Josselyn tried to hurry past, but Jo’s big body blocked the narrow passage.
“Leave her be,” the female captain ordered.
Jo slithered out of the way. “And Captain Violette.”
“Unless she doesn’t have what she promised us,” Violette continued, as if Jo hadn’t spoken, “in which case I’ll help you sacrifice her to the corg.”
“I have it,” Josselyn said quickly. “I’ll give you half now, half when we arrive on Rifflen.”
The captain held out her hand. Josselyn reached into her pocket and pulled out a sapphire pendant. The gold chain was gone, but the stone was big enough to tempt a crew like this on its own.
“What’s to stop me from taking the rest from you?” Violette asked, giving a meaningful look at Josselyn’s hip where the sapphire had been.
“You won’t find them,” Josselyn assured the captain.
“No?” Violette smirked, nodding once, a sharp commanding gesture.
Hands gripped her arms from behind. Josselyn gasped, struggling. “What?”
“Turn her,” Violette ordered.
Isaac spun her around, only to grip her tight once more. He smelled sweet, almost sickeningly so as he kept her inches from his chest. The blue of his face terrified her, so cold looking even as it radiated heat. She struggled to be free, kicking at his legs. He didn’t even grunt in pain, though she knew she landed some good blows.
“Don’t waste your energy. He can’t feel pain.” Violette tugged violently at Josselyn’s hair, snagging it as she slid jewels out of the plaited locks. When she’d gotten them all, she patted Josselyn on the head, brushed her now tangled locks aside and kissed her cheek. “Thanks for the payment.”
“We had a deal.” Josselyn tensed. How could she have misjudged the situation so much? What was she going to do now? Why would fate send her here only to be robbed by the crew of the Racing Banana?
“She’s ice cold,” Isaac said. “Her temperature has plummeted.”
“Let her go,” Violette ordered, her tone changing from mocking to something akin to concern. The captain touched Josselyn’s shoulder, gently shoving her around to face her. Josselyn met Violette’s steady green eyes. “You’re not much for the game, are you?”
A shiver worked its way over Josselyn.
“Do not fret, love.” Violette held up the sapphire pendant. “You can hold on to this if it makes you feel better.” She forcibly pressed the jewel into Josselyn’s numb hand. “It must be some man you’re running away from.”
“Yes, some man,” Josselyn couldn’t feel her arms, not like she should. Was it Isaac’s grip on her that deadened her limbs? Did it stem the flow of her blood, keeping her from lifting her hands in combat? Josselyn looked down, seeing that Isaac didn’t touch her. The medical booth had been right. She was dying. Thankfully, Evan was nowhere near her to feel her death. She would not kill him with her end.
Evan...
The word ached. The memory of his kiss haunted. She missed him terribly, so terribly her heart actually squeezed in her chest. Not even a day and she felt as if he’d been ripped away from her arms for much longer. How would she survive longer? A month? A year? A…
Josselyn took a deep breath, lifting her eyes from the sapphire pressed into her hand. There was no month or year for her. There would be no surviving. She swallowed down the pain, the memory of Evan. Today was not the day to cling to it. She had her duty to her family to concentrate on.
“How long?” Josselyn asked. “How long until we reach Rifflen?”
“Two days, three if the skies are against us,” Violette answered. “Any particular sand dune you’d like us to drop you on?”
“The military base, if it is still there,” Josselyn said. “Federation one.”
“If it is there?” Violette chuckled. “Love, the military base is the only thing on Rifflen. There is nothing else.”
“I wish to speak to the general,” Josselyn continued. “Do you know him?”
“General Stephans?” Violette glanced to Isaac and Jo before nodding slowly. “Yes. We know him.”
“Stephans,” Josselyn whispered, her heartbeat quickening. Jack was alive. Fate knew what it was doing. “He is still...”
“Yes,” Violette nodded. “I can arrange a meeting. Should I say who wishes to speak to him?”
