Chief Radvar (The Chieftains of the Majuri Book 1) Read online

  “His head has swollen?”

  “It means he’s arrogant and full of himself. I guess there’s a gap in some of the Earth sayings and what your translator teaches.

  “There are so many, it’s hard to learn them all and I’ve heard new ones are added often.”

  “Our world is always changing and every generation wants its own lingo, sayings.”

  “I can’t wait to see how my brother reacts to the news that he’s going to be a daddy.”

  “You’ll know soon enough. I imagine everyone will.”

  Shay headed out looking for Radvar. She wasn’t surprised to find him on the bridge. It occurred to her he might try to stop her from going along on missions and she even considered putting off telling him. If she did, Talai would probably mention it and he would be one pissed of warrior. Approaching him slowly with her mind trying to decide how to tell him, she put her hand on his arm. He turned to look at her and waited for her to speak.

  “We need to talk,” she said.

  “I don’t think I like the sound of that,” he replied with a nervous chuckle. “Isn’t that famous last words between couples?”

  “Not always and not this time. I need to share some news with you,” she informed.

  “Can we talk here or is it private?”

  “It’s very private.” His eyebrow rose and he motioned her to his office. Sitting in his chair he motioned for her to sit where she liked.

  Shay took a seat and then a deep breath. “I’m expecting.”

  “What are you expecting?”

  “Okay we’re expecting a baby.” She watched his response carefully.

  He smiled slowly and then he laughed. “Thank the goddess, I suspected but I didn’t want to hope just in case. Are you sure?”

  “Talai confirmed. Everything seems to be fine.”

  Radvar got up and lifted her out of the chair. He gave her a bear hug. “You’ve made me the happiest male in the universe. I will take such good care of you. There is nothing you need or want I won’t find for you.”

  “Good because I want to go on the next mission.”

  “You realize that it’s too great a risk. Our son will be along for the ride wherever you go.”

  “You expect me to just sit around like a beached whale and do nothing all the time?”

  “No,” he answered carefully. “I’m sure you will find many things to apply yourself to that won’t have enemies trying to kill you and our son.”

  “What if it’s a daughter?”

  “Is it? That would be incredible, a little girl that looks just like my gorgeous mate. Males run through my family except for Talai. My desire is only for a healthy baby and an easy delivery.”

  “We’ll need to tell our families except for Talai since she already knows.”

  “A celebration is in order. We will bring up food, drink, and entertainment since we are here orbiting Earth. After the meal, we will announce our lucky fortune.

  “How are you going to get all that purchased and delivered?”

  “Maybe my lovely mate could handle that at well as getting anything she had to leave behind? Your team and a few of my warriors can go to and it can be flashed up once you get it. I also have a list of needed supplies that must be purchased or traded for that you can get if you wish. I’ve been told females love to shop. Talai will demand the right to go as well. It will be fun for you.”

  He did make it sound fun. She and the family members on her team weren’t given a chance to bring any personal items. Her sword and gun collections were still at her parent’s house unless they had brought them and she needed a way to feed her chocolate addiction because it would only grow worse now that she was pregnant. It was obvious Radvar was playing her so he could have his way, but if he was giving her something she wanted did that really count as a loss? Not in her book, she was still way ahead of Radvar in the struggle for control of their relationship and if he didn’t realize it, that was just better for her.

  Leaning in to give him a sweet kiss, she decided she would acquiesce. “I’ll give in this time, Sweetheart, but next time you better remember it. My team and Talai need to be told. And it’s off we’ll go.”

  He held her for a moment and a look of disbelief stole across his face before he hid it. “I’m happy this pleases you. Four guards will meet you and you will flash down together.” He kissed her and held her tighter before releasing her.

  It was time to get the shopping trip started. A message was sent to her team and she went to get Talai.

  “So tell me again what we’re doing and where we’re going,” Talai said.

  “We’re going everywhere. There are stores to buy out, personal items to pick up, and a feast to plan,” she exclaimed.

  “Radvar never lets me go shopping alone,” Talai said.

  “We’re not going alone. Four escorts and my team are going too,” she explained.

  “They’ll take the fun out of it,” Talai grouched.

  “Nonsense, we will keep them busy carrying things,” Shay said with a dangerous smile.

  “I can’t wait to see how this will work out,” Talai said as the rest of the team gathered wanting to know what was going on.

  “I will explain one more time. Everyone is getting a chance to pick up some of their personal items before we leave. Shopping also needs to be done and take the opportunity to buy a few extras before we go. Radvar has given us the responsibility of buying items to take to Jaded,” Shay took a breath and winked at Jade. “Is everyone clear on what’s going on?”

  Jules said, “We get to pick up our stuff and go shopping?”

  “Yes, and here come our four lucky helpers. Didn’t dress to blend in, did you?” Shay asked. The four were wearing their armor. No one would fail to recognize who they were and they would wonder what they were doing. “I think we should divide up into pairs to gather our personal items before we go shopping.”

  “Radvar didn’t say anything about dividing up,” said one of the guards.

  “Really? Did he tell you about this list from hell we’re supposed to fill?” she asked.

