Chapter 18: Chapter 18

AMY

Amy went back to her room and sat down on the sofa, her mind filled with Silian’s face. On a set of bright-blue eyes.

~He was totally going to kiss me.~ She smiled at the thought and then frowned. Just the thought of him now sent warm tingles through her body.

~You need to slow this shit down, girl.~ He wasn’t like any guy she’d ever met, literally, and she didn’t know anything about the Homies.

She giggled at the thought, then stood and went to the bathroom, washing her hands and face. She looked at the image of herself in the mirror.

“Hooking up with him is reckless and stupid no matter how much you want to,” she told herself. She needed to know a lot more about him before she did anything like that.

But her mind went back to the way he moved with those blades. How his body bent and twisted in an elegant and precise dance. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

She needed to speak to Izzy. This wasn’t like her, to lose her mind over a guy. Especially one who killed as easily as he did.

“Prime, can you put me through to Izzy?” Amy asked as she walked out of the bathroom.

“Hey, Amy, what’s up?” she heard her friend ask.

“Nothing, are you still talking to Mikhlas?”

“No, just sitting in my room, admiring the view.”

“Good, I’m coming over,” she said, and walked toward the door, but a buzzing sound in the corner of the lounge stopped her.

She turned to see a hole in the floor form and steps leading down to the room below.

“Amy?” She heard Izzy call from the stairs.

“Izzy?” she asked with astonishment. She descended to the room below and saw Izzy’s lounge area.

“That is so cool. Nice one, Prime!” Amy said as she stepped off the stairs and went to Izzy on the sofa.

“You all right? You look a little flushed,” Izzy asked as Amy sat down.

“Not really. I just saw Silian.”

“Oh. And how did that go?” Izzy asked, perking up a little.

“Bad. Very, very bad,” Amy said.

“Really? Why?” Izzy asked with concern in her eyes.

“Because he is hot as fucking hell, he smells amazing, and I’m afraid,” Amy said.

“Of what, Amy?”

“That I’ll do something I will regret later,” she looked at Izzy, who tried and failed to hide the smile on her face.

“You like him that way, don’t you?” Izzy asked her.

“Yes,” she confessed.

“Why’s that scary, hon?”

Amy stayed quiet, trying to face her own fears in her past.

“Come on, Aims, tell me what happened,” Izzy asked.

She swallowed hard and got up to pace, wrestling with her own thoughts.

She might present a tough face to the world that few saw beneath, but she knew Izzy wouldn’t let up until she’d discovered the reason for her distress.

“Does he even want that from you?” Izzy asked, leaning forward on the white-and-red sofa.

“It sure felt like it when he pinned me to the floor,” Amy muttered, looking at her sneakers.

“What? I’ll—” Amy looked up to see Izzy getting off the couch. She looked ~pissed~.

“No Izzy, not like that. We were sparring. He wants to teach me to fight like he does.”

Izzy crossed her arms, apparently not yet mollified. “And he tried to make a move on you?”

“Man doesn’t ~try~ anything. If Prime hadn’t interrupted him, he would have kissed me,” Amy sighed, admitting the truth. “And I would have kissed him back.”

Izzy narrowed suspicious eyes at her. “So, if you wanted him to kiss you, why are you so stressed?”

“Because I know nothing about him. And he scares me a little too,” Amy said honestly.

“He does? I didn’t know that, Aims. I thought nothing frightened you,” Izzy said sitting forward.

“Yeah. He’s so intense, you know? I mean, I met guys like him in the army and all, but I don’t know exactly. Maybe it is the way he looks at me sometimes. It just freaks me out, that’s all.”

“I don’t think he would ever hurt you, though,” Izzy said.

“I’m not so sure, Iz. We don’t know anything about them. What if we say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing? How do we know they’re not just going to go mad and kill us both?” Amy said.

~You’re being ridiculous, and you know it, but it’s not like the thought never crossed your mind.~

“Amy, I get the feeling that we are on the good side of some very dangerous men. But they would never intentionally hurt us. I’m starting to feel safe around them.”

“Yeah, well your mind hasn’t gone where mine has,” Amy muttered.

“It has, actually, but I don’t know if anything will happen there. Looks like I will be left alone for a long time,” Izzy said, her face turning sad.

“You mean, you and ~Mikhlas~?” Amy reeled at this information. “Wait. Why do you think he’s not interested?”

“He’s not initiating anything. I mean, even at the cabin when Cadman broke my nose, he held his arms out to comfort me, but I needed to actually pull him into a hug,” Izzy stared down at her shoes.

“I’m not sure what it means, or whether he likes me or is just doing his duty. Like I am some kind of obligation.”

“Hey, sweetie. Do you know what I think? These guys are driven by duty. I’d bet he’s just worried about pulling a move on the queen,” Amy said.

“He kissed me,” Izzy confessed.

Amy looked at her as her mouth dropped open again. “He did? When? Tell me everything.”

“At the cabin. The first day I met him. It felt…amazing and scary and wonderful all at the same time.”

“Nice, but I don’t understand. Why are you saying you think you’ll be alone if you think he’s interested?”

