by L P Peace
Thanesh cleared his throat again.
He bristled at her inference that he might assault her. The injection was what he told her; painkiller and nanites to repair the damage. Of course, then the nanites would converge to form a small tracking chip in her body. But he wasn’t going to share that piece of information with her.
Entering the bridge, Thanesh crossed to his usual console and sat down, opening a comm to his ship, Calaia.
‘Sir?’ Korren’s professional voice filled the quiet space of Thanesh’s bridge. His vibrant green-blue eyes regarded him coolly. Korren was one of the few children born to a Protectorate in the centuries since their awakening. He had the white hair and horns of his father’s people. But the charcoal skin and vibrant, almost luminescent eyes of his Inidiine mother. Korren dealt with the running of Calaia, leaving Thanesh to run the Protectorate.
‘I am on my way back,’ Thanesh said, looking at the control panel as he ran through his pre-flight checks. ‘Comm Protector Keral’s ship. Tell him I need him on Esra in fourteen hacri. There is a slave auction I need him to attend.’
‘Sir?’
‘Tell him to search the crowd for red-tattooed Kathen and a small Kuyon. They will be together. I want them brought to Calaia.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘I am sending you my flight path.’ He dropped his flight path into the call.
‘We have it,’ Korren confirmed.
‘Chart an intercept course. I have a prisoner on board.’
‘Trouble, sir?’
‘She definitely is,’ Thanesh said. ‘Also, there are two bodies here.’ He sent the coordinates. ‘The red container they are next to and their ship belongs to us now.’ Korren nodded.
‘You have an interesting trip, sir?’ Humour flashed in Korren’s eyes for a moment before it was gone again.
Thanesh grunted. ‘Not as interesting as I would have liked.’
The ship rose with a jolt even as the dampeners absorbed most of the inertia. Alethia’s stomach lurched a few minutes later when the gravity of the planet released her and the artificial gravity of the ship kicked in.
Shock turned to disbelief, turned to despair. They’d left the planet and with it the promise of rescue.
Exhaustion overtook her. She didn’t want to think about what the Protectorate would do to her now he wasn’t selling her at the Tinar slave market. She didn’t want to think about how worried Makios and Dairon were. She didn’t want to dwell on the rising fear she would never see her home again. Instead, she lay down on the narrow cot attached to the wall of the cell and went to sleep.
‘Wake up.’
Alethia sat up, panicked at the sound of Thanesh’s voice. She looked out to see the seven-foot frame of the High-Protector stood outside her cell with a tray.
‘Thanks. I haven’t eaten since this morning.’
‘That was last rote. You have been asleep for several hours.’ Thanesh said, his voice husky. He stooped down, shoving the tray under the gap between the bars and the floor. ‘This was evening meal for last night.’ A simple plate of some cubed meat in some kind of sauce and vegetables greeted her. Thanesh slipped a drink through the bars.
Alethia considered the information. She didn’t feel like she’d slept at all. She slipped to the floor, grabbed the tray and used the utensil to shovel the food into her mouth.
‘You eat like an animal,’ the Protector growled over her after watching her for a few moments.
‘Haven’t ate since breakfast yesterday,’ she reminded him through a mouth of food. His lip curled in disgust. ‘You don’t wanna see, don’t watch.’
‘You are human?’ he said, sitting on the floor instead of leaving.
‘As you see,’ she said, scooping more food onto her fork and into her mouth.
‘What ship did the Huan have you on?’
Alethia shrugged.
‘Didn’t get a good look at it. It was Hieladan.’ She looked up at him. ‘All circular halls and round rooms. Iridescent colour palette.’ The Protectorate nodded.
‘I will let my people know.’ He shifted into a sitting position.
‘Ah, of course, the mercenaries have to make their money.’
‘It is better than being a slaver,’ he growled.
‘I’m not a slaver.’ Alethia took a few drinks of water.
‘I am sure the Aavani would disagree.’ The High-Protector smirked, ‘The human. Preying on your own kind.’ He made a clicking noise of disapproval.
