Chapter Seven

Outer Reaches. Geonate New Time, Year 2402
Mission: Day 8
Venture Stranded: 7 hours

Piotr stepped inside the transport tunnel and into the lift. Whispers circled in his mind, repeating over and over, insinuating inside to taunt him.

“I might let you,” Anna had said.

How he wanted to test that. How he wanted to step back off the lift and return to her side. She needed to be held, and he needed to do it. Instead, he headed back to the meeting room in the cone of the ship where he and his crew would bed down.

Long a leader in an endless war, he could size up a scenario in seconds. When he walked into the room crowded with sleeping mats, one glance told him all. Though none slept, every one of his charges rested except for Gregory and Ivan. They still assisted Len with her repairs. Their competitive flirtations might irritate the engineer—and he’d need to talk to them about that—but both were knowledgeable mechanics.

Nadia smiled from her pallet, an open question on her face.

“Nadia.” He inclined his head.

“Piotr, would you like to join me?” she asked, not at all concerned that any one of the two couples could hear her.

Even though she only periodically made the offer, she didn’t resent his usual response of, Thanks, perhaps another time.

Before, he’d not wanted the entanglement, but now, a small kernel of guilt shocked him. Guilt because of Anna, not Vivie. Vivie would understand. Could have her own lovers. He’d not mated, nor even bonded with Anna, and he’d never be able to do so with her being human. He couldn’t even stay with her in a human marriage because to do so would mean he’d lose rebirth.

He shook his head, and Nadia frowned. She’d obviously expected his usual response, but she didn’t pry. The fist around his heart loosened a little, and he breathed easier. Perhaps Nadia would understand if he had a short-lived fling with a human, but he couldn’t expect anyone to condone a love affair. Least of all him. He shouldn’t contemplate kissing Anna, much less taking her to bed, risking an attachment that would eventually lead to his permanent death.

He shouldn’t contemplate it, but he did.

It was a long while before Piotr found rest, until the memories woke him in a sweat.

*

Sirin
45 Geonate cycles ago

Tension thick, the ozone smell permeated the crackling, pressing air. The last man dissolved in a flash of light, and his energy form took to the sky to leave behind the last of the Aerie young.

The old man hustled the three children into his home, glowing from the warm fire. Joining the others already there, he motioned for the newcomers to sit before he lowered his form into a creaky chair and surveyed the refugees of the House of Talon.

Eagerness and firelight dancing in their eyes, their complete attention focused on him. He had to keep it. He had to give them the gift of their lore because the history of his people was slowly dying.

With a sense of urgency, he raised his voice to an unearthly cadence to hypnotize his audience and bend their will to his own. Satisfied with the thrall cast upon the innocents arrayed in front of him, he told the story dearest to their future.

“Serena ran as if her life depended on it.” The old man paused for effect. “Because it did.”

He had them. He knew he did. They listened and absorbed his song. For the last time, he pulled the story from deep within his soul and spoke the truth. He’d never sing again after this night.

 

You children, you all know of our mother, Serena. You know her as the strength of our people. But she was not born with strength. She was not born here on Sirin. She was born many ages ago. Some say, on ancient Geonate.

Serena was a child much like all of you. She sang when she was happy, with the purest voice. She worked hard to support her clan—the plemja—learning to be a woman, with the purest heart. When she did not work, she played in the streams and caught fish for her family. She was innocent.

When she began to feel like a woman, she saw one of her friends, a boy, in a new light. She’d known this boy all her life. Overnight the boy was no longer lanky, but strong. He was no longer fresh of face, but now had a beard. He no longer played with her, but looked at her with a new expression she did not understand.

Her parents began to keep her from running off to the stream, telling her she must act as a woman. She noticed a plemja elder looking with the same shiny eyes as the boy. The elder brought her family rich presents.

The boy went on his first hunt. When he came back, he boldly proclaimed to her that he was now a man.

In the way of these things, Serena and the boy-who-was-now-a-man began to walk together and fish together in the stream. The boy-man gently laid her down on the bank and boldly proclaimed her a woman.

Also in the way of such things, Serena soon discovered she was with child. She did not understand why her parents were upset when her belly began to round. She did not understand when the plemja elder became angry and took away the luxurious furs and food he had given her family.