“Jos... Just tell him my name is Evangeline Cormier.” Josselyn didn’t know why she chose that name, a name so close to Evan’s heart, but it was the only one she could think of.
Jack was alive.
“You told us your name was Josselyn,” Jo said.
“Josselyn Evangeline,” Josselyn continued to lie. “No one knows me as Josselyn, not really.”
“All right, then, Evangeline,” Violette nodded, her face a blank, expressionless mask. “I say it’s time we take off before your boyfriend comes looking. As much as I love a good fight, I like keeping my word and I have a shipload to deliver to Rifflen. If it’s banged up, I’m out a quarter of a million space credits.”
“Thank you for the ride.” Josselyn knew the words were late in coming, but she said them nonetheless.
“Thank you for the jewels.” Violette chuckled, waving at her crewmen. “Ready the ship for takeoff and show our guest to her quarters.”
Chapter 22
Riding with Captain Violette and her crew of aliens did not compare to the luxury of The Conqueror. Josselyn thought it odd she had found The Conqueror lacking compared to her castle home for now she missed it terribly. Or more specifically, missed being near Evan.
Jarek and his crew did not give chase. There was no great race through the stars to get away. No one yelled her name or threatened the crew of the Racing Banana if they didn’t turn around and give Lady Josselyn back.
Despite her conviction to push Evan from her mind, she thought of him constantly—of the way he looked at her, the way he touched her, the way he made her feel. He could make her happy with just one look, even when her world was falling to pieces at her feet.
Two days, though short by any measure, seemed to drag on like the long chore of scouring the castle hall by hand. Violette occasionally spoke to her, though her words were short, sometimes mocking, always secretive. Josselyn had to assume her nature was due to her station in life. Captaining a crew could not be an easy task. Whatever her mystery, Josselyn did not pry into it and understood she would never know the woman’s history.
Her accommodations were a pallet on the floor of a cramped cargo hold. Dark green crates, piled from floor to ship’s ceiling, surrounded her. Yellow numbers and letters marked their outsides, the only hint as to what was inside. Josselyn did not dwell on what lay hidden inside the crates. They didn’t matter.
Jack lived, just as she had.
“No, not as I have,” Josselyn whispered, her soft voice the only company in the dim room.
She pulled the thick covers, tucking them beneath her chin. The crew had given her many of them, noting whenever they happened to brush against her flesh how very cold she was. Curling into a ball, she burrowed into the soft depths. Her body did not generate its own heat and nothing seemed to banish the chill, which ached all the way to her deepest bones.
“Evan,” she whispered, forcing Jack from her mind. She wanted to imagine something pretty, a life, a moment stretched on for eternity. Evan’s smile. Evan’s touch. Evan’s kiss. She lived in that feeling, in the thought of what they could have been should life have given her a different lot. Married. In a castle surrounded by children. His sister. Her brothers. A family. A home. Peace. Happiness. Evan.
“I love you, Evan,” she told the man inside her dreams, the husband he could have been, would never be. Her mouth moved within the make-believe memory. His eyes bore into hers. Castle walls surrounded them, glowing with the orange of firelight. She was again a lady, dressed befitting the title, and he was her lord, the chocolate of his eyes deepened by the brown of his fine overtunic. “I wish I could stay with you inside this world. I wis
h fate cared for me as I care for you.”
I love you, Evan. I should have told you before I left.
Sleep came to her softly as she imagined the blanket to be his arms, cuddling around her, keeping her safe.
I love you...
The skies were not kind, or so Violette commented, as they landed on Rifflen three and a half days after leaving the fueling dock. Turbulence rattled their landing, making the ship jump and lurch. By the time the mountainous white sand dunes came into view on the cockpit’s viewing screen, nausea had taken permanent residence in Josselyn’s throat.
Two thoughts kept her on her feet. The first of vengeance made her determined to see this through. Jack was on that planet or, in the very least, a descendent of Jack. Fate would not send her here if not to find him or his bloodline. The second thought was much sweeter for it was a memory of Evan and it gave her strength, even from a distance. She had no idea where in space he was, but she felt him and she clung to it.
