by Heather Karn
Using the collar of my shirt to wipe off my face, I found Kilani standing beside the ship’s door, watching me, his expression guarded. There was no way to tell what he was thinking, but if my record held, I wouldn’t like what thoughts were spinning around in his head. I didn’t even bother trying to pick apart what I’d done that he hadn’t approved of, and it likely could’ve been the entire workout.
A towel hung on a hook on the wall, and since this was a somewhat virtual reality, I prayed it was clean and plunged my face into the soft fabric to finish wiping my face before wiping down the rest of my exposed skin. The shirt and pants were a hopeless, soggy mess. My shoes were going to need aired out before I wore them again.
“Is this a human custom? Like the hugging?” Kilani remained leaned against the wall, appearing somewhat relaxed, but his voice was almost a growl. “Do all females learn to fight?”
So, that was his problem. Glad he cut to the chase and didn’t leave me guessing with vague questions, I wrapped the towel around the back of my neck and leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the door from him.
“No, not all females learn how to fight. In some cultures it would probably be a death sentence. In others, it’s the only way for women to stay safe. Others it’s a form of exercise.”
“And for you?”
“A bit of the second two.”
Kilani stood straight, his arms still crossed as his chest heaved and eyes burned. “You needed to learn how to fight to remain safe? From whom?”
I shrugged, avoiding his gaze so he couldn’t see the truth as I only gave him the partial truth. “Not all human men are good people. Sometimes you can’t tell, so it’s easier and better to be prepared to defend yourself just in case.”
“We never harm our females. Anyone found to do so is killed on sight.”
“Really?” Startled, I met his gaze again. “At best ours are sent to prison for a few years.”
“And at worst?”
Shrugging again, I tried not to picture the man who still haunted my nightmares. “At worst they’re never turned in or caught. The behavior continues and usually grows worse. And I should mention that it’s not always men. Sometimes women behave this way too, but the majority are men.”
Kilani stepped closer until his chest was almost touching my arm as I stared out into the room, trying not to be affected by the alien’s nearness. “I will kill anyone who touches you in such a way,” he growled, his voice laced with a menacing promise. “Male or female, if they mean to harm you, they will die.”
“Because I’m a level eight Mate,” I grumbled, trying not to shiver from the tone of his voice.
“No. Because it is wrong. No one will ever harm you again. Ever.”
My hope fell, as did my gaze. “You can’t promise that. I know from experience that can’t be promised.”
“Then I promise that I will do my best to prevent it, and I will kill whoever may harm you that I can’t stop. And you will tell me who it is.”
Taking a deep breath, I stared out over the room again. “I needed that release. Can I go take a shower now? I’m pretty sure I stink.”
One side of Kilani’s lips lifted, even though the rage still lingered in his eyes. “I wasn’t going to say anything about the stench since I assumed you knew.”
I narrowed my gaze into what I hoped was a playful glare. “Don’t make me hit you.”
“That would require touching me. You’ve stated that you’d try not to do so.”
My teeth ground together as I tried to come up with a good comeback, coming up short. I’d given my word to try, and I planned to keep it, no matter how much he may have annoyed me or pushed me to retaliate. The rage sizzled away in his gaze as humor swirled in like a bucket of water to the fiery flames.
“How do your women retaliate after such comments if they can’t hit you?” I asked as he opened the door and we stepped into the corridor. A few passing men gave me odd stares like they’d heard my question and were concerned, or they were until Kilani waved them by.
He led the way, and I hoped he was taking me to his quarters, or rather my new quarters. “Our females don’t rile as easily as you do. Most would’ve ignored me and walked away. However, I feel the need to ask what is different from someone hitting another in irritation and the danger you spoke of?”
And that was a good point. “You don’t actually try to cause harm. It doesn’t hurt, and most of the time it’s an empty threat. Plus, I’d probably break my hand on your uniform anyway. By the way, what’s it made out of?” A sound echoed up his throat that I couldn’t even begin to decipher. “Come again?”
Chuckling, Kilani turned a corner. “If you didn’t understand that, then there is no direct translation, just as there is no translation for hug in our language. We mimic the word you use.”
“Well, there’s no way that I can mimic your word. Sorry.”
“That is fine. Not everyone excels at speaking another language, and some languages are much harder than others to learn. My language is one of the most difficult that we’ve come across.”
“Lucky me,” I grumbled, and he chuckled.
Sooner than expected, we arrived in front of his bedroom door. Inside was exactly as I’d left it, and when Kilani’s eyes landed on my room on Earth, they widened. Staring around, he studied everything he could.
“This is an odd place,” he finally murmured, stepping inside so the door could close behind him. Even though I wanted to kick him out so I could strip out of my sweat soaked clothes, this was technically his room, so I didn’t feel right about it.
“It’s my bedroom back home,” I explained, trying to find something to wear from my closet instead of the floor. “I’ll clean it after I change clothes.”
“It seems...dreary. And don’t worry about cleaning if you don’t want to. This is your quarters until we arrive on my planet, in which case it was rude of me to come inside without your permission. My apologies.”
