Star Kissed (33 page)

“You are ready for your announcement?” Akkalon boomed.

“Of course, Father,” Akkadi replied. “I may keep today brief. I am expecting the Kini as well.”

“Duty is important,” his father said. “Family more so.”

Akkadi met his father’s gaze, not expecting the words. Their relationship had long been marked by formality and duty. He didn’t speak to his father the way he did his mother.

“Hichele was called away early this morning. Her mother has taken ill. They have not gone far; her father’s ship is in orbit,” his father continued. “Her father apologized to me personally. They intend to make the official ceremony this evening then return to Hichele’s mother.”

“Understandable,” Akkadi said, completely unconcerned about the family of the woman he was obligated to marry. “Your journey went well?”

“It did. Qiadi has asked to see the energy cells this morning.”

“I’ll have them sent to his laboratory.”

“Very well.” His father exchanged a look with Akkadi’s mother, who rose.

“Your humans are gone,” she started, settling her gaze on him. “They disappeared early this morning.”

“Disappeared,” Akkadi repeated. “Both of them?”

“Urik contacted me to say they’re safe with him,” she continued. “They voluntarily returned to their planet.”

Akkadi’s jaw ticked. Aware of his father’s presence, however, he forced himself not to react. Was he angry or hurt that Mandy had left?

Or relieved not to have to see her every day when they couldn’t be together?

He despised the idea Urik had wanted Mandy since she appeared on the planet. A streak of jealousy went through him, the same he felt when he saw her arm-in-arm with Cesar. He had no right to be jealous, but he was.

“As they wish,” he said coldly. “It might solve our issue of Mandy being known as a purebred.”

“It’s a temporary solution,” his father stated. “She belongs with one of my sons.”

Akkadi didn’t look at his father, sensing which son Akkalon was disappointed in for not knowing his duty with regards to the human. Akkadi knew it was a mistake he didn’t claim Mandy as his mate from the beginning.

“I’ll coordinate with Urik to return them when it’s safe to do so,” Akkadi said. “When Vekko is healed, he can mate with Mandy, and Akkasha with Cesar.”

“An agreeable outcome,” his father agreed.

Akkadi forbade himself from thinking about Mandy in Vekko’s arms. Instead he dwelled on the relief he felt knowing Hichele wouldn’t be on the station tonight to consummate their engagement.

A familiar wail filled the air, emanating from the walls. It was the alarm indicating they were under some kind of threat: an attack or the entering of another alien race’s ships into the solar system. Akkadi’s first thought: the unpredictable Kini were up to some mischief. He saw them attacking just to see what the Naki would do in response, the same way they’d tested him on their planet.

“Akkadi,” his father commanded, striding towards the door.

His mother’s guards entered the room, lining the perimeter. Akkadi trailed his father out and down the nearest lift to the battle deck. The deck was filled with activity with his eldest sister at the command console in the center.

The Naki parted for their king, and Akkadi joined him and Akkasha at the center of the activity. His eyes took in the screens lining the windows expertly.

There was no threat in the solar system, Kini or otherwise.

“What is it?” Akkalon asked his heir, the small woman between them.

“We’ve sealed off the middle deck. A threat was detected by the system,” she replied.

“What kind of threat?” Akkadi asked.

“A toxin of some sort. It’s filled the personal deck belonging to our brothers and sisters.”

“Where are they?” their father demanded.

“Only Subakki was in residence,” she replied crisply. “He’s confined to his quarters with a secondary ventilation system running. I’ve sent a contingency with decontamination equipment to him. We have no casualties yet. Three affected slaves are being conveyed to the royal healing ward from brief exposure.”

Akkadi leaned forward, reading the reports crossing the small screen on her wrist. Though the toxin was contained by emergency barriers, the entire deck had been evacuated as a precaution. A chill went through him. Not only had he just missed whatever happened, but Mandy would’ve been trapped, if she hadn’t left him for the planet.  

“Akkadi, accompany a containment and testing team,” his father ordered. “Report what you see and find.”

