by Stella Cassy
"We refueled on Coovoo before things went bad, so that's one problem solved. We've got enough to go another week out and still make it back home. We did not, however, refill our food supplies. If we don't find food in the next week, the journey home will be spent on rations."
"But we'd have enough?" I didn't want anyone to get sick from malnutrition.
"Yes. I'm only assuming what each mission embarked to find. We were given the task of securing enough water to get us through the next rotation and maybe longer. Five other ships left Thirren when ours did. I can only assume they're going after treasure to pay for all of this, fuel, perhaps slaves, and maybe building supplies. I can't be sure, of course. Maybe food." He narrowed his eyes in thought. "Possibly talking to allies about reinforcing us should the Pax attack again."
"Is that a fear?" I asked, unable to keep the worry out of my voice. The last thing I wanted was to be taken by the Pax again. Especially knowing I was what they called a breeder. No thanks.
"Somewhat. Don't worry, I'd never let you be taken. I could keep you safe." He puffed out his chest. "That's how I was selected for this mission."
"So, each captain was selected? By who? What did you do to get this job?" He was proud that he'd been chosen. I was proud for him. He must've done something great.
"I took over command of a platoon of ground troops, rallied them, then we attacked and defeated foot soldiers of the Pax numbering three times as many as our own. Maybe more." He shrugged. "I didn't count, only strategized and then killed. I was instrumental in turning the tide for the ground forces on Thirren. "
"That's wonderful!" I leaned forward and popped a kiss on his lips.
He leaned back, surprised. "What was that for?" he asked.
"Because I felt affectionate toward you. Is that something not done in your culture?" I hoped I hadn't mis stepped.
"No, I've seen others kiss at random times for seemingly no reason, but it's never happened to me." He looked a bit sheepish. "This is the first time I've made any attempt to have a mate or a partner."
"Me, too, really, but I watched a lot of movies on Earth, and they kiss like that a lot. It felt right at the time."
"Do it again."
I giggled and leaned forward again, giving him an over-exaggerated smooch, complete with sound effects. He snorted and gave me a silly look. "I don't think I've seen you be so jovial before," he said with a smile. "I like it on you."
"There hasn't been much to be jovial about, not since... well, since my graduation. Before that I studied too hard to be happy, and before that? Well, there wasn't much there to give me joy."
Being around Illion—without anyone dying, or trying to kill us, or anything else catastrophic—brought me joy. I truly felt happy just sitting with him and learning about his mission. I wanted to find ways to help him with it.
"Your joy will return," he said solemnly. "I will make sure of it."
My sappy reply was cut off by Chase's voice over the comms unit. "Try it now."
Illion went to work on the tablet, checking for nearby planets and comparing the results to the last reading he'd gotten before they'd begun working on the sensor.
"The results are favorable. I can see two more planets that weren't there before, and the other planets that we're picking up have much more detail."
"It was nothing more than an unplugged fuse," Chase's voice replied. "All this wasted time over a disconnected fuse."
"Was it intentional?" I asked, then ducked my head, afraid they didn't want me interfering.
Illion looked at me with a set jaw. "It better not have been."
"Maybe, but it's impossible to tell," Chase said. "Reboarding shortly." He cut off.
"So, now what? Back to Thirren?" I asked.
"Of course not! If we return now, we forfeit the prize, not to mention letting down the people on Thirren desperately waiting on water. There was enough to keep people hydrated, but the crops have nothing. The heat of the volcanoes has evaporated all the water we had. What didn't evaporate is contaminated."
"What is the big prize?" What did men on Thirren want? Money? Maybe some land.
"My own command," Illi said dreamily. I nearly laughed at him for his mooney eyes, but stopped myself in time. He wouldn't have taken it as good-naturedly as I meant it.
"Don't you have one here?" I motioned to the deck.
"On loan from the royal family. I've earned their respect, but when I win, and I'm given my own ship, I'll have to build my crew myself. That will take the time that money cannot buy."
"So you get a ship and the title?" It didn't seem like much.
"And a vast fortune."
"Ah, that makes more sense. And there's only one winner?"
"I'm beginning to suspect we'll all win in some way. That's not normally the way of the Drakon, but we were hand-selected for our merits. Except for Rethryn. He was selected because he's a minor royal. And an asshole."
"They picked him because he's an asshole?"
Illion laughed again. The sound warmed me inside. We both needed more reasons in life to laugh. "No, it's just an observation of mine."
The crew filed in. "Anybody find anything?" Illion asked the room in general. Members of all shifts had turned up to see the planet, and most of them crowded into the room, spilling out into the hall.
"Dirt," someone in the back called.
Illion laughed. "Men, we can't go back now. We'll need to be conservative with our supplies, but we've got time before we have to give up and go home with our caudals tucked between our legs."
"For glory!" another voice called out.
"We'll rest here for a solar or so. All crews are on maintenance. Look over every inch of this ship and see if there are any preventative repairs that need to be done." Illion pointed to a man that had more bars and stars on his uniform than most of the others. "Organize the rest and maintenance checks." The man nodded.
