Alien Paladin's Woman: SciFi Alien-Human Military Suspense Romance Page 16

  “Man, I really miss my cloak,” she said lightly, though he caught the strain in her voice.

  The attempt at humor seemed hollow, but she was being brave.

  “Can you do it once more?” he asked, knowing full well why she was trying to stay on another topic as long as she could.

  Each morning, they checked in on the Brion ship’s position. The space between them was so great, and the Jorcossi tracking technology so poor, that it was the only way to really know where their enemy was.

  “I can,” she nodded, the spark of amusement gone from her expression.

  Together, with Tieran's arms around her, they opened the bracelet one more time. Audrey almost jumped, but he held her while she looked for their enemy.

  She slapped the shielding device shut again, breathing heavily.

  "The glow of the mountain is going to blind me down there," she sighed. "I don't know if I can remove it on Verien."

  "You don't have to, as long as you sense the Fearless," Tieran said. "Where is it?"

  The battle couldn’t come soon enough. Though the Fearless had lost most of its control over Audrey, that was not enough. Tieran wanted it gone for good. His glaive practically begged to be pierced into the guts of the beast and rip out whatever life force was keeping it alive so far.

  "Close," Audrey said, looking at him, her gaze determined, but undeniably afraid. "Very close."

  17

  Audrey

  The journey down to the surface was as uneventful as it ever was on Verien.

  Audrey felt like it was her first time, although she'd made the trip tens of times during her stay on the planet. The ship shook around her and the paladins as they made their descent. From down below, the ice shone up at them, the light so bright it threatened to pierce even her lenses.

  Yet it was nothing compared to the way the lifestone down in the mines called her, more real than anything around her.

  Except for Tieran.

  The commander was staying close to her, keeping her from the worst of it with his presence. Audrey thought that at another time, when they had survived this mess, she wanted to know why he had such an effect on her.

  Her best guess was that it had something to do with her feelings towards him, so strong that they pushed everything else out of her mind, including the lifestone's call.

  If that was true, it was a nice testament to the power of love.

  At the back of her mind, she could feel the Fearless coming closer, driving the Brion ship like Tieran had almost broken theirs. She couldn't imagine anyone but the Fearless being alive aboard that thing, although the Fearless would keep one host alive at least. If for no other reason than to fit down into the station.

  As soon as they landed, Tieran had the entire station shut off. All the doors closed, all the exits were blocked.

  On the orbit, the Evela was reporting an approaching ship.

  Of course it’s here already, Audrey thought bitterly.

  The crew aboard their support ship was fully aware of the danger that came for them. It was entirely manned by a skeleton crew of Palians now, those they knew would never betray Verien.

  They were under orders to flee as soon as the Brion ship attempted to come closer or even board. Until then, it remained in the hope of getting a few shots in, but Audrey knew the Fearless would not go down that easily.

  Being back on Verien after everything that had happened was weird, but on the other hand it was like stepping into a comfortable pair of boots. Which she coincidentally also did, literally.

  After promising Tieran she wouldn't send her guards away – and try not to squish them like cockroaches this time if the Fearless got too close -, the paladins escorted her to her quarters where she dressed in her regular clothes. She also found another white cloak and picked up two guns this time instead of one.

  They probably wouldn't make much of a difference, but it was better than nothing.

  Pelar met her when she came out of her room, smiling despite everything.

  "You should be with the civilians," Audrey said, frowning. "I don't want you to get caught up in the middle of this."

  "You're here," the Palian girl pointed out smartly.

  "Yes," Audrey admitted. "But I'm special. The monster wants to eat me, not you."

  And I don’t need something happening to you like it almost did to Gil, she thought, thinking back to her brother and the last major mess she’d been in.

  "That is not comforting, Miss Price," Pelar said, not appreciating her attempt to alleviate the mood at all.

  "I know," Audrey agreed. "But this is the way it is. You always told me that Commander Tieran can handle everything. Well, now I've seen proof of that. We must have faith in him."

  That worked, even if a little. Pelar put on a brave smile and they walked through the oddly empty hallways. Audrey could see the blocked off parts of the station everywhere.

  "Did you explain to everyone what we're up against?" she asked. "I don't know about Palians, but Terrans are notorious for never understanding when they need to shut up, stand still, and hide."

  Now Pelar laughed, nodding.

  "Yes," she said. "I told them in detail, unfortunately. After seeing the image of the boy, no one volunteered to roam around or go do their shift."

  "Good," Audrey said, feeling better with every second, even if the mountain was still giving her a migraine. "Then I think we've done everything we possibly could have. Are you ready?"

  Pelar nodded and Audrey felt a tinge of guilt. She should have made the girl go and hide until the outcome of the battle was done. But having her there was a comfort and she was very good at organizing people and situations.

  Audrey resolved to simply make sure Pelar didn't face the Fearless alone in some empty hallway like she herself was bound to.

  All of Tieran's paladins were equipped with a comm link and they were all sworn to keep her in sight. They needed to know the location of the Fearless at all times.

