Mate: Level 8

by Heather Karn

  When I was reassured that he was fine, I placed a soft kiss to his lips and leaned back. Ki tenderly kissed my forehead and called his men inside, still using the gentlest voice I’d ever heard from him. As Hasak passed, he smiled at Mom, and though she tried to smile back, she failed. It didn’t bother Hasak, who climbed back into the pilot’s chair and Ki was once again his counterpart. Galdro sat across from me and nodded toward the bench we sat on.

  “You should warn her about the bumpy ride and if she needs to be sick, about the bags.”

  Mom’s eyes grew even wider when I translated what Galdro had said. That was the last words spoken until we neared the ship in orbit. This time I did get sick, and even Galdro had a greenish complexion. Mom handled the flight like a champ, rubbing my back the entire way. No amount of reminding myself I was supposed to be comforting her through her first flight through space could stop me from spewing the contents of my stomach into the bag. Several times Ki looked back at us, but a thumbs up from me let him know we were all good. Or I hoped it did as he snorted, grinned, and shook his head. Just another human statement he didn’t understand.

  When the flight finally evened out, I moaned and rested my head against the wall behind me. However, when Galdro tapped my knee, I opened one eye to peek at him. Instead of speaking, he just pointed out the front window.

  Mom and I both looked, and she gasped, a hand flying to her chest. “Is that…?”

  “Yeah, that’s the ship. Trust me, it feels bigger on the inside, and it’s a maze, but you’ll get used to it. It took me weeks of following Kilani and Maltak around before I finally figured out the route between my room and the mess hall.” My smile widened as I called up front. “By the way, Ki, I’m kicking you out of our room. I hope you like bunking with the soldiers.” Ki’s response was to chuckle and shake his head.

  After landing inside the ship, Galdro led the way off the pod, and I followed with Mom in tow. She eyed all the men around the other pods with a wary stare. Me? I waved to the ones I knew, and they waved back.

  Kilani caught up to us and led the way to the laboratory where Yulaki waited for us. When the young scientist’s eyes landed on my injured mother, he went to work gathering supplies to help put her back together. I assisted Mom in sitting on one of the tables I’d first woken up on, still hating this room.

  “Yulaki, can you start with the translation stuff so Mom actually understands what you’re saying?”

  “Of course.” He grabbed a thin, short metal tube and approached us. “You don’t remember this part, but I’m going to tell you it’s not painful. I’ll just need to have access behind her ear.”

  I gave Mom the message, and she cringed, but turned so Yulaki could stick the tube against her skin. He pressed the tip and a sound like a puff of air escaped it. Mom didn’t even flinch.

  “It might take a few minutes for the tech to adjust, but she should understand us soon,” Yulaki stated and then went back to work with Ki supervising from a few feet away from me.

  Yulaki went back to scouring for supplies and returned to fix Mom up when Maltak entered the room. He took one look at Mom, me, and Kilani and shook his head. When he caught sight of the bag in my hand, he nodded toward it.

  “Is that it?”

  Mom’s eyes widened, obviously hearing the English translation for the first time as I responded back. “That’s it.”

  Maltak turned back to Ki. “What would you like us to do now, Captain? Stay in orbit or move further away?”

  “Move away. I’d rather not risk being spotted, but we won’t leave the galaxy until we’re sure this solution works.”

  Mom choked and turned to me while Yulaki was trying to clean her facial wounds. “Galaxy?” she squeaked, and I nodded, lips pressed together.

  “Yeah, galaxy. I believe I had a similar reaction when Ki mentioned it to me.”

  Ki chuckled from where he stood. “You also were threatening to punch anyone who came too close.”

  “I wish you would’ve let me punch Saren,” I grumbled, squeezing Mom’s hand after I hopped up onto the table beside her, setting the bag of medicine beside me.

  “I wish I would have as well.” Ki sighed and strode over to me, cupping my face and kissing my forehead. “I need to go. Maltak will stay with you.”

