by S. E. Smith
“J’kar,” Derik said into the communicator. “What is your location?”
Listening to the response Derik looked down at the woman who stopped to look up at him and nodded toward the end of the corridor.
“Takq waga.” (This way) he said nodding his head again toward the door at the end of the corridor.
Moving slowly towards the door, Tink held tight onto the boy’s waist so he wouldn’t fall. She knew his leg had to be killing him. She had seen enough cuts to know this one had to hurt like hell. She glanced up in surprise when the door opened automatically to reveal a type of elevator. Walking through the opened door Tink glanced one last time down the corridor hoping against hope to see a glimmer of a doorway to Cosmos’ lab. Where had it taken her? Would she be able to get back? Holy hell, she couldn’t wait to tell Cosmos, her parents, and her sisters about this place!
Tink took a deep breath and released it as the doors closed soundlessly before her letting the questions melt away. There would be time to answer them after she got the kid to a real doctor. As the elevator moved Tink gripped the dark-haired boy a little tighter to prevent the motion from causing him to lose his balance as he swayed. She knew he had lost a lot of blood and the last thing she wanted was for him to fall down unconscious and go into shock. No, all she wanted to do was find someone or somewhere to lay him down so he could get the rest and medical care he needed so she could do a little exploring then find her way home. Yep, that sounded like a great plan, she thought to herself silently.
The elevator lights flicked as it past each level finally slowing to a stop. The doors opened to another long corridor. Only this corridor wasn’t deserted. There were two huge black-haired men standing in the corridor which opened to another room at the end. Tink stood frozen, totally forgetting the boy next to her or the men in the corridor. In front of her the corridor opened into another room that looked like one of Cosmos’ control centers or something out of Star Trek. She could see a variety of lights flashing and more men in that room. Even that didn’t seem to have much of an impact. No, what caught and held Tink’s attention was what was at the very front of the room. A huge glass-looking window looked out into deep space. Tink could feel her mouth dropping open as she moved slowly forward down the corridor towards the window that seemed to look into the very heavens themselves.
J’kar looked over a screen showing damage reports from around the ship. He was furious that the Juangans not only had the nerve to attack one of their warships but his. He barked out orders to a young warrior who immediately turned and left.
“J’kar.” Another tall warrior came to stand next to him. “Have you heard from Derik?”
His quiet voice did not reflect the worry he felt. He knew his younger brother had gotten separated from the group of warriors he was fighting with and he had, most likely, not survived the fighting. He felt the weight of guilt upon his shoulders. His younger brother was not experienced in battle and Borj had been the one to assure his parents he would watch over him on this voyage. They lost four warriors during the siege and he feared his little brother would be the fifth.
“Yes, Borj.” J’kar said as he turned towards his brother who was two planet cycles younger than his thirty. “He checked in a few minutes ago and said he would be here shortly.”
Borj let out a silent sigh of relief as he looked at his older brother. He could tell by his stance that his brother was furious with not only the Juangan but with himself for having walked into the trap they set. J’kar was tall, even by Prime standards, a full three inches taller than himself. At six foot six, he towered over most of the warriors. He had wide, muscular shoulders developed from years of training. His black hair was cut short and his dark, silver eyes flashed, reflecting his current rage. For the past five hundred planet cycles, the ‘Tag Krell Manok ruled the Prime galaxy bringing technology and prosperity to its people. No one would dare to challenge their rule…at least no one who wanted to live. The one thing they hadn’t been able to do though was bring more females to the population. Now, things were getting critical. Dressed all in black from his form-fitting shirt to his black boots he made an impressive obstacle not even the Juangans could ignore.
“You should get that cut on your arm looked at.” Borj said knowing full well his brother wouldn’t until everything was back to normal as much as it could be.
“It can wait.” J’kar replied impatiently. “Have you sent the security team to make sure all Juangans have been killed? I also want to make sure a team has been sent to the other ship. It is ours now.”
“Lan has his security doing a thorough search of the ship. He has also dispatched a team which has already taken control of the other starship. The Juangans had been over confident and left only two behind to maintain it. They are dead.” Borj said in calm voice. Out of the four brothers, he was known for his ability to never be ruffled. His calm, quiet manner was in direct contrast to his older brother’s assertive directness and his youngest brother’s eager, cheerful personality. His third brother, Mak, was a combination of himself and his older brother. He was currently commanding one of their other warships in search of women from yet another galaxy they had only briefly traded with over the past two planet cycles.
Borj inhaled a deep breath when he saw two men helping his bloodied, white-faced younger brother onto the bridge. Borj and J’kar started forward moving quickly toward the group, concern etched on their faces. J’kar muttered into the communicator for the healer to meet them on the bridge as he took in the bloodied bandages on Derik’s leg and arm and his pale complexion.
