Colonial Commander Read Free Page A

quiet. I hear you have not yet found the Morin transport.”
    AshOR sighed. “They have some kind of cloaking ability. By the time we are able to detect their presence in a location, they are gone, and nothing of them is left. Nothing but destruction and devastation.”
    “Your second-in-command sent the report in. The planet Norad was totally destroyed?”
    “Yes. I believe the final count of survivors stood at thirty.”
    “Thirty from an entire planet?”
    “It’s a small planet, very primitive. Its natural resources were demolished and polluted. We will not be able to leave the survivors to rebuild; it is a dead planet and they have no way to defend themselves from predators like the Morins.”
    “So they will need to come back on the Katieran transport with the Earth females?”
    “Yes. As soon as the medics clear them to be moved I am transferring them over.”
    “Could you wait to do that until I arrive? I would like a chance to see the damage to the planet myself, and to interview the survivors.”
    AshOR frowned at the image of his older half-brother. “Why are you coming? Why not send someone else, why not another Katieran transport?”
    “I volunteered to come and escort the Katieran transport through the wormhole. You sound like you don’t want to see me.”
    “I just think you should be on Kiljor protecting your mate.”
    “Well that would be hard to do, considering she isn’t on Kiljor. She insisted on coming with me.”
    “TylOR, what in Kitana are you thinking, bringing your mate through the wormhole where the enemy is waiting to cause more damage?”
    “Are you saying that I cannot keep my mate safe?”
    “This is not about your ability to keep her safe. She is family, my new sister, and I don’t want her anywhere near the ugliness of what the Morins have done.”
    “It is that bad?”
    “Worse.”
    “I cannot just turn around now. We are already through the wormhole.”
    “Just be safe. Take no chances with my new sister.”
    “Are you okay? You don’t seem like yourself.” TylOR sounded concerned.
    “I am fine, maybe a little tired. What is your ETA?” AshOR knew he was behaving differently. He had been one of the leaders of the Colonial planet, having taken on the responsibilities after his father’s death, but it may have been too much too soon. Those responsibilities had been revoked when he kidnapped a female mated to a Katieran Prime thinking that he was protecting his people. He’d had to work his way back up through the ranks all over again. Then the Morins had attacked the wormhole and sent one of their transports through in search of Earth, and LarIS tasked him with the duty of hunting the them down and protecting the incoming Katieran transport. Now, having witnessed firsthand the cruelty that the Morins displayed toward those they encountered, he felt he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. 
    “We are twelve hours away.”
    “I will see you then.”
    “Get some rest, brother.”
    “Travel safely.”
    AshOR ended communications feeling even more stressed than before. His brother and new sister-in-law were on their way into danger, and he wished he could do more to protect them. He hated feeling helpless. He had a medic wing full of survivors from a dead planet. They had no homes to go back to, and no way to defend themselves. Then on top of that, he had to safeguard a Katieran transport full of vulnerable Earth females. The enemy was out there somewhere, waiting to cause more problems, and he felt like his hands were tied behind his back. He needed to find the Morins and stop them from causing any more harm.
    “Goddess help me.” He had never felt so powerless before. He was wound up tight, ready to explode. Now more than ever he needed to find a release for his pent-up anger and energy.
    He checked in with his second-in-command. Everything was quiet, with no sign of the Morins. He left the command center and began walking back to his quarters, passing