Akkadi nodded. He left the battle command level for the utility deck of the station. The team was already waiting for him, and he donned the protective gear and secondary breathing apparatus quickly, anxious to check on his cousin and discover more about the toxin.

The team ascended via the back-up elevators to his deck and down the hallway. They were armed and ready, though Akkadi doubted there was any enemy foe to face. A toxin was a cowardly attack, the kind the Naki had outlawed after unleashing the plague upon the planet a thousand years before. He didn’t know who would use such an attack, but it wasn’t the Kini, who didn’t fear death or war.

The toxin was visible the moment he stepped from the elevator, a blue-green gas clinging to the ceiling.

“Get a sample,” he directed one of the team members and then continued down the hallway.

The evacuation team his sister sent for Subakki was outside his cousin’s door, which was open. Akkadi paused, waiting to ensure his cousin was safe. A few minutes later, Subakki exited, dressed in similar gear to Akkadi.

Relieved, Akkadi approached, studying his cousin for signs of illness.

“Are you well?” he asked.

“I am,” Subakki confirmed.

“You will need to report to the healing ward.”

“Of course. My exposure was limited at most. I saw the toxin before it spread, sealed myself in and set off the alarm.”

“You saw where it came from?”

“Your quarters.”

Taken aback, Akkadi didn’t react for a moment. He turned and trotted down the hallway, not waiting for the rest of the containment team. He stopped when he reached his quarters. Thick blue-green smoke poured out of the panels around his room.

A sense of anger and dread filled him. He needed to know what – or who – had tried to hurt him. If not for his father’s summons earlier, he might have been killed.

“Akkadi, wait for –” Subakki called.

 Akkadi ignored him and stepped into his room. He swatted smoke out of his way, unable to see more than a few feet in front of him. He was too angry to care if his suit was made for such an environment and instead, tried to find the storage box containing the energy cells.

He made his way towards the sitting area, determined to grab the box and let the containment team take over. The cells were supposed to be stable, but Akkadi wasn’t taking any chances the unexplained toxin might have some effect on the cells or the cube in which they were stored.

They were the sole reason he was marrying Hichele instead of Mandy. He wasn’t about to lose them after what he was going through just to obtain them. If he lost them and Mandy …

He focused on finding his way, not on the emotions that kept surfacing beyond his ability to control.  

The smoke was thicker in this part of his quarters, and he struggled to see anything. His shin bumped a table, and he bent over, sweeping his hands across the table’s top. He had left the storage cube here. He knocked it to the ground accidentally and bent to retrieve it.

“Akkadi?” Subakki called.

Smoke poured out of the cube.

Damn.
Were the cells unstable, and this was what caused the toxin?

“I’m here,” he replied.

“You are at great risk, cousin.”

“I’m almost done.”

He manipulated the storage cube to open it. Two cells fell out. He shook it then peered into the box, surprised to see it contained nothing else. Akkadi swatted away smoke to grab one of the cells and held it up.

The smoke originated from the cell. It billowed off the tiny marble, making it hard for him to see the cell itself to assess its stability. He tried to study it before giving in to the smoke. He placed the cell in a containment container and closed it, waiting to ensure it stayed closed. Satisfied it wasn’t leaking, he sought out the second cell and likewise trapped it within a second container.

His quarters began to clear, and he straightened.

“I think the energy cells are ruptured,” he said, becoming aware of the magnitude of what he said. At any point, they might’ve burst. What if they had been making love or asleep?

What if Mandy had been here, alone and vulnerable, dying?

Terror gripped him, immobilizing him at the image in his head. It held him captive long enough for him to realize he never wanted to lose Mandy. Ever.

Akkadi forced himself to take a deep breath. His mother was right and had always been right. He belonged with Mandy. Why did it take this for him to realize it?

He focused back on collecting the cells, a new plan forming in his head. He was going to do something no Naki ever had and break off the arrangement with Hichele for a reason other than those stipulated were allowable in the betrothal protocol agreements. He was leaving Hichele for a woman he needed in his life.

