CHAPTER FIFTEEN
HEATHER MAVEN
I was so happy to hear that Zoq was happy about me being pregnant. I was worried about it. But now that I had almost come so close to losing him, none of it mattered now. I only wanted him. I only wanted us to be together. Hearing him say that he was happy was such a relief, and it filled me with joyful emotion.
I watched out the windshield as the escort of 30 transport ships surrounded us. It felt good to be protected. I had felt so vulnerable out in space, just the two of us, but then when Zoq went unconscious, I felt truly alone. Now the mission was in the hands of others, and I could relax just a little bit even though I knew that Zoq was not out of the woods yet. Then the ship made a hard turn, and I saw a planet come into view. It was massive. It was blue and green, just like Earth, only there was more blue than we had. It was almost a water planet.
“Look! Is that it? Is that Kelon? It is beautiful,” I said to Zoq. I waited for a response. But he said nothing. I walked over to him. His eyes were closed. I began to panic. I quickly checked his pulse; he was still alive. He was still breathing. But I was worried. I was very worried; I could not lose him. I ran back to the communication panel.
“How much longer before we land? The commander has gone unconscious once more, and I'm very worried. He needs help right away,” I said.
“15 minutes until landing,” he said. I sighed. I wished that it was five. I looked out the windshield as the beautiful planet began to grow bigger and bigger as we got closer. Then I remembered that Zoq had said that he heard me speaking to him. I moved back over to his side and knelt down next to him. I squeezed his hand and began to speak to him.
“I am here. We are almost on your planet. I can see it. It is beautiful. There is lots of water. Just hold on. Get some rest,1 but listen to my voice. I am here for you. I love you. We are going to be together,” I said. I told him that I loved him over and over. Every now and then, I looked out the windshield. I could see that we were entering the atmosphere of the planet. It gave me hope. Just a few more minutes. The sky was a brilliant blue, and there were white clouds. I was astounded at how much it looked like Earth, and it suddenly made sense to me that they looked to human females for procreating. I could hear the Draqua on the communication line talking. But he wasn't talking to me; he was talking to his crew about what was going on. He was updating them. I could hear him telling them to get ready to carry Zoq out of the ship as soon as it landed. I squeezed his hand. “Do you hear that? They are getting ready for you. They are going to help you. You are going to be one hundred percent better in no time at all,” I whispered to him.
I looked out the windshield again and was surprised by what I saw. Even though Zoq had explained the planet to me in detail, I was not expecting the beauty that I saw before me; the blue of the water was startling. It seemed to be glittering. In the distance was a tropical island of sorts with towering trees. Nothing compared prepared me for the brilliance of it. As we got closer, I could see that there were houses in the trees. Then I saw something that absolutely startled me. There were Dragon shifters flying around in the air as though they were going about their daily business. I even saw a few full dragons among the hundreds of hybrids. I had never seen anything like it before. My eyes were wide at the beauty of it all and the unknown. It really was an alien planet, with an alien race, these water dragons. As we got closer, I could see the beach coming up. Behind it was a massive village, and beyond it, I could see many spaceships gathered in some sort of landing area, like an airport. Finally, the ship landed. The door opened, and a group of warriors marched in.
“He has a very terrible wound from the back to the front. Impaled by a pipe,” I said to them frantically as they pushed me aside.
“It is alright, Heather, we know; let us take him,” one of them said. I watched as they put him on a sort of stretcher and then carried him out. I followed them. As soon as I stepped out of the ship, I was hit with a breeze of scented flowers and salty air. It was such a beautiful feeling to be out of the ship and on land, but I was not expecting such a beautiful thing. But then my focus went back to Zoq as they carried him.
“Heather, my name is Jitu,” a warrior said as he rushed to my side. It was then that I noticed it was the Draqua that had been helping us on the communication line.
“You! Thank you so much for your help,” I said, but I did not stop. I kept following Zoq.
“I told you I would get you and the commander here safely,” he said with a handsome grin.
“Yes, thank you. What is happening? Where are they taking him?” I said.
“He is going to the healers. We set them up right here in the landing port. No time wasted,” he said. I watched as they carried him into a thatched roof hut. I tried to follow them in, but he stopped me.
“You can’t go in there. I am sorry; it is policy. Anyone not involved will only get in the way,” he said. I sighed, disappointed, but it was no different than an operating room in a hospital on Earth.
“I understand. I am just so worried,” I said.
“You can wait here,” he said, pointing to a private, smaller hut next to it. “I will keep you informed of every move. But this is a very delicate operation, and it is going to take hours. You must be patient.”
“Yes, it’s hard,” I said.
“There is food and water in there, and a change a clothes if you need it. I will return to check on you,” he said.
