Chapter One
Taryn Demara stared at the faint blip on the decades-old radar. Each pulse of light made her heart race faster. This is it. Her people might have a chance to survive.
Using every bit of restraint she had, Taryn prevented her voice from sounding too eager as she asked, “Are you sure it’s a spaceship?”
Evaine Benoit, her head of technology, nodded. “Our equipment is outdated, but by the size and movement, it has to be a ship.”
Taryn’s heart beat double-time as she met her friend’s nearly black-eyed gaze. “How long do we have before they reach us?”
“If they maintain their current trajectory, I predict eighteen hours, give or take. It’s more than enough time to get the planet ready.”
“Right,” Taryn said as she stood tall again. “Keep me updated on any changes. If the ship changes course, boost the distress signal.”
Evaine raised her brows. “Are you sure? The device is on its last legs. Any boost in power could cause a malfunction. I’m not sure my team or I can fix it again if that happens.”
She gripped her friend’s shoulder. “After eight years of waiting, I’m willing to risk it. I need that ship to reach Jasvar and send a team down to our planet.”
Otherwise, we’re doomed was left unsaid.
Without another word, Taryn raced out of the aging technology command center and went in search of her best strategist. There was much to do and little time to do it.
Nodding at some of the other members of her settlement as she raced down the corridors carved into the mountainside, Taryn wondered what alien race was inside the ship on the radar. Over the past few hundred years, the various humanoid additions to the once human-only colony had added extra skin tones, from purple to blue to even a shimmery gold. Some races even had slight telepathic abilities that had been passed down to their offspring.
To be honest, Taryn didn’t care what they looked like or what powers they possessed. As long as they were genetically compatible with her people, it meant Taryn and several other women might finally have a chance at a family. The “Jasvar Doom Virus” as they called it, killed off most male embryos in the womb, to the point only one male was born to every five females. Careful genealogical charts had been maintained to keep the gene pool healthy. However, few women were willing to share their partner with others, which meant the male population grew smaller by the year.
It didn’t help that Jasvar had been set up as a low-technology colony, which meant they didn’t have the tools necessary to perform the procedures in the old tales of women being impregnated without sex. The technique had been called in-something or other. Taryn couldn’t remember the exact name from her great-grandmother’s stories from her childhood.
Not that it was an option anyway. Jasvar’s technology was a hodgepodge of original technology from the starter colonists and a few gadgets from their conquests and alien additions over the years. It was a miracle any of it still functioned.
The only way to prevent the extinction of her people was to capture and introduce alien males into their society. Whoever had come up with the idea of luring aliens to the planet’s surface and developing the tools necessary to get them to stay had been brilliant. Too bad his or her name had been lost to history.
Regardless of who had come up with the idea, Taryn was damned if she would be the leader to fail the Jasvarian colony. Since the old technology used to put out the distress signals was failing, Taryn had a different sort of plan for the latest alien visitors.
She also wanted their large spaceship and all of its technology.
Of course, her grand plans would be all for nothing if she couldn’t entice and trap the latest aliens first. To do that, she needed to confer with Nova Drakven, her head strategist.
Rounding the last corner, Taryn waltzed into Nova’s office. The woman’s pale blue face met hers. Raising her silver brows, she asked, “Is it true about the ship?”
With a nod, Taryn moved to stand in front of Nova’s desk. “Yes. It should be here in about eighteen hours.”
Nova reached for a file on her desk. “Good. Then I’ll present the plan to the players, and we can wait on standby until we know for sure where the visiting shuttle lands.”
Taryn shook her head and started pacing. “I need you to come up with a new plan, Nova.”
“Why? I’ve tweaked what went wrong last time. We shouldn’t have any problems.”
“It’s not that.” Taryn stopped pacing and met her friend’s gaze. “This time, we need to do more than entice a few males to stay. Our planet was originally slated to be a low-tech colony, but with the problems that arose, that’s no longer an option. We need supplies and knowledge, which means negotiating with the mother ship for their people.”
“Let me get this straight—you want to convince the vastly technologically advanced aliens that we are superior, their crew’s lives are in danger, and that they need to pay a ransom to get them back?”
Taryn grinned. “See, you do understand me.”
Nova sighed. “You have always been crazy and a little reckless.”
“Not reckless, Nova. Just forward-thinking. You stage the play, think of a few ideas about how to get the ship, and I’ll find a way to make it work.”
“Always the super leader to the rescue. Although one day, your luck may run out, Taryn.”
Nova and Taryn were nearly the same age, both in their early thirties, and had grown up together. Nova was her best friend and one of the few people Taryn was unafraid to speak her fears with. “As long as my luck lasts through this ordeal, I’m okay with that. I can’t just sit and watch our people despairing if another year or ten pass before there’s new blood. If we had a way to get a message to Earth, it would make everything easier. But, we don’t have that capability.”
