My arms are wrapped tightly around my mate. My face is buried in her neck, her scent filling my nose, her soft curves pressing against me.

If I have died, then am I in heaven.

With my eyes still closed, my fingers slide down her back. It hurts to move, but I want to feel her ass fill my hands. When I do so, a soft moan leaves her lips, and my cock responds in turn.

This is not death.

I open my eyes to find Aria’s big brown eyes looking back at mine.

“Hello,” she whispers.

Around us I see my men scrambling to their feet, but at this moment I only have eyes for her.

“Hey,” I say. “It worked?”

“I think it did,” she says.

I plant my lips on hers, energy surging through my body as we kiss. Nothing can stop us when we’re together.

“General, are you alright?!”

Trent is standing to our side, begging for our attention. He’s a skilled warrior, an excellent second-in-command, but a feeling for personal space, he has not.

“I am fine, Trent,” I growl between kisses. “I am fine.”

Aria smirks. “Let’s see how our alien friend is doing. We’ll continue this later.”

What we find in the engine room is beyond our wildest dreams. The monstrous growth has absorbed most, if not all, of the blast. Its vines are black and withering, turning to ash before our eyes.

Bodies appear as the vines disappear, previously hidden in the tangled mess Our colleagues. We spread out, rushing towards them. Some have died, unfortunately, but a few are still alive, although barely. We carry them to the med-bay as fast as we can.

The rest of the day passes in a blur as we try to restore order to the ship, carrying the wounded to the med-bay, and paying our respects to the deceased.

At the end of the day I’m exhausted both mentally and physically. This is the first ship I have under my command, and I’ve had to say goodbye to a dozen good men. Their families entrusted their lives to me… it feels like a personal failure.

Once we return to Earth, I will inform their families personally. It’s the least I can do.

If we return to Earth…

We have defeated the growth, but we’re missing one warp core. And they don’t come cheap, or grow on trees…

I plop down in my chair and open a bottle of kuhla. A strong drink will help me unwind.

Aria walks into my office, and my heart quickens. It does so every time I see her.

“Ah, there you are,” she says as she sits down in my lap. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

She kisses me and then makes a face.

“What’s that?” she stammers as she wipes her lips clean.

“Kuhla. You don’t like it?”

“It tastes like, like… I don’t even know where to begin. A spicy glue?”

I can’t suppress a chuckle. “It’s an acquired taste. You’ll learn to love it. Just like you learned to love me.”

“Maybe,” she smirks.

I nuzzle the back of her neck. “How is the engine looking?”

“Fairly good,” she says. “A new warp core and we can head back home. The engine will probably need to be scrapped after that, but it should be able to handle one more warp. Do you have any leads for a core?”

“Not yet,” I answer. “I had Trent send out a call. How do you feel?”

“How do you think?” she answers. “A dozen men are dead, more are injured… all because of me.”

“It’s not your fault,” I answer. “You couldn’t have known. You couldn’t have expected this. No one’s seen anything like this.”

“That’s sweet, but you’re lying. Bad luck seems to follow me, no matter what I do, and people keep getting hurt. How many times are things ‘not my fault’, before they are my fault? I ought to just stop trying.”

‘Never stop trying,” I growl, placing my hands on her stomach. “That’s not the example I want to give to our children.”

“Children? As in, multiple? Do you know something I don’t? I’m not having twins, am I?”

“This is only the start of something great,” I grin. “I hope you do carry twins. Or triplets!”

She throws her head back, leaning into me. “I’m not sure if my body can handle one Zoran baby. Three would kill me!”

“You’re stronger than you think.”

My com beeps. This time I don’t ignore it. It’s Trent.

“General, we have received a message in response to our distress call. It’s from an alien species called the Kua, and they only want to talk with you, via holocall.”

“What do we know about their species?”

“Next to nothing,” he answers, “but I can tell they don’t like to be kept on hold.”

“Take the call, I’ll try to figure out who they are,” Aria says.

I stand up and straighten my back, running my hands down my armor. Aria sits down in my seat and pulls up the ship’s database.

“Patch them through, Trent.”

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.

A lanky, floating fish fills the room. Blue-green scales for skin, with two arms, but a fin for legs. Two beady eyes stare at me, from underneath a massive, wafting fin.

He opens his mouth, filled with short, sharp teeth, and seconds later I hear the robotic voice of the auto-translator.

“Greetings.”

I answer in kind.

“We have received your message. You are in need of a warp core?”

“Correct,” I say.

“Come to our planet. Alone. Only you are allowed entry. The coordinates will be sent to you.”

The message is cut off abruptly.

“Real charmers, huh?” I say to Aria. “Seems we have our lead.”

She is looking at me, eyes wide.

“You can’t go.”