“You’re tinted blue,” Violette said, eyeing Josselyn.
“Don’t look at me.” The blue-skinned Isaac chuckled. “I had nothing to do with it. She’s not my type.”
“If you can’t walk straight, they’ll scan you and put you in quarantine to make sure you’re not a biological weapon sent to destroy the base,” Violette continued. Then, arching a brow, she added, “You’re not, are you? I’d hate to be the one to drop off the end to this decrepit, forgotten place.”
Josselyn slowly shook her head in denial. On screen, the sand mountains shifted and moved, flowing like grainy water. Reminiscent of a tiny black fish jumping from an ocean’s depths, a small platform raised from beneath the dunes. Sand blew over it, rippling and beautiful. The closer the ship flew, the bigger the platform became.
“Ah, there it is,” Jo said, working frantically at the controls. Josselyn watched him from her chair. “I thought we’d have to make another pass. They must have reset their timer.”
Josselyn glanced at Violette, not understanding.
“The platform only rises every half of an hour. The sand keeps transmissions from space nearly impossible, so ships dock and check in on the platform. It’s the only way in or out,” Violette said. “The base is under the sand.”
“You can’t land on the surface?” Josselyn studied the ever-changing planet.
“The ship would be swallowed up in less than an hour. Sometimes you can see old ships that were buried if you watch the surface, the sand pushes them out and sucks them back in. See, like there.” Violette motioned to the screen to where a dark object appeared on the surface only to disappear. “A humanoid would be killed in seconds. If not buried alive, the sand would choke them. Keep watching long enough and you’ll see bones.”
“Then how was such a place built?” Josselyn shivered. She doubted she’d be leaving this place, not alive anyway.
“Alien contractors. Archorians can navigate the sand. They sift large polished stones from the surface. In return for building the base, they get Federation protection should anyone else want to sift the sands. Unfortunately for them, they got the worse end of the deal. No other species can survive on the surface. Their business is quite safe. They didn’t need the Federation.”
“Then, why?” Josselyn frowned. They neared the platform and Jo maneuvered the ship down the hollow center. Air blew up, making descent gradual as it kept the sands from entering.
As the column swallowed the ship and the ceiling closed over them, Violette answered, “General Stephans convinced them they needed the Federation. He’s very persuasive, our general.”
“Your general? Are you...?” Josselyn studied the crew. They didn’t wear uniforms.
“It’s an expression. We’re not military. We’re independently contracted.” Violette laughed. “Think of us as shipment engineers. And you, my pretty cargo,” the captain held out her hand, “owe us one shiny bauble.”
Josselyn lifted the sapphire and handed it over to the captain.
“Now that we have all your valuables, you won’t have a way out,” Violette said.
“I’m not concerned,” Josselyn answered.
The ship flew down, straight into the column. Bright light blinded the viewing screen, making them blink. Jo chuckled.
“Contact me when you’re ready to go, we’ll work something out.” Violette’s tone was low.
The bright light shone, tinting the world beneath Josselyn’s eyelids a pale red. Cold crept into her chest from her limbs, freezing her heart and making icicles out of her hands and feet. It was all she could do to stay standing. She didn’t answer Violette as she opened her eyes. There was no need. She would not be leaving Rifflen.
Chapter 23
“She all right?”
Josselyn looked up from the small table to the thin, pale woman who spoke. Skinnier than anyone she’d ever seen, the woman had a bendable, willowy grace to her movements.
“She’s fine,” Violette said, motioning the woman along. “Leave her.”
The air was stale, but she seemed to be the only one struggling to breathe it. Though meant to mimic sunlight, the overhead lighting was a poor substitute to the real thing. Low ceilings, combined with the sand moving past the surrounding windows, made her think of being inside a tomb.
“Fitting,” she whispered, watching the tiny grains shifting along the pane.
