Conflict by Viola Grace Page B

two days. She has sent out a call for backup, but it will not arrive before the incoming Raiders will.”
    Orriko sat up straight. “We are under attack?”
    She shook her head. “No. The station is. They boost and project the signals that the array here on the ground catches. If I don’t have a clear shot, they take the signal and bounce it off the relays until it reaches the Sector Guard.”
    “Damn.” Orriko was disappointed. It showed on his face.
    Thaxis watched Bael Hislar pat her mate on the shoulder. “There, there, Orriko. I am sure that there is a fight in it somewhere.”
    He reached up and took her hand, pressing a kiss to the interior of her wrist while Thaxis watched.
    Bael Hislar inclined her head toward Thaxis. “Good to see you again, Bael Norwen.”
    She disappeared, and Orriko sighed at the loss of her presence.
    Thaxis cocked his head. “You seem to be settling in well with your new mate.”
    “She is a handful, but she is a capable leader that the women and younger members of our clan look to for guidance.” Orriko’s voice was low, and Thaxis definitely felt a pang of jealousy for the happiness at the expression on the other male’s face.
    “Right. Well, based on the treaties that we have with your clan, you will provide us with half a dozen men, and we will trade it for…Ah!” Pain seared through the centre of his chest.
    “Thaxis? What is it?”
    His ears roared as an image came to him of a room full of Raiders pointing weapons at him and one firing repeatedly into the body of the woman in his dreams. He felt each impact as if it were burning his own flesh. “I have to go.”
    Orriko was on his feet, but Thaxis waved him off.
    Drawing on the power of his Heshi, Thaxis used the peculiar talent of his inner being to transport himself to the room he saw in his mind.
    He appeared behind the Raiders gathered around and kicking the body of his woman. That was about to stop. He grabbed two and transported them into the wall. Their bodies did not mix well with the metal.
    The next two received the same treatment. Fury boiled his blood, and he dispatched the next half dozen by reaching into their chests and ripping their hearts out via transportation. When his laboured breathing was the only sound on the station, he looked down at the woman with the white eyes and riot of blue and green hair.
    Three of the men were dead on the ground near the body, her guns were next to each hand. She must have come out with guns blazing and been hopelessly outgunned.
    Thaxis lifted her in his arms and felt her shudder. “Still alive!”
    He gathered the last of his energy and transported them back to his clan, outside the home of their healer. He raised his fist and pounded once on the door before he fell to the ground.
    “Bael Norwen!” Gathika looked down at him in shock.
    “Help her.” His expenditure of energy caught up with him, and he sat helplessly while Gathika and her mate brought his woman in and began to heal her.
    Once Gathika was working, Torrimak helped him up and into their tidy home. “What can you tell us about the injuries?”
    “Energy weapons that burned their way into her skin through her armour.”
    Gathika nodded. “That is what it looks like. Tor, help me get this burned suit off so I can see the damage. She is stable for now.”
    Thaxis looked at them, “Keep her alive, Gathika. That is an order.”
    The healer nodded, her white hair tumbling over her shoulders, “It will be done, Bael. You may count on me. Rest now.”

Chapter Two
    Kaia woke in a bed that bore no resemblance to her home tube. She looked around, and her motion brought a female figure to her feet.
    “You are awake.” The woman had snow-white hair, black skin that had a velvety texture and red eyes that should have been frightening but were, in fact, very kind.
    “Where am I?” She struggled to sit up and found herself incredibly weak.
    “You are on Ikanni. Our Bael brought you in with severe damage three