  Audrey and her entourage found Tieran checking the last line by the entrance of the mines. Luckily for them, it was the furthest location in the station from the landing bay and the station was (hopefully) impenetrable from anywhere else. The Palians knew how to build things and the station was no exception.

  "Everything seems to be alright," Tieran told Audrey when she arrived with Pelar.

  She could see that herself.

  There were long lines of soldiers and paladins between the entrance and the hall they were standing in. The gigantic double doors to the mines had been shut and melded together as well as the short notice allowed.

  Neither she nor Tieran made no illusions to themselves, however. If the Fearless wanted to get through something, no stone or metal would stop it, only someone standing up to it and taking the beast down.

  She could notice a few Terran techs still in the station giving Tieran stunned, admiring looks as he inspected their work. They had never seen the commander before and now they reacted in roughly the same way she had, although probably without the instant attraction.

  Pelar was moving around, working as a coordinator between the Terrans, the Palian guards and the paladins now that Franco had been removed. Audrey was still mad at him. She loved her own species with their temper and unpredictability, but sometimes they really drove her nuts.

  Then again, there were those that stood side by side with the Palians now, ready to face down a creature that looked like it had stepped out of some lower level of hell. Audrey swore that anyone who survived that day would be rewarded with something much greater than the little feast she had planned for them after finding the lifestone.

  The celebration of finding the lifestone seemed ages away.

  Tieran's comm link came to life and the commander's expression was hard as he listened.

  "The Evela is exchanging fire with the enemy," he reported.

  Audrey could see everyone grasping their weapons more tightly and she slid her fingers around her guns too. She pulled o
ne of them free and handed it to Pelar.

  "I think you're going to need one if you stay," she said. "Won't you reconsider?"

  "You need me here," Pelar said, smiling.

  Before Audrey could reply, Tieran turned to everyone present.

  "I can no longer get contact with the Evela," he said. "There may be other reasons, but more than likely the support ship has been lost. I need you all to understand what this means. You must not hesitate when faced with the enemy, because the Fearless will not. The last report said that it had led its own ship to descent."

  The paladin let his gaze travel over everyone and the look in his eyes made Audrey's knees weak.

  Just today, she thought. If you live through the longest day of your life, you get to have him.

  That was a comfort, but it still meant killing the Fearless, more unlikely with every word Tieran spoke.

  The paladin went on. "Brions build their ships strong and sturdy, but they are not made for Verien. From anyone else, this attempt would be suicidal, but the Fearless does not think like that. We will go and reinforce the bay, because if it makes it through the atmosphere, it will blow the doors off their frames as they are now.

  “Keep your comm links open and remember. Whoever the governor or I tell you to kill, kill."

  He marched away, with Audrey and Pelar following. As they rushed through the halls, Audrey could hear the station shake.

  "It can't really be firing at us, can it?" she asked. "This is Verien. Regular ships don't fly here."

  "Is the stone gone?" Tieran asked, snapping his attention to her for a moment.

  Audrey concentrated, but it was difficult. Just like before, trying to see anything else in the searing light of the mountain was almost impossible, but there... Definitely two signals.

  One was the Fearless and the other had to be the lifestone.

  "It's still there," she said. "Almost out, but there."

  "Then I would say it is possible," Tieran replied, picking up the pace so Audrey and Pelar had to run to keep up. "The ship will never fly again, but the Fearless doesn't need that. All it needs is to get in."

  "The doors are reinforced," Audrey said. "They can take the storms of Verien."

  "Which are nothing compared to plasma cannons," Tieran said grimly before he stopped.

  Audrey and Pelar nearly ran into him.

  "You two stay here now," the commander ordered. "Keep in touch with me, Audrey."

  He tapped on his comm link with one finger, giving her a look.

  "This already went horribly wrong once," Audrey pointed out. "Let me come along, I can show you the Fearless."

  "It has nowhere to take you this time but to the mines," Tieran replied, pulling her in for a deep kiss. "And don't worry about me. Nothing but the Fearless can survive the conditions that must be in the Brion ship now. Even if a few men walk through our doors, I'll just kill everything that enters the station. If it doesn't escape my sight, you might never need to see it again."

  "This sounds so good in theory," Audrey said, unable to keep the misery from her voice.

  A smile flashed over Tieran's face and he pressed another kiss on her lips. Pelar was working hard at looking anywhere but at Audrey and the paladin.

  "I can't put you in danger," he said. "The cold will be unbearable there and the Fearless will come straight for you. Keep Pelar safe. Keep me updated."

  “How are you ever going to kill it?” she asked, finally daring to ask what she hadn’t so far.

  Every story of a Fearless being vanquished had come with huge doses of luck and finding a weakness the beast had been barely aware of. In this case, the only weakness they knew the beast to have was… well, Audrey.

  If I need to die for the others to survive, that’s just what’s going to have to happen, she thought, looking up at the paladin, who held her so close.

  She didn’t say it out loud, though. No need for Tieran to be on the lookout for any heroics on her part. As much as it pained her to admit it, she wasn’t sure whether the man could stand by his morals when it came to her safety any longer.

