No Refuge (Known Universe)

by Annie Nicholas

  I stared at the passing dockworkers. Each male paused to eye me from the head to toe. “Um, I’m half naked, Brody. People are staring.”

  He swore a line of curses that burned even my dock-bred ears. “For once I wish you weren’t so pretty. Hang on, I’m almost done. Captain Shay?” There was a heavy pause. “Yeah, this is Brody, your escaped passenger.” Ship communications were voice only. Brody ran a possessive hand over my arm and stared a group of dockworkers down. “You may want to change your mind about letting us back on.” He leaned in closer to the mouthpiece. “I have your ionic converter.”

  I could make out the sound of loud cursing coming from the other end.

  “Easy, captain. They’re not looking for the female I’m bringing aboard. And this one can even read that book I showed you. Knowledge like that can be very valuable.” He listened and shook his head. “Do you think I was born in vacuum? The only way I’m turning anything over is if we come on board.” Brody removed his gear from the console and slipped it into his pocket. “They’re waiting for us. We don’t enter the airlock unless one of them accompanies us. Can’t risk the captain pumping the atmosphere out and suffocating us.”

  “What will stop them from spacing us once we’re on board?” I wanted to grip his hand, to draw reassurance from his strength. Instead, I kept my eyes downcast and followed him on my stupid leash. I’d be tossing the thing in the trash compactor first chance I could.

  He sighed. “Nothing. I can only hope we prove we’re worth keeping.”

  My mouth went dry. Brody had many useful talents. He could hack into things and fix gadgetry, but me… I fiddled with my small skirt. We knew nothing about these other humans. What if they preyed upon folk like us?

  “I know what you’re thinking. I won’t let them touch you.” He glared over his shoulder at me.

  “You might not have a choice.” I shrugged. “It’s better than Ko bait.”

  “Lucille.” He stopped at the foot of the ship’s ramp, his mouth opened, but nothing coming out.

  “It’s alright. This is our best option. Like you said, I shouldn’t have shopped the market for human things.”

  “We should have stayed on the mining ship, is what. Lay low like our parents taught us.” The regret in his voice tore me open.

  I set my hand on his arm. “No, hiding didn’t help them. They’re all dead, leaving us to fend for ourselves on space docks and cargo ships. What kind of life is that? You never once took me, no matter how I begged, because you didn’t want our kids growing up like this. We made a choice to find a better life.” I pointed to the airlock. “It might be there. If not, we at least made a try.”

  His trouble-making grin appeared. “We can take ’em if we have to.” He held out a hand.

  I set mine firmly on his palm and gripped it. Maybe a little too hard. “You bet.”

  We marched up the ramp and the airlock opened. No one was inside.

  Brody leaned back and scanned the small bit of ship that showed through the dock clamp. He pointed. “There’s the camera. No go, captain. Send someone through as an escort.” Setting his hands on his hips, he gazed back at the dock area. “I don’t like being taken for a fool,” he mumbled under his breath.

  The doors cycled again and the human male disguised as a Kandarian slave waited. His eyes went wide. “Are you keeping a harem somewhere?”

  I snorted. “I’d castrate him.”

  “So you went back for her.” He grinned at Brody. “Excellent idea to change her disguise so drastically.” Gesturing for us to enter, he made room for us in the narrow airlock.

  I opened my mouth to explain how the Jurranians thought of the idea, not us, but Brody stepped on my bare foot with his heavy boot. “Thanks.” I croaked out the word. Admitting Jurranians knew about our identities wouldn’t fall in our favor.

  The airlock opened to the ship’s interior and we were greeted with laser pistols aimed in our direction.

  The lump in my throat beat like my heart as I raised my hands over my head. “Now what?”

  “I think you have something which belongs to me.” Captain Shay held out his hand. He stood before me naked of any Metax disguise. Sandy blond hair covered his head. It stood on end as if he’d been tugging at it. I’d seen my pa without his disguise once after he’d been in a fight and his face had swollen so much he couldn’t wear the prosthesis, but I’d been so young the memory came as if through a fog. “Don’t make me order them to strip search you. It’s been a long trip and my crew is lonely.” He eyed me, hiding behind Brody’s shoulders. “Who’s this?”

  “It’s Lucille. The Ko ain’t searching for a Kandarian.” Brody stepped toward the captain. “You have to let her aboard.” His voice had grown rough with the plea.

  “I don’t have to do anything. You stole from me.” His eyes narrowed as he gazed at my Brody. “That don’t bode well. I’m not apt to leave behind humans I find, but you both are trouble.”

  Brody nodded, then handed him the part. “I’d have returned it no matter what, but I had a need to get Lucy to safety.” He pointed to the machine part. “I can install it if you want.”

  The captain raised an eyebrow and gave the part to someone behind him. “Not necessary.” He pursed his lips and pulled out the book I’d bought from his jump suit pocket. “I understand this belongs to you.”

  I nodded, afraid to speak and say the wrong thing.

  “Brody says you can read it.”

  I nodded again.

  My man drew me forward. “Tell him.”

  “My ma taught me how to read the old human language they called English. I can translate the story.”

  He flipped through the pages. “I’ve never seen anything like it but I don’t doubt its origin. No one would draw so many humans together outside the colony.”

  “So the colony is real?” I blurted the question before thinking.

  “Yes, and it could use a teacher for the children, someone who could teach them human things like language.” He handed me the book and drilled us with a stern glare. “Anymore antics from either of you and I’ll let you out the back airlock. Do we have an understanding?”

  Brody rested his arm over my shoulders. “No more trouble. You have our word”

  I clutched my precious treasure to my chest. Children.