The smell of roasted meats and herbed vegetables drew her back to reality. She was in a restaurant on the Rifflen base with Violette’s crew, waiting for her chance to talk to the general. Inside, she trembled. Outside, she did her best to appear calm. By the way people were looking at her, or pointedly not looking at her, told her she was doing a poor job of it.
Somewhere on this planet were the answers she sought, the reason fate woke her in this future world. Josselyn absently rubbed her fingers, trying to bring feeling and warmth back to them.
“Hey, Larry’s back,” Violette called, lifting her glass toward the wall of sand. A partially dressed skeleton had appeared, his arm appearing caught on a metal beam along the outside of the window by the sleeve of his tattered shirt. Sand moved through him like air, pressing him down so his bones moved like a stiff flag in a stout breeze.
“Larry!” those in the small restaurant cheered, lifting their cups, toasting the dead man.
“Ole Lar’s been there since I was a little girl,” Violette said.
“Mistress Evangeline?”
Josselyn glanced up at the gruff sound. A uniformed federation soldier stood at the table, dressed in the same matte black clothing she’d seen other soldiers in, his entire body stiff. The style was reminiscent of the federation uniform she remembered, only with straighter lines along the collar, which once had been rounded and smaller snaps in place of buttons.
“Are you Mistress Evangeline?” the soldier asked, staring at her like he didn’t even see her.
“She’s lookin’ at you, isn’t she?” Violette answered.
“Come with me,” the soldier said.
“Go on,” Violette told Josselyn. “It’s why you’re here.”
“You have no idea,” Josselyn said, pushing slowly up from the table. She felt as if her heart beat in her throat. Maybe it was her illness, her cold, numb limbs, or perhaps it was her time being so close to over, or was it Evan? Sweet, passionate Evan, whose face danced in her dreams and whose voice echoed in her heart. A warm spot in her icy death.
She regretted most of all not saying goodbye, not saying thank you, not saying she loved him.
Josselyn walked behind the soldier as he led her through the metal building. Outside the restaurant, the ceiling became higher as a long passageway led them toward the center. From what she could tell, the military base was shaped like a squashed sphere, tapering in height the closer one walked toward the outer edges. The center high point was where they entered. Doors lined the passage, each numbered in precise, militant numerical codes. Their closed entries hid any secrets.
“This way.” The soldie
r turned, leading past the center docks, past the tall column that would expand out of the sands. Yellow lights flashed overhead, accompanying odd beeps. Below, workers aimed lasers at welded bolts, tediously reinforcing them one by one. They’d been doing the same thing when Josselyn’s ship docked and she imagined they’d be at it for hours more.
“Why couldn’t I have been born into that life?” Josselyn asked no one in particular. Suddenly, a mundane, repetitive existence sounded great. No duty or honor, only a laser and a row of bolts. Important and meaningless at the same time.
Clearly not hearing her full words, the soldier said over his shoulder, “The sand eats away at the welds so workers must go over them daily to make sure we don’t get buried alive. They are some of the best marksmen on the base because they must do one row between each rising of the docking column.”
Josselyn nodded absently.
“This way,” the soldier ordered when her steps faltered.
This corridor was much wider, the metal walls covered with rich blue tapestries embroidered with a delicate white thread. Images of roadways and birds, orchards and villages passed her by as she walked. It only took a brief moment for her to realize it was home in the full of spring—everyone’s favorite season.
The idea that Jack would dare to hang the image of her family home in his hallway irritated her. She held onto that anger, used it to keep standing even as her numb toes threatened to break off. The sound of the men working in the center of the base faded, replaced by music. She knew that sound. It was a festival, so long ago in this new time she lived in, yet not so far in her memories. Home. Family. All that was taken away reverberated in that song. And he who had taken it away was behind that door listening to it. Fate sent her here to avenge her family. She knew she would see Jack again, never really had questioned he would be alive and here. Foolishly, she had not thought to have brought a weapon. But if fate had orchestrated all this, surely fate would not let her fail.
His Frost Maiden Page 15
