Chapter Twenty

THE DETACHMENT OF REBEL soldiers from Nakonum touched down on Earth a few days after Taylor and Maia’s moment in the shower. Although the naledai were unquestionably humanity’s allies, Taylor had been looking forward to their arrival more than most of the other soldiers on base. Rachel and Andrew had looked at her like she was insane when she had tried talking about what she’d experienced with Maia, so she’d stopped trying. Who better to talk to about her strange obsession with an alien than another alien?

Akton was just that alien. The naledai was cocky, with an outward veneer of smart-assery that hid a warm heart as large as his big shaggy body. He was also one of the best hand to hand fighters Taylor had ever seen on the battlefield. Despite her pride in Earth’s military, she would have bet all her wages the Coalition couldn’t find a brawler among their ranks to match him. Action movies couldn’t compare to watching Akton when he got within range of an enemy, and he was a crack shot, too—which he had proven the first time he and Taylor had met, when his squad had come to the rescue of a besieged transport ship she’d happened to be escorting.

Taylor found herself waiting slightly apart from a small crowd of other human soldiers as the naledai disembarked from their complement of ships. From the looks of it, they hadn’t brought much else besides themselves and some basic weaponry. Taylor suspected their ships would be leaving with a lot more supplies than they’d arrived with.

Since Nakonum and almost all of their colonies were in the Dominion’s hands, the naledai didn’t have ready access to the resources required to sustain a war, even an underground rebellion that was literally underground. So far, not even the deadly and determined seekers had managed to dig all the naledai out of their burrows.

Taylor watched the action for a while, hanging back as the new arrivals spoke with the dockmaster. From a distance, she couldn’t be sure which naledai was Akton at first, but she soon spotted him among the cluster of rebels. He was easily two heads taller than her five foot nine, and even among his own species, he was big enough to be noticed.

"Akton!" she called out, raising her arm and waving.

Akton turned. "Well, well, well, if it isn’t Lieutenant Taylor Morgan," he growled, heading over to join her.

He had a loping gait that made him look more graceful in motion than his stocky body appeared to be while he was standing still, but it was underground that he truly thrived. His oversized arms were built for burrowing, as evidenced by the thick cluster of claws extending from his hands. Taylor remembered Roberts saying that the naledai looked like giant groundhogs crossed with pissed off werewolves, and he wasn’t completely off base. Streaky silver scars crisscrossed every visible portion of Akton’s furry pelt, and he hadn’t even collected enough to be considered old yet.

"I see you’ve managed to keep all your limbs attached, puny as they are," Akton said. "Or do humans have three arms? I can never remember." His pointed snout trembled in a way that represented a smile, or at least, Taylor had learned to interpret it that way.

Taylor clapped him on the shoulder. "It’s four. I’ve had some bad luck." They chuckled together, though Akton's came out as more of a deep rumble.

"So, the rumor is that you've got an important visitor on base," Akton said as they began walking, not heading for any particular destination. "My C.O. was pretty tight-lipped about it, but I know that's part of why we were sent here."

"Yeah. An ikthian prisoner of war. I’m in charge of looking after her." Taylor's smile widened as she thought about Maia, and this time, she didn’t bother suppressing it.

"And I guess that's gone well," Akton drawled.

Taylor’s smile faded. "I’m not sure that’s how I’d describe the situation. I was hoping to talk to you about it, actually." She glanced around to make sure no one else was within earshot before continuing in a whisper. "I accidentally slept with her. A couple of times."

Akton interrupted her. "You're sleeping with the ikthian you're supposed to be guarding? There’s no accounting for human taste, I suppose, but are you sure that's a good idea? My superiors would kill me for even thinking about it."

"Mine don't exactly know," Taylor confessed. "Neither of us meant for this to happen. And then we swore we wouldn’t do it again, but…we can’t stop. I don’t want to stop." She paused, considering how best to explain what had happened. At last, she settled for, "I’m starting to care about her."

"You’re in a heap of trouble, Taylor," Akton said, with worry rather than anger. "This is more than just burrow gossip. You could end up risking the entire exchange, and from what I’ve picked up with my nose to the ground, it’s a big one."

"I know, I know," Taylor sighed. "I didn’t want any of it to go like this. It just happened."

Akton shook his shaggy head in sympathy. "Be careful, Morgan. You're playing a dangerous game with this one. Even if this ikthian doesn't turn on you, they could send her back to the Dominion in an exchange, or decide to execute her. A broken heart on your part sounds like one of the least terrible outcomes."

The thought of the Coalition deciding to execute Maia made Taylor's stomach churn. "I try not to think about that."