"We will find a suitable alternative to this planet, especially now that the sensor is properly functioning." He clapped his hands once, and the men dispersed quickly, melting away to perform tasks assigned to them. The obedience was impressive, especially from a temporary crew.
25
Illion
I watched my crew leave the deck to do as I'd said, and I couldn't help but grin. They'd done my bidding with no prodding, no grandstanding. They'd just trusted me to have their best interests at heart and to know what to do to finish the mission and keep them safe.
A few weeks ago, they would've been second-guessing me, questioning every move I made and suggesting alternatives.
"Chase, bring out the maps. I know this area isn't well documented, but let's see what's there."
He moved to the corner of the room where supplies were kept in a well-organized cabinet. I was surprised to see him return with physical maps. "They've not been scanned in?" I asked.
"No, sir. This part of the galaxy has been ignored for many rotations. I'm not sure all of these maps are even Drakon. We may have gotten them from other species."
He spread the maps out on a large table. It was placed on the deck, in theory for conferences, but I'd never seen one used that way. The captain's word was the law on most ships. If there was a need for a decision to be made and the captain wanted input, he asked for it privately.
Still, the table was handy for looking at maps.
I moved the screens showing the data the sensors were mining closer to the table.
Leticia took to map reading quickly. "There are several planets plotted on this map that show up on the sensors." I'd already noticed them, but then I'd been trained in the complicated readings of Drakon maps, and she hadn't.
"You have a good eye," I said proudly. My mate was as intelligent as she was beautiful.
"We need one that has enough water that they're willing to barter. They need to have it in great excess," I muttered as I read the reports from the sensors on the stats of each planet. "Water is the most important element of these missions. We
can't fail."
"Why do you say water is the most important?" Chase asked. "We don't know what everyone is going after."
"All carbon-based life forms rely on water. And there really is a finite amount of it out in the universe." I tapped the screen to bring up more information on a planet that looked promising.
"Do you mind if I look, too?" Leti asked.
"Please do," I said. I was glad she took to map reading, but there was no way she'd find anything I couldn't.
We spent several microns searching for the information. "Illi, I think V'thk is a good possibility."
She would need more training before she was ready to navigate the cosmos. "I've already looked at it. There aren't enough carbon-based forms. Why would a planet have an excess of water if there are no carbon-based beings on it?"
"I've been looking at the information from the sensors. What if they're still wrong?"
Chase gave her a sharp look but wisely kept his mouth shut.
"My crew fixed the sensors. I have no reason to think they're still malfunctioning."
"Look." Leticia pulled my tablet toward her and pressed a few buttons, bringing up the stats for V'thk. "It shows some water, but the readings don't match the last set of readings, which were only about five years, I mean, rotations ago. That reading indicated a significant amount of water."
"Yes, but the planet is on the map, and where the cartographer could've listed available resources, it's blank. Yet all the rest of the map has those details filled in for other planets. It's a waste of time."
"Illion, I'm not sure why you're so resistant to my suggestion, but I think it's a possibility worth exploring." She was growing angry. I wanted to kiss her and take her anger, but that was a Drakon custom she might not be aware of.
"I am not resistant, mate. I simply disagree." Grabbing my tablet, I sat down in my chair and continued scrolling through data on planets within a rotation’s journey of the barren planet we'd docked on.
She sighed and continued looking, as did Chase.
After a while, we gave up to go to eat and refresh our minds.
"We may need to leave this planet to get more in range of our sensor," I said to Chase as we accepted trays of food from the kitchen crew. "We are running out of options."
"We have V'thk," Leticia said under her breath. Chase stifled a chuckle, but not before I heard it and shot him a glare.
"You are a stubborn human, aren't you?" From anyone else on board, that level of insubordination would cause me to punish them. From her, it made me want to wrap my wings around her.
That wasn't a bad idea. I'd have to try that. Bringing my wings into play could be exciting. I still hadn't introduced her to my caudal. I was really looking forward to that.
"Are you listening?" she asked me, waving her small hands in front of my face.
"Not at all, mate." I sat down and dug into my evening meal. "What were you saying?"
"If you're going to have to leave this place anyway, you might as well go toward V'thk."
I sighed, growing exasperated with her insistence. "Lieutenant, will you please take a small crew out to the sensor and check it again? Take different men this time."
"Absolutely," he replied, a smile playing on his face.
"Leave the smile when you go," I said darkly.
That only made it worse. At least I knew his mirth wasn't at my expense or behind my back.
"Does that make you happy?" I asked my new mate. "If they find nothing wrong with the sensor, will you relent?"
"I suppose," she said around a mouthful of meat. It was flavored well, masking the bland tang that deep freezing usually brought to the meal.
We returned to the deck after our meal and continued arguing.
"The data supports my theory," she muttered before raising her voice. "I keep going back to it, it makes the most sense. I'm sorry if you think I'm being argumentative."
"I do think you're being argumentative, but I love it. I'm Drakon, we love a good fight."
She rolled her eyes. "Heaven save me from a pompous man."
