His Frost Maiden

by Michelle M. Pillow

  Leaving the large ruby necklace, she picked up a strand of emeralds and slipped it over her neck. The loose shirt hid them from view. Again, she glanced over her shoulder. Josselyn unbraided her hair, quickly grabbing rings from the chest and slipping them over the strands as she re-plaited the locks in a more complicated design. So long as no one touched her hair, the jewels wouldn’t be detected. It wasn’t as if she stole them, they already belonged to her.

  Indeed, it seemed fate had a hand in her present circumstances. It laid everything out for her. All she had to do was listen and follow where it led. And in the end, there would be only one regret. Never getting to say goodbye to Evan.

  Chapter 18

  Zibi Fueling Docks

  Barely more than a hunk of floating space debris, the Zibi Fueling Docks hosted an unlikely number of alien species and reeked of sweat, spilt ship fuel and the faintest odor of cooking meat. They’d been recently renamed if the haphazardly marked out signs littering the platform were any indication. Even some of the workers had crossed out logos on their uniforms. Whatever it used to be called, there was no telling now.

  Not associated with any planet, the docks rotated around a meteorite stuck in a dead moon’s elliptical orbit. The Conqueror landed on the far end of the fueling platform, far from the main complex. According to the surly reptilian of a dockhand, they were lucky to even gain clearance for landing.

  Mei stayed onboard nursing Evan and watching her son. Josselyn didn’t want to leave Evan without seeing for herself that he was all right, but there was no way to justify the risk. She would have to take the word of his friends.

  As they walked single file along the length of the platform, steam hissed from rust spots in pipes that seemed to litter the interior walls. It made for sticky pockets of air they were forced to duck under. Alien ships ranging from rusted buckets of metal to luxury crafts lined the fueling pumps. Most were designs Josselyn had never seen.

  Josselyn paused, stepping beside Rick as the other crewmen split into groups. Automatically, the men knew what they needed to do. Jarek and Lochlann stayed with the ship to supervise the fueling. Dev and Jackson carried a ship manifest to start bartering and selling. Lucien and Viktor went off to requisition supplies, including parts to fix the faulty ship communicators.

  Furry bodies dwarfed pale slender figures, oblong blue faces bartered with small yellow ones, talons shook paws, paws clasped fingers, fingers avoided slimy knobbed hands, until no one looked normal nor out of place because everyone was the alien here. Josselyn stayed close to Rick’s side, as they maneuvered through the large crowd. Metal creaked overhead, as if at any moment the ceiling would collapse and they’d all be sucked out into deep space. Alcoves fitted along the walls. Smoke curled from one, colorful billows of bright pink and yellow. The sound of music and laughter drifted along with it.

  “Do you want me to take you back?” Rick whispered, his concern shining in such a way that only she could see it in him. “This is no place for a lady.”

  “I can’t go back.” Josselyn again turned her attention to the crowd, looking for someone, anyone she could approach. “Evan’s sick.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Rick gave her a weak, unconvincing smile.

  “Yes, it is.”

  “You didn’t give him his powers.” Rick pulled her arm slightly, as two hairy, fanged beasts sauntered by. “You didn’t mean to hurt him.”

  “Intentional or not, I did hurt him.”

  “Know what you need?” Rick motioned inside the smoke-filled tavern. “A stout drink.”

  “But aren’t we going for supplies?” Josselyn asked, searching the immediate area.

  “My only task is to keep you entertained.” Rick hooked her arm with his and pulled her into the darkened room. “And this place looks pretty entertaining.”

  Chapter 19

  Each breath hurt, not because of Evan’s physical reaction to Josselyn’s distress, but because with each breath he knew in his heart that she was going to leave him. He begged Jarek not to let her off the ship, but deep inside he saw the future. She was going to leave him.

