Transmission Lost (49 page)

For a moment Aria wasn't sure that she had heard the Empress correctly. As the meaning of her words started to dawn on her, she felt her knees go weak, and she sank back into her chair. She tried to find her voice to say something, anything, but the feeling in her chest was keeping her from getting any words out. Aria was ashamed to discover that she was crying, and she covered her face with her hands. She felt like two months of pure stress had been lifted away from her in an instant, and now that it was gone she couldn't fathom how she had managed to survive. Was this what it was like to feel whole again?

-Furthermore,- Kri'a continued, glancing sidelong at Admiral Te'rou, who was looking rather sour at the moment, -in my capacity as supreme commander over the military forces of the Ascendancy, I hereby reinstate you to active status and promote you to the rank of captain. Congratulations, Captain Me'lia.-

Moving her shaking hands underneath the tabletop where nobody else could see them, Aria looked up at her Empress. She knew that she should get back to her feet, but she didn't trust her legs enough right now to keep her upright. -Thank you, m'lady. I...I don't know what to say. You have given me my honor back...-

-You never lost it, Aria,- the Empress said. -I only hope that you can forgive me for allowing your ordeal to go on as long as it did. If I could have had a reason to dismiss the charges earlier, I would have. You have earned your freedom, Captain, most impressively.- She lowered her head in a brief bow of her own to Aria. -And now, I believe you have a family who will be delighted to see you again. I am sure you are most eager to see Jack.-

Aria nodded once, feeling her heart leap. -Yes, Your Majesty. I am.- She paid no attention to the way that Admiral Te'rou bristled at that admission. The Empress had declared that she had committed no crime. Whatever anyone thought of her and Jack now was immaterial.

-I imagined so,- Kri'a said, a little chuckle to her voice. -And now that you can be a bit...more free, it might be nice for him to experience more of what our world has to offer beyond your family home. Just a suggestion. I believe he has earned it considering everything he has had to endure.-

-Yes, m'lady.-

-And now, if you have no more information for us, I will have someone conduct you to your home. I am sure a week's leave to spend with your loved ones is the least you are owed by now. I have a new assignment in mind for you that I believe you will enjoy, but that can wait for a short time. You are dismissed, Captain.-

******

Early afternoon was usually a quiet time in the Me'lia household. For Jack, he had taken to spending the afternoons with Sami. She had recently taken up her hobby of painting again, having lost her taste for it while Aria had been home and had been preparing for her trial. Jack had been the one to suggest she give it a try again and she was finding that it was doing wonders for her mental health. She hadn't painted much of anything special, but just having the brush in her hand again was enough. The young Ailian was remembering all of the old techniques. The time she spent painting was also a wonderful opportunity for her to continue her English lessons with Jack, and for Jack to continue working on his rudimentary understanding of the Ailian language.

Currently, Jack and Sami were in a room on the second tier building of the estate, one set aside as a sort of painting studio for her. While Sami was brushing away at a canvas, Jack had a book printed in Ailian, doing his best to muddle through the difficult alien script. He looked up from the book, feeling like his eyes were slightly crossed, and addressed Sami.

“What are you painting today?” he asked her.

Sami kept her eyes glued to the canvas, as the tip of her tail twitched slightly in concentration. “Flowers,” she mumbled. “From garden outside.”

“You're painting from memory then?” Sami nodded in response, and Jack got up to have a look over her shoulder. “Impressive. I never had any talent for drawing, not that I really tried all that much. But it seems like painting from memory would be difficult.”

“Not so hard,” Sami said, looking away from the art for a moment to smile at him. “Just need practice. Easy.”

Jack snorted, going back to his chair and opening the book again. “If you say so. Now, reading in Ailian,
that's
hard. How you make sense of these squiggly lines, I'll never know. I can still only get a few words here and there. At this rate, I'll be fluent in speaking the language before I can ever read a full sentence.”

