His Human Possession (Zandian Masters 8)

She’d probably give herself a bellyache, but she didn’t care. What else was there to do?

Zander sat at the long oval table in what had become his war room. All his advisors sat with him, alert. Ready for battle.

This was it—the moment he’d spent a lifetime training for. Most of the males in this room had devoted their lives to preparing him for it. Having females in the room was altogether new, but with so many lives on the line, he needed his mate’s gift of sight. Rok and Lundric’s human mates were trained warriors now, and Taramina had taken a lead role with Erick’s diplomatic efforts.

Erick stood up to speak. “As most of you know, my sources report King Fluut continues to lose control of his empire. Very few Finnians linger on what’s left of Finn, their home planet—the toxins there are too strong after the last mining explosion. Fluut’s failed bid for Shanli seriously reduced his troops and weaponry. They are expected to pull out of that engagement by the next lunar cycle. We need to strike before they return to Zandia.”

Rok cleared his throat. “Strike where?”

Seke stood up and projected a hologram of the galaxy. He pointed to Shanli. “I propose a two pronged attack. We strike their fleet that’s residing in the airspace above Shanli, and at the same time we take out Fluut himself on Zandia.”

“Do we have enough ships for both offensives?” Rok asked. “I mean, I know what we have, but I don’t know what we’re u

p against in the Shanli airspace.”

“We will be outnumbered, but unlike the Finn, our ships are new and our soldiers fresh. They’ve suffered major losses. Morale will be low. It’s the perfect time to strike,” Zander explained.

Seke enlarged the hologram of Shanli airspace. “They have only one main galactacarrier left. It’s three times the size of ours, but that makes it slow and heavy. We park our galactacarrier here, in cloaking mode.” He pointed to a position behind the Shanli moon. “We stay in the gravitational pull of the moon and follow it around until we’re in perfect position. Then, we send a torpedo straight for the carrier. If all goes well, we won’t even use any of the small fighter ships.”

Rok nodded soberly. “Is this my assignment?”

“Yes,” Seke replied. “You’ll accompany Prince Zander. I’ll lead the Zandian invasion because I remember the layout of the capital better than either of you. I’ll need no more than one-third of the troops to sack the palace and eliminate Fluut.”

“And if they’re prepared for us?” Lundric, his Chief of Security asked.

“Considering the assassination attempt on Erick and Mina, they probably will be,” Seke offered. “All the more reason to strike now.”

“Who will remain here?” Lium, his tactical engineer asked.

“We’ll leave the females and young.” Zander looked at Rok. “Send over any of the humans on the training pod not fit for combat. We’ll consolidate here with a skeleton crew.”

Rok cast a glance at Lily. “You and Cambry should come here as part of the defense team. I don’t want you on the front line.”

Cambry, Lundric’s fiery red-headed mate, opened her mouth, but Lundric cut in. “Agreed.”

Cambry ignored him, appealing to Rok. “I can fly a fighter ship as well as any of your men.”

Lamira stirred beside Zander and he waved them quiet.

“You and Lily will be needed on this pod,” Lamira predicted. Her beautiful green eyes had the unfocused glaze they took on when she was seeing with her inner eyes.

A cold hook of fear ripped through his solar plexus. “Why?” he demanded.

Lamira stared unseeing out the window. Finally she shook her head. “I cannot see. They will lead something important here on the pod.”

Cambry didn’t appear convinced, but Lily, Lamira’s sister nodded.

He didn’t vecking like it. Leaving for war was hard enough knowing he might not return, but thinking his mate and young might be in danger while he was away flayed his chest open.

“Who will be in charge of defense here?” Lundric asked.

Zander hesitated. “I’m considering Paal, from my royal guard. He’s taken over security here since Lundric went to the training pod.”

Erick nodded. “He’s proven extremely capable.”

Lundric concurred.

“All parties will meet danger,” Lamira said.