Rock-A-Bye Babies In Space: Purple People Series, #5

Chapter One

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Tristan: (A handsome Freijian ruler bred with leadership abilities)

Titi! You come out of there this instant! Tristan, the captain of Helian Six and the leader of this newly erected planet, Hesprii, roared.  

No.

No? Did his vexing daugh-ter just tell him no?

By all that is Freijian, you will exit that cabinet immediately! He growled.

No, Trish’n.

Trish’n? I mean, Tristan? Surely not. Surely she did not say what he thought she said. He sucked in his breath, appalled at the audacity of her calling him by his first name. You will address me as father!

No. Her voice was as low and growly as his—but as firm as her mother’s.

There had been a time when his roar would have made grown men quake in their boots. When females would huddle and cry as his growls echoed like roiling thunder through the sky. Nowadays, this wee purple bebee simply patted his head as if to calm him.

He’d do anything to have her pat his head now. But she couldn't do that from five feet into the ducts where he couldn't reach her and pull her out.

Squeezing by his side and purposely whacking him with his shoulder in the process, her best friend Reese smooshed through, crawling through the air duct also. Instead of grabbing her and dragging her out like a proper warrior would have done for his superior officer, Reese sat next to her and placed his little arm over her shoulders.

Now both purple bebbees glared at him.

You will both leave this germ-infested air duct or I will declare you pets! Now!

The two began humming.

Uncle Tristan? A small purple being cleared his throat. Tristan felt his brow soften. Tomlak was the eldest of the bunch and definitely the most helpful. He was truly a blessed being, despite coming from such an ugly, pale-skinned father and a shrew of a mud-haired mother. It seemed as if opposites attracted.

It was no wonder Titi and Reese were doomed. They had the highest intelligence, most attractive parents of all. Especially Titi.

Your father would be ashamed of you! He threw out to Reese before turning his attention to Tomlak. What is it, son?

The two smallest ones began banging the metal walls, singing loudly with one another.

Perhaps if you feed the rest of us a tasty snack—may I even suggest dessert? I’m sure the smells of chocolate would be enough to fill all the seats at the table, he said meaningfully. And then you could re-attach the grate to the ducts.

You are a genius, Tristan said, after staring for long moments that would have made a lesser man uncomfortable.

Tomlak shrugged. You have to think two steps ahead with Titi. She’s special.

And she corrupts Reese. He couldn't help tossing one more glare of disgust into the duct. Reese—the little traitor. Everyone else to the kitchens, then. We shall have brownies.

He wasn’t sure when it happened, but suddenly there were two small, equally smeared, brown-gooped faces enjoying the snack along with the rest. He caught Tomlak’s eye and disappeared for two minutes—long enough to screw the grate back to the wall. When he returned, the children were still giggling and laughing when he took his place. But now there was another seat open.

Next to his daugh-ter.

He took it.

Now all was quiet.

I think your wings are beautiful, he said softly. I love that you can fly. But you are such a small warrior and flying away from the adults can get dangerous.

No! Her mouth opened as if she wished to scream. He’d really hoped they’d broken that habit.

It would break my heart if something were to happen to you. Would you want me to cry?

She paused, mouth open. Slowly she closed it. Titi strong.

He shook his head. What if you were flying over the water and Reese saw? What do you think Reese would do?

Fly, too!

She looked over at Reese and the two giggled together.

Yes. And what if Reese was just a little bit bigger than you and his wing got torn by a branch that missed you but got him instead?

Titi held still.

He would plummet to the ground, screaming in pain, Tristan continued, his voice a whisper. And you are too little to fly him back home to safety. What if you decided to fly home and get some help? What if it got dark on the way home? You could get help, but then you can’t find Reese in the dark. What is he going to do all night, lost and bleeding and alone?

Titi’s lower lip trembled. Weese! My Weese. Her chubby arms wrapped around her friend as she sobbed.

You know I would protect you and Reese with my life, Tristan said, driving his painful point home. But there are rules as to why rotund babies can’t fly. Your wings are not as strong as the others. They are still paper thin. Your wings tire suddenly. If you’re high in the air when they do tire, you can crash down onto sharp branches. Someday, I’m sure your wings will be as strong as everyone else’s, able to carry your most disproportionate weight. But until then, it is important to follow the rules so I do not have to worry.

Da! There it was. The title he yearned for.

He scooped up his precious, purple, excessively-weighted small female, hugging her to him, and yanking along Reese in the process. Both of the young warriors buried chocolate covered faces into his shirt...and at that moment, he wished he had worn the atrocious crochet-wear that his sweet mate had made him.

Not that the crocheted garments were ugly, mind you.

They were simply uncomfortable.

But it would be nice if they had been stained by chocolate. Alas, it was not meant to be. A new idea struck and he brightened. Perhaps if he wore them while he changed his bebee-sun Hagan’s diaper...

The door to the training room opened. His first-mate and best friend, Bajoc rushed in.

You are not responding to your comm, he stated.

Tristan winced. He reached up into the general vicinity of the small button that adorned his ear and rubbed a chunk of chocolate from it.

Bajoc looked disgusted. The bastard. Half the filth covering Tristan was because of his offspring.

Bajoc looked down his nose when he spoke. I thought yours has learned to use the waste removal system units?

She has, Tristan snapped. How dare they always assume his Titi was slow-witted? "This is their food. Not her waste."

