by Juno Wells
His face froze, but he came swiftly to his feet, peeled off his uniform quickly, and climbed under the blanket she held open for him. Unlike humans, Draconians didn’t care about being naked in front of others. The handsome warrior wasn’t wearing a thing and the miles and miles of golden muscles was a good look for him. The moment he laid down she snuggled up to his side and tumbled back off to sleep.
Stacy woke to find herself draped over the naked captain. One wing was wrapped around her, cradling her to his side, and the other was lying limply off the bed. He was still sleeping. His horns were draped back flat against his head. Almost too comfortable to move, she reached up to run her fingers along one magnificent horn.
He snorted awake, giving her a low growly warning. “Careful my queen, a warrior’s horns are not to be toyed with unless a queen wishes to mate.”
Startling under his wing, she gasped, “They’re considered secondary sexual characteristic? That doesn’t sound right. Draconian babies like to have their horns stroked.”
Stretching slightly under her, the normally guarded man’s deep voice sounded slightly amused. “Such is the way with our kind until we come into our hormones. Before that time touching our horns feels much like a back rub.”
“That information wasn’t included in my training with the Draconian healers.”
Looking down at her, he grinned ruefully. “Speaking such to a queen would be seen as asking for her to render that kind of attention. It is considered inappropriate for warriors to bother queens with their desires. That is taboo for our warriors.”
“How about wings, can I touch them?”
“Queens may touch what they like. Warriors do not have the right of choosing.”
Bolting upright to a sitting position, she finally realized what he was saying. “What do you mean by that? Warriors just go along with whatever a woman wants regardless of how they feel about it?”
“I doubt it would occur to most of them to object. Between their strict conditioning to defer to queens and being taught to sublimate their own desires, many have no idea what they want. Considering their situation, it makes little sense to risk their life by raising an objection.”
Scooting back from him, Stacy covered her breasts with her arms. “No male is going to be killed for stating his opinion. You’ve been around us long enough to know that.”
“I only know that it has not happened yet. I mean no offense, but one never knows what the future holds. Once being around us is no longer a novelty, you will understand how uninteresting Draconian warriors are, and I suspect your attitude will change.”
“We’re not like that. We’re looking for life mates. I was hoping we could get to know each other better to see if we’re compatible.”
Sitting up, he pulled his wings close to his back and ran his hand through his long golden tresses before speaking words that stung her to the core. “With all due respect, queens are typically inconsistent in their affections and care little for the needs and desires of their warriors. Since warriors do not have the right of choosing, it is easier to simply ride out a queen’s infatuation, because warriors are always cast aside in favor of another. It is the natural order of things, and the reason I do not care for servicing a queen.”
Flying out of the bed at something approximating the speed of light, Stacy headed straight for the cleansing room. Standing under the stream of warm water, her mind rolled back over Meric’s clarification of gender roles among the Draconians. She’d known that women ruled the roost, but never once suspected the fierce warriors deferred to women regarding relationships.
Clearly all that sheltering her under his wing business wasn’t an indication that he was attracted to her at all. What were his exact words? I do not care for servicing a queen. He’s so disinterested in women he considers having sex servicing her. That could only mean one thing; he only slept with her because she asked. The putting her under his wing was just him being an overprotective warrior. Why in the hell did discovering that hurt so much? She barely knew the man, after all.
Thinking back to all the Draconian males she had interacted with since arriving on Dracon Two, she had to admit that none of them stepped up or pursued her. She’d approached every single one of them. Having assumed until now that the feelings were mutual because they seemed pleased by her interest, she was now forced to consider the possibility that they were just being nice. If what Meric said was true, it’s likely what she thought of as shyness was their way of being reluctant without stepping over the line into being uncooperative.
This new information put a whole new spin on her likelihood of finding love. The kicker was that he didn’t trust her not to kill members of the crew for some minor violation of protocols or verbal insult. What in the hell had she been thinking to invite him to sleep with her last night? That decision was clearly the result of being groggy, attracted to him, and under the mistaken impression he felt the same way. She sure as hell wouldn’t be making that mistake again. Hope made falling in love with her big sturdy warrior seem as simple as falling off a log. She’d bagged a hot warrior and got a baby in the bargain. Meanwhile, Stacy had been trying to find the right guy for months now, to no avail. How was that for unfair?
Hitting the drying unit, she tried to get as many tangles out of her hair as possible. She took a clean uniform out of the refresher and dropped it over her head. She had been allowed to choose from among hundreds of fragrances for her clothing, and she had absently picked “Earth: Morning Meadow.” Now, the scent of fresh grass, so realistic, brought tears to her eyes. She’d last smelled it as a little girl. Now no one would ever smell real grass on Earth again. She shook her head to dispel her gloom, brushed her hair, and tied it up off her neck. Her time in the cleansing room was getting to be very ritualistic.
In the main room, she saw that Meric had ordered food. Quickly taking a seat, she decided to keep it all business. “Did we get meaningful information from the prisoners?”
