A chance encounter with a dominant alien warlord turns Victoria's world upside down.

It was supposed to be a routine flight. Circle Earth and be back home in time for dinner. Easy peasy for astronaut Victoria Snow. 

Until Nero Octavius shows up. The powerful alien warrior boards her ship, and from that point on nothing will ever be the same again. With his smoldering eyes and rippling muscles, the headstrong alien is hard to resist, try as Victoria might.

Nero is a wanted man, harboring a dark secret. Everyone he gets close to is in permanent danger. He won't allow anyone into his life... but he makes an exception for the curvy human female. She awakens something inside him, a power greater than he knew existed... 

Will it be the end for them both?

* * *

“Father! Father! They’re here!”

I rush towards my father’s study as fast as I can, my heart beating in my throat, my voice hoarse from screaming his name.

All day long we’ve heard rumors of Emperor Decimus’s death. Five centuries of peace, five centuries of rule ended with a single stroke.

They say Magnus Bruttius did it. The prodigal son of House Bruttius, their strongest warrior, their fiercest leader… betraying his emperor, betraying all of us Elbans, driven mad by his lust for power.

I didn’t believe it.

I didn’t want to.

But when the soldiers of House Bruttius arrived on our doorstep, when they ran their blades through our defenseless servants, cut them down like dogs… I couldn’t deny the truth any longer.

Life as I had known it was over.

I kick open the heavy wooden doors to my father’s study to find him in his usual spot: bent-over his desk, studying a paper scroll, glasses perched on his nose.

Gaius Octavius is unlike any other Elban I have ever met. He prefers science over warfare, knowledge over the sword, and this makes him the odd man out in Elban culture.

Even now, with our entire society thrust into chaos, my father is more concerned with some old scroll than saving his own skin.

“We have to go!”

“No time,” he mutters, “No time! She’s not ready, not yet!”

I grab his robe and yank him towards me. “Snap out of it!” I scream. My hand leaves a bloody mark on his olive-green robe.

I don’t know if that blood is my own, or some Bruttius dog I just put down.

My father’s eyes find mine, and finally I see the sparkle of recognition I was looking for.

“Ah, Nero, my son, there you are. I was looking for you.”

“What are you talking about? You were looking at the old scrolls again.”

“Yes, yes, so close, so close to unlocking the true potential… will have to try now, risky, but no choice, no, no choice.”

Father’s rambling worries me. He’s always been aloof, but even this is strange for him. He’s gathered so much knowledge in that graying head of his that I worry it has driven him mad.

There’s no time left to worry, though. House Bruttius has declared war on us, its soldiers are at our gates, and blood has already been spilled. House Octavius is but a minor house compared to the greatest of the Elban houses. We have no realistic hope of defeating them in combat.

There is no other option left than to run — but an Elban doesn’t run.

An Elban comes home with his shield, or on it.

“You have to go,” I growl again. “You don’t have to die this day!”

“Look at you,” Gaius Octavius says, smiling. “You have grown up to be a strong lad. I remember when you were but a little baby boy, smaller than that sword you’re carrying! I am proud of you son.”

There is a finality in his voice that makes a shiver run down my spine. This is not the last conversation I intend to have with my father, even though the situation does look grim.

Boom!

The room is rocked by an explosion. Plaster falls from the ceiling, and the sound of battle draws closer.

“Please, father,” I plead. “Come with me.”

“We must go… to the observatory!”

“This is not the time to stargaze,” I grit through my teeth. “The Emperor has died. The Bruttius are coming for us. Aren’t you listening?! Can’t you see what’s happening?!”

“I’ve always seen,” my father says, uncharacteristically harsh. “I have always known! And prepared, yes! There is a secret escape in the observatory. Take me there. Come on, lad. I haven’t got all day.”

Relieved, I grab my father’s hand and lead him down the hall, going as fast as his old bones can take.

“Die, Bruttius scum!”

At the bottom of the stairs a tall man swings a two-handed sword, cleaving it right through a Bruttius warrior. The man is clad in red body-armor, the symbol of a golden owl barely visible because of all the blood dripping down his imposing frame.

