Taken (Selected Book 2)

by Robin Roseau

  Is that what every drug addict says? I didn't think I was addicted yet, but I was pretty sure I was getting there. Part of me hated the idea. Part of me didn't mind at all.

  We came to a gentle stop, and I felt normal. More or less, anyway.

  "May I see now?"

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "Because there are more surprises for you, but you said you wanted to start with our home and see the station's surprises tomorrow, so that is what we are doing."

  "Oh. But this is our floor?"

  "Yes. This is our floor. There's another transport, a monorail. It's very smooth."

  "All right. I get to see it tomorrow."

  "Yes."

  * * * *

  It was a short walk from the monorail. We walked slowly, and I thought perhaps Bronze had done something to the visor audio. I could hear her, but I couldn't hear anything else. I didn't ask her about it. I would discover tomorrow I was right.

  We came to a stop.

  "I'm trying to decide how I want to do this. I don't want you seeing anything outside our home. But I want you to see our home."

  "You can turn the visor on once we're inside, and I can see the outside tomorrow."

  "That's what I was going to do, but I wanted it to be your idea."

  I laughed. But I moved against her and put my arms around her neck, then I waited. It took her a moment to realize, then she growl-chuckled and picked me up.

  "Thank you," I whispered into her ear. "This was important to me."

  "I know."

  We stepped forward, and as we passed through the doorway, she said, "Welcome to your new home, Sapphire Fletcher."

  She set me on my feet and tried to turn me to face in the home. But I turned to her. "Uh huh. More human traditions. You keep forgetting."

  "You want a kiss."

  "Tight hugs first." We pressed together. We pressed together for a long time.

  "You're trembling."

  "I know. Tighter. I'll be fine."

  After a moment, I pushed away from her and lifted my lips, receiving the kiss I wanted. Then I turned around in her arms and pressed my back against her, pulling her hands around me and clasping them to me.

  Slowly, my visor brightened.

  "You should know," she said. "It's going to seem a little antiseptic. I had been living in space appropriate for a Temier. I picked this place, but I haven't actually lived here. My things are here, but there's no art, and unless someone saw to things, there may not be dishes or anything like that."

  "No art? I thought you appreciated art."

  "This is our space to share, and we will decorate together."

  "Oh. That's all right then."

  "All the homes on the station are similar in many ways. There are three sizes, and they are assigned primarily as needed. The smallest sizes are for one or two people-"

  "You said this was for an entire family."

  "I'm coming to that. The middle size is for family units of three or four. This can be a variety of combinations. And the largest size are for family units larger than that."

  "Okay."

  "However, we have the room, and we know this is a traumatic experience for any human mates that arrive in a fashion similar to your arrival, so we bump them by one step. It is expected they will be involved in producing young, so it's an easy decision, anyway. But it is the right thing to do. The small spaces feel like apartments to you."

  I nodded. There should be some compensation for what we went through.

  "Lastly, we don't typically assign quarters based on status, but that's not absolutely true. I was living in a medium quarters. There is an argument, and it's a fair argument, that people in a position such as mine are responsible for entertaining, and so there is justification for giving me more space."

  "Did you? Entertain?"

  "Yes, although for some reason, most humans were intimidated by me. I didn't understand it."

  I laughed. "I wish you'd let me meet you. Before."

  "I wish I had, too. I think I've made some mistakes."

  "You have, but those are a sunk cost." She chuckled. "We make the best decisions moving forward. But I will be very angry if you don't introduce me to some of your Temier friends."

  "Most don't understand English. But yes, I'll introduce you. Eventually."

  "Eventually better mean 'a few weeks' not 'next year'."

  "We'll see. Don't argue."

  "Of course not. I'm not remotely the argumentative type."

  She snorted but moved on. "Also, the spaces are different for different races. They all include a common area that is compatible for all races. But the remaining places can vary. This space should well suit us. And you'll like the immediate neighbors."

  "Oh?"

  "Catseye."

  I laughed.

  "One with a human mate. The other is single."

  "Really?"

  "Are you talking about the one who is single, or the one who is mated?"

  "Silly. There's a human living right next door?"

  "Yes. She's French. She has her mate wrapped around her little finger, I believe you would say."

  "Sounds like a French woman. They're amazingly sexy."

  "I like Americans," she said. I pulled her arms more tightly around me in response.

  "Okay. Enough introduction. Give me the quick tour with little conversation."

  "All right. This, as you can guess, is the main living space. The station exterior is on the other side of the wall you can see, but I made sure the wall was darkened. I don't want you to see yet. All the exterior walls are darkened."

  "I thought the floor would be curved."

  "It's a circle nearly sixteen kilometers around. The curve is subtle."

  "But it is curved?"

  "Yes. Furniture is all self-adjusting, so everything fits flat. But you won't be able to detect it by eye unless you use a taut string from one end of the quarters to the other."

  "Gotcha."

  The entertaining room could have been a great room in any large house in Minnesota. There were two sofas, several easy chairs, and some small end tables. As she had warned me, there was no art on the walls. And I couldn't have told you what material the floor was from. Metal? Plastic? Something else entirely, I thought.

