Nadar: Alien Warlord's Conquest (SciFi Alien - Human Military Romance) Read online
Nadar: Alien Warlord’s Conquest
Science Fiction Alien Romance
Vi Voxley
Contents
A Little Taste…
Copyright
1. Mara
2. Nadar
3. Mara
4. Nadar
5. Mara
6. Mara
7. Nadar
8. Mara
9. Nadar
10. Mara
11. Nadar
12. Mara
13. Mara
14. Nadar
15. Mara
16. Mara
17. Nadar
18. Mara
19. Nadar
20. Nadar
21. Mara
Epilogue
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About the Author
A Little Taste…
With carefulness that was as unnatural as it was unexpected, Nadar pulled the claws out of her and threw the corpse aside.
The woman crawled away from him, a confused look on her face. Fear warred with uncertainty, pain, and defiance.
Nadar retrieved his second sword and sheathed them both again. Looking at the female, he felt the same pull as he had before. The fierce fire burning in her big hazel eyes turned him on more than any woman of his own kind ever had.
More importantly, he was overwhelmed with relief.
It made no sense. The woman was his enemy, no matter how beautiful. He would interrogate her and that would be it. If she could provide some answers, all the better.
"Come," he said, watching as her curious gaze traveled over his body. "More will arrive. There are always more Haunters."
The female stood up and raised both her guns, the most maddeningly sexy frown on her face. Nadar felt his body responding to her at once, a smirk on lips.
"I don't think so," she said slowly. "You're just another kind of death. I'm not going anywhere with you."
Nadar stared her down, unmoving.
"I wasn't really asking," he said. "What's your name?"
A puzzled look answered him.
"What's the difference? You want to kill me."
"I won't kill you," Nadar said, choosing not to add that he found himself unwilling to. "Tell me your name so I know who I'm speaking to."
A wry grin appeared on the woman's face this time, giving him a glimpse of what a real smile might have looked like. Nadar found himself longing for the sight.
"I have two guns in my hands," the female said. "I don't think I have to do anything I don't want to."
"Good point," Nadar replied.
The look of surprise on her face was precious to see. The warlord moved so quickly she barely had time to blink before he'd slammed her against a tree, holding her hands above her head. Their bodies were pressed together, making Nadar desperately wish they didn't wear armor.
"Now," he growled, low and deep, his lips almost against hers. "Your name. Don't make this worse for yourself."
She glared back, but no further protest came from her lips. Instead, after a moment, she looked him straight in the eye and said,
"Lieutenant Mara James, of the Galactic Union's Thirty-Seventh Fleet."
Her name sounded like music to his ears. Nadar backed away, still not taking his eyes off her. Slowly but surely, he took the guns from her, throwing them away. The Haunters had no use for them and neither would she.
"Better," he said. "Now, we must move. Make no mistake, the Haunters are coming."
The woman came along, but the glint of resistance was bright in her eyes. Nadar found himself liking it immensely.
After a few moments of walking, she asked,
"And your name? So I know whose prisoner I am?"
Nadar barked a laugh.
"Until you don't do anything foolish, you may consider yourself a guest," he said, not believing the words were coming out of his mouth.
Consorting with the enemy. My brother clan lords will love this.
But even the disapproval of his people couldn't kill the reluctance to hurt the female.
"I am Nadar Brenger," he said, "lord of my clan."
He grinned even wider after hearing Mara's quiet gasp. She knew exactly who he was.
Copyright © 2016 Vi Voxley
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Nadar: Alien Warlord’s Conquest
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Chapter One
Mara
The Flora sailed through uncharted space with a kind of fierce calm.
Lieutenant Mara James was watching the ship from her fighter while keeping an eye on the screens in front of her. So far they showed nothing out of the ordinary, exactly like the whole three months her flotilla had been with the gigantic carrier.
She took a quick look at the positions of the rest of the patrol vessels. One was acting somewhat oddly, but that was completely as expected. Mara opened the comm link.
"Liam, get in line," she said.
A chuckle answered her, broadcast over the general frequency when she had wanted to keep her warning private. Now all of the other pilots in her unit heard his disrespectful laughter.
"Come on, Mara," Liam replied. "There is nothing here. Seriously. I just want to relax a bit, try something new. We've been keeping a straight line for almost eight hours now. Any AI could do this; they don't need pilots. Aren't you bored?"
Mara listened, an amused grin on her lips. Technically, sure, she agreed. Keeping watch over the carrier hadn't been the most exciting job in the universe so far. And Liam was right about the lack of skill it required as well.
The flotilla tasked with guarding the Flora had not had a real mission since they set out. The patrols went through endless loops of pulling into formation, keeping their course for eight hours, and then returning to their ships.
All of that was true. But Liam had been stupid enough to say that out loud and Mara was left with only one option.