“Romulus Valerius,” I say. “Am I glad to see you.”

Bruttius soldiers, dressed in their characteristic all-black, lay crumbled on the marble floor. I remember playing in this hall when I was a kid, sliding on the slippery tiles. This place was always impeccably clean.

Now the marble floor is covered in an inch of blood.

“There you are,” Romulus says, his voice booming. “I was afraid you’d miss all the fun.”

If there’s one man in this world I trust, it’s Romulus. There’s no Elban warrior taller than him, no one stronger. He’s arrogant, stubborn, even zealous… but he’s also one of the few people I consider a true friend.

“We have to reach the observatory,” I say. “Can we?”

If the enemy have gotten into our very halls, that will be tougher than I imagined.

“Of course we can,” Romulus answers. “Lets carve a path there.”

I nod and draw my own sword - Fire’s Bane. The pommel is shaped like a stag’s head, the symbol of House Octavius. Given to my by my father, this sword is what stands between us and death.

“Stay close, father.”

Flanked by a small contingent of our most loyal fighters we charge out the gates. The observatory is located only a few hundred yards to the left of the Octavius mansion, but in these conditions, it might as well be a thousand miles away.

The sky is filled with smoke, fire and death. Flames bellow up from Massa, our great city being consumed by fire, thick black suffocating smoke blackening out the stars.

Needle-nosed spaceships bearing the mark of House Bruttius punch out of the smoke, dropping more troops on our sacred grounds with every passing second.

My heart is beating like a war-drum. My palms are sweaty, and my sword nearly slips from my grasp when a ship passes overhead, the force of its engines nearly blowing us off our feet.

In the total chaos that surrounds us we manage to carve a path, striking down soldiers as we go. The massive battle is taking place back at the mansion, and few pay attention to us.

The observatory is only a rock’s throw away now. We are close.

So, so close.

“Watch out!”

A small ship rockets by overhead, does a U-turn and touches down on the grass right in front of us. The glass door whizzes open, and my breath falters.

A man steps out, his heavy boots touching the grass with a thud. His jet-black chainmail armor is decorated with a golden snake, curling its way around his massive frame.

However, what draws most of my attention is his eyes.

Cold, dark, eyes, like looking at death itself.

“You,” he growls, pointing right at me. “You die now.”

That man is no-one other than Magnus Bruttius himself.

“I’ll hold him off,” Romulus says. “Go!”

“But—”

“Go!”

Romulus raises his sword up high and charges at Magnus. I run past with my father, the sound of swords meeting behind me. I don’t dare to look back. We reach the observatory, and I snatch the keychain from my father’s hands. As I fumble with the keys, the adrenaline making my hands shake, my mind replays Magnus’s words.

You. You die now.

Why me?

I’m the heir to House Octavius… but we are only a minor house. Not a threat to anyone. Certainly not to House Bruttius.

Yet there was utter conviction in the emperor-slayer’s words.

The door swings open, breaking my chain of thoughts. We enter and I close and lock the door behind us, catching a glimpse of Romulus going toe-to-toe with one of the Elba’s greatest warriors.

If anyone can defeat Magnus in close combat, it’s Romulus. Yet, I don’t dare to look.

The idea that this whole carnage is because of me is making me sick to my stomach.

I press my back against the door, taking a deep breath, steadying my nerves.

The observatory is a circular room, the walls covered in rows of books, a giant telescope taking up most of the space. Father shuffles forwards, his hands traveling past the rows of books.

We Elbans are a traditional people. Even now that the stars themselves are within our grasp, we prefer the old ways. We fight with swords, we study ancient tomes, we prefer the carriage to the space ship, leaving our planet only to subjugate alien species, only for the glory of warfare.

I could certainly go for a space ship right now, though.

“Where is this exit, father?”

As I watch him pull out a dusty old book out of the wall, I fear for a second that he’s really gone mad. That he lied to me, that his thirst for knowledge is so great he’s risking all of our lives just because he wants to read another book…

But then the entire wall rumbles and slides out of the way, revealing an iron pod.