She most certainly did not understand why she now ran away from the only home she had ever known. Banished. She would no longer see her parents. She would no longer see the boy-man.

But deep in the forest, the Mage caught her. Of the shadows, the Mage preyed upon those not of the plemja. She knew the stories of the lost, never seen again.

She stumbled and tried to catch herself, wrapping her arms around her slightly protruding belly. She fell to the ground, curled into a ball, and landed on her side. Her head hit a rock, and warm blood ran into her hair.

The Mage’s red eyes glowed. White lightning blinded Serena as the scorching pain of heat engulfed her. She was on fire. She could feel her life slip away.

“Please,” she pleaded and reached out to the Mage. “My baby.”

Serena had heard stories of his pitiless hunting, never giving quarter. She had no hope. He took her life gently. He drained her very essence, and he left her.

Serena woke with the dawn and a terrible knowing.

She was different. She had awakened after death, and deep inside, she held not one, but two babies. Serena carried a second baby, of the Mage. She grieved for both babes, for they had no home.

In despair, Serena raised her arms to the sun, to the rays that warmed her from her head down to her toes. She stripped off her furs and stretched to the life-giver in the sky, welcoming it. The change blossomed and tingled along her skin as warmth radiated from her belly.

Then she flew.

She flew to the sun. She danced and sang in welcome.

She said good-bye to the sun and drifted to the nearest star. She lived this way for limitless time, in light, seeking energy in the heavens. When her grief had run its course, she looked for a new home.

She found Sirin.

 

“Was Serena real?” chirped an eager young boy who leapt to his feet, interrupted the story, and dissolved the spell wound tightly around the small group.

“Yes, she was real,” the old man answered.

“How do you know?” the boy asked.

“What is your name, little one?”

Puffing his chest, as if he ruffled his feathers in the age-old sign of avian preening, the boy looked around with a grin while the other children fidgeted and soaked up the boy’s boldness. When he saw the earnestness in the old man’s face, he deflated. His smile faded, and he sat back down in deference. “My name is Piotr.”

“Well, Piotr, I know she’s real because she is my mother.”

All motion stopped. Eyes wide, the children held their collective breath and waited for more. He knew the question in their eyes. A question so incredible, even the bold Piotr would not ask.

“I am the son of the Mage.”

Closing his eyes, he forced himself to state the hated truth, the reason for their dwindling numbers. “I am the father to the one who has brought war to our people. The only war we have ever known in the many hundreds of years of our existence.”

Looking deeply into the eyes of the children around him, he saw the future. The boy Piotr stood proudest, taller and lankier than the others. Piotr was also darker than any Talon he’d ever seen.

“Piotr, what is your full name?”

“Piotr dom Raven.”

Ah, not a Talon, a Raven.

The Old Man knew he looked upon a warrior in training.

Will Piotr be the one to kill my only son?

Time would tell.

*

Outer Reaches. Geonate New Time, Year 2402
Mission: Day 9
Venture Stranded: 11 hours

“Trouble sleeping Piotr?” Nadia asked from across the room.

“No, I’m fine,” he lied.

The memory of the night he’d listened and learned from Koschei’s father still came to him as if it were only yesterday. He blinked back the images, still vivid, that he’d never forget. Why did he remember now, rather than claim the rejuvenation he needed?

Thoughts of the old man, noble and kind, as the father to the hated Koschei bothered him. He’d nearly forgotten that Koschei began as one of them, or at least part. How much of him was phoenix, and how much Mage? The old man could not be the son of Serena. Or could he? The ages couldn’t work. Or maybe they did.

In the end it didn’t matter. No point in dwelling. Koschei and the damage he’d done was real.

“Did you ever meet one of the old mages?” he asked quietly so as not to disturb the others.

“No,” she answered with a wary expression. “Are you sure you’re well rested?”

“Nothing a stretch of the wings won’t cure.” He stood to change forms.

“Yes, you should,” Nadia said. “You haven’t taken phoenix form nearly enough since we boarded this ship.”

“I’m fine, Nadia,” he replied with an edge of irritation he couldn’t dampen.