  Part of him wanted to fight the fog of sleep induced by the medical unit. It had injected him with something to make him rest and Mei ensured it would continue to do so by strapping the remote medical pack to his thigh. Another part of him argued to let fate take its course. He knew better than to predict an uncertain future, especially when the future involved his own. Meddling would only make things worse. Besides, he’d seen enough in his life to know there had to be something more—a higher power, a purpose, fate. He wasn’t sure what to call it, but the force was there. Who was he to mess with its plan? The way his heart stopped was reason enough to let fate take its course, wasn’t it?

  But then, when did one fight fate?

  Live, fight and die with honor.

  “Mei,” Evan croaked, pushing past his dreams. He wasn’t sure if he spoke the words aloud, or if he merely screamed them in his head. His throat ached and they felt real. “Mei, stop her.”

  “Shh, Evan, easy,” Mei answered, her words so far away it sounded as if she were trapped behind a wall.

  “Stop her.” Evan thrashed. She’s trying to leave me. I feel it. She’s going. She’s going. Jarek should not have let her leave the ship. You don’t understand. If she leaves me, she’ll only find death.

  Mei placed her hand over Evan’s brow, stroking back his hair. His body didn’t move except to occasionally shiver. He moaned, his parted lips quivering with deep breaths, as if he tried to tell her something. “She...find...death...” The words were incoherent babbling.

  “Shh, Evan, easy,” Mei whispered, her stomach tight with worry. She leaned over to the remote unit strapped on his thigh and pressed a button, hoping to ease him back to a restful sleep. “Easy. I’m right here.”

  Chapter 20

  Josselyn watched a woman with five arms and a stump in place of a sixth dance with a furred beast whose hair wound in tight curls all over his body. The male’s long arms and massive chest were covered with her many stroking fingers. Not wanting to stare, Josselyn diverted her attention to the side. Rick’s head tilted back as he chugged a bright blue liquid, his eyes turned sharply toward the center square platform. A half-naked woman gyrated on stage, her gelatinous body wiggling in such a way that would’ve been impossible on a humanoid with flesh.

  “I know our species aren’t made for mating with that one, but I can’t seem to look away.”

  Josselyn’s eyes widened at Rick’s low words.

  “Did I say...?” Rick glanced at her. “Forgive me, my lady, I did not mean to speak aloud.”

  Josselyn lifted her glass of bright blue ooze and took a sip. The thick, stout liquor stuck in her mouth, nearly impossible to swallow as it seeped into her tongue like water into dry land.

  Rick chuckled at her look. “An odd sensation, but you’ll get used to it.”

  “Does not quench the thirst,” Josselyn said.

  “Not supposed to. It’s supposed to get you drunk, fast.” Rick grinned, even as he swallowed a big mouthful. “Told you we needed a stout drink. This is as stout as it comes.”

  Josselyn pushed her glass aside. Drunk was the last thing she wanted to be right now, but having Rick inebriated and distracted would work to her advantage. She again scanned the tavern. Long metal tables wound around the square platforms, each with a different alien dancer. But it wasn’t the dancers who interested her, it was those watching from the sidelines—the travelers, the crews, but especially the captains.

  “Sacre, he wasn’t lying, was he?”

  Josselyn glanced over her shoulder at the sound of a woman’s coarse voice. Although definitely humanoid female, the tone had a deep drawl to it, a wryness that radiated in every bored syllable. Shortly cropped, curly brown hair danced around her chin as she moved. The slender tailoring of her outfit, tight drab brown pants and matching deep cut top, accented her tall figure.

  The woman continued,
“This place is a bucket of asteroid dust. I can’t wait until we get to Rifflen.”

  Rifflen?

  “Ship’s about fueled, captain,” one of the men with the woman answered. A large black horn protruded from the center of his blue forehead. It was cracked along the tip.