  Pain still lingered in Ki’s eyes, and I wondered if that was why he left or if he really had something he needed to do. Now wasn’t the time to ask, but I hoped we had a chance to talk later. Since Mom would be staying with me in my room, the only other truly private place I could think of was the spare room. I’d be dragging him there later once Mom was settled in.

  It didn’t take Yulaki long to finish treating Mom, and he used such gentleness that I hoped she understood she was safe here. Telling her how much the Lutharians respected women wasn’t going to work on her. She needed proof after so many years of abuse and manipulation.

  “Which one is it?” Yulaki asked when I opened the bag of medicine after he was finished with Mom. “There are so many.”

  I grinned. “Most are just regular human stuff. I figured I’d bring it all. This is the one you want.” I held up a small bottle and handed it over. “So, what’s the plan?”

  “Find out if we can duplicate it, adjust what is necessary, and start giving some to Maltak to see if it works.”

  Mom arched an eyebrow and I shook my head. I’d tell her later. It was too long of an explanation for the moment.

  “So, are we done?” I asked the scientist, who was already growing so deep in thought we might as well not have been there. Yulaki gave the all clear for Mom to leave, so I took her by the hand and led her out.

  Someone had brightened the hallways again, which I was thankful for since I didn’t want Mom tripping like I had my first day. She followed close behind me, with Maltak bringing up the rear now that I knew where I was going. Some of the men we passed welcomed me back aboard and most nodded.

  When we finally made it to my room, Mom followed me inside while Maltak stayed in the corridor. She barely made it a step in the room before halting and covering her face and taking a deep breath. I knew how overwhelming this was, yet she had no idea how lucky she was to have me to help her figure it out.

  I wrapped my arms around her. “It’s going to be okay. I know how hard this is.”

  “You make it look so easy.”

  Chuckling, I squeezed her. “It wasn’t always this easy. Some days were so hard it was all I could do to climb out of bed. Other days I was so excited to find out about this ship and what it could do. I despised Kilani for so long because it was his decision not to take me back home that left me here, but honestly, it was the best decision of my life.”

  I could feel Mom shake her head as she held me back. “All those men...they each know you?”

  “Not well, and I don’t know some of their names yet, but I know most. They respect me, Mom. They won’t hurt us.” I stepped back and forced her to look at me. “And they won’t hurt you. If anything, we have a ship of guard dogs watching out for us.”

  “But why?”

  “Because I’m the Captain’s wife, and you’re my mother. They respect and honor him, and that respect flows down the line. Plus, I’m nice and an oddity.” I shrugged. “I eat way more than they do and they like to remind me of it.”

  “I still don’t understand any of this.”

  Tugging her toward the bed, I laid down and wrapped her in my arms as she laid beside me. “Then let me start from the beginning.”

  For the next few hours, I explained everything I’d learned and gone through to my mother. Though I wanted to leave some details out, like Hilgal, I kept them in the narrative so she could see just how protective my shipmates and husband were to me. When it came to the Lutharian council, I tried not to let my true feelings about them bleed through too much, but she was my mother. She saw straight through and I wound up grumbling an extra ten minutes about them. But when I returned to my story and told her how the room right then
looked like my new home, I couldn’t help the happiness that shown through my voice.

  “You really love that man, don’t you?” Mom finally asked after my tale was over, her voice soft with exhaustion.

  “I really do. The first day we met, he scared the crap out of me, and that’s his biggest regret to this day. He tries every day to remind me that he cares and that I’m the center of his world. He calls me his treasure because I’m the most precious thing in his life. He’s my best friend, Mom.”

  She leaned over and kissed my forehead. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “Thanks. Listen, if I tell you you’re safe, will you be okay in here alone? I need to find my husband and ask him about something.”

  A momentary panic filled Mom’s gaze, but she blinked it away and took a deep breath. “Yes, I’ll believe you. Is that man still outside?”

  “Maltak? Yeah, for right now, but I’m going to have Hasak stand guard for a while...or someone else if he’s unavailable. If I drag Kilani off the deck, Maltak has to take his spot since he’s the second-in-command.”

