Page 18 of Krin

Apart from Riley’s occasional successful attempts at accessing restricted areas, she had done nothing to worry about thus far.

After some private discussion with my first officer, Ezan, I made the choice to stop at Novara, the nearest human colony on our way to the trade route.

He suggested that if I was unwilling to allow her to join the crew, the only option was to give her a choice once we arrived atthe colony. Riley could choose to leave or remain on the Chetok at that time. I reluctantly agreed but kept my concerns to myself.

What if she wanted to leave?

Ezan also made it clear he thought I should speak to Riley sooner rather than later, but I chose to ignore his advice. Of course, I had no desire to bring her to Novara.

The very idea of leaving her there caused my heart to constrict.

We were now only a rotation away from the colony, and I still hadn’t found the words to speak to her about staying on the ship. Nor had I admitted to her she was my beloved K’sha.

Meeting one’s K’sha was rare. Once I entered adulthood, I had always hoped the Gods Tenage and Veshar would bless me with a fated mate. Though I never believed it would happen. Not really.

Then I saw Riley and everything changed. My mating marks would ignite, burning into my skin whenever I got close to her. The connection I felt with the desirable female was unlike anything I had ever experienced before.

Without fail, my conversations with Riley always seemed to leave her upset with me due to my words. I held back from approaching her, worried that she might not be open to talking unless I brought up the opportunity to work on the ship.

If I could not bring myself to discuss her staying on the Chetok, how could I mention our fated connection?

WE HAD A RESPONSIBILITYto both the Protectorate, and the people in Alaran space. Our new mission was clear. We had to put a stop to enemy ships entering Alaran space and stealing not only other resources but most importantly, our females.

Other than the occasional run-in with several Krilex vessels, and a couple of Zinid ships, our first few rotations to the traderoute were relatively quiet. We had spotted no recent signs of the shape-shifters’ vessels.

I had a strong sense they were still lurking.

The Krilex’s alliance with the shape-shifters presented a considerable obstacle, given the Krilex’s lack of morals and their greed as motivation.

The Zinids abducted females and then sold or passed them on to the Krilex.

Still, the reptilian race would just take females if the opportunity arose. Following that, they traded the females for weapons with the Unknown aliens.

We knew very little about the Unknown. Only that they’d shown up in Alaran space from another Universe about a hundredtenriago. Thankfully, I had the awareness to detect them.

Unlike my people, they didn’t possess telepathic abilities. When confronted with capture they transformed back to their original form.

King Trex and I interrogated a captive Unknown alien back on Alara. They were not fighters. Their sole means of protecting themselves was their advanced weaponry.

We had been made aware that the Unknown aliens direly needed minerals to produce a fuel called flonium for their ships. They also insisted on using females as incubators for their cloning technology. They claimed they were going extinct.

The faster we could remove them from Alaran space, the better it would be for everyone.

Each Protectorate ship was assigned a specific patrol area. The Chetok had the task of safeguarding a long section of the trade route in Alaran territory.

The helmsman interrupted my train of thought. “There is a distress call coming in.”

I cleared my throat and replied. “Disengage warp and acknowledge the communication.”

As the ship decelerated, the stars became clearly visible through the holo-screen.

The helmsman responded to the distress call. “The information originates from our ground-based Protectorate forces stationed on Novara, reporting that a Krilex vessel has been seen above the planet. It is believed they may have taken females from the surface.”

My chest tightened. Novara was where we were taking Riley.

“Scan the area nearby, see if you can find any Krilex vessels,” I ordered.

It took us a while to scan the route between the human colony and our whereabouts just a rotation from the planet.

---