Chaos Heir

Chapter 1292: Strange

The pregnancy was creating unexpected problems, but nothing major that the outposts weren’t ready to handle.

The baby carried the Great Old One’s species’ genes, so he or she demanded unfathomable quantities of nutrients to grow healthy without sucking Liiza dry.

That was easy enough to fix due to the many checkpoints Khan’s forces had placed alongside the route to the Nak’s home world. The special ship also needed to refuel often, so Khan only had to increase the number of breaks to restock supplies, too.

That slowed down the trip. The initial estimate would have seen Khan reaching the spherical arrangement of asteroids in little over seven months, but forsaking that timeline had been unavoidable. Liiza and their baby were the priority, and Khan didn’t mind delaying his mission by a few weeks.

Also, the delay would have happened anyway due to the Niqols’ interference. Musa’s interception had ended up being the first of many encounters that forced Khan to take action directly.

Breaking those brittle ships without killing anyone was easy enough for Khan, and he didn’t even blame the Niqols for persevering in that pursuit. Yet, the encounters inevitably delayed the planned arrival at the Nak’s home world even further.

As for Liiza’s unstable hormones, they were easy enough to deal with for Khan, especially since she didn’t go any crazier than usual. Some stupid fights happened, but Khan could always solve them through shameless honesty.

In many ways, and as strange as it sounded, sex was the main issue, or rather, the lack of it. It went against the Niqols’ customs to employ self-restraint, and Khan didn’t exactly have it easy, either. Yet, the married couple could only hold back for now.

As strong as the life inside Liiza’s belly felt, she and Khan remained mighty entities who could put any structure to the test during their most passionate moments. No matter what that baby was made of, he or she was defenseless, and neither Khan nor Liiza wanted to add variables to the already risky endeavor.

Of course, there were other ways. They weren’t as fulfilling as actual sex, but the married couple could and did indulge in them more often than not to placate the urges created by restless hormones and habits from unrestrained lifestyles.

On top of all that, Khan had a pressing issue only he could solve. That was actually something that vastly outclassed all the other problems and that Khan saw as one of the most critical tasks his life would ever feature.

Liiza was in the third trimester. The baby’s birth drew closer every day, almost making the event imminent, and Khan couldn’t let it happen on that small, flat ship. He needed to choose a suitable outpost and plan ahead, which wasn’t easy with the many delays.

Khan spent most of his idle time behind the control desk, studying holograms and calculations for that exact reason. The delays always forced him to readjust his plans, which he couldn’t complete until the variables diminished.

That day wasn’t any different. Liiza had just hit her thirty-first week of pregnancy, so Zalpa had summoned her to the living quarters to perform the usual check-up. Meanwhile, Khan had remained on the bridge, and the holograms shining in his vision didn’t reassure him at all.

‘We should reach this area in nine weeks,’ Khan considered, ‘But there are only three fuel and supplies stations there. The outpost is a bit farther away. We might reach it in time, but it’s not worth the risk.’

Garret and his scientists had sent a large variety of structures into space. Most were simple hovering tanks and hangars that featured no mana barriers and only worked as containers for useful supplies.

However, other, rarer structures had proper landing areas, domes, barriers, and troops. Their medical equipment went far beyond what a mere ship or floating hangar could hold, especially if Khan warned them, allowing them to move resources.

That was the crux of the matter. Khan couldn’t make precise plans due to numerous interferences and delays, so he couldn’t give timely warnings to his troops. He also had to give himself a bit of leeway to predict the pregnancy’s variables, limiting his options.

‘The closest outpost is in two weeks of travel,’ Khan calculated, ‘Two and a half weeks with interferences. Liiza would be in her thirty-fourth week by then, so we’d have to stay still for six weeks in the best-case scenario.’

Khan shook his head, his glowing gaze remaining on the holograms while his hand reached for the full glass on the control desk. Remaining still for six weeks simply couldn’t do with the Niqols chasing after him.

It didn’t help that the Niqols were growing exceedingly precise and quicker in their search. Each encounter added more data they could follow, drawing a clear picture of Khan’s flight path and making them happen more often.