"Your concerns are noted," the lieutenant said coldly. "Starting with the next rotation, another pilot will take your place, Liam. One who manages to stay awake without doing a loop every two minutes."
A long silence settled over the comms.
Mara's gaze returned to the carrier in the midst of the fighters. The Flora was so huge that she didn't see the pilot flying next to her in the formation—the distances were too vast for that. Looking at the ship and feeling the icy disapproval emanating from it, Mara knew that some of the other pilots agreed with Liam. They had good reason.
Problem was, so did the Flora.
"Mara..." Liam began.
"I'm your lieutenant," she said, cutting in. "This is not a fun test drive we're doing here. Lives depend on us. You are a pilot of the Galactic Union. Act like one."
Mara thought she could actually hear Liam gritting his teeth.
"Yes, Lieutenant," the m
an finally said. "I am a pilot. All I'm saying is that there is no need for me to be one."
I'm dealing with a bunch of children, Mara thought.
"This might not be as flashy of a task as you'd like," she said. "For your own sake, I hope it remains as boring as it is now. If real danger should appear, I'd feel safer with a trained monkey covering me. I've seen the way you fly."
The comm link came alive with laughter, drowning out Liam's protests. Mara allowed herself a small smirk, but didn't join in with the fun. She'd chosen to ease the tension, but Liam wouldn't escape the scolding that was coming to him.
Commander Adams had given all his officers strict instructions to keep their pilots in check. Relations between the flotilla and the carrier were difficult enough without one loudmouth making them worse.
While the pilots settled down, minutes ticked by on the counter. Their eight hours was almost up. Mara could already see the next patrol unit emerging from the flotilla's main warship, the Revenant. She didn't deny it was a very welcome sight. The shift had been exactly as dull as Liam had said, and sitting motionless in the cramped fighter wasn't easy either. Mara ached to stretch her limbs as they all did.
"All right, everything looks good," the voice of Lieutenant Groy said over the comm. "Go home, Mara. I'll take it from here."
She could see the Palian lieutenant's unit approach slowly and in perfect order.
Damn Palians. I would bet my next shift he doesn't have to deal with the same kind of shit I do.
Only she couldn't really hold it against the other officer. Palians were a nurturing, peacekeeping species down to their genetic level. It wasn't in their nature to rebel or to whine about inconvenient orders. They did what had to be done in the name of keeping order in the galaxy.
Mara was willing to admit she was a bit jealous of their natural tidiness, but she wouldn't have changed her own rascals for anything. Sure, the Palians were neat, but they didn't embody the sort of liveliness that Mara liked. The tall alien species with their big, lidless eyes and pale skin were great for patrols, but they didn't match Terran pilots in battle. Their entire existence was built on obedience and order, so they lacked the spark of inspiration that often won battles in critical moments.
No, Mara thought, my brats are fine, even if I have to work to keep them in line.
"Fly true, Groy," she answered and then addressed her own unit. "You heard the lieutenant. Point your birds toward home."
Affirmatives answered her and Mara led her unit back to the Revenant. Another boring, uneventful run, but she was honestly glad for it.
Considering what the Flora had been through, some peace and quiet was welcome.
* * *
Mara docked last as she always did. The lieutenant knew that some of the pilots thought of her as a hard-ass, still teaching them long after they'd graduated, but that didn't change anything for her. Mara's own flight instructor and her later commanding officer had been the same: always demanding the absolute best from his subordinates.
It had been the right thing to do. Time and time again, Mara found herself thanking the old man for the rigorous training. At twenty-four, she'd already seen her fair share of space wars and none of them had passed easily. There had been one particularly nasty one a few years ago.
They'd been caught in a fierce struggle with a rogue Koliar war band, and Mara was coming back from an attack run. A lucky hit from the enemy threw her fighter into a deadly spin, and although she managed to right herself, she'd hit her head, hard. With blood in her eyes and her vision dizzy to say the least, it should have been impossible for her to make the landing.
Only she did.
It was a landing she'd practiced to perfection, approaching the ship Mara called home. The old man had demanded that she do it right every time, on the boring days and in the heat of battle. No scratching the deck, no sliding out of control, not one inch out of the marked landing strip. One mistake and she'd have to do it all over again. Thousands and thousands of times.
And that day, half-blind, barely conscious, Mara had made it back. She managed to avoid debris and the enemy's guns and the firing solution of the Revenant itself. She was alive because she had the sort of training that allowed her to make it back with her eyes closed.
The current one was no exception. She landed as smooth as ever. Mara kept all that in mind as she climbed out of the fighter, handing her helmet to her attendant. The girl, Ramona, was her protégé, scheduled to start her own pilot training soon. She'd pulled a face when Mara told her to join the landing bay crew, saying it wasn't her job. Mara had shrugged, saying that she was free to refuse a demeaning task like that with a hint of warning in her voice. Ramona hadn't raised a word of protest ever since.
