As soon as Fizard sensed there was a search for him in the palace, he ran away as far as he could, with the support of some military friends. While Mirov escaped through the secret tunnel that led him right into Merko's hands, the captain Fizard and his soldiers stole a spaceship from the central harbor in order to depart and land at the Mutant Forest too. He thought that was the single place on planet Life where he would have the chance to be undetected, since he had already been trained in that jungle along with the commander and he thought he still knew the woods like the back of his hand. He intended to stay there until things calmed down in Zador's court. So, he gathered some trustful men and formed a small army of renegades that would land in sector 13, one of the most feared of the entire planet.
Once the spacecraft prepared all procedures to land and the fugitive and his army got there, they thought they were safe at last. What they hadn't imagined, though, was that bionic robots, half-human and half-machine, watched the new inhabitants' arrival and prepared to attack them.
Reptiles almost eight yards long with sharp teeth also noticed the new visitant's arrival.
"Sir, I see some luminous dots moving in our holographic radars", the pilot warned him. "I wonder if they are Merko and his men."
"I don't believe it could be them, they must still be trying to capture Counselor Mirov. He's their main goal. Study the moving object's coordinates and show them on the main screen."
Fizard saw five creatures going after his spaceship. He focused on them and realized they were monstrous cyborgs with four legs. They made a big noise with each step and the floor shook under their feet. The officers were scared.
"Let's get out of here. Procedures to take off now!" The captain said to the pilots.
But then, one of the cyborgs jumped and grabbed the spacecraft with its claws, making it lose balance. The crew was frightened.
"Make use of the protection shield and create a field of sound waves to keep them far from us," said Dargan, a soldier that had been trained by Merko and was now also a fugitive.
When the sound waves field was on, the creature took its claws off the ship and put them over its ears trying to protect itself from the deafening vibrations. But as soon as they got rid of that one, another one came into the scene.
"Dargan, bring three more men in arms and get rid of those monsters!"
"Yes, Sir!"
He teleported along with three guards and they started shooting the invaders. Then, he aimed at the one who hung from the vehicle and shot it in the head. The monster fell and its head split from its body. It was dead. Then, the other cyborgs attacked them with their sharp teeth and ripped out one of the men's arms, splashing blood all around.
The wounded fighter still tried to punch him down with his remaining arm, but he couldn't get rid of the creature. The other soldiers were busy trying to save their own lives and could not do anything when the cyborg got up, stood on two legs and devoured the guard, ripping off his flesh.
While they watched in despair the strength of the monster that had killed the soldier, a giant reptile like a dinosaur attacked a man that had just cut one of the cyborgs' flesh with a laser spear. Before he could think about reacting, the reptile bit his head and swallowed it. Then, his body dropped to the ground. The wild animal grabbed it with its teeth, shook its head from one side to the other, as if fitting the corpse of its prey into its starving mouth, and swallowed what was left of the officer.
"Let's go back to the spaceship. There are too many of them and we've had two losses so far", Dargan said to the other, when he saw the strength of those creatures.
As soon as they embodied inside the spacecraft, he asked the captain: "Can I use the ship's weapons to dematerialize them, Sir?"
"I won't be necessary. I'll stun them with a high-frequency vibrating sound-field that will make them take long to recover themselves. We shouldn't kill them, Dargan. They may be useful in a near future."
As planned, the sound wave weapons released waves that made the enemies lose their balance. Some cyborgs searched for support on the tree trunks so that they didn't fall down. And the reptiles bumped into each other in chaos.
The creatures were stunned for enough time so that Fizard and his fighters could get out of there.
"Let's go to sector 13's base, lieutenant!" He told the chief pilot.
In the deepness of the woods, there was a military base built underground. It had three floors and had been abandoned many years ago. It was there where Fizard and his six soldiers settled and they would wait for the opportunity to go back to their families. Meanwhile, they had to wait for things to calm down. Survival was everything that mattered now and it wouldn't be easy.
***
When Merko returned from his mission, Sivoc went to him and asked:
"Were you able to imprison the captain, or at least, do you have any idea of his whereabouts?"
"No. I bet he and his men ran away to the worst part of the Mutant Forest, where I once trained them. It won't be easy to find them since I myself taught them how to hide and survive in that inhospitable place. However, we can consider that the fugitives are already stuck in the place where they hide. It's not easy to survive there and they will go through a hard time. We can go after them when things calm down here, but now we still must focus on what matters indeed: saving the Princess."
"You're right. Let's check if everything worked well with the boy and the Princess."
