Defender: A Terran Times Tale (2 page)

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Bael Alder Whiccan looked up at the falling shuttle. Staring up at the stars was a hobby of his when he couldn’t sleep, and that night his eyes witnessed something amazing. A star shot up from the planet and locked into the falling ship.

Light flared and the ship came apart in chunks. If there was anything alive in that shuttle, he doubted it had survived.

He transported himself to the crash site as the attacking ship was blasted to bits by the guns of the base.

He really wasn’t expecting to see a survivor, but a woman was lying naked on sheets of smoking wreckage. Her leg had a fine line on it that disappeared as he stared.

The rest of her body was perfect, unblemished and had a pale colouration that he now knew the origin of. This woman was the same species as Bael Hislar, the Terran commander of Ikanni base.

Her hair was pale gold and tumbled onto the wreckage behind her. Her miraculous survival would remain a mystery, because he had an obligation to get her back to her own people.

He lifted the woman in his arms, and she weighed almost nothing. He could feel the energy inside her, and it shocked him. One of the living souls of Ikanni had made its way into her, protecting her from the blast.

He didn’t know what to make of it, so he transported into the front court of the base. He ignored the weapons aimed at him by the warriors at the base. “Bael Hislar. I need her immediately.” A warrior lifted his head and asked, “Why?”

Alder lifted the woman in his arms. “Because one of her own kind has fallen from the sky. I thought she might want to know.” The man took a look at Alder’s burden and disappeared. A woman appeared in front of Alder a moment later. “Bael Whiccan, how nice to see you again.”

“One of your people was in the crashing shuttle. I lifted her from the rubble, but a Heshi already joined with her to defend her from the explosion. I have never seen anything like it.” Bael Hislar nodded. “Come with me.” She gripped his arm and transported them into a green growing space outfitted with medical beds. “Our old medical area is the memorial and this seemed more conducive to healing. Put her down there.”

Alder nodded and set the delicate woman down on the soft bedding. The line on her thigh was almost gone now. Bael Hislar returned with a healer, and the woman immediately got to work.

The alien Bael gestured him over. “What happened from your point of view?” A young woman brought over a cup of watered wine and offered it to him.

He sipped at the cup and kept his gaze on the woman lying motionless with the healer working on her. “I watched the stars flicker as her ship entered the atmosphere. Blast strikes were knocking it about. Huge gaping holes filled by flame marked it clearly. A moment before the final blast struck the ship, a beam of light streaked upward from the ground and entered the remains of her ship. I have never seen a Heshi do that before, so I went to the scene of the crash and found her. It appears to me that the power of the Heshi is working to reattach her leg. There was a considerable amount of blood at the site.” Bael Hislar frowned. “Do the Heshi do that? I mean before they have moved in?” Alder shrugged. “They have their own rules. Why they pick the host that they do is always a complete mystery. I don’t know what Heshi came into her while she was crashing, but it really wants her to live.”

Bael Hislar chuckled, “Three Terrans on Ikanni. What is the world coming to?” Bael Orriko entered the room. “How is she doing?”

The healer drew a sheet up around her patient.

“She is healing remarkably quickly, Bael. Her leg was completely severed, and her Heshi has reattached it. The rest of the internal injuries just needed a bit of a boost. Her body had taken up and completed most of the healing needed. I will check on her in an hour or two.”

Alder nodded and took a seat next to the woman who tugged at his senses, even while she was asleep.

Bael Orriko cleared his throat. “Bael Whiccan, will you join us for dinner?”

“I don’t want to leave her alone.” Bael Hislar smiled softly at him. “I will have one of the young women stay with her. She won’t be alone.”

Alder looked into the woman’s eyes and nodded. “That will be fine. I would enjoy a meal, thank you, Bael.”

“Drop the formality. Call me Lillibeth.” Orriko nodded as well.

“Call me Alder then. I never expected to be on your doorstep, let alone with one of Ba — Lillibeth’s kind.”

Lillibeth disappeared for a moment and reappeared with a young woman who immediately went to the unconscious woman’s side.

“Teyli is a healer’s apprentice, and she will alert us if our sleeping guest awakes.” Lillibeth smiled.