“Really. Human words much harder. Aria show human book once. Strange.” She made a face. “Blocky letters. Small. Strange.” They both had a laugh at that.

A knock came at the door, interrupting their conversation. The door opened and one of the family servants came in, bowing to Sami when she was inside.
“Lak ma sami, meri a're relen sa tek'shme.”
The servant waved a hand towards the door.

“A're?”
Sami asked, looking quizzical.
“Sure me le'ri tekra?”

“Da'la're,”
the servant said, shaking her head.
“Dak ze'la tere me son ke ra'nale de'a'kreme. Sa'resh rea'l mote delan.”

“Ah...Sute. Me'e re ke son.”
The servant left, and Sami looked to Jack. “Need me at main house. Not sure why. I come back when done.”

Jack got up from his chair again, stretching his back and feeling joints pop. “Don't bother. I'll come too. I've been sitting down all afternoon, I could use a chance to stretch my legs.”

“Alright,” Sami said. She laid her brush and paints down, standing as well. “Come, then.”

They both walked out of the room, leaving the building and making their way through the garden to the back door of the main house. When they got in, they could immediately hear a commotion coming from the front entrance hall. For some reason, Jack felt his heart rate increase. He had the feeling that something very important was afoot, though he had no idea what it might be. Sami seemed to have the same feeling, because she increased her pace, making it difficult for Jack to keep up as they moved towards the front of the building. When they came in to the entrance hall, they saw all of the Me'lia siblings, and their father as well, gathered in a group around someone. Standing to either side of the front door were two Ailian soldiers, watching the spectacle impassively.

“A-...A're kere son le...,”
Sami said, covering her mouth with one hand as she realized what was going on. She rushed to join her family, but Jack was two steps ahead of her, pushing his way into the group with all the strength he could manage.

When he got to the center of it all, he found himself grabbed up by two arms and pulled into a fierce embrace as he heard a familiar growling purr. He hugged back just as tightly, feeling a wave of relief as the top of his head was nuzzled tenderly. “Aria, you made it back!” he exclaimed, his voice muffled as his face was pulled against her chest. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Long story,” Aria purred. She put a hand underneath his chin, lifting his face up and looking at him with shining golden eyes. “I tell later, yes?” The Ailian touched her lips to his, kissing him. “So good see you again. I miss you,
se le ch'aa ara.
”

“This definitely feels like a dream,” Jack agreed, grinning from ear to ear. He kissed her back. “Welcome home, Lieutenant Me'lia.”

“Captain,” Aria corrected him, beaming. “Ah, remind me...” She looked over her shoulder, gesturing to the soldiers standing at the door patiently.
“Suresh le me're za renle.”
The soldiers both saluted her, pivoting on their feet and leaving out the front door. Aria looked back at Jack, winking. “Not want them here all day.”

Jack gave her a confused expression. “I must be missing something,” he said.

“Like I say, long story.” Aria looked past him to Sami, reaching a hand out to take one of her sister's. “Sami, is there food? Not eat much for past week...Starving!”

Clearly curious about the circumstances behind her sister's return, Sami took the lack of forthcoming knowledge in stride. She nodded, squeezing Aria's hand tightly. “I make something. But you tell story, yes?”

“Oh, yes,” Aria agreed. “For you cooking, I tell anything.” With a hand firmly and possessively on Jack's shoulder, she followed her sister towards the dining room, the rest of her family in tow.

******

Later that night, Aria slid into the water of her family's bath house, sighing as she felt the heat through her bare fur. The candlelight inside the bath house created a relaxing, flickering atmosphere that was quite pleasant, and just what she needed. The evening had been a long one, and one that had been just as uncomfortable as it had been cathartic. Over an early dinner, Aria had recounted to Jack and her family everything that had happened since she had been abducted from her trial. They were all overjoyed to hear that all of the charges against her had been dismissed, and everyone was proud of her promotion to captain. The joy was severely tempered, however, by the news that the matriarch of their family, Ara'lana Me'lia, was still alive. The revelation had hit Aria's father, Arn, especially hard. He had only recently come out of mourning for his mate, and everything had come flooding back now that he knew she had not died three years ago. The whole thing had been made ten times worse with the knowledge that Ara'lana was responsible for the rebellion, the news of which was just becoming known to the general public.

