Ryock

I can’t explain to Isla how incredibly happy and terrified I am to hear the words from Marketh. Pregnant. With child. My child.

My joy is much more than fear, and it’s the emotion I shove through our bond to Isla.

The fear should be hidden away, locked in the tiny cage I carry with all other worries. I try to keep the thoughts of how the women of my race treat their offspring in that cage. Looking to Lexi, I see that humans may not feel the same sense of detachment. But will Isla be as Lexi is?

Will she want a child of mine?

That’s the biggest question. I know her love for me. I know the bond that has connected our two very beings. But will she want a child? I feel her confused fear. There is no revulsion there, thankfully. But I do feel the fear. Do we share the same feelings?

We need privacy, we need time to talk. To absorb and speak our hearts. I want this child with all my being. Worries still flood the little cage, but I must keep it safeguarded.

Pushing the wall carefully around these worries, I feel it almost shatter when Maul tells Marketh to head straight to the Tribunal.

Lexi, Isla, and I all turn our eyes to Maul. Each of us have a different expression. Oh fuck, must be mine. There’s confusion on Isla’s face, and annoyance on Lexi’s.

“I thought we would head to home first, Maul? Figure things out with Isla being kidnapped by the Crima,” Lexi says.

“That was the plan, my love, but our sister’s pregnancy changes things dramatically,” he replies as he focuses his eyes on Isla.

Squeezing my arms around Isla protectively, I stand up then move her to my side. “If your intention is to turn her over to the Tribunal for anything, I believe it will be better for all concerned that you place us back down on the planet.”

“What’s the Tribunal?” Isla asks.

“It won’t be like that, Ryock,” Lexi says, but I can still feel her annoyance at Maul.

“We cannot do that,” Maul speaks slowly at me, and his eyes try to measure my words.

He’s a big male, and if he’s as rich as this ship suggests, he probably has some connection to the Tribunal. Perhaps he’s a member of one of their warrior or policing castes.

No doubt the ship would suffer some irreparable damage if push comes to shove between us. He’s got those fancy claws and extreme strength. But I doubt he’s got what it takes to take me out.

“Which? Set us back down? Or turn us over to the Tribunal?” I ask.

I can feel Isla’s confusion quickly turning to fear as I stare into his eyes.

“Both.”

Growling out in frustration, I demand, “What is your plan then? I don’t believe the Crima are going to be happy with Isla and I showing up with evidence that an escaped criminal and test subject are mating and with child.”

“Criminal?” Lexi asks as she looks to Isla then me, her eyes rounding slightly. I’ve seen that reaction before with Isla. She is fearing me now, fearing for her sister.

“He’s not a killer or anything, Lex. Criminal for him is different,” Isla snaps.

“We need to return to the Tribunal,” Maul says calmly. “Not only because of the information you have of the Crima’s crimes, but because Isla is pregnant. It is one thing to know that humans and Rathturians are able to breed, but to know humans can breed with Argmaraths as well? This information is going to turn the entire known universe on its head. And we need all the protection we can get.”

“Fuck.” I shake my head in frustration.

“Indeed. Fucking bloody hell!” Marketh says to us before whizzing around the room.

“Marketh!” Lexi shakes her head at him.

“Did I use the phrase correctly?” he asks her.

“Well… Yes… But Thorn’s around us, you know. He doesn’t need to learn those words so early on.”

“Well, I’ll be plotting our jump points and then ensuring the warp drives are ready.” Zipping out of the room, I hear him begin to laugh as he goes down the hallway.

“What is with him?” Isla asks Lexi.

“Well… I’ve sorta been teaching him human slang and…”

“She is corrupting him further than he already is.” Maul shakes his head as he looks at Lexi. “If you had to listen to him in your head… It’s like I married two of you sometimes.”

Chuckling, Lexi looks to us and then Maul. “Well, we have some explaining to do.”

* * *

Using warp drives to manipulate space time does odd things to the stomach. It’s one thing I’ve never been able to get over. As my head hangs over the bathroom toilet, I feel Isla rubbing on my back gently.

