by Lily Anton
There was only one weapon that fit that description, and it was not of Debir make.
The captain no longer sounded dismissive. “That is a weapon of Baza design.”
Everyone who had faced the Baza in battle were very familiar with it, and for many, it was a reminder of what had brought upon the death of many.
Ezon’s hands curled into fists. He could not just assume Krase was guilty of treason, but to have such a weapon was forbidden.
“Raillar, have Fenna remain on deck with you. I will be seeking out Krase personally.”
“Commander, as a precaution, I do not recommend you seek him out without backup.”
He readied a dismissal of the concern, only for it to die on his lips as a warm hand placed itself on his forearm.
Leila squeezed it gently, her eyes beseeching him not to be reckless. Even though she could only hear his side of the conversation, there was no hiding he had been about to do something ill-advised.
“Very well,” he said, although whether it was to Raillar or Leila wasn’t clear. “Alert all officers on deck that they are not to speak of this until we determine the situation. I want to know where Krase is at present. When found, no one engage him.”
“Understood.” The call chirped off, and Ezon growled. If Krase had somehow betrayed them…
“Can you tell me anything?” Leila asked, her concern growing obvious as she caught his skin darkening into deep stormy gray.
He shook his head, wishing he could. “I will have to ask you to remain here. However, getting dressed is wise.”
She had already been on her way to do it, which was good considering Ezon could not discount having to take her elsewhere should the need require it. Her fear was subtle but it was there, and it would have been a lie to try and convince her to feel otherwise.
“I will protect you, should it come to that,” he promised, watching with confusion as she moved to stand even closer to him. She looked to be struggling with herself, and before he could ask what was the matter, she had uttered “fuck it” under her breath and wrapped her arms around his waist, letting her head fall against his chest.
She was so very small.
Ezon froze, his fisted hands now practically flailing before realizing she was seeking comfort from him.
“Please be careful. Don’t do anything stupid,” he heard her warn gently as she looked up, her chin resting against him.
“I promise.” His eyes searched hers as he leaned down, debating asking for more. “Leila...may I kiss you?”
It felt like an eternity as he waited for a rejection, his mind preparing himself for it, only to have her surprise him as she nodded her head.
He didn’t dare breath as he gently brushed his lips against hers, the desire for more always there, pushing him to take her. She made him feel a hundred years younger with her touch alone. The surprised moan that escaped him as she gently bit his lower lip made him wish they could have more time.
“I’ll make it an even better one when you get back,” she whispered, and he chuckled softly despite himself.
Ezon took her hand and gave the palm of it a kiss, hope bubbling up in his chest for a possible future. “I look forward to it.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
lEILA
S
he had watched him go, the reluctance there but the need to handle whatever the escalating situation was. If he hadn’t asked to kiss her, Leila would have probably done it anyways, and the moan she’d pulled from him had settled low in her belly, heat pooling between her thighs.
Perla’s enthusiastic appraisal of sex with a Debir was holding a lot of merit right now.
Distracting herself was the only option right now, and she took her time getting dressed, thankful for the new clothing. Everything was crisp and clean, and despite it being an actual uniform, was similar enough to her usual style, equestrian boots included.
She played around with the box that contained the two gold pins inside, finding it a little ridiculous to attach them to the chest of her tailcoat but eventually bit the bullet and did it on the off-chance it would come off as an insult if she didn’t.
Leila situated herself on the couch with the tablet in hand and comm unit ready just in case, this time purposefully looking for more information about Debir anatomy to pass the time.
She no longer had the urge to throw the display screen every time she saw the word ‘tentacle’ appear, definitely much more intrigued about the possibilities now that she could admit that she was interested to a degree.
At least he’d been honest about the Calling and how to get it to stop, but that was the equivalent of marriage to her, and giving up her life on Earth for someone she was admittedly attracted to was not enough of an incentive to do so. The song could be ignored, and she would do it.
‘Is it really so bad?’ she found herself thinking. ‘You haven’t been with anyone in years, and apparently this Calling thing is like some sort of guarantee you’ll get along... That’s more than most humans get…’
It was a difficult thought to swallow. Leila was cautious by nature, and never dived head-first into anything. Her last long-term relationship had lasted almost five years, and while her ex had claimed to have fallen in love with her within weeks, she had taken longer to say it back and convince herself she felt the same, ignoring all the red-flags that followed.
One minute she was finding out from her parents that he’d asked them for their blessing to propose, and the next he was breaking up with her after a work trip, all the while texting ‘I love you’ and ‘I miss you’ throughout it.
