Chapter 2
Talon left the operation of the space glider to his officer. The cheeky whippersnapper had taken one look at Talon’s dark demeanor, and all of his questions about the new woman had gotten stuck in his throat. Talon barked his commands and they took off in the direction of the Stella Solaris. The maneuverable little ship passed through the Earthly barriers without anyone stopping them. The officers in charge, he thought cynically, were probably sitting around, drinking their disgusting beer, and bragging about their affairs with women. Humans! Once again, he marveled that this species had not gone extinct yet. Not only had they destroyed their own planet’s biosphere, but they were also doing everything possible to exterminate each other. He had absolutely nothing against a reasonable and small conquering expedition, or even a war, if it was about defending your home, but no Kantharian (not even their crazy king) would ever attack their own race. He shook his head. The humans had tried to subdue other races in an insane undertaking, and to conquer other planets, but had almost completely annihilated each other. They had even undertaken crazy experiments on their own race. How ruthless must a scientist be, to stoop to that kind of research? Over the years, this experimentation had created humans that had special abilities. Some could see the future, while others could move things using only the power of thought. He wondered what the king’s new toy was capable of. This was probably the reason, he thought resignedly, why Ferthoris III had paid such a hefty sum for the little woman to begin with. He already had more than enough legitimate sons, and his illegitimate ones were so numerous that he recruited his bodyguards from their ranks. The kick he would get from having a new wife would last one, maybe two weeks, and then he would get bored with his new toy. This one, however…
Talon leaned back and closed his eyes, thankful for the moment of peace before he had to take up his duties as commander of his ship again. This woman with the cat name had gotten under his skin. If he was honest with himself, not just under his skin, but also in his loins. She was tall for a human woman and seemed to be strong enough to be able to fight with a lion. Under all of that strength that she wore for show, however, there was a vulnerability that touched him against his will. He clenched his fists, without knowing it, as he thought of Cat in the king’s bed, moving underneath him and uttering small sounds of lust.
If he didn’t watch himself, he really would be beheaded, for committing high treason, and not just for having a big mouth.
Really… who was he trying to fool anyway?
It was already too late for caution. The predator inside him had only needed to look at Cat once – at her breasts that were clearly defined, even under her thick parka, at her round hips, and her light, curly hair under her hood – and had sharpened its claws in desire. More than that, really. His animal had roared. It hadn’t been a battle cry. It had been the cry of a predator that was ready to mate, a predator who was claiming a female as his. When she had touched him, running her thumb over the back of his hand, he had been close to losing all self-control. It hadn’t been the thought of his king that had stopped him from seducing her right then and there. It had been the sadness in her eyes that had made him hold back. It was only because he had worked on controlling his body for his entire life, that he had been able to put the predator in his place.
If he survived the trip home with his health and sanity intact, he would ask his king for an assignment that would take him far away – if necessary, to the ends of the universe. Damn it, he would even humiliate himself to the point of begging his king. Talon knew that he wouldn’t be able to handle seeing Cat every day, imagining what her nights in the king’s arms were like. At some point, he would lose all control, and kill anyone who got in his way.
A static hiss tore him from his dark thoughts. All he could hear was “… are being attacked… irates…” coming from the loudspeaker on the steering console. With a start, he was back in the present. “Stella Solaris, repeat please,” he said as calmly as he could, and turned up the speaker. One look at the pilot told him that the boy was staying calm and relaxed, despite being relatively inexperienced. He nodded at him quickly and concentrated on his first officer’s voice again. “Pirates have just boarded the Stella Solaris,” the man said. “Position 34.02 west of the Earth’s moon. Protective shields…” there was a short pause, and Talon leaned forward so he wouldn’t miss a single word. “Protective shields are at zero percent. Our weapons room has been blown up. They…” His words disappeared in the static of the universe once again.
“How far are we from the mother ship?”
“Another 50 minutes,” the pilot responded and checked his instruments one more time. “We won’t make it in time.”
Talon pressed his lips together. Even if they could reach the beleaguered mother ship in time, they would be able to do nothing. The weapons on the space glider would be nothing more than an annoyance to the pirates. All they would do is irritate them, and it wouldn’t stop them. He thought for a second. The Stella Solaris was only about an hour away from Earth, and there were enough space gliders to hold every single one of his men. He grimaced when he thought of the king’s budget measures. The king had wanted to spend all taxes on gaudy jewelry and women. Thank God, that notion had faded again. Talon furrowed his brow and listened, but nothing else came out of the speaker. His men were waiting for his decision.
“Evacuate immediately,” he ordered. The man next to him closed his eyes in relief, before concentrating on flying the glider again. “Fly towards Earth. We will meet at position 47.46.03X. There is enough room to land there. Two miles west of there, you will find an abandoned building, where we will stay for now. Good luck. Over and out.”
“You heard me,” Talon told his subordinate. “Back to where we started.” He looked out at space through the super reinforced windshield. Somewhere out there, his men were preparing to abandon the Stella Solaris, leaving their ship to its fate. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end when he thought about the pirates who would now have their hands on a second-class Star Cruiser, but Talon knew that he hadn’t had a choice. In the time it would have taken for him to reach the Stella Solaris, the majority of his men would have been wounded or even dead. That was something he would never risk, not even when his honor as a warrior lord was at stake. He would rather let his kind accuse him of having lost the mother ship, than put a single one of his men in unnecessary danger. Talon was proud that, until now, he had always brought every warrior home, even if some of them had been severely wounded.
He clenched his teeth, thinking about Ferthoris and his new bride. The vain king would not be happy about the delay that was a certainty now. They would need to find a way to track the pirates from Earth, so that they could recapture their ship. A wave of pugnacity rushed through Talon’s veins as he imagined how he would teach the pirates something about respecting private property, and he spent the next few minutes daydreaming about their punishment in the brightest of colors. He hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. If he was honest with himself, the pirates’ attack was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time.
His smile disappeared when they passed through Earth’s orbit, though. He remembered Cat, who was sitting in the passenger compartment without a clue – probably already familiarizing herself with the customs and morals on Kanthari 7. He was in a bind, and not just because of the immense attraction he felt for her. He furrowed his red-gold eyebrows deeply. This damned attack might take his predator’s mind off the woman for a while, but now they would be stuck together on Earth for some time. Talon was hopeful that he would be able to find some sort of spaceship somewhere, but what would he do with Cat in the meantime? He had taken on the responsibility of caring for her and making sure that nothing happened to her. The animal inside him bared its teeth in anger at the thought of putting her in danger.
He wondered if she would agree to him leaving her on her home planet for a while longer and picking her up again after the “Taming of the Pirates”. At the last second, he was able to suppress a sigh that would not have made him look good as a commander and warrior.
He suspected that Cat would offer him more resistance than was good for him.
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