Chapter 3
VERA RODANTHEE
I was in such hysterics after the alien warrior known as Truo told me the truth about my husband. Could he be lying to me? Why would an alien warrior go out of his way and risk getting caught in order to tell me such a thing? No, he had to be telling the truth. This was why Cyro had not allowed me to see my husband: he was not on the grounds of the fortress. He had never made it here. Cyro had been lying to me all along in order to get me to go along with his plans to impregnate me. The bastard. I could kill him. He had murdered my husband, and I could never forgive him for that, nor allow him to touch me.
I stormed into my bedroom as the sunlight began to filter into my room. I threw myself on the bed and cried hard. I was in such grief that it made me feel as though I was losing my mind. I got up from my bed and grabbed a chair and threw it across the room, hitting the wall. I had nowhere to put this anger and grief. I cried hard. Eventually, I fell asleep again on the floor. I did not know if I could do what I promised Truo I would do, to continue to act normal. I would have to try, I thought as I drifted off to sleep.
“Wake up, Vera. Why are you on the floor?” I heard a deep voice say. I opened my eyes to find Cyro hovering over me. I was still on the floor, and I was still a mess. I was not expecting Cyro to visit me so early.
"Why do you look like that? What has happened?” he asked.
I realized that he was not used to seeing me in a distraught state like this. So I went along with it using it to my advantage. “I have a sickness. It is a human sickness called the flu; it is very contagious,” I said to him.
His eyes grew wide and he backed away from me immediately, all the way to the door. “How long does the sickness last?” he said to me in fear.
"Two to three weeks at most. It requires rest and nourishment in order to be rid of it, but it is a virus that must work itself out. I do not know what this virus will do to the Corillion race, so it is best that all stay away,” I said to him with a sniffle.
"Understood. Keep the door closed, and I will have food brought to you on the tray outside the door. You be well again soon; I will have food brought to you now,” he said as he closed the door behind him and left in a hurry. I could hear his boots moving down the hall moving quickly. I sort of smiled to myself.
"That was quick thinking, Vera,” I said under my breath. I pulled myself off the floor, glad that my quick thinking would allow me some time to figure something out. I had to get out of there. I could no longer do what Cyro requested of me. I had lost my husband, and at least the two to three weeks of faking being sick would cover up my grief on my face. It would give me the time alone that I needed to mourn and plan.
A few moments later, there was a knock at my door. “Food!” the voice shouted, and then I heard the boots leave the hallway. I opened the door to find a tray of food on the table outside my door. I grabbed it and brought it into my room, but I did not have an appetite. I drank the hot liquids and water, and that was all. I could not eat, I could not sleep, and my heart was broken… Marcus. He was all I could think of. For the next two days, I sat in my room crying, sleeping, and overall grieving. I could hardly eat anything, and it helped make myself look very sick.
On the third day, I was all cried out. I couldn't cry anymore and thinking about my husband's death and the fact that it was kept from me made me angrier and angrier. I needed to know more; I needed answers. There was only one Corillion that I could get answers from: Truo. Hours passed as I was stuck in my bedroom chamber and my mind was filled with questions.
Later that night, as I stood at the window of my bedroom staring out over the stark gray landscape of the asteroid, my thoughts turned to the alien warrior that had told me about my husband. I now understood why he had always stared at me whenever he saw me: it was because he was keeping this secret about my husband and he wanted to tell me. That entire time he was trying to tell me with his eyes, but I could not get close enough to him to hear his words.
I looked out over the fortress courtyard to see that it was very quiet; there was not an alien warrior stirring. It was midnight. I wondered if Truo went to the underground passage often? I wondered about this so much that I found myself sneaking out of my room once again and going down the hall, following the directions that he gave me to the staircase and took it quietly down to the bottom.
"Who goes there?” I heard a deep voice say at the bottom of the stairs.
"Truo?” I said.
"Vera, what are you doing down here?” he answered as he stepped into the light.
"It is midnight. I took a chance that you might be down here. I need to know more,” I said to him.
"It is very dangerous for you to be down here," he said.
"I know. But I must know more about my husband's death. You are the only Corillion that is kind to me. If you have the answers to my questions, I hope that you will share the information with me. Then I will be on my way back to my room,” I said to him.
