Alien Warrior’s Second Chance by Sue Mercury
Chapter 2
You don’t belong here, idiot.
Karla nearly flinched as her late husband’s snide voice entered her head. She took a deep, calming breath, and tried to shake away the growing feeling that she shouldn’t be on this ship. Twenty years gone and Merle’s insults still lingered in the back of her mind, poised to attack without warning.
She glanced around the women’s quarters of the large interstellar vessel. A Vaxxlian ship. She was headed to planet New Vaxx, along with dozens of women who’d all just been rescued from Earth. Some were friends or relatives of humans who currently resided on New Vaxx, while others were former sleepers—women who’d been saved from their lifetime contracts with Cryo-Z, a shady company that had once conducted cryosleep experiments on humans.
All the women in this room, except for Karla, were of childbearing age. It was difficult not to feel out of place, given her present company.
A curvy blonde settled on the sofa beside her and shot her a polite smile. Karla smiled back. She was old enough to be the young woman’s mother. Maybe even old enough to be her grandmother. She sighed and tried to banish Merle’s voice from her mind, but it wasn’t easy.
“Hi, I’m Vivian,” the blonde said.
“Hi there, I’m Karla. It’s nice to meet you.” Karla uttered a silent prayer of thanks that the young woman had initiated a conversation. A little chit chat might help distract her from thoughts of the past and all the insecurities that kept creeping up on her—not to mention, the flashes of guilt and fear that struck her when she remembered the raiders.
“So why are you traveling to New Vaxx? Do you have a daughter or a granddaughter living there?” Vivian settled deeper into the sofa with a sigh.
Call me old without calling me old, why don’t you, Karla wanted to say. But she supposed there was truly no way in hell anyone might mistake her for a young fertile woman capable of mating and popping out a couple of kids with a Vaxxlian warrior, so she held her tongue and decided to give Vivian the benefit of the doubt—certainly the young woman hadn’t meant any offense.
“No, I don’t have a daughter or granddaughter living on New Vaxx,” Karla finally replied. “I never had any children—never managed to get pregnant, not even once. Though I suppose it was a blessing in disguise because my husband Merle was a violent, philandering jackass who drank himself to an early grave.” Karla almost gasped after she finished speaking, wondering what had just possessed her to share such personal information with a stranger. She gulped hard and then painted on a smile, hoping to put her new acquaintance at ease.
Vivian returned a nervous smile of her own. “Um, I’m sorry. Sounds like you’ve had a difficult life. I-I used to be married too—but my husband Phil cheated on me over and over again and I recently left him. We didn’t have children either. A visit to a doctor confirmed he was shooting blanks. I’m hoping I’ll be able to conceive with a Vaxxlian. I would very much like to have a family of my own.”
A sense of camaraderie built between the women as they sat next to one another. Both had endured cheating husbands and not so happy marriages, and both were on their way to New Vaxx in search of a better life.
“Well,” Karla said, patting Vivian’s hand, “Vaxxlian males are extremely loyal to their mates. You won’t have to worry about getting cheated on again. It’s absolutely unheard of for a Vaxxlian warrior to cheat on his wife. Furthermore, they treasure their mates and are very involved in the raising of their children. I am certain you’ll find what you’re looking for on New Vaxx.”
A dreamy sigh escaped Vivian. “Oh, I hope it’s as good as it sounds. I’m nervous about marrying a complete stranger, but from what I’ve heard, most human-Vaxxlian couples fall in love quickly. And I’m planning to visit Vaxxlian Matchmakers so I can be matched with my soulmate.” Vivian’s brows drew together and she cleared her throat. “But what about you? If you don’t have a daughter or granddaughter on New Vaxx, why are you going to the planet?”
Oh, you know—the usual. I shot four raiders with a contraband blaster and need a place to lie low for the rest of my life.
Nope, it probably wasn’t a good idea to tell the truth, even if Vivian would likely think she was joking. Karla took a deep breath and decided to stick to the truth as much as possible while leaving out the darker details.
