down the ramp and into the bay.
Ami, Marcus, and Seth followed.
Taelon gave her hand a squeeze. “Welcome to my home away from home as you Earthlings say.”
She smiled, trying to slow her racing pulse. Her heart slammed against her ribs so violently she was surprised it didn’t wake the baby.
Taelon led the way to a door at the far end of the docking bay.
Boots clomped behind them as the Yona soldiers disembarked and followed.
Taelon pressed his palm to a dark rectangle on one side of the door, then typed in a code.
The door slid up without making a sound.
“A security measure?” Seth asked behind them.
He nodded. “To ensure anyone who manages to dock without our permission can’t obtain access to the rest of the ship.” He strode forward down a long hallway about as wide as one might find in a high school. Other hallways branched off to either side.
Two men rounded a corner and walked toward them, speaking Lasaran. As soon as their eyes fell upon Taelon and the rest of them, the men gasped and stopped short.
“Prince Taelon!” one exclaimed.
Eyes wide, both bowed.
When they straightened, the other blurted, “Princess Amiriska!”
They bowed again, then erupted into rapid Lasaran speech as they hurried forward.
Heads poked around corners farther down. Eyes widened. Then bodies flooded the hallway as men and women—all wearing different versions of the same uniform—raced toward them.
Taelon smiled and shook arms with the men, nodded to the women.
All were clearly overjoyed to discover he and Amiriska were alive and had returned.
Lisa eased back to stand beside Marcus while brother and sister greeted their people.
“Speak Earth English, please,” Taelon said with a laugh as he reached back and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her forward once more, “so our lifemates can understand.”
More gasps filled the hallway. Everything went silent. Then the word lifemate whispered through the small crowd, passing through them like a breeze through trees.
Lisa swallowed when all eyes turned to her, then dropped to the baby.
Exclamations in Lasaran filled the air.
“We must speak to the king and queen,” Taelon said, gently pressing forward through the throng. “Then I will gather you all together and greet you properly.”
The men and women parted to let them pass.
Lisa couldn’t help but feel a bit self-conscious as Taelon escorted her through the ship. The men and women they encountered all greeted Taelon with the same wide eyes and smiles, full of relief and excitement as they bowed. Once they straightened, they glanced at Lisa and the baby swathed in the sling’s fabric, then the toddler staring back at them from Marcus’s sturdier carrier, and stared with what she thought might be awe.
Sorrow rose, eclipsing her nervousness. Some of them looked as though they had never seen an infant before. A few started to reach out and touch the baby’s head, tears welling in their eyes, then pulled their hands back as though propriety forbade it.
Her steps slowed, then halted altogether. She glanced up at Taelon. “Have they never seen a baby or a toddler?” she whispered.
He shook his head. “Children are so rare now that few have the opportunity unless they live in a city that still has functioning schools.”
That was so damn tragic she wanted to cry.
After striding through an endless series of hallways and taking a ride in an elevator, they stopped in front of a wide door that—like the others—had no knob.
Taelon placed his palm on the sensor beside it. The door slid up with no sound, disappearing into the frame. This time her eyes widened as he led her onto what must be the bridge.
Several Yona soldiers manned high-tech-looking stations. On the far wall was what appeared to be a window that offered a truly amazing view of the stars and a close-up view of the moon.
The Yona soldiers’ expressions remained stoic as they all rose and offered Taelon and Amiriska a bow. Not one of them expressed the joy or relief the other crew members had.
Did these guys really feel no emotion?
She couldn’t imagine it.
Taelon frowned and turned to Ari’k. “Where the srul is my crew?”
Not one Lasaran manned the bridge.
“I dismissed them,” Ari’k answered.
“Why?”
“Article 65228379, Section 4. As head of the royal guard, I am granted leave to seize command of the ship if I believe the crew is not acting in your best interest.”
Taelon’s mouth fell open. “You commandeered the ship?”
“Yes.”
“Where the srul is Jamis?”
“I dismissed your second-in-command and locked him out of all systems.”
“Why?”
“He agreed with the king and queen. Instead