Izzy sighed. “He told me that he did it for bragging rights.”

Amy could see this cut her deep. ~She’s gone through so much betrayal and heartache with Peter,~ she thought, clenching one fist.

“Assholes,” Amy said, referring to both men. “Did he say anything else?”

“Well…” Izzy squirmed like a perp in an interrogation.

“Come on, don’t give me half the evidence,” Amy said, squinting one eye and putting on a voice like a noir detective. “Spill the beans, sister.”

“He said who wouldn’t want to kiss such a beautiful woman,” Izzy said, trying to hide a blush behind a curtain of dark straight hair.

~Ha! She’s blushing, methinks there is more to this.~

“He’s been really sweet. He just left. We spent the last few hours talking about what the Realm is like.”

“There’s more, isn’t there?”

At her raised eyebrow Izzy just rolled her eyes and continued, “I might have tried to, um, seduce him just a little.”

“Let me guess, he didn’t kiss you this time?” Amy said, nodding just from the body language Izzy displayed that gave away the answer.

“Listen, I think it’s more than just bragging rights. Maybe at first, but I’m thinking you asked him a question, and he chose to tell you an uncomfortable truth. That means he likes you. Dumbass.”

“You think?” Izzy bit her lip. “Maybe. I don’t know, my mind is kind of busy with everything he told me about the Realm and what I can expect. It all sounds like a crazy mess, Amy. I have no idea how I’m going to do this.”

“One day at a time. It’s all you can do,” Amy said.

Izzy let out a laugh. “That’s what Mikhlas says. I just don’t like the fact that I will be around so many people I don’t know. According to Mikhlas, there are a few who would rather see me dead than on the throne.”

“I got your back, Iz. You know this.”

Izzy stood and walked over to her, looking up at her with huge hazel eyes that meant she wanted something.

“That’s the problem. You need to stay on the ship until I’m crowned. The old laws apply until then, and the old laws say you should be dead.”

“Stay on the ship?” she said. “Who is going to have your back? Will Mikhlas be with you?”

“No. He isn’t ranked high enough,” Izzy said looking out the window.

“Shit. Iz, I am not liking the sound of that. You need someone you can trust to protect you and the boys,” she said before giving the woman a hug. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“I do. I don’t have a choice. One way or another, I will be taken back to the Realm. The only way out of this for me is to die.”

“Shit,” Amy repeated.

“You said it.”

Amy pulled out of the hug with a frown. “What about the boys?”

“They are the princes, so they will be fine. After I’m crowned, they’ll go off to school,” she said.

“Good. That’s good, at least they will be fine,” Amy said.

~How did I think my problems were bad?~ Listening to Izzy speak about everything now made her realize that she hadn’t been taking things very seriously up until then.

“We need a drink!” Amy finally said.

“Oh, thank God you said that. I am dying for one.”

“Think they will let us go to Mojo’s one more time?” Amy asked with a smile.

Izzy smiled wide. “There’s only one way to find out.”

ISABELLE

As Izzy entered the bridge with Amy at her side, she saw Mikhlas speaking to a pale-faced man on the small screen in front of him. The large window displayed an intricate and detailed map of the Universe.

As she looked around, she hoped not to meet more of the crew, and she noticed that the room still remained barren, with most of the stations empty. ~Good. Not tonight. I need something normal tonight.~

Izzy walked up to Mikhlas and noticed the same pale face on Silian’s screen. Mikhlas turned to her as she approached, and the picture froze and turned off.

“Isabelle? Is everything all right?” he asked with a frown on his face.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Are you busy?” she asked, pointing to the screen.

“What can I help you with?” he said, turning his seat to face her.

“Amy and I want to go to the ground for a few hours. We both need a bit of normal,” Izzy said dry washing her hands.

“If you want to, Dakira,” he said, glancing at the screen. “Only, there are things happening in the Realm that need your attention.”

“What kind of things?” she asked.

Izzy looked at Amy to gauge a reaction from her and noticed how she acted. She stood with hands on hips, studiously avoiding Silian, who sat facing them with his arms crossed and his gaze fixed on Amy.

Mikhlas sighed, before gesturing to the screen. “Givan Bala, the Governor of Homeworld, has disappeared.”

Izzy tried to remember where the Governors stood in the strange hierarchy Mikhlas had explained. Monarchs ruled absolutely, supported by the Doge of their choice.

Beneath the Doge were others, a part of the Royal court who administered the Realm, and if she remembered correctly, a Governor acted more like a president, with one for each planet.

“This worries you, doesn’t it?” Izzy asked Mikhlas.

“It worries my commander; therefore, it worries me. It may well be a sign of something bigger,” Mikhlas said, and she could see him rubbing his thumb against his index finger.

~Yeah, he’s really worried.~ As much as she felt she and Amy needed some time on the Earth in familiar surroundings, the pull of expectation clawed at her.

Did she really have the right to go enjoy herself for a few hours when the people she’d been chosen to protect needed her? Was she just delaying leaving because of fear?

