Meridian Warriors: Xander and Des (4 page)

So far, that had not been able to be figured
out, since the Meridian had a special DNA strand that was not
compatible with humans. They had done enough research to know if
they impregnated a human female, she would die during the birth and
the child would not survive. The men had come to terms with the
fact they would never be fathers. It was sad, but they did have
hopes that Warrior Rave would be able to help try to fix this. He
was a doctor and scientist; they had three doctors that took turns
working on the hospital floor.

“I know,” Xander said and held up his hands.
“But we have to think about the possibility if we don’t have a
plan, we could end up hurting the humans. So far we have avoided
this, but we don’t want to take the chance that we could somehow
cause an incident that would begin the destruction of this planet,
we know the Hopis will do it if they feel threatened, right now
they have no clue where we are, they are just searching. Therefore,
we will remain in the city until such time that we can have a plan
of action. This time, I want to make sure we can win this fight, we
need to make a stand, this is our land, our home now, and nothing
will take us from here.”

The men clapped and then Rosul began to hand
out their latest weapon. The wrist bracelet doubled as a shield and
a laser; it would not kill humans, only the Hopis, because that is
what it was programmed to do. The vermin of the Galaxy were going
to be surprised this time. They thought they could just hunt them
down and kill them because of their small numbers, but that was not
the case. They would fight for themselves and the people who lived
on this planet.

By the time they were all ready to go, the
men from the surface called in, they were leaving the land and
entering the ocean. They were to meet with them in an hour. Xander
looked at his men and nodded. One by one, they entered the lake and
dove under to find the tunnel that would lead them to the open
ocean where they could swim freely.

Alex frowned at the clouds in the sky. They
were not what she was expecting. Lightening was beginning to light
the sky, and she could hear the shift in the winds. “Hey, Gabs, did
the storms shift, it looks more like we are heading into them than
skirting them.”

Gabby climbed into the cabin and frowned. “I
think they may have, we should turn around and head back for
another day or two, we could dock somewhere else so no one would be
able to find you still.”

Sam joined them on the deck and said, “The
water looks to be growing rough, we need to make up our mind and
soon.”

“Fine, let’s head back, we can go into
another harbor, can one of you call and get it arranged. I will
turn us around,” Alex said glumly and began to turn the wheel. She
felt the tingle of disappointment of having to head back to land,
since she was looking forward to sailing aimlessly for a few weeks
and clearing her head.

“Shit,” Alex swore loudly when she saw the
flash of bright light. “Girls, we have a problem.”

Gabby and Sam began to check all of the
instruments and calling out what was fine, and what apparently had
been zapped by the lightening that just struck the boat.

“Satellite is out, and radio,” Gabby
called.

“We still have a course plotter, and the
navigation, although it is blinking in and out,” Sam said.

Alex held the wheel firmly as the waves began
to get larger. “Fuck a duck, we need to get out of here, this storm
came on quickly.”

The girls swore and began to do their
assigned duties on the ship when there was a storm. They lowered
the sails all the way and roped them off while they fought the
winds on the deck. Alex watched them closely, making sure she held
the course steady as the girls were on the deck. When they came
back in, they began to make sure everything in the lower cabins was
secure.

Alex saw the waves begin to get larger and
larger, she had been in plenty of storms, but this one looked as if
it was going to be a bad one. “Fuck, ladies, I think we are in a
bit of trouble,” Alex yelled.

The twins scrambled to grab the life vests
for all of them. “This came on so fast, shit, at least we are not
in port, the boat would be ruined,” Gabby said and looked out the
window at the sky. “I think we are going to need these.”

Sam looked worriedly at her sister and best
friend. “We are going to have to ride this out.”

For an hour, Alex fought the wheel until she
became exhausted, then Sam took over. They switched turns when
their arms became so tired they were cramping. Alex and Sam saw the
flaps of the sail come lose and decided to go and make sure it was
tied back down, if they lost a sail they would be screwed when the
storm stopped.