“I have a bag of clothes in the ship. My bag,” I said.
“I will get it for you,” he said.
“Thank you.”
I walked into the hut. It was beautiful. There was a living area with nice benches. There was a small bed in the corner. On the other side was a small kitchen area and in the back was a bathtub and a washroom. It had everything that I could need, including a little indoor and outdoor space. I moved directly to this area and sat in the shade of the roof, but outside. I was staring directly at the building that Zoq was in. I drank some water and prepared to sit for a very long time. It was very warm in the tropical climate. Very humid, with salty air. If I weren't so worried, I knew I would be enjoying it more. I tried my best to take in the sights. I looked up into the trees and saw the massive bridges that connected the tree houses. I could see hybrid dragons flying around. I could hear the chatter of the village. I wanted to think about what it would be like living in the village and in the tree houses with Zoq, but I could not because I was so worried.
I waited for hours inside that hut. I rummaged through my bag and grabbed a change of clothes. I had a lot of dried blood on me from nursing Zoq, so I washed up and changed clothes. I walked back out into the outdoor area waiting. I could see Jitu as he moved toward me.
“What is it? What news? Is he alright?” I asked frantically, moving to him.
“Commander Zoq Kane is done with the operation and he is going to be fine. I will take you to him now,” he said.
I jumped up and down and cheered. “Oh my God! I’m so happy!”
He laughed at me. “This way. He is not awake, but he should be waking up in the next hour or two.”
“I just want to see him,” I said as tears came to my eyes. I followed him into the massive hut. The healers were finishing with packing their equipment. I moved over to Zoq as he lay on a bed. I grabbed his hand. “I am here. It is Heather. You're going to be fine. They told me that you were going to be fine,” I whispered in his ear.
“This is Heather Maven. She is the one that issued the serum to the commander,” my new friend said to one of the healers.
“You did good. It helped. It was key in saving his life. He is going to be absolutely fine in a couple of months. He will heal fast. There were no major organs punctured, just a flesh wound.”
“I am so happy to hear that. You don't know how happy I am. Now, we can all be happy,” I said putting my hand on my belly. Both of the Draqua looked at me. Then I looked at the healer and realized this was what I needed. I had to ask him.
“Is there a test? I mean, how do you know if when a human female is pregnant with a Draqua?”
He smiled. “Come with me; it is a very easy test,” he said. I followed him to the corner where he had a medical trunk. He opened it and took out a device. He placed it on my finger and took a very quick sample. Then he looked at it.
“Heather, you are pregnant with Draqua offspring.”
I smiled. “Thank you! Thank you, for everything.”
“Heather Maven!” I heard my name shouted out. I did not recognize the voice. I moved into the middle of the hut and saw a warrior at the door. He looked at me with a stoney face.
“You are being summoned by King Hydros. Come with me,” he said.
“But I can’t. I need to be here when Zoq wakes up,” I said.
Jitu moved over to me. “You cannot disobey the King. When he summons you, you must go. I will send for you when the commander wakes. I will make sure that I stay here with the commander and let him know where you are,” he said.
I suddenly felt very nervous. This king sounded menacing. I suddenly remembered what Zoq had said. That it was possible that the King was going to be angry at me and at him. I took a deep breath. I moved over to Zoq and placed a kiss on his lips. “I am here. I am right here waiting for you,” I whispered. Then I followed the warrior out of the hut. We walked through the landing port area and out into the village. I was stunned by the beauty of the place. I looked up into the massive trees. They were so big that the trunks were as big as houses. Everyone seemed to be so lively in the village, and no one even paid any attention to me. It felt good to be so anonymous in such a strange place, among aliens. I could see some human females going about their daily business with smiles on their faces. I wondered how many of them were the recently captured ones.
I followed the warrior to the outskirts of the village, and then I saw something absolutely stunning that I did not see before. There was a massive palace tucked into the rock cliff of the island. I stared at it so much that I had to stop.
“We should not keep the King waiting; he is very busy,” he pushed for forward.
I followed him up a very steep staircase. I realized everything was so high up because the Draqua could fly. For them, it was easy to get to these high places. The stairs were a little harder for me after being so exhausted. But I carried on. Finally, we entered the palace. It was decorated in a lush island feel. Everything was very richly done and beautiful. Finally, we came to the end of a very long hallway made of wooden timbers. I walked into a massive room that had a large terrace with a view of the entire island. It was spectacular.
“Agent Heather Maven,” a voice said.
I turned to see a very tall hybrid dragon standing in the room. His wings were spread wide, and then he folded them behind him. He had a scowl on his face, and I knew that he was angry at my presence in his kingdom. I only hoped that he would not banish me. Not now after everything we had been through.