Survivor Planet III (16 page)

Lissa and I jogged alongside him. Just as we got to the ship the four men were coming out. “It's done,” Ayres said, his cold gaze fastened on Oro.

Oro stared at Danny. “Baynar?”

“It's him,” Kenix informed him. “He got hold of his contact on Calixtus. He's sending a ship. Everyone will soon know he's alive and well. This should end any threat of attack.”

“Of course it will,” Baynar snapped arrogantly. Shrugging his shoulders and shaking his hands in front of him he appeared to be trying to accustom himself to his new skin. As though feeling our scrutiny he stared around at our little motley group appraisingly. “If I don't return to Calixtus safely, I make no guarantees your precious Earth will be safe.”

“What guarantees can you make that you being alive will keep it safe?” Ayres said, fingering the sheath holding a long blade he kept strapped to his belt.

Baynar narrowed his stare. “I suppose we'll just have to trust each other.”

“What's to stop you from sending your goons to finish us off?” I asked. Granted, we could jump in our ships and be gone before Baynar's backup arrived, but now that I was home I was reluctant to leave. At least until I knew for sure that Earth was safe. Well, at least as safe as it was before.

All of a sudden the night sky lit up with what appeared to be fireflies. “What is that?” I asked, then gulped in fright as the lights revealed themselves to be not harmless flies, but several small ships.

“Good guys or bad?” Lissa asked.

“Let's not take any chances,” Kenix said heading for the weapons.

“Damn it, they must have followed me here,” Oro said. If not for the angered and surprised look on his face I wouldn't have believed him. I guess we'd soon see what side he was on when the fighting began.

Ayres seemed to buy his sincerity as well. “Don't worry about it now. Mandy, get onto Oro's ship with Lourde and Lissa. Lourde, if it looks bad, I want you to get them out of here.”

“What about me?” Baynar asked. We could all see he was scared.

Ayres glared at him for a moment. “You go with them. We need you alive.”

Baynar nodded. Kenix strode back over, carrying a bag of weapons and tossed it on the ground. Ayres reached into it and handed Lourde and I a weapon each—just in case. Then he pulled me into his arms and kissed me hard. Oro kissed Lissa and then shooed us onboard the ship. Lourde and I went and sat down in the control seats, with Baynar and Lissa looming behind us. All of us anxiously watched the three warriors outside stand in a line, armed to the teeth, several feet in front of us.

Lourde prepared the ship for flight in case we needed a quick get-a-way. It wasn't long before a dozen small fighter crafts hovered in close to our location and then set down on the other side of the clearing.

The Roamyns' exited their crafts and went to stand before them. One of the men began walking out and Ayres went out to meet him halfway.

“What's happening?” Baynar snapped. “I can't hear a damn thing.”

“Please tell me that's one of your guys,” I said.

Baynar was pale when I looked at him. “No, it's not.”

Ayres and the other man appeared to be yelling now. “Doesn't look like it's going well,” Lissa observed.

I got to my feet. “I can't just sit here.”

Lourde jumped up and snatched my hand. “That's exactly what Ayres wants you to do. He needs to know you're safe so he can do what he needs to.

I didn't know what to do. Part of me wanted to march Baynar out there and make them understand he was their leader and that they must do as he says. But if they killed him before he had a chance to make things right, then we were screwed.

I looked out the front of the ship in time to see Ayres punch the other man in the face. Laser shots from both sides began to light up the night sky. I could hear pings and pongs as the spacecraft deflected the shots, which thankfully weren't as powerful as ones blasted from a ship.

Though I longed to help our side by firing on the enemy with the ship's lasers, I knew the other side would blast us to pieces if they did the same thing. Ayres, who crouched down nearby, came into our view and waved his arms in a signal to take off.

“No,” I gasped.

Ignoring me, Lourde ordered everyone into their seats. He turned his attention to the controls. Soon we were lifting off and zooming away into the night sky, leaving the man I loved on the ground to fight for Earth, and his life.

Almost as soon as we lifted off, three other ships took to the sky to chase us. Lourde swirled and ducked and veered, all to no avail. When our ship took a hit we were forced to turn around and land. So much for fleeing for safety. As we came in and set down practically right back in the same spot, I could see mayhem reigned. The ships pursuing us came down as well, not taking advantage of their superior firepower from the sky. I guess they feared hitting their own men. Sweeping my gaze around the clearing, I could see that a few bodies littered the ground. With the glow of the several ships' lights I saw with relief that none of them belonged to our side.

Baynar left his seat in the back of the ship and came up to the front now that we'd landed. Lissa was right behind him. He stared outside openmouthed. “I…I can't believe the outright defiance.”

The defeated and terrified look on his face revealed that he knew his men would arrive too late to save him. Staring at the bloody scene outside, I was inclined to feel the same.

“You did this!” he snarled at me. “If I was on the Lariton where I should be, none of this would be happening.”

He was right. What could I say?

“You're a damn fool!” Lourde snapped at him, leaping to his feet. “Look at those men out there. If you were any kind of leader, you would have known your own council was biding their time to overthrow your command. They did it when you were stranded on Taleon. No one was willing to go down there to rescue you. They were all too busy placing bets on who on that planet would have the privilege of killing you first. You're no leader. You're a bully and a coward.”

Baynar stood still as stone; the only thing moving was his mouth that opened and closed several times like a fish out of water.

“It's time to step up,” I told him. “Time to show those thugs out there who's in charge. You are leader of Calixtus by right of birth. Now it's time to show them it's also by right of blood.”

