Alien General's Beloved: SciFi Alien Romance (Brion Brides) Read online

  All the people needed was a little push and the Flora would became a monster that ate itself up.

  The people had a good reason to be terrified, he agreed. From muted whispers and terrified chatter, Corden learned of the massacre in the landing bay. Worgen was not out to make friends, then, but that was to be expected. His purpose was as brutish as he himself was.

  He followed a large group of Brions, staying carefully out of their hearing range. The Flora helped, masking his steps in the shadows under indistinguishable noise.

  They walked with purpose, which only meant one thing. Someone was going to die.

  Corden considered his options. As far as he could tell, Worgen thought him dead. That was a huge advantage that he didn't want to risk wasting. Not until he had a clear way to win. The Flora offered more hiding places, but there were also so many eyes to see.

  Right then, a voice started talking. Corden knew it, because his heart was tuned to the soft timbre, bringing a pleased smile to his lips. So Lana had found a way to get aboard the Flora too. That made things considerably easier for him.

  On the carrier, he was free to find and protect his gesha. Already he was feeling the full effects of the bind, pulling him relentlessly to his fated. Staying put and waiting outside of the Abysmal had been the hardest thing he'd ever done when his very being ached for her presence.

  Lana spoke to the Flora as their new captain. Her words were calm and wise. She urged the crew to obey the Brions, not resist them, and keep to their own quarters when possible. Corden listened with a grin, knowing the request was destined to fail. But he understood she had to try.

  Corden liked listening to her. It was clear by the sound of her voice that Lana was not immune to the fear the ship reeked of, but hers was in check. Instead of panicking, she was choosing to fight and try to help the people in any way she could. That was admirable to the general. Brions always admired overcoming weaknesses.

  For most of the thousands of souls on the Flora, the weakness was not being a Brion.

  Corden stopped when the warriors below him did and felt his pulse quicken to a thunderous pace when he saw why.

  There was a huge hall up ahead, filled to the brink with crewmembers. Mostly they seemed to be men. Corden had witnessed the other general's MO enough to know what was going to happen.

  He had limited seconds before the Brions would enter the hall, and after that, there was nothing he could do without exposing himself. One person can hold a secret. A thousand or more are completely incapable of doing that.

  Not only that, there had to be no evidence of a Brion-on-Brion fight.

  Now this is a challenge, Corden thought. How do I kill these bastards without being me?

  Staying hidden from the crowd in the hall, Corden allowed his valor squares to pulse an angry challenge. Instantly, the warriors stopped. Like one, they turned around and saw him.

  The thing that had made Corden's blood boil before was that no real Brion would have accepted the order to go and slaughter defenseless people. Not only because there was no triumph there to celebrate, but more importantly, they weren't in the dark days anymore. Brions killed those who deserved it, those who were a threat.

  Not those they could, which included most of the galaxy. Men like Worgen believed that was exactly what they should have done. Rule all the known universe.

  But to his relief, Corden found that he and the warriors had a little in common at least. Compared to a hall full of people, the warriors immediately judged him to be a bigger threat. They turned on their heels and followed him.

  It didn't feel good to run. Corden was unused to the sensation of being the one chased, but he needed a room without prying eyes. And he couldn't go far without being seen. So far it was only dumb luck that the corridors had emptied after Lana's warning, and it wasn't something he wanted to rely upon.

  Lana. This time he had to be careful or they'd end up in the same position as they were on the Raptor.

  The Flora was too packed with people to go much farther, and he couldn't risk being seen. Corden saw a solution to his problems up ahead. He stopped so suddenly the Brion unit chasing him almost ran into him.

  The main reason for that were the Torons. Usually the big, silent species kept to themselves. They were accepted into the Union, but Torons weren't naturally social types. Doing their jobs seemed enough. Corden saw his opportunity. Torons were not violent without provocation, but their terrible strength made them deadly nonetheless. And most importantly, they were fiercely protective of the weak. News traveled fast on the Flora, after all. The beasts rose, recognizing the enemies who had slaughtered a whole bay full of innocent people.

  Corden had to jump out of the way of rampaging Torons, but that didn't take him out of the fight. All the Torons did was give him a perfect cover.

  The first moments were the most tense, the Torons reaching their clawed hands after every Brion they could find, including him. Corden didn't bother trying to explain anything to a furious Toron, but he showed it with his actions. The general stood in the middle of another bloodbath, warding off the attack of the Torons as well as taking down the Brion warriors.

  He aimed to make his strikes rough and clumsy, to mimic the brutality of the Toron claws. The huge creatures were tearing the warriors limb from limb, catching the spears out of mid-air and ripping them from their grasps.

  In the middle of it all, Corden was as untouchable as he was unrelenting in his attempt to make the Torons see he was on their side. But the wrongness of the situation didn't escape him.

  One by one, the Brion warriors were buried under the trampling mass of the Torons, but they shouldn't have been. They were the finest fighters in the galaxy with all the experience they had, but for the second time now Corden felt like there was something off with them.