  We stepped forward into the main part of the room. I did one complete circle, and then Bronze was ready to lead me to the next room.

  "Oh, no," I said. "You keep skipping all the important human traditions when first being introduced to your new home on a space station. Really, Bronze, you should know all of this by now.

  She laughed. "What tradition are you making now?"

  "In each of the important rooms, you should kiss me, of course. This is an important room."

  From there, we went left to find a dining area and kitchen. She had to tell me it was the kitchen. I wouldn't have recognized it. I felt a moment of dismay, but I hid it from her.

  "Kitchens are important rooms," I said, accepting my kiss. "And in the kitchen, it is traditional to push your girlfriend against the wall before you kiss her."

  "I like your traditions."

  We then turned around and traveled back through the entertaining room. On the other side were the bedrooms. There was one that was clearly a master bedroom, complete with bed and four others, smaller but not tiny. Moirai's home office was on the same side as the master bedroom. The other three were opposite, and I realized they shared a wall with the exterior corridor.

  "I suppose it's proper your office is on the exterior wall," I said. "I don't need to look outside."

  Bronze was becoming attuned to my tone and moods, and so she said, "I wasn't sure if I should show you this, but I will." She drew me back to her office. "This is going to be startling. Best to hold onto my arm."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "This." And suddenly the floor and far wall disappeared. I screamed in fright, clutching at her, but we didn't begin to fall.

  Out
side it was black with a great, great many stars, slowly moving. Then I realized we were the ones moving as the station rotated.

  "It never stops moving," Moirai said. "Those who are born to this find it calming. I find it disconcerting. The humans I have talked to get sick."

  "Turn it off," I said. And a moment later the room went dark. "We're standing on the exterior skin of the station."

  "Not quite, but effectively, yes. It's perfectly safe. The only danger comes from mini asteroids, and we track everything. The station has automated defenses to deal with anything that approaches, and while it is not impossible, it is highly unlikely anything would pierce the skin. We will be reviewing safety procedures, however."

  "Of course."

  "For now, if I tell you to do something, and I seem somewhat frantic, you will do it without your usual amount of backtalk."

  "Yes. Of course."

  "Of course? With you. I do not believe it is 'of course'."

  "It is for safety, now that I understand."

  "Okay. Good. Over time you will grow more accustomed to the stars outside, but I think perhaps that will take time."

  "I think you're right." I turned in her arms and buried against her. "I love my new home."

  I wasn't sure I did. I hadn't seen a single plant. And I hadn't felt proper sunlight since leaving Earth. "Um. Humans require sunlight for life. It is critical to vitamin D production."

  "We know this," Bronze assured me. "Have no fear."

  "All right. Show me the best parts."

  And so I received a second tour. We talked about what we wanted with the space. She told me it would take a few days before I could have my office the way I wanted it. I told her there was no rush.

  Then we sat down in the entertaining room, seated together on a sofa. "I wish to discuss your rules."

  I thought about making a joke, but I didn't.

  "Unless I am the one opening it, or there is a station emergency, the main door will not open unless you are wearing your visor. If you attempt to leave without your visor on, there will be an alarm, and when I find you -- and I will find you -- you will be punished."

  "I won't," I said.

  "I know you won't. Now, for at least the next few weeks, we won't be apart very much, if at all. But at least for now, even when we become fully mated, that remains a permanent rule. I may relax it, but do not expect it."

  "It's fine, Moirai."

  "For the next few weeks, you will remain in these quarters unless I take you elsewhere."

  I thought about it. "All right. But you said we'll be together, anyway."

  "Once I can stand letting you out of my sight, and I honestly do not know when I'll be able to do that, you will be limited to those portions of the station as I authorize. Your visor will be able to tell you. If you step one toe outside the agreed area, I will be alerted. If it is accidental, your punishment will be small."

  "You seem to believe you have the right to punish me. You can imagine how I'm going to respond the first time you do it."

  "Are you going to break this rule?"

  "I don't know what limits you're going to apply. If the limits are unreasonable, then yes, I'll probably turn shitty and break every rule I can."

  "The limits will be quite reasonable. Let me point out that a great deal of the station is not best visited by a human. Do you want to wander into the area outside the male barracks? Some races do not have the same attitudes about an unattended female as you are accustomed."

  "They wouldn't!"

  "Probably not. Want to find out?"

  "I'll behave," I said sullenly. "Are you just manipulating me?"

  "I am not making arbitrary rules. For a number of reasons, I may be uncomfortable with the thought of you in a particular location without me. It might be as I stated. It might be an area that is about to undergo maintenance, and you wouldn't understand the warning signs. It may be we have a visitor from a culture with unusual dietary needs..."

  "I got it. I got it. I'll behave."

  "Right. For the next few weeks, I may not introduce you to anyone. Do not take offense. I do not want your attention distracted. I may introduce you, but for now, I control your social interactions. Do not fight me on this, and do not seek to circumvent me."

  "I understand. That rule better be temporary."

