"Please, Nikhil."
Nikhil hated that he couldn't deny her something she wanted. Especially, when there was no reason to, except for the fact that he didn't like it. "I will, but I will return for you later. You rest with me."
"Nikhil...”
"It is that, or I carry you out of here now, and your... friends can fend for themselves."
Nikhil's hard look told her he would do just that if she didn't agree. And really, did she want to sleep away from him? "Alright," she agreed softly.
Nikhil nodded stiffly, almost hating that she had agreed. He would have preferred to be forced to carry her back to their quarters. "Warriors Onp and Nroa are just outside the doors. If you need anything, let them know, and they will contact me."
"Alright, but everything will be fine," she reassured him. Nikhil didn't reply. Instead, he lowered his head, capturing her lips with a kiss that left no doubt who she belonged to, then giving the males behind her a hard glare, spun on his heel and forced himself to leave her.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Nikhil's hands were fisted as he walked out the doors of the survivors’ area. His heart was pounding, his jaw was clenched, and he found his breath was coming in short pants.
"Is something wrong, Squad Leader?" Onp asked carefully, earning himself Nikhil's harsh glare.
"The female I just escorted into the area," Nikhil began.
"She is the one found in the mines."
"Yes. You are to guard her with your life, or I will end yours! She is my True Mate."
"What?!!" Onp and Nroa exclaimed in unison.
"She. Is. My. True. Mate." Nikhil repeated through clenched lips. "She wears my bead." He lifted the braid that now only held his Ashe Bead. "If there are any problems, you are to notify me immediately!"
"Yes, Squad Leader!"
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Mac watched Nikhil until the doors closed behind him, then turned and discovered every eye staring at her curiously. Feeling her cheeks flush, she cleared her throat. "So how are you guys really?" she asked moving closer.
"What was that all about?" Craig demanded.
"What?"
"He kissed you! You talked to him in his language!"
"Yes and yes." She ran an agitated hand through her hair, tucking some of it behind her ear. "Look, there's a lot that we need to talk about. A lot you need to know, but right now you know who I want to see. Where?"
"I'm right here." The low, husky voice came from the back corner. Making her way between the guys, Mac finally found the cape-wrapped, hood-pulled-low person she was looking for sitting on one of the cots.
Mac felt her eyes fill as her gaze settled on her friend. God, had she looked that pitiful when Nikhil found her? No wonder he had rushed her out of that mine. Slowly, she sat down. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. The guys helped get me out of the mine."
"And no one noticed?"
"They were all too worried about some incoming storm."
"Oh." Mac hadn't known there had been a storm.
"What happened to you after the Zaludians took you?" Jen's eyes filled with tears and guilt. "Oh God, I'm so sorry about that, Mac."
"It wasn't your fault," Mac immediately tried to reassure her. "It wasn't anyone’s fault."
"You could have gotten into the cave," Jen whispered.
"And then what? What were we going to do then? Let the Zaludians kill the guys one by one to force me out? Let them find you?" Mac took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart as she remembered how terrified she'd been, thinking she was going to be raped like the Jerboaian females had been. She hadn't been, and she forced her thoughts away from what might have happened and looked at the group around them. She needed to help them.
"I was told you received food," she looked up to Craig for confirmation.
"We did," he confirmed. "Packets. Last night and this morning."
"That's what I got too." She didn't tell them how Nikhil had fed her the meal the night before. "And I see they brought you cots and blankets."
"Yes," Craig continued to answer.
"New coverings?"
"Coverings?"
"Sorry. Clothes? They said you were shown the cleansing room and given new clothes."
"We did receive new clothes, but weren't 'shown' how to use the cleansing room. But we figured it out."
"Good."
"Mac...” A thin, pale hand, crisscrossed with scars reached out to grip hers. "Tell us what we need to know."
"I will, but first, let me get a look at you." Carefully she pulled back the hood that covered her friend's face, and felt her breath hitch. Somehow she'd forgotten how bad the damage to the left side of Jennifer's face was. Refusing to let Jen see how her injury affected her, Mac gave her a teary smile. "Hi. I've missed you."
"Oh God, Mac. I've missed you too."
The men closed ranks, even as they uncomfortably shuffled their feet and looked away as the two women hugged. Jen was the first to pull away, and pulled her hood back up. And although she didn't pull it as low, she turned so the damaged side of her face was away from the guys.
"Tell us, Mac," Jen said. "Tell us everything you've learned."
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Treyvon was surprised to see Nikhil enter the training field. He silently watched as Nikhil, stripped to the waist, and put Warrior Parlan through his drills with a single-minded intensity that had the smaller warrior struggling to defend himself. It was not how the Squad Leader normally sparred with those under his command unless he was making a point.
"Squad Leader!" Although Treyvon didn't raise his voice, it was easily heard across the training field, and Nikhil instantly ended his attack on Parlan.
"General." Nikhil turned to face Treyvon.
"A word." Nikhil nodded then looked back to Parlan.
"We will finish this another day, Warrior Parlan." With that, Nikhil walked over to his General.
Treyvon waited until Nikhil neared, then turned and walked to a quieter part of the training field. "I didn't expect to see you here today, Squad Leader. I expected you to stay with your True Mate while Luol completed treating her."
