Chapter 11
Battlecruiser Zyon
“Where are you going?”
As he was stepping out of his quarters, Blaze almost bumped into a female standing right outside the door. The one female he had been trying to ignore during their journey on board the Zyon — Shanna. He gently moved her to the side so that he could exit.
“I’m going to engineering for training.” He had just started training on the ships when the Croads had attacked. It had been more than ten years and his skills were rusty.
“Why? You’re not going to be staying on board once we reach the new planet. It seems pointless to train.” Shanna followed him down the corridor.
It always bothered him how Shanna never supported his efforts as leader. She often tried to get him to pass off his responsibilities to others. It was one of the reasons he had put off mating her officially. Now, he was truly relieved to have not committed to her in any real way. He pulled her into a private alcove and turned to face her.
“I’m a warrior, Shanna, and still leader of our small clan. That might change once we reach Earth and we are reunited with the rest of our people. We will have options on where we want to live, if we want to go our separate ways or if we want to remain together. I do not plan to be a burden but an asset.”
“Will you go off on your own? Is that why you’re pulling away from me?”
“Shanna, we’re not true mates. You know this, I know this and our dragons certainly know this. I’ve spoken with General Ranier and he claims that a few of our kind have found true mates among the humans. It’s possible we’ll find ours there, too.”
“You’re just holding out hope thatshe’llbe there,” Shanna said with a snarky voice.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have to go.” He turned and walked away, feeling grateful that Shanna was not following him.
He felt that he had made it as clear as possible to her that their relationship, whatever there was of it, could no longer continue. Blaze wasn’t a fool; he knew that he had not been the only male she spent time with. Cor was a frequent partner in her bed.
Because the females outnumbered the males in their small clan, the unmated females had fewer partners to choose from. However, two of the females in his clan had found mates already among the males on board the Zyon. It was a curious thing. No one knew why only now true mates were beginning to resurface. General Ranier claimed that the entire ten years he had commanded the Zyon through the wormholes, no true matings had existed. The difference came once they reached this new planet called Earth. He planned to question the general more about this and about Earth.
He headed to engineering. The warriors all greeted him as he entered the room.
“Leader Blaze, good to see you.”
He clasped forearms with the senior engineer Roo. For some reason they gave him the title of “Leader” because he was the leader of the clan. It was highly unusual to have a heralded title without being a general or a king. He had not even finished his warrior training when the Croads had attacked.
“You too, Roo. What do you have for me today?”
“Actually, you’ve caught up with everything in just a few weeks. General Ranier said that you could go to the bridge for training if you wanted.”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll take you there.”
Ten minutes later, he stepped onto the bridge of the battlecruiser. Large windows circled half of the bridge, revealing the view outside. It always amazed him to see the stars in this way. He would ask to take a flight out in his dragon form.
Drakonians could do that — fly in dragon form in deep space — but only for short distances. If they were going to go into battle, they traveled via the small one-person ships. He hadn’t had a chance to train in one yet, but maybe he would get a chance before they reached Earth.
General Ranier stood on a small raised platform with a semi-circular railing, with his hands folded behind his back as he observed his warriors. When he caught sight of Blaze, he motioned for him to join him on the platform. They greeted each other.
“Good morning, Leader Blaze.”
“Good morning, General.”
While traveling on board a battlecruiser in space, Blaze thought he would be disoriented. Something he had not known before was that the lights worked automatically, making the lights brighter during the day hours and dimming them slightly in the evening hours. Drakonians could see clearly in the dark but the lighting effect helped to keep them oriented to a sleeping and waking cycle.
“I heard that you have done very well with getting caught up in training in engineering.”
“Yes, I know the fundamentals, but it will take much longer to become a lead engineer.”
“You have demonstrated a high aptitude for learning such things.”