‘You know, just because you insist something is true, doesn’t mean it is.’ Alethia swallowed the last of the meat, barely tasting it. She drained the cup and picked up some tabin root, before shoving the tray back through the gap.
She climbed on the cot and chewed on the root, ignoring Thanesh.
‘So, if you are not a slaver, why are you buying slaves?’
Alethia glanced at him. He was still sitting on the floor watching her, an earnest look on his face.
‘Why do you think I buy slaves?’ she asked without a trace of sarcasm.
He shrugged.
Alethia huffed. ‘You have no idea, do you?’ she snapped when it became clear he wasn’t going to speak again.
Thanesh leaned closer to the bars. ‘No idea about what?’
Alethia shook her head. ‘It’s so easy for species like yours,’ she spat. ‘You’re big, strong, you look threatening and people stay out of your way. You own big ships. Tell people what to do, which borders to cross, which to stay away from. You have no idea what it’s like to be a slave. To be from a people other races have decided are good for nothing but slavery.’
‘So, you free them? Where?’
‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’ Alethia scoffed.
‘Yes,’ he said sincerely. ‘That is why I asked.’
Alethia shook her head. ‘Tough.’ Alethia took no small amount of pleasure from the confusion on his face.
‘Why do you pretend to be Protectorate?’
‘Isn’t it obvious?’
‘For protection.’
Alethia nodded. ‘Nine people asked about buying me yesterday,’ she said.
Thanesh’s lips disappeared into a thin line.
‘And it gives you an advantage in negotiations,’ he stated flatly.
‘If I turned it down, people would ask questions.’ Alethia shrugged. ‘They’d question my legitimacy. My similarity to your people and the ability to lie are the only things keeping me safe on those planets.’
‘You do not live in a space station,’ he murmured. ‘You live on a planet. You seem to be a planet kind of person.’ Alethia kept her mouth shut. If she could make him think that her skin was due to lack of sunlight, rather than the careful avoidance of it to protect her condition, he’d be looking for her people forever.
‘Are you even listening?’ Alethia snapped.
‘You are a liar.’ He nodded in acknowledgement before getting up in one smooth movement.
A concussive force rocked the ship, throwing Alethia to the ground. At the same time, Thanesh still finding his feet was thrown against the bars, their eyes met and for a moment, Alethia could swear he almost looked concerned about her.
The lights dimmed and an alarm wailed. The lights came back on, tinted red.
‘Do your friends have weapons?’ The Protectorate righted himself, concern turned to anger, he glared at her.
‘None of my people are stupid enough to go up against the Protectorate.’
‘Cancel alarm,’ he ordered. The alarm ended; the lights flashed back to white. ‘Stay here,’ he barked as he left the brig.
‘Where am I going to go?’ she called after him.
Thanesh raced through the halls of his ship towards the bridge. Another explosion threw him against the bulkhead. Swearing under his breath, he pushed off and hurried his pace reaching the bridge a moments later. The ship was still speeding through FTL. A kaleidoscope of light broke off the bowhead of the vessel, cascading up over the viewscreen.
&
nbsp; Crossing to his seat, Thanesh pulled up telemetry as he sat. When he saw who was firing at him, he cursed. A Ulidon ship was following in their wake, using their slipstream to gain on them. They fired another barrage of attacks; three going wide, two connecting. The ship bucked on impact. Dara’s shields had diminished in power to seventy per cent. They wouldn’t be able to take much more of this.
Thanesh tapped at the screen, on the ship and pinched the holo that appeared a moment later, throwing it on the viewscreen. It blossomed, several icons opening around it.
‘Comm,’ he ordered, hailing the Ulidon ship.
As though they had been waiting for it, the viewscreen changed to show the dark bridge. Three Ulidon stood there. One was facing Thanesh, his glowing green eyes observing him, the other two working control stations.
‘Why are you firing on my ship?’ Thanesh realised he had half expected to get up here and find Kidaal following him. He was almost relieved.