“This way.”

Alder followed Orriko and his pale and powerful wife through the halls of Ikanni base.

His mind stayed with the woman on the medical bed, and he wondered how she came to shatter her ship in the air above Ikanni. No mere Raider could take this woman down.

S
cotia sat up with a gasp. Out of reflex, she pressed both of her hands to her thigh and found that it was still where it was supposed to be.

She could swear that her leg had been severed.

A young woman with onyx skin and crystal-white hair smiled at her, her eyes a bright red.

“You are awake. Excellent. Do you know who you are?”

“I do. But where am I?” She held her covering to her breasts and looked around.

“Ikanni base. If you will wait a moment, I will get the Baels to come. They told me to notify them when you woke. I will only be a few seconds.” The young woman got to her feet and disappeared.

Scotia blinked. “Oh, that isn’t weird at all.” She yelped in surprise when the young woman returned followed by one human and two male dark elves that looked as if they ate iron for breakfast.

The human came to her beside and smiled.

“Hello, I am Base Command. Also known as Lillibeth Hislar or Bael Hislar if you are an Ikanni. This is my husband, Bael Orriko Lerock.” Scotia looked expectantly at the other man.

He bowed and the snow-white silk of his hair tumbled over his shoulders. “Bael Alder Whiccan. Alder, please.”

She looked away from him with an effort, her mind was caught up with the width of his shoulders and the fine braids nearly hidden in his hair.

She sat straight with the sheet pinned under her arms. “Scotia Pickering, demolition specialist for the Alliance. I am looking for the Terran who used to be station defence.”

Lilli nodded. “Kaia. She was station defence, but I don’t know if Thaxis will let you see her.” Scotia started to wrap the sheet around her. “I am going to find her. I have to. Which way?” Lilli raised her eyebrows, “Walking? Head northwest for about a month and you will be close.”

Scotia froze. “You have to be kidding.”

“Nope. You are on Ikanni and the Ikanni transport themselves where they need to go.” Lilli smiled. “If you wait a few days to make sure you are all right, I will send a message, and if they agree to see you, I will take you there.”

Scotia got to her feet. “That isn’t good enough. Don’t you have a skimmer or something?”

Lilli frowned. “Not for someone in your condition. Your leg was off for Pete’s sake!”

“How did it get back on? I should have bled out in minutes.”

Lilli pursed her lips and didn’t speak.

The young woman next to Scotia’s bed whispered, “I will get you some clothing.” She disappeared in the next moment.

Scotia looked at Lilli, “Was it something I said?”

Lilli snorted and looked at the men behind her.

“Leave us for a moment. We need to talk.” Orriko stopped Alder when he would have spoken, and they disappeared as one.

Lilli sighed and sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to her. “I need to fill you in on the details of Ikanni life.”

“This sounds like the talk I had with my mother as a teen.” Scotia was curious.

“Well, it does involve something getting inside you. How much do you know about the Ikanni?”

“Only that they stick to their world and don’t like others trespassing.”

“Have you heard of the Heshi?” Scotia frowned. “No, are they a native species?” Lilli smirked. “I suppose you could say that. Once upon a time, there was a race on Ikanni called the Heshi. They were an evolved culture that eventually shifted from beings of physical form to beings of energy. They left the world they had been born on and decided to see the stars. Even they don’t know how much time passed before they grew bored with seeing the mysteries of the universe and returned home.”

Scotia was getting nervous. “Seriously?”

Lilli nodded. “Seriously. Enter the dark elves of the Admar who left before their world tried to expunge all of us lowly humans. They settled here on Ikanni, and the Heshi made contact. One Heshi joined with each Admaryn and offered power to make this world their own.”

“Wait. Why? If they were free of their bodies, why would they need to inhabit a body?” Lilli sighed. “They want to live, and they want to die. They will extend the life of their host, and they will simply ride along, enjoying the variety of experience that the living offer. It is not that they
need
to be in a body, but they have spent so much time in a coalition of minds and energy that this gives them a chance to reclaim themselves a little before seeking the next world.”

“They believe in an afterlife?”

