“Bragan,” Seth whispered. “He did it. He blew it up to keep the Pilgrims from getting it.”

“Can you give me any more information than that?” Jax asked. “I got a message a few weeks ago from some woman saying you were trapped. She included some coordinates, and told me to bring a surgeon.

Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, but that’s how we found you so quickly. Otherwise you would have died.”

“That was Calla,” Seth said. “Can I have some water?”

“Um, let me ask” Jax said. “Can he have some water?”

“Of course,” said another voice. “Let me help him with it.”

Seth felt a straw touch his lips, and he sucked the water down greedily. His throat felt like sand paper.

“Don’t drink too much at once,” the voice said.

“I’ve got to tell you what happened,” Seth said finally. He tried to raise a hand, to grasp Jax, but he couldn’t move. “We’ve got a problem. There’s this group called the Pilgrims. They’re planning an attack against us.”

“I know,” Jax said. Seth felt his friend’s hand touch his own lightly through the bandages. Jax suddenly sounded very tired. “They’ve already moved against us. You’ve been out for nearly two weeks, Seth.

They attacked several days ago.”

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“What?” Seth whispered. “I don’t understand.”

“When we found you, you were hardly alive,” Jax said, his voice filled with strain. “We put you into stasis immediately. You never would have survived, otherwise. We took you directly to the station hospital, and you’ve been in and out of surgery and regeneration chambers ever since.”

“What about the attack? What brought it on?”

“As far as we can tell, they decided that the explosion was some kind of sign from their leader,” Jax said.

“The Celestial Pilgrim?” Seth asked.

“I don’t know what they call him,” Jax said harshly. “He’s been dead for a thousand years, but the bastards still think he’s talking to them. They attacked from small bases throughout the asteroid field.

There were even some of them living on Discovery station. In fact, that old bitch, Jennings, was one of them. They killed nearly a hundred people before we managed to stop them. She escaped, by the way.”

“I was trying to let you know how dangerous they are,” Seth whispered, sorrow washing over him. How many of his friends were dead? “I’m sorry I didn’t get here in time to warn you.”

“We can still use whatever information you have,” Jax said with feeling. “There are thousands of them still out there. Hunting them all down will take months.”

“It’s time for Commander Seth to go back to the regeneration chamber,” the other voice said.

“Commander, I’m going to give you some medication to make you sleep now.”

“Take care, Seth,” Jax said quietly. “They say you’ll be ready for regular duty in about a month, but I’ll get some of the intelligence specialists in to speak with you the next time you wake up. We need to know everything that happened, everything you’ve learned about them...”

Jax kept talking, but Seth could no longer understand what he was saying. He tried to ask him to speak louder, but the darkness was too much. It was time to sleep again. Seth let unconsciousness wash over him. To do anything else would have been too exhausting.

Part III: The Sanctuary

Six Months Later

Chapter 13

Bitch.

Seth lifted his glass of bakrah and took a long swig. The lovely blond sitting in the booth beside him reached over and tried to fondle his leg, but he pushed her hand away. He didn’t want her, he wanted Calla—six bloody months since Jax had rescued him from the asteroid, and he hadn’t been able to think of anything else. It was killing him. With a frustrated sigh, he gestured for the woman to leave him alone.

Calla’s presence was with him always. the smell of her hair, her smile. The feel of her tight opening around his c**k and the little noises she made when she came. Was she making those little noises for Jess now? Seth clenched his fist around the glass, his vision clouding over with black rage.

Bitch.

She’d left him to die, and now she haunted his every step. He could hunt her down; he’d thought about it a thousand times. But what would be the point? She didn’t want to be with him, and he didn’t want to be with her. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself. At night, though, he ached for her touch...

It had been a hard six months. He had spent the first seven weeks recovering from his injuries, a process made more difficult by the constant stream of Saurellian intelligence analysts sent to pick his brains for information on the Pilgrims. Then he had joined his brother warriors in the fight. They were successful and the rebellion was over, at least for now. But casualties had been heavy on both sides, and the Pilgrims were still out there. They were hiding, licking their wounds and preparing to fight again.

Once upon a time, Seth had found the thought of new battles and new enemies exhilarating. Now he was simply tired.

A whooping cry came from across the seedy tavern, startling him out of his thoughts. Seth looked up at the source of the noise with little interest. Jax and the others were excited, slapping each other on the back and laughing. Whatever it was, Seth didn’t care. He drained the rest of his glass, threw a credit down on the table and got up to leave.

As he made his way across the room, Jax caught sight of him and bounded over, literally leaping over a table to get to him.

“Seth, I have great news!” Jax yelled, grabbing his arm. Seth shook him off, disinterested. “No, you need to hear this! Sit down.”

Realizing he wasn’t going to get rid of Jax that easily, Seth resigned himself and dropped into a chair.

“What is it?”

“Something wonderful has happened,” Jax said. His face was flushed with excitement, and something else. Hope? “You’ve heard of General Nikolas Tresky, haven’t you?”

Seth nodded tightly. Tresky had been among the leaders who negotiated the truce with the emperor. He had a solid reputation.

“Well, several years ago, before the war started, Tresky met a woman during a diplomatic mission to the Imperial court on Tyre, the capital planet,” Jax said excitedly. Seth glanced at his time piece, willing Jax to go away. He had no interest in the younger man’s stories. “He had a brief affair with her. I guess he was never really able to shake the thought of her, and after the war he hunted her down. Guess what he found? She had a child by him, a girl no less, and the baby is Saurellian! He found a life mate who wasn’t Saurellian!”




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