Baynar closed his mouth and pushed his shoulders back, taking full rein of Danny's body. “You're right.”

“What?” I must not have heard him.

“I said you're right.”

He suddenly snatched my weapon off my belt and strode toward the hatch.

“Can't let him go alone,” I said to Lourde.

He sighed and got to his feet. “Stay behind me,” he ordered coming up to the now open doorway. Baynar jumped down and Lourde and I followed. Lissa surprised me by jumping out as well.

“All for one,” she said with a shrug.

I gave her just a hint of a smile.

Ayres spotted us and, keeping low, he scrambled over. “What are you doing?” he had to raise his voice above the sound of laser bolts blasting all around us.

“We tried to leave and they forced us back down,” I said.

He grimaced. “I saw.”

“If I'm gonna die, it'll be by your side. Not hiding in some ship.”

He handed a weapon over to me. Slowly, Oro and Kenix made their way over to us as well. Before long, all of us stood, side by side, facing the now silent enemy. Seeing us taking a stance, they too gathered together and stood across from us.

“Prepare to die,” yelled the man Ayres had argued with earlier.

After feasting my eyes on Ayres' handsome face for a moment, I held my breath and closed my eyes, preparing for the worst. The sounds of yelling made me snap them open again. “What's happening?”

The enemy was pointing up over our heads behind us. All of us turned to see what the commotion was about. There in the sky were dozens of ships.

“Graneden must be wondering what the hell is going on,” I said. “What
is
going on? Total annihilation?”

“I don't know,” Ayres said.

All we could do was wait. When the arriving ships blew over our heads firing shots on the ships on the ground, blowing them to pieces, we erupted in cheers. Except for a few random shots fired here and there, the enemy on the ground knew they were out manned and outgunned by the new arrivals.

When the rest of them fled into the woods for cover, our little group huddled together while several of the ships came in to land. I felt myself holding my breath again as the first man disembarked and began to stride forward. A moment later a young woman with flowing red hair jumped out and ran up beside him.

As he came closer I saw that it was Cade.

The woman beside him must be Lara.

Soon they were standing right before us. Ayres reached out and he and Cade grasped arms. Cade did the same with Kenix, Lourde, then Oro.

Baynar reached out and put his hand on Cade's shoulder, catching the man off guard. “Do I know you?” Cade asked.

“Yes. You do know me. Not this body perhaps, but you know the man.”

Cade was clearly surprised. “Lord Baynarius? How?”

“It's a long story. I am glad you arrived when you did,” Baynar said.

“We all are,” Ayres agreed.

Cade gestured to the ships behind him. “I was informed of what had happened to you on board the Lariton.” He stared directly at me and smiled tightly. I could feel Lara's gaze on me as well. “I gathered the men loyal to your cause and came to Earth with all haste.”

I'd told him about Graneden. He must have set a course for town and then seen the laser show in the forest.

“I am grateful,” Baynar said.

Cade wasn't finished. “I had planned to enter the tournament on Taleon in order to be granted a boon.”

“I will grant it now,” Baynar assured him. “You have earned it.”

Cade looked fondly down at Lara who smiled up at him. “I wish to remain on Earth and see that it remains safe from any and all who would harm it. Several of my comrades have also come, some with their human females, and they would stay as well.”

Baynar narrowed his eyes. “I cannot and will not call an end to our games nor the human entrants we require.”

Cade held his gaze and finally conceded with a nod. We would be no better off than before, being used at will as pawns for Roamyns. But at least the human race would survive. Then I recalled my boasts to Baynar back on the Lariton. I'd told him that with the help of Lourde and Ayres, we'd bring Earthlings up to speed, that we'd soon be a force to be reckoned with. That we wouldn't take their alien shit anymore. Perhaps there was hope?

“If you wish, I will return you to the Lariton where you can resume command, sir,” Cade said.

“I accept,” Baynar told him, clearly anxious to be off. He turned and regarded Ayres. “If you and the others wish to remain here, I will order no harm to come to you.”

Now it was Ayres' turn to look surprised.

“You risked your life to save mine today. I won't forget it. Besides, Cade and his men can use all the help they can get keeping Earth safe from any traitors on Calixtus, or those bloody snot suckers.”

He meant the Akkadians.

“What about Aris and the others?” I had to ask. Earth just wouldn't be the same without him and Danni.

Baynar closed his eyes a moment as though in pain. “All right. They may join you as well. A full pardon for you all.”

“Seriously?” I gasped. “We can come home…for good?”

Baynar stared at me and then smiled. I was amazed to see how genuine it appeared. “Yes, Amanda. You are home. For good.”

My eyes met with Ayres and we both grinned at each other.

Looking around at the group of Roamyns now down from their ships, their mates by their sides, I knew we'd have our hands full settling everyone in, not to mention preparing for all the new arrivals in the near future.

This was a task I would gladly undertake.

Cade bid farewell to Lara, kissing her and telling her he'd be back soon. “You and Amanda should talk,” he said, nodding in my direction. He and Baynar headed off for his ship.

Lara and I now stood facing each other. I wasn't sure if she would punch me or thank me after I said my piece. “You and I have a lot to talk about,” I told her. “Want to sit by the fire?”

“Sure.” She shrugged and began to follow me. “Why do I have the feeling that I know you?”

Locking eyes with Ayres as I passed him, he grinned and mouthed ‘good luck'. “It's a long story,” I began. “And it actually starts right here in this little town. In a loony bin…”

I could hear Ayres laugh as Lara and I settled in by the fire.

Juliet is the author of several erotic stories. She lives in Ontario with her family and three cats.

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