Chapter 1
All aboard. Destination: Earth.
I stepped onto theAdmiral Venfor the first time in three cycles. It was almost impossible to believe I’d returned, and yet here I was. My eyes wandered over the familiar docking ring while a warm feeling engulfed me, almost as if I’d been submerged in hot water or held safe within someone’s arms. Without prompting, numerous things I loved about my tenure upon theAdmiral Ven—Seth, Urgg, and Edith, to name the most prominent—popped into my thoughts. The three of them had become my closest friends, and even more than that, they were my family—something I’d never had before.
The reason I dreaded returning made himself known almost instantly— Commander Monqilcolnen, nephew of Emperor Kontolmakqilnen and sole cousin to the royal princes.
Commander Monqilcolnen ordered people to keep moving to their designated areas in a clear, smooth voice that carried over the chatter. We were still docked at Tanlyn Station, which orbited Tamkolvanloknol—the homeworld of the drakcol—waiting for departure, but the officers and crew arrived first, then civilian workers, then passengers, and finally, the members of the royal family, who were coming. I’d been one of the first people to arrive. I was a lieutenant now, and I was part of a group of seekers who oversaw engineering and worked with NAID—Network of Artificial Intelligence for Drakcol.
Edith, a sentient NAID and a close friend, had wanted to be reinstalled onto the ship, as this was where she’d found her independence, but the Council of Seekers had refused her request. They’d feared something catastrophic might happen to her during the transfer. As the first sentient artificial intelligence of the Drakcol Empire, Edith was too important to lose. So she remained in the isolated hub of Prince Kalvoxrencol’s system on Tamkolvanloknol, where she was safe.
Knowing Edith as I did, not to mention Seth, I guessed she’d make an appearance more often than not on theAdmiral Ven. She and Seth often skirted the rules whenever they saw fit, though neither truly meant any harm. But some unease existed within the seeker faction about Edith. She was independent and knowledgeable about everything. If she sought to conquer us, she could, with ease.
Civilizations had been conquered by powerful computers before, and Edith was a prime candidate for such an outcome, except she was fiercely loyal to Seth. He was her closest friend, and that love extended to his child, Bobbinvoxlyn, and one could only hope, to his children one day in the distant future.
Besides, I knew Edith well. She would never hurt anyone. She was far too kind.
Keeping my head down, I moved toward the lift that would take me to my bunk. As I scuttled by, Monqilcolnen didn’t glance in my direction, which had my shoulders loosening. Instead, he was solely focused on the crowd. I did peek at him to keep checking, though. Had to make sure I was free from his gaze.
His long silver-white hair hung down his back in a perfect sheet. His dark green scales and gold piercings caught the light with his every movement, as did the pips on the collar of his dark blue uniform. He was tall, taller than most drakcol, and he was broad with well-defined muscles. An exquisite example of drakcol perfection.
Oddly, he made me nervous in ways that were difficult to articulate.
I always said and did the wrong thing in regards to him, tripping over my tongue when he was present. Monqilcolnen never, to my face, talked about my mistakes, but he would arch one of his sculpted eyebrows, and it was enough to send my soul to my toes and my shoulders to my ears.
An elbow suddenly nudged me, and I started. Camden, another human who’d become my friend, stood beside me, smiling. He was pretty for a human, as I understood it, or so Caleb, Prince Zoltilvoxfyn’s mate, had informed me. Camden possessed wavy golden hair, pale pink skin, blue eyes, and strong features. For a human, he had decent height, taller than me, though I was on the small side for a drakcol.
Camden hadn’t been with us long, but he’d fallen into stride easily enough. He planned to join the Planetary Academy, to study science, but first he wanted to go to Earth. Not to return. Rather, he wanted to accompany as well as support his fellow humans who’d decided to go home. I suspected there might be another factor involved in him traveling across the universe tohis home planet, though I hadn’t pried too much. Camden was entitled to his privacy.
“I’m excited to be going,” he said.
“It should be an interesting journey,” I replied.
It took six months, one way, to travel to Earth on a direct route, and we would be staying near the planet for longer than the first time I’d gone. The Drakcol Empire was establishing a base on Earth’s moon to keep humanity safe from the xoi, who’d stolen more humans than we’d ever known. The base, with the assistance of Vvekian technology, would remain secret from the humans, allowing us and other Coalition members to study the evolving species.
In all technicality, Earth was being declared Seth’s property, which he’d said was an outright lie, but it was the sole way to protect the planet. Because of Seth’s claim, Earth was the property of the Drakcol Empire, also allowing us to guard it and its inhabitants. And it helped that a Vvekian priest had declared he’d seen a vision of their goddess calling Seth the ruler of Earth.
“You’ve been before, right? Some of the other scientists mentioned it,” Camden said.
He certainly got around. Every time I looked, he was speaking to someone new. “Yes, I was there when Prince Kalvoxrencol retrieved Seth.”
“Retrieved,” he repeated, chuckling. “I think you mean abducted. He straight up stole Seth, from what I’ve heard.”
That was probably closer to the truth, but Prince had wanted his soulmate. No other choice had been possible anyway. The Crystal had sent Prince Kalvoxrencol to Seth, binding them together. Because of the law regarding underdeveloped planets, Prince had to abduct Seth. Now, however, they were quite deeply in love and bonded by the Crystal’s light, so it had all been for the best. Although Kalvoxrencol would die if Seth did, as they were mates. Drakcol didn’t often outlive their mates.
As Camden and I turned to enter the lift, my eyes flicked back to Monqilcolnen and found him already looking at me. His golden eyes traced my face, and my breath slowed while my soul sped up. Camden bumped his shoulder against mine, and Monqilcolnen arched one of his brows. My head instantly ducked, and I scrambled into the lift, ready to escape his gaze.
This was going to be a long journey.
Wyn disappeared from my sight, and it took all of my power to keep from chasing him down so I could figure out what this burning emotion meant. Instead, I focused on the responsibilities at hand. I continued to direct the new and returning crew members to where they were supposed to go. Most knew the way, but a few people needed directions. The main reason I was present was to ensure nothing untoward happened during this first wave of boarding.
As the commander of theAdmiral Ven, all crew, whether officer, unlisted, or civilian, fell under my purview. I had been and would continue to be the best commander possible. No. A perfect commander. And this was to be my last mission as a commander.
I was up for a promotion to captain, and if Captain Talvax was to be believed, theAdmiral Venwould be my ship once we returned. She’d requested reassignment to a permanent placement on Tamkolvanloknol. Her barbarus mate, Urgg, liked remaining planetside more than endlessly traveling space, and the couple had decided this was the best path for their future.
I kept my hands clasped behind my back and watched the oncoming people with a calm expression. My mask was something I’d mastered long ago. I’d known from a young age Iwas going to defy general expectations, so I’d built a thick wall around me, and behind that wall was mostly secrets—how I felt or what I thought. It was easier to hide than be myself.
I’d even kept secrets from my cousins, who were basically my brothers, such as my inner fire—perfect intuition. Sometimes I simply knew things. No reason as to why I sensed what I did existed. I wasn’t blessed with true precognition, visions of the future, like my father either.
