Chapter 20
Charles woke slowly from a deep sleep. It felt like his head was stuffed full of cotton, like he was just getting over a severe migraine. He groaned and moved to sit up slowly but found he couldn’t.
His eyes snapped open as the attack at the induction ceremony suddenly slammed back into his mind all at once.
He struggled to sit up only to find that Erik was holding him tightly against his chest, hearts humming a soothing rhythm beneath his thick skin.
“Charles?” he pulled back as his tiny mate came awake in a flurry of motion. He’d been holding him for hours as he slept, simply watching over him and letting their bond soothe his nervous tension.
He turned in his arms and braced his palms against his strong chest, not trying to pull away. “Erik! What happened?” he demanded, eyes wide with residual fear.
“We were attacked,” Erik frowned, wondering if Charles was having a hysterical reaction to trauma as one of his biologists had warned him about.
“I know! I remember! What happened to Sean and Armando and Raven? Was anyone else injured?! “He tried to pull away from Erik’s firm embrace, “I have to go back. I have to-”
“You need rest,” Erik said shortly, mouth a thin line.
Charles felt a flicker of pure terror overlaid with a sea of boiling rage. It swamped him for a moment but he couldn’t figure why he was feeling that way. The sudden surge of emotion had him groaning as his headache flared back to life. He sank back against Erik, gritting his teeth against the pain.
“Charles, you’re ill.” Erik cuddled him close and spoke into his hair. “You’ve completed your transformation, part of that was developing telepathy.” He said softly, a shadow of something drifting across his mind before he turned it away.
Charles was floored, “What?”
“You can read minds and emotions. You seem to be quite powerful, but levels testing and training can occur after you’re rested.”
He remembered the ceremony, the overwhelming pain in his head, how ill he’d felt all day, especially when touching others. It was like something out of a nightmare. He shook his head wearily. “No, there must be some mistake.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in, I can leave you to your rest if you like,” Erik offered reluctantly. He didn’t want to leave his mate, especially so soon after the attack but he remembered how Charles needed time alone when he was upset.
But was that anytime he was upset or was it just when he was angry with Erik? Was he angry with Erik right now? He sighed. Human emotions were far too complex for him to parse.
Charles was quiet for a long moment, trying to collect his thoughts and make sense of all that had happened since, “How long have we been back?” he asked suddenly.
“Just over seven hours. We had to sedate you. You were frantic,” Erik ran hot hands up and down his spine in a soothing rhythm.
“I’ve rested enough. I’ve rested far too long.” Charles said flatly, he needed to get back to work; billions of lives were in the balance…unless. He sucked in a shuddering breath, ignoring the pain that lit his mind as he tensed further with stress. “Erik. Is Earth..?”
He frowned, eyebrows nearly at his hairline, “Still there? Yes. Fortunately for the Earthlings, they were fully inducted before the attack occurred.”
Charles sagged with reassurance, “Thank god.”
Erik said nothing as he was flooded with joy. He held perfectly still, suddenly realizing why he’d been so concerned with the well being of the crowd during the ceremony. Was it possible that Charles had the ability to influence minds as well as read them? He’d never heard of such an ability. He'd never thought anything like it was possible. Maybe it wasn't and he was simply reacting to Charles through their bond, but it bore investigation. He put the thought out of his head to worry over another time.
Charles noticed his silence and tensed again, “So what happens now?”
Erik sat up and pulled Charles into his lap, still needing the comfort of holding the other man in his arms. “Earth has been placed under martial law.”
He frowned at the term. “What does that mean?”
“The A.A.S is back in effect but in full force now. No weapons are functional in any capacity and even mild force with result in a pause.”
Charles paled, horrified, “Erik-”
He shook his head, pressing his lips tight in a deep frown. “They are also being overseen by seven governors to keep them in check and introduce them to life in the Federation properly.”
“Governors,” he echoed faintly.
“Yes, Genoshians appointed by me.”
“Admi-Erik, please. You must understand how this will impact humans’ view on the Federation.”
Erik was baffled. Why would that be a concern? “What.”