"As long as you promise you are not ignoring my suggestion because I'm a woman."
She'd lost her senses. "Of course not. Some of our finest soldiers, generals, and intellectuals are women. I don't know what you're used to on Earth, but on Thirren, women are capable of anything."
"Then is it because I'm human?"
"A little," I said. "And you're ignorant. You've not been trained to read these reports. You've not been trained to read the maps. You're very intelligent, and of that I'm proud, but you're not a ship captain."
Her face darkened as I spoke. "Does it offend you that I picked it up without training?"
"No, because I don't believe you've totally picked it up. You'll need a few lessons that I don't have time to give right now."
Exasperated, she tossed her tablet on to the table. I followed its progress as it hit the surface hard. It blinked several times before going completely black. "You broke it," I accused. "They'll make me pay for that.”
Leti grabbed the device and pressed the corner power button. Luckily, the device lit up and went right back to the screen it had been on before, a navigation command for the planet V'thk. The computer's voice filled the deck. "Destination accepted."
I laughed as Leticia panicked. "What did I do?" she squeaked. She was cute when she was worried.
"Don't worry, we can cancel it." The tablet she threw wouldn't respond. It was stuck on the navigation screen, so I held the power button down until it went dark.
"Problem solved," I said with a smile. "But I should make you work off the cost of that tablet."
"Departure in twenty microns," the computer's smooth voice said. "Ready ship for departure in twenty microns."
A countdown clock filled the screen.
"Um," Leti whispered. "It didn't cancel."
I grabbed my comms device. "Anyone outside the ship, return immediately. We've got a heading stuck in the computer. Tech team one, priority red, to the deck."
Tech team one was comprised of my brightest minds. If anyone could override the computer, it was them.
They ran into the room, most of them having gone to the exercise room for a little off time if their dress was any indication. Several of them wore the plain jumpsuits kept in the room in case a Drakon shifted and found himself without clothing to put back on.
After explaining the situation to my head tech and giving them the offending tablet, I left them to it, sitting quietly in my chair with Leticia beside me looking contrite.
When the countdown clock said five microns, I made another announcement over the comms devices. "We might have liftoff in less than five microns. Anyone not on board will be left behind. Prepare for takeoff."
Crew members scurried around behind me, finishing up the repair tasks and making sure the ship was ready for takeoff. The computer was determined that we were leaving the tiny, unnamed and deserted planet.
All to go to the planet my mate had chosen in a snit.
What else could go wrong on this mission?
26
Leti
Everyone made it on board as Illion sat and stewed. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't mean to do it."
"It's not your fault, it's a computer error." His words were nice, but his tone was super pissed. I cringed. Maybe the crew could fix the problem along the way and we would go to whatever planet he thought was best. I knew my research had been legit, but I was very new to life in space. He was trained and smart. I shouldn't have been so insistent.
"Captain, we believe we fixed the sensor before takeoff." Chase handed a readout to Illion. "I think you'll be pleased to see this."
Illion's face changed from somber to overjoyed as he read. "My mate is beautiful, but she's a genius as well," he crowed, throwing the papers in the air. "I'll never doubt you again," he whispered in my ear before snatching me into his arms so fast it nearly made my head spin. His lips crashed into mine, his excitement rolling of
f of him in waves. I kissed him with gusto, so glad that he was willing to admit when he'd been wrong. It was a good sign and gave me more hope for our uncertain future.
He pulled his lips from mine momentarily. "On to V'thk!" he shouted at the crew as he carried me from the room, peppering my face and neck with kisses. "Little Leti, I'm sorry I was angry with you. V'thk has never been contacted by the Drakon and is full of water. The sentient life there is plentiful enough for us to be able to barter, but not so much that we couldn't take what we need by force if necessary. You may have just saved the mission."
He put his hands on my ass, so I wrapped my legs around his waist, tucking my feet under the bottom of his wings, folded behind him. "I'm glad," I said with a smile. "I really like seeing you so happy."
"Then I shall strive to be happy all the time. It shouldn't be difficult with you around." He smiled at me as his hands kneaded my butt, causing zaps of pleasure to my core.
"Illion," I whispered, my mood turning from happy and silly to something much more heated. "Are we going to your bedroom?"
"No, mate, we are going to our bedchamber." He smiled at me again. "I like saying those things."
"Me, too. I like hearing you say them."
He let go of me long enough to push the button into his room. With no desire to have him put me down, I wrapped my arms around his neck and stroked his wings. I'd only touched them a few times, unsure of the propriety of touching a dragon's wings. For all I knew, it was rude. But I wanted to touch them then, it felt right. So, I did.
He shuddered under my touch. "Leticia, there are things we still haven't done, during sex. I wanted to introduce you slowly to a robust sexual experience with one of my kind."
"Like what?" I asked. He slowly spread his wings, lifting me into the air with him. "Like sex in the air. It gives a thrill to the experience, so I'm told."
"You've never done it?" I hoped he hadn't. The more things we experienced together, the better.
"It requires a great deal of trust. Do you trust me?"
