Page 26 of Saving Lauren

This shower is way less fun than the one we had last night. We take turns cleaning eachother and I feel something deep inside of me. A strange tug, or pull? When I ask D’Var about it, while we get dressed, he beams, and I feel his happiness flowing over me. I can almost feel it…

We have breakfast in the mess hall, before going about our day.

I have been working on my plants for a while, feeling sparks pulling at me from time to time, when D’Var comes in to check on me.

“I am going to check something out at command with T’Rak. Is that, okay?” he asks. I nod.

“Of course, I’ll be here! See you for lunch?” He smiles and gives me a kiss before he disappears through the cargo bay’s doors.

I go back to the turnips, but then I hear a weird scraping noise in the back. I turn around, confused by the noise.

“D’Var?” I call out, but I don’t see anybody, I do smell something foul. Maybe I missed the Alien equivalent of a bug?

When I turn back towards my plants I cry out in fear because in front of me is a strange, menacing looking alien. I take a step back, but bump into something and before I can turn around, I feel a sting in my neck and my whole world turns black.

CHAPTER 13

D’Var

T’Rak noticed some strange signals from the Asteroid Belt and asked me to take a look with him. It seems like there is a disturbance, but we cannot pinpoint what is causing it. This Asteroid Belt is filled with debris from ships that crashed here, so disturbances are not uncommon.

This one is coming from somewhere close. Too close to my liking. I am in the middle of a diagnostic analysis when I hear a strange noise coming from the cargo bay. It is muffled, but I feel a spike of fear coming through my bond with L’Ren. I jump up.

“Something is wrong with L’Ren,” I yell taking off towards the cargo bay, T’Rak is following on my heels.

The cargo bay is empty. L’Ren’s precious pots are toppled and there is soil everywhere. I can still smell her in the air, though her delicious scent is tainted with fear. I sniff and then I smell it. It’s faint but definitely there. The stench of foul musk; Sternotheri.

They have her.

I let out a terrible growl and my vision turns red. The fucking Sternotheri have taken my mate. My Zarra. MINE.

I look around, but there is no sign of my mate nor our enemies. I sniff again and I follow the path their foul odor left. These creatures have a heavily active scent gland which produces a constant stench of foul musk. That’s how I am easily able to follow the trail to the far end of the cargo bay.

T’Rak follows me, and O’Rec has joined us as well. There’s a big hole in the ceiling, where there should have been an air duct. I jump up and stare right into space. I curse and activate emergency protocol with a button on my wrist comp.

I jump back and tell my crew to move out.

“The hull is compromised. It looks like they cut a hole in the hull and got in through the ventilation ducts. They blasted their way through on the way back, I think. We need to leave the cargo bay, because the air will be unbreathable within moments.”

O’Rec lets out a string of curses.

“Fucking Sternotheri, I have been so busy with the reboot, the alarm is not yet fully operational.”

When we are out in the hallway again, the ship seals the cargo bay. We rush to the Command Center. T’Rak immediately starts scanning for ships, but all the visuals are empty. We only see the fucking rocks.

Then it hits me. L’Ren is gone. Taken.

I fall to my knees making an anguished sound as I drop. I bow my head and cover my eyes. I feel a wave of desperation rolling over me, unlike I have ever felt before. I failed her. I promised I would protect her, that nothing bad would ever happen to her again. Now she is taken. From right under our noses.

I am mentally chastising myself, now that the initial shock has passed, I feel the mating bond howling in pain. I ache being apart from her. The bond is so fragile it needs constant nurture to make sure it stays healthy.

O’Rec grabs my shoulder.

“We will get her back, my friend. I vow to you.”

He speaks but the words don’t register, my vision slowly returns to normal but with the mating bond aching, I only feel anguish.

O’Rec walks to my front and grabs my hand, pulling me up.

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