Thirteen
Need walked down the moss-carpeted, vine-draped corridor and made his way to The Dark Star’s bridge. It was one of the few places in the ship not completely overrun with vines and flowers and greenery because they would have interfered with the delicate navigation and flight equipment. Besides, the mass of overgrown bracken in the middle of the room, there were no plants at all.
Of course that bracken, happened to be the captain of The Dark Star.
Captain Glo’ll was sitting in the command seat in the center of the room, staring at some star charts on the viewscreen. His glowing gold eyes looked out from the tangle of vines and branches that made up his face and he acknowledged Need’s presence by growing a single purple leaf at the end of one twig-like finger—of which he had seventeen on each hand.
“Captain,” Need said, nodding at him. He studied the Cytovian carefully, looking for signs as to Glo’ll’s mood. The vines and branches that made up his body were covered in reasonably green foliage at the moment, which was generally a good sign. It was when he lost his leaves and went bare—or worse, started sprouting thorns—that you had to be careful of him.
“First Mate Needrix.” The Captain nodded back, genially enough. “Come to plot our course?”
“Of course, Captain.” Need cleared his throat. “I understand we’re going to the Goddess’s Cloak galaxy.” Also called the “Milky Way” for some reason, by the residents of Earth—a green-blue planet located there that the Kindred were guarding. It was convenient that it also happened to be the galaxy Genu Six was situated in.
“We are.” Glo’ll nodded, his eyes glowing a bit brighter, Need thought. “And I understand we have another crew member aboard,” he added, a few of his leaves beginning to turn brown and curl up around the edges. “Though it seems to me, I should have been informed of that fact, seeing as how I own this ship and also am her captain,” he added sternly.
Uh-oh. Need watched the browning leaves with concern, though he kept his face emotionless. Clearly Drung had gotten there before him and had already complained to Captain Glo’ll about Lan’ara.
“We do have another person aboard,” he said, as casually as he could. “I was just about to tell you, but I guess Drung already tattled on me.”
Glo’ll frowned and a few leaves turned completely brown and fell off.
“He did come and tell me that you had bought a female and, as he put it, ‘smuggled’ her aboard.”
“Smuggled?” Need barked a short laugh. “If bringing her in through the front hatch where anyone could see her is smuggling then I guess we can all start conducting our business in a more straightforward way. Next time we have a shipment of Gypsom weed, let’s just leave it right out in the open in the main cargo hold when the local authorities come to search the ship.”
“Point taken.” Glo’ll sprouted a few new leaves to take the place of the brown ones that had fallen. “You’ve never acted in an underhanded way before, Needrix, which is one reason you’re my First Mate. Some say there is no honor among thieves but I believe I have to be able to trust my men.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Need nodded. “Drung is just angry because he was bidding on the girl too, at the slave auction, and I outbid him.”
“Yes indeed. Drung informed me that you spent forty thousand credits on the girl. Can that be right?”
A halo of tiny white and yellow buds sprouted around the top of the Cytovian’s head like a crown. Need knew they denoted curiosity and he could understand why. Forty thousand was ten times what most slave girls would fetch, even distractingly pretty ones like Lan’ara.
“I did,” he said, keeping his face calm and disinterested.
“But why? Drung said something about her being special—that he needed her to grow an heir for him.” Glo’ll made a shooing motion with one hand. “It’s so inefficient the way you meat-creatures have to have another of your kind in order to procreate. If I wanted a child, I would simply sprout one from my own branches.”
“Well, I don’t want a child,” Need said shortly. “The girl’s an investment.”
“An investment?” The flower crown bloomed and Glo’ll leaned forward, his eyes glowing even brighter with curiosity.
“Exactly,” Need nodded. “She was stolen from an exclusive private school in the Trell’wick system, right before she was about to be shipped off to a Galactic Senator on Genu Six. Word is that he’ll pay twice what I did to get her back.”
Of course, he didn’t know if that was true or not, but it sounded good and Captain Glo’ll appeared to be suitably impressed—if the necklace of purple leaves and flowers he had sprouted around his neck was anything to go by.