“We did, but not much. They reported that several lunars ago, the captains were contacted by the ship that got away. They were to meet for upgrades to their ship on a nearby moon, but the first ship disobeyed orders when they got distracted by the human queens. He said their captain was convinced that he could find buyers for them and make a substantial profit without it putting him very far behind schedule.”
“That sounds promising. I was thinking that maybe this has nothing to do with the Draconian queens. It’s possible that the Moltan developed similar technology independently, traded for it with some species we haven’t encountered, or even figured out a way to communicate with the Draconian queens. It just doesn’t seem plausible that your people could make it here without wormhole technology.”
“That has been bearing on my mind as well. I hope what you say is true. Our search of the database revealed virtually nothing except some fragmented communication with the missing Moltan vessel that substantiates what we were told by their defeated crew.”
“What did we do with them?”
“There were two and a half hands of them. I do not wish to have to worry about them trying to escape or making mischief on my ship, so we put them in stasis. I have the room under heavy guard to keep any of the queens from getting to them.”
“I doubt any of the women would do that. Though curious at times, by and large we aren’t a vindictive people.”
“That’s reassuring to hear.”
“I assume Riya split the women up and got them settled on each vessel.”
“She certainly did. The sister queens are very competent at overseeing the few remaining repairs on their ship and ensuring the queens to not become restless or distract the warriors from their tasks.”
“Again, they are probably just happy to be safe, clean and well-fed.” Taking a deep breath, Stacy decided to just step up the way they wanted her to. “I guess if I’m doing this thing, I might as well jump in with both feet. Can you forward me a crew list, assignments, current supply and weapons nee
ds? If we’re passing any member worlds we can stop and resupply. Since we have no idea how long it will take to find them, I don’t want to be caught lacking necessities out in the black.”
“I will see it done. Would you like to familiarize yourself more with bridge operations?”
“That would be fine.” Making a move to get up, Stacy was surprised when Meric’s hand came out around her wrist.
“Are you well, my queen?”
Pulling her wrist from under his hand, she nodded. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You barely touched your food, and you seem much less jovial than before you rested.”
“Perhaps the gravity of our situation is weighing on me, now that we have so many women on board. Their lives matter to me, and I don’t relish the idea of risking them. We need to stay focused on the task at hand.”
“I see.” Putting down his napkin, Meric stood. “I will escort you to the bridge.”
9 Shoulder to the Grind
Meric
To his eternal shame, Meric had offended his queen. His anxieties and innate dislike of queens had led him to speak honestly. It was a foolish decision, for he knew all too well how much queens hated being told the truth. It was his job to manipulate the facts, twist whatever would be displeasing to a queen, and sweeten every situation to make it easier for her navigate. No queen wished to hear a warrior’s concerns about breeding for her. Warriors were supposed to submit.
Meric was aware that this was supposed to have changed. The laws of Dracon Two say warriors can no longer be forced to accept a queen. The problem with that was queens often make rules and promptly break them as they like.
Though she spared him the humiliation of speaking of it, he knew in his soul that he had transgressed. Her behavior was no longer warm towards him. Rather than smiling and saying complimentary things, she was now refusing to look him in the eye and turning her attention to the mission. He could hardly blame her, for he had never gotten on well with queens. Still, the rejection stung more than he would have thought possible. Meric promised himself that from this moment forward, he would keep his mouth shut, only speaking when she asked a direct question, or when he needed to give his crew directions.
After introducing her to the bridge crew, he dropped into his console and began to transfer the information she requested to her data pad. Though she might not wish to interact with him, Meric would not leave her to the care of other warriors. He maintained an awareness of her activities, as he expanded the ship’s sensor range in an attempt to locate the missing ship.
It irritated him that his crew couldn’t seem to keep their eyes off of her. Most members of his bridge crew were newly appointed to their positions. He’d sent his most experienced crew members to staff the other two ships, so it had been necessary to fill the positions from the regular crew. The new crew was apparently unaware of how he frowned on warriors allowing themselves to become distracted. He glanced over at their queen again. Stretching his neck, his wings fluttered in aggravation. He ignored his foul mood and kept his shoulder to the grind.
Stacy opened a com frequency to the Raspian. “Riya, this is Stacy. Is everything going according to the plan?”
Riya’s pretty face shimmered into view on the screen. She tossed her long black hair over one shoulder and quipped, “Plan? There ain’t no stinkin’ plan.”
Chuckling, Stacy replied to her fun-loving friend. “That famous movie quote sounds adorable with your accent.”
Smoothing down her intricate gown, Riya beamed. “Yes. I somehow missed my opportunity to become a Bollywood star.”
His queen agreed amiably, “If not for the whole ‘Earth falling apart’ thing, you’d have been real popular.”
“Forget Earth, I’m real popular now. The Draconian warriors are a dream come true. I’m getting treated like royalty. How about you?”
“My crew is really nice as well. Are you having any luck tracking down the missing Moltan ship?”