“I can’t believe you can hold so much inside of you. I mean, I know you’re a huge guy, but big guy you’re a freak of nature.”

“I suppose this puts a damper on any romantic feelings we might have been feeling?” I grumble as I feel another surge of bile come up my throat.

A sharp poke of her finger and a chuckle is all I get before Marketh’s voice comes over the intercom announcing we have safely made the second of four jumps. We have a course set for the Rathturian homeworld, the main power seat of the Tribunal.

Making our way through four separate solar systems has and will continue to play havoc on my stomach. It’s a fucking nightmare for me. Even with Isla sending soothing waves of comfort, I can feel my stomach trying to crawl its way up my throat.

“Don’t worry, big guy. If Marketh is right… You’ll be holding my hair while I worship the porcelain god soon enough.”

“I think our translator is not working, my dear. I don’t think I understand…” I say as I look back at her.

“Why do you say that?”

“You worship a god named Porcelain?”

“Oh! No. It’s a phrase humans use to say they will be puking their guts out. Because, you know, the whole kneeling in front of a toilet? Well, on Earth they’re made of a material called porcelain.”

“I believe I understand, but why will you be getting sick? Is there something wrong?”

She shakes her head and continues to rub on my back gently as I sit back on the heels of my feet. “Nothing to worry about. Human females go through something called morning sickness when they get pregnant.”

“So you’ll be sick in the mornings?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Not only mornings, but from what I’ve seen and heard, mornings tend to be when it’s most frequent.”

“Well, as long as it isn’t after warp drive jumps, I will do all the nurturing I can for you. If it happens to be after a jump, I will be worshipping right next to you.”

A red light flashes on the wall as a loud siren blares from the ceiling. It only lasts half a minute, but it’s enough to solidly slam whatever nausea I was feeling solidly back into my stomach.

Marketh’s voice comes over the intercom. “We’re having a slight issue up here. If I could get everyone to the bridge now, it would be appreciated.”

The siren blares then blanks out again as he comes back over the intercom. “Like right fucking now!”

Standing up quickly from the floor, a wave of dizziness engulfs my very being before I slump against the wall.

“Ryock!” Isla shouts over the siren.

“It’s fine, my dear,” I say as I straighten myself out.

I try to roll out the tension in my shoulders as I walk to the door. Thankfully, the siren that was blaring cuts off as suddenly as it came on. The red light is still flashing though, so I’m betting we’re still in a bad position.

We jog out of our berthing quarters and up the hall to the bridge.

“What’s going on?” I ask as I look around us.

Maul and Lexi are both already on the bridge, both staring out the front window at a small but heavily armed vessel. It’s ugly, bulbous frame instantly signifies it’s a Crima warship.

Glancing around the bridge, I quickly move over to the map of the solar system we are sitting in.

I see three bright red blips on the map surrounding us, as I suspected.

Growling low and deep, I say, “They are getting into attack formation.”

“Agreed,” Maul says stiffly as he turns to me. “They started hailing us as soon as we warped into the system.”

“I’m willing to bet the Crima have throttle points all around this arm of the galaxy. Waiting for people to show up so they can search for our newest crew members.”

Isla walks up to the map I am standing at and I point at the blips. “They have one moving behind and slightly above our rear. One to the front… and this one to the left of us is going to try and get under our ship. This is the formation they had us soldiers practice for forced boarding parties.”

“They’re hailing us again,” Marketh says.

“Lexi and Isla, move to the side of the bridge and don’t show yourself. Same for you Ryock,” Maul says.

As we move away from the ships holo-recorder, Maul asks Marketh, “How long until the warp drives have cooled down?”

“Three hours and twenty-two minutes.”

“How long before they are able to set up the attack formation on us?”

“Ten fucking minutes,” the little silver orb curses out.

“How many minutes until they are in range of attack?”

“Eight.”