He looked around the dark passageways searching for anyone that might be down there. Then he gave a heavy sigh and said, “Come sit with me,” he said as he pointed towards a stone wall with two steps perfect for sitting. I sat down next to him. He was massive, and I felt very small this close to him.
"What is it you want to know, Vera?”
"How did he die? When did he die?” I asked my voice quivering a bit.
"Are you sure you want to know this? It's better that you don't know and do not see it in your mind,” he said to me with concern.
"No, it is important that I know. If I do not know, then the question will forever linger in my mind, and I will not be able to move past it,” I said to him.
"Very well. I was not on the ship with Cyro when you were captured. But I know what he had told us, and the council. He said that you and your human male were captured on Earth by dosing you with sleeping spores. This would put you and your husband to sleep. You were both taken onto the ship. Once aboard the ship, you were taken to the Corillion galaxy. Then your husband was released into the darkness of space, and would've died instantly. I hope that you find some solace in knowing that,” he said to me.
I broke down in tears. And hearing of his death was more than I thought that I could handle. I sobbed uncontrollably, and Truo pulled me into his arms and held me.
"I am sorry. I warned you that it was better that you did not know," he said.
"No, I needed to know,” I said between sobbing.
"I am very sorry, Vera. What Cyro did was very wrong. It is not the Corillion away. The council almost punished him for it, but then decided not to. But now there is a rule that a human female cannot be taken if she wears a ring on her left hand showing that she belongs to a human male.”
I looked at my ring finger. The tan line from my wedding band was still there. Cyro had taken my ring from me in the short ceremony that made me his wife. I wanted my ring now more than ever.
"I understand. I don't understand why my husband was not just left on Earth then? Why take him? Why not just take me instead? He did not need to die,” I asked him.
"There is a good reason for that as well. You se, because of our relations with the humans, and this constant battle between Earth and the Corillion galaxy, Cyro did not want to leave evidence that he had stolen a human female. If he had just taken you and not your husband, your husband would remember what happened and it would be reported. Then we would no longer be able to go to that area on Earth to find human females,” he said to me.
"It is wrong! It is all wrong! You should not be allowed to steal human females at all! Do you not see that it is wrong?!” I shouted at him in anger.
"I do. I do see that it is wrong. But the survival of the entire Corillion race depends on it. If we do not mate with human females in our first 22 years, then we die. It is the only way to keep the race going. I wish there were another way, but there is not. This is the only way. The Corillion way,” he said.
"You die?” I asked him.
"Each Corillion alien warrior has 22 years of life. At 22 years, if I have not mated with a human female, then I will have used up my 22-year cycle and will die. It is like this for all Corillion alien warriors. Many perish this way, but it is why there are so many of us. A small percentage of survival is possible when there are many,” he said to me.
I looked at him in shock and said, “So if I would not have mated with Cyro, then he would have died?”
"Yes. But now that he has and that you are with offspring, he will live,” he said to me.
"I wish I never would have. He led me to believe that I would see my husband again if I did and that he would be saved, the lying bastard. But I am not with offspring. I have not become impregnated by Cyro,” I said to him.
"What do you mean? You have been with him for a month now?” he asked.
"Yes, but I am not with offspring. He continues to be angry about that fact, but it is not my problem. I do not know what is wrong, but I am glad that I am not with his offspring.”
"This makes sense. This is why he asked me to bring him a second human female,” Truo said.
“Then do it! Then maybe he will be done with me, and I will be able to return to Earth,” I said pleading with him.
"But you see, a second human female might not be the problem. It might be Cyro. He is unable to produce offspring. He is a terrible leader, and it would make sense that he cannot create offspring. He is defective," he said.
"Then what shall happen to me? He thinks that I am the problem,” I asked him.
"I do not know, Vera. You have given me much to think about. But you must return to your room now; it will not be good for either of us if we are caught here,” he said, pushing me toward the bottom of the staircase.
"Truo, will you meet me again tomorrow night?" I asked him, unsure of why I was asking other than the thought of not having anyone to talk to. Not having anyone to confide in was hard to deal with. Knowing that I had him gave me hope.
"We should not, Vera,” he said to me.
"Then I will come down tomorrow at midnight regardless. You can either be here or not,” I said as I turned and made my way up the stairs. I tried to keep my crying to a quiet sob as I did so. I could not stop thinking about my husband being pushed into space. It made me want to kill Cyro. It made me want to seek vengeance for my husband.