His Human Vessel (Zandian Masters 5)

What did she think he would do? He thought his genes unsuitable for a young. Would he want her to abort? Surely not. He’d probably send for her, to keep her under his medical care.

But that thought didn’t cheer her, either.

She didn’t want to be back in Daneth’s lab if he didn’t want her. It would be too painful. No, better to not tell him, or anyone, yet. She returned to the medical unit—little more than a tiny room with two cots and two cabinets full of supplies—and tucked the test results under the pillow on her cot.

~.~

Lundric rechecked the strap on Cambry’s helmet for the fourth time. They stood inside the hatch of the battleship, ready for their reconnaissance mission.

She stopped his hand, closing her smaller fingers over his large ones. “It’s on,” she murmured.

His lips tightened. “I don’t want you along.”

“We’ve talked about this five hundred times. You agreed. Rok approved it. Prince Zander approved it. I’m your partner. We go together.”

A muscle in his jaw tightened visibly. She reached up to touch his handsome face, the incredible male who, for some unknown reason, had decided she belonged to him. “I’m a warrior. Like you. That’s what you love about me. Now, let’s go get what we need.”

He stamped his lips over hers, giving her a hard kiss. She hoped it was a promise of what he’d do to her when they returned. Her mate was never gentle, but she adored his passion and rough lovemaking.

“Let’s do it.” He sat in the pilot’s chair and fastened his harness.

She slid in beside him, buckling hers.

“R

econ One clear for takeoff,” Rok said over the comms unit.

“All surveillance equipment activated and ready. Cloaking activated. Taking off,” Lundric spoke.

They flew in silence as he turboboost them straight toward Zandia. Long minutes ticked by, yet, when Lundric broke through to the atmosphere for Zandia, it seemed far sooner than she’d expected. He entered alongside several larger airships, using them as cover, though they had their cloaking up.

She drew in a breath at the sight. The planet had been decimated. Mining operations were apparent everywhere. Earth overturned into mountains of tailings, huge pits pockmarked the surface. Huge vehicles streamed like insects, moving dirt.

She saw no sign of a population. It seemed the Finn had not taken Zandia as a place to live— Clearly, it served as a resource to rape.

She glanced over at Lundric. His skin had turned pale, mouth tightened. “It’s sickening, isn’t it?”

“Horrible.” His voice sounded hollow.

“Rok, are you getting this?”

“We’re getting it.” Rok sounded equally grim. “Where is the capital? Can you swing around?”

Lundric changed the course of the ship, zooming around the arc of the planet for a different view. There, Cambry saw only the rubble of a destroyed city.

“It looks the same as the day I left,” Rok said. “They didn’t rebuild or clean up a thing.”

“Where do you think they live? I mean there have to be workers on the planet, right?”

“Look,” Lundric said, pointing at movement near the rubble. He expanded the image they were looking at.

Beings were camped everywhere in the rubble. In the twenty solar cycles since they took over, the Finn hadn’t rebuilt, they’d simply occupied the space like vagrants, setting up lean-tos, tents, and other temporary housing amongst the rubble.

Cambry enlarged the image more, wanting to see the Finn up close. “Ugh.” They were troll-like creatures with fat, round heads and mouths full of sharp, ugly teeth. They appeared to be the same size as humans, if not shorter, but stout and bulged with muscles.

“Turn on X-ray sensors,” Rok instructed.

Lundric did, and they saw a network of hollow tunnels beneath the earth. No beings appeared to be in them.