Chapter 31

Brook might have felt embarrassed when Drake knocked on the door to inform them that they'd be landing on Zanthar in fifteen minutes. She might have, if she weren't so exhausted.

She'd been napping, curled up around her mate, the first real rest that she'd had since the whole ordeal began. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and hoping she'd have enough energy for what came next.

Brook glanced over at her man and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Ontarii was staring back at her, his midnight eyes now the darkest thing about him. His skin was a light green color, as it had been when he met her, although she could catch sight of a few purple spots here and there.

"We're home," he said, sitting up to plant a kiss on her head before standing.

She watched as he wrapped his sarong around himself, and her breath caught in her chest at his beauty. His body was masculine perfection.

And he's all mine.

Brook was still amazed at the whirlwind of events that had brought them together. But as she stood and put her own clothing on, she thanked every god in the universe for putting her in his path. This was the man she was made to love, and against all odds she’d found him. Now she would never let him go.

They piled out of the room and into the main chamber of the ship. Brook’s attention was instantly drawn to the view screen where JL-398, better known as Zanthar, was growing in size.

It was a lovely planet, almost entirely water, with swirls of purples, blues, and greens. It reminded her of Ontarii’s skin in all of its myriad shades.

He moved up beside her, taking her hand in his. Meanwhile, Drake was steering them towards the surface, hard at work at his console.

“I managed to convince them that I am who I say I am, but just barely,” he said. “I don’t know what kind of greeting we can expect, but I’m heading into the hangar now.”

The shuttle landed, and Brook took a deep breath, preparing to meet her mate’s people in earnest for the first time.

Her jaw fell open when the first person she saw when the shuttle door opened was the lost human scientist, Dr. Sylvia Cohen. Standing beside her was a large Zantharian male.

“Supreme Regent,” Ontarii said, walking forward and holding out his hand.

“Halt,” the man said, holding up his own hand. “Initiate energy exchange.”

Drake laughed. “Good to see you too, brother.”

The regent scowled, holding out his hand and emitting a charge of electricity that Ontarii matched from his own hand. Drake did the same, and their identities were verified.

“Long time no see, brother,” the regent said, slapping Drake on the back. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do. But first, what about the human female? She needs to be tested.”

Ontarii’s chest swelled, his voice turning tough like leather. “No one touches the female but me, understood?”

The regent cocked an eyebrow at him. “It’s like that, is it? Okay, you test her yourself then.”

“She doesn’t need to be subjected to that! We just proved our identities. It should be enough that…”

Dr. Cohen stepped forward, addressing Brook directly. “I see your mate is as protective as mine. To protect me, he has to make sure you are who you say you are. So instead of these two alpha males butting heads, let’s just get this out of the way so we can move on to discussing important things.”

Brook nodded, then placed a soothing hand on Ontarii’s arm. “You did it before. I can take it. Just do it.”

Ontarii’s face was rigid, his color lightening to yellow. Despite his anger, he extended his hand and touched hers, running a charge through it.

Brook stumbled, but her mate was there to catch her. He held her gently in his arms, and she knew that no matter what happened, as long as they were together, things would turn out all right.

Drake and the regent began talking in low, urgent tones.

Dr. Cohen put an arm around Brook once Ontarii released her, drawing her into conversation. “These Zantharian males are a bit irresistible, aren’t they?”

Brook blushed. “Yeah.”

“Your crew has informed me of your mission. Let me assure you, I’m alive and doing well.”

“My crew? You’ve talked to them.”

Dr. Cohen nodded. “Yes, they’re here. I’ve asked them to assemble in the conference room, well, I call it a ‘conference room’. I haven’t quite figured out Zantharian protocol completely yet.”

Dr. Cohen’s words filled Brook with joy. Her crew was alive! And safe!

In a daze, Brook followed behind the human female as she led her into an adjoining room. At least part of her crew stood assembled there.

Dr. Tan and Amanda Chao were talking quietly to each other. Their faces lit up with twin smiles when they caught sight of her.

“Captain!” Chao said. “You’re alive!”

Brook gave them a wave. “Glad I can say the same about you.”

Lieutenant Brunt, a.k.a. Lieutenant Cheerful, looked to be anything but happy at the moment. He was talking to a Zantharian female, his hands gesturing wildly, his face frustrated. “You aren’t listening to me!”

Brook moved beside him and coughed politely, but that didn’t seem to capture their attention. So, using her Captain’s voice to its fullest, she said, “Lieutenant, report!”

He trailed off mid-word, noticing her, and immediately grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. “Captain! I didn’t think we’d ever see you again.”

There was a growl from behind her. “Get your hands off my mate or lose them.”

Brook moved away from her second-in-command and looked back over her shoulder to see Ontarii, having gone full yellow.

“It’s okay,” she said, wondering what she’d gotten herself into. They’d have to have a talk about overprotectiveness soon.

Turning back, she spared a glance at the lieutenant’s companion. The Zantharian female was tall, her body lithe and muscular. Her dark eyes were boring into Brook’s, looking confrontational. Her skin seemed a shade lighter than before.

Hmm… What’s going on here?

“Fill me in on what’s happening,” she told her crew.

“After you’d left with this one,” Cheerful said, gesturing at Ontarii, “we waited. After a few moments, you both came back. He told his crew to remain on the ship with you, Talia, and the others, while the rest of us were taken to the flagship. We thought it was you, so we followed orders, even though I didn’t want to leave you alone.”

Brook nodded. “It’s understandable.”

He continued. “On the flagship, we met this one, Kat’Chinna, Ontarii’s second. Long story short, we figured out that the Ontarii we’d brought back wasn’t the real one.”

He frowned suddenly. “Where’s Mike? And Diego? And Talia?”

