by T. J. Quinn
Even though I didn’t see them often, we skyped every week. Then I disappeared off the face of the Earth. I can’t imagine what they thought had happened to me. By then, I’d given up the hopes of seeing or even contacting them again. So, maybe I was crying a little for myself, but also because I could imagine thinking someone I loved was dead then finding them alive.
On the other hand, I wondered how Harper would feel suddenly having a mother-in-law. But since she and Zared were solmatu, his mother should accept Harper as his mate.
Commander Maktu came over and thanked me before he took them away. I imagined he had gone to find Harper who was working one of the other barracks rooms.
I had to get back to work. We had ten rooms of around one hundred people each to identify and record before the shuttles started arriving with the liberated slaves from Nadoo.
Word had traveled through the settlements that the Farseek Brigade had come for their people. Once the ground teams had moved in the overseers surrendered their claim on the slaves.
Even though I had a long line of people to register, I made sure I greeted every one of them and looked into their eyes as we spoke. There were two young women in my line from Earth. One named Carrie Robin asked if there was a way back to Earth. I briefly explained the situation to her, as I hadn’t talked to Sahvin at that point.
Carrie started to cry. Like the rest of the fabulous four, she had been taken right off the street where she lived. She had gone out to pick up the newspaper from the driveway for her father. She was only nineteen and still lived with her parents while she attended community college.
I got up from my chair and went to give her a hug. “I know, honey. I felt exactly the same way when I got that news. But it hasn’t been so bad since we were rescued from the slavers. We’ve made new friends and the other three Earth women, and I have found mates---think husbands.
“It’s not the life we had, but it’s good. You’ll find your place here, too,” I assured her. “They are good people.”
She seemed like she wanted to pull away, so I released her and she brushed the tears from her face with her hands. She sighed and said, “I’ll be okay.”
“You will. The Farseekans will sponsor anyone who wishes to settle on Farseek. They have a shortage of females in fact.”
She smiled faintly and shrugged. “It’s not like I have anywhere else to go.” She moved on and waited off to the side for her friend Ronnie Brandon to register.
We went on like this for days, trying to comfort and reassure the influx of humanoids in every color one could imagine. Probably seventy-five percent were from Farseek. Aside from a few Earthers, the rest were from Consortium. Those who wanted to return to their worlds would get the opportunity once they got to Farseek.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
SAHVIN
“Hey, Sahvin, wait up,” Pyrr called as I left the docking bay.
I stopped and turned to see him jogging toward me.
“Where you headed?”
“I was just going up to deck C to get Nora, so we can be ready when the shuttle is ready to take us back to Dread One,” I said.
“That’s been canceled. Two Sargan battlecruisers blinked in, and the Dreads are holding them off while we get the last of the shuttles aboard,” he explained, “Then we are blinking out and heading toward Farseek.”
“They are leaving us behind?” I wondered.
Pyrr shook his head. “It’s only temporarily---because of the Sargan battlecruisers. It’s too dangerous for us to wait for the Dreads to take care of them, risking all the people we just rescued,” he said. “We’re going to meet the Kurellis on its way back from Farseek and transfer to it.”
“Ah, I see. Will we then meet the dreads at the next rescue target?”
“Exactly. And we are in luck, we will have private accommodations on deck A. They make our quarters on Dread One look like luxury suites, but you get a private bed. Forget about sex in the shower though---hardly enough room to turn around.”
“Those Pican’s are small compared to Farseek humanoids,” I said.
“I think they must have fixed the air filtration system. The air seems better than when we got here,” Pyrr said. “Come on, I’ll walk with you. Scarlet and Nora are on the same deck.”
“Sure.” We started walking. “I’m glad we will not be separated this time. It could be weeks before we catch up with the dreads.”
“It will be at least three. Command didn’t want to risk these people in a skirmish with the battlecruisers. We’ve got Admiral Degatu’s only grandchildren aboard, not to mention Commander Maktu’s mother and sister.”
“I would not want to risk our mates either,” I added.
“There’s not much we could do to help on Dread One because that’s a whole different kind of fighting than what we’re trained for,” he said.
When we got to the mess hall on Deck C where the women were registering the people we’d rescued from Nadoo, the four of them were alone there reviewing their reports and talking.
Nora looked up as we walked in and smiled at me with that sparkle in her eyes that made me want to pull her into a secret room someplace and have my way with her. We had been sharing a barrack with the other couples for the last few days. None of us had any real privacy except for tarps that we had hung between the bunks. The beds were so narrow that we could not even sleep together with her in my arms.
I was happy to tell her we would have our own quarters. But I also had to tell her about the dreads and the battlecruisers.
“Are they going to be all right?” she asked.
“They took some serious damage, but they can still make FTL,” I told her. “Now that we’ve blinked out, they will too. They were only staying long enough so we could get away.”
“Good,” she said. “So, we’re going to be here for three weeks?”
“I’m afraid so, sweet one, but we have our own quarters on Deck A.”