  Torons were a great help and a great cover, because their justified rage was enough to stand up to the cold Brions. Corden himself stayed untouched, easily parrying the huge creatures, who were fueled by their anger but had none of his skill. The Brion warriors should have done the same.

  It shouldn't have been that easy.

  Slowly but surely, the Torons started to understand that one of the enemies wasn't an enemy at all. The brightest left him alone first and the others soon followed, focusing on the other warriors again. And by the end, Corden and the Torons were left standing in silence, looking at the dead Brions.

  Movement on his right told Corden that at least one had managed to survive. It was a young warrior, judging by the look of him, but he had to be older than Corden. The man lifted his empty, glassy eyes to the general and watched him without any emotion. He made no sound nor any attempt to try and stop the blood flowing from his cracked chest.

  All he said was: "I will see you again" before he died.

  Corden filed the sentence away for a later time when he had a moment to consider the meaning. It had to be important. Dying men didn't often say things that were meaningless, especially ones who didn’t even acknowledge pain.

  He let his eyes wander over the Torons. The creatures were looking at him, the sharp points of their fangs curling over their thin lips. Corden nodded to them. His first choice would have been to not show himself at all, but this was a close second, which was why he'd run in the direction of the Toron part of the ship.

  The general had figured that the beasts were the least likely to babble about him and the most likely to help. So far, he had been right, but Corden hated trusting luck and fate. Those were tools only for those who lacked the strength to make their own destinies.

  "We have a common enemy," he said in the Toron language. "I am a friend of your new captain, who wants to help you. It is better for both of us if the Brions don't know about me being here."

  For a long moment, the Torons didn't reply. Corden waited.

  "Friend," one of them said at last, in rough Brionese. It meant protector.

  That was fine with Corden. He left the Torons, wanting to be long gone wh
en the Brions were found, but looking back he saw that that was not going to be a problem. The Torons had crouched down and were meticulously, with great care, hacking the warriors to pieces with their hands and claws. Corden wanted to ask if they were hiding his trail on purpose, but chose not to push his luck.

  If he wanted to do anything for the fleet, he had to find the quickest way to Worgen and not let him escape this time.

  To do that, he needed Lana.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Lana

  The bridge of the Flora was almost as big as her whole previous ship.

  Lana took a moment to take in the grand scale of her new duties and responsibilities.

  The carrier was unlike any ship she'd ever commanded. Lana hadn't even been on a ship like this before, but it spoke to her. The initial weirdness was gone, banished in the second she was made the vessel’s new captain. It was ironic that Worgen had given her a new purpose, which was all that she needed to carry on the fight against him.

  A captain stayed a captain even without a vessel to call her own.

  The bridge crew was staring at her with barely concealed animosity. A part of it—which Lana suspected was a rather big part—was the Brion escort standing behind her, looking like an honor guard.

  What a great way to introduce myself. It makes my "Not with Brions" slogan so credible.

  "I am Lana Cormac, your new captain," she said, enjoying the way the rank sounded on her tongue.

  She paused, looking from one petrified face to the next. If she was going to get anywhere with these people, Lana needed to give them a reason to trust her.

  "First of all, I'm Terran like most of you," she said coldly, allowing distaste to seep into her voice. "The fact you even dare to think I'd voluntarily have anything to do with General Worgen is insulting. Way, way worse than insulting. I hate them as much as you do."

  The shocked gasp was audible in the silence that followed. A feather would have made a racket as Lana stood, very keenly aware of having her back to the warriors. If she turned, if she showed fear, the crew would only grow more anxious. She held the gaze of the higher-ranking officers, letting them see it was possible to talk like that and not get murdered. Of course it would have helped so fucking much if Lana had had any idea if that only applied to her or not.

  Just in case it did, she went on: "That said, I wouldn't repeat my sentiment to them. Your previous captain did and I don't think I need to tell you what happened to him."

  That brought a round of murmurs. Lana noticed with relief that most of them were something along the lines of "I warned him."

  Okay, so I'm not dealing with a whole crew of lobotomized idiots. Only a few, but for some reason those always yell the loudest.

  She knew that because those few were stepping forward now, glaring a hole through her. Most were Terran, but Lana noticed a few Palians too, which was a huge surprise. They were the most nurturing species in the Union, always known for their efforts to conciliate.

  "Where is our captain?" one of the Terrans demanded.

  He sounded eerily like the man Lana had spoken to before.

  "Talking to you right now," she said calmly. "If you're referring to the imbecile who thought it was wise to put the entire ship at risk, he's dead. What the fuck did you expect?"

  More murmurs rose, mostly to support her. Lana kept one eye on the troublemakers and went on.

  "Now, I will tell you this straight, as I would like to hear it in your stead," she said. "I will not lie. We are very much fucked."

  She allowed for the grim acceptance of that fact to pass before continuing.

  "The Abysmal has emerged from the fairy tales we thought it belonged in. It's here and I can assure you, the Brions on that ship aren't the sweet, fuzzy kind we are all familiar with."

  Humor was always a good way to dissolve tension, even if there was nothing to laugh about. Lana kept a straight face herself, but a few crew members present were smiling in a sad, careful way. Unfortunately, a quip like that had to be followed up with a few cold, hard truths.