Aria tried to banish those thoughts from her mind as she surrendered to the atmosphere of the bath house. She dipped her arms into the water, cupping her hands in the heated liquid and bringing them up to let it drip over her head. She was a free woman again, and she wanted to at least try to enjoy breathing the free air before she had to worry about the war once more.

Footsteps behind her made her turn her head. Aria smiled as she saw Jack coming up behind her. “You not supposed to be here,” she reminded him. “Females only.”

Jack smirked. “I can leave if you really want me to,” he said. “But I figured you might like a little company. It's not like this is the first time I've walked in on you taking a bath, after all.”

“Is good point.” Aria extended a hand to him. “Join me.”

Jack wasted little time in stripping down to his bare skin, coming over to the edge of the bath and stepping in. As he got deeper into the water beside Aria, he sucked in a sharp breath. The water wasn't boiling, but as far as Jack was concerned it was close enough. He knew that Ailians could handle temperatures a lot higher than was usually comfortable for humans, but he privately thought even this was a bit much. He wasn't about to show any discomfort in front of Aria, so he kept it to himself, figuring that he'd grow used to the heat the longer he was in there.

The water was deeper than Jack was tall, but he found a little outcropping in the rocky basin that he could sit on. “This is pretty nice,” he said, laying a hand on Aria's thigh. “I can see why you females keep this to yourselves.”

“Mm, yes,” Aria purred. She curled her tail around his waist, moving closer to him. “Is one of my favorite place at home. Better now you here.” She bent down, rubbing her muzzle against the top of his head fondly. The end of her tail was resting between his legs, though she feigned ignorance for the moment.

“I was just thinking the same thing.” Jack, however, had noticed where her tail was right away. He cleared his throat slightly. “So, all that stuff about your mother...Pretty heavy, huh? Sounds like the war with my species is going to be the least of the Ascendancy's worries now.”

Aria's purring stopped for a moment, and Jack realized she probably didn't want to talk about it right now. “Yes...,” she said after a few awkward seconds. “Is true. Empress tell me she trying to end war with humans. Hope it work.”

“Yeah...” Jack closed his eyes. “Strange to think about the war ending.”

“Yes.” Starting to purr again, Aria wrapped an arm around Jack's side. She lifted him up, setting him down in her lap with his back to her front, and hugged him to her. “But if war end, good for us, yes?”

“I guess you're right.” Jack grinned, relaxing back against Aria. Underneath the water, her wet orange fur felt silky and wonderful against his bare back. “Now that you're free, I don't give a damn about the war, though. Being here with you, right now, is good enough for me.”

“And for me.” Growling quietly, Aria brought her hand down between his legs. Jack held his breath as she touched him, feeling soft tingles of pleasure spreading from his loins. He remembered that night nearly a week ago, the day before her trial was to start, when he'd thought it might be their last night together. He had forced himself to think of it that way, hoping that it might make the pain easier to withstand should the worst have come to pass. Jack was glad that it hadn't been necessary after all.

Jack looked up, the top of his head brushing the undersides of her firm breasts. “You seem eager tonight, Aria,” he said.

“I have my honor back,” Aria replied. “Have my mate with me. Feel better than in months. Hungry.” With another growl, she leaned her head down and nipped the tip of his nose. “Strong females expect much of mate.”

“Are you trying to give me an order?” Jack asked her playfully. He reached behind himself, sliding his hand in between them and skimming it down her belly. Even in the heat of the water, he could feel the change in temperature when his palm pressed between her thighs. She was inflamed with desire, and he felt a thundering purr vibrate their bodies as he teased her back.