Staying in a single outpost for six entire weeks without killing anyone was simply impossible, so Khan had to opt for the second-best option. The last available and suitable structure before the Nak’s home world was five weeks away. That would cut it quite close, but Khan couldn’t see alternatives.

Two pairs of steps eventually disturbed the bridge’s silence, one more hurried than the other. Khan lifted his gaze in time to welcome a kiss on his lips, followed by Liiza’s climb onto his lap.

“[Everything is fine],” Liiza reassured, yawning as she curled up on Khan, preparing herself to rest. “[I only need to eat even more. I must go from six meals a day to eight].”

“[Ten is safer],” Zalpa’s hoarse voice resounded from behind the pilot’s seat. “[It might increase to twelve in the last weeks].”

“[Mama loves you so much she is ready to become fat for you],” Liiza sighed, her eyes closed as she caressed her belly. “[And if Papa leaves Mama because of that, she will take away his thing she misses so much and use it without him].”

Khan couldn’t mind the threat when Liiza showed her childish side. He didn’t know if that was her hormones speaking, but he found it too cute to tease her about it.

“[She is almost here],” Liiza added, her voice more serious and loving.

Khan looked at the beautiful face under him, and Liiza met his gaze, smiling knowingly. Her hand clung to his bare chest, attempting to scratch it with her black fingernails.

“[I can’t wait],” Khan responded.

“[Really]?” Liiza asked, arching her eyebrows. “[Aren’t you … How do human say it?] Getting cold feet?”

The desire to crack a joke never managed to appear in Khan’s mind. Liiza’s mere existence had too much power over him, making him lower his head to deliver a loving kiss.

Liiza pushed that gesture a bit further, adding her unfulfilled passion, clinging to Khan’s neck to pull him closer to her. Yet, she eventually interrupted the kiss, throwing a scolding but enthralled look at Khan.

Those affectionate interactions had long since become the norm on the ship, and Zalpa couldn’t bother to complain about them anymore. Truth be told, they had never upset her. She would never admit it, but she enjoyed seeing Liiza and Khan like that.

“[Don’t worry so much],” Liiza eventually said, laying her head on Khan’s shoulder to prepare herself to sleep again. “[Whatever you choose, it will be the right decision].”

“[And we’ll deal with it together],” Khan added.

“[Well said, Husband],” Liiza yawned. She truly planned to sleep now, but the sudden beeping noise from the control desk interrupted the process.

That was another occurrence that had become the norm during the voyage. The sudden beeps hardly startled Liiza and Zalpa anymore, but Khan never stopped making calculations, so he spotted something odd.

“[Zaza, are you sure they can’t track Liiza like you and Ilman did]?” Khan asked, his hands already on the control desk.

“[Why do you keep asking me that]?” Zalpa snorted. “[I’m sure].”

“[Is something wrong]?” Liiza wondered.

“[They should find us more easily],” Khan revealed, “[But this is too much].”

The issue grew even stranger when the scanners captured the single vessel that had appeared in Khan’s ship’s range and was approaching it. Surprisingly, the holograms didn’t show a Niqols’ vehicle. The ride was human.

The human ship failed to exchange the required security codes to convey its allegiance to Khan’s forces. Somehow, a Global Army’s vessel had ended up in those far reaches of the unregulated universe, and Khan didn’t believe for a second that the event was random.

Yet, the encounter grew even stranger when a message reached Khan’s ship, and he played it to let everyone on the bridge hear it.

“[Liiza, are you on that ship]?” A calm, warm voice resounded through the bridge, speaking the Niqols language despite coming from a human vessel.

Liiza’s reaction deepened the overall strangeness. She snapped up, straightening herself on Khan’s lap, her incredulous, wide eyes shining on the control desk. She didn’t say anything, but Zalpa took care of solving Khan’s doubts.

“[Was that Deni]?” Zalpa wondered.

Liiza turned toward Khan before he could connect that name to his memory, showing her intense, shy blush before speaking in a slightly anxious voice. “[I think that was my father].”

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