creatures, but bore a close resemblance to the gargoyles of ancient myth. Without thought or preamble, she covered its face with her palm and shoved it back.

The animal wheezed a laugh then began talking. “I knew you were about to wake up. I’ve watched many human queens sleep. Some have noises emanating from the nasal cavities and some don’t, but you all get twitchy and noisy before you wake.”

The kind voice was back, gently urging the snarky creature to stand down. “Jax, leave the little queen alone. It’s not polite to jump on her as soon as she opens her eyes.”

“She is my queen, not yours. I will decide all things related to her wellbeing. Bring her the round globe of juice. She needs it to heal.”

Suddenly, one piece of her missing memory clicked into place. “Jax, don’t tell the good healer how to do his job. He’s got way more experience healing people than you.”

The creature sitting at the foot of her bed preened a bit. “Ha, my queen just called you old.”

Gasping, Tara slowly propped herself up on an elbow. “I did not. Stop causing trouble, Jax.”

Nuzzling something round down the bed towards her hand with his snout, he growled. “Penny said the round globe of juice will speed your recovery. You must eat one each day.”

Reaching down, she picked up an orange. Realizing she had the taste of leftover orange in her mouth, she glanced between the older man and Jax. “It tastes like I already had one.”

Folding his wings neatly behind him, Jax pointed his snout in the air. “I have been squeezing the juice of one globe into your mouth each day to aid with your healing.”

Noticing the tube running from a small nearby hovering platform holding an IV bag to where it was taped to the inside of her arm, she murmured, “I don’t think that was necessary…”

“I can assure you it was. Queen Penny said if I wish my queen to heal rapidly, you must consume one globe a day. Will you eat it or must I squeeze the juice into your mouth again?”

Staring into the creature’s sincere face, she remembered all about him. His kind were sentinels who attached themselves to important families. Only he didn’t have a family and she could never quite convince the young creature that she wasn’t important enough to merit a protector.

“Please don’t squeeze anything else into my mouth. I’ll eat it before the day is out, scout’s honor.”

Flopping down like a contented puppy, he began licking his claw. It was the same claw he walked around on, since the creatures didn’t walk upright. The thought of the claw he walked on and licked squeezing fruit into her mouth was a tad revolting. But then again, back on Earth she used to exist on leavings, so there was no need to begin getting squeamish now.

Toying with the fruit, Tara glanced up at the healer. “I still seem to be missing large chunks of my memory. Any idea if or when I might be getting them back?”

The older insectoid’s facial expression was difficult to read. Before he could answer, Jax butted in. “Queen Penny says you may never remember the great battle. When you are ready, I will tell you of your heroic deeds.”

“Umm, Jax, I just remembered how much I like these fruits. Do you think you might be able to scare me up another one?”

Leaping to his feet, he gave a solemn nod, before pouncing away.

“Clever, little queen. I do not think Jax intends to be controlling.”

“I know. He’s just trying to look out for me. If not for him appointing himself my protector, I’d be all alone. I’m grateful for all he does for me. It’s just that Jax seems to get all his information from Penny and I’m not sure how knowledgeable a seventeen-year-old is about complex medical issues. I would prefer to hear my prognosis from you, since you’re my primary healer.”

Coming to sit on the side of her bed, the only indication that all was not as it should be was his reserved manner and drooping antennas. “I’m afraid that I do have bad news for you, Queen Tara.”

“Am I going to die?”

Making a noise she interpreted as shock, his eyes got big. “Gods of Chaos, no. Do you remember being injured on the pirate ship?”

“Yeah, Connor’s men kept trying to press some of the women into servicing them. Several of us stood up to them. I caught a blunt force trauma to the head for my trouble.”

“When you were rescued by our ship, you had a brain lesion. It was in a portion of the brain responsible for long term memory recall. We let you heal naturally over a matter of weeks on our way to the Maruvian home world.”

“Don’t remember any of that.”

“You were eager to finally get out of the medical unit and attend the welcoming celebration hosted by our new home world.”

“That sounds like me.”

“Unfortunately, our former Maruvian queen attacked. She was heavily armed and guarded by a force field. Being twice the size of a human queen and covered in thick skin, she didn’t consider any of you a threat.”

“That must the great battle that Jax mentioned.”

“According to Maruvian custom the queens settle disputes by trial of combat. She set her shield to allow only female genetic material to pass. Everything not biological was burned away by the shielding.”

“Clearly, she didn’t want us to have any weapons. It sounds more like a trap and less like a battle.”

“That is what our former queen thought as well. She didn’t anticipate the sheer numbers of human females prepared to do battle on our behalf.”

Knowing herself all too well, she sighed. “Tell me I didn’t step across the shielding.”

“You fought hard and sustained many injuries in the process. Kabelda caught your leg with one of her claws and tore your kneecap out. We replaced it and regenerated tissue weeks ago. It should work perfectly.”

“Jesus, how long have I been unconscious?”

“Two lunar cycles, or what you Earthlings call months.”

“No wonder Jax was freaking out.”

“Hear my words, little queen. Your head injury was more serious than I can explain. The Shardon clones rendered assistance, thanks be to the gods. We have them to thank for your survival.”

“Just spit it out, Vraden. I can take it.”

“You may never get the memories of the great battle back, and you absolutely cannot sustain another head injury.”

“I don’t see myself getting involved in any fighting again.”

Taking her hands in his, the older drone spoke sincerely. “You are good at standing up for others, now I need you step back and give others a chance to know such valor.”

“Now that I’m here, I can’t image there being such conflict.”

“You must guard against conflict, and against accidental injury.”

“Why do I get the feeling that I’m one step away from a padded room?”

“Nothing so dramatic, little queen. Just go about living your life but be weary of another injury to your head.”

“I promise that I’ll be careful.”

“Rest now. Conserve your strength. You will be well enough to leave in a few days.”

Laying back, Tara tried to think of what her future might hold. Searching her mind, she looked for an indication that she had she gotten friendly with any of the males on the ship. She honestly couldn’t remember even talking to any of the insectoid males besides Vraden. A doubt crawled through the back of her mind that she’d even made it out of medical the whole time.

Suddenly, the bottom of her platform filled with oranges. They came rolling up towards her head. It struck her as funny. Searching the room for Jax, she found the creature hovering at her feet. His head was tilted to the side, giving him an adorably confused appearance.

“You look sad.”

“Who could be sad with a protector like you?”

“I have solicited feedback from Queen Penny on how to keep you happy.”

“I’ve only been awake a minute and I’m already tired of hearing about what Queen Penny has to say.”

“Silence, my queen. I will tell you a human joke.”

“Please don’t.”

“Two scientists order water, only the second one dies.” Shaking his head, he grumbled. “That is not right. I will try again. Two scientists order drinks. One asks for H2O and the second asked for H2O too. The second one dies.”

Unsuccessfully trying to smother a smile, she had to give it to the sentinel; his joke was funny. “‘Cause H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide and drinking a whole glass would be really bad for… a scientist.”

Nodding enthusiastically, he seemed pleased with himself. “You are correct. I have more clever contrivances.”

“You know something, Jax? You are the byproduct of thousands of years of selective breeding. Repeating Penny jokes is beneath you.”

“I will tell you what is beneath me. The floor is beneath me.” Looking down, he shook his head. “Okay, that wasn’t funny, but that is because it was not a Penny approved joke.” Rubbing his chin with a huge claw tipped finger, he looked pensive. “I have one. An orange and a lemon walk into a bar…”

Laying back, Tara concentrated really hard on not actually hating the nice little adolescent who was so fond of the golugua.