"You believe speaking to her in your language will do this?" Treyvon questioned.
"I'm hoping so," Mac told him. "I'm hoping it will reassure her that she's safe so she'll wake up."
Treyvon looked to Luol, who nodded his head slightly. "Hearing her native language would be less stressful for her. It is something I hadn't considered, but should have."
"You've been doing great, Luol," Mac quickly reassured the Healer. "Now, Jen just needs to find a reason to come back to us."
"Why would she not wish this?" Treyvon demanded, not sure why the thought of this female not wanting to return bothered him so much.
"Out of all of us, Jen was the one that suffered the most. She lost the most. Her younger sister is still back on Earth and all alone. It was bad enough when the Zaludians had us, but now…”
"Now?" Treyvon asked, not understanding why it would be worse now.
"Now we're safe, but we're still no closer to getting home. She was injured again, and I just don't know how much more she can take."
"She has been treated," Treyvon began.
"Yes, but she doesn't know that," Mac argued back, cutting the General off. "And Luol wasn't able to heal her ankle."
"No, I wasn't," Luol agreed quietly.
"How was she so severely injured?" Treyvon asked. It was something he'd wanted to know since he'd first learned of it.
"It happened when…"
"Craig!" Mac's sharp exclamation cut him off.
"What?" Craig demanded, frowning at her.
"That's not for you to tell. It's for Jen. And she will if she wants it known when she wakes up."
"Is there something we need to know?" Treyvon asked, his gaze traveling from Mackenzie to the male he knew he could easily intimidate. "Something else you've been keeping from us?"
"Not anything that would matter to you," Mac told Treyvon shortly.
"Like not knowing there was another severely, injured female?" Treyvon growled, causing Nikhil to stiffen and take a step closer to his Ashe.
"It's Jen's story to tell, General." Mac looked up at the male she knew would intimidate most people, but she had Nikhil, the largest, strongest male in the Kaliszian Empire at her back. "And if she wants you to know what happened to her, then she will tell you."
Treyvon didn't like that Nikhil's Ashe was defying him, but he had to admire the little female's loyalty to her friend. It took an enormous amount of strength and courage for one so small to stand up to him. But courage wasn't something these humans seemed to lack. At least not the females.
"I will have your vow that it is not something that will continue to harm her. Something that we can prevent."
"I can't," Mac told him quietly.
"Then you tell me!" Treyvon growled, and the step he took toward Mackenzie had Nikhil moving in front of his Ashe and True Mate, blocking his General, and growling back even louder.
"Move aside, Squad Leader," Treyvon ordered.
"I will not," Nikhil growled, defying his General.
"Stop. Both of you," Mac rose and stepped in front of Nikhil. "I can't vow it, General, because even though you have been able to heal most of her physical injuries, it is the emotional ones that still harm her. And neither you nor I can do anything about those." Mac looked back at her friend. "Only Jen can do that, and I think we both know there are some things you can't just get over. You have to learn to live with them and the pain. Or not. That's where Jen is right now. And unless we can give her a reason to live, she won't."
Moving from between the two Warriors, Mac sat back down, picked up her friend's hand, and began talking to her again in English.
• • • • • •
Two weeks later
Treyvon stood on the newly repaired wall and stared out over the barren landscape beyond. How was it possible that Pontus had once been an important planet in the Kaliszian Empire? It had not only supplied the powerful energy crystals that other worlds needed but the abundant animal and plant life that fed the Kaliszian Empire.
That had all changed with the Great Infection.
Nearly five hundred years ago, one of Treyvon’s ancestors, Chancellor Aadi Rayner, was given the great honor of ruling this planet. Because of that, and the planet's location on the edge of both the Tornian and Kaliszian Empires, he became close friends with the Emperor of the Tornian Empire, Emperor Lucan Berto.
When Aadi discovered that Lucan was abusing his two young females, and a Ganglian was involved, he should have reported it. Instead, he brokered a deal with Lucan. He received extra credits for the food and energy crystals he supplied from Pontus and kept the extra for himself.
That greed set off a chain of events which the Kaliszians were still paying for today.
The Great Infection struck every race in the Known Universes in some way, but it struck the Ganglians, Kaliszians, and Tornians the hardest. It changed the way they lived. The Ganglians were the first to notice its effects because Kaawa was the Ganglian who guarded the door for Lucan. Kaawa watched Lucan abuse his young females and was aroused by it. Soon he discovered he could not achieve a physical release unless he was inflicting pain. The affliction quickly spread throughout his entire race, causing them to be feared and shunned by the rest of the species in the Known Universes.
The effects were noticed next on Pontus because of Aadi. The powerful energy crystals that were so sought after began to lose their power and many of the veins simply disappeared. In just a few years, all mining halted on Pontus. Then all the plant life began to die, followed by the animals.
All for no apparent reason.
The rains still came.
The sun still shone.
But nothing grew or lived on Pontus.
This effect quickly spread to every planet within the Kaliszian Empire. Within fifty years, they were a race unable to feed their people. If not for the Tornians, their civilization would have starved to death and become only a memory.
