Project: Adapt - Achieve: A Space Fantasy Alien Romance (Book 2) Read online

  Z’fir pulled his gaze from me and spoke up. “You stated there would be a reward if we brought Selena to you right away and kept her safe and healthy.”

  “We request assistance to find a planet for us to settle on,” V’dim finished, his eyes still focused on me.

  “Don’t shame Selena for telling me,” Zirene snapped, his voice laced with authority. It caused the room’s focus to shift to him. “She asked me for a wish earlier before everyone came together.” He paused, trying to soften the hardness in his voice. “She asked me to help you find a planet, so the Destiny wouldn’t continue to roam aimlessly once we finished our business here.” He glanced toward me. “What she doesn’t know is the place I built for her over these past years would also be perfect for your needs.”

  “It can’t be…”

  “Yes, Selena. Our dreamscape world is based on a real place. All those times I took you traveling along the island and asked you about your opinion on everything? That was my way to find out what you liked and what you thought I should build where. As my Seedbearer, I needed to give you something of huge value and elaborate in detail. I am giving you the water-based moon that circles Lunkai, the capital planet of my star system. She is yours to do with whatever you please. Currently, it houses a gem mining team, a specialized military academy, along with my office when I am visiting between missions, housing for civilians as you wanted it, and your royal property. There are three habitable islands that could house a population of about one and a half million before it becomes strained.”

  Standing, I leaped over the back of the lounge chair, and stopped before him, unable to believe the news as he watched me in shock.

  “It is too much.” I murmured, trying to search for the first sign he was joking.

  His eyes softened as he wrapped his arms around me, tucking me into his bare chest. A rumble escaped him as he tightened his hold on me.

  “I am the Second Prince of the Aldawi Empire. If I didn’t give you something of such value, others would think I was trying to insult you. The moon is yours. The gem mine itself can provide enough funds to build whatever you want and fund the community’s needs. All you have to do is name it when I sign it over to you.”

  “I don’t know anything about managing something—especially not a moon!” I exclaimed as my hands gripped onto the fur on his chest.

  “I already thought about that. My other half-brother, Vagren Ayvar, would help as your elected enforcer. He has been in charge of organizing the moon and supervising everything. He is being paid to manage the moon how you see fit. Your orders are final, and only the Sovereign, Royak, or I can override it.”

  I pulled my face from his chest. “You truly have been planning everything.”

  He brushed back my hair with his paw as he smiled down at me. “Only the unknown makes me uneasy. Now, what are you going to name your moon?”

  “Destima. I once read it somewhere. It meant to love across the stars in some butchered sense. I thought it was pretty.”

  “Then, it shall be named Destima.” He pulled his gaze from mine and studied the Circuli in the room. “What are you planning on doing with them?”

  Turning around in Zirene’s arms, I looked at the other princes.

  “Remember when I said you guys were thinking about the future wrong? That you could promote someone else to be the leader or change how to govern your species? If you settled on Destima, would you give up your leadership to Zirene’s half-brother Vagren and me? The moon would be under my ownership, but it could become the sanctuary you wanted. The small number of nestqueens you have could settle and start families. I am sure after some trial and error over the next few years, we can settle on what to do with any improvements you may need. But for now, would that suffice?”

  Suddenly, all of the Circuli within the room scrambled to the floor, kneeling their foreheads to the ground.

  “We swear ourselves to you, Selena. And to your clan. We were renounced by our society and were explorers, hoping to find a new beginning,” V’dim announced.

  “Now the Stars and the Fates have answered us, and we shall serve you, your clan, and the Aldawi Empire,” Z’fir swore.

  They baffled me. I felt uncomfortable by their display as both of my nestmates joined their comrades. I was just giving them a part of the gift Zirene gave me. It would feel wrong to have a home to go to and have them part ways, not knowing when they would have a place to their own. Especially after they spent all these years searching and did not find anything to fit their needs that wasn’t already claimed.

  “Get up, all of you. There is no need for this.” They all glanced up, confused by my reaction. “You guys broke the first rule of the room. Seriously, get up. If you are so thankful for this, then help me come up with infrastructure for the Destiny’s crew. I am lost when it comes to everyone’s needs.”

  “We could use the dreamdome to plan. I can relocate enough dream-engineers to have everything built by the time the Destiny arrives. It would take ten days. That would give the princes time to organize where the crew would stay.”

  “Dreamdome?” I asked, confused.

  “It is something Aldawi use to build blueprints in their dreamscape, along with other things. Dream-Engineers take the blueprints and enter them into a fabricator, which takes a fraction of the time needed to build the designed object. The only restriction is the planner's imagination.”

  “How is that possible?” I asked, unable to comprehend the capabilities needed to do such a thing. If the Aldawi had this power, what stopped them from taking over the whole galaxy? Why did they allow minor species to continue like the Circuli to live in their territory?

  “Aldawi technology. Something no other species has in CEG. They keep trying to steal it but are never successful. The Aldawi are the only species with the ability to dreamwalk—other than you, Selena,” Royak explained.

  “And you have a dreamdome here?”