Another impact shook the ship, and he glanced down. Shields, fifty-six-percent.
The Ulidon stepped forward, revealing a tall, muscular black body. When he stepped into the light, Thanesh saw the segmented, chitinous armour, the long claws and the flared crest on his head that was made of membranous skin stretched over tendons, each ending in a claw. He had no ears, though the rest of his face was not dissimilar from Thanesh. Thin lips drew back in a sneer, revealing needle-sharp teeth. Three large, bladed spikes curved on the greaves of his arms. Just over the Ulidon’s shoulder, Thanesh could see the blade of his tail pointing towards him through the screen.
The creature standing before him wore no clothes, but neither did he appear naked.
Thanesh was thrown against his con. He looked at the readout; the shields were down to thirty-nine per cent.
The Protectorate never had much dealing with the Ulidon, they tended to stay in their own neighbourhood. However, everyone knew about their obsession with human females. Around thirty solars ago, a group of Ulidon came across a few of them while raiding a ship going through their space. Since then, the Ulidon bought and stole every human female they could find, even going so far as to attack ships outside of their space on the off chance there might be human slaves on board.
The idea of what these Ulidon would do to Alethia heated his blood.
A few moments passed. The creature grinned before finally opening his mouth to speak. ‘There is a bounty on you, Protectorate.’
Another strike hit the ship. This one was worse than the previous. The shields were letting more in. Twelve per cent.
‘Tell me who, call off your attack, and I will pay you double the amount.’
‘That sounds dull. I prefer to hunt.’
‘I guarantee this will not end the way you think it will,’ Thanesh promised.
The Ulidon flashed a ghastly grin.
Thanesh shut off the screen and sent a comm message to Calaia as Dara dropped out of FTL. In front of him, the cascading light rained to the inky darkness of space.
Thanesh searched for a habitable world and almost laughed when Vidan came up as an option. It was perfect. Charting a course, the ship went into FTL just as the Ulidon ship joined him in normal space. It would take a few seconds for them to follow.
There were six escape pods on the ship, each capable of holding four people. He set five of them to show two lifesigns. One Protectorate, one human and prepared all five of them to eject, sending each one to a separate planet. He tapped out a quick encoded message to his fleet, then standing, he ran to Alethia.
His heart was pumping hard. It wasn’t the strain of the run; it was the idea of what the Ulidon would do to her if they got her. Cross human-Ulidon children were becoming a new normal in their homeworld and colonies, their own females all but abandoned. The few humans who had returned had reported abuses that shocked a galaxy otherwise hardened to human suffering.
‘Who is it?’ Alethia clutched the bars. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Ulidon.’
Alethia paled. Her already large eyes widened.
He slapped his hand on the reader, the cell door popped open. He grabbed Alethia’s arm. ‘The ship is too damaged. We are not going to make it—‘
Alethia jerked against his arm, pulling him to an abrupt stop. ‘You’re giving me to them,’ she exclaimed. Thanesh pulled her close and bent so that his face was close to hers.
‘No.’ His whole body seemed to revolt against the idea of it. ‘Never.’ He stared at her until he saw the word sink in. She nodded. When he pulled her, she didn’t resist.
Half-carrying her, he led her to the final pod and guided her inside, following half-a-moment later. He buckled her in before he took his own seat and inputted the coordinates for Vidan. Then he waited.
‘Protectorate?’ She moved forward until he could see her out of the corner of his eye.
‘Watch,’ he told her.
Dara fell out of FTL and all six pods detached. Out of the small viewscreens, Thanesh could see each one light up and disappear into short-range FTL. He hit the FTL ignition. The small viewscreens filled up with a tidal break of white light.
‘They’ll have no idea which one we are,’ Alethia said beside him. He turned his neck and saw her looking through each port-hole in turn.
‘I have sent a message to my people. We only need stay safe a few rotes. They may even reach us before the Ulidon.’
