Alien Beast, page 14
part #2 of Warriors of Gehar Series
The woman bows and disappears. I take my seat and lean forward to look at Hakan with a raised eyebrow. He meets my gaze blandly. No doubt Abiri is planning something, but from experience, I know he’ll tell me what’s going on when he’s ready and not a moment sooner.
“I’m quite excited to try this place,” Seema comments lightly. “They serve all sorts of dumplings, Mina tells me. Soup-filled dumplings, pan fried, momos, and spiced buns. Everything sounds delicious. I don’t know how I’m going to choose.”
“You’re the Empress of Gehar,” I point out. “Order everything on the damn menu, if it’ll make you happy.”
“I don’t believe in wasting food,” Seema replies primly.
The round table is set for five people, so we’re expecting two more guests. This is a human restaurant, which means our guests are likely Earth Federation officials. Hakan is here, so this isn’t a social gathering; the Chief of Staff is incapable of making small talk and abhors society functions. What’s this about then?
I scan my memory, trying to remember the last communication from Earth Federation. It had been something about yet another planet that they’d managed to fuck up. The Federation had begged for Gehar assistance with refugee relocation.
By the Mother, I hope I’m not giving up my vacation to dine with Ambassador Winchester. The man is insufferable.
A waitress arrives with our tea. She fills the small brazier with pellets of fragrant charcoal and sets them alight. She sets the teapot on the flame, and then she bows again and retreats. I wait for the leaves to steep, and then lift it to pour. “My shuttle is supposed to leave in a couple of hours.”
Seema gives Hakan a small nod. “Tell him.”
Hakan lifts up the cup of tea I place in front of him. “Last week, we agreed to accept ten thousand human refugees from the Earth Federation planet of Nefrid.”
Ah. I’d been surprised there for an instant, but then Hakan mentions the origins of the refugees, and it makes sense. Nefrid is Mina’s home planet. When Mina married Dimek, her people became our responsibility. When they need us, we will respond. This is the Geharrim way.
Most humans don’t understand us. They don’t realize that we would have offered them shelter without negotiation. Hakan would have taken full advantage of their ignorance. “What did we get in return?”
A fleeting expression of surprise washes over Hakan’s face, and then a self-deprecating smile tugs at his lips. “For the moment, we believe that the Earth Federation’s gratitude is sufficient payment.”
I glance at Seema. “You didn’t let him set a price?”
“Mina will be happy if her people are here,” she responds. “That’s all the payment we need.” She gives the man at her left an amused glance. “Hakan is very annoyed with me. It will pass.”
Hakan shakes his head in exasperation. “I’m not annoyed with you, Your Majesty, and you know it.” He takes another sip of his tea. “Ambassador Winchester was not helpful to the discussions,” he continues. “He has been recalled by the Earth Federation, and they’ve sent a temporary replacement. Unfortunately, the new Ambassador was attacked on her way to the Gehar Cluster. This is from an hour ago. This information stays between us, of course.”
He sets a memory cube on the table and activates it. The scene projects into the air in front of us. A small Earth Federation transport is beset by almost a dozen armed fighters. “That’s the Earth Federation Ambassador?” I ask, surprised by the lack of ceremony. “Where’s her escort?”
“There isn’t one. She came alone.”
She’s different from her predecessor then. Winchester needed a five-speeder escort to go to the bathroom.
I squint at the yellow and black attacking ships, trying to make out their markings. It can’t be… “Those are D’elim ships.”
“They are indeed.” Seema’s voice is hard. “I spoke to Tadej as soon as we received this. He gave me his word that he isn’t involved. Someone’s trying to frame him. He’s investigating.”
A pair of attackers fire at the transport. The Earth Federation ship dives out of the way, and weaves through the energy beams.
“My spies confirm Tadej’s story,” Hakan says. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t help us. Someone tried to kill the Earth Federation Ambassador in Gehar space, and we don’t know who it is.”
The Ambassador is a skilled pilot. She dodges the attacks with speed and precision. A couple of mercenary ships get themselves blown up in the crossfire, debris flying everywhere. Unfortunately, there are still at least eight more ships left in the fight, and her shuttle has taken more than six direct blows on its shield. Its hull won’t hold up for long…
Help finally arrives in the form of a hulking StarShark warship. It doesn’t fire on the attackers; it doesn’t need to. The moment it shows up, the attackers flee for their lives. The cube powers down.