Gabby held the wheel, and called for them to
be careful.

Sam and Alex both called back, “We will.
Watch the waves and let us know.”

They had an intercom for the deck, not that
they would be able to hear it with the wind, but there was always
the possibility they would need to try. The rain hit Alex in the
face the moment she stepped out on the deck.
Shit, it was like
fucking little pebbles, the rain stung when it hit.
She pulled
up her slicker’s hood and made sure it was tied so it would
actually stay up. Sam did the same and then they finally stepped
out onto the open deck.

“Shit,” Sam yelled and reached out a hand to
steady herself. Yep, the wind totally sucked. She was really
getting worried about the storm. They were headed back to dock in
Florida, and they sent out the warning beacon as they were required
to. The dock master was aware they were having problems and were on
their way in.

“Sam, we have to get this tied off, the brace
looks like it is cracking,” Alex yelled and her friend nodded.

Each of them took a side and began wrapping
the rope around the large pole. Several times they had to take a
break and kneel down on the deck to catch their breath.

While they were securing the sail, they could
see other knots coming undone. Sam and Alex worked in quiet as they
fought the wind and rain that were trying to slash at them—it was
frightening.

Alex paused and turned her head; she thought
she heard Gabby yelling into the intercom. She could not see the
Captain’s Cabin, the rain and wind prevented it.
Shit, there was
something wrong, she could feel it.

Sam turned and Alex saw the look of horror
come across her face as she reached for Alex just when the wave
overtook the deck—Alex and Sam with it. They were thrown to the
side, Alex felt something hit her in the shoulder, and the pain was
instantaneous. She looked around and saw Sam laying only feet from
her, curled into a ball, trying to protect herself.

Alex crawled to her friend, as she held her
arm, which felt like her shoulder was dislocated. “Sam, Sam, are
you okay?”

Her friend groaned and rolled over. Alex
could see the bruising on her friend’s face and knew Sam had taken
a direct hit in the face.
Damn it, they needed to get back
inside.
She turned to look up at the window of the Captain’s
Cabin, she mouthed, “Help,” to Gabby. There was no way she would be
able to get Sam inside with her arm.

Gabby could set the wheel on auto for a few
minutes—she would bet they were already off course anyway. The wind
had been tossing them around a lot. Alex turned back to tend to
Sam, she was bleeding from the temple and her face was pale. When
Alex tried to talk to her, Sam didn’t seem to make sense, or she
was not hearing correctly. She kept saying there was a man in the
ocean playing. It seemed to take hours until she saw the flash of
yellow coming out of the cabin—the rain slicker was a beacon of
hope to Alex when she saw it.

***

One by one, the men went through the tunnel.
Xander and Des were the last ones as usual when the entire group
went out. Des went first, and then Xander followed. As they walked
into the water, Des could feel the tingle of the water as it flowed
around his legs, his Meridian blood begged to change, but Des kept
ahold of the magic as it pushed against him. They could hold off
the shift as long as they needed to, but it felt like it had been
forever since they shifted, it felt good.

When his chest was covered with water, Des
took a deep breath and dove under the water—it only took
moments—the Meridian blood flowed through him like fire. He felt
the webbing between his fingers develop first, then using them, he
pushed his way to where the tunnel was. Right now, until he
shifted, he was on autopilot. It didn’t take long though to
complete the shift. He kicked his legs one last time and felt them
close together as began to form his tail. On the sides of his neck,
two slits appeared on either side and he sucked in his breath.

Des felt the water rush into his lungs and
then his Meridian blood took the oxygen from it and pushed it back
out. Des smiled when he felt the scales and tail appear to replace
his legs and feet. Now he was cooking. With the flick of his tail,
he shot through the tunnel. He could see the barrier Rosul created
as a doorway. It was a large entry so they could bring what they
needed down with them and through the entrance. Sometimes it took
five to six men to bring necessities in the waterproof containers
they developed.