  “I see. Go do what you need. I’m going to sleep.”

  “Good.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead and climbed from the bed and strode into the hallway where I met the curious gaze of Maltak. “I need to talk to Ki.”

  Kilani followed me from the deck to the spare room, remaining as stoically quiet as he used to be around me. Something was definitely wrong. Part of me knew we needed to talk about it, and the other part knew it was going to be painful and raw. Still, that was better than this.

  Once in the spare room, I placed my hand over the virtual changing device. Whenever we were in here and I did this, it always came up as the gym, but today that wasn’t what I wanted, and the room seemed to sense that as it turned into the beach by our lake. The view startled Ki, who looked around and then at me before I wrapped my arms around him from behind and rested my cheek against his back.

  “Talk to me, mate. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “You don’t want to talk about it.”

  Pain filled his voice, and my heart ached for him. I knew exactly what it was he meant. Maybe I shouldn’t have reacted so strongly on the pod, but I hadn’t been in the mindset to deal with any of it, especially with my distraught mother sitting right there.

  “I’m ready to talk about it now. If you aren’t, I understand, so know that when you are, I am.”

  He gripped my hands as his body trembled. “You will hate me.”

  “You kidnapped me from home, and I don’t hate you for that.”

  Kilani was quiet for so long I was almost convinced he wasn’t going to say what I knew he needed to tell me. The ache in my chest grew, but for him and the guilt he carried. Though I wanted to tell him I knew what had transpired, he needed to be the one to tell me when he was ready.

  A teardrop fell onto my arm before Kilani turned around in my hold and embraced me, tucking my head under his chin as he held me. “I killed your father, Cammie.” His voice choked and he swallowed as I took a deep breath, letting this confirmed reality sink in. “I lost it. You were with your mother and Hasak and that man tried to throw the knife in your direction, whether to hit you or your mom I don’t know, but I reacted. Cammie, I know how you felt about him, that you were so scared of him, but he was still your father and I took his life.”

  I was maybe too quiet for too long, but I wanted what I said to mean something to him, not just a platitude he’d expect to hear, such as a lame “it’s okay.” That would never let him know I was serious about not holding him accountable. While I thought, he kept murmuring how sorry he was, until I finally cut him off.

  “Okay, enough of that. I know you’re sorry, and you don’t need to be. You made me a promise, Ki, a promise I expect you to keep. Do you remember that promise? You made it in this very room.”

  “I remember,” he murmured.

  “Good. What was it?”

  “That if anyone tried to harm you, I’d kill them.”

  I leaned back and cupped his face, fresh tears slipping down my cheeks. “Of all the promises you’ve ever made me, keeping me safe has been the one I hold most dear. Am I sad he’s dead? Yes and no. He was my father, but I held no love for him, only fear. I wish he could’ve changed, but some people don’t want to, and he was one of them. So don’t you dare convince yourself that I’ll hate you for this because I don’t. I love you for it. I love you for keeping your word and keeping me and my mother safe. If I am your treasure, then you are my shield, forever defending me and keeping me safe at your own peril, both physically and metaphorically. I’m so proud to be your wife, Kilani, even when I fall short of every expectation you have of what a wife should be. I’m trying.”

  There wasn’t a chance for another word to leave my mouth as our tears mingled together on salty lips in the most desperate kiss we’d ever shared. Both of us needed reassurance from the other, and with every touch and stroke, that assurance was given and reaffirmed. It didn’t stop until well after we were gasping for breath and we both could barely stand.

  “I love you, Kilani,” I murmured against his neck, making him groan.

  “I love you too, my Cammie.” He chuckled and took his turn nibbling my neck. “I wish your mother wasn’t in our bed. I want to hold you while you sleep.”

  “But I’m not going to sleep,” I argued, punctuating my statement with a yawn.