~Mikhlas has mentioned several times now that the Realm is waiting for me. That the Fleet and government are paused on the old laws, and without leadership their society will stagnate.~

“We should get started then,” she said, crossing her arms and looking at Amy. “I’m sorry. I wanted a chance to do something normal before we left, and I know you did too.”

“It’s okay Iz. We’ll be back,” she said, looking toward the large cosmological map and Izzy suspected she saw beyond the map to the little blue world behind it.

Mikhlas pressed a button on the console and spoke, his voice ringing out across the bridge and presumably the ship.

“This is the captain speaking. Dakira Izzy has decided to leave now. Command crew to the bridge, begin preparations for FTL jump.” He released the button and spoke to the room.

“Prime, take off from the surface and begin spooling the FTL drive. First, double-check the nav coordinates. Dakira, we’ll have to delay meeting the remaining crew officially until we are en route.

“If you wish to stay and view the launch, you’ll see some races you haven’t met before, but the crew will be busy. Don’t be alarmed.”

Izzy swallowed, nodding at his words and preparing herself. She didn’t want to have the same reaction as when she met Iry for the first time and offend someone.

The door to the bridge cycled open and a group of Orbanites bustled in, nodding at her and making their large ears sway as they distributed themselves among the terminals.

Mikhlas stood, ushering her toward one of the large chairs in the center. He and Silian sat down, a holographic screen appearing in front of Silian, and his fingers dancing across complicated looking rows of numbers.

She spun her chair as the door opened again. Iry and her boys entered, Lucas chattering about some kind of game to Iry, before they separated, with the boys coming to her side, and Iry moving to her station.

~That’s not so bad,~ she thought. ~I like Iry, and I’ve met the Orbanites before. Sure, four eyes and weird earlobes, but not too scary.~

“We’re going?” Lucas said, and receiving a nod from her, he fist-pumped the air. “Awesome!”

“You okay, Mom?” James asked. Izzy smiled at him nodding, and he came close to her, giving her a hug. “Love you, Mom,” he said simply.

She felt so proud of her boys for the way in which they embraced this whole experience as the bridge thrummed with activity.

She noticed Iry’s shoulders tighten, and with an audible sound, her hand spikes extended as the door opened.

~Iry said her spikes were an involuntary response to the presence of her race’s only natural predator. This must be Miran,~ she thought, turning to the door.

A tall, slender, gray-skinned being entered and her mouth dropped open.

~It’s a gray.~ Like all the posters of aliens, with large black reflective eyes, an enormous head, and a small mouth.

Silently, Miran moved forward, almost gliding, and moved to another station, leaving only one empty.

As the last crew arrived, Lucas ran forward. “Hi, Sus!”

~Knobby purple and shining metal. Lucas described him well, except for the lack of a nose and ears.~

“Sus is my craft brother, Prince Lucas. I am I’Mag,” I’Mag said, holding out a purple arm free of metal and shaking Lucas’s hand.

“Oh,” Lucas replied. “Nice to meet you, I’Mag.”

“Excuse me, Prince Lucas, I have much work to do,” I’Mag said bowing before heading to the final station. Lucas came running back to her with a grin, climbing into her lap, and she kissed the top of his blond head.

Amy came close, still unable to take her eyes off Silian as he ignored her, focused on the station hanging in the air above him.

“You okay?” Izzy asked.

“Yeah. This is it, eh? We’re really doing this?” Amy said.

“We sure are,” Izzy smiled and turned to the screen. Mikhlas gave her a look, all raised eyebrows, and she gave him a quick nod.

“Nav?”

“We’re in the green, Captain,” Silian replied.

“FLT?”

“Spooled up and ready to jump, Captain,” I’Mag replied.

“Prime?”

“All systems operational, Captain. We are ready to jump on your mark.”

“Mark,” he said.

The window changed to reveal a sea of stars. Izzy could see a faint constellation she recognized as Scorpio and watched a faint purple-and-white glow begin around the edges of the window.

As it grew bigger, Izzy felt a strange sensation in her stomach. She wasn’t sure if it was her nerves or the wormhole that now opened up around them.

The glow grew brighter as it filled the screen, and without warning a sudden jerk made her whole body feel weightless for a moment.

She looked out the window, but only a bright white light flared through. A second later, the light disappeared and millions of unfamiliar stars were visible.

“Silian, confirm location,” Mikhlas said.

“Jump successful, Captain. Holding at seventy-five million light-years from Earth.”

Mikhlas nodded and stood. Her boys left her and ran back to Iry and looked at the screens in front of her, talking a million miles an hour.

In that moment, looking at unfamiliar stars, the weight of leaving felt heavy.

While her boys seemed to revel in amazing sensations and knowing they were light-years from their home, she felt a tendril of fear snake up her spine.

She knew that Mikhlas probably wanted to invite the crew that had not met her yet to present themselves to her, yet she could not do it.

Not at this moment, when her emotions threatened to overwhelm her, Izzy stood up and walked off the bridge, making for her room.

As she left, she heard Mikhlas speak. “We’ll hold this position for two hours. Silian, you have command until I return,” Mikhlas said, and she heard his heavy tread follow her.