Nova raised her brows. “Finding a way to contact Earth or the Earth Colony Alliance might be an easier goal than taking over a ship.”
“The message would take years to get there and who knows if the ECA would even send a rescue ship to such a distant colony.” Taryn shook her head. “I can’t rely on chance alone. I’ll send a message from the alien ship, but I also want the technology to save us in the near future, too. I much prefer being in control.”
Nova snorted. “Sometimes a little too much in control, in my opinion.”
“A leader letting loose doesn’t exactly instill confidence,” she drawled.
“Then promise me that once you save the planet, you let me show you some fun. No one should die before riding the sloping Veran waterfalls.”
Taryn sighed and sank into the chair in front of Nova’s desk. “Fine. But how about we focus on capturing the aliens first?”
Nova removed a sheaf of crude paper made from the purple wood of the local trees and took out an ink pot and golden feather. “I’ll come up with a fool-proof capture plan, but I hope you keep me in the loop about what happens next.”
“I will when it’s time. I need to see who we’re dealing with before making concrete plans.”
Dipping her feather into the ink pot, Nova scratched a few notes on the purple paper. “Then let me get to work. The staging is mostly done already, but I need to think beyond that. Since we’ve never tried to capture a large ship before, it’s going to take some time. I think someone captured a shuttle in the past, but we’ll see if I can find the record.”
“You always go on about how you love challenges.”
“Don’t remind me.” She made a shooing motion toward the door. “And this is one of the few times I can tell my settlement leader to get lost and let me work.”
Taryn stood. “If you need me, I’ll be in the outside garden.”
“Fine, fine. Just go. You’re making it hard to concentrate.” Nova looked up with a smile. “And you’re also delaying my next project.”
“Do I want to know?”
“It’s called Operation Fun Times.” Nova pointed her quill. “I sense you’re going to land an alien this time. You’re a talented individual, except when it comes to flirting. I’m going to help with that.”
Shaking her head, Taryn muttered, “Have fun,” and left her old-time friend to her own devices. Maybe someday Nova would understand that while Taryn missed the antics of their youth, she enjoyed taking care of her people more.
Still, she’d admit that it would be nice to finally have the chance to get a man of her own. Most of her family was gone, and like many of the women of her age group, Taryn would love the option to start one.
Not now, Demara. You won’t have a chance unless you succeed in capturing the visitors.
With the play planning in motion, Taryn had one more important task to set up before she could also pore through the records and look for ideas.
As much as she wished for everything to go smoothly, it could take a turn and end up horribly wrong. In that case, she needed an out. Namely, she needed to erase memories. The trick would be conferring with her head medicine woman to find the balance between erasing memories and rendering the aliens brain-dead. As the early Jasvarians had discovered, the forgetful plant was both a blessing and a curse. Without it, they’d never have survived this long. However, in the wrong dose, it could turn someone into a vegetable and ruin their chances.
Don’t worry. Matilda knows what she’s doing. Picking up her pace, Taryn exited the mountain into the late-day sun. The faint purple and blue hues of the mountains and trees were an everyday sight to her, but she still found the colors beautiful. Her great-grandmother’s tales had been full of green leaves and blue skies back on Earth. A part of Taryn wanted to see another world, but the leader in her would never abandon the people of Jasvar.
Looking to the pinkish sky, she only hoped the visitors fell for her tricks. Otherwise, Taryn might have to admit defeat and prepare her people for the worst.
~~~
Prince Kason tro el Vallen of the royal line of Vallen stared at his ship’s main viewing screen. The blue, pink, and purple hues of the planet hid secrets Kason was determined to discover. After years of fighting his father’s wishes and then the ensuing days of travel from Keldera to the unnamed planet, he was anxious to get started.
Aaric, his head pilot, stated, “Ten hours until we pull into orbit, your highness.”
Kason disliked the title but had learned over time that to fight it was pointless. “Launch a probe to investigate.”
“Yes, your highness.”
As Aaric sent the request to the necessary staff, the silver-haired form of Ryven Xanna, Kason’s best friend and the head warrior trainer on the ship, walked up to him. “We need to talk.”
Kason nodded. Ryven would only ask to talk if it was important. “I can spare a few minutes. Aaric, you have the command.”
The pair of them entered Kason’s small office off the central command area. The instant the door slid shut, Ryven spoke up again. “Some of the men’s markings are tinged yellow. They’re nervous. No doubt thanks to the rumors of a monster on the planet’s surface.”
“There is no monster. There’s a logical explanation as to why our team of scientists disappeared on Jasvar ten years ago.”
“I agree with you, but logic doesn’t always work with the lower-ranked officers and the common soldiers.”