"I did."
"It has been completed?" Treyvon asked surprised.
"Yes. Mackenzie woke early and wished to have the treatment completed and the educator applied."
"Where is she now?"
"She wished to meet with her people, to explain what was happening. Alone."
"And you allowed this?" Treyvon frowned. If he were ever blessed with a True Mate, he'd never let her out of his sight.
"It was her wish and...”
"And?" Treyvon pressed.
"I found I couldn't deny her, not when it was something I would demand if I were in her place."
Treyvon said nothing, just stared at Nikhil until the larger warrior had to look away.
"Warrior Onp and Nroa were guarding the entrance, and I informed them they were to defend my True Mate with their lives, or I would end theirs."
"Justifiable." Treyvon nodded his support then pulled out the sword strapped to his back. "So she was able to understand the information the educator provided?"
"Yes, and Luol has guided her through the educator." Nikhil took a step away from his General and pulled his own sword out.
"She understood the information?" Treyvon asked, stretching slightly.
"Yes, very well. She was even able to associate that information with present day." Nikhil waited for the General to assume his fighting stance. Nikhil always enjoyed sparring with Treyvon. He was the only one that truly challenged him with the power of his sword, and while Nikhil was strong, the General was faster. It was always a good match.
"What do you mean?" When Nikhil just looked at him, Treyvon understood. "She knows my family helped cause the Great Infection."
"Not your family, General. An ancestor, but yes."
"I see."
Can she tell us where her Earth is now?" Treyvon asked.
"No."
"You know I will need to speak with her again."
"Yes."
Treyvon gave him the nod, assumed his stance, and the match began.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Parlan ran the portable repair unit over his arm as he watched the General and Nikhil spar. Injuries happened during drills, which was why a unit was always available, but rarely were the injuries caused by Nikhil. The Squad Leader was renowned for always being in control of his blade, of always pulling back at the last minute.
Today, with him, Nikhil did neither; driving him to the ground again, and again while other warriors looked on. It was humiliating because that was the way Squad Leader intended it to be. All because Parlan had dared to speak up to him about the 'humans.'
"It seems you have displeased the Squad Leader," Warrior Gulzar commented as he walked by.
"Shut up, Gulzar!" Parlan spat back. "You will address me with the respect I've earned, or you will be in need of the deep-repair unit after this Elite Warrior is done with you."
Gulzar stared at Parlan for a moment. They both came from the same planet of Sustus, but that was the only thing they had in common. Parlan's bloodline held many Elite Warriors while Gulzar was attempting to become the first in his. Few Elites demanded to be addressed with the 'respect' Parlan was referring to. Especially not from one that was so close to joining their ranks, but Gulzar knew he couldn't refuse.
"Of course, Elite Warrior Parlan." Gulzar bowed slightly to him. "I meant no offense, just stating an observation as is part of my training."
"You were taught to observe, not comment," Parlan fired back.
"Of course, Elite Warrior Parlan."
"The Goddess has blessed you this day, Warrior Gulzar," Parlan told him, dropping the repair unit. "I do not have the time to show you why you will never become an Elite Warrior. I must oversee the survivors. A task the General personally assigned to me."
"An important task indeed," Gulzar agreed. "Especially now that the Squad Leader's True Mate has been found among them."
Parlan was about to spin away when Gulzar's words stopped him. "What are you talking about?!!"
"You have not heard?" Gulzar gave him a surprised look.
"Heard what?" Parlan demanded.
"Squad Leader discovered a severely injured female in the mine. It seems the Zaludians were going to sell her to a Pleasure House. She is his True Mate."
"The Zaludians had a Kaliszian female in that mine?" Parlan couldn't believe he hadn't heard this.
"No. She is one of the new species. The one that call themselves hu... humans."
"That’s impossible! They aren't Kaliszian!"
"Yet she wears his True Mate bead. I saw it myself this morning when she was walking beside Squad Leader Nikhil in the corridor."
Parlan spun around and left without another word.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
"So what's going to happen to us?" It was Paul who asked the question after Mac finally stopped speaking. "If we can't tell them where Earth is?"
"I don't know," Mac told them honestly. "What I do know is that they are nothing like the Zaludians or the Ganglians."
"And this repair unit... it helps?" All eyes went from Mac to the three Jerboaians that had returned a short while ago. There were still large patches of fur missing, but what remained now seemed shiny and silky, healthy-looking.
"It does. I'm feeling much better, not so weak and tired. I was bruised and had a split lip yesterday. Today that's all gone. It can even heal scars." She looked at Jen and saw the shock on her face.
"It... it can take this all away?" She did a circular gesture in front of her face.
"Yes, it can repair all the scars, Jen. It can repair any internal damage. It just can't...”
"Can't what?"
"It can't repair your ankle."
"Why not!" Paul demanded.
"Because it's fully healed. If it weren't...”
"I see," Jen whispered.
"I'm sorry, Jen."
"It's not your fault. It's not anybody's fault." She looked up at her friends. "You all have to use this machine and their educator. Maybe then, between all of us, we can figure out where Earth is."