  "If you don't believe me, look out there," Lana said, feeling like every word had to be dragged out of her mouth. "The debris you see around the warship. That's my former ship."

  The crew looked at the wreckage. Then back at her. Nobody was laughing anymore.

  "I made the mistake of trying to resist," she said. "So believe me when I say I won't let you drag the Flora down the same way. We are going to play nice, we are going to hate it, and by the end of it all, maybe we'll all live."

  Worst pep talk ever, Lana thought, but with the Brion guards there, it was the best she could do. Experimentally, she turned to them.

  "Are you going to stay here forever?" she asked. "I've taken control of the ship like your general asked. I've told them the truth. Could you leave us now?"

  The guards spoke something into their comm links and to Lana's surprise, actually left, though their cold presence seemed to linger far after their departure. It figured, since there was really nothing she could do. The Flora was not a military ship. It posed no threat at all.

  Finally alone with her new crew, Lana let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. She sat in the command chair and took a look at the assembled people. They were answering with the same, both trying to figure the other out.

  "Any questions?" she asked.

  The crew exchanged glances, unsure. Lana helped them out, if only to speed things along.

  "Everything I told you is the truth," she said. "I know it's not what you want to hear, but this is how it is. Now, tell me a few things—"

  "We don't need you," one of the troublemakers said. "We—"

  "Escort these idiots away from my bridge," Lana said, heart thudding. "Anyone who thinks we can stand up to the Brions alone, unassisted, needs to go and get their head checked."

  It was her first test as a captain. She knew it was a risky order, that there was a very real possibility they wouldn't obey, but there was no other way. Lana had to take charge sooner or later and she'd be damned if she asked Worgen's help with that.

  After a long tense second, everyone who had been against her were physically removed from her bridge, even if they didn't go quietly. Lana wasn't sure if it was only wishful thinking, but it seemed to her that she heard sighs of relief.

  "Who's in charge here?" she asked. "The commander of the bridge."

  A Palian stepped forward, somehow even paler than his race usually was.

  "I am Commander Yarel, Captain," he said and added nothing more in the Palian way of never committing to anything uncertain.

  Lana knew exactly how to handle his kind, luckily.

  "I'm going to ask you a few quick questions to get up to speed. In the meantime, the rest of you, I may be your captain, but I know practically nothing about running a ship like Flora. Report to me in five minutes and let me know if something's wrong and the extent of the damage."

  Quick, simple, confident. That was the key to taking over a new command when the crew had just parted with their former leader. Lana forced herself to keep going on the adrenaline of it, because if she slowed down, she might begin to doubt herself. The crew scattered to work by their stations.

  "Now, Commander. Tell me about the last two captains. No family history. I want to know what the fuck happened here."

  There was an appreciative look on the Palian's face. He reminded Lana of Fraly, sending a razor-sharp flash of pain through her. Her grief was too fresh, but she had no time for it.

  "Captain Taska jumped us into this system," the commander said. "He immediately realized what was happening; we had all heard the rumors. He ordered the ship to pull in formation, but some of the military officers panicked."

  Yeah. As I thought. Nothing smells like a good old overthrow.

  "Go on."

  "They thought we might stand a chance running."

  "I see," Lana said. "Were they blind, deaf, or stupid?"

  "I think all three," Yarel answer
ed with a small smile. "The Brions had made their commands very clear."

  "But they still thought it was wise to provoke them? And run after that? Have they ever met a Brion? Or know anything about warfare with them?"

  The Palian answered with another kind smile, the trademark of his species.

  "I don't know, Captain. Perhaps they were taught the unknown secrets of outrunning a plasma cannon."

  "I assure you, it's not in the Terran curriculum," Lana said and shrugged. "All right. I think I can guess the rest. They killed Taska, the other guy took over and he's the one I spoke to."

  "Yes," Yarel assured her. "We were listening and most of us agreed, but they had weapons."

  "Bad guys always do," Lana said, looking at the Abysmal's gun turrets again. Funny how they kept drawing her attention so much more now that she'd seen them in action.

  She felt like she owed the crew something. A silver lining, perhaps, if not real, tangible hope.

  "Listen," she said, raising her voice. "I want you to know that while I will aid the general for the purposes of defending the fleet and the Flora, I will not take shit from him. If I can protect all of you and all of those innocent people out there, I will. But we have to do as they say for now."

  "For now," Yarel repeated, his lidless eyes going wide.

  "Yes," Lana said, giving him a hard look. "Now, report."

  ***

  Most of the reports were predictable. With cold fury, Lana sat through all the lists of the dead and other damage that the Brions had done around the ship and in the landing bay. Compared to the lives taken, the Flora itself stayed in relatively good condition. It felt strange to call it positive, but Lana told herself—as well as the crew—that they had to take every win they could.

  The Flora was divided into sectors and every one of them was calling in. Lana listened and tried her best to memorize it all, but failed easily enough. The carrier was simply enormous. It would take weeks for her to start making sense of it all. She dearly hoped she would live to see those weeks, but when the final sector reported, the captain began to doubt it.