Kason clasped his hand behind his back. “You wouldn’t ask to talk with me unless you have a solution. Tell me what it is, Ryv.”
“I know it’s not standard protocol for you to lead the first landing party, but if you go, it will instill courage in the others,” Ryven answered.
Kason raised a dark-blue eyebrow. “Tell me you aren’t among the nervous.”
Ryven shrugged and pointed to one of the markings that peeked above his collar. “The dark blue color tells you all you need to know.”
Dark blue signaled that a Kelderan was at peace and free of negative emotions.
“You are better at controlling your emotions than anyone I have ever met. You could be deathly afraid and would somehow keep your markings dark blue.”
The corner of Ryven’s mouth ticked up. “The trick has worked well for me over the years.”
“We don’t have time for reminiscing, Ryv. You’re one of the few who speaks the truth to me. Don’t change now.”
“Honestly?” Ryven shrugged. “I’m not any more nervous or worried than any other mission. The unknown enemy just means we need to be cautious more than ever.”
“Agreed. I will take the first landing party and leave Thorin in charge. Assemble your best warriors and send me a message when they’re ready. I want to talk with them and instill bravery beforehand.”
In a rare sign of emotion, Ryven gripped Kason’s bicep. “Bravery is all well and fine, but if there is a monster we can’t defeat, promise you’ll pull back. Earning your father’s praise isn’t worth your life.”
“I’m a little insulted at your implication. I wouldn’t be a general in my own right if I lived by foolish displays of machismo.”
Ryven studied him a second before adding, “Just because you’re a general now doesn’t mean you have to talk like one with me.”
Kason remembered their childhood days, before they’d both been put on the path of a warrior. Kason and Ryven had pulled pranks on their siblings and had reveled in coming up with stupid competitions, such as who could reach the top of a rock face first in freezing temperatures or who could capture a poisonous shimmer fly with nothing but their fingers.
But neither of them were boys anymore. Displaying emotion changed the color of the rune-like markings on their bodies, which exposed weakness. Warriors couldn’t afford to show any weakness. It was one of the reasons higher-ranked officers weren’t allowed to take wives, not even if they found one of their potential destined brides; the females would become easy targets.
Not that Kason cared. A wife would do nothing to prove his worth as a soldier to his father, the king. On top of that, being a warrior was all Kason knew. Giving it up would take away his purpose.
Pushing aside thoughts of his father and his future, Kason motioned toward the door. “Go and select the best soldiers to assist with the landing party. I have my own preparations to see to.”
“I’ll go if you promise one thing.”
“What?”
“You allow me to be part of the landing party.”
Kason shook his head. “I can’t. In the event of my death, I need you here.”
“Thorin is your second and will assume command. Give me the honor of protecting you and the others during the mission.”
Deep down, in the place where Kason locked up any emotion, a small flicker of indecision flashed. Ryven was more Kason’s brother than his real-life brother, Keltor.
Yet to contain Ryven on the ship would be like a slap in the face; the honor of protecting a prince such as Kason was the highest form of trust to one of the Kelderan people.
Locking down his emotions, Kason followed his logical brain. “You may attend. But on-planet, you become a soldier. I can’t treat you as my friend.”
Ryven put out a hand and Kason shook it to seal their agreement. “I’m aware of protocol. I teach it day in and day out. But I will be the best damned soldier of the group. And if it comes to it, I will push you out of the way to protect your life.”
Kason released his friend’s hand. “I won’t let it come to that.”
“Good. When shall we rendezvous?”
Glancing at the small screen projecting an image of the multicolored planet, he answered, “Nine hours. That will give all of us a chance to sleep before performing the prebattle ritual. You can lead the men through their meditation and warm-up maneuvers after that.”
Ryven nodded. “I’ll see you then.”
The trainer exited the room, and Kason turned toward his private viewing screen to study the planet rumored to host the most feared monster in the region. One that had supposedly taken hundreds of men’s lives over the years. The story was always the same—a small contingent of men disappeared from any group that landed on the surface. No one remembered how they were captured or if they were even alive. Anytime a second party landed, a few more would be taken.
Over time, the planet had earned a reputation. Even the most adventure-seeking ruffians had stayed away.
However, Kason dismissed it as folklore. Whatever was on that planet, he wouldn’t allow it to defeat him or his men. Kason would bring honor to his family with a victory. He also hoped to give his people the gift of a new planet. Keldera was overpopulated, and its resources were stretched beyond the limit. The Kelderans desperately needed a new colony and hadn’t been able to locate one that was suitable. The planet on the view screen showed all the signs of being a near-perfect fit.
Even if the fiercest monster in existence resided on that planet, Kason wouldn’t retreat from an enemy. Death was an accepted part of being a Kelderan soldier.