One of the men from earlier stepped back into the room. “Don’t talk to her,” he said. “We need you in engineering.”
Once she was alone again, her thoughts went wild. She’d been studying the infertility issue for months when she was back on Dhiro’s planet. It didn’t make sense. There were no natural indicators. Now she had answers. Some anyway.
For days, she was kept in the infirmary. She was fed and given all her essentials, but nothing more. Khirana didn’t visit her again, and Ella hoped she wasn’t in trouble for saying too much. She knew the ship was landing when all the crew were on high alert, rushing back and forth outside her door. A low siren sounded, and an emergency light flicked on inside her room when the main power went out. After a hollow boom sounded around her, she knew they’d landed. She prayed Dhiro was also able to land safely. Over the past couple of days, he was all she could think about, to the point she made herself sick with worry. She hated not knowing what the future held for them.
Ella listened near the door.
“It’s the taskforce,” one of them shouted.
“Get to the weaponry.”
“Don’t open the hatch!”
“Protect the human.”
When she heard footsteps right outside, she rushed back to the center of the room. The leader from a couple of days ago rushed in and put a collar around her neck. He tugged her along like a dog on a leash. She held the thick leather with both hands, trying not to stumble. All around them was chaos. And fear.
He passed her off to another man. “Take her to the escape hatch under the ship. She must not be taken.”
Back on Earth, she couldn’t even get a grant for her research, now entire civilizations were fighting over her. This was too much.
Crawling down through the dark lower emergency stairwells was unnerving, especially when her captor was impatient with her. As soon as he cracked the hatch at the bottom of the ship, fresh air and natural light flooding in the tight compartment. And she heard the voice on the loudspeakers.
“Release the human or face the consequences.”
It was Dhiro.
Chapter Twelve
A miracle and a curse all at the same time.
Dhiro stared at the ship. He had to admit to himself, he was impressed. If the Scyathra had hoped to get rid of him, they’d made a huge mistake. Taking Ella had guaranteed his survival. The oxygen had been just enough to get him to Trenu Zel, and with protecting his mate on his mind, he’d taken a great many risks.
The ship his brothers had helped to craft and repair was nothing more than a jumbled mess of parts and bits. There was no way it would ever return to Earth, let alone go for the odd trip in the Trenu Zel sky.
His commander put a hand on his shoulder. “Our scanners show the human female is there. We will find her.”
Dhiro had enough communication power to alert his people to what had happened. It was how they were able to get to the Scyathra location. They’d been waiting for them.
He held the weapon in his hand, normally designed for two soldiers, but he only needed himself to master it. Staring at the ship, he was more than happy to take each Scyathra out, one by one. His mate needed him. They had attacked his ship, taken his mate, and now they would pay the price for what they did.
He wanted to fire straight away, but to do so risked his mate.
Ella.
He needed her.
They were back on his planet, and he still didn’t have her in his arms. Anger rushed through him, threatening to make him act rashly. His time on Earth hadn’t done well for his patience.
The main hatch opened up, and a woman he didn’t recognize appeared.
She held her hands up. “Do not shoot.”
“Give me my woman, and I won’t have to. You will be able to walk away freely.”
“My name is Khirana. Ella has told me to talk to the Trenuian who calls himself Dhiro.” Her voice was loud, clear.
Dhiro frowned.
Considering they were meant to be primitive beings, he was surprised her speech was firm but refined. He had been raised to believe the Scyathra were nothing more than savage animals.
“Dhiro?” his commander asked.
“I have to do what it takes to take care of my mate. She needs me now more than ever.” He held his weapon tightly and took a step toward the ship.
“Put your weapon down,” Khirana said.
“How do I know you won’t kill me?” he asked.
“We all want the same outcome.”
“I highly doubt that,” he said.
“I’m not surprised. You are all suspicious of change. You’re willing to risk life and limb to save yourselves without asking for help from us. We have created a system that helps to complete all repairs within a ship on voyages. It is inexpensive and has multiple compounds found on our own planet.”
Dhiro was skeptical. “How do you know this?”
“We’ve had time to do our research. We’re not old. We want to move forward. You are responsible for our infertility crisis. We’re the ones, as usual, trying to solve it.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m not surprised. You’re a Trenu Zel male. Your entire race is rough, set on a path of power and destruction. You are not to be trusted.”
“Then why are you talking with me?”
“Ella. She told me you don’t know the truth. You don’t know how your people poisoned all of us, trying to wipe the Scyathra from existence, but in doing so, made us all infertile. We were all punished for your stupidity.”
Dhiro couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You’re wrong.”
“No, we’re very right about this. We know why we were outcasts. Now drop the weapon or we take Ella away forever.”
He put the weapon down on the ground without a single hesitation. Behind him, he heard his commander, his men. They were not happy with him giving up so easily. They didn’t understand. His mate was in danger. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her, even if that meant putting himself in harm’s way. He’d been willing to kill himself to grant Ella more oxygen, so going toward the Scyathra ship without a weapon was a piece of cake. A little expression he’d learned from Earth.
Humans were such weird beings. He was never going to understand them completely.
“Interesting. Your mate does not lie to get you on board our ship.”
“Ella is a good person. She only wants to help.”
Khirana stared at him, assessing.
He was aware of the men and women at her back. They all had weapons. They could kill him the moment he entered the ship, but he had faith in his woman. If she spoke about him, she had good reason.
Khirana stepped back to give him space to enter the ship. “We’re going to scan you to make sure you are healthy and that you are not hiding another weapon.”
“I am not hiding anything.”
“Put your hands on your head.”
“I am not a criminal. You are.”
She snorted. “Oh, please, the only criminal right now is you. How could you think to put our entire hope for survival on a ship without enough oxygen, no weaponry, and no way to repair it? We had been following you for days, watching your ship gradually fall apart.”