  Zirene nodded and tilted his head toward the doors behind him.

  “The Royal Aldawi Commons has the only one available on the space station. It is through those doors. We could enter it now and make plans.”

  “Who would watch our cubs?”

  “Vikvez, Pavryn, and I can,” Royak volunteered. “If there are multiple powerful Aldawi in the dreamdome, it can cause issues with getting things mapped out since they can all effortlessly control the dreamscape—even unconsciously. This is between you, Zirene, and the princes,” Royak chuckled. “Besides, I plan to visit often.”

  “Do you even know how to take care of cubs? I thought males typically aren’t around females and their cubs?”

  Royak glanced at Pavryn as Vikvez answered, “If the male has a Seedbearer, he can take the cubs from her to raise once they are weaned. Royak may not have the experience, but I have aided many high-ranking males in taking care of their newly acquired cubs until they are old enough to have a hunting mentor and go to the academy. That is where Pavryn comes in. Between the three of us and the supplies you have in this room, we won’t fail to care for your cubs. They are the future of the Aldawi Empire, in one form or another.”

  His reasoning was sound, but I hesitated, realizing this was the first time I was consciously leaving my cubs behind with someone outside of my clan. I knew Zirene trusted them, which helped ease my anxiety. My excitement trying something new—which sounded amazing—overrode my doubts. I hoped the cubs behaved while we were in the dreamdome.

  “I trust you. It is just my motherly instincts kicking in.”

  All the Aldawi males laughed loudly. I watched them in shock, along with the rest of the room.

  “You are funny, Selena. An Aldawi female with new cubs would be highly aggressive and wouldn’t even allow any of us near them or their cubs. You have been tame—even with your outburst earlier,” Zirene chuckled. “Not that voicing your feelings to us was uncalled for. Even other females in other species wouldn’t allow this many males around them at this vulnerable time with newborn of
fspring. You are making everything easier on us by being as relaxed and understanding as you are.”

  “That is because I haven’t had the chance to sit down and process everything,” I shrugged.

  “Let’s see this dreamdome of yours.”

  Chapter Nine

  Selena

  “Lie back, close your eyes, and relax. Send your mental threads to me, and you will fall into a relaxing sleep as I guide you through the dreamscape,” Zirene explained calmly.

  I followed his instructions and laid back in the massive chair—which seemed as if it would eat me alive—and closed my eyes. I willed myself to relax. I knew what to expect and trusted Zirene with the procedure. It was surprising to hear that Zirene would accept all the mental threads from everyone but me, at the same time. Xylo explained that other species had other forms of telepathic abilities, and many of them were more powerful than the Circuli. For Zirene to accept the mental threads from both princes and Xylo—who were among the most powerful members of the Destiny—along with Odelm and the three healers, he had to have a very powerful mind, especially if he was going to take all of us into the dreamscape world together.

  Suddenly, my consciousness slipped into a blackened space before it turned into the dreamscape world I had known for the last nine years.

  It was a tropical paradise filled with a kaleidoscope of colored plant life, which thrived under the bright yellow sun in the clear blue sky. The sounds of lilac-colored waves crashing onto the white-sanded shore brought peace to me as I leaned against the stone railing of the villa’s porch overlooking the island.

  I didn’t have to wait long for the others to appear as, one by one, their presence filtered in moments before they arrived. First Xylo and Odelm, followed by V’dim and Z’fir. As they inspected their bodies and each other, Chyox, Usthu, and Ayces appeared. Their reactions were filled with shock as they spun around with their vines and tentacles out in a defensive position—as if they were about to be attacked. Lastly, I felt Zirene’s powerful presence shift next to me before he appeared. Instead of the clear black flame-like body, he looked as he did moments ago.

  As if he knew I was staring at him, he looked down at me and smiled. “Like what you see?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Just glad you aren’t hiding from me any longer.”

  He growled and flicked his tail against the back of my knees, tickling me before addressing the crowd.

  “Welcome to the Dreamdome. This is what I built for Selena to enjoy for the last nine years.”

  “It is the same,” Z’fir said, drawing out the words.

  “Unbelievable,” Chyox murmured, lowering his tentacles.

  “Is this what you experience every night?” Odelm asked, looking directly at me.

  I nodded. “Whenever Zirene and I were together, it was here in this dreamscape world. It’s harder for me to grasp it when I am alone. Sometimes I can, but it depends on how tired I am and how long I sleep.”

  “This next part will feel different. The laws of physics don’t exist in the dreamscape world. We try to put our real-life expectations on how things work, but in here, everything depends on how the one in charge of the dreamscape sees it. This is the most updated mapping of Selena’s moon, Destima. We’ll travel around it and test out builds until we settle on the right one before moving on. Don’t panic. Anything that happens in here doesn’t affect you in real life.”

  Suddenly, we were flying, overlooking three medium-size islands. A chorus of gasps and shouts filled my ears from the males surrounding me. It was an amazing experience. He’d never used this ability with me when we were together in the last nine years.

  “He warned you.”