  Josselyn’s attention turned completely to watch as the woman passed. Green markings wound around her waist, imbedded in her skin, showing beneath the bottom hem of her shirt. She was young, surely too young to be leading the fearsome bunch who trailed behind her. A winged humanoid walked next to the cracked-horn alien. The blue-white of his feathered wings rested along his backside, nearly touching the floor. Beyond the ridge over his naked chest, his front side looked to be as human as she. Behind them, a shorter male with webbed hands and green-yellow scales slithered over the floor, a long tail appendage replacing what would have been legs. Josselyn would have thought him a beast of burden if not for the stream of intelligent words coming out of his mouth as he spoke to the thin, ghostly pale man at his side. All of them were armed with gun-shaped weapons and dressed in a fashion similar to the woman—well, all but the tailed creature who was naked.

  “That bastard general better give us double,” the horned man said. “Uh, no offense, captain.”

  “None taken,” the captain answered.

  General? Rifflen? Josselyn tensed, her palms sweating as she watched the woman and her men take seats along the bar. Was this fate once again intervening, driving her toward her destiny, toward revenge? What else could it be? Here she was, looking for a way to get to Rifflen, to face a certain general, and she happened to overhear a conversation that would give her both the ride she needed to the very place she desired to go. It was a hard sign to ignore and unquestionably too big of a coincidence not to be preordained. She didn’t have much time to live. Evan would die if she tried to spend those last days with him, as a large part of her wanted to do. She found the family jewels. This captain was going where she needed to go to see the very rank of officer she needed to find. Plus, it was quite possible her word, ‘Sacre’, was a bastardization of ‘Sacrelue’ a common curse for her people. Even if the general wasn’t Jack, he would know where to find him or if he was alive. Perhaps he’d even be able to tell her what happened to her family, to her home, to her people.

  The female captain reached down the front of her shirt, grabbed a necklace, pulled the charm as she leaned forward and pressed the disc and her thumb against a small scanner. Rick had taken a similar thing out of his pocket to pay for their blue drinks.

  “Can I borrow your coin? I wish to drink something else.” Josselyn held out her hand to Rick and he supplied it for her easily. She walked to the long bar, close to where the female captain supplied the unit with her crew’s drink orders. The woman didn’t ask her companions as she typed in their drinks, signifying she knew them well.

  Josselyn glanced back at Rick, but he wasn’t paying attention to her. As she watched him, knowing what fate was pushing her to do, she ached with the knowledge that he would be her last connection to Evan. To leave Rick now would mean she would never go back to the ship. Inside, her heart beat fast and hard. But as much as the idea of leaving hurt, the knowledge that her staying onboard The Conqueror would kill Evan was worse.

  Josselyn waited for them to say something else, so she could ease her way into their conversation. Soliciting rides wasn’t exactly her area of expertise. Feeling eyes on her, she glanced to the side. The entire crew was looking at her, not moving.

  “Need help deciding?” The captain pushed past the crew, shouldering her way in front of them. She placed her balled fists on her hips, her head tilted challengingly to the side. “Or you just have a problem with non-humans?”

  Josselyn’s eyes automatically darted to the tailed creature before she caught herself. His scales lost all green as he turned a bright shade of yellow and his body tensed, as if poised to strike. Josselyn shook her head.

  “Then order your drink,” the captain said, the tone darkening just like her green eyes.

  Josselyn’s hand shook and she was all too aware of the yellow thing staring at her. She lifted Rick’s disc to press it against the scanner, only to draw back.

  “Problems, moonbeam?” Rick asked from behind her.

  Josselyn spun on her heels, the disc in her hand. “No. No problem.” She followed his gaze to the captain. “They were helping me. It doesn’t seem to work.”

  Rick chuckled. “Sorry, starshine, you need my scan. Forgot these things were picky. Damn security precautions, keeps an honest pickpocket from work.” He took the disc, pressed it and his thumb to the pad. “Look up a whiskey for me, would you, dear heart?”

  Josselyn nodded. Rick winked at the female captain, whistled low and went back to a different table to watch a new dancer. To the captain, Josselyn said, “I heard you say you were going to Rifflen?”

  “What of it?” the horned man asked.

  “How much to ride along?” Josselyn pretended to study the screen, scrolling through the drinks. Seeing whiskey, she pressed a button and continued to search, not really seeing the choices. Reading the star language took too much concentration.