“No, but we’re throwing everything we have at the problem. You can check with Kearney and Kendra, aboard the Jeron, but I think if they had a lead, they would have contacted us.”
“I’ll probably introduce myself. Thanks for all you’re doing. With any luck we’ll be able to able to sort this out quickly and get back home.”
“From you lips to Shiva’s ear, my friend. Catch you later.”
Meric quickly raised the Jeron on the com unit for his new queen. Two fair-haired females popped up on the view screen. They looked thin and sickeningly frail to Meric’s eyes. Both appeared to be wearing the clothing they arrived in and hadn’t bothered to freshen up.
His queen looked them over curiously as she spoke. Both queens were young and covered in the kind of grime that came from crawling through exhaust manifolds and relay junctures. Meric was shocked that they had elected to give the warriors a hand with repairs.
“Hello. I know that I already introduced myself earlier in the group, but I wanted to touch base with you personally since we’re going to be spearheading the search for the remaining Moltan vessel together.”
The one who looked slightly older spoke as she wiped at a piston wrench with a cleaning cloth. “My name is Kearney, and this is my sister Kendra. We remember you and are eager to find that damned ship. Our team found the remnants of a decaying exhaust trail using some fancy technique they dreamed up using spectral imaging. It’s faint, but it’s the only thing that remotely involves a trail in this area. We were just getting ready to raise you on the com.”
“That’s damn good news. You’ve been more successful than our ship.”
“We got the report your captain sent after interrogating the prisoners. Thank you for that information. We’ve completed repairs in record time. Shall we follow the exhaust trail?”
Queen Stacy shot Meric a quick glance and responded quickly.
He immediately stood and gave report. “We’ve dispatched a warrior to the Yuroba vessel to carry a message to Dracon Two and they are in route. Repairs will be finished in approximately twenty microns on the Raspian and our repairs will be completed shortly thereafter. I strongly recommend we stay together for safety, for none of us can take the Draconian Queen Mother alone.”
Kearney spoke again, her fists balled into tight fists around the wrench. “We’re going to follow the trail before it dies out. We can’t afford to lose them. You can always follow our fresh exhaust trail and catch up with us.”
Thinking it over, his queen decided not to follow his advice. “You’re right. We can’t afford to lose them. Follow at maximum speed, but do not engage them on your own. Understood?”
“Sure thing, we’re not looking to get ourselves into some kind of galactic death match with a super villain. We’re looking to team up on the bitch so we can all make it home alive.”
“That sounds like a good plan to me. Remember, those warriors are your responsibility.”
“We’re all too aware of that fact. We have one request.”
“Name it.”
“If it looks like we’re going to be captured, we’ve both decided we’d rather die. Neither of us wants a ringside seat while some symbiont uses our bodies to take over the galaxy. If push comes to shove, will you make that happen if you can?”
Meric saw his queen’s lower lip tremble for a second or two before she answered. Her voice was calm and controlled but he could tell she was forcing out the words. “Our job is to see it doesn’t come to that. However, if it does, we’ll see you don’t suffer.”
“That would a piece of mercy, considering the circumstances, ma’am.”
“God speed to you. We’ll catch up as soon as we can.”
When the screen went blank, her head dropped. “Don’t say it, Meric. I already know that was probably a shitty decision. Probably one of many we’ll be forced to make before this mission is over.”
He replied respectfully, “It is not a warrior’s place to question a queen.”
“I thought you would s
ay something along those lines. If you’ve finished loading the information I requested on my data pad, I’m going to sit in the conference room and read through it.”
“We will alert you if anything requires your attention.”
“Thanks, Captain Meric.” Watching her drop into a seat all by herself at the conference table, he realized the transparent wall separating the conference room from the bridge put her on full display for all the warriors to see. Naturally, they made use of the opportunity to continue stealing glances at her as she crossed her long legs and leaned over on the table. Meric used the time to study her, not missing how she rubbed her temple with two fingers as if attempting to rub a headache away.
“Do you think she will find evidence of that which you do not wish her to see in our database?”
Not looking at the older warrior, Meric responded. “I would think not, Salon. She seems focused on the mission at hand. I think she will restrict her curiosity to the progress reports she is being sent.”
“Do you trust her?”
“I trust her as much as any queen can be trusted. Though she seems decidedly more compassionate and altruistic than the queens we’ve known, you know as well as I that only time will tell for certain if her motivations are pure.”
The elder rasped, “Unfortunately, queens are rarely what they seem.” There was a pause before he added hesitantly. “The warriors say you never left her quarters last night.”
“She woke screaming. I believe she struggles to cope with the dark times in her life. She forced me to sleep with her in an effort to keep the nightmares at bay, but she did not press me into breeding.”
“Are you chosen?”
“No. Today she was cold and aloof. It matters not to me, for I’ll not risk my line or my freedom as a male until I am certain of her motivations. Often queens feign disinterest in power, even as they slowly tighten the noose around our necks.”