Nodding his head, Maul orders, “Start warming up the hyperdrives. We may be able to outmaneuver them while we wait for the warp drives to cool down.”

“Starship, this is Commander Drizt of the Crima Federation. We demand you shut down your engines and prepare to be boarded,” an ugly bug says as he comes on to the screen. He has a large head and giant bulging bug eyes.

“This is First Tiered Maul of House Lathuria. You have no authority in this arm of the galaxy to demand anything. Reverse your course immediately and allow us passage through this system.”

The bug does not move on the screen for so long I think it might be a statue. Then a slow ugly grin forms on its already ugly face as it looks towards something off-screen. “Starship, you have no official markings on your ship. As far as we are concerned, you are a smuggler. Again, I demand you shut down your engines and prepared to be boarded.”

“You have no authority or claim to board this ship, Crima. I repeat, I am First Tiered Maul of House Lathuria. By the right of the Supreme Leader and the Tribunal council. Correct your course and leave us.”

Shrugging its bug shoulder, the Commander of the Crima ship says, “We do not recognize your claim to the Supreme Leader. We now take your defiance as an act of aggression towards the Tribunal and its leaders.”

The screen suddenly closes out as the Crima shut off communication with us.

“Damnation!” Maul growls as he slams his hand down on the seat he’s standing by.

“How can they act like this?” Lexi asks worriedly, looking to Maul.

“They know we can’t warp out of this system immediately,” I say as I look over to Maul.

If he’s truly who he says he is… He’s far more than I suspected. There’s a lot of questions running through my mind, but Isla’s safety is first and foremost.

“Correct,” Maul says.

“Maul could be the Tribunal’s Supreme Leader for all they care right now. They just have to board or destroy us and no one will ever know,” Marketh snaps out.

They’re right, of course. I don’t think the Crima were worried about Maul and Lexi getting out of the Rathturian solar system. They have choke points set up innocently around the most accessible jump points to get in. It’s effective enough to keep us out. Or at the least enough to retake us. If Maul and Lexi go missing during it all, well it’s not like many will care about a Rathturian royal disappearing. If anything, it only strengthens their position in the ladder of the Tribunal.

“Marketh, set the hyperdrive to use the elliptical of that outer planet. We need to see if we can slingshot ourselves towards the sun.”

“Maul… the charts of this system, while accurate to a degree, are not fully up-to-date. This is a dead system. No live or usable materials.”

Taking Isla by the arm, I escort her to a chair at the side of the bridge. “Sit and strap yourself down, my love. This is going to be a very dangerous ride.”

Nodding her head, she grabs my hand to pull me back to her then tugs me down.

Lifting her lips up to mine, she kisses me long and hard. “I’m scared Ryock.”

“Don’t be. The stars have not aligned for us to die here.”

Moving back to the front of the starship, I look for one of the stations to man the guns. “I’ll take a gunner’s station, Maul.”

Sitting down in the captain’s chair, Maul says, “Watch for the one on our back. Marketh, count down from five when we’re entering hyperdrive.”

Lexi dashes back to her berthing quarters before she rushes back to sit in the chair next to me. “I’ll go for the one below us.”

“Lead your shots by aiming ahead of the ship,” I say to Lexi,

“Got it. Maul was letting me use the simulators on the way to pick you guys up.”

“Marketh, if we can slingshot around the fifth planet out in hyperdrive, we should be able to use that gas giant’s rings as a shield for long enough to engage our stealth fields.”

“Should be able to Maul, but there is no telling what else is hidden in this system.” Marketh puts heavy emphasis on the word should. Then speaking in a loud, clear voice, he says, “Engaging in five. Four. Three. Two. One.”

“They’re in pursuit, Maul. The class of those ships are slower than us, but they are still close in enough to engage in firing if we come out of hyperdrive anytime soon.”

“Drop hyperdrive the moment we get close enough to breach the planet’s thermosphere. Once we are able to use it as a speed burn-off, turn the ship thirty degrees to port,” I shout to Marketh.

“Why?” Maul questions me.