“Well, we’re done here. Why don’t we go check them out before third meal?” she suggested with a smile that told me we were thinking the same thing. “Did you hear? We took in a total of 5200 people including the thousand that were already here.”
“That’s great,” I told her. “Pyrr said we will probably be able to complete our mission with the Kurellis. There are right around ten thousand more people they have accounted for.”
“It’s really sad. The rest are feared lost or spread so thin that it will take years to find them,” she said.
“The Alliance would never have let that happen,” I told her.
“I’m sure you heard they believe treachery was involved.”
“I did, but so far it hasn’t been proved, nor do they know who was involved,” Nora said. “Commander Maktu hoped to learn something from Evzen Guryon, but he didn’t give a hint---just paid the reward and thanked him.”
“Perhaps he didn’t know,” I suggested.
“It’s possible, but somebody knows,” she said. “Finding them might be hopeless.”
We found our way to the staff lift to Deck A and walked down a long hallway to cabin twenty-three, and it opened automatically for us. Pyrr didn’t exaggerate that our quarters were tiny. There was a bed barely big enough for us to share in an alcove with a storage cabinet above and below and two small closets on either end of the bed.
The shower closet was barely tall enough for me to fit in alone and I would have to crouch down to get my head under the water. There would undoubtedly be no sharing the shower. The toilet next to the shower folded into the wall when not in use, or it would block the door to the shower closet. It wasn’t much as accommodations go, but we were alone.
Even though it had been months since our bonding, barely a day passed that we didn’t make love at least once. It had been eight days since we left Dread One and our “luxurious” cabin there.
We tossed our duffels on the floor and peeled off our clothes in a matter of seconds. Nora slid into the bed, and I followed her. I was i
nside her almost as quickly as she lay back opened her legs for me. We both groaned in relief to be joined once more. I didn’t even start fucking her right away, but just savored the feeling of my cock hugged in the warmth of her inner walls.
“Aaaahh, you feel so good,” we both murmured almost in unison. We kissed for a long time as my full weight pressed her into the mattress. The hard tips of her breasts were crushed against my chest, and she arched her back to rub them against me.
As I felt her inner walls contracting around my cock, I thrust slowly in and out of her for a while then stopped. “Patience, meomee,” I murmured when she groaned plaintively each time I did, “we have hours before third meal. I want to savor you, my love.”
She smiled up at me, and I kissed her again. It felt good to be home.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
NORA
Two days later, Pyrr told us that Dread One had escaped the Sargans and was making structural repairs with materials our teams had liberated from the Tegliar station. If I thought we were going to be bored for weeks until we could get back to Dread One, I was mistaken. We went from holding barracks to holding barracks talking to the people in each one about their needs and reassuring them that we had everything under control.
Some had medical needs which were, fortunately, things I could help them with. The Pican medical AI was geared to injecting bio-translators and tracking chips. The Picans generally spaced anyone who couldn’t be easily fixed.
Deck A had its own mess hall for the crew, such as it was. Fortunately, we had stocked it from stores on Nadoo, so we were able to get food that met our needs. A few days later we, the “fabulous four,” were meeting our mates for the second meal. When we entered the mess hall, they seemed to be deep into a serious conversation, so they didn’t even notice when we walked into the room.
“We have to tell them,” Commander Maktu insisted, “they have a right to know.”
“And what would that be,” Harper said curiously.
All four of them looked up guiltily I thought. Commander Maktu sighed.
“Come sit down, all of you and I will explain everything,” he assured us.
We each took the seat next to our respective mate and looked at Maktu expectantly.
“First, you will understand why we have been reluctant to share this with you, but it was never our intention to keep it secret,” he said. “Our AI team discovered clear coordinates for Earth in the ships AI system.”
“Well, of course, they would know,” said Harper, “they are the ones who stole us from Earth.”
“And there were some more from Earth among the people still aboard the ship when we seized it,” I said. “And you didn’t want to tell us because you thought we would want to go back and leave you…”
“It crossed our minds,” Sahvin admitted, and the others nodded.
“But even though we know its location there, it’s beyond any territory we have traveled before,” Commander Maktu said. “The most direct route would take us through the heart of the Sargus Empire. That would take six months. A safer route would take a year.”
“We knew it was far,” Harper said. “We were on that slave ship for at least six months.”
“Yeah, and it was a lot like this one,” Scarlet said, “but we didn’t have the luxurious accommodations we have now.” She laughed.
“Better than the barracks suite,” Sahvin said. “But you also found communications channels. The Picans have been frequenting non-space faring worlds and stealing people. I’m surprised the Alliance hasn’t caught them at it.”
“They have a method for jamming their scanners,” Maktu replied. “They also monitor their communications, so we can likely contact them.”
“I will be helping them on that,” Sahvin said. “I know the language.”
“How would you contact Earth, when they don’t even know about the Alliance?” I asked him.
