Allies (Warriors of Karal Book 5) (15 page)

“Yes, I am.” Petra felt little bit unnerved, standing here, in front of the Hier Ruler himself. He seemed to be in complete control of his colours, while Okil seem to be lit up like a Christmas tree. The colours skimming his face were vibrant, with what looked like stars bursting out over his hands.

“I respect your mother, in a way I never did the old President. I hope that we can work together to save your human race.”

“So do I. And thank you. For sending out the missions to find this planet.” She looked around again, feeling the warm sun on her face. And couldn’t resist another deep breath which she exhaled slowly, her eyes half closed in bliss. “I only wish everybody on Earth could experience this.”

“That is impossible.” The Hier Ruler looked at her, his face hard. “There will be some hard decisions ahead. And I am sure there will be times when your mother wishes she had never become the President of Earth. To be a ruler carries a huge burden. Choices have to be made that are difficult.” His eyes slid briefly to look at Okil.

In that moment the Hier Ruler did not seem so hard. She understood that one of the difficult decisions must have been choosing to exile Okil to the planet Lilith. Because no matter how beautiful it was here, it meant that Okil was being sent away from his home. She knew how much Karal meant to Niko and was sure it must mean the same to Okil.

“I’m beginning to understand that.” She smiled at Niko, suddenly wanting to be alone with him. “Are we allowed to go and explore?”

Niko looked to the Hier Ruler for permission, and with a slight incline of his head, he gave it. They returned briefly to the cruiser, and packed some food and water. By the time they went back outside the Hier Ruler and Okil had moved off, walking together, deep in conversation.

She looked at Niko and grinned, and then, like two schoolchildren playing truant, they took off, heading towards a forest in the distance.

Niko had been to many planets in his life as a warrior. But this planet was one of the most wonderful he had ever visited. It was like Karal, rich in both flora and fauna, the colours vibrant and fresh and untainted somehow. Just like the air.

He could see by the expression on Petra’s face that it was more than she ever expected. And when he thought back to his short time on Earth, and the pollution and noise, he realised just how much this meant to her and her people.

“Where is the base to be set up?” she asked him.

“It has not been decided yet. The warriors who stay behind when we journey back to Karal have been given the task of analysing the planet and all its terrain. They will map it, and then the information will be sent back to Karal. There are a group of scientists will make the decision of where the new colony will start its life.”

“I’m sure wherever they choose to position the colony, it will be perfect.”

They had reached the tall trees of the ancient forest; grass grew along the forest floor where the sun managed to penetrate. They walked together, weaving through the trees, with Petra spending most of her time with her face turned upwards, looking at the canopy above her head. She was silent, but the smile on her face told him everything he needed to know; no words were needed to express just how amazing this was for her.

“You have really never seen trees like this before?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, nothing like this at all. I know that we had forests like this once. But I never expected the trees to be so tall, or for there to be so many of them.” She stood still, listening to the birds in the trees. “So much life.”

They had reached an open glade, by the side of a clear stream. Sitting down beside it, he took out a testing kit from his pack, and took a sample of the water, studying it. When the indicator told him that it was drinkable, he scooped up a handful and offered it to Petra.

She drank, the clear water dribbling down her chin and soaking her overalls. She didn’t seem to mind, only smiling at him as he moved his hands away. Then he realised why she was smiling, because her hand dipped into the water and she flicked some up at his face. He gasped, more in shock than anything else. Giggling she got up and ran, leaping the small stream backwards and forwards while he followed, until at last he caught her.

They crashed to the ground, lying together on their backs as the sun shone down on their faces.

“If there was a heaven, this would be it.”

“I do not know what your heaven is.” Niko turned on his side to watch her face, his eyes drawn to her lips as she talked.

“It’s a place where some people believe you go when you die. After my father died, it’s where I pictured him. But then after a while I stopped believing in it. But now, well, now I think that anything is possible.”

“I agree,” he said, his lips pressing against hers slightly, his tongue flicking out to taste her. “I believe that anything is possible. You have changed my life so much. I never believed that I could love a female, who wasn’t the same as me. Who wasn’t a Karalian.”

“I know how you feel. The day I found out that I had to come to Karal, was the worst day of my life. But now it turns out it was probably the best day of my life. As if all the pieces have now fallen into place.”

“I cannot wait for us to go back to Karal and start a new life together. I want to share all the places I love, share all my memories with you. And hear about your life on Earth and your family. So when our child is born, we can give him the best of both of our worlds.”

“
If
I ever conceive your child.” She looked sad, and he wanted to chase that sadness away.

“It will happen for us, Petra, we just have to give it time. And plenty of practice.” He grinned at her, and she laughed, a sound more musical than the stream bubbling along by the side of them.

“Very subtle. For a Karalian.” Then her fingers began to undo his overalls, and she pushed them off his shoulders and down his back, kissing his bare chest as it was exposed. Niko didn’t waste any time. His fingers ripped her overalls apart; he wasn’t sure if they would ever be the same again. But then the same could be said of him.

They rushed to get naked, hands and lips pressing against flesh as flames of desire ignited in both of them. He was already so hard, it hurt, and all he could think of was being inside her, of making love to her until she cried out in ecstasy. Maybe they would be the first couple to make love on Lilith, but they certainly would not be the last.

Niko stroked her inner thigh, and Petra changed the angle of her body, shifting it towards him as if she could not wait for him to touch her. Slipping one finger inside her, he heard her sigh in contentment, as his thumb brushed against her clit. He worked his fingers in and out, her sex wet, hot and ready for him.

And he was ready to make love to her. If he didn’t take her soon, he would not be able to remain in control. His cock was painfully hard, and as she opened her thighs wider, he moved to lie between them and in one swift movement, entered her. She groaned as he filled her completely. Pushing deep inside her, feeling her tight sex around him.

