Another Uoria Holiday: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Holiday Romance Read online

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  Another Uoria Holiday

  A Sci-Fi Holiday Alien Romance

  Ruth Anne Scott

  Contents

  Another Uoria Holiday

  *This Christmas special novella is NOT intended as a stand-alone. Start with Uoria Mates I and read this after Uoria Mates III. Since, this is the season for giving, I have you covered with the complete 10 Book Set of Uoria Mates I ;)

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  Another Uoria Holiday

  Chapter One

  Maxim watched as Nylek walked away from him so that he could get to a place quiet enough to allow him to communicate with his mate back in the Denynso compound. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ivy walk toward one of the large windows along one of the walls of the shuttle. Her hand rested on her forehead for a moment and then she leaned against the wall as if staring through the window. When he looked more closely at her, however, he saw that her eyes were closed and she was drawing in slow, controlled breaths. He walked to her side and rested his hand on her back.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  Ivy opened her eyes and straightened as she looked at him. She gave a weak smile and nodded.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “I’m just feeling a little sick.”

  Maxim stroked her back. He felt awful that his delicate, beautiful mate had been dragged into the middle of the turmoil that was going on around them. He knew that this was beyond anything that she ever expected that she would experience when she agreed to join her research partner on Uoria. The intention had been for them to continue some of the research projects that they had begun on Earth, and to further the research that was being done on Uoria. It was meant as only a short visit, something that would give her experience she could build a future career on, but that would only keep her from Earth for a few weeks. Within days of her arrival, however, Ivy knew that this was not going to be the visit that she had imagined. Instead she was swept into what was building into a tense and complex war, forced to join forces with the Denynso and other humans, as well as the Mikana, on a course that rushed them toward this moment.

  Distant and spoiled when he first met her, Ivy had changed dramatically in their time together. Now she no longer spoke of returning to Earth or showed her disdain for the planet and everything that she had been forced to experience. Instead, she had devoted herself to him and developed loyalty to the planet that had brought her to his side even when they were facing down incredible danger. She had become strong and defiant, prepared to do whatever needed to be done to resolve the conflicts that had been tearing Uoria apart for generations and restore peace and order among the species. Even when she looked at him with fear in her eyes, she was steadfast and committed. Now, though, it seemed that everything that was happening around them was crashing down on her.

  “Everything is going to be fine,” he reassured her. “We will get through this.”

  Ivy looked at him and nodded.

  “I know,” she said. “This is what you have been meant to do always and I’m proud of you.”

  Maxim ran his fingers back through her hair and looked into her eyes. He had never put much thought into others’ eyes until he met her. They had always seemed so much the same. Different colors, perhaps. Different sizes, different shapes. Beyond that, though, Maxim had thought little of what they could hold. When he met Ivy, however, he learned that there could be so much more to someone’s gaze. In her eyes he could see what she was thinking and feeling. He could see the love that she had for him and the bond that they shared. Without uttering even a single word she was able to express everything to him just through the look in those deep, beautiful eyes.

  Now as he looked at them he could see that there was something going on in her mind that she wasn’t telling him. Maxim assumed that he was going to see fear there, but the shimmer deep within them was something that he had never seen and he didn’t know what to think. He knew that she was afraid. She had every reason to be. What he saw in her eyes, though, went beyond just the fear of the creatures gathering outside of the shuttle as they sat on the unexplored planet and the complete unknown that stretched in front of them. Something more was bothering her, but she wasn’t willing to say it to him.

  “I’ve reached Theia.”

  The sound of Nylek’s voice stopped Maxim from questioning Ivy any further and he turned to face the warrior. Nylek approached them with the others close behind him, all of them staring at Maxim expectantly. Maxim knew that this was his moment. He had promised Ryan the war that the cruel, conniving man had wanted, the war that would protect Earth and Uoria and finish what Maxim’s family had started. Now was his time to make good on his word.

  “Has she started gathering everyone that she can?” Maxim asked.

  Nylek nodded.

  “Yes. The King is going to make an official decree. I told them that they needed to get into the orchard and find the vehicles as quickly as they can so that they can get to the kingdom.”

  The mention of the vehicles made Maxim scan the group of people in front of him. He looked from face to face and immediately realized that there were several missing.

  “Rain,” he said, “where is Jonah? He, Oro, and Azrael aren’t here.”

  “Ariella is missing, too,” Ivy said from beside him.

  Maxim glanced down at the ground. The Valdician guards who had taken over the shuttle lay dead at their feet, but he had no way of knowing if there could be more stationed in other areas of the shuttle, waiting for anyone who might have slipped out of the common room.