"Sure. I have my reasons to wish them both well," the commander said following Sivoc to Nicholas' room.
* * *
The head surgeon got close to king Zador, who watched his child rest in the hospital bed.
"Your Majesty, I'm here to tell you that the transplant was a success and, according to the pre-surgery tests, I can testify that, in a few weeks, the Princess will be recovered and healthy in totality."
"Thank you very much, doctor. You have no idea how happy I am. I have already lost my wife and I couldn't lose my daughter!"
Some days later, the girl was taken to the palace and, in a few weeks, she started to heal. The doctors were careful to guarantee that she had no contact with any antigens until her immunologic system was restored in entirety. Everything led everyone to believe the procedure had been a success, and the princess would be healthy again at last.
When Nicholas was still recovering from the surgery, Zara went to the hospital to see him. As soon as she entered his room, she asked the nurses to leave them alone. Since she was a doctor, they agreed at once. There were some guards in the hallway to protect the boy and to keep their promise to take him back in safety to Earth.
Mirov and Radof were in jail, but no one knew about captain Fizard's whereabouts, thus he was still considered a menace.
Although the earthling was still weak, recognized Zara. She approached him and kissed him on the forehead.
"How is the Princess?" he muttered. "Did we do it?"
"Yes, we did. Thanks to you she's safe and sound. Thank you, my love. For coming here and for helping a princess you didn't even know."
"I'm very happy it worked well. I'd do the same for any other person, let alone a sick child and a request of yours. What about the baby? How is he?"
"We are fine. It's a baby girl!"
Nicholas smiled, happy, and put his hand on her stomach.
"Zara, I have something to say. I don't know if we should be together. I was very upset that you planned to be a mother without talking to me."
"Understand, Nick. We needed to save the princess and it would only be the stem cells from the placenta. Forgive me... I love you more than anything in the Universe. I want to be happy by your side.
"But would they allow you to go to Earth with me?"
"I don't know. The law only allows for missions."
"I will speak to the king. I think he will allow it."
"You're a lot bolder than when I met you."
"Nick, settle down now. We'll talk calmly about our daughter later. I've asked Counselor Kenan's and the King's permission to take you back to Earth claiming to justify your disappearance with his family. And when we get there, I'll find a way to be with you for the rest of our lives. I'll say goodbye to my family here, but I want to come back to visit them one day. I want our child to be born on your city. If she's born here, they will find out you're the father, and I'll be punished for that. Counselor Kenan will help us. He has planned the original mission and he knew about the risks. My belly is still small and I've gained little weight so, nobody will realize I'm pregnant. Did you notice that?"
She turned around so that her lover could see her. He looked at her from head to toes.
"I love you. You're the most beautiful mother of this planet and of mine. I'll take good care of you and I'll be an excellent father. I promise you that."
The earthling's life had a new meaning now, and his passion for Zara and his parental love filled his heart with happiness.
"I'll take care of both of you too!" she said with a smile.
Zara left the room and went to her chambers to rest a little. It took Nicholas a few more days to recover in full and, when he was quite fine, he walked along the palace to see it better.
That was when he stumbled into the commander, who had been waiting for a good opportunity to get close to Nick.
"Boy, how have you been? I see you've recovered from the surgery."
"I'm very well. The transplant was a success and you had no need of taking me from Sivoc's team. By the way, they are kinder than you, Sir", he said, annoyed with Merko's methods.
"I'm sorry, lad. It's my military way of life. I'll try to be kinder from now on. I hope you forgive me. I also want to thank you for saving my life.
"It was my duty and as everything worked out in the end, I think we can forget about the past and try to be friends."
"I'm glad you think so because I already consider myself your friend, especially now that you're the most important hero on planet Vida. I feel obligated to protect him. But... I need to tell you a secret."
"A secret?" Nícholas was very curious. "You can speak, sir. I'm listening."
"I already know about Zara's daughter and I want to tell you that I will be her grandfather."
"No one ever told me you were Zara's father. So, you will be my father-in-law... I think it's cool!"
"Nothing like that. You are my son. The bracelet your mother gave you was mine and it has my initials engraved in our lifean language. You can look inside it."
Nicholas removed the bracelet and saw the letters. Merko showed him proud. But he was in disbelief.
"I met you mother, Lorena, during one of my missions on Earth and we dated for some time. It has happened 23 years ago in your era. And..."
"What do you mean, sir? I see... So, you believe it's time to make jokes... It may be because of the happy atmosphere of the palace. Ok, go on and tell me some more jokes!"
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