  "It is possible, but unlikely, the rule will last as long as a year. Newly mated Temier tend to be very focused on their mates, and only their mates."

  "I am not Temier, and you seem to be doing fine interacting with other people."

  "Yes. Please don't fight about this."

  "I'm going to go stir crazy."

  "We will discuss this as necessary. I do not believe you will go stir crazy. Please, trust me for a few days. You will see."

  "All right."

  "I am not close with the Catseye on either side. I know of them more than know them. It is a mistake if you presume there is friendship."

  "Are you opposed to friendship?"

  "No, but they may be. I have a reputation."

  "Are you an ice bitch?"

  "No, but I can be aloof."

  "For the record, long term, I will be making friends with whom and how I please, and if you don't like it, you can send me home right now. I'll give you this time, but those rules you just set have an expiration date. One year. Max. And I may grow pissy about it far sooner than that. Am I clear?"

  "Yes. But for now, we do this my way."

  "All right. For now."

  "Next, you must be open with your feelings."

  "Yes. That's an important rule, because I tend to hide my feelings."

  She snorted. "I wanted to be clear."

  "Fine. The rule applies to you, too. I bet it's a lot harder rule for you than it is for me."

  "I believe you are right. I will try."

  "No. You will do. You've got me here. I'm even being receptive to all this. I've been pretty damned flirty for the last two hours, and I don't intend for that to stop. But you will not put on a false facade and expect openness from me. I mean it, Moirai!"

  She looked away. "I may need help."

  "All right. If it's a problem, we'll address it."

  "Thank you. Next, the kitchen controls will not work for you until you have taken cooking lessons. That will not be this week. And I don't know how to cook."

  "What will we eat?"

  "There are restaurants, and some of them deliver."

  "All right. But I like cooking, so plan accordingly."

  "Understood. But there is a great deal for you to learn, so do not be impatient on this point."

  "I want snack food here, though, that doesn't require cooking. Fruits and vegetables that I can eat, if possible. Or do we have to eat some sort of space mush?"

  She laughed. "There is no space mush. Well, that's not true. Some species prefer mush. And humans eat something called oatmeal that is truly disgusting. We have the foods you crave, Sapphire, and I will ensure we remain stocked, but that may also require a day or so."

  "All right."

  "Do you have questions?"

  "I wouldn't know where to begin."

  That was when there was a chime. A moment later the front door opened. I turned to look. Our luggage had arrived. It floated into the room on little sleds. The sleds automatically divested themselves of their burdens and were gone seconds later leaving a pile of things near the front door. I stared after it.

  "Did you tip them?"

  "Excuse me?"

  "When a bellhop delivers your luggage, you're supposed to tip them."

  "Ah. Tipping is not a universal custom. We don't tip the 'bellhops' here."

  "Well, they didn't stick around with their hands out, hoping for something. Should we put all that away?"

  She flashed a smile. "Later. It will keep." She edged closer, and I lowered my eyes. She caressed my cheek, but she didn't do more than that. "What do you think of your new home?"

  "I think it's comfortable. I think there
's more space than we need. I think it needs decorating to feel like home."

  "I agree. I don't want to worry about that for a few weeks."

  "That's fine. I don't even know where to begin with questions about it, but maybe once I've spent some time on the station, the answers will become readily apparent."

  "Yes, I think so. Sapphire, do you believe you can be happy here?"

  "You want an honest answer, not me being cute or polite."

  "Yes. I want an honest answer."

  "I have concerns. I don't see any plants. Gardening has never been important to me, but this seems very industrial. I don't know if I can fix that. I have ideas what I would do if we were home, but I don't have a clue whether we could obtain what I might want. And I don't know if there are things like parks. I don't know what sort of recreation there is. Is there theater? Movies on the big screen? You suggested our social life might be limited. That might begin to wear on me. Honestly, I just don't know, Bronze. I intend to give you a chance. I think you should ask after you've shown me more of the station."

  She nodded. "As a home, does this have potential?"

  "Potential, yes."

  "All right. What are your immediate needs?"

  "Cuddling."

  "I can provide that." She pulled me into her, and I curled up, my knees bent, my feet on the sofa underneath me as I leaned into her.

  "What else?"

  "Dinner eventually."

  "Easily handled."

  "Reassurance. Comfort."

  "You know I'll take care of you."

  "I'm afraid you're going to lock me in here and be gone all day. I won't have anything to do. I'll go crazy."

  "I am taking a leave of absence from work. I won't completely ignore my duties, but I assigned my daily tasks to various underlings. I only need to keep an occasional eye on things."

  "And deal with emergencies, affairs of state, and who knows what else?"

  "Let's not worry about any of that unless it happens. Okay?"

  "I need to trust you won't treat me like property -- or a child. Maybe to you, all humans are children. But I won't respond well to being treated like one, or feeling like it's necessary because I'm so out of my element."

  "Let's not worry about that unless it happens, either. What do you need tonight?"

  "Coming here wasn't my idea. None of this was my idea. Are we agreed?"

  "Yes, we're quite agreed on that."