  “You and the man?” the captain asked.

  “Only one of us.” Josselyn watched the whiskey materialize beneath a clear panel on the bar top. When it was done, the glass of brown liquid was pushed up. Behind her, the music softened to a light twinkle. “I can pay in jewels?”

  “Jewels?” the captain’s voice rose in interest.

  “Yes.”

  “I take it this is a fast departure?”

  “Yes.” Josselyn nodded.

  “Well, we’re heading there anyway. Half hour. Dock six. Lot five. Bring the jewels and we’ll see if the ride is worth it.” The captain tossed back her drink. “Come on, lads, let’s leave this stink hole.”

  Chapter 21

  Don’t go, Josselyn...

  Evan tried to pull away from the cool hand stroking his head, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t leave. He didn’t want that hand. He wanted Josselyn, but she was leaving. Each passing second visions of her swirled, deep and vivid within his mind’s eye. He felt her presence, her fear and determination as if it were his own.

  Her long fingers held a clear glass filled with dark brown liquor. It almost sloshed over as her hand shook with apprehension. She didn’t want Rick to discover she was leaving, and part of her did. Josselyn wanted someone to stop her, but the others wouldn’t. Evan was the only one who could reason her out of her decision to go and he was stuck in this dream, watching, helpless. She brought Rick the drink, her face hazy in the smoke filled bar. Each passing second took her further away and there was nothing Evan could do to stop her.

  Too late. Too late...

  Josselyn, don’t leave me.

  Good journey and a happy life, Evan Cormier.

  Josselyn took a deep breath, glad that Evan wasn’t anywhere near dock six. Slipping away from Rick had not been a great challenge. As the crowd in the tavern thickened with a new crop of travelers, new dancers graced the platforms. Rick, quickly falling deeper into his cups, drunkenly watched each and every one, his attention turning like the minutes of a ticking clock.

  Josselyn kept her eyes averted as she navigated the crowd. With each fast step, she gained momentum until she practically jogged down the docking plank toward the specified lot. To her relief, the ship she found was not one of the piles of rust that parked along the planks, but nor was it a luxury ship. Much smaller than The Conqueror, it didn’t appear made for long voyages. The sharp angles of its front nose turned upward at the end. Deep red stripes added an elongated effect to the shape, as they stood out from the almost too bright of the yellow ship’s body.

  “Got the jewels?”

  Josselyn swallowed nervously at the tailed crewman. She nodded once. “Yes. But we must leave quickly before I am missed.”

  “Jewels,” the tailed man demanded, his webbed hand extended.

/>   “I’ll give them to the captain once we’re in flight,” Josselyn countered, doing her best not to let the quivering in her body echo in the tone of her voice. She lifted her chin in defiance. Frightened as she was, she was still a lady and she could handle this situation.

  “Then by all means, welcome aboard the Racing Banana.” The tailed creature waved toward the yellow ship. “Fastest craft in these parts.” If Josselyn wasn’t mistaken, he smiled at her. “I’m Jo, your pilot for this trip.” He slithered alongside the ship, reaching the back before shooting up the docking plank with amazing speed. His scales glimmered in the stark overhead lighting.

  She followed him up, her gaze darting around the interior for the rest of the crew. Inside the ship, the winged man hovered over the floor, his large wings gently flapping. The man’s hand extended and he somehow managed to get a bolt to tighten without touching it. Grease smudged his naked chest and arms.

  “Gil, our mechanic,” Jo said, pointing up.

  “Josselyn,” Josselyn said when Gil glanced down at her. He grunted and turned back to his work. “Pleasure to meet you, too.” Gil grunted louder. She half expected Jo to make excuses for the rudeness. He didn’t.

  “Isaac,” Jo pointed toward the cracked horn man as they passed him in the narrow hall. Josselyn couldn’t meet the blue man’s gaze, but that didn’t stop him from watching her with piercing eyes. She felt them boring into her.

  “Josselyn,” Josselyn managed.

  “Mm, I like them scared,” Isaac said.