“No, no it’s still your room,” I argued, but he held up a hand to stop me.
“As my guest, this is your quarters. I should leave you now to clean yourself how you see fit. I will have Maltak posted outside in the corridor once again when I reach the deck. Will you be all right? Is there anything that you need?”
Looking around the room, I shrugged. “Not right now.” The only thing I needed was a shower. Badly.
“Very well. Take care.”
Kilani stepped from the room and the door closed behind him, leaving me once again alone in my room, or what appeared like my room but wasn’t even close. The silence was brutal. I always had some music playing, but a quick search of the room for anything to play music came up empty. So much for virtual reality.
Shutting the bathroom door, I locked it for security purposes and turned the shower on to warm while I peeled off the sweaty clothes. Hopefully after a long, hot shower I’d feel better. My growling stomach already warned me I’d probably need to add a trip to the meal area for a snack sooner than later. Only I’d need an escort since I was so lost.
That was going to get old if I didn’t learn to find my way around.
Mind made up, I stepped under the warm spray and determined myself that I’d have Maltak show me how to reach the meal area so I could find it on my own if I needed. Hopefully he’d go for it. The only deterrent I could think of was if Maltak believed Kilani would disapprove. That would need to end quickly.
Closing my mind off from the present, I let the water relax away my tension and unease knowing it wouldn’t last.
Maltak was as much a stick in the mud as Kilani was, which agreed with my prediction that Kilani wouldn’t want me venturing around the ship alone. I wasn’t sure what trouble they expected me to find since apparently no one would harm me, so this didn’t make sense. I even promised not to touch anything. Still, the answer was no.
The whole way to the “mess hall” I grumbled and Maltak acted like he couldn’t hear me, though I knew for a fact tha
t he could. Overall, I was growing used to the dull red light and I could anticipate the ups and downs better than my first trip through the corridors. I still couldn’t recognize any of the men passing us, like if we’d walked by them before. In fact, the only few I’d been introduced to were Maltak, the science guys, and Mortan. With a crew that had to be in the hundreds, that was peanuts.
Mortan introduced me to three new foods, but I only cared for one. The others were too bitter. Maltak chose a fourth for me, which I enjoyed much more. By the time we left, a few of the men were coming in for their weekly meal. It was still amazing that they only needed to eat once a week, and sleep far less than me as well.
The thought of sleep made me yawn wide. Surely it couldn’t have been a full day since I’d woken up, so why was I tired? Was my biological clock that far off? Without the sun to tell me the time, I was lost as to when I should sleep and eat. It was about to become when I felt like it, my whole life’s routine flushing down the drain by one spaceship experience.
“Where are we going?” I asked Maltak after a few minutes of following silently behind him.
“Your quarters.”
“Do I have to go back there?” At this rate, it was feeling more like a prison. Solitary confinement.
Maltak’s feet stopped and he gave me his full attention. “Where would you like to go?”
I’d left plenty of space between us so I didn’t run into the man. “I don’t know…” I thought about it for a second before the destination came to mind. “The deck?”
His eyebrows shot up. “You wish to go to the deck?”
“Yeah. Why? Am I not allowed?”
He shrugged. “As far as I’m aware you aren’t not allowed to go there.”
“Do you have to check with the captain?”
“No. If he disapproves, he’ll ask us to leave, and since you’ve already been to the deck once, it shouldn’t be a problem. You might find it boring, though. Not much happens.”
It may have been boring, but I wouldn’t be alone.
And Maltak was correct: it was indeed boring. Kilani lifted his gaze away from one of the computers where his man was explaining something before focusing back on his work. Maltak led me to the upper level and found me an empty station where I could sit and observe. There wasn’t much happening. Anyone who spoke did so in soft tones that didn’t carry far enough for me to eavesdrop. It appeared normal, and not something they did to exclude me, but to not disrupt the room.
Since I was present and Kilani could watch me, Maltak was sent on another assignment, leaving me with absolutely no one to speak to as Kilani made his way from station to station to check in with his men. After what could’ve been twenty minutes to an hour, since time was still an issue here, I began pacing the upper level, trying to stay away from those working so I wouldn’t distract them.
When that didn’t keep me occupied, but did work out some extra energy, I found myself staring up at the glass, not-glass above me. It was still coated black, so I still didn’t understand what it was for since the rest of the room was metal coated. Too occupied with my thoughts and study, I didn’t hear or feel someone move to my side.
“It’s made of crystal.” Kilani’s husky voice rumbled beside me, making me jump. He chuckled, keeping his focus on the crystal above.
Trying to keep a growl out of my voice, I stared up at the crystal with new eyes. “How do you get it to shape like that?”
“We grow it like that. It took quite some time to learn how, but now it’s easy and doesn’t take long. It’s stronger than most metals and can withstand high velocity impacts. When we’re docked or coasting through space, it isn’t blacked out so we can see what lies around us.”
My jaw hung open at the idea of what could be present outside the ship right now. “I can’t wait to see that.” Voice airy, I couldn’t even begin to picture what space could even look like outside of Earth’s atmosphere. There were plenty of pictures from telescopes and space stations, but what would it be like to see it with my own eyes? Stars, planets, space debris? I could see it all.