“Have some faith in me, son,” Gaius says with a smile on his face, as if he could read my mind. “Here’s your exit.”

“How is this pod supposed to get us out of here?”

“Step inside and you’ll see,” father answers as he pushes a stack of papers to the side on his desk to reveal a hidden control panel, full of dials and buttons.

I had no idea about any of this.

What else has father hidden from me?

I walk up to the iron pod, my eyes wide, and peer inside. It’s only big enough for one person.

“No,” I say decisively. “I’m here to save you, not the other way around. ”

Father shakes his head.

“I’m an old man, Nero. I have already passed my second century. My house is on the verge of collapse. You are my only successor, the only hope we have. No son, I will not go.”

“No,” I say. “No! You go. I will hold them off. You go. I demand it, father.”

Father sighs and walks towards me. He places his hand on my shoulder and looks me in the eye.

“I raised you a bit too well, I’m afraid. You’re always looking out for other people. It’s commendable… and a bit foolish at times, so I guess that means you take after your father.”

He smiles, but there’s no joy in his eyes. There’s only crushing sadness.

“Forgive me, son.”

With a force I didn’t know father’s old muscles possessed he shoves me backwards, into the open pod, taking me by absolute surprise. The iron door slams shut, locking me inside the cramped space.

I punch the walls with all of my strength, my face pressed against the small transparent pane, shouting, no, screaming at father.

“What are you doing?!”

“This is the only way,” father says, the thick iron muting his voice. “There are so many things I have yet to teach you. I wish we had more time, that I could explain it all… it’s my own fault. I’ve protected you too much, tried to keep you from your own fate. I just wanted to spend more time with you… despite all of my years, despite all of my books, I’m still a fool in the end.”

“What are you talking about?!” I ask, the panic squeezing my throat, the words barely making it out.

“Remember that only you decide who you are,” father says. “Remember that. No matter what anyone says, you are my son.”

The door to the observatory flies off its hinges, and Magnus Bruttius steps into the room, dragging the tip of his sword across the floor, leaving a trail of blood.

Romulus.

“You,” he mouthes, pointing right at me. He drags his finger across his neck.

My heart skips a beat. Is this all because of me? All this death? All this destruction?

Father is pressing buttons on the outside of the pod, fiddling with the dials, muttering under his breath. He doesn’t even notices the evil man sneaking up behind him.

I pound on the pane with my fists, screaming. There’s no way he can’t hear me — so why isn’t he moving?!

The next moment my heart is ripped out of my chest and split into a thousand little pieces.

Magnus runs his sword clean through my father, his olive green robe turning a dark crimson.

His lifeless body falls to the ground, and tears cloud my vision.

“No!” I scream, repeating the word over and over again like a mantra, like that will wake me from this nightmare.

Magnus Bruttius, my nemesis, my sworn enemy for reasons I still can’t phantom places his face against the window pane, snarling at me, his black eyes devoid of all emotion except bloodlust.

“You can run, but you can’t hide, Nero. I will find you. Your power will be mine.”

His snarling smile is the last thing I remember.

An intense purple flash throws me back against the iron wall, and I pass out from sheer pressure.

When I open my eyes again, I’m in a different world, a different place, looking at the most perfect creature I have ever seen.

* * *

“All systems are go. You are cleared for take-off, Cookie Bandit. Over.”

“This is Cookie Bandit, confirmed. Over.”

My co-pilot Geoff Bridges roll his eyes so hard his bulky helmet moves. I grip the control stick tightly, my tongue sticking out of my mouth as I concentrate on getting this brand new, billion dollar space ship into the air in one piece.

It’s not every day you get to take the latest piece of NASA hardware for a test drive.

The take-off is fairly smooth… for a space ship. It still feels like an elephant is stamping on your chest, like the world is spinning at a million miles per minute, and you have to focus to stay awake, you have to bite down on the insides of your cheek to keep your consciousness from slipping, but if you do, if you manage to do all that…

You’re rewarded with the most beautiful sight imaginable. You see Earth — all of it. The entire globe, hanging in the darkness, surrounded by stars on all sides.