“A most judicious investment if it pays off,” he remarked. “But rather a gamble, don’t you think? What if this Senator won’t pay for the female? You’ll be out a lot of money.”
“A calculated risk,” Need assured him. “I was hoping to see if our course would take us by Genu Six, so I can off-load her as soon as possible.”
“Not right away, I’m afraid,” Glo’ll responded. “I just got word from my contact in the Goddess’s Cloak and we’re picking up a load of Yarrow root on Felicitus Twelve. I’m afraid that’s across the galaxy from Genu-Six.”
“Yes, it is.” Need frowned. “Where are we planning on selling it?”
Glo’ll shrugged, yellow flowers sprouting along his shoulders.
“I’ll leave that up to you, First Mate. If you can find us a planet that has a good, competitive market near Genu Six, you’ll be able to unload your new female and hopefully recoup your losses. If not…” He shrugged again. “I’m afraid you’ll be stuck with her for a while. You really should have asked me before buying her instead of just assuming we could make a side-trip explicitly for your personal gain.”
Need repressed a sigh. He should have known that Glo’ll would be miffed at his bringing a new person aboard without asking first.
“I would have asked,” he said. “But…I sort of bought her on the spur of the moment. I saw an opportunity and I seized it, that’s all.”
“Not thinking ahead isn’t like you, Needrix.” Glo’ll frowned and a few leaves around his face withered. “This opportunity you seized—it wouldn’t happen to be just because Drung was trying to seize it at the same time, would it?”
So they were back to that. Need ground his teeth when he thought of the fucking Trollox complaining to their captain.
“Drung just happened to be bidding on her at the same time—I won because I wanted her more,” he said evenly. “Besides, I couldn’t let him have her. She’s a tiny little thing—it’s fucking obscene to think of that huge bastard trying to mate with her!”
A few of Glo’ll leaves curled up and the crown of curious flowers around his head wilted.
“As I have said many times, I don’t care to hear about the stupid and inefficient way you meat creatures reproduce yourselves. Coupling and gestation is such a time-consuming process. Have you even tried budding? It’s so quick and easy.”
“I’m afraid it’s not possible for my kind,” Need said, trying to suppress his irritation. Captain Glo’ll wasn’t bad to work for, but like most Cytovians, he was undeniably arrogant in his belief that non-plant based species were below him and his people.
“A definite failing on your part,” Glo’ll remarked. “Well, I’ll look forward to meeting this female ‘investment’ of yours at Last Meal this evening.”
“About that…” Need cleared his throat. “I was hoping that she could be excused from attending Last Meal while she’s aboard The Dark Star. I’m afraid it will cause friction between myself and Drung, since he also wanted her.”
The leaves all around Glo’ll’s glowing golden eyes suddenly wilted and a few short thorns appeared at his temples, looking almost like horns.
“You know my policy, Needrix. Every person aboard the ship—whether meat-based or plant-based—must attend Last Meal nightly. You can’t bring another person on board and
then try to hide them away from sight. I have to know everyone on The Dark Star in order to run an efficient crew.”
You mean in order to be certain no one is plotting against you, Need thought. The Cytovian was suspicious to the point of paranoia at times, which was probably the reason behind his ‘everyone at the dinner table’ policy. He liked to keep an eye on his crew, and making sure he looked every one of them in the eye at least once a day, was one way to do that.
“All right,” he said, knowing there was no point in arguing. “She’ll be there.”
“Very good.” The thorns disappeared and green leaves took their place. “Then please plot the course and get us underway. I’d like to be on our way to the Goddess’s Cloak by the time we sit down to eat tonight.”
“Yes, Captain.” But still Need hesitated.
“Yes?” Glo’ll gave him an irritated look. “Is there something else?”
“Just one thing.” Need cleared his throat. “The uh, wash blossoms in my fresher, they seemed to have a…a strange affinity for the girl. Is that normal?”