Sucking in a breath again, he pushed his way
through the doorway. He could feel the coldness flow over him, the
technology making sure his blood allowed him to pass. It took
seconds to pass through the barrier—it was not really a pleasant
experience.

Then he was free, flipping his tail he moved
forward to where the rest of the men waited. Des smiled and nodded
as he looked around. When they came to Earth, the salt water was
different from their home world. It took a while for them to get
used to it. One of the differences was their tails.

The first time they shifted, they had been
shocked. It took their historian years to figure out why some men
had the colors they had. Des and Xander both had gold tails, with
red on their tips. The men on the Council held silver tails with
blue on their tips. Then it went through a series of other colors,
red and yellow, blue and green. Finally, they were able to
determine that for some reason the salt water was able to pick up
something in the Meridian blood that showed their ranking. All were
Warriors, and as far as Xander was concerned, it didn’t matter to
him, they were only fifty strong. However, it did explain a few
things.

When Xander appeared, Des laughed when he
pointed up. They could tell the surface was swirling and moving
fast, there was a storm above, they all loved a good storm. It was
fun to play in the waves, diving and surfing them. If there was a
strong storm, the boats would be gone, and they would be free to
swim.

With a flurry of excitement, the men pushed
their way to the surface, Xander and Des smiled and followed, but
swam further toward where they would be meeting the men who were
coming home. When they surfaced, both men laughed at the storm
surging around them.

“Wow, hurricane?” Des said and looked at the
large waves.

“Yep, first of the year, let’s go,” Xander
said and dove back under the water.

They swam together a few more miles to see
how far the storm reached—it was a large one. Xander looked up and
stared at the clouds, the rain pelted them as they surfaced
again.

“Two storms combined and this is gonna be a
big one, I hope the humans are tracking this, it looks like it is
going to hit Florida,” Xander murmured.

Over the decades, they studied the weather
patterns and could tell when a storm was going to be bad or not.
This one was to be a huge ass one by the looks of it.
Xander
turned to look at Des and frowned. “Behind you,” he yelled and then
jumped as a large wave crashed around them. Xander saw the edge of
the boat right when he yelled.
Hell, Des was right in the path
of the boat.

Xander grabbed his mate and they rode the
wave as it crested. They saw two women being tossed around on the
deck but could do nothing to stop it. Slowly, they sunk back down
so they were level with the base of the boat, and Des looked at
him.

“Shit, that was close,” Des said.

“Did you get a look at those women? I bet
they were hurt,” Xander said and looked up. Something was pulling
him to find out about the women—
it was weird
.

“Let’s wait and see where the hell they are
going,” Des said and then pushed himself back. “We don’t want to
reveal ourselves unless they really are in trouble. How would we
explain us being in the middle of the ocean?”

“Fine,” Xander said and followed his
mate.

“Look at these waves, they are going to have
problems, we will watch them closely,” Des said.

***

“Fuck,” Alex yelled when Gabby got near her.
“Sam is hurt, I am hurt, we are going to have a big frickin’ issue
if this storm gets worse.”

“We need to get you inside and talk,” Gabby
yelled which made Alex tense. Her friend wasn’t telling something
her.

“My right arm is out, dislocated,” Alex
grimaced and then grabbed Sam with her left hand and tried to
stand. The slippery deck cause her to hit the edge of the railing
again and she grimaced. Gabby stood using her two hands to pull her
sister across the slick deck.

Damn this sucked
, Alex thought, as she
looked around, they had barely left on their journey, and they were
going to have to go back. She thought about dealing with her father
and she wanted to scream in frustration—
it totally
sucked
.

None of the girls saw the wave behind them
that was headed straight for them. The wall was about fifteen feet
high. When Alex looked over her shoulder and saw it, she screamed
for Sam and Gabby to grab something to hold onto.