"But you need to keep it in mind," Akton insisted. "She’s a prisoner, not a fling you can forget about after shore leave is over. She could have a lot of lives resting on her valuable shoulders."

"You think I don’t know that?" Taylor snapped.

Akton came to a stop by one of the squat cement buildings, shepherding Taylor around a private corner with one of his giant paws. "Look, I’m just worried about you," Akton said, leaning back against the wall. "I heard what happened to your squad on Amaren. Now this? It would be a lot for anyone."

She sighed. "Thanks. I’m managing, though. Maia has helped with that a lot, actually."

"Wait, did you say Maia?" Akton pushed away from the wall. "As in Kalanis?"

Taylor nodded, then grunted in surprise as Akton grasped both of her shoulders. "Hey!"

"You’re screwing Maia Kalanis? Oh, Ancestors. You’re dead. We’re all dead. Do you have any idea who she is to the ikthians?"

Taylor shook off Akton’s surprisingly strong grip. "I know her mother is one of their leaders…"

"Irana Kalanis and the rest of her family aren't just leaders," Akton said. "They control a good portion of the Dominion all by themselves. There’s even an ocean on Korithia named after them. They're the closest thing the ikthians have to royalty."

Taylor's eyes widened. "So, you're saying that trading her for a couple of hostages is probably a bad deal?"

Akton snorted. "That’s an understatement. Famous family aside, she’s one of the Dominion’s premier geneticists...or was, until she started refusing to let them use her research. They cite her older findings in propaganda all the time, and she hates it. She made tons of videos claiming all our species are distantly related or something, and there’s no proof that ikthians are genetically superior and destined to rule the galaxy. The ECO office on Korithia scrubs them, of course…"

"ECO?"

"Executive Media Coordination Office. Ancestors, Earth really is a backwater planet, isn’t it? Anyway, as long as you have Maia, you'll be able to convince the ikthians to leave Earth alone, at least until they figure out where she is. Then, they'll probably come looking for her, and I hope I’m not around when they do."

Taylor struggled to get a grip on her bewilderment. She hadn’t actually believed the Dominion’s offer of a solar system wide ceasefire was legitimate, which was one reason she’d advised General Hunt to turn it down. "Maia said it was a crazy deal. I just didn’t realize how crazy."

Akton’s furry brow lowered over his small eyes. "Trust me, Taylor, you don’t want an invasion on your home planet. You don’t want to become a protectorate nation. I’ve lived that life, and it amounts to galaxy-wide slavery…and the ikthians have never failed to conquer an alien home world once they find it. Never."

Taylor ran a nervous hand through her hair, exhaling loudly. Before she could dwell on the thought any further, however, her stomach grumbled. "This conversation is freaking me out. Want to take a break and hop into the mess? I could use some food."

"Sure," Akton said. "It’s not like the ikthians are going to invade in the next twenty minutes."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "My luck isn’t that bad, believe it or not."

Akton laughed, and they continued on to the mess hall. It was fairly crowded when they arrived. Fortunately for Akton, there was a small, separated section in the chow line with naledai options. Someone must have informed the cook in advance that their allies were paying a visit.

"Ancestors, this place reeks," Akton grumbled as he picked through the available food. "How do you deal with so many competing smells in one place?"

Taylor took a whiff. The mess did have a distinct smell, reminiscent of watery canned vegetables and industrial plastic, but it wasn’t overpowering by any means. "Guess I don’t really notice it."

Akton piled some stringy looking tubers onto his tray before moving onto some rather bloody looking meat. "You humans might have akilan eyes, but you couldn’t smell your way out of a tunnel with only one exit."

Once they finished piling food onto their plates, they headed toward one of the smaller, more private tables available. "I guess I don’t understand what’s happening," Taylor said as she set her tray down. "The two of us didn’t want this to happen. We just fell into it."

"Oh. Right. Sleeping with the prisoner. Kind of forgot about that, since you have Maia fucking Kalanis on your planet and the Dominion’s temporarily agreed not to wipe Earth off the Milky Way map."

Taylor had the decency to feel embarrassed. Those were more important issues, and yet it was Maia’s tender smile that kept resurfacing in her mind. "I feel drawn to her, Akton. Sometimes it feels like in another life, we could have pursued an actual relationship, as crazy as that sounds."

Akton chewed loudly while he considered what to say. "I’d tell you to avoid her except when you have to guard her, but it sounds like that plan isn’t working out for you so far." He wolfed down another bite of food, a string of tuber hanging from the corner of his toothy mouth. "Plan B would be communing with your ancestors so they could smack some sense into you, but I know not all humans go in for that the way my people do. Do you?"