  “Just because he warned us, doesn’t mean it isn’t surprising,” Xylo exclaimed.

  Laughter escaping, I shook my head at their expressions. It wasn’t a hard concept. You just had to use your imagination and trust Zirene to guide you through the dreamscape world. I figured Odelm would understand because he was an artist, but it seemed he was bewildered too.

  “These three islands are the only habitable land on this moon. The rest of the moon is either ocean or active volcanoes on tiny uninhabitable islands throughout the surface. The slightly curved island with the mountain ridge is where the gem mines and the military academy are located. We have a defense shield that prevents others from entering or exiting without permission, along with blocking any device from looking in. The largest island with the atoll surrounding it is where the civilians live. The porch we appeared on rests on top of the second-highest point of the island. That is where Selena’s property is located. Just above it on the highest point of the island, Agent Kaede and his Fab Five crew’s base resides. They supervise the security of the whole moon, along with other things.

  “The smallest island with the large lagoon is currently unoccupied.” Zirene’s tail wrapped around my left leg, its bushy end tickling me. I looked up at him as he glanced at me before tilting his head toward the unoccupied island. “I left it like that so you can have whatever you want built there. Feel free to use the Dreamdome on your property to test plans out. All you have to do is tell Vagren when you complete something, and he will give it to the dream-engineers to build it for you.”

  Zirene had everything planned out this whole time.

  Why did I deserve any of this?

  I went from having nothing to owning a moon.

  Words failed me.

  He flew us around the islands and explained how to use our imagination and hands to build things. It took a while for everyone to get used to our crash course on how to shape the dreamscape. We kept forgetting details needed or how unrealistic our plans were. I stated perhaps we needed some designers to come with us next time to try to figure out what we were trying to build and map it out for us.

  It turned out I was a natural. Zirene explained it was because I was his Nova, and we had shared the dreamscape world for a long time.

  He took us to the civilian’s housing district first, which resided along the more substantial part of the atoll. I was shocked to see that he used my ideas by having the families housed in a square-shaped apartment. It had a completely enclosed park-like setting with plenty of shade, an open field, and a decent size pond in the middle. The center allowed families to have their children play in a community setting with the building acting as a fence. Each family had both an inner and outer view from their two-story apartment.

  There were a few shops and restaurants along the western side of the civilian housing district. A few docks with a variety of boat sizes shared the same space. The eastern side of the civilian housing district led to the second largest part of the atoll, which housed the spaceport. Along the way were a small hospital and some warehouses. Zirene explained large spaceships could not land on Destima. Ships the size of the Destiny were close to the limit of being able to land and take off. Any larger and they wouldn’t be able to lift off from the surface. There were scheduled shuttles to Lunkai twice daily for those who wanted to go planet-side to purchase things.

  Folks rarely left the moon, but he didn’t go into detail on why that was.

  After much discussion, the Circuli agreed the best location to settle would be on the main island in the bigger of the two lagoons. It was the opposite lagoon from the civilian housing district. I didn’t like that the two communicates wouldn’t be in the same general location on the island.

  We would have a meeting with Destiny’s crew before we planned how housing would work.

  There was a heated discussion about having private hatchery for each house or just one large community one. I stated they should stop using offspring as a way to connect clans and have one large community hatchery. Their species didn’t nurture their offspring anyhow, and this would allow a steadier growth in the housing once the younglings started the academy, matured, and started their clans once they graduated. If all the offspring were together, there would be no outside pressures of what to study or who to add to their clan
.

  Once that was settled, they planned where to put the large community hatchery and any other buildings needed. Zirene explained we had a lot of time to add anything else.

  As I listened, I thought about Odelm. He didn’t have a place to play his music. I wondered what I could make to allow him to give public performances. It was something I would have to ask Zirene or someone who had traveled the galaxy. Music was everything to him, and it would make me feel guilty if he had to sacrifice giving performances so he could follow me wherever I settle. Perhaps I could make Odelm his own music hall while giving Xylo his own study hall attached to the hospital.

  I still needed to come up with a plan for the inhabited island. The main focus was the necessities needed for Destiny’s crew to settle without any issues. There would need to be a lot of planning to make sure everything went smoothly. I knew that would be a headache in itself. Maybe I should ask the princes and my nestmates to direct everything since having them settle on Destima was my gift for everything they did for me. I knew nothing about managing, which is why Zirene hired Vagren. I would need to make sure I thanked him for his thoughtfulness later. I just hoped Vagren was as easygoing as his brothers. I knew Royak and Zirene could be dominant and full of authority, but they weren’t assholes.

  “I believe that is it for now,” Zirene said, breaking me from my thoughts. “Selena, is there anything else you can think of?”

  “What does our property look like? I have only seen glimpses of it.”

  We returned to floating above the three islands.

  “I want to surprise you… Selena, I have been building your property since I first met you. I want to experience seeing you discover it for the first time in real life, not in the dreamscape world.” He paused and grabbed my hands, looking deeply into my eyes. “Could you please trust me and allow me to surprise you with this?”

  Searching his face, I sighed. “If it means that much to you.”