Alethia sat back in her seat, her eyes closed, and she sighed. He listened to her breath steadying and falling heart rate.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked after a short time had passed.
‘A planet on the edge of Tinar space.’ Thanesh said, turning back to the control station. ‘Once the Tinar has a contract with us, it will fall into our Protectorate controlled buffer.’
‘Buffer?’ It didn’t escape Thanesh’s notice that her tone was stiff.
‘The corridors of Protectorate space at the edge of each sector we protect. You must have heard of them?’
Alethia nodded. ‘Of course.’ She seemed uneasy. ‘I just never considered them buffers before. How come you end up owning them?’
‘It is a part of the contract.’ Thanesh turned and watched her carefully. ‘If we are going to use them for patrolling, we need full control of them.’
‘It’s like a web.’
Thanesh frowned.
‘Spiders?’ she said. ‘They’re an Earth creature my mum told me about. They create small threads of silk from their body and use it to weave webs to trap flying prey. It looks like the threads of a web.’
‘You are wondering when I am going to close the trap?’
Alethia arched an eyebrow, her shoulders shrugging.
He turned back to the console without answering the question.
‘Alethia, wake up.’
Alethia opened her eyes to see space flashing over the viewscreens of the small escape pod. ‘How long was I asleep?’ She sat up. Her eyes were heavy. She realised she could still sleep more given a chance.
‘The whole journey.’ Thanesh’s voice was husky. ‘We are about to enter the atmosphere.’
Alethia looked out of the viewscreen and saw only the endless black, filled with a smattering of stars.
Thanesh manoeuvred the craft. It reoriented and a planet came into view.
She could see two light green continents connected by a large land bridge. They took up about a third of the surface facing them. Just off to the side of the southern continent was a large island. The continent was partially obscured by night, the rest either a rising dawn or setting night.
‘We are going to the island,’ Thanesh said. ‘We will land by the beach, hide the pod and wait for rescue.’
‘Your people know where to look?’
‘I sent them the coordinates in the message.’ He nodded.
‘So, I’ll have a little beach holiday before I’m imprisoned.’ If the Protectorate had anything to say, he kept it to himself.
‘Strap in,’ Thanesh said. He was fiddlin
g with the controls. ‘Things are about to get rough.’
The shaking started almost as soon as Alethia got her restraints on. They’d done the bulk of the descent and were in the mesosphere when a tearing, shearing sound shuddered through the pod. Alethia screamed, gripping the armrests tight until her knuckles were white. The pod plummeted and spun out of control. Alethia was pressed into her seat under Gs of force. She closed her eyes and swallowed, resisting her stomach’s urge to expel whatever little something she might have left in there. The urge to be sick increased when she opened her eyes and all she could see were the sky and ground dancing in a terminal tango for her life.
‘Alethia? Are you there?’
‘Here,’ she barely got out before closing her mouth to swallow the bile rising in her throat.
‘Hold on,’ his voice commanded.
She concentrated on his voice. On those words as they repeated through her mind.
Hold on. Hold on to what? Hold on where? She was trapped in a pod, falling to a messy death. Also, there were restraints. They were doing the holding on for her.
‘What happened?’
‘We lost two thrusters,’ he managed to say. He was wrestling for control. If he didn’t slow down their spin, they were going to splat onto the planet.
‘How many left?’ she yelled over the roaring noise.
‘One!’ he shouted back.
Thanesh had been piloting them to the daylight side of the planet. The force of the impact threw the pod off course, and Alethia watched them pass the terminator line, into darkness.
The thruster leapt to life and the pod slowed. It cut out a few moments later, their fall resuming. Mountains appeared to accelerate towards them. They passed over them, but hit something, a peak? The spinning increased. Alethia saw a forest. Trees and sky passed them back and forth like a game.
Something struck her face. A small gasp of shock erupted from her lips and she felt wet as it trickled across her hairline from the force of gravities. She tried to raise her hands to check, but the same force pinned her arms to her sides. She managed to turn her head and saw Thanesh staring at her, his eyes wide.