  “They left during the attack,” Rain admitted. “Jonah told me to resist, that we needed to stay inside the shuttle.”

  “Where did they go?” Maxim asked angrily.

  They were in an incredibly dangerous situation and he needed to know that everyone was together, was following the same plan so that they could remain in control. Rain hesitated for a few moments, then glanced toward the window of the shuttle.

  “I think that they went below deck to get the vehicle that we brought aboard.”

  “Their vehicle,” Maxim said softly, suddenly remembering the incredible technology that Rain and Jonah had designed. “You brought it with you.”

  Rain nodded. Suddenly there was a roar from outside and Maxim rushed to the window. He saw the vehicle streak across the sky and disappear among the shouts and screams of unknown creatures swarming the planet outside. Hope surged inside him. He knew that they were headed for Earth, following the course that they had intended before the shuttle was redirected and brought to Penthos. If they made it, they would be able to rescue the others and bring them back. With Pyra, Gyyx, Ty, and the others, they would be far stronger.

  He pushed away from the window and faced those behind him with
purpose.

  “We have to give them the most opportunity we can to get there and find the others,” he said. “If Ryan was able to connect to the shuttle once, he can do it again, and he might be able to communicate with the hybrids. If he finds out that Jonah and the others are on their way there, they won’t be safe.”

  “He has them,” Lynx said. “We already know that he captured them and is holding them because he wants you and Kyven. How are they going to be able to get them out?”

  “They’ll find a way,” Maxim said. “But if Ryan gets a hold of either of us, there’ll be no reason to keep any of them alive. We have to give them the best chance that we can.”

  “What do we do?” Kyven asked.

  Maxim looked at his brother.

  “We have to fight,” he said. “But we can’t just go out there and start a battle. That’s what they are expecting. We have to keep them distracted. If they don’t know how many of us there actually are or what we are capable of doing, the hybrids won’t be able to fight as efficiently. Ryan has trained them to be organized. We have to rely on the hope that if they don’t know what’s happening, they won’t know how to respond. It will at least buy them some time to get there and the others from Uoria a chance to get to us.”

  “We know nothing about this planet,” Lynx said. “How are we supposed to fight?”

  “I do,” Rain said. Everyone looked at her and Rain took a step forward. “It’s been more than 115 years, but I have been here before,” she said. “From the little bit that I saw, it doesn’t look like it’s changed much. It’s older, but that’s it. I can give everyone at least an idea of this area of the planet. Enough to get started.”

  “We’ll divide into groups,” Maxim said. “Rain will give each of us an area to focus on. Spread out and learn as much as you can about that area. Bring whatever weapons you have. If you encounter any of the hybrids, fight. When they’re gone, keep moving. We’ll meet back here at sunset.”

  Kyven reached down and pulled a sword out of the robes of the Valdician who lay dead on the floor. Blood was drying around the wound that his brother created. It was the beginning, the opening blow in what could be a long and devastating war. The others had left the shuttle and he looked up to find Emerie so that they could go. Rain had described an area of the planet behind the main compound of the prison where the hardened dirt was formed into hills, some of them honeycombed with tunnels. That is where they were to go, learn as much about the area as they could, and then come back.

  Emerie was standing close to the front of the common chamber, her hand touching the wall in front of her. He stepped up beside her and heard her whispering softly.

  “Just like the Maccabees.”

  “Who?” Kyven asked.

  He had never heard that word and wondered if it was one of the species that Emerie and the others of the Nyx23 team had studied or even encountered during their time on Earth. Even in his short time outside of the kingdom where he was born and raised Kyven had learned of so many more species that he had ever known existed. His mind was already grappling to come to terms with the hybrids that could come in forms that he couldn’t even begin to imagine, and the thought of yet another species sent it reeling even further.

  Emerie looked up at him, her lips parted slightly as if she was startled by his sudden presence by her side. She glanced back at the wall and he followed her gaze to see her fingertips rested on a panel built into the metal. The screen displayed a series of numbers.

  “This is what the date is on Earth,” she explained. She moved her fingertips down and ran them across portion of the display. “This says that it is the first night of Hanukkah.”

  “What is Hanukkah?” Kyven asked.

  “It’s a holiday,” she told him, the emotion evident in her voice. “If I was home on Earth, I would be making preparations to celebrate it at sunset.”

  “Why at sunset?” Kyven asked. “Wouldn’t that mean that most of the holiday was when you were sleeping?”

  Emerie laughed softly.

  “The festival starts at sunset, but it goes for eight nights. It’s called the Festival of Lights because of a miracle that lasted for eight nights.”

  “You said something about the Maccabees,” Kyven said. “What is that?”