  “Yes, he did mention that” he replied.

  “Then we need to get with the program and time won’t allow one big party at each place we need to go. You decide which of your guards helps who, but we need to get on it.” Shay handed the guard who seemed to be taking charge the list of each place they needed to pick up personal stuff.

  “I am Herbett and I am in charge of these guys. Seggie and I will go with you, Plutos will go with Junior and Jules, and Davidos will go with Mike and Trevor.” It seemed her team was well known by Herbett except for her. It must be because all the time Radvar and she had spent making a baby.

  “Jade and I will team up and the rest will do as they choose. Let’s blow this joint!”

  The next thing she knew they were at her parent’s house. Herbett didn’t know how lucky he was until they went inside and he saw the weapons collections. A whistling noise came out of Herbett. “Are these weapons yours?” he asked.

  “Yes, they are my babies. I have containers for some of them, but we need to treat them carefully. The swords and knives are sharp enough to shave with and the guns should always be treated as if they are loaded even if they aren’t,” Shay advised.

  Herbett picked up a Samurai sword and almost drooled. “What kind of sword is this?” he asked.

  “It is a sword from Japan. Samurais used them in battle. That sword is about a thousand years old. It has a steel blade that is both flexible enough to resist shock and has a hard edge that can be made extremely sharp. Because of its age and historical value, I rarely use it,” Shay said.

  “It is beautiful and I am honored to help you pack this for travel,” Herbett said.

  Seggie just stood quietly with an awed look on his face. Shay went to pack the guns quickly in a plastic tub using padding to cushion them. Jade was packing her collection of daggers, throwing knives, and pocket knives. Shay directed Seggie and Her
bett to the scabbards and padded and zipped containers for the swords. Other than that, a suitcase of clothes and a box of mementos, jewelry, and two toys kept from her childhood was all that she felt couldn’t be replaced. Once everything was in a pile, Herbett called the ship and the pile was gone.

  It was time to move on to Jade’s place. She was more of a girly girl. Her collections were jewelry, crystals, collectibles, and she did have a small collection of personal weapons. Two bodyguard type guns, a shotgun for hunting, a few pocket knives, and some throwing stars that were as beautiful as they were functional. Herbett seemed relieved that even Jade had the family obsession with weapons. Everything, including four boxes of clothing, was piled up and flashed to the ship.

  “Now that we have that done, let’s start on the list first,” Shay said. They started at a large hardware shop and soon had a huge pile of items. Since the Majuri had no cash, Shay paid for it herself. There went the money she was saving for a house.

  “We can’t buy anything more without a source of cash,” Shay said.

  “Don’t you still have that plastic card you used to pay last time?” Herbett asked.

  “It’s not that simple. The card has a record of my personal funds. When I make a purchase, it deducts the amount. I’m nearly tapped out,” Shay explained.

  “Tapped out, like when you fight?” Herbett asked.

  “No, like when you have nothing left,” Shay described.

  “How do we get more of your Earth money?” Herbett asked.

  “You either work for it, sell something for it, or win it,” Shay explained. “All of those things will take too long.”

  Shay pulled out her wrist band and typed a message to Radvar.

  Need money to buy supplies.-Shay

  I will see to it.-Radvar

  It was a few minutes later when she received another message.

  Someone is coming to your location. He will pay for what is needed.-Radvar

  It wasn’t long after that when a short balding gentleman probably in her father’s generation appeared near them. He smiled, even though he was sweating and probably nervous.

  “Hello, I’m Shay,” she said but made no attempt to shake hands. Herbett did offer to shake and she caught him wiping his hands off on his pants.

  “I’m Carl. I’m an aide to the president and I’ve been authorized to go with you and pay for your purchases,” he informed.

  “What’s our limit?” Shay wondered.

  “A million,” Carl replied.

  Now that was a shopping trip and she intended to spend most of it. They were about to flash to an electronic store, when Jules, Talai, and Junior joined them. Moments later, everyone was present. All of them were transported to an electronic store. Shay was like a little shopping general, everyone was assigned a section and they gathered what they thought would be needed. There may have been a few extras thrown in, but they deserved an item or two. Next they went to a machine shop where they put in the order to have some items built to special specifications. They prepaid because they only had Carl for one day and who would try to cheat aliens with laser guns?

  A nursery was on the list and Shay ordered many plants, seeds, planting tools, and other assorted items. Once paid for they were gone in a flash. After the necessities were dealt with, they went to stores that sold gourmet items, food, alcohol, kitchenware, household needs, and she bought some baby items that would be needed for the babies that would soon be born on Jaded. She bought a dozen of each so no one would know these were personal items.

  Shay got Talai alone to speak to her. “What do you use for diapers?”

  “We have a very absorbent material made just for such a purpose,” Talai answered.

  “But is there enough when all the babies start to come? There’ll be a lot of them before the end of the year,” Shay observed.

  “Probably not, but we’ll come up with something. It’s not like there aren’t resources on Jaded.”

  “Okay, but if you can’t figure it out, you’re on diaper duty!” Shay threatened.