Many thought it unfair that the Goddess should punish the Ganglians and Kaliszians so harshly while the Tornians, who had caused the problem in the first place, remained unaffected. Some believed it appeased the Goddess when the Tornians executed Emperor Lucan, stripping his family of its power to ever to rule again. The Kaliszians had only imprisoned Aadi, and the Ganglians had done nothing to Kaawa.
They were all wrong.
The Goddess’s punishment for the Tornians, while slower to materialize, was far worse. She began to withhold her blessing for what brought forth life. Females. First, non-Tornian females stopped being able to present fit and worthy offspring with Tornian males, creating yet another divide between the races. Then ever so slowly, the number of Tornian females presented also decreased. By the time the true scope of the Goddess’s punishment became apparent, Tornian males outnumbered Tornian females two hundred to one.
It gave their females an enormous amount of power. Because of this, Tornian females no longer stayed with a single male. As soon as a female presented offspring to a male, other males would try to lure her away with the jewels the Kaliszians exchanged for food staples.
There were those within the Kaliszian Empire who believed they should attack the Tornians, even though the Tornian males were stronger and outnumbered the Kaliszians. If they took the food bearing planets the Tornians had, like Vesta, the Kaliszians could once again support their people.
Emperor Liron refused to do this. As far as he was concerned, the Tornians were still their allies. They had come to the Kaliszians’ aid when they needed them, and he would not repay such a fit act by attacking a friend in their time of need.
Once Emperor Vasteri and the female he discovered on a Ganglian ship were located and sent on their way, Treyvon had ordered a detailed search of Pontus. He wanted to know what was going on here. Why had the Ganglians been in the area? Why had the Zaludians come to their aid? He still had no answers.
• • • • • •
Gryf stood silently behind his General, letting his gaze travel
over the barren landscape that was Pontus. It was hard for him to visualize that all this had once been fertile ground, a paradise beyond all others in the Known Universes. As the old texts claimed, it was filled with such life and beauty that people traveled great distances just to see it. It was also hard for him to believe that the dishonorable actions of just one male had been able to destroy it all.
"General."
"What is it, Gryf?" Treyvon asked. He'd immediately known when Gryf had approached. He also knew what Gryf wanted to talk about, but Treyvon still wasn't sure what he was going to do.
"A decision needs to be made about the human survivors," Gryf told him.
"I know." Treyvon's glowing, blue eyes moved from the desolate landscape before him to his Second-in-Command.
"There is no reason for them to remain here. They contribute nothing and consume resources meant for Kaliszians."
"Did they not help clear and repair the damage caused by the Zaludians?" Treyvon questioned. "Are we not obligated to support them after what they endured on a planet that we were supposed to be protecting?"
"They did," Gryf admitted, referring to the work the males had done, "but there is no longer any reason for them to remain here."
"Where would they go, Gryf?" Gryf's silence told Treyvon that his Second had no answer for that. "Then there is the question of the other female, Jennifer. What of her? Do we separate them before she's awakened? Or do we send her with them and just pray to the Goddess that she recovers?"
Again, Gryf had no answers, knowing it was Treyvon's decision.
"She may never wake up, Treyvon," Gryf murmured.
"Which means we have failed another female under our protection. How long can this continue before the Goddess finally turns her back on us forever?"
"She is not one of ours to protect, Treyvon! You can't possibly believe the Goddess would hold what happened to her against us!"
"Emperor Berto's female offspring weren't Kaliszian," Treyvon reminded him quietly.
"But Chancellor Aadi witnessed a crime against young females and chose not to protect them."
Treyvon thought back to the female Emperor Vasteri had claimed, and how he had done the same thing. Something he had shared only with Liron.
"You see abandoning a female in need because she is not one of ours, as different than abandoning one that is being abused?"
"In this… yes," Gryf told him. "She will still be cared for. Just not here."
"Perhaps," Treyvon said noncommittally.
• • • • • •
Jen rolled over, a small smile darting across her lips as her back sank into the soft, sun-warmed sand of the beach. God, she loved that feeling. It was as if two strong, powerful arms were surrounding her, keeping her safe. She hadn't felt that way for so long.
Her small smile slowly turned into a frown. Why was that? Sitting up, her gaze traveled to the gentle waves lapping at her toes and her frown deepened. Why was the water purple?
"Because that is the way you wished it," a melodic voice told her.
Twisting around, Jen found nothing but more sand and water. Suddenly, she realized she was sitting on the only land for as far as the eye could see. Where was she? Why was she here?
"Because you refuse to leave here," the voice replied again.
"But where is here?" Jen demanded.
"Where you choose to be instead of where you should be." Somehow, the speaker's disapproval was easily heard through the melody that seemed to come from everywhere… and nowhere.
"Where should I be?" Jen asked.
"Look to the horizon," she was instructed.
Jen did and saw the dark, turbulent clouds that seemed to be fighting to get closer to her haven.
"What is that?"
"Where you should be. Where you need to be. Where those you need to be with are."
"No one needs me. They are all gone."
"Are they?" The question hung in the air. "How can you be sure?"