Brook shook her head sadly. “Mike and Diego didn’t make it. Talia was the Hareema plant. Although there had to be more.”

“Oh, there were more, at least two others.”

“How do you know this?”

Cheerful gave her a smile. “Because I caught one, and it talked.”

Kat’Chinna frowned at her companion. Apparently his enthusiasm didn’t sit well with her.

Ontarii sounded amazed. “You have a Hareema prisoner? We haven’t managed to catch one in centuries. How did you do it?”

“It’s all in the wrists,” the lieutenant joked.

This made the Zantharian female’s expression darken even further.

The Supreme Regent stepped forward and silence reigned. “We will discuss all of this further shortly. We have briefings scheduled all day. For now, I’d like to discuss assignments.”

Brook felt overwhelmed suddenly. She’d just broken out of prison, escaped death at the hands of the Hareema, and landed on an alien world. What she really wanted was a hot meal and an even hotter shower.

Dr. Cohen came up beside her with a knowing smile, and patted her on the shoulder. “We’ll make this quick,” she whispered, “then I’ll show you to your quarters.”

The regent jerked his head toward Ontarii. “We need to debrief, obviously, and I want your help in interrogating the Hareema prisoner. Drake informs me that you have information about a rebel alliance among the enemy. I want to see what our captive has to say about that.”

Ontarii nodded, and the regent moved on, focusing on the lieutenant and his companion. “You two, you’re charged with recovering the missing Earth vessel and reclaiming it from the Hareema. I want this done as quickly as possible. I think the next step in this war will be a trip back to Earth, and I want it to be in your vessel.”

“Wait!” Brook didn’t like taking orders from someone she’d just met, especially where it concerned her ship. “If anyone is going on this mission, it’s me. It’s my damn ship.”

Ontarii pulled her back into his arms. “You’re not going without me. If you go, I go.”

The regent’s face was a storm cloud, his color beginning to lighten. “Listen up, I need you both on Zanthar. I need you to help plan the Earth excursion. Your lieutenants have proven themselves more than capable. They will recover the ship. You will remain here. Am I clear?”

Ontarii nodded, then looked at Brook.

Although it didn’t sit well with her, she had to admit she needed rest. Besides, she could be helpful in planning what came next. “Fine.”

Dr. Cohen put an arm around her. “I think that’s enough for now. I’m going to take Captain Brooklyn to her quarters. The rest can wait until after she’s had time to eat, rest, and freshen up.”

Ontarii made to follow but the female held up her hand. “She’ll be just down the hall. You can come find her when you’re finished here. Right now I want to talk to her alone.”

Without waiting for a response, Dr. Cohen led Brook out of the room.

“You have to be firm with them,” she said. “They hate letting a mate out of their sight. But it isn’t practical to be tied to the hip all the time. This should buy us at least five minutes to talk.”

Brook laughed. She could see she was in for quite an interesting life with Ontarii.

Dr. Cohen led her down a corridor that reminded Brook of ocean coral. She took her into a chamber that was warm and welcoming, with a desk and something that looked like dried flowers that had come from the sea.

“The bedroom is in there,” her escort said, pointing to the next room. “And the bathroom’s attached.”

Dr. Cohen took a seat on a sofa and gestured for Brook to join her. “We don’t have much time, so I’m going to get right down to business. Drake told his brother that Ontarii had mated you.”

Brook was nonplussed. She didn’t like her business being told to the world behind her back.

“I know you’re upset.” Dr. Cohen waved her hand in the air as if to brush past the concern. “It really was a matter of planetary security though. The way these males get about their mates is not like human males. The regent needed to be informed.”

“And the regent is your mate?”

“Yes.” The scientist’s face grew soft, a rosy glow coming over her. “He is, and trust me, it hasn’t been easy, but it’s definitely worth it.”

Seeming to come out of a daze, she continued, “Since his coloring is back to normal, I’ll assume that Ontarii was able to…er…come to completion with you?”

Brook’s face warmed. Her answer was a curt “Yes”.

“And I assume he might have said something about not being able to breed?”

Brook nodded.

Dr. Cohen gave her a small smile. “Well, as an astrobiologist and an expectant mother, I can tell you that he’s wrong about that.”

Brook’s eyes widened. “You’re pregnant?”

“Yes. I will be the proud mother to the first human-Zantharian hybrid.”

This changes everything. Then she shook her head. No, it doesn’t. At least, not in a negative way. Not only do I get to be with the man I love, but now I have a chance to bear his baby.

The transparent membrane that served as the chamber’s door split open and two Zantharian males entered. Ontarii made a beeline for Brook, sitting down beside her and stroking her hair.

The regent took his mate’s hand and pulled her up off the sofa. “Come on, dear. Let’s give them some time to rest.”

“We’ll talk later,” Dr. Cohen said, waving at Brook before following her mate towards the door.

“You can count on that, and congratulations!”

“Thanks,” the scientist said, putting a gentle hand on her belly.

After they’d left, Ontarii turned to her. “What were you congratulating her for?”

Brook gave him a wide smile. “The Supreme Regent is going to be a father.”

Ontarii’s face filled with surprise just before he stood up and pulled Brook into his arms.

“Oh, my love, that’s wonderful news!”

“Yes it is.” She pulled him down for a long kiss. “Now let’s go see if we can make our own.”

“But we just mated. I would think that was our opportunity.” His eyebrow lifted in question.

“Are you refusing to make love to me?” She smiled nefariously.

“Right. Get in the bed, woman. What was I thinking?”

“You weren’t.”

The End

AUTHOR NOTE: Did you like that? If so, feel free to start Lieutenant Jeffrey Brunt and Kat’Chinna’s story, The Lieutenant's Luck.