  Everything was loaded and they were almost ready to go. “Let’s go eat some Chinese food. Carl, I hope you’ll join us?” Shay asked.

  “I’d be delighted,” he accepted.

  It was interesting to introduce the Majuri to Chinese food. They seemed to like everything and were willing to try things that Shay never would. She got a cartons of food to go for later. It was hard to believe that she might never get to indulge in any of the foods and activities she’d always taken for granted. Things would never again be the same and it was like she’d never realized how permanent this change would be. Sure, Radvar said they could visit every year, maybe even more than once, but reality was usually different and while their children were small it would be harder to travel.

  If circumstances changed, it was even possible they might never come back. She was feeling a sense of homesickness and she hadn’t even left yet. It was possible she was hormonal even though she was barely pregnant. Everyone grabbed some packages and they flashed back to the ship. There was no way she would let her insecurities about leaving home ruin the new life she was building. Every human on this ship and even the Majuri who had lost their old lives without any choices, was probably going through moments of doubt. As a leader, she couldn’t give in to it.

  Embracing this new life, her mate, and her child was the right thing to do. She went to find Radvar and see what was going on with the new arrivals and the missions. It was just her luck he was on a mission now but one of the nice males on the bridge told her there were a total of 2000 humans in the hold now. That was less than half of the number they needed to leave. He also shared that they were now hitting target six and seven which would leave three more targets before they were done.

  It looked like Banon was treading slowly so Radvar was matching his pace. Shay just felt a need to hurry things along. She wanted to get what was needed and leave. She couldn’t get past a sense of approaching doom. Shay would just be glad when Radvar got back so he would alleviate the negative feelings and he would do it in such a delightful way.

  Bored out of her mind, she gathered her team and they went down to visit with the rest of the family and meet some of the new arrivals. It was as good a time to meet the people they would soon be living with and it was important to start building the ties of a community. The cargo bay was set up with the Majuri’s emergency shelters. Similar to tents, they were easy to set up and dismantle. They offered privacy and the materials insulated the occupants from both heat and cold. They came in a variety of sizes from a one person shelter to a ten person shelter.

  “Anybody home?” Shay yelled outside her parent’s shelter. Radvar had offered them quarters on an upper level but they had refused. Her father had said their military training had made it easy for them to adapt. Save the quarters for a civilian that needed them.

  “We’re in here. Come on back,” her dad’s voice hollered.

  Shay headed in with the rest of the family behind her. “How is everything going?” Shay asked.

  “Your boyfriend has taken on quite the undertaking. I’m not sure some of these people are suited for living in a colony,” her dad observed.

  “What have you discovered?” Shay asked.

  “We already have a small group of trouble makers and they are either ex-military or mercenaries. They’re already trying to steer up trouble. Luckily there are only about a dozen, most of them are men. They came in with weapons but they were promptly disarmed. It was impressive watching those warriors at work. I thought the problem would fade away, but it hasn’t. Now they are trying to persuade others to their cause through fear and intimidation. I interceded, with the support of a couple of warriors, but I don’t think it’s over,” her dad informed.

  “Radvar will deal with it when he gets back. They just need a return trip to Earth. Once they’re gone, the problem is solved,” Shay said.

  “I wonder what they’re trying to accomplish. These warriors ha
ve better weapons; they have no chance to win so why fight when you might be killed?” Jade asked.

  “It sounds like they don’t believe they’ll be killed because the Majuri haven’t shown us aggression. If they are violent enough, they will be harmed,” Shay said.

  “I’ll be glad when they get sent back. There’s just something about them that I don’t like,” her mom added.

  “Is anyone keeping an eye on them?” Shay asked.

  “With all the people out there it’s hard to keep track of anyone,” her dad pointed out.

  “Maybe that’s what they’re counting on. Have they made any attempt to leave this area?” Junior asked.

  “Not that I know of,” her dad answered.

  “I’ll be glad when Radvar gets back,” Shay admitted.”

  “It will be best if he handles it,” Mike agreed.

  The subject changed and they sat talking about who was with them and who was being left behind. There were many questions about the new planet and her parents thought it wonderful that it was named for Jade.

  “Why did you name it Jaded instead of just Jade?” her mother asked.

  “I didn’t want any confusion about if we were talking about Jade or the planet. The name also reflects all of our feelings about being sold out by our government,” Shay explained. “I don’t think they even took into consideration how people would feel about leaving the only home they’ve ever known. The government just felt that people had no value to a planet that was overpopulated and had limited resources. They just never expected that Radvar might choose people they didn’t want to lose,” Shay observed.

  “That’s been the problem with our government for over a thousand years, no foresight and no oversight. They don’t even see their mistakes in hindsight and claim them like an adult. Each one of them will blame the others even though their decision was unanimous. It was made from fear of the Dramites,” her dad said.

  He’d hit the nail on the head. Their government or rather their ex-government was reactive instead of proactive and fear was a great motivator. Radvar had great strategy and they caved in almost immediately. It looked like someone was trying to get more than they had bargained for by sending miscreants mixed in with the selected people.