Bonus Content – The First Starfighter
Jamie
Alex’s warms fingers were entwined with mine when we walked into General Aryk’s office. I knew I was glowing. I felt amazing. Beautiful. And so deeply in love if I thought about it too much it made my stomach ache.
Even better, I knew Alex loved me back. In fact, true to his word, he told me about twenty times a day. It had been a week and I wasn’t tired of it yet. Probably never would be.
General Aryk’s assistant looked up as we stood before his desk. “Arturri’s newest Starfighters, here at last.” He comm’d the general who told him to send us in at once. “Go ahead.” He waved us past him to a closed door without bothering to look up a second time.
Alex opened the door and guided me inside with a hand at the small of my back. That touch made me all kinds of warm and tingly. It was the little things he did, every single day, that made me happy. Middle of a war, training missions every day, patrols, and I was the happiest I’d ever been. Until I saw General Aryk’s stern expression.
“Take a seat. Both of you.”
Alex made sure I was settled before taking the seat next to me. We turned to face the general.
“What’s going on?” Alex asked.
The general cleared his throat. “You did not see what I am about to show you.”
Okay. That was weird. At least, I thought so until the general activated a large screen on the wall next to his desk.
“Mia?” I leaned forward with a huge smile on my face. Yes, that was Mia, in the middle of a mission in the game, her avatar barking orders like a pro. She was so good. I’d forgotten how good.
The general turned to me. “You know this human?”
“Of course. We played the game—the training simulation—together.” I watched Mia and her smoking hot sidekick wreak havoc on screen until the entire thing ended in a giant explosion. “What just happened?”
The general walked toward the screen as the video changed. An activation button appeared on the screen and he placed his palm in the center.
At once, the image cleared to reveal Mia and her sidekick, who I had to remember was a real man, just like Alex, standing next to each other in an official looking building. When the general removed his hand, the sequence began, Mia’s hunk doing the talking.
“Do you accept this crest as a sign of our permanent bond? Will you stay with me, Starfighter? Will you remain at my side and fight with me to the end of our days?”
I held my breath as Mia’s avatar took her sweet time responding.
“Push the damn X button, Mia,” I shouted at the screen like we were watching a world championship soccer match. “Push it!”
The screen went black.
“What happened?” I asked.
The general looked pleased and pointed. “Give the system a few moments to process.”
I waited on pins and needles for long seconds before a large set of bright red letters filled the display.
Starfighter Mia Becker, Training Complete
“She did it.”
“About damn time. We need all the help we can get.” The general looked at me and I shrugged. “Lily will be right behind her, if she’s not finished already.”
“Excellent.”
A voice came through the comms straight into the room. “General Aryk, request permission to use Jump Gate.”
“Destination?” the general asked.
“Earth.”
General Aryk smiled. “Good hunting, Starfighter.”
“Thank you, sir.”
That was Kassius? The man, who I now realized was Mia’s hottie, was leaving to go get her? Right now?
Yes! “You are going to love Mia. She’s awesome.”
“Awesome.” The word sounded a bit humorous coming from the general’s mouth, but his good humor was short lived. “How many more Starfighters are close to completing their training?”
“You’re asking me? I have no idea. I know Mia and Lily and that’s it.” I studied him as he paced, seemingly irritated. “You mean they don’t tell you?”
“I am not part of the recruiting committee. I am an honorary Delegate only, and I do not think they want to me make plans for Starfighters that may never arrive.”
That made sense, but I knew my friends. “You’ll have at least two more, I can promise you that.” I reached for Alex’s hand and melted inside when he accepted my touch without thinking or hesitation. He was mine and I could touch him and hug him and sex him up whenever I wanted to.
“I hope they hurry.” The general looked me in the eye and I did not like the exhaustion I saw there. “We need more just like you, Jamie. A lot more. And right away. The fight with Queen Raya and the Dark Fleet is far from over.”
He was right, Velerion needed more fighters. But I had everything I needed.
I looked at Alex.
Everything.