“No, I am guilty, but I have earned the right to tease.”
Dawn sneezing again makes me turn toward her, but then father’s comm unit starts blaring, and SiN’s voice echoes around us, “FATHER … EHTRA HAS BEEN COMPROMISED … ELDER MALIK HAS NOTIFIED THE KORGON’S OF ITS LOCATION AND A CONTRACT WAS ISSUED FOR THE CAPTURE OF AS MANY FEMALES AS POSSIBLE. ARE YOU READING ME?!!”
“I hear you, son. How long do we have?”
“I am not sure. I was heading back to Darverius when Jade intercepted that message. We are on our way to you, but I fear it may be too late.”
The leaves lift on the back of my shoulders, and I grab Vedece, instantly wrapping her in poisonous thorns just as the first Korgon hits the ground in front of us. I push against her newly formed bond with the soil around her and root her deep so that their energizers have no way of lifting her. Unfortunately, I do not have time to deal with her anger as she wants to help the other females.
On the defense, I throw knife-like barbs full of natural poisons at the Korgons who have appeared out of the sky a few feet away. Within the blink of an eye, one lays on the ground, twitching and only moments from death.
Another of the Korgons reaches for Kira, but her Symbots completely cover her. Razor-sharp spikes form along her arms and shoulders, causing his hands to shred the moment he grabsher. A bright flash of light erupts, then all I hear are his screams as he vanishes.
As soon as he releases her, Kira rushes toward Briar, who has hidden behind a support pillar of one of the pods. Quickly, I command the nearby fauna to enclose Kira and Briar safely within the strong branches. Things are happening so quickly that I lose sight of Dawn and anyone else who was nearby. Dozens of Korgon appear and then vanish, to the point that I do not know who to fight first.
Father is engaged in hand-to-hand combat with two of them at once. Eight massive arms swing at him, equipped with knives and phasers, but his axe easily cuts down the large males, and between the two of us, four of the Korgon are quickly dead. Several more flashes of light, and the remaining ones disappear too. Father’s muscles twitch as he scans for the next threat, but somehow I know they are gone.
I release all the females at once, pulling Vedece, who is not happy with me but understands why, into the safety of my many limbs. Kira and Briar crawl out from under the pillar. Briar looks visibly shaken, and Kira’s Symbots still mostly cover her small frame as she heads straight to father.
BuK and MeK come running toward us, both armed. Briar rushes into BuK’s arms, visibly shaken. “What the hell? I thought we were safe?” Briar yells at father, and I can tell he is not sure how to answer her.
“BuK, take your mate home.”
“I’m not just going to go home like a good girl while monsters drop from the sky.”
“You have my word, Briar, this will never occur again even if I have to patrol the skies myself.SCOUT, I need you here now!”
SCOUT suddenly appears. “Commander, I am aware of what just happened, and Destiny is en route to intercept the Korgon ship as we speak. Although she sustained damage while pushing through the Veil, the Korgon vessel still remains inferior to hers, and thanks to ANDI’s quick thinking, their jump drive and lower thrusters were destroyed before they got out of his range.”
“How do we keep this from happening again? And I need to know in detail how they found out about Ethra.”
“Master SiN has the actual recording and has sent it to your personal shuttle. In short, Melanna, Elder Malek’s granddaughter, was the one who inevitably told him about Ethra. MeK’s mother brought her to Ethra when she was seeking Master MeK’s acceptance of her as a mate. Melanna was upset that he rejected her for an inferior human and went to complain to her grandfather. Who, until now, has done a fine job of hiding his tracks in dealings with the Korgon and the Velgriddix slave trade. Master SiN has built quite the criminal case against him, but he still needed physical proof of involvement. This attempt provided him with the final piece of the puzzle.”
“That is all good and well, since I will take care of the Elder myself, but this can never happen again. I will not always be here, and the humans need to be able to live their lives without worrying about enemies falling from the sky.”
“Commander, I had a fear … but I was hoping we would have more time than this … that the universe would discover the humans here soon. I have been working on a planetary protection system similar to the one on Darverius, in whichships can enter and exit only at a single location. At the same time, the rest of the planet is enclosed behind a solid barrier. It is still in the construction phase. Master MeK’s team is assembling the many satellites and magnet poles needed to stabilize the force field, but it is not a quick process. The approximate time is half an orbital rotation before it is finished. Until then, I can deploy several guard bots in orbit. This would help cover areas that ANDI cannot detect.”
“Get it done!”
“Yes, Commander. Before I go, the medical shuttle is finished and will be here in approximately three rotations.”
Just as Vedece starts to say something, SCOUT is gone, and I hear her sigh.
Father looks around, “MeK, check the rest of the settlement. KyT, I will need your help getting rid of these big bastards. Then we need to have a meeting with everyone.”
I wave my hand, and the soil opens, swallowing the bodies whole, leaving no trace of their existence on the surface as it smooths back out. Father nods his head in approval, and we all start toward the communal tent. Thanks to the comm units, most are already there when we arrive.
Father walks past most people and directly onto the small stage area where the food is usually served. “Attention all, I am sure by now you are all aware of what just occurred. To put your minds at ease, we are taking every precaution to ensure this heinous type of disturbance does not happen again.”
Someone yells out, “How did they get past ANDI?”
“They must have gotten below his radar during the freeze, as ANDI’s signals were all disrupted. Guard bots are being deployed to prevent that issue from occurring again. Good news: we were able to permanently expedite the placement of a medical chamber with a fully stocked first-aid shuttle to be stationed here permanently. Under the direction of Vedece, of course, and if I am not mistaken, one of our new residents also has some medical training. Tracy, if you are here, will you wave?”
A small blonde girl waves from the back.
“Vedece, you may want to speak with her, but I leave all medical staffing solely up to you.”
Concern, worry, and horror ripple through me from Vedece. Suddenly, she stands up, looks around, and I see multiple blooms and vines sprouting from the ground in front of each person there, almost as if she is reassuring herself that they are all present. Then she yells, “Has anyone seen Dawn?”