His mouth kissed her soft skin, as his thumb rubbed across her nipples, and in return, Petra kissed his neck, nipping at his skin, working her way down his body, until her teeth grazed his nipple and he thrust harder, lunging into her. She excited him intensely, and as that intensity grew between them, he finally came, his cock fusing with the inside of her sex and his seed spurted deep within her.

He knew, as her orgasm covered her, that she would be thinking the same thing as him. Through all the pleasure and ecstasy that was passing between them, they were both hoping that this coupling would give them a child, a child for them to love and nurture.

She woke up next to him. They had slept in the open air, with the stars above their heads. At first she had been scared, but Niko assured her that the computer on board the ship had a proximity warning and if anything got close, an alarm would go off. She was still sure she would not sleep, but she had, despite the night sounds around them.

Turning, she looked at him, and caressed his cheek, watching the colours flow towards her fingers as they trailed across his skin. “Good morning.”

“It is a good morning,” he said stretching, and then gathering her to him. “It’s a good day to go home.”

They had spent two days there on Lilith, exploring the grasslands, testing the water quality, and listening to the plans Okil was already making. It made her happy, and part of her wanted to experience this new world, to feel like she was part of it, and to know that her fellow humans were going to live in such a wonderful place.

She had also come to know some of the other warriors, and was pleased to hear they had happy, if not anxious, women waiting back on Karal for them.

“We should get up and begin the preparations,” he said.

She sighed. “I know. But maybe a few more minutes.” She snuggled against him. “I want to drink it all in, so I remember what it’s like as we hurtle through space.”

“We will be home soon enough. And we will be traveling back with two other cruisers. So we will not be alone.”

She groaned. “More wormholes.”

He kissed her, and she wrapped her arms around him, letting the heat of the new morning sun warm her skin, or was it her need for him that set her on fire? “They are safe wormholes. We have travelled them countless times. And they will be used countless times to bring the supplies and equipment from Karal.”

“It will work, won’t it?” she asked, and sat up looking at him, wanting to see the truth in his eyes. “Before we got here, I’d never really thought of the logistics of it. Now, after having travelled across the universe with you, and through those wormholes, it just seems like such an enormous undertaking.”

“It will take time. And a lot of planning. And I don’t even know if we will see the whole scheme come to fruition in our lifetime. But eventually, yes, I do believe this planet will support humans for generations to come.”

“I hope that we can return here again one day. Just for a visit.”

“I will always be a warrior, Petra, and there will always be a need for the warriors to come here. So I’m sure that one day in the future I can smuggle you on board.”

She leaned down and kissed his lips, her fingers trailing along his jawline, and his colours sparked into life. “I am so lucky to have you, Niko.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down kissing her again before groaning, and saying, “We have to get going. But I would have enjoyed showing you just how lucky you are. If we had the time.”

She pulled back and slapped him playfully. “I had forgotten how arrogant Karalians are.”

He chuckled, and then got up in one fluid movement, and she watched him as he gracefully stretched, his muscles flexing. Then he turned to her and offered her his hand, which she took and he pulled her up. They gathered all of the blankets they have used as a makeshift bed, shaking the dirt off them, before folding them neatly. They took their time, walking slowly back towards the cruiser, hand-in-hand as the sun rose higher in the sky.

When they reached the cruiser, the others were already waiting. Everything they did not need on the return journey had been left here. The blankets in Niko’s hand joined the pile of equipment that would be used by the first settlers on Lilith.

“Are you ready for the journey home?” Okil asked her.

“Yes, I am. I’m looking forward to seeing your planet. I had such a fleeting visit there before.” She thought back to those first days with Niko, and their time on the beach. It almost seemed like another lifetime ago. And her life on Earth was as if it had happened to somebody else.

“You will love it there,” Okil said and smiled, his eyes filled with sadness.

“And you will miss it when you return here.” She placed her hand on Okil’s arm in comfort.

“Yes, I will. But being here now, seeing what my future holds, it doesn’t seem so bad. I’ve also persuaded the Hier Ruler, that it would be a good idea if there was a free-flow of humans and Karalians backwards and forwards between Lilith and Karal. It does no good to be shut off from others.”

“And the Hier Ruler has accepted that?” Niko asked.

“Yes, these last few days, working with other alien species, has shown him that we are stronger if we work together. For so long the Karal have isolated themselves. Perhaps it was because we were so used to taking what we wanted. Instead of asking. I think that we are about to enter exciting times.”

“That I would like to see.” Petra thought of her mother, and wondered if this free flow would include the people of Earth. She knew that they could not all leave, but maybe with time, it may be possible to relocate them on other planets. Such as to Tikira, where humans might help the indigenous people make leaps forward in their progress.

Whether that would be beneficial to them, would be open to debate. And she didn’t want to think about that right now, she simply wanted to get in the cruiser and go back to Karal.

It was another hour before the pilots were debriefed, and the course set for home. This time, she was actually happy to sit in her seat next to Niko, with her seatbelt secure. The familiar sensation of the cruiser, juddering as the engines powered up, was also welcome. As they blasted off into space, she thought how strange it was that this all seemed so natural to her, when only weeks ago she’d never dreamed of ever leaving Earth.

“What are you smiling about?” she asked Niko, after they had cleared the atmosphere and were cruising through open space.

“I have been checking the computer system. Checking all of its readings.” Niko looked at her and smiled broadly, and she saw the colours flashing across his face.

“And this makes you happy?” she asked. She might have got used to travelling into space, but getting used to what made her Karalian happy was another thing.

“There is a particular piece of information that the computer has relayed to me.”