Looking back it was obvious they had been a poor match from the beginning, and she had stubbornly forced herself to make the relationship fit her. The fact that she had been more angry than hurt when he’d broken it off with her was a crystal clear indicator that it had been a good thing when it ended.
The irony wasn’t lost on her that within a mere 24 hours, she felt more connected to Ezon than she had ever felt with anyone else in her life. And wasn’t that telling.
Calling or not, it was there, and she knew the time would come soon enough that she would have to make a decision one way or the other. At the very least, they’d be back on Earth soon, and he’d obviously been living on her planet in the Embassy so it would be fine.
“It’ll be fine,” she insisted to herself, ignoring the niggling self-doubt. No one would look upon her and think of her as some sort of great beauty, and yet he made her feel like she was. The paradox was concerning.
Being left to stew in her thoughts in his quarters while there was obviously a potential traitor on board was not a good mix.
Her eyes flickered to the door every few minutes, hoping he’d return and tell her it was nothing, and calling Nelo via the comm unit for some words of reassurance would be the height of foolishness.
It felt like she’d been sitting there for hours now but in reality it had probably been closer to half an hour, when she heard the chirp and sat up, waiting for the doors to open.
“Is every-” Leila cut herself off as the person who walked in was not Ezon.
She did not recognize the male in front of her, although clearly he had some rank on board the ship as she noticed several pins on his robes rather than the tailcoats most others had been wearing. His sandy colored skin and long hair contrasted sharply with yellow eyes that were so unlike Ezon’s gold ones.
A spike of fear shot through her but she kept it at bay, although her face was wary. “Hello, who are you?” she asked.
The Debir took a few strides in, a miasma of arrogance surrounding him like a cloak as he looked her up and down. She saw the look of disdain on his face but pretended not to.
“Apologies,” he quickly said, bowing with too much of a flourish for it to be a genuine apology. “I am Chief Steward Krase. The Commander requested I escort you.”
Liar.
She kept the fear off her face as best she could. He was not being aggressive, so not giving him
any indication she knew he was not supposed to be here was the best course of action. The only problem was that she did not know how to get out of going with him.
Krase didn’t strike her as the fighting type, but that meant nothing when he was still seven-feet tall and could probably knock her out with a back-hand across the face.
‘Think of something,’ her mind forced her to hurry as she stood up, smiling.
“Hello Krase, it is nice to meet you!” Her voice was probably a little too chipper, and it clearly threw him off as apparently he had expected more mistrust.
He recovered quickly, offering her a smile that did not reach his eyes. “I assure you the pleasure is mine. Now, if you please, I shall take you to the Commander.”
Krase motioned towards the door and she nodded, slowly standing up. She felt something fall in her lap and looked down.
The comm unit!
She tucked it into her pant pocket in one smooth motion, it’s size still small enough to not be noticeable against her hip.
Taking a few steps forwards, she intentionally halted mid-step as if she’d remembered something. “I’m so sorry. I really need to use the bathroom. I’ll be just a moment!”
His skin darkened in obvious annoyance, but he smoothed his features out and nodded. At least she was doing a good job of appearing completely oblivious to what was actually happening.
“Thank you!” she called out once more, hurrying to the room and locking the door.
On the off chance he’d try and force it open, Leila pulled down her pants and underwear and hopped on the toilet. If he did try and get to her, hopefully the shock of seeing her actually using the facilities would work in her favour.
Taking the comm unit out of her hand, she hit the green button, hoping Nelo would respond.
Her hope was waning with each unanswered ping until finally she heard the line connect.
“Leila, apologies but-”
“Nelo, Krase is here in Ezon’s quarters,” she whispered quickly. “He claims he’s here to escort me to Ezon.”
“Oh,” Nelo paused, and it was enough of an indication for her that Ezon had not told his brother what had happened. “Well that’s-”
“Nelo, listen to me carefully. Ezon was trying to find Krase. He thinks he might be working with the Baza and had to be convinced not to go after him alone. You have to believe me. I don’t know what to do. He wants me to go with him.”
She breathed a sigh of relief that Nelo didn’t even question her story, his voice carrying the same commanding tone as his brother’s. “Where are you now?”
“I’m in the bathroom. I told him I had to use it before we left. I can’t stay in here forever or he’ll get suspicious…” she said quietly, straining her ears to see if she could hear him approach the door.
“Understood,” Nelo replied. “Stay in there as long as you can. If he knocks on the door or sounds agitated, then go with him. I’m contacting the command deck now and we’ll follow your movements through the security feed. If you can, keep this line open and put it in your pocket.”