He hadn’t taken phoenix form enough since he’d come aboard the ship. That was likely the reason he was so drawn to the captain. He wasn’t himself. He was under stress. He really didn’t desire a human.

Even he didn’t believe his own lies.

Jerking to his feet, not caring if his team saw his urgency, he stripped the clothes he hadn’t bothered to shed when he’d bunked down. The ill-fitting blue tunic and slacks slipped to the floor. Free of constriction, his nude body stretched with freedom before a stray thought about Anna threatened to make him wish for his pants again.

Enough dwelling on a woman he couldn’t have. Luxuriating in his shift, he stepped through the process slowly and ran his hands over the currents running through his torso as they began to heat, thrum, and jump.

The sizzle started in his toes, traveled to the ends of his hair, and leapt across his skin to the center of his back where he carried the visual imprint that symbolized his unique signature. The endless knots and swirls ran in the ancient designs he’d studied in vids and old comp-chip books.

Every hair on his body vibrated, and as they crackled with tension, sparks of static buzzed around him. Strands collided and rubbed together. Aware of every filament, every excited blood cell, the smallest core of him changed and become purely electrical. His body broke down into a matting of living fiber, alive with currents, feather-light and soft. The white light flashed bright, and the pure energy rolled through him and left him free to soar.

In his new form, he gave in to the draw of the nearest, largest source, the star. The familiar, intense urge comforted him. For the first time in his life, a fierce drive warred with that draw to soak in the power. That need, to find Anna and claim her, forced him to face his unreasonable attraction. He had never had such a response to anyone. She was more dangerous to him than Koschei, perhaps leading him down the road that had turned Koschei himself. Love for a woman who could not be bonded was a death sentence. No rebirth. With the current population problems in his world, it was also treason. He had a responsibility to fight for his people, as well as to mate-bond and reproduce with a woman who would complete him. Vivie had that promise. Vivie would bond her signature with his to give them both the ability to be reborn.

There would be no bonding with Anna.

His keening cry drew the attention of his unit who all turned to stare, wide-eyed at his rare emotional outburst.

He surged upward. His avian body moved matter and rearranged as he flowed through the floors. Beyond his disjointed thoughts, he sensed the crew of the ship on the decks as he passed. They would not see him. Perhaps a shimmer if they looked in the right place. Or they might catch a passing scent of cinnamon, characteristic of the descendants of the Raven plemja.

Immediate silence greeted him as he broke free of the ship. A relaxing reflex of his body, he took a deep breath of nothing. No air. Though the star enticed him, the memory of Anna’s soft touch preyed on the periphery of his mind. The phoenix stretched out his wings and rejoiced in the dual call to mate and seek energy. He was well and truly snared.

Piotr pulsed in time with the star, and primal urges overtook the last vestiges of humanity.

Intense heat and need. The star called to him like a siren. Heeding that call, he savored the anticipation of drawing his fill. Once sated, he would relish the contentment and peace he desperately needed.

Maybe then he’d have the strength to deny Anna.

The phoenix opened his beak and let loose a silent call.

*

Heat, intense heat, and visions of Piotr’s chest markings blasted through Anna’s center and brought a creeping blush up her neck. She licked her hot, dry lips. She really should break down and get meds from the sickbay. Erotic dreams had made her lose sleep before meeting the darkly handsome man. Now that she had met him, touched him, the dreams became exquisite torture.

This morning, she’d completely come apart at the seams and fallen out of bed. She awoke on the floor, shaky and damp all over with her top sheet twisted between her legs. She was mortified. Thankfully no one was there to see her in such a mess.

While she set herself to rights, cleaning the best she could without using any of the ship’s precious resources, she planned her next move. Still sluggish and unable to forget dreams of a hard body pressed against her, she shook her head. Ridiculous reactions aside, she couldn’t allow dreams to influence her. She’d not let the man under her skin.

In the groggy space of time after waking, she wondered if she could be touched by a man again. Her life was set, perfect, and she did fine without physical intimacy. She’d sleep better once Piotr left. The emptiness in her must be hunger.

Breakfast would have to wait. She needed to find out whether or not Len had been able to keep a charge in the batteries. These worries were probably the real cause of her restlessness, her being off-kilter in her normally ordered world.