“They’ll be expecting us to use the gravity well and slalom between the planet and the moon to create a larger distance between us and them. They are betting we will try to outrun them through the solar system in hopes of waiting out the cooldown,” I say as I look to Maul and then Marketh.

“Do as he says,” Maul agrees.

“Wait, we’re going to stop instead of go?” Lexi hisses as she looks at us.

“Yes. We will be ambushing them in plain sight.”

“I like it.” Marketh cackles then says, “We get to kill bugs!”

There’s a wide grin on Maul’s face as he nods. Coming out of the captain’s chair, he takes the last gunner’s station. “And it will be completely legal. Marketh, you have the conversations recorded, right?”

“Triple, and as soon as I closed out of the conference I sent a light wave message to our next jumping point. The Crima will find no course of action against us.”

“Time until we reach the stop?” Maul asks.

“Four minutes and eight seconds,” Marketh calls out. “Charging all weapon drives. They should be fully online in one minute. Also engaging full sensor array once we stop. I want to make sure we don’t have other ships out there.”

“Marketh, prime up the fighter drones as soon as we we’re stopped and in position,” Maul commands.

“Already planned on it.” Marketh chuckles. “These bitch bugs are going to be really dead, really soon.”

Lexi laughs loudly. “You just say bitches, Marketh. Not bitch bugs.”

“Stop corrupting him, Lexi,” Maul groans.

Isla groans as the ship begins its sudden deceleration. “Holy crap!”

That’s just the beginning. The ship’s hull groans as it hits the thermosphere. The whole front of the ship begins to glow. We aren’t breaching it though to advance down to the planet. As soon as we begin to skip off the thermosphere, Marketh uses the ship’s thrusters to pull us to a stop, shifting our ship to an oblique angle.

“They’re stopping!” Marketh yell as he zooms from ship station to ship station, ensuring our speed has bled off correctly. “I’m going to get us into a reverse speed as soon as possible so we can try to dodge what they shoot out at us.”

“Send our fighter drones out now!” Maul growls.

“Sending out. I’ll control them,” Marketh calls out.

Almost magically, two small warships appear on the screen as they try to not overshoot ours. The third overshoots the planet completely and we watch as it bounces off the thermosphere and flings itself towards a moon.

“Fire!” Maul shouts as we all engage our targets.

The two ships that could successfully stop their progress are unable to lock on to us as our drones race towards their ships. It’s almost stunning to see how well our drones quickly overpower the two ships even though they are outnumbered.

Being here just a few seconds ahead of them gave us the space to gain superiority.

I line up the red sights of my laser turrets and pull the triggers back, aiming just ahead of where I want the lasers to go. The two Crima ships begin evasive maneuvers as we switch from reversing into position to thrusting ahead after them.

My laser shots find their marks as I first aim for where I hope their gunner’s stations are on their ships. Then I start shooting fifteen yards ahead of their bridge. The seconds spanning from when I shoot and when the bolts begin to melt through the shields is barely more than a handful, but it’s long enough to make my stomach clench in determination.

“Where are their shields?” Maul gasps as the first ship begins to slowly tear itself apart.

Large explosions coming from the back of the ship and its side begin to spit out metal shrapnel at us.

“Hold on, their warp core and hyper cores are going to go supernova!” Marketh shouts before the room goes almost completely dark.

Our shielding works perfectly as we turn to the side, avoiding the blast. When the light has faded from the blast, our screens come back on and the front window of the ship shows the outside once more.

“Second ship is trying to run, but its engines have suffered catastrophic failure. I give them a thirteen percent chance of sur—” Marketh starts before our ship goes completely dark again as our screens and window darken to save us from the brightness of the Crima’s cores flashing.

“Zero percent chance of survivors on both ships,” Marketh says cheerfully before cursing. “Fucking hell.”

“What is it?” Maul asks.

I’m busy spinning my gun turret around, searching for what I know has to be the third ship that was chasing us.

And then I see it a split second before Marketh responds. “The third ship has warped out of the system.”