The entire world. Every place I’ve ever visited, everyone I have ever met, all the people I know and love… all of that is just a blue-green marble from up here. It looks like you could pluck it from the sky and slip it right into your pocket.

Not many people have seen this sight, and I am awed every single time. When I was but a little girl, I never could have imagined I’d follow in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin.

Neither did my father. All he ever wanted was a son, and a woman’s place was in the kitchen as far as he was concerned. My mother died in childbirth. It’s something he never forgave me for. In his mind I committed two crimes: I robbed him from his wife, and I was born with lady parts.

No matter how hard I fought for his acceptance, his approval, and boy did I fight… it was never enough.

“Cookie Bandit, this is command. How’s the view up there? Over.”

The radio crackling in my headset pulls me from my thoughts and back into the present. I curse myself under my breath. No matter how hard I try, no matter how far I run — I just left Earth’s atmosphere for crying out loud — it’s never far enough to outrun my father’s presence.

“Cookie Bandit coming in. The view is astonishing. Every single time. Over.”

“Enjoy your time up there. Over.”

I glance to my side to see Geoff glaring at me.

“Cookie Bandit? Seriously? You couldn’t think of anything better?” he bites.

“What?” I ask my co-pilot. “You don’t like it?”

“I loathe it.”

“You’re no fun.”

“We’re not here to have fun. This is our job.”

“If this is our job, then it’s our job to have fun.”

Most of the other pilots consider Geoff a real pain-in-the-ass, but he’s not so bad. You just have to learn how to ignore most of what he says. If you manage that, he’s a pretty good co-pilot.

“I can’t believe you’re so cheery all the time.”

“I can’t believe you’re so morose all the time,” I counter. “Look at this view. Just look at it!”

“It’s Earth,” he shrugs. “Big whoop.”

“So I guess everyone’s right when they call you a grouch, hm?”

“Better than what they call you.”

“Oh, now you’re just being mean,” I laugh. “Why are you so angry today?”

“I just want to make it back home, in one piece preferably,” he says.

“Me too, buddy. Me too.”

There’s a cute little puppy waiting for me back home. My neighbor’s mother fell ill, so I’m looking after her dog while she’s out of state, but the little rascal has already stolen my heart with its big fluffy ears and big puppy eyes. If my neighbor thinks she’s getting her puppy back, well… she’s right, but it’ll hurt me more than I thought possible.

This was supposed to be my weekend off, but they called me in at the last moment.

I agreed under the condition they’d call me Cookie Bandit the entire time, in honor of my neighbor’s pup, because that’s what he is. A scoundrel who steals cookies.

And hearts.

Of course, I couldn’t take the cute bugger into space with me, so he’s now staying with my other neighbor, Leslie. She’s a darling, but she has trouble walking, and the puppy is one energetic pupper, with the boundless energy of a newborn… so I really like to get back home as well.

“I don’t like flying a new ship,” Geoff continues complaining. “Too many things can go wrong. I don’t like being a guinea pig. And I especially don’t like not being the one holding the control stick.”

“Ah, so you’re jealous,” I tease Geoff as I wiggle the stick. “You got stick-envy.”

“Be careful with that thing,” he mutters. “If you crash us into the moon, I’ll never forgive you, you know. I’ll haunt your ass.”

“Noted. However, there’s nothing out here to fly into—”

“Warning! Warning! Collision course detected!”

I utter a cry as something big and gray seems to materialize out of thin air right in front of us, coated in purple light. I press the stick down and the spaceship lurches to the side, my stomach doing a somersault.

“What the fuck was that?!” Geoff screams.

“I don’t know,” I say, sweat trickling down my brow.

We barely missed that thing, and I mean barely. That was too close for comfort. Way too close.

We’re out here in space, with the best radars possible. They are tracking every meteorite, every satellite, every square inch of space debris that is floating around Earth is continuously mapped and tracked… so how did that gray cylinder just pop out of nowhere?