“Well, my friend Rachel—who used to work at a bed and breakfast I owned in Montana—lives on New Vaxx with her Vaxxlian mate, Axall. When Rachel left Earth a couple of months ago, she invited me to come with her and Axall, but I couldn’t leave at the time, even though I was tempted. I needed to sell my business and tie up some loose ends first. But now that I’ve taken care of everything, I’m eager to start a new life on a faraway planet. Anyway, Axall arranged for me to hitch a ride to New Vaxx on this ship, so here I am.”
“Wow, Montana? I always wanted to visit. Is it as beautiful there as they say? I’ve heard it’s one of the safest and least polluted spots left in the United States.”
“It’s true that it’s safer than most places in the US, but not by much. And we have our fair share of pollution too. I don’t think my lungs could withstand one more wildfire season.” Karla twisted her fingers together as an image of the raiders being blasted away by the red beams entered her mind. She fought back a shudder. “It was time for me to leave. Earth is a shit show right now and anyone with half a brain knows it. I would like to live out my remaining years in peace. I can do that on New Vaxx.”
She’d been planning to relocate to New Vaxx even before the incident with the raiders. But she’d wanted to take her time selling Karla’s Kove, packing up her belongings, and saying proper goodbyes to the few friends she had left. She hated that she’d departed in a rush, but she was grateful for Axall’s quick assistance—he’d managed to arrange for her passage to his planet within days of the raiders’ attack on her once peaceful lakeside community.
The truth was, she could’ve left Earth at any time, even before selling Karla’s Kove—Rachel and Axall had kindly promised to provide for her—but after all the shit Merle had put her through, she wanted the security of having her own funds. She doubted she would ever want to leave New Vaxx and relocate elsewhere, but she wanted the option. Money gave her that option. The galactic credits in her account gave her a sense of security.
“Will you live with your friends on New Vaxx? Or are you going to get a place of your own?” Vivian peered at Karla with interest.
“I’m going to live with Rachel and Axall. Technically, Axall will be considered my guardian. Even though I’m not a fertile young woman like you and everyone else in this room,” Karla said with a gesture around the women’s quarters, “as an unmated female, I’m still required to have a Vaxxlian warrior as a guardian. Axall says I won’t be allowed to go anywhere in the main settlement of Starzzia, or anywhere else on the planet, without a chaperone to protect me.”
“Oh,” Vivian replied with a flush. “Do you think that’s really necessary? Do you think any of the unmated warriors would bother you if you were unchaperoned?”
Karla snorted. “I’d like to see them try.” She’d come a long way since her days of cowering in closets and walking on eggshells. Merle’s death had been her rebirth in a way—learning to survive on her own had given her the backbone necessary to withstand corrupt authorities, violent riots, sleazy creditors, and yes, even raiders.
However, she secretly hoped she would be able to convince Axall to give her the freedom to go wherever she wanted without a babysitter following her around. She was used to doing as she pleased and couldn’t imagine how stifling her new life would be if she weren’t allowed to leave the house without an escort.
It was also difficult for her to imagine an unmated Vaxxlian warrior dragging her off to force her into a mating union, even though that was Axall’s concern. At some point during such an interaction, surely the male would see reason and let her go once he understood she couldn’t conceive. Several years ago, the Vaxxlians had lost most of their females during a great war, and they now sought human women for the purposes of procreation. Surely no sane Vaxxlian warrior would want anything to do with her.
A hush fell over the women’s quarters. Karla turned away from Vivian and peered at the large viewscreen. Gone were the swirling colors of the wormhole they’d been traveling through known as the Eshunna Passage. Instead, a large blue-green planet filled the screen against the starry backdrop of open space. The twin moons of New Vaxx were visible as well, two large glowing beacons that reminded Karla of the paper lanterns she used to hang on the covered porch of her bed and breakfast.
“We’re here,” Vivian whispered. “Oh my God, it’s so beautiful, I think I might cry.”
“It is… breathtaking.” Karla had never imagined she would be moved by the sight of planet New Vaxx, but her throat suddenly burned, and a deep longing swelled within her—the longing for a real second chance. A brand-new life without fear or pain, a life that wouldn’t require her to hide in closets or walk on eggshells or conceal blasters under floorboards.
Please let me find my place here.
Please let me belong.
