Chapter 1
“Are you sure this is the right place?” a woman’s muffled voice came from behind a darkened full face helmet. “Looks a little... damp.”
The disgust was clear in her tone, and it brought a chuckle to the lips of the others around her.
“So dainty, princess.” a mocking tone came from the figure behind the woman who spoke, face obscured by a similar helmet.
“Save it for when we aren’t on enemy territory, will you?” the figure in front didn’t stop his trek upwards into the cavern as he chastised the other two. His order went unheeded as they kept bickering, the other man giving the woman a mocking, sweeping bow, the elegance of the movement at odds with the skin-tight black suit they each wore. Only he was carrying more than two weapons, and they were all placed strategically on his person.
“Don’t call me princess.” the woman hissed, whirling around to shine her light straight into the helmet behind her, eliciting a cry of pain from the man.
“Children!”
At the barking call, the woman huffed and whirled around, heading to where the leader was standing on a ledge, his light shining into a crevice in the cavern.
“I think we’re in the right place, Highness.” the weapon toting man couldn’t resist the last jab as they joined the taller man on the ledge.
A grunt of pain followed in the silence, the woman’s elbow finding its way into the soft part of his belly.
All three shined their lights at the crevice, and a glint of metal was the result. They slowly moved closer, each of their fingers reaching for the weapon in each of their holsters, the metal leading up to a glass enclosure, and as they took another step, a faint light starting to shine.
A figure, curled in a fetal position and encompassed in a jelly-like liquid, floated in the tank, the faint green light showing only the barest of features. It was enough for them to see that the figure wasn’t clothed, their hair seeming to have its own mind as it covered everything delicate from view.
“It’s a chick!” the teasing tone was gone from the man’s voice, almost accusatory as he turned to the other man, who was standing as still as a statue, his helmeted face staring in the direction of the capsule.
“It would seem so.” he answered after a moment of silence.
“You’re telling me that we risked our lives finding this forgotten planet and ventured into the space of beings that want to kill us on sight for a chick?” the incredulity was clear in the man’s voice, and the woman took a step forward, placing a hand on his shoulder, which he angrily shook off. “A chick isn’t gonna save us, let alone stop this infernal war!” he yelled, hands curling into fists.
“Dace-.” the woman attempted again to soothe the man, but he growled and shoved her aside as he leapt off the ledge, landing easily in a crouch at the bottom.
“Let him go.” the remaining man said, intent on the small screen on his forearm, free hand tapping it quickly. “He’ll meet us at the ship.”
“But how are we going to move ‘her’?” the woman asked as the man finally looked up.
“Easily.” was all the man said before walking up to the capsule.
Before the woman could issue a retort, the man reached for a holster, fired a shot and returned it back in the blink of an eye. She watched, dumbfounded, as the glass quickly cracked into pieces, shattering at his feet and letting the liquid inside come spilling out. The man, not moving as the jelly gathered around his booted feet, reached inside and withdrew his arms, the woman cradled in them.
"Prynik!" the woman muttered under her breath, rushing forward as hands grabbed at the pack on her belt. “Time capsules are delicate, you could have damaged her mental state!” she chided, brushing aside the wet hair to place two fingers at her neck, feeling for a pulse. When she felt the calm heartbeat under her skin, the woman gave a sigh of relief.
“I’m going to overlook being called the fatherless son of a loose woman, Ger, you being my only medic on board and all.” the man said dryly, waiting for the woman to step back before following Dace’s steps and falling lightly off the ledge, not even faltering when he landed.
“Gee, thanks, Cap’n.” the woman drawled, following suit and catching up to him as they followed the winding path back to the surface of the barren planet.
Silence fell between the two as they hiked back up, and they’d almost made it to the top when the man stopped, having felt the body in his arms tense. Looking down, he froze when he saw a pair of glittering green eyes staring up at him.
“She’s awake.” he said lowly, catching Ger’s attention and the woman carefully made her way around, not wanting to scare the young woman.
“Don’t be scared, we aren’t going to hurt you.” the medic slipped into her role as care-taker easily, and both of their eyebrows raised when the young woman simply stared at them, not moving as Ger reached forward to touch her wrist.
The confusion lasted until they were back in the ship, Dace waiting for them grumpily at the air lock. Setting the young woman down, the tall man stepped back and let Ger move around the med-bay. This place was her domain, and getting in her way had lead to a shove or two until he’d learned to step aside.
Leaning against the metal wall and crossing his arms, he watched as the young woman simply followed Ger’s movements with her eyes, stretching an arm out when asked, but not saying a thing. Now that her hair was drying, he could see that it was a dark gold color, and it was longer than he’d previously thought, reaching down to the backs of her knees.
“Well, she’s healthy, at least physically.” Ger muttered to him as she walked towards him, giving the young woman some privacy as she pulled on a spare set of Ger’s clothing.
“And mentally?” he asked, keeping his eyes focused on the tips of the woman’s long hair, just in case she tried anything with Ger’s back turned.
“I won’t know until she decides to talk, and even then there’s no way of telling just how bad it may be, if there’s anything wrong at all.”
Ger’s reply wasn’t what he wanted to hear, and with a grunt, he nodded to his old friend before slipping out of the med-bay. He didn’t like having something potentially volatile on his ship, and after a second of hesitation, he quickly pulled up the number to Dace’s link. As soon as he knew the connection had been picked up, he spoke.
“I want you to shadow the girl. Let me know if she does anything weird.”
“Like blast the ship apart?” came Dace’s reply, and he simply sighed and cut off the communication, knowing that any reply would fuel Dace.
Waiting until he was in his own quarters, he finally pulled off the helmet, his own long hair falling down to his shoulders. Quickly grabbing a pair of dark glasses, he slid them on, and moved to where a set of large monitors sat. Sitting down, he tapped the screen and when it was ready, he typed in a familiar code. It pulled up a list of articles, and even though he’d read them a thousand times before, he scrolled through them again, hoping to find something he’d missed.
He’d wanted to find a warrior, a miracle, anything that could stop the war that was tearing everything apart.
Instead, he’d found a human girl.