  “I’ll find a way. We will find a way.”

  He was already running away when Audrey finally found her voice again.

  "Don't die," she called after him. "Just don't die, Tieran."

  The paladin's eyes were filled with love as he looked back one more time.

  "I won't," he promised. "I wouldn't leave you on this world alone."

  Then he disappeared from sight.

  Audrey couldn't stop herself from comparing the moment to the one in the Vehement when he'd rushed away. This time, she doubted the Fearless would have the same kind of patience for either of them.

  "Come on," she told Pelar. "We will check in with the civilians. Nothing else we can do until the station holds. Hopefully until the damn thing freezes."

  As they went, the station shook under the telltale fire of a warship. With no one else to rage at, Audrey cursed the Brions for making their ships so damn resilient. The lifestone was only able to keep it working, but the damn thing was still capable of staying afloat and firing.

  She regretted that the station had no weapons of its own. The only comfort Audrey had was that other than the landing bay, the rest of the station was surrounded by such a thick wall that even the Brion ship couldn't breach it.

  The Fearless could only use it to breach the station and luckily for them, not for much else. For example, it couldn't just fly in and blow them all to smithereens where they stood.

  Of course, that was absolutely no comfort at all, Audrey thought, with Tieran being the first to greet the monster. She dearly hoped the paladin would manage to wound the Fearless before it slipped away.

  The Fearless were powerful, but not invincible.

  She and Pelar were talking to the civilians through an interstation link, making sure they had enough water and food in case the siege lasted longer, when everything went to hell.

  Like a flash, a strange feeling went through Audrey.

  Just one more time! she told herself, though she’d said that to herself so many times that it had sort of lost its luster by now.

  She ripped the bracelet off to see better and the victorious emotion she sensed from the Fearless nearly knocked her off her feet. It was… happy.

  Pushing the bracelet closed before the Fearless caught her position, Audrey pulled Pelar with them and they ran.

  As she did so, she called to her guards.

  "Notify the commander!" she yelled. "The Fearless is coming inside, the bay doors gave in!"

  She could hear them deliver the report, but if Tieran was anywhere near the exit, he could probably see it with his own eyes. Audrey dearly hoped that he wasn’t there, because she honestly couldn't imagine the subzero temperatures that came with a breach. It would have opened the bay right up to the horrible weather of Verien.

  She ran, unthinking. Audrey didn't even care about Tieran's orders to stay away. The Fearless had felt such joy, there had to be something wrong. She needed to be there, with him, to at least let him know where the danger was.

  There was screaming up ahead and Audrey sped up. Pelar and the guards followed, but they dragged her back from entering the large hall that led to the docking bay. Audrey could hear roaring, unmistakably coming from the enemy, and screams that could only be its victims.

  It was on.

  They either stopped the Fearless or all was lost.

  She could hear Tieran's voice giving commands, instructing the paladins to surround the creature as it fought them off.

  Audrey could hear death all around. It was like seeing double. She was standing there, with her back to the wall, hearing it all happen but having no visual, but then there were glimpses where she saw the hall through the eyes of the Fearless.

  It was a terrible thing.

  The monster saw everything as blood red, it could only hear pulses that it needed to stop. And right in front of it, the glow of the mountain, calling, beckoning
it closer. Audrey could feel that herself, but she didn't need the lifestone like the Fearless did. She was connected to it, but not driven by it like the Fearless was, teetering on the verge of madness

  It was breaking through the wall of men around it. The station had been breached and despite everything, the Fearless was about to escape from the paladins. It was like a scene out of a nightmare. Valiant paladins fighting against an army of evil, with the Fearless at its head, like something between a dark, slithering dragon and a basilisk.

  All around the Fearless, the Jorcossi stormed the bay. The few that had remained alive on the Brion ship must have incubated in the surviving warriors and multiplied by the hundreds and thousands, creating a living, breathing sea of snake-like monstrosities.

  Audrey saw Tieran through the eyes of the monster, saw as it aimed to bite into his flesh with a roar, growing twice as big as the small ships had ever allowed it. She watched as the paladin fell away from the Fearless as it almost brushed its head against the ceiling.

  Tieran.

  The name echoed across the hall as she dashed out of cover.

  "Tieran!"

  She froze in place when she saw the Fearless turn to her, bigger than ever before, but Tieran was in no danger.

  A trick!

  In fact, the paladin had been closing in on the Fearless from behind without the beast noticing, but her cry had drawn his attention away and the Fearless was coming her way now with a grin, blood dripping from its fangs.

  "Run, Audrey!" she could hear Tieran's voice.

  She turned on her heel and bolted. Her mind was in disarray, fury and disappointment threatened to overwhelm her. But she had to shake it off. They had prepared a trap for the beast and she had to lead it to it.

  It was a long shot, but it wasn’t like they were drowning under options at the moment.

  The monster had cheated her, flooded her mind with fear and false images. So close to the mountain, the connection between them was growing stronger.

  Audrey gritted her teeth. If she just cost Tieran his chance to get the enemy…