Akkadi knelt once more and patted the ground. He didn’t feel any other cells. Had the others vaporized? Exploded?

He sat back, vexed by the puzzle before him.

 “Akkadi, you are needed with us,” his father said via the device at the back of Akkadi’s neck.

A second alarm sounded, warning Akkadi more was wrong than the toxin. He stood and joined Subakki at the door to his quarters.

“On my way, father,” he replied.

He held out the two small cubes to his cousin. “Subakki, take these to Qiadi. Tell him to proceed with great caution. Then go to the healers.”

“Very well.”

Akkadi left quickly for the decontamination chamber, unaware of what might have caused the second alarm.

Forefront in his mind was concern he wasn’t able to shake. What if Mandy had been there? What if he had lost her permanently?

Akkadi stood still in the decontamination chamber, ignoring the lights and vibrations outside his suit. His thoughts were only for Mandy.

 The same fear he experienced when he thought the Kini had killed his cousin returned. Logically, there was one reason he felt the same level of fear, anger and loss for a woman he just met as the cousin who was raised with him as a brother. It wasn’t blood that bound him to Mandy; it was the emotional attachment he once tried to explain to his mother.

It seemed simple now. Mandy belonged in his bed at night and in his life every minute of every day. He’d had two chances to keep her and traded both for the sake of a duty that no longer made sense, if she wasn’t there to share it with him. He once considered her a distraction to his duty. The real distraction was knowing she was somewhere in the universe and he was unable to be with her.

Even if it meant losing Hichele’s energy sources, setting them back years in energy procurement and putting their war with the Ishta at risk. He’d find another source of energy. There were immense energy stores across the galaxy; he’d go wherever he had to, if it meant he could be with Mandy.

“Father,” he said into the communications device. “I need to speak to you.”

“We are awaiting you on the battle deck,” was the instant reply.

“Alone.”

There was a pause. “I’ll be in the command room.”

Akkadi waited impatiently for the decontamination process to finish. When it was done, he stripped quickly out of the uniform, paused for a scan from a healer then went immediately to the battle deck.

He felt his sister’s gaze on him the moment he entered the
command bridge
. He strode past her directly to the command room where his father was waiting. Akkadi offered a quick bow his father returned then straightened, uncertain where to start.

“You are well?” his father asked.

“Yes, Father.” Akkadi drew a deep breath. “I am breaking my agreement with Hichele.”

The Naki king was silent, unreadable.

“I understand it means we will be without the energy resources we need, and I am jeopardizing our ability to conduct the necessary operations to protect the planet,” Akkadi continued. “I take that responsibility personally on my shoulders. I will go to any corner of the universe I must to uncover new energy cells.”

“Your mother was right,” his father said. “You believe the energy shortage to be a personal duty. It’s not, Akkadi. It’s a responsibility that sits on the shoulders of every member of our family.”

“Perhaps, but I had the means to resolve it.”

His father shifted, thoughtful.

“I will break the news to Hichele’s family today,” Akkadi replied. “I do not expect you to manage this issue for me.”

“May I ask why you changed your position on Hichele?”

Akkadi cleared his throat, certain he was about to end up disowned, when he admitted the reason was nothing a rational Naki like his father was going to understand.

“I do not wish to disappoint you, Father, or dishonor my family,” he started. “But I cannot live with Hichele when I care for another.”

The gaze of the Naki king grew interested.

“The human, Mandy,” Akkadi said, the truth free at last. “I intend to take her as my mate.”
Or ask her at least.
He had a feeling she was too angry with him to agree initially.

“I notice you do not seek my approval.”

“I intend to mate with her with or without it,” Akkadi replied firmly. “It seems irrational to request your approval when I am not concerned with you giving it.” He clenched his fists at his side, hating the idea of disappointing his father but hating the idea of living without Mandy even more.

“This is your decision. To break the agreement with Hichele’s family and take Mandy as your mate.”

“It is.”

The Naki king nodded. “You at least have chosen a purebred. I cannot find fault in your logic.”

Akkadi waited, sensing there was more his father wanted to say.