I lift my head up. “Do you have any suspects?”
“The usual,” Hakan responds wearily. “There are people on both the Gehar side as well as on the human side that don’t want our alliance to succeed. Some are isolationist; they believe that the Gehar Cluster is for Geharrim alone. Others want to undermine the Empress.” His eyes harden. “Whoever it was, I will find them, and they will regret this attack.”
“What do you want me to do?”
Seema gives me a bright smile. “Isn’t it obvious, Jehan? He wants you to guard the Ambassador.”
Now I’m just confused. “I thought you said you wanted to keep it quiet. Having a Shield of Gehar, even me, hover over the Ambassador will mean—”
“You’re correct. You can’t be her bodyguard.” Hakan leans back in his chair. “You’re going to pretend to be her lover.”
I almost spit out my mouthful of tea. “What?”
Before anyone can respond, the hostess walks in, trailed by two people. Poppy Rilfort is in the forefront. She’s Earth Federation security.
Then the woman behind her comes into view.
Shock jolts through my body.
Reddish-brown, shoulder-length hair, thick and wavy. Dark eyes framed by gloriously long eyelashes. Full, lush lips that are made to be kissed. Fuck that, her entire body is made to be kissed, and I would know that because for one glorious three-month period, fifteen years ago, I’d done exactly that.
By the Mother, it’s her. The woman against who I measure every woman who enters my life. The woman against who every other woman falls short.
Keomi Hearne.
Kae is the Earth Federation Ambassador? My brain struggles to understand. When I knew her, she’d been so clear about what she wanted, and that was to join Space Fleet.
When did she change her mind? The Keomi Hearne I knew was direct and straightforward. She had no patience for political maneuvering. Why did she decide to be a diplomat?
I rise to my feet automatically. The Empress beams at the two humans. “Ambassador Hearne, welcome to Gehar,” she says. “Thank you for joining me at such short notice.” She inclines her head toward Hakan. “This is my Chief of Staff, Hakan Abiri.” She turns to me. “And this is my kinsman, Jehan D’arana, Second Shield of Gehar.”
Keomi’s head snaps up in shock, and her gaze collides with mine. My heart stops. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hakan bite back a smirk. He knew. The asshole knew that Keomi and I have history.
I force a smile on my face. “Hello, Kae.”
Click to keep reading Alien in Charge, Jehan and Keomi’s story!
About Lili Zander
Lili Zander is the sci-fi romance loving alter-ego of Tara Crescent. She lives in Toronto. She enjoys reading sci-fi and fantasy, and thinks a great romance makes every book better.
Find Lili at:
www.lilizander.com
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Books by Lili Zander
Warriors of Gehar
Alien to the Rescue - click here to get it for free!
Alien in Charge
Alien Beast
The Vampires’ Blood Mate (A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance)
The vampires of Shayde want more than just my blood…And everyone knows that whatever vampires want, vampires get.
Night of the Shayde
Blood of the Shayde
Soul of the Shayde
DRAGONS IN EXILE (Dragon shifters in space, science-fiction romance)
Crashed spaceship. Prison planet. Snarling, lethal predators. Two big, hulking, bronzed aliens who turn into dragons. The best part? The dragons insist I’m their mate.
DRAEKON DESIRE - Binge-read the entire DRAGONS IN EXILE series in one heavily discounted, 1000+ page boxed set!
Or read the individual books…
Draekon Mate
Draekon Fire
Draekon Heart
Draekon Abduction
Draekon Destiny
Daughter of Draekons
Draekon Fever
Draekon Rogue
Draekon Holiday
REBEL FORCE (Dragon shifters in space, science-fiction romance)
Captured in space. Imprisoned. Sold to the highest bidder. But my biggest problem is the bossy, aggravating, impossible, alien who’s supposed to rescue me.
The bossy alien I kissed.
Draekon Warrior
Draekon Conquerer
Draekon Pirate
Draekon Warlord
Draekon Guardian
Blood Prophecy (A Dragon Shifter Reverse Harem Romance)
Stealing from one dragon is lunacy. Stealing from five of them? I must have a death wish.
Dragon’s Thief
Dragon’s Curse
Dragon’s Hope
Dragon’s Ruin
Dragon’s Treasure
or
Dragon’s Fire (the omnibus edition, containing all the Blood Prophecy episodes) and a bonus story, Dragon’s Ghost.
Lili Zander, Alien Beast