Since they labored under severe power rationing, they weren’t using the kitchen resources and consumed pre-prepared foods, dried, packaged, and tasteless. She didn’t exactly look forward to it.

Striding purposefully out of her quarters, through her office, and into the crew lounge, she ignored the raised eyebrows of the few women in the cabin. She must look a fright. Tension rolled off her stiff shoulders in waves.

Taking the lift in the centrifuge tunnel, she rode up through two decks of the cylindrical ship where each deck, mercifully, continued to rotate in separate directions. If they stopped, they’d lose gravity at the least, life support at the worst.

The lift came to a halt in the cone. The door at her back opened to the bridge, but she didn’t need to go there. The door in front of her opened to the meeting room. The room where Piotr had slept.

A quick scan verified what she’d suspected when her skin hadn’t prickled when she’d entered the room. Piotr wasn’t in the meeting room.

“Nadia,” Anna addressed the woman as a surrogate phoenix representative. “My crew is more comfortable with all of you now. It would be best if you move to the crew lounge so we can cut power to the cone.”

Control systems also needed to be moved from the bridge to the engine room. Anna mentally added another to the growing list of urgent items to complete.

“Of course, Captain.” Nadia looked at her for a moment with no expression, before she ended their staring contest. A knowing flicker flashed across her face. “Were you looking for Piotr?”

“Yes. Well, no. I needed one of you to check the battery levels and test for leaks.”

“Because he’s not here.”

“Yes. Well, I see…”

“I understand why you want him. Most certainly understand. I’ve been bitten by that bug before.”

Unreasonable urges to choke the woman in front of her startled Anna. Outside of Nex sanctioned actions, she’d never hit anyone in anger. Before she could clear the haze from her eyes to answer, Nadia continued.

“He is beautiful. And, you don’t have the experience to see this, but his firebird is beautiful. Regal and powerful—even if he is a Raven. But, he will not be able to choose you.”

“I don’t…”

Nadia held up her hand. Her expression softened to a pitying smile that made Anna’s mouth snap shut before she said something she’d regret.

Nobody dared pity Anna.

Anna gritted her teeth and stayed quiet.

“He is phoenix. A warrior dedicated to duty. He will risk his life in pursuit of Koschei. And then, whether or not he has succeeded, he will return to his intended mate, Vivie. He won’t do this for comfort or love. He’ll procreate, as duty commands he do in his first life cycle. To do so, he’ll bond with Vivie and become a complete man. To close the holes in his signature pattern. As a human, you cannot complete him. Do you understand what this means?”

Her gut clenched. Piotr lied. He had a mate. She could barely force the answer past her lips from the unexpected blow. “No.”

“If he mated anyone other than a phoenix, he would fail his duty. He’d be unable to produce offspring to help our population. Unable to reincarnate because his signature was adolescent, he would die. No, he would not take the chance that death would be permanent. He wants to be reborn to continue the fight.”

Anger brought tears to Anna’s eyes. She had to stay in the here and now. Every word from Nadia was a painful reminder of the dangers of the male species. Before Anna could reply past her tight throat, Nadia stiffened.

Anna wondered what could make Nadia wary enough to take a step back and hitch her chin. The now-familiar haze of lights streamed through the decking. The plates of metal proved no barrier to the phoenix who coalesced in the swirling pinpoints. Static filled the room. When the cinnamon scent hit Anna, her pulse quickened in anticipation. Warm all over, she couldn’t deny her traitorous body’s irrepressible response. He settled gracefully on the floor to her right and faced Nadia, who’d backed toward the door with a wary expression.

A loud screech resounded in the chilled room. Anna’s heart thumped against her chest as she covered her ears. Piotr’s savage cries echoed with an angry reverberation. The menacing bird lowered his head, and his beak darted toward Nadia, who stood her ground. He turned his head at the last second and barely avoided impaling Nadia. Shoved to the side, Nadia stumbled toward the door.

Straightening, the phoenix arched his neck and puffed his chest. From side to side, he shifted while grumbling sounded from deep within his chest.

With a defiant posture, Nadia spoke to Piotr. “Someone needed to tell her. It was the decent thing to do. Anyone can see how much you desire her.”