Taylor shook her head. "Dad was English. Mom was Japanese. There’s a little background there, but neither of them were religious. Honestly, I don’t know what higher powers I believe in."

"It’s hard not to be skeptical in the middle of a war like this. But if you ever find yourself in a tight spot, Taylor…" Akton glanced around, and then lowered his voice. "You know how to contact me. I’m your man."

Taylor grinned. She had hoped Akton would come through and support her, and she was relieved she’d been right. "You’re a good soldier, Akton, but I won’t do anything to compromise you with your superiors. Or myself with mine, if I can help it."

Akton nodded. "I know, but things change. I’m willing to help if you need me. I have a feeling things are going to get very complicated for you very quickly."

Taylor noted the solemn tone in Akton’s gravelly voice. Naledai culture valued personal bonds to family and friends almost as much as it valued ancestral wisdom. She accepted the gesture of friendship for what it was. "Thanks. I’d do the same for you."

"What’re you planning to do, Morgan?" Andrew asked in a loud voice, plopping himself onto the bench opposite Taylor. She straightened up, taken completely by surprise. She’d been so focused on her conversation with Akton that she hadn’t even noticed Andrew approaching their table.

"See? Humans can’t smell anything," Akton told her with a wolfish smirk.

"Hey, fuzzy," Andrew said, nodding at Akton. "Good to see you in one piece. Heard your people took a few hits recently."

"More like twenty thousand casualties at our biggest base on Nakonum before we moved burrows," Akton sighed. "But let's not talk about that. Taylor and I were just discussing maintenance protocol differences between our ships."

"Sounds boring," Andrew said. "Here I was, hoping you were talking about something juicy. I thought naledai were all about gossip."

Akton smirked. "You’d fit right in on Nakonum."

Taylor wasn’t so amused. "Andrew, I don’t know what you’re up to, but stop being vague," she grumbled. With displeasure and unease, she noticed that several other soldiers seated at nearby tables were listening in. Andrew’s loud voice had gotten their attention, or maybe they had encouraged him to come over in the first place. Taylor thought she recognized a few of them as some of his lower-ranking buddies.

"We were just wondering how the special prisoner was doing," Andrew said, looking from his audience to Taylor. "There are all kinds of rumors, but I know you’ve got the inside scoop."

Taylor knew she had to say something, but didn’t want to encourage the group. "The ikthians opened negotiations for the prisoner’s return, if that’s what you’re wondering. I don’t know much else."

"Everyone knows that, Lieutenant," said another soldier. His voice sounded familiar, but Taylor wasn’t able to place it until she caught sight of Sergeant Bower standing nearby. Immediately, her shoulders tensed and her hands flexed at her sides, threatening to form fists under the table. Even though Bower had addressed her by her rank, his tone had been anything but respectful.

"I thought I told you to stay out of my fucking business, Bower," she said through clenched teeth, resisting the temptation to rise from the bench and stare him down.

"I think she’s everybody’s business at this point," Bower replied. "She seems willing enough to play nice with you."

His implications were obvious, and they made Taylor fume, but Akton placed his heavy paw on her head to keep her in her seat. "Well, soldier…Bower, right? That's because even the fish have some standards. If you’re into aliens, you could always try a voldak. I hear they’re pretty undiscerning...and they only go into blood rages and kill their mates about half the time."

Bower sneered, clearly insulted, as the other soldiers began hooting and hollering. Still angry, but also pleased with how Akton had handled the conflict (not to mention the disgusted expression on Bower’s face), Taylor grabbed her tray and stood up, nodding to her friend in thanks. "You say the sweetest things, Akton. Now, if the rest of you idiots don't mind, I have guard duty."

She headed for the door with Akton walking beside her. They dropped off their trays at the front of the mess, not speaking until they were outside and well away from the group. "What’s the story with you and that guy?" he asked once they were out of earshot.

Taylor scoffed. "Don’t get me wrong, I love Andrew, but sometimes he hangs around some really shitty company. Bower got up in my face a few days after Maia was put in my charge. Can you believe the dumbass actually tried to touch her? I mean, she had a collar on, but still."

"Sounds like someone’s got a death wish in addition to an attitude problem," Akton said. "Maybe he really should go fuck a voldak."

"You wouldn’t hear me complaining," Taylor said.

Akton laughed at first, but then his expression grew worried. "It’s easy to laugh at rock-heads like that, but if he gives you more trouble than you can handle, remember what I said before. You can always contact me. I have a secure channel we can use." He brought up his datapad and sent her the info.

"Thanks," Taylor said as her wrist buzzed, "but I’m hoping I won’t need to beg you to save my ass again."