“Humans will rebel,” he warned, point blank.
“I should hope not, they’re on their last chance to remain autonomous in any capacity,” he said stiffly.
Charles was enraged, “How is what you’ve described autonomous?!” he pushed away from Erik and rose from the bed to stand facing him, arms crossed legs akimbo.
“If there is another rebellion Earth will be evacuated and turned into a new settlement for Genoshians. Humans will be separated by millions and sent to other colonies in a seeding procedure.”
Charles’ mouth dropped open in shock, “you can’t be serious.”
“I’m enforcing Genoshian law.” He said firmly, eyes pale and unreadable. “If Earth weren’t my personal protectorate I wouldn’t have had the option of such a soft response to the rebellion.”
“Soft?! Rebellion?! It was a few misguided-”
Erik tilted his head, livid as the memories of those terrifying moments came rushing back, “It was numerous generals, soldiers and volunteers from across the planet.”
Charles was taken aback, “Across the planet?” he echoed, stunned.
“Yes, there were over forty simultaneous attacks across the globe.”
Charles paled and took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Casualties?”
“Hundreds dead, thousands wounded,” he said flatly. “They’re under Federation care.”
“You brought wounded humans onto the ship for treatment?!” he demanded, shocked.
“They’re not all on this ship,” he explained, confused. Why was Charles upset about that?
“Wha-“
“We can heal them, Charles. Earth medicine is rudimentary by any measurement.”
“So hundreds of wounded people vanished from Earth and have been here for seven hours?! Have you made an announcement?”
Erik tilted his head to once side, eyes darkening to a crisp grey, “No.”
Charles turned and began pacing, “Oh god. This is worse than I thought. Erik, you can’t just treat people like this! You have to get medical consent! People must be terrified!”
“I can and will treat them like the Genoshian citizens that they are. They brought this upon themselves with their flagrant disregard for the sanctity of life.”
“What regard for sanctity of life? For goodness sakes Erik! You threatened to destroy the planet if we didn’t surrender!”
He stood in one fluid motion and loomed over Charles, standing stock still and unblinking, “But Earth did surrender and was inducted. Ignorance of our laws is no excuse for disobeying them,” he said sternly.
Charles gaped at him.
“For all their fancy words, the majority of the terrorists were unwilling to die for their cause, though they were comfortable ending innocent lives to make their point,” he added coolly.
Charles felt a cold trickle of fear drip down his spine, “What happened to them?”
“Those who didn’t die in the attack have been taken into custody and are awaiting punishment.”
“Where?” Charles asked, feeling sick and fearing that he already knew the answer.
Erik was exasperated by Charles’ confounding reaction to this news, “The prison ship.”
He was horrified to have his fears proven right. “They committed the crime on Earth against other humans! They should still be under the jurisdiction of Earth’s governments!” he argued hotly.
Erik still hadn’t moved, “They committed crimes on a Genoshian colony against their Admiral and Consort.” Charles opened his mouth to argue further but Erik cut him off sharply. “I was well within my rights to purge the Earth of humans or even raze the planet for this offense and make no mistake, had you been injured in any way that’s exactly what I would have done.”
Charles’ labored breaths were the only sound in the room for long, tense minutes of unflinching eye contact. Their standoff was only broken by the sound of both of their tablets chiming. Charles flinched at the sound.
Erik finally looked away from his trembling mate, “Agent Cassidy is awake.”
Charles took a step back from the taller man, palms clammy with nerves, “Is he on board?”
“Yes, all of your colleagues are. Captain Summers wanted to take his mate back to his ship but was happy to have his personal surgeon come aboard to treat his mate instead.”
“Are they alright?” he repeated his first question upon waking, concern for his friends suddenly first and foremost in his mind.
“They are all well,” Erik said smoothly, but something in his answer seemed…off.
Charles frowned at his caginess. “I’d like to see them.”
Erik agreed, “I’ll take you to the medical deck.”
Charles thought that was a great idea, considering how sick he felt from all these revelations. And he had a feeling he didn't know the half of it yet.