Chapter 5
Tink didn’t know what to expect when the doors of the elevator opened but it sure never entered her mind she would find herself in outer space! As she stepped out of the elevator the men in the corridor rushed forward. At first, Tink thought she was going to be road kill from the looks on their faces but the boy said something that changed their expression from murder to curiosity. The two men instead came forward to help him, casting wondering looks at Tink. Tink was glad. Her shoulder was killing her from helping take as much weight as she could and the boy was fading fast. She didn’t think she would have been able to go much further!
The two men took the boy, wrapping their arms under his. They carefully lifted him off the floor and moved in quick sure steps toward the room at the end of the corridor. This left Tink with no option but to follow. Besides she shrugged, she wanted a closer look at what the window up front contained because she decided she was either in some weird sci-fi adventure, dead, unconscious, on a movie set, or totally out of her frigging mind! Whatever the answer was, she wanted to enjoy it as long as she could so when she either: returned home, met her family in the afterlife, woke up, or saw it on the big screen, she could tell everyone back home about it. Life was full of adventures, according to her parents, and she was never one to turn away from the wild rides it sometimes offered.
Tink followed the men into the room. She stopped and gazed in total amazement as she entered. Her eyes widening as she took in everything. The room was circular and was maybe thirty feet in diameter. Each side of the circular room had computer panels with all types of lights and monitors on them before stopping about five feet away from the huge front view screen showing the darkness of space. On the left side, about half way down the curved wall, there was a door that led to another room from the looks of it. Two steps in the front led down to a center console area with a chair positioned in the center of the room by itself.
“Well, wake me up, Commander Kirk! I think Scotty’s transported me to the Enterprise!” Tink whispered under her breath as a huge smile started to curve her lips.
“Hot damn!” Tink said loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room. Grinning, she moved down the steps and towards the front view screen. Before she got halfway to the front another tall dark haired man stepped in front of her.
“What on earth did they do, clone the guys and give them steroids?” Tink thought to herself
before ducking under his out-stretched arm and doing a graceful twist around the center chair leaving the man grabbing empty space.
Tink was an expert at flag football and earned quickly how to avoid getting caught. That was a necessity of life when you were as tiny as she was and played with a bunch of Neanderthals, better known as mechanics. Tink was determined to look out the window, to see if it was real or not. No clone-man was going to stop her either, she thought with determination as she headed for the huge, front panel.
J’kar caught his breath when he saw the vision following his younger brother onto the bridge. He hadn’t seen the female at first. She was hidden behind his brother and the two men helping him. When the men moved aside to sit his brother in a nearby chair, she stood there; a vision of pure beauty. At once, his breath caught in his throat. All he could do was grunt into the communicator in response to the reply from medical saying the healer was on his way.
J’kar was barely aware of his brother Borj’s response to her. He vaguely heard his breath catch and noticed him stiffing beside him. Others in the room began to notice as well. Each of the men in the room, six not counting him and his brother, turned to watch as the vision in white and blue stood looking around at all of them. He watched as her eyes widened and a beautiful smile lit up her face. His breath caught in his throat and he could have sworn his heart stuttered before beating out a fast thump, thump. He ran his eyes over her. She was so tiny compared to the women from his world! He watched as she turned her head from side to side taking in everything in the room then returning to the front to look out the front view screen. He turned to see what she was looking at but all he saw was the darkness of space that was always there.
“What, who…?” Stuttered the normally calm Borj.
Borj cleared his throat and tried again. “J’kar, who is that? Where did she come from?” He followed her with his eyes as she slowly moved down the steps leading to the center of the room.
“I don’t know but I intend to find out.” J’kar said roughly.
He couldn’t have taken his eyes off the vision if he wanted to. He watched her as she slowly moved down the steps. There was a soft sway to her hips as she moved almost like water flowing. As she moved he noticed the highlights in her hair as the lights captured the hints of gold and amber. When she tilted her head slightly to the right then to the left he sucked in a breath noticing the curve of her jaw line and how her hair seemed to dance around her face. The smile on her face seemed to keep growing, showing off small white teeth and pouty full lips. She was different in her build and coloring than Prime females who were much taller and darker. While she was small in stature she moved with a natural grace that caused him to become suddenly very aroused. Her color was much lighter than theirs. Her skin had a soft, pale peach color to their darker tan. Her eyes were so dark he felt like he could drown in them. He had seen dark eyes on other species they encountered before but nothing that was so warm and seemed to glow with an internal light.