“An affinity, you say?” A few yellow and white flowers popped up around Glo’ll’s forehead. “How exactly do you mean?”
Need cleared his throat again, trying to think how to explain without giving too much away.
“They, er, attached themselves to, uh, sensitive parts of her anatomy,” he said at last. “And I could hardly get them off. It was like they didn’t want to leave her alone.”
“Well is she putting out some kind of pheromone? Or possibly making some kind of sweet secretion?”
Need frowned. “If she’s making a chemical scent, I can’t tell and my nose is very sensitive to that kind of thing,” he said. “As for making a ‘sweet secretion’…” He paused, thinking of the salty-sweet taste of her pussy honey. Her flavor was amazing but had it been special in any way? It was hard to know, since he hadn’t tasted a female in so long, but he didn’t think it was unusual.
“Well?” Glo’ll demanded and Need realized he’d left his end of the conversation hanging.
“I don’t think she’s making special secretions either,” he said.
“Well, maybe they just like her flavor. Or…” Glo’ll paused, looking thoughtful as several green and purple leaves sprouted from his temples.
“Or what?” Need asked.
“Well, it could be that the wash blossoms sense your new acquisition could be made to produce such secretions and they’re trying to stimulate her to do so,” the Cytovian said thoughtfully. “They actually live off the sweat they collect when they clean your skin. If they sense that more nourishment is available, they will attempt to get to it. They’re semi-sentient, you know.” He glared at Need. “Which is one reason you must be very careful not to harm them.”
“I’m careful,” Need promised him. “I would never hurt a plant—you know that, Captain.”
“Good.” Glo’ll nodded in apparent satisfaction. “Well, then—please get on with plotting that course, would you? I’d like to be in deep space and through the first wormhole before we sit down to Last Meal tonight.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Need nodded again and went to the navigational system. But his thoughts were only half on his task as he began manipulating the complicated instruments. The mention of Last Meal had brought his Trollox coworker to mind again.
He’d been hoping to keep the girl away from Drung, but it looked like that wasn’t going to be possible. She would have to see the big Trollox at least once a day—which was once too often as far as Need was concerned. He didn’t like the idea of the horny asshole leering at her beauty.
Fine—I’ll bring her out to Last Meal, he told himself. But if that big bastard gets anywhere near her…
He felt a possessive growl rise in his throat and swallowed it back down with difficulty. There was no point in feeling so protective and possessive of the girl when he was only going to off-load her at the end of this mission.
Getting her to Genu Six shouldn’t be a problem. He was certain he could find a planet where they’d pay well for the Yarrow root The Dark Star was picking up. It was a very popular drug which had been labeled a controlled substance on most civilized worlds—mainly because while it gave euphoric visions of a heavenly realm to ninety-nine percent of people who used it, it caused the other one percent to descend into a hellish nightmare they couldn’t escape from for a solid solar year.
That was a hell of a bad trip and you never could tell if it would happen to you or not. Need had heard of Yarrow users that had been taking it all their lives with no ill effects suddenly getting a bad dose and spiraling into madness. Despite that grim possibility, however, the visions it gave when the trip was good were so amazing the drug continued to be in high demand.
I’ll find us a buyer, Need told himself. Might even find one right on Genu Six. Then I could offload the girl and the Yarrow root at the same time.
Though he still didn’t like the idea of sending the girl to live as the property of some octogenarian senator who apparently discarded wives like used tissue papers. Still, what else could he do with her? It wasn’t like he was going to keep her, right?
Unbidden, the image of her moaning his name and the way she looked up at him with those gold-flecked eyes rose in his memory. She was so small, so young. She needed to be protected, cared for…
No! Need told himself firmly. Someone else can care for her—I can’t. I can’t care for a female ever again—it only leads to heartache.
Pushing his own misgivings away, he bent his mind to the task of finding the fastest route to their destination.
The girl would be gone before he knew it, and good riddance.
That was what he told himself, anyway.