“Control, are you seeing this?!” I ask.

“Yes, we are. Are you safe? Over.”

“We’re fine, I think. Over.”

I glance down at my control panel, but nothing is lighting up. Nothing is telling me we’re about to die out here.

“Good. Come back i—”

The connection suddenly cuts out.

“Control?” I ask. “Control? Come in, control?”

My lips are dry and I try to keep the panic from breaking into my voice. This was supposed to be a standard mission. Take the new ship for a spin and head back to Earth. Back in time for dinner.

The com crackles back to life.

“Cookie Bandit?” a deep voice says. It’s strangely familiar, yet I can’t quite place it — but it doesn’t sound one bit like Control. “What kind of name is that,” the voice curses under his breath. “What kind of two-bit show is NASA running here?”

“Yes?” I ask, raising my eyebrows at Geoff. He shrugs and shakes his head.

“This is General Bowers. I need you to take that pod in. That is a direct order.”

General Bowers?! That’s the highest ranking officer of the entire armed forces. Only the President outranks him. Why would he be on the line?

“Do you copy, Snow? Do you copy?”

“Sir, yes sir,” Geoff cuts in on the line. “We read you loud and clear.”

I shake my head at Geoff and disable my com.

“I’m the one in charge here,” I say. “Don’t make calls on my behalf!”

“You’re not in charge, you’re a pilot, like me,” he counters. “That’s General fucking Bowers on the line.”

“We have no idea what that thing was! It could be dangerous!”

“Whatever it is, the army wants it.”

“I’m not in the army,” I say. Not anymore.

Geoff laughs. “That doesn’t change a damn thing. Now, I don’t intend to spend the rest of my life in jail for treason, so I suggest you turn this ship around.”

“They wouldn’t dare.”

“Do you really want to find out?”

I curse under my breath.

And turn the ship around.

The big, metal pod hangs still in the air. Ominously. It’s about ten feet high and covered in strange marking, something akin to hieroglyphs. I’ve got a real bad feeling about this…

I open the cargo bay doors and maneuver the ship so that the metal device slides into the belly of our ship.

“This is Cookie Bandit, coming in. Package is secured. Over.”

“Good,” Bowers answers. “Return to base, there will be a team waiting for you. In the meantime, go down and see what you can learn.”

“Sir?” I ask. He can’t be serious. I’m not touching some alien artifact.

“That’s an order. I want to know if that thing is North-Korean. If they’ve got warp-technology, than we’ve got no other option than to declare a preemptive war. Time is of the essence. Go!”

“You heard the man,” Geoff says. “I’ll fly her home, you go and see whatever that thing is.”

“What? No! You go!”

“He specifically gave you the order, didn’t he?”

I can’t believe this.

I woke up this morning with my only plans beings taking my (okay, my neighbor’s) cute labrador puppy out for a nice long walk — and now I have to check out some alien technology to see if we should declare nuclear war on the North-Koreans?!

This day can’t get any worse.

With every fiber of my body fighting against me, I head down into the belly of the ship. The walkway down towards the cargo bay is long and dark and I’ve never felt quite so alone. There’s something just not quite right about all of this.

The giant metal pod looms up in front of me.

It’s even bigger than I thought. Big and gray, covered in strange markings, this thing looks decidedly alien.

Except aliens don’t exist. Of course.

Suddenly, the pod opens with a loud hiss.

What I see makes my heart jump into my throat.

There’s a gorgeous man inside of the metal pod. Seven feet tall, if not more, with bronzed, olive skin. He’s wearing metal armor, like some kind of ancient warrior, with a red cape hanging over his broad shoulders.

I know one thing: This man is not North-Korean.

I’m not sure he’s even human.

As strange as it sounds, he looks more like some semi-divine being. A perfect specimen if there ever was one.

Impossible, of course.

Aliens aren’t real.

That’s the one thing I’m sure of.

Aliens aren’t real.

And then his eyes open, his powerful gaze landing right on me, and suddenly I’m not so sure of anything anymore, except for the fact that my core is burning with the heat of a thousand suns…

* * *