As his eyes continued downward he could feel his body reacting to her even from a distance. He scanned her face and body from her small nose and perky little mouth with plump, rose-colored lips to her full breasts, small waist and slim hips. Never before had he felt this type of reaction, even with the women who were trained to please the men on their planet. He had not felt for any women of their race before what he was feeling right now for this creature. He was always able to control his sexual reactions to females before and this reaction to one he had not even been close to took him by surprise. He felt confused, off balance.
His gaze moved over her white top that slid alluringly down one shoulder showing a small expanse of creamy peach-colored skin. He wanted to slide it further down and run his lips along her shoulder where it was exposed. He could almost taste how sweet her skin would be. Her slim hips were covered in a flowing, blue material that seemed to float around her as she walked across the floor. Wrapped snuggly around her slim waist was what appeared to be a tool belt of some type. While puzzling, he couldn’t stop as his eyes finally traveled further down, widening when he noticed her feet. He had never seen such covering before. Her feet were encased in a multi-colored fabric that reached up to her delicate ankles. She looked so fragile he was afraid if he touched her she would either break or disappear but it didn’t matter, all he knew was he had to touch her, taste her. He had to have her. He had never felt this feeling of possessiveness in his life. He was compelled to see if she was real and make her his.
Moving forward to intercept the female as she moved across the center of the room J’kar reached out and gripped- empty air! The female moved so quickly it caught him by surprise. J’kar frowned. She didn’t even appear to have been looking at him. When he reached out she ducked and twisted with such speed and agility he was left gripping empty air. J’kar let his hand fall to his side and muttered a dark curse as he turned to watch the female move out of his reach.
He watched as she twirled around the console putting it between them and continued moving towards the front view screen. He frowned, watching in puzzled silence, as she reached out tentatively and touched it. Then, she leaned over the front railing to look up, down, and side to side. He couldn’t help but wonder what she was looking for. In the back of his mind he wondered why he wasn’t more concerned as she could be looking for a ship posed to attack them. At the moment, he vaguely wondered if he would even notice if someone or something did. He was so focused on the vision in front of him, that for once in his life he was oblivious to everything else.
Tink was distantly aware of the silence that fell over the room but she ignored it. Her focus was entirely on the front view screen. Oh, she knew how many men were in the room, eleven counting the boy and the two men who came in with her. She was aware they were all watching her but now was not the time to become self-conscious. She would worry about being the only female in the room after her curiosity was satisfied.
She moved down the two steps and was almost to the center console when out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of the huge, dark haired man reaching for her. Instinctively, she did a duck and twist that saved her many a time during the flag football games she played in with the other mechanics in town.
Sucking in her breath as she glanced at the man trying to grab her, Tink couldn’t resist thinking he was the hottest thing she ever saw. God, talk about died and gone to heaven! Her sisters would be having a shit fit if they could see him. He was the classic prince charming- tall, dark, and handsome! With her luck, he would be all that until he opened his mouth and inserted his big foot! Or, he would prefer guys to gals. She had rotten luck when it came to men! She decided to cut her losses after the last disaster with ‘Mr. Professor’ and just be friends with all the guys she knew, met, or fantasized about. There were some things in life she decided weren’t worth the adventure and heartache was one of them. Although, glancing at the huge hunk next to her she debated on cheating on her plans. Tink sighed in self-reproach. I never did have very good self-discipline, she thought to herself.
He was well over six foot, even taller than Cosmos! He had hair the color of the deep space she saw when she first looked out the front view screen. His strong, square jaw made her want to run her fingers over it as she guided his luscious lips down to hers. Could guys have luscious lips? She wondered absently. He also had the cutest nose. It was strong and almost straight containing a small crook to it like it had been broken once before. Shrugging her shoulders, Tink decided it was her dream/adventure and guys could have anything she wanted them to have. If she wanted luscious lips and sexy jaw-lines she could have it. His broad shoulders were almost as wide as her arms spread wide open. She could get lost in those arms! If the rest of him looked as good as what she could see through his dark, form fitting clothing she knew she was going to be in big trouble. Scratch that! He was going to be in big trouble! That is… as long as he: one: wasn’t already taken, two: preferred males only, three: a momma’s boy, or four: all t
he things she hated about all the pricks she had dated before which was too long to think about at this time. Oh, yeah. If he didn’t fall into any of the above categories, he was going to be in BIG trouble, Tink decided with a sigh of delight.
Chapter 6
“This is so totally wicked!” Tink exclaimed excitedly as she moved to the railing running under the giant view screen.
As far as she could see there was nothing but the darkness of space. She leaned over raising one leg up in the air behind her to help give her more balance unaware it showed off more of her long legs and looked to the left side.
“Oh!” She hissed. Tink turned around and looked at the dark haired man who tried to grab her on her way to the front view screen and who now stood slightly behind her watching every move she made.