The lieutenant watched her run off to make sure the helmet and the rest of her equipment were in order.
Then Mara turned to Liam, who was nervously waiting for her.
Not entirely daft then, she thought.
"Yes?" she said. "I thought you'd be the first to scramble for a shower and some rest."
"I fucked up, didn't I?" Liam asked.
Mara had to fight down a guilty laugh while watching the pilot standing in front of her sweating bullets. It was an odd sight, considering Liam was more than a head taller than she was, lanky and quick. The jab about the monkey had been exactly that, a joke. Liam was one of her best.
"You did," she confirmed.
"Lieutenant, you know I didn't mean it like that," the man said. "Don't take me off the patrol. I can't stay locked up in here. I'll lose my mind."
Mara knew exactly what he meant. The Galactic Union trained its pilots well, instilling a true need to fly. They were one with their fighters, aching to be out there. Even standing on the buzzing, calmly vibrating deck of the Revenant was a bit uncomfortable, not to mention solid ground. Most of the pilots with a few years of service avoided setting foot on any of the Union's worlds.
"You've put me in an unfortunate place," Mara said. "You are right. So far we've been lucky. The only victims are our cramped limbs. If we make contact with an enemy, I'd like to have you out there with me. But if the silence continues, gods be good, I can't have you saying everything that pops into your head."
"I know," Liam said, practically begging, "I know. It's just..."
"And here you go again," Mara said, frowning. "What did I say? No complaining."
Amazing, the way a six-footer can look like a kicked puppy. And this is my most gifted pilot.
"Look," Mara said, sighing. "I know you feel like they're being unfair to us. It wasn't out fault that the Flora was attacked before it reached us, but you have to understand the position we're in now. Try to imagine what they feel. If someone slaughtered half the crew of the Revenant, you'd be a bit touchy too."
"Of course," Liam said, his eyes burning.
Like Mara herself, he was fiercely protective of the flotilla and especially the other pilots.
"But they're blaming us for not being there to protect them," he finished. "Even though the Brions—"
"No," Mara said firmly. "No, Liam. It's just misplaced anger and grief. And that is exactly the reason why we can't say anything. We have to take it."
"It's still not fair," said Liam's big mouth.
Mara sighed.
"No," she admitted. "But that changes nothing. The commander has given his orders and I mean to carry them out. I've allowed you to speak your mind. One more word and I really will replace you, do you understand? One."
For a long moment Mara thought she was going to have to throw him into the brig, but then Liam reluctantly nodded.
"Yes, Lieutenant."
"Good. Now go, I want you well-rested and sharp for the next patrol... if I choose to take you with us."
Liam left, dragging his feet like a pouting child.
I should have been harder on him, Mara thought, walking to the bridge still in her spacesuit.
Her short black hair felt damp, clinging to the back of her neck. Sh
e longed for a nice hot shower, badly, but duties came first.
But it's better if he's pissed at me, not at the carrier. Plenty of time to discipline him when this is all over.
To be honest, Mara couldn't wait. It seemed the whole operation had been doomed from the start.
The bridge of the Revenant was busy when she arrived. In the midst of it all stood a tall, proud man. Despite his age and the gray in his hair, Commander Adams still looked as powerful as ever. Mara knew that because Romaine Adams had trained her back when she was still a sixteen-year-old rookie pilot, a little know-it-all. He had already been a veteran and had stopped flying himself when accepting the position of commander shortly after Mara graduated.
It was odd, wrong somehow, to see the otherwise stoic man looking troubled.
Adams turned to her.
"Mara," he drawled, beckoning her closer. "How is it out there?"
"Good. Calm," she replied. "Flora's like an iceberg with wings, though. The pilots hate it."
A hint of a smile on the commander's lips told Mara that Adams probably knew that already. It was no secret that the flotilla resented the welcome they'd gotten.
"All right," the commander said then, becoming serious once more. "As long as they don't do anything stupid, let them. We have more pressing issues."
"Trouble?" Mara asked, tensing up. "We saw nothing out there."
"It's up ahead. We're approaching the potential new world. Flora has named it Gaiya."
Mara felt her lips curl into a small smirk.
"Isn't it a bit early to name it?" she asked. "We haven't even seen the planet."
"It's their way," Adams said. "The readings are incredible. They tell me it's almost perfect. I don't think they're prepared to let this one go, no matter what."
Mara considered that.
Calling any region of space in the known galaxy "uncharted" was actually a bit misleading. It was uncharted in the sense that the Union hadn't set foot in or properly explored those parts. But it didn't mean the Flora and the flotilla were flying blind.