  “Who,” Emerie corrected. “They were a family who banded together to fight against a massive enemy army. Even though they were outnumbered at least three to one when their army was at its largest, they were still able to defeat them and restore the temple that the enemy army destroyed. They were known for using guerilla tactics, sneaking around and doing the unexpected to take the enemies down.”

  “Just like us,” Kyven said.

  Emerie nodded and looked up at him, emotions swirling in her eyes so they looked like a storm brewing just beyond the glaze of tears.

  “I’m scared, Kyven,” she said.

  “I know you are,” he answered.

  “But I want to do this. I want to be a part of this.” She took a deep breath. “With you.”

  Kyven felt the power of those words settle deeply into his chest. He knew that it was difficult for her to say them and that the meaning behind them was far more impactful than they sounded. His feelings for Emerie had been growing more and more intense since he met her. Though they had gotten closer and she had seemed to be growing in her feelings for him as well, she had been reluctant to fully give in to them. He knew that she had left behind a husband when she joined the rest of the Nyx23 crew and headed on their mission to free the illegal prisoners on Penthos and that she had been struggling with the feeling that she betrayed him in some way by developing such an attachment to another man, even though it had been more than 115 years since she left. That one declaration, however, told Kyven that her heart was changing.

  He reached down and took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. She drew in a breath and took another look at the date on the display panel, then nodded. Kyven kept his hand wrapped tightly around hers as they started toward the door that led out of the shuttle. When they reached it he withdrew his hand and reached into the sheath at his hip. He handed one of the blades to Emerie. She took it reluctantly, but the way the handle settled into her palm and her fingers wrapped around it told him that this was not the first time that she held such a weapon. It was something that she was choosing to keep in her past, part of her existence on the rescue shuttle and then in their settlement on Uoria before the Covra came and locked them into place.

  Not knowing what could be waiting for them out on the searing desert planet, Kyven opened the door and they stepped outside. Everything seemed calm and quiet, but it was as if Kyven could feel the presence of the deathly trained hybrids prowling just out of view. The others from the shuttle had spread out quickly to their assigned areas and he couldn’t see any of them, but he knew that they were there, exploring the planet that had become their unintended destination and would be the grounds for war.

  Chapter Two

  “Rain said that the prison compound is huge, but as far as she knows it’s the only thing that is on the planet. While we are trying to get around it to get to the back we are going to be more vulnerable. We have to stay vigilant.”

  Emerie nodded silently, not looking at Kyven for fear of taking her eyes away from her surroundings. She had seen the shadowy silhouettes of the hybrids filling the horizon when they stood in the shuttle with Ryan taunting them. She knew that they were there, a countless army of creatures that they didn’t understand. They had no way of knowing what these hybrids looked like or what they were capable of doing. The skills and capabilities of the creatures that had been used to breed these hybrids were far-spread and powerful, and it was impossible to fathom what could happen when some of them were combined into the same creature. The possibilities of what could come of these hybrids was truly terrifying, but she didn’t want to show Kyven how scared she really was.

  “That’s right,” she finally said. “The
wall around the prison went so far that we weren’t even able to see the end of it when we first arrived. I remember what it was like to walk along that wall, just knowing that at any moment the Valdicians could see us. There would be nothing that we could do. We would be fully at their mercy if they approached us.”

  They had been walking for a few minutes when the prison loomed ahead of them. Emerie felt the breath catch in her throat. It was still difficult for her to believe that it had been more than a century since she first saw the illegal compound. The wall looked just as fearsome now as it had then. The lack of wind that created the stillness of the planet had prevented the stone from wearing, and though it was somewhat lighter from the constant exposure to the sun, it still looked just as impenetrable as when the Nyx23 group landed so many years before. To her it seemed that it had been little more than 15 years since the team had arrived to complete their planned mission. In reality, the blink of an eye that she thought she had lived on the day that the Covra had invaded the settlement had been 100 years, enough to completely separate her from everything that she had ever known.

  Now that she was standing on Penthos again, a planet that had no name when the research team had first identified that it contained an illegal prison compound run by the ruthless Valdician, she felt those years even more than she ever had. She would have thought that being back in the place where it had all began, where the lives of every member of the team had taken an unimaginable turn, would have reminded her more of her past and made her feel even closer to it. Instead, standing where she had when they fought the Valdicians made her feel more distanced from that existence than she had felt since arriving on Uoria. It felt like another lifetime, another version of herself. This filled her with a greater sense of focus and purpose. Instead of fighting for the prisoners who she didn’t know but whose justice and safety she felt a sense of responsibility to protect, she was now fighting for the planet that had come to be her home, the creatures that she knew and cared for, and herself.