Hmm. The bastard’s voice was always condescending. Tristan would have to re-think that best friend status. Perhaps the lighter-skinned Kamau would be a better best friend. Plus, he was extremely ugly. It would make Tristan’s much more handsome features stand out to be positioned next to an uglier Freijian.

Used to be, he thought Bajoc ugly. Bajoc had a scar that draped across his face. But they’d since learned that females thought it was sexy. Yet the feminine persuasion balked at the males cutting each other further to create scars on the rest. Go figure. There was just no understanding a female.

In any case, an emergency meeting has been called.

Tristan stood abruptly, making the young monkees squeal with delight as they climbed higher onto his broad shoulders. Young, wispy wings fluttered for a moment before both children remembered their lesson. The wings magically pressed back into their folds of extra skin.

Perhaps that was why his daugh-ter was sturdy. It was just extra skin weighing her down. More so than most. He would have to teach her to do squats to strengthen her thigh muscles.

Warriors, disperse! Find an unpregnant female and ask her if she would please supervise the clean-up here. Explain to her that we have an emergency meeting. Damned if it didn’t seem as if someone was always knocked up.

Aye, aye, captain! With a salute, Tynon exited the room.

Here, take your own dirty kid, Tristan growled, grabbing Reese by an ankle and passing him off to Bajoc. He loved watching distaste rove across Bajoc’s face. His first mate had become prissy, for sure.

Bah. It was all those frilled shirts he wore. Lately, the large man even added a couple of adornments to his uniform. They were all aware the supreme commander—Krieckjan—pretended not to see.

I guess we will have to bring these two into the meeting, Bajoc said, his dark eyes accusing. It was regretful that Tristan had excused all the older children. They might have kept an eye on the two worrisome ones while the males attended their meeting.

He sighed. The commander probably won’t mind.

Swinging Titi onto his shoulders and feeling her chocolate smeared hands grip his horns made him wince. Probably the chocolate wouldn’t show against his darker skin color. Hopefully. He sighed. Nowadays, he was a father first and a warrior second.

When they entered the Helian Six vessel that was docked on the outer edges of their town, he saw that each member of his crew already manned their stations.

His third in command, Chastien, punched the button for the direct line. An automated voice came over the loudspeaker.

Check in log dot report. Enter identity and password.

Helian Six. Fallotrist-nine-one.

Go ahead.

The image of their leader came across the screen. The supreme commander looked good. Apparently, his marriage to the harpy agreed with him.

From the vicinity over his head, Titi waved her arms excitedly. Hi! Hi!

Good morning, my precious. Reese, son, have you been rolling in the mud?

Nuh, uh, Reese said, shaking his head. It’s shockolate.

It is...shocking, the commander said wryly. Helian Six, I realize you are all in semi-retirement, having accepted the position to run the planet instead of the skies. However, we have a situation that requires your expertise.

Ours? Bajoc’s voice sounded shocked.

Tristan elbowed him, rough enough to hurt, but not rough enough to jar the small warrior from his father’s shoulders.

Titi and Reese, I will require your silence, the Commander said sternly. No one is to know of this top secret assignment.

Okie doke, Reese said.

Yeah, Titi agreed.

A somewhat unstable black hole has opened up—it leads to the Milky Way Galaxy.

Milky Way? Why does that sound somewhat familiar? Bajoc asked.

The Supreme Commander grinned. It is your mates’ galaxy. Then we received a distress call from the Kadian Guardians, members of the alliance. A small, two-man shuttle was retrieving a suspect and uncovered a plot to attack Earth.

Our Earth? Tristan’s voice was a growl.

Yes. The commander’s voice was grim. He also loved the mates of their planet, and made it his business to remain the ambassador to Earth. Any threat that would take the Kadian Guardians to that galaxy was grim indeed. However, the higher-ups in charge of Earth were not to be trusted completely, having sold their own people, so they couldn’t be asked for help. Earth had a strange habit of demanding payment—if even for their own protection.

How in the world did they get there?

It was not easy. We’ve determined the black hole has opened between Mars—an unlivable sister planet—and Earth. It’s fresh, so we have about a week before it closes. You are the nearest to the hole.

Black hole traveling was dangerous. It could suddenly close, trapping a ship inside for eternity—or until it opened in another location.

Unfortunately, the two males suffered a loss of their ship. It is hoped their escape pod made it to Earth’s gravitational pull. If so, they have instructions to migrate to Torrington, Wyoming, of the U.S. sector. It is imperative that they are retrieved before discovered. If Earth officials find them, they could easily exert their barbaric customs of experimenting on others. You know, the probes and such.

Are they in hiding?

Fortunately, their species has disguise capabilities. They would be disguised as Earthlings. They might also have the language download, though we all know a lot of the nuances are lost in translation.

Yes.

The reason why I am sending you two, the commander said, is for a quick, no-nonsense retrieval. Should something go wrong and you are discovered, you would be considered a planetary citizen because of your marriage. But that is only to be used in dire emergencies.

It should be an easy retrieval then, Tristan said.

There is one small problem, the commander admitted. "The Kadians don’t understand the entire knowledge of the Earthling race. The intricacies of the language. Although closely related to us, the Kadians are a rather arrogant race. They could not be bothered to attend some of my more popular conferences in which I specifically taught deep understanding of Earthlings. Because of that, some explanations of the culture have gone