“Some of them do. It’s not public knowledge,” Sahvin said. “I have contacts who can get word to your families. The Alliance taps into your internet all the time, I’m not sure we can do it, though. First I will try to contact the Alliance.”
“It will be like sending an email the way I understand it,” Maktu said.
“By now, everybody we knew probably thinks we’re dead,” Harper mused. “Are they going to believe an email that we were kidnapped by aliens instead?”
“She’s right,” Scarlet agreed. “They will probably think it’s a sick joke.”
“I know my parents would,” Zoe spoke for the first time. “They would only believe it if I showed up at their front door.”
“At this point, we can’t even think about going to Earth,” Maktu said gently. “For one, it would be costly, and none of us are pilots. Plus we have our mission to complete.”
“We can’t stop now,” I said. “These people have no one else to save them.”
“I agree,” said Harper. “Zared showed me the holograms. It’s way far and a long time getting there.”
“I sure don’t want to go anywhere without Sahvin,” I said. “It would be nice to see home again one day, but we have a life here with these guys.” I reached for Sahvin’s hand under the table.
“As I have,” Sahvin said, gently squeezing my hand. “My purpose in contacting the Alliance is to warn them about the Pican slavers and the Sargus Empire. I didn’t realize that Empire territory so closely bordered the Alliance.”
“Once you get them the info on the jammers the Picans use the Alliance can probably put a stop to their invasions,” Pyrr said.
“That would be nice,” Scarlet said, “I wonder how many more lives those slimy fish faces have stolen.”
“We’ll probably find some more along the way,” Harper said.
“And we will help them all the best we can,” said Maktu. He paused for a moment then added, “I’m sorry we didn’t have better news for you ladies. That’s why we didn’t tell you sooner. We wanted to make sure we had accurate information before we got your hopes up.”
“But the bottom line is that it’s not likely we can go back to Earth,” Harper finished for him.
“I think we’ve all pretty much accepted that,” Zoe said. “It is a little comfort to know that Earth is no longer a world no one ever heard of.”
We nodded and started talking about other things. As I thought about Earth regarding our situation, I likened it to trying to get to Rome via Red China in a single-engine plane. Not impossible, but only on the very edge of the realm of possibility.
As far as I was concerned, we were home with these four men.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SAHVIN
The three weeks we spent on the Rered Rauner passed more quickly than I expected. Scarlet and Pyrr had brought their dog, Bosha with them because they didn’t want to leave her alone on Dread One. She had doubled in size since we found her in that shop at Tegliar Station. Many of those we rescued had been traumatized in the attack on Farseek or the time they spent in the prison colony. Bosha’s sweet, friendly ways soothed them as they petted her. She probably brought them the first smiles they’d had since they were taken.
I would like to say the journey was uneventful. It was until we reached the rendezvous point with the Kurellis. As soon as we blinked in with the two dreads guarding us, we became ensconced in a space battle with four Sargan battlecruisers. They were attacking the Kurellis and the two dread escort. The Pican ship was not well armed, but we had two dreads with us to even the odds a bit.
While the dreads went after the battlecruisers with guns blazing. They held the Sargan’s at bay while the Kurellis and Rauner moved off. Unfortunately, the Rauner took a bad hit that blew out our star drive and took out most of that compartment. All we had left was auxiliary power which wouldn’t last long.
Our pilot team commed the Kurellis immediately to dock with us with us for emergency evacuation. Then we got rushed rousting all the rescues from their barracks and lining them up to board the Kurellis as soo
n as their docking tube locked on to our emergency hatchway. There was little for us to pack since we had each only brought one bag.
The Rauner was salvageable had it been someplace like Tegliar Station, but we had neither the parts nor the funds to finance it. Commander Maktu polled the Brigade command representatives of the dreads, and they agreed that it was the best course to abandon the Rauner as soon as it was evacuated.
That meant our rescues from the prison planet would not be going home just yet.
They would be going with us to the next planet rescue planned. We had two dreads on reconnaissance to find the most significant pockets of Uatu people and strategize a rescue operation. The com operator set Commander Maktu up to make the announcement for evacuation. Our teams were set up on each of the four decks to direct our charges to the down tube which would float them down to the emergency exit to the Kurellis.
All while we were running the evacuation, Commander Maktu spoke calmly on the ship-wide com explaining to our passengers that the Rauner had taken a bad hit and systems were failing. They would be much more comfortable on the Kurellis where they would all have private accommodations that they could share if they wished or not.
As each barracks was evacuated, the ship’s AI was signaled to close it off and cut off life support after we confirmed evacuation. People were moving in an orderly fashion but time was running out. We bought an extra hour, maybe two by shutting down life support to all the evacuated compartments. We had already spent more than two hours herding people to the exit and time was running short.
There were so many people filling the corridor, I lost sight of Nora. I wasn’t worried at first until the crowd thinned out. I still didn’t see her, so I tried her com, and she didn’t answer. That’s when I started to panic and began comming the others in the team. Even if she had gone ahead to the Kurellis, she would have received a signal.