Fourteen
Lan’ara put on the metallic bronze shirt Need had given her and cinched it at the waste with the long black neck cloth. The satiny material was soft against her bare skin and clung to her curves lovingly. It fell nearly to her knees and once she had rolled up the sleeves, it looked almost like a short dress, she thought.
Wanting to see how she looked in the clothing her new owner had given her, Lan’ara dared to leave the sleeping chamber and go in search of a mirror or a viewer. She was fairly certain she had seen one in the fresher.
But on her way through the main room of the cabin—which held the desk and a comfortable looking couch, in front of a rectangular projection-screen which was playing the image of a green and blue fire—something caught her eye. It was a small square cube that looked vaguely familiar, for some of the girls had them back at the academy.
A memory cube! I wonder what’s on it?
Lan’ara picked the small cube up from its place on the neatly arranged desk and looked at it intently. For all that the desk was so clean, the spot where it had been sitting was faintly outlined in dust, as though it hadn’t been disturbed for a long time. The little object was surprisingly heavy and she turned it over in her hands curiously.
Suddenly, the cube began to hum and a bright golden image was projected from one of its facets.
Lan’ara gasped and almost dropped the thing—she hadn’t expected it to turn on by itself! She juggled it madly for a moment, then managed to get a grip on it and look at the image it was projecting.
It was a girl about her own age, Lan’ara thought, with long, golden hair and big green eyes. She was laughing at whoever was taking the picture and had full curves, like Lan’ara’s. Or wait…Lan’ara frowned. Did she have full curves?
Turning the cube from side to side, to get a look at the holo projection from all angles, she realized that while the girl was indeed full-figured, she was also pregnant. Who could she be? An old lover of Need’s? He seemed too grim a man to ever attract such a laughing, happy girl as the one in the projection, but there was no doubt he was handsome. Maybe she had been willing to put up with his ill-humor because of his masculine beauty.
Or maybe he hadn’t always been as grim and unsmiling as Lan’
ara saw him now. Now that was something to think about.
At last the projection died and she was able to place the cube back where she had found it. She made certain to place it in the exact spot she’d taken it from. The dusty edges around the spot on the desk helped to guide her. She wondered if maybe Need hadn’t looked at the holo projection in a long time because he had lost interest in the girl who was pictured.
Or maybe it simply hurts too much for him to remember her, whispered a little voice in Lan’ara’s head.
Well, either way, she still needed to find a way to check her appearance. With a last look at the cube, she headed for the fresher. Sure enough, when she went back into the small room with the tub and the wash flowers, there was indeed a silvery reflective surface on one wall.
Lan’ara spent some time examining herself from all angles, wanting to make certain she looked her best. After days spent mewed up in the hold of, first the pirate ship and then the slave vessel, it was a relief to be clean again. It was the first time she could remember looking and feeling normal since the night before the pirates attacked—the night they had all been given their vitamin and immunity shots by the Twyleth Tigg Academy nurse.
“There you go, my dear,” the nurse had said when Lan’ara winced at the sharp jab of multiple needles going into her arms. “I know it stings, but it’s for your own good, so it is. It will make your life on Genu Six much easier, I promise.”
“Because I’ll have immunity to the local diseases, right?” Lan’ara had asked her.
“Mmm-hmm.” The nurse had nodded her graying head as she applied seal-skin to the tiny punctures the needles had made in Lan’ara’s upper arm. “As well as other things. The injections we give you now will make you a better bride—one most pleasing to her husband or master-to-be. Consider yourself lucky, my dear—this is a proprietary compound guaranteed to make you irresistible to the male who buys you.”
Lan’ara hadn’t had any idea what the kindly old nurse was talking about or how antibiotic shots could make her irresistible, but she wished they would work here, aboard The Dark Heart and not just on Genu Six. It would be good if they could make her new owner like her, at least a little bit—her life would certainly be easier if he did. Of course, the school officials hadn’t had any idea that she was going to be taken by pirates and sold by slavers, but a little advantage would be nice to have.
The Kindred Warrior's Captive Bride: A Kindred Tales PLUS Length Novel Page 9