"Because I saw him die!" Jen's anguish had the waves, which before were gently lapping at her toes, beginning to crest over her knees.
"Your mate."
"Yes."
"Are you sure he was? Your True Mate that is? Or did you just convince yourself of that?"
"What?"
"True Mates are bonded. Linked. If the bond is strong, if it is true, one rarely survives long without the other."
"I didn't want to…," Jen whispered.
"But you did," the voice argued. "Why? For who?"
"What do you mean?"
"Who did you survive for?"
Jen frowned as she tried to remember. "I… Mac found me… The guys needed me. I… Kimmy!" It all came back to her.
"Yes, but none of that should have mattered if he was your True Mate. You would be unable to survive without him."
"He has a name!"
"Yes. What is it?" the voice challenged.
"It's… it's…" Jen couldn't believe that she had to struggle to remember it. "Todd!" she finally shouted.
"He was your True Mate?"
"He was my husband."
"A Dasho is not the same thing. Perhaps your True Mate is still out there. Still searching, still needing his True Mate.”
"No!" Jen didn't understand why that thought caused her pain. She just knew she couldn’t go through that kind of pain again.
"Then why are you here?"
"I told you. It's because Mac wouldn't let me die. The guys needed me, and then there's my sister."
"No. I mean why are you here?"
While there was no one besides her here, Jen knew whoever was behind the beautiful voice meant the tiny stretch of land where she was still sitting.
"Instead of with those that need you?"
"Because I don't know where they are!"
"You know. You are just too scared, too weak of spirit, to go to where you need to be. The longer you delay, the more harm will occur to those you care about until it is too late, and all will be lost, including them."
Jen wanted to take exception with the accusation but found she couldn't. Not when she just sat there, trembling, while the clouds in the distance grew darker and swirled more violently. Jen was scared. She had failed so many… her parents, her sister, her husband. She didn't think she could survive failing anyone else.
"Jennifer…" The wind carried the faint voice to her, and she struggled to recognize it.
"Kimmy?" Jen stood and took a hesitant step into the now foaming water, only to have a rogue wave push her back. She would have fallen, would have been dragged into the now churning waves if a strong gust of wind hadn't suddenly wrapped itself around her, keeping her on her feet. Her fear began to recede as the breeze continued to circle her, driving away all her doubt, all her fear. Here was what she had been searching for her entire life. Warmth, need, and acceptance. As the breeze slowly began to retreat, to travel back across the now foaming water, an emptiness filled her like she had never experienced before.
No! She would not lose this too! She'd already lost so much. Without another thought, she dove into the water. She might die, but at least she would die trying to get back to those that loved and needed her.
• • • • • •
Treyvon looked down at the unconscious female in the deep repair unit, still conflicted about what he should do. Not that long ago, he'd been forced to remove his protection from another vulnerable female.
He wasn't being forced to now. The decision was entirely his.
Yes, the other female was now an Empress, which should mean she was safe from harm. But that still didn't mean it was true or absolved him of his guilt. He'd allowed food to matter more than the welfare of a female, just like his ancestor.
As the cover of the unit began to retract, he couldn't stop himself from reaching down and touching the pale skin of a too thin arm. This was the first time he'd touched her, skin to skin. She'd been wrapped up in one of the gray capes they'd given all the survivors when he'd found her aft
er the Zaludian attack. He'd scooped her up in his arms and run the entire way to Medical with her. Since then, one of her people had always been at her side. Except for now, as Mackenzie had gone to tell Luol that the unit was nearly finished.
He'd dreamed about how soft her pale skin would feel, but his dreams hadn't even come close to the reality of it. It was silky and smooth, and softer than the finest Himroo coveted by so many females. Carefully, he allowed only the tips of his calloused, battle-hardened fingers to move along her delicate skin, worried they might damage her as they would the delicate Himroo.
How had one so fragile been able to survive for so long? How had the Ganglians not known that she and Mackenzie were female when they had first taken them from Earth?
Ganglians were a large, hair-covered species that always carried a repulsive odor. Worse than their odor was the pain they inflicted on others, needing it to find their sexual release. They were the known slavers of the universes, and all species considered them scum. At least he thought they had, but apparently, the Zaludians had been willing to work with them. He needed to find out why.
"Jennifer…," he let her name quietly slip past his lips.
Hearing Luol and Mackenzie return, he quickly removed his hand, and looked from where he had been touching her face and was shocked to find the most stunning pair of blue eyes gazing back at him. They were the color of the rarest and most powerful of all energy crystals, and they drew him in. He was just starting to lean in closer when Mackenzie gasped and stepped between them.
Chapter Two
Jen found herself staring up into the most beautiful, crystal blue eyes that she had ever seen. They were so powerful she could have sworn they glowed.
"Jen!"
The sound of someone calling her name had her tearing her gaze away from them to see Mac stepping between her and the large male.
Male? Why would she say male and not man?
And Mac, how did she know Mac?
What was going on?
Where was she?
"It's alright, Jen," Mac said, seeing the panic that was starting to fill her friend's gaze. "You're fine. Everyone is fine."