Chapter 3

Martin couldn't help but feel satisfied, a little lost in his own world, as he went about his duties the next day. While his night with Robin hadn't been his longest performance, (three times last night and once this morning) he'd had a surprisingly good time and Robin hadn't any complaints either. It wasn't until Donovan grabbed him that he woke up from his bemusement.

It was time to let Donovan, and through him the people of Earth, know what the Leader had planned for them. He took Donovan to one of the holds where Humans were being stored for cannon fodder and for food. Then he took the Human down to where his partner Tony's remains were. Martin knew that they hadn't been cleaned up yet. That was where they met another captive Human; one who had been badly beaten. His name was Sancho. Martin knew that Diana had a raid planned in a matter of minutes. He would have a chance to get Donovan, Sancho and Robin off of the Mother ship while that was happening.

Too bad it didn't quite work out that way. He managed to get Robin to the small fighter while Donovan got Sancho but when they arrived, Donovan didn't want Martin to fly the fighter. He wanted Martin to stay on the Mother ship and help out the rebels from there. Martin didn't want to do it. He was scared of what Diana would do to him, but more importantly he was worried about Robin. How would her people react to their marriage? Who would defend her? She had to be his first priority. He looked over at her to see her nod in agreement with Donovan. She wanted him to stay. He was more valuable here leading the Fifth Column, or perhaps she hadn't been so pleased with his performance after all. He really needed to look up Human sex practices when he got the chance.

Relenting, Martin told him how to fly the fighter. Then Robin did something that would shock him when he woke up later. "Martin, you'll need a story," she said. And then she swung the laser pistol she'd slipped out of his holster. Donovan looked over at her in shock as Martin folded, knocked out. "Well, that's what they do on TV! Get him out of here and take off!" she said.

Donovan knew she was right, although TV rarely got the details correct. With a whispered apology, he tossed Martin out the hatch and scrambled to take off. He didn't have to hear the shouts to know that they'd been discovered. Donovan's first flight of a sky fighter was a rather harrowing one. Not only did he have to adjust to the delicacy of the controls but he also had to contend with the two fighters flying after him. Sancho found the chair that he was in was the back gunner's chair and managed to shoot one of the other fighters down. The second was taken care of by a mountain side when Donovan got the crazy idea to fly right through a tunnel.

Robin did her best not to freak out but she was never into thrill rides. She was the one who wanted to stay with her sister Katie when her family went on the roller coasters at the amusement park. Katie was far too small to go on them and Robin had been thankful that someone had needed to stay on the ground with her. She closed her eyes and hung on tight, thankful when they finally landed after yet another flying battle; this time with the group of fighters strafing the mountain camp where her family was.

They made it through the battle alive and managed to drive the Visitors off. But the mountain camp was in shambles. Robin stumbled through the smoke and flames looking for her family. She found them but not as she had hoped. Her father was clutching her two sisters; Polly aged twelve and a mirror image of their mother, and Katie aged five and dark like their father and Robin, to him. Their mother's body lay across a table nearby. It was the final straw. The stresses over the last 24 hours were too much and Robin broke down sobbing.

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"Wake him up damn it!" Martin could hear Diana yelling. He moaned. He did not want to have to deal with her. His head hurt. Wait a minute, why did his head hurt? The memory of Robin clocking him with his own pistol emerged from the pounding in his head. 'Guess I shouldn't have shown her where to hit,' he thought fuzzily. He recalled Robin had said something about him needing a story before she'd hit him. With that everything fell into place. He must be in the infirmary. He hoped that the Humans had made it.

"It looks like he's coming around," Steven said from where he stood behind Diana. Personally he rather liked Diana's aide. The man did a lot to make Steven's job easier. Handling Diana wasn't easy. But as Security Chief, he needed to know why Martin had gotten into that fighter with the Human girl.

Diana and the doctor she was arguing with turned towards the bed where Martin was now struggling to sit up. The doctor reached him first. "Lieutenant, I'm Doctor Reginald. I need you to answer a few questions for me." He then proceeded to run through the standard tests for a concussion. He didn't think that the young man was in any danger but he wasn't about to compromise any patients safety for the likes of these two senior officers. They had stripped off the lieutenant's Human body suit to check for injuries when he had first been brought in. He had seen the Battle Bride graft. Someone, probably Diana from what he knew of the woman's interests, had done this to the poor boy. He had to make sure he was alright before letting her get her claws into him.

Martin had no trouble interpreting the looks the elderly doctor was giving him. The mark of his Battle Bride would be all too obvious in his present state of undress. "I'm fine," he said and let the doctor know he was telling the truth with his eyes. "What happened?" he asked. He figured if the doctor was checking for a concussion he could fake some short term memory loss.

"The doctor informs me that you were hit in the head," Diana snapped. She had come into the infirmary to have her own slight facial wounds attended to when she saw her lieutenant being checked out. She still hadn't had time to fix her Human disguise and the half Human, half reptile appearance of her face was irritating.

"I checked the security logs. You were taking a Human girl with you in a sky fighter," Steven remarked. He wanted to get to the bottom of this quickly. He had more important tasks to complete; like figuring out how Donovan had gotten on board the mother ship in the first place.

Martin raised his right hand to rub his head. This was calculated to show off his bandaged arm. If Steven had seen the security tapes, then he had to have seen the same bandage on Robin. "I was taking her to get her some supplies. Food and stuff," he paused. "I can't remember anything else. I'm sorry Commander."

Diana nodded. It really didn't matter what he had been intending to do with the girl. She was just a means to an end. What was more important was Donovan and his infuriating ability to get into places where he didn't belong. And this time he had destroyed several of her sky fighters!

Steven's eyes widened when he saw the bandage on Martin's arm. 'Unlucky bastard,' he thought. 'He was probably going to dispose of her quietly where Diana wouldn't find out about it. The woman does have a sick fascination with these Humans but to force a Battle Bride on her lieutenant.' He wouldn't ask any more questions. There was no need to bring this to Diana's attention any further. It would be far better for Martin if Diana forgot all about the girl. "I have to see how the Human got in and out again with only you trying to stop him," he told Martin. "Diana, I'll see you later when I find those responsible."

"See to it!" she snapped. Then she turned on Martin. "Get dressed and get back to your duties." Martin nodded and climbed off the examining bed. It looked like he was going to get away with this. Maybe he could get Barbra to find some information for him on Human mating practices. He really needed to figure out where he screwed up.