"You need to use it too, Jen," Mac told her.
"No. There's no reason to."
"No reason...”
"Mac, what good does it do to fix the outside if what's broken is on the inside?"
"Jen...”
"And I don't mean my leg. I mean my heart. They can't fix that, so what's the use. You guys have a chance though, a chance to fully recover from all this. To get back home and return to your lives. I don't."
"Don't say that, Jen!" Mac wrapped her arms around her friend trying not to cringe when all she felt was bone. "You still have Kimmy. You know she's looking for you. You got that text from her right before we left."
"That I ignored."
"So."
"Mac, you know Kimmy and I hadn't talked in nearly six months. For me to just ignore her when she finally reached out... she must hate me."
"I'm sure she doesn't. No one could hate you, Jen."
"Yeah, well you didn't know me before, Mac. I wasn't that nice of a person."
"That's a lie," Craig spoke up. "You've always been a nice person, Jen, a good one. Look at all of Todd's crap you put up with."
"Craig!"
"I know, and I'm sorry I shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but you did. I was on the receiving end of his phone calls and texts when you first took Kimmy in. He could have been more supportive."
"Maybe, but I wasn't that nice to Kimmy either, especially toward the end... now she'll never know how sorry I am."
"She will," Mac said, squeezing her hand. "You can tell her when we finally get back home, as long as you don't give up. You didn't in that mine, Jen. When we were all so hungry, you found a way to make the food stretch. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."
"And I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Jen squeezed Mac's hand in return.
"Then don't give up. Not yet. Not anyone." Mac looked at the nine men encircling them. "We've come this far together. Let’s see if we can't make it home together too."
The men mumbled their agreement, and Mac turned to look at Jen.
"Alright," Jen reluctantly agreed. "No giving up."
"I think we need to continue to keep Jen's existence a secret," Craig announced.
"What?" Mac's eyes shot to his. "Why?"
"Because we don't know what these... Kaliszians will do to her. Look at you!"
"Me?" Mac gave him a shocked look. "What are you talking about?!!"
"You were kissing one!" he told her angrily. "Why? How do we know they didn't do something to make you do that?!! That their machine didn't...”
"It didn't! Look that kiss... Nikhil and I...”
"Nikhil? That's his name?" Jen asked quietly.
"Yes. He's the one that found me in the mine. He carried me directly to the Healer, Healer Luol, and Luol put me in the deep-repair unit."
"How long were you in it?" Jen asked.
"Six hours."
"How do you know it was that long?" Craig demanded.
"Because that's what Luol told me when I asked."
"And you believed him?"
"Yes. There was no reason for him to lie about it."
"What happened next?" Jen pulled Mac's gaze back to her.
"They asked me some questions, most I couldn't answer, and then Nikhil took me to his quarters."
"He...”
"Did nothing... at least not the way you mean. He helped me with the cleansing unit, fed me, and then I fell asleep. When I woke up, he made sure I ate again, then took me back to Luol to finish my treatment and then I used their educator. That's why I can speak and understand their language now along with every other known species. I also know a great deal about them and their history. The one the Ganglians forced on us only contained two languages."
"You know about them? These K
aliszians?"
"Them and every other species. It's amazing, Jen, the things I know now that I didn't before."
"And that's all because of their educator?"
"Yes."
"Do you know why we were taken?" Craig asked quietly.
"Not really. I mean," she held up her hand to stop everyone from talking at once. "I know we were taken for slave labor. The Zaludians were illegally mining on this planet, which is called Pontus by the way. The Kaliszians only just discovered what was going on because they were on the opposite side of their Empire, defending it from another species. The Kaliszians don't know why the Ganglians were assisting the Zaludians. Apparently, the two don't normally get along. There's more."
"What?"
"It seems the Kaliszians have intercepted several Ganglian ships; one had a female on it they claim was similar to us."
"So they do know where Earth is."
"No. The Ganglians had deleted their navigational information before they were boarded."
"Why would they do that?"
"My guess is they are trying to keep Earth's location a secret for some reason, but no one knows why."
"Do you think they would tell you if they did?" Jen asked quietly.
Mac thought about it for a moment, not because she didn't know the answer, but because they deserved her to take her time. "Nikhil would tell me."
"You trust him that much?" Craig asked doubtfully.
"Yes." Mac's eyes silently pleaded with Jen's for understanding.
"Jen," Craig pulled her gaze from Mac's. "We can't trust that."
"I trust Mac, but I understand your concern, Craig. I'll stay back until we know more."
"Jen, you need the repair unit if only to manage your pain."
"Pain?!!" Paul sat down next to Jen and cupped her jaw, making her gaze meet his. "What pain?"
"It's nothing, Paul." She gave Mac an angry look.
"Mac?" Paul looked at her.
"She's been in constant pain since the attack," Mac told them for the first time.
"Mac!" Jen exclaimed.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Paul asked quietly.
"What good would it have done to tell you, Paul?" Jen said. "When there was nothing you could have done."
"But there is now." Mac broke in. "You can be pain-free."
"You don't know that," Jen argued back. "If they can't even fix the problem, why do you think they can make the pain go away?"