“So, if there are all these other worlds, and you have enemies in space, that means that there could be lots of ships in space?” I mused, trying to picture all the worlds that could exist and have space programs like the Lutharians.
Kilani nodded, leaning back on the counter space behind us to peer further up at the dark crystal. “Yes, many have the ability to travel through space. Some, like your planet, are still in the early beginning stages of that process compared to the rest of us. Those that can travel in space are mostly peaceful and appreciate the chance to explore and learn. Others are less than pleasant to deal with. They’d love nothing more than to take control of planets like yours, drain your resources for their pleasure, and use your people as slaves. We do our best to keep them in check, but there’s only so much we can do now that our numbers are dwindling.”
“You don’t want to risk the lives of those you have left,” I offered so he knew I understood.
“Yes.”
“That’s understandable.” I bit my lip, hating the next question I needed to ask. “And the people who are responsible for the reproduction problems, are they one of those evil colonizer groups?”
“Yes.”
“Captain,” one of the men on a lower level called up. Kilani stood straight and nodded, his request for the information. “We’re ten minutes out from Outpost 545. The outpost commander has communicated that our supplies are ready to be loaded, including the additional food.”
“Perfect. Thank you.” The captain turned to me with a wide, toothy grin. “Are you ready to step foot onto your first foreign planet?”
My eyes widened. “You mean you’re going to let me off the ship?”
“Of course. You aren’t a prisoner. As long as you stay by my side and don’t wander off, you can join us and explore the planet. However, if you wander off, this will be your first and only planetary excursion. Understood?”
“Oh, I won’t be wandering off. Don’t you worry.” I was far too excited to ruin my one and only chance to explore new planets, and it had to be planets if he’d mentioned I’d ruin my chance to see more after this.
“Good.” Looking me over, he nodded to my clothes, a plain pink t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. “Are you comfortable in those clothes or do you need to change?”
“Is it cold on this planet?”
“Not for us, but you don’t have our uniform or extra hair to keep you warm.”
Perhaps a light jacket or one of the soft flannel shirts in my closet wouldn’t be such a bad idea, but I didn’t want to miss my chance to see anything. Being at the mercy of whoever led me to my room, I wasn’t sure they’d move fast enough, and I wasn’t nearly at the point where I could jog through the corridors without face planting yet. My eyes hung on the crystal above us as I contemplated missing the view or freezing on the planet.
Kilani must’ve seen the internal fight written all over my face. “I can send Maltak for a covering for you if you wish.”
“You would?”
“Of course. I’ve never seen such eager curiosity in anyone before. I wouldn’t let you miss this. Tell me what you need, and I’ll have Maltak fetch it for you.”
Sometime during my pacing or study of the crystal above, Maltak had returned to the deck. Once I told Kilani what I wanted, he strode to his second in command and explained it to him. Instead of returning to my side after Maltak left, Kilani once again started his station to station rounds. He was either the worst micromanager around, or this ship operated much differently than all the Hollywood movies I’d ever seen.
After his rounds, which were much faster than before, Kilani joined me once again where I was able to ask about what he was doing, without being nosy.
“Most of the crew are new to the ship. It’s their first or second mission, and I’m making sure they know what they’re doing and they’re comfortable,” he explained, leaning back against the counter behi
nd us again. “Most are catching on. Some seem to have forgotten their years of training now that they’re working on a real ship instead of a simulation, but they’re slowly remembering what to do.” He growled the last part in pure irritation.
“Why are so many new?”
“Because many of my former crew were chosen as Mates and Companions after our last mission. We’re gone for half of our year at a time. Then, more asked to be reassigned to outposts or teaching positions. It isn’t uncommon for that to happen either. They’d had years of being aboard this ship and wanted a change. I can’t fault them for that.”
I peered up at him. “Do you ever want a change?”
He shook his head. “No. Not until a solution is found for the future of my people.”
“What if a Mate chooses you before you find a solution? Can you still be a captain?”
“Yes, and any of my men who are mates can remain as well, but most choose not to. As captain, since I’m the only one with a private quarters, I’m the only one on board allowed to bring my mate on missions. So, if I am ever chosen, she has the choice to come or stay home. The other female Mates and Companions only have the option to remain behind.”
“I guess most wouldn’t want to be separated that soon after being chosen or for that long,” I mumbled, watching the crystal instead of the captain.
“No, they wouldn’t.”
I’d opened my mouth and taken a breath to speak when the crystal above us shimmered, like it was made out of large pixels that were coming into focus. The blackness faded away until the area around us in space shifted into view. My jaw slackened, and it could’ve hit the floor for all I cared and was aware. The sight before my eyes was beyond stunning. There were no words to adequately describe it.
Yes, most of what I saw was nothing but darkness, but the deep blue moon orbiting an even bluer planet defied all words. Behind us shone the planet’s sun, but it was out of view, which was probably good since I shouldn’t look at it anyway. Specks of greens and reds on the planet were intriguing, but we were far too distant for me to even begin to understand what they were.