  Snickering, Kilani lifted me into his arms, and I yelped. I’d never get used to him doing that to me. He opened the door and carried me to our room, passing by plenty of men who openly grinned at us. Something about “newly mated pairs.”

  Mom was still awake when Ki brought me into the room. After a quick explanation and apology to her for what he’d done, the last thing either one of us expected was for Mom to throw her arms around his neck and start crying and thanking him. For the first time in years she wouldn’t be looking over her shoulder or worrying about if she or I would survive his next outburst. He couldn’t get to us now, no matter what happened, and we were safe.

  After that, Ki tucked me in and wished us both a good sleep and left, leaving Hasak stationed outside our door. By the time we woke up, Yulaki had a test sample of the antibiotic made and ready for Maltak to test out. Mom and I weighed in on how much and how often to take the pills, and in the end, we all decided that taking one pill every three hours of Lutharian time would be enough. The test period would go for a week, and we’d all keep an eye on Maltak for any negative reactions. The poor man wouldn’t even be able to stand in the corridor alone, let alone use the bathroom by himself we were all so paranoid for him.

  The time it had taken to reach Earth to find Mom and the antibiotics had proven to be a challenging wait, but that week, waiting for the test result at the end...time stopped. For most of us anyway. For Mom...not as much.

  When we’d woken from our first sleep on the ship, we’d been starved, so I took her to the mess hall where a concerned Mortan had met us and pulled both of us into a giant bear hug. Mom and Mortan hit it off right away, not that Mom was looking for a romantic endeavor, and I wasn’t sure Mortan was either, but the two of them started talking, mostly about food, and I wound up leaving her with him so I could go to the deck. After that, she spent a lot of time in the mess hall.

  After a week of Maltak having absolutely no privacy, which didn’t seem to bother him as much as it would have me, a group of us met in the laboratory. The council had insisted that they be allowed to “sit in” on the results and currently were on screen on one wall while Kilani, myself, Mortan, Mom, Galdro, and Hasak stood watching Yulaki take blood from Maltak. In the past week, Galdro and Hasak had taken turns being Mom’s bodyguard type figures, so both wanted to be here for this, and that was their excuse.

  “How are we going to know if it’s working?” I whispered to Kilani, but the room was so quiet everyone heard, so Yulaki answered.

  “I’m going to run the Mate test. If the medicine is working at all, he should ha
ve switched from Companion to Mate.” Taking a deep breath, Yulaki took the blood to his computer and we all waited with bated breath. The only sounds were coming from Yulaki as he worked the computer.

  When I wasn’t sure I could handle the wait any longer, my poor heart and stomach leapt from my body when Yulaki shrieked so loud everyone jumped, and most grabbed their hearts, including Maltak. Grabbing his ears and tears streaming down his face, Yulaki turned around in the chair to face those of us present, ignoring the council as he put his back to them.

  “He’s a Mate: Level Six for fertility.”

  Screams erupted, and I wound up hopping up and down with Kilani as tears slid down my cheeks. When I thought my tears couldn’t get worse, I caught sight of Maltak, who was leaning into my mother’s embrace, weeping so hard she was the only thing keeping him from crashing to the floor where he sat on the table. Then my tears started all over again and I drenched Kilani’s uniform.

  When we were all nearly composed again, Roosha called our attention to her. “Congratulations to the lot of you, to every person on your ship. We thank you for your bravery and sacrifice for this mission. As you are all well aware, your mission was not sanctioned by the council, or anyone, and Kilani is not your Captain, nor is he allowed on any vessel due to previous actions.”

  The room held its breath while Ki stiffened, ready to have the book thrown at him. I squeezed him tighter, ready and willing to be his shield this time around. However, when Roosha beamed at her son, more than one person sagged.

  “While your methods went against the council’s directive and wishes, we understand why you did it. This does not mean that those involved will not be punished. There will be punishments dealt out, and they go as follows.”

  Again the room held its breath. I wasn’t sure if I should believe Roosha’s smile or prepare for the worst and a verbal fight with the council. Heaven knew I was waiting for my chance.