Leila nodded, her hand starting to shake. The relief that he had answered was now replaced with the fact that she was alone. No one was going to come charging in to save her right now.
“Nelo, I’m…” it was pointless to say it, but she had never been in danger before and she was scared.
The fear she had felt wondering if Ezon was lurking around every corner was nothing compared to this near-petrifying ball of dread that was settling in her stomach.
“You will be fine,” Nelo stated firmly, trying to convince her with just his words. “Continue acting as if you are not aware anything is amiss. We will come for you, Leila. I promise.”
She covered her mouth with her hand, closing her eyes before she almost fell off the toilet at the faint knock on the door.
“I’m almost done! Human females take longer than males!” she called out with a forced laugh, banking on the fact that his dislike of humans meant he knew nothing about them.
“Apologies for disturbing you. We simply have a schedule to keep,” he replied, the bite in his tone clear.
Leila forced herself to sound bubbling and slightly idiotic. “Sorry for keeping you!,” she giggled convincingly. “Give me a moment!”
Thankfully, she did actually have to pee, and forced herself to do so. Nelo was speaking again, obviously having heard her.
“Is he by the door?” he asked. “Cough if he is.”
Leila coughed.
“Do not test his patience,” he instructed. “Put the comm unit in your pocket now and go with him.”
She coughed once more, finishing up her business, tucking the device away and washing her hands.
After taking a deep breath, she plastered a semi-ditzy smile on her face and opened the door.
He was standing a few away, doing a poor job of looking like someone who hadn’t just been snooping through Ezon’s bedroom.
“Sorry! I really had to go,” she whispered in feigned embarrassment.
“Quite alright,” he grimaced, obviously not wishing to think about what she had been doing. “We must be off now.”
She ignored how close he stood by her side as they walked, and purposely slowed her strides. Considering his height, he already had to shorten his own, and she hoped that slowing them down wouldn’t make him snap and become aggressive.
Her only consolation now was that her comm unit was still on in her pocket. Leila resisted the urge to pat it to make sure it was still there; there was no point in drawing any sort of attention to herself. Obviously Krase thought her harmless.
“So where is Ezon now?” she asked, using the attempt to make conversation as a cover for gauging whether he would tell her anything.
Krase hummed. “I believe he is seeing to the other humans so we will meet him there.”
While Leila knew for certain they were definitely not going to be going anywhere Ezon was, she couldn’t say the same about the humans. It was possible that he was taking her back to them.
“Oh! We’re going to Section 10?” she threw out, perhaps a little more loudly than necessary. “It’s a very nice section!”
“Yes…” he confirmed, not saying anything else.
The way he took her appeared round-about, and the fact that they didn’t come across a single person on the way made it clear it was an intentional route. Even if they had passed someone, there was no way she could have relayed that she was in danger and be believed. There was also no way of knowing how Krase would react to that.
“So, Chief Steward sounds like a very important role.” It was a play on his vanity, and he took the bait, chest puffing proudly as he clasped his hands behind his back.
“It is. Some would say it is the most important role here on the ship.”
Leila nodded in agreement. “What types of responsibilities do you have?”
Apparently, he liked to hear himself talk, and spent the remainder of their walk and the entirety of the ride in the transport pod regaling her with all the oh-so-important things he did along with a hefty dose of name-dropping. He’d probably given the same speech so many times, that he must have forgotten that she had no idea who any of the people he talked about were.
She did her best to intersperse a few “oh, wow!” and “really?” responses, which Krase appeared to eat up readily.
By the time the pod came to a halt and they stepped out, Leila was relieved that at least the Section 10 part had been true.
Unlike the last time she’d been in this Section, when it was all hustle and bustle and moving people around so they knew where to go, it was quieter now, and even without knowing what time it was, Leila assumed it was probably very early morning Earth time (or at least, her time based on where she’d been back home).
Considering the amount of humans and their locations around the world, there were still many she could see milling about. A lot of the tension and fear had abated, and people now sat pleasantly by the wa
ter’s edge on benches, or were chatting amongst themselves on the levels above.
Nothing looked off to her as she scanned around the space, trying to see if anything was amiss. A few people recognized her as she and Krase walked by, which surprised her, but she did her best to smile and acknowledge them, all of them none the wiser that her heart was beating wildly in her chest.
A quick glance at the Debir beside her showed that Krase’s mask of polite indifference was giving way to sneers and flashes of annoyance. His stance on humans was abundantly clear, and the more humans they passed, the more his displeasure grew.