Anna’s cheeks warmed, but she refused to acknowledge her discomfort. She closed her eyes to the predator’s posturing. Why was he so violently upset?

The aggression surrounding her threatened her calm, and her breath hitched in her lungs.

Darkness crowded the edges of the room, and Anna’s shoulders hunched for the expected blow.

No! Only a memory.

The sound of Nadia’s hand slapping the wall next to the portal brought Anna back from the edge. Anna folded her arms across her chest to keep the tremors at bay.

Without a backward glance, Nadia left the room, and the door swished closed. Anna was alone with an eight-foot-tall bird of light. He may look ethereal, but he was deadly, with sharp talons and razor-like beak glinting in the low light of the cabin. She should have been afraid.

She wasn’t.

The anger dissipated from the air. Belusi was gone, and this majestic creature had saved her from her prison and tormentor three years ago.

He was her savior. Her angel.

Anna’s hands shook as she lifted them to finally touch Piotr’s firebird. His form shimmered, and his scent wafted over her. Her hand extended to the gossamer filaments of his coat making the hair on her arms lift.

She lightly skimmed her fingers across his chest. A tingling swept throughout her whole body and settled in a blaze at her core. Outside of her dreams, this was the most intensely sensual experience she’d had in years. Maybe, ever. Yet, this was no man. She was safe.

The firebird looked like an iridescent proud eagle rather than Piotr’s ruggedly handsome human form, his exquisite, muscular, finely shaped body.

“Rak-ka-ka-ka,” he rumbled softly.

Fiery eyes softened with a gentleness that allowed Anna to sink into their comfort. The brown-rimmed irises glowed and grew larger, expanding wide enough to overpower the red centers. When she fingered the soft filaments on his chest, a primal possessiveness took her breath away. A flicker of doubt stopped her hands for a moment.

He’d promised himself to another.

But the phoenix would not lie and hurt her.

The firebird cooed and shifted slightly causing her hands to slide through the soft, pliable but strong strands. A heady feeling of control over this hunter gave her a sense of well-being and power. She could explore this wonderful creature but not the human man. She’d take what she could get. She leaned into him and inhaled his spiciness.

Being near him was intoxicating, and she resisted the urge to crawl out of her skin and into his intense heat and security. Yes, this fierce bird was a protector.

One last time, Anna stroked his chest and circled the motionless firebird, all the while caressing where she could reach, torso to back. A low thrumming sound reverberated from him. She gave him pleasure, like petting a wild beast.

Other than the now-constant purr thrumming from his chest, he remained immobile, so she continued her inspection with his flowing plumage. After watching his crew, she could differentiate their distinct patterns. Each had a beautiful, flowing main tail feather with individualized markings and coloring. The mated pairs had colorful tails. Piotr’s was snow white. Pulses of bright light outlined a pattern of swirls that flowed wider and wider down to his fanned tail. At the end, a variation of dim and bright lights twinkled in an intricate knot shape with numerous loops and twists.

“Magnificent.”

Trilling, Piotr responded with a lyrical vibration.

Her heart expanded in her chest, and she smiled at his laughter. A slight crackling accompanied her strokes when the hair-like strands brushed together, clinging to her skin as if they were attracted to her, trying to hold her to him. She was a magnet, and his entire frame leaned toward her, drawn to her, reaching.

Clogged with emotion, her throat clenched. She careened, topsy turvy. A state she was utterly unfamiliar with and unequipped to handle. The overwhelming feelings flooding her were heady, but they were too much. She slanted toward overload. She had to step away.

One last stroke. Leaning forward, she gripped the feathers along his side and pushed her face into his warm softness. The tingling on her lips made her insides melt clear to her toes. She wanted to wrap herself around him and never let go. She didn’t. She pushed against him to force herself back.

He whimpered.

“Don’t.” Her husky voice, weak and shaky, sounded nearly unrecognizable. She cleared her throat. “Please don’t shift in front of me. I can’t take it.”

The pleading in her voice frightened her, scared her more than the dwindling resources to run life support. More than the ticking bomb sitting outside her ship ready to supernova.

Straightening her spine and her resolve, she ignored the lethargy he inspired, the willingness to forget all and sink into him.