“They have to. They cannot leave this one under their own power. The irony of immortality, you have to have it before you can appreciate mortality.” Lilli smiled.

“Well, this is fascinating, but what does it have to do with my leg?”

“A Heshi jumped you while you were crashing. None of us have seen that before, though I haven’t been here nearly as long as the rest of the Ikanni.” Scotia pressed a hand to her chest and tried to feel a difference inside her. “I don’t feel different.”

Lilli patted her hand. “You won’t until you do. From now on, you will be able to learn to transport, but you won’t be allowed off Ikanni. You are now indigenous population and that means you are stuck. The Heshi don’t leave.”

“Wait, what?”

“You have been bonded to a Heshi. You now have the status of an Ikanni and are entitled to life in any one of the villages. Your Heshi’s particular talent will determine your status.” Lilli smiled again.

Scotia kept her hand to her chest, looking for signs of a strange being within her. “Why do they call you Bael?”

“It means guardian or protector, also leader, or wise one depending on the person. It is assigned to you by your Heshi or your actions.”

“Maybe I really wasn’t that injured.” Lilli shook her head. “We went over the crash site, collected what we could, and the entire control section was coated in blood. If you don’t have a Heshi, you were struck by a flaming star that came up from the ground to wrap around your shuttle in defence. What are the odds of that?”

Under her hand, warmth spread through Scotia’s body. It pulsed softly and then receded back to a soft core of strength. “I don’t feel too good.”

The young woman popped back in with fabric draped over her arm.

“Scotia, this is Teyli. She is an apprentice healer and has watched over you. Teyli, this is Scotia. She is one of my people and will do very well here once she learns how to manage.” Teyli smiled shyly. “I am pleased to meet you, Scotia. I have brought you some clothing. Your other items were shredded or burned to bits.” The dark blue fabric was soft, and with Lilli and Teyli helping, she was soon dressed in a long, loose skirt and a shell that covered her decently.

Lilli disappeared and came back with some soft leather slippers.

“There. Would you care to go for a bit of a walk?” Lilli smiled.

Teyli extended her arm. “I will help you if you like.”

Scotia smoothed her hands down her backside in a nervous gesture. “That would be nice. Thank you, Teyli. I will try on my own but stay close.”

The young woman nodded and smiled, keeping three steps behind her as Lilli began a tour of the facility.

Scotia finally turned and asked Teyli, “Is my suit still here?”

The young healer looked at Lilli, and Lilli nodded. Teyli disappeared and reappeared less than a minute later with the bloody and torn EVA suit in her arms.

Scotia looked at the suit cradled carefully in the young woman’s arms and lifted the leg that was separate from the suit. Still-damp blood covered the piece, and it was enough for Scotia. She staggered to one side, and her stomach attempted to empty itself of its contents.

Teyli moved toward her, but Lilli held the healer back. “Let her get it out, she just realised that this isn’t a dream.”

After nausea came tears, and she slumped down the wall, sobbing as her life came to a screeching halt only to start over on a trajectory that she couldn’t begin to imagine.

A
shadow fell over her face, and she looked up into red eyes that had a tender concern. It wasn’t Teyli. The young healer never would have picked her up and disappeared with her.

Heat and humidity wrapped around her like a glove. She inhaled sharply. “Where are we?”

“My home. Well, near my home. I didn’t want you to get too comfortable at the base.” Alder smiled down at her.

“You could have asked or had Lillibeth bring me here.” She was shaken. First, she was inhabited by an alien energy, and now, she was stolen.

“Has your friend given you the details of Ikanni courtship yet?” He carried her through a thick stand of lush trees.

“Um. No. She was just briefing me on the little matter of having an embedded Heshi. Why are you carrying me?” She was still shaking inside.

She had no way of getting away from him and less idea of where the hell she was.

The sky wasn’t visible through the thick canopy, and she was stuck holding still as he moved through the jungle like a feline.

Daylight struck her suddenly as the forest ended abruptly, leaving them on the edge of a white sand beach.

She looked out at the brilliant blue water and smiled despite herself. “Very pretty. Where are we?”

“My private retreat. Not even my own people know where we are, so they will be unable to lead Bael Hislar or Lerock here.”