“We need to try charging the batteries again. We don’t have much time left. Could you meet me in engineering? Len has isolated another one of the banks for testing.” The request held captain-like efficiency by hard-won effort.

Caw.

She assumed that meant “yes.”

On shaky legs, Anna hurried to engineering.

The lower deck was crowded. The utilitarian cabin had never been meant for more than three or four people at a time. Systems filled the space along with wall-to-wall banks of electronics that Anna would never quite understand, but trusted Len to keep in tip top shape.

Despite the close quarters, the room was always spotless and sterile. She squeezed by an engineer at the door and moved toward the voices at the back of the room. Passing the only bank of systems she knew anything about, mapping, she headed through a corridor of comp units that comprised navigation. Since all systems were redundant, smaller backup systems on the bridge were her specialty. This was not her domain. She’d never felt that lack before.

Using his energy form to pass through the decks, Piotr had arrived before her and had crammed his full firebird height into the circular corridor that ran the perimeter of engineering, perpendicular to the aisle where she now stood. Her labored breathing slowed, and she berated herself for rushing. In anticipation of being near him, not at all to check on progress of the batteries. She’d give herself a mental dressing-down. Soon. She couldn’t afford his distraction for one second more.

“Len, report, please.”

“We were just about to give it a whirl. I think that isolating separate cells should do the trick. The problem before was likely that the connecting lines overloaded.”

Ivan spoke up, surprising Anna. How a giant of a man could so gracefully blend into the background of a mere four-foot-wide aisle of floor-to-ceiling comp units was unfathomable. Somehow, she’d only noticed Piotr and Len. This had to be Piotr’s fault. Her mind melted to mush because of him. Ivan, Gregory, and Piotr’s phoenix crowded around Len, who leaned on one of the batteries that came up to her shoulder.

What was Ivan saying?

“So we’re going to try this in our shifted form. We’re better able to regulate currents and the flow of power. Our bodies are almost completely made of filaments of stacked cells, just like your battery. Things should go much more smoothly. In any case, we expect our ship to rendezvous with us in a matter of days. We’ll get you through this.”

Piotr leaned forward, graceful neck extending, and his beak gripped the exposed cabling of the unit in front of him. The back wall was lined with identical units, the front panels removed from all of them. Each had a red emergency lever pulled down. They’d all been individually taken from the grid. Somewhere down the line, two batteries still connected, levers pointing up. Only two.

Back to the matter at hand, Piotr filled the far back corridor with his presence. The rest of them gave him space and crowded into the cross row.

The phoenix pulsed. When Piotr gripped the conduit with his beak, a humming sound grew progressively louder until it leveled off. After a few moments, the firebird shifted on his feet, and his feathers rippled. The ripple turned into a frenzied shaking, and the humming escalated.

The room energized with motion.

Ivan and Gregory moved toward Piotr when he released the cable and his head fell forward. The two younger men scrambled toward the iridescent bird as the giant avian dropped to the floor. Their hands gripped Piotr, and he shimmered.

Anna held her breath as the muscular shape of Piotr, golden skin slick with sweat, materialized on the floor. In the back of her mind, she was grateful he was shielded from full view by his two men. Len would not see him.

How could she be jealous at a time like this?

A blanket came from somewhere, and Gregory gently covered Piotr while Ivan adjusted him, straightening him to a more comfortable position. Piotr opened his eyes. Anna smiled in giddy relief, and her body relaxed slightly.

Propping himself up despite the protestations of his men, Piotr straightened, and the blanket fell to his waist. His exposed, taut chest heaved to bring in air. The markings pulsed slowly. The energy there not as vibrant as it had been when she had touched him. He looked at her, his eyes flaring brightly as their gazes connected.

“The battery is fully charged,” he whispered.

Piotr slumped to the floor. His fiery eyes fell shut as Gregory and Ivan scrambled toward him, anxiety apparent in their movements.

“Piotr!” Ivan and Gregory called at once.

The floor dropped from under Anna, and she couldn’t move. When the darkness in the corners of the room threatened to narrow, close upon her, she pushed her personal demons aside. No time to fall apart now. Piotr needed her. The protector needed protecting.

Please, let him be okay. Be okay. Please.