  8

  Brody stood behind me, in the room the captain had assigned us, unclasping the collar from my neck. He set it inside the drawer, next to my Christmas book, under our bunk. Loose items on a ship could be hazardous. If the inertia dampers went offline, then a simple fork could skewer a person to the wall on a hard turn. He kicked the drawer closed and rubbed my neck. “How long will the body paint last?”

  “I don’t know. I never asked.” I leaned into his massage. The muscles in my shoulders relaxed at his touch. Stretching the knots, I tried to let the last few hours go, but the Ko still cast a shadow over me. “Do you think we’ll be safe here? Maybe we should search the ship and find hidey holes or escape routes.”

  He laid tender kisses along my neck. “I always wondered what it would be like to be with a slave girl.”

  “Brody.” This wasn’t the time for fantasies. No matter how enticing.

  His hands trailed from my neck along my spine and encircled my waist. “You should address me as master.”

  I gave a sharp laugh and spun around. “Don’t let the power of the leash go to your head…” I met his hungry stare. He wasn’t teasing.

  He stroked my bald head. “This will take some getting used to.”

  “It’ll grow back.” My voice hitched.

  “The skin’s so soft.” Now both hands caressed my scalp. “It’s sexy.” With each step he took forward, I retreated one until I was pressed against the bulkhead. “I like the pink contacts. They almost let me see your real eyes.”

  I couldn’t catch my breath. This was how Brody had seduced me the first time we’d met. He had taken me by storm and I never had a chance to even think of escape
. His touch electrified my skin and sent shivers along my nerves.

  “It’s like I’m with a new woman, but not. Very exciting.” He untied the strings of my flimsy top and let it fall to the floor, exposing my breasts. “I hope you’re the one who applied the paint here.” He flicked one of my taut purple nipples.

  “I—I don’t remember. Things were moving so fast, but they were all female except for the one who sold me to you.”

  His eyebrows furrowed. “He saw you naked?”

  “I don’t know. I really didn’t care at the time, seeing as I was running for my life and all.”

  “I hate you had to go through that alone.” His mouth was so close to mine. All I had to do was stretch my lips to kiss him. “You shouldn’t have left me. I could have helped.”

  “Things all worked out.”

  “They always do.” He circled my nipple with his thumb until I ached with such a terrible need.

  “Brody.” His name came on the wake of my moan.

  He exhaled a shuddering breath. “This outfit’s been driving me nuts ever since I saw you standing on that table. I’m going to fuck you today.” His gaze pulled away from my breasts and met mine.

  “Really? Like fuck-fuck me or make-me-come-fuck me?”

  “Like take you on this bed and sink deep inside you until you truly call me master kind of fuck.”

  A tremor of eagerness almost buckled my knees. “But—but what if I get pregnant? We ain’t at the colony yet.”

  “The way I see it, either this crew will space us or bring us home. No matter what happens I want to become yours forever. I want you to be my first and only.” He slid his hands under my skirt and cupped my ass as he carried me to the bunk.

  Losing my virginity on a strange ship, on a bunk I’d never slept on, didn’t bother me a bit as long as it was Brody taking it and I was taking his. I’d waited years for this moment, begged on occasion. I was thrilled we were both sober too. Times like these needed remembering.

  His kisses were like wine, strong and heady. They made my head spin. He set me on the bunk, guiding my legs around his hips. I could feel his hard cock punching through his jumpsuit.

  I undid the torso-length zipper and slipped my hands inside to caress the hard muscles of his body. “I want you so bad.”

  He groaned and nipped at my earlobes. “Squeeze me.”

  “No, you have to wait until you’re inside me.”

  Growling under his breath, he shrugged one shoulder out of his suit.

  The ship lurched.

  He stumbled to the side and landed hard on the floor.

  I sat up and leaned over the edge. “You alright?”

  “Yeah.” He tossed me my skimpy top. “Dress.” The ship shuddered again.

  I tied the strings around the back of my neck and stuffed my breasts inside the too-small cups.

  Brody zipped up. “Lie down and let me net you to the bunk.”

  My pulse raced for a different reason now. “Where are you going?” It takes a lot of force to move a ship.

  “To the bridge to find out what’s going on.”

  “Well, I’m going with you.” I shoved his hands away as he tried to press me down.

  “This ain’t the time to be stubborn. I need you safe.”

  “Sounds like a familiar argument. I’m going.” The room tilted and we rolled out the door that automatically slid open, landing against the far wall of the corridor.

  “Fine, then.” Brody rolled over. “Follow me.”

  The ship was tilted on its side now. Its gravity compensators were off since we’d been locked on station and using the rotation. What the hell was happening to the station to knock our asses on the side? We still had enough spin for gravity, but our down was now shifted to the side.

  On hands and knees, we crawled along what should have been the wall, following the shouts farther down the hall. The ship wasn’t big. All the crew quarters ran along this corridor that led to a mess hall. The bridge was beyond that. We came across an unconscious male. Brody touched his throat. “He’s still alive.”

  We crawled around him and climbed into the mess hall. A puddle of brown liquid ran along what used to be the floor and collected in the corner next to an empty cup. The set of stairs led from the room on the other side. Metallic screeches ripped across my eardrums.

  Brody halted and rummaged inside his many pockets. He handed me a balled-up clear plastic suit. “Here.” He kept searching his pockets until he found another one for him.

  We climbed into the emergency EV suits. They weren’t meant for long-term use, but if the hull was breeched we’d survive long enough to make it to the escape pods. I used to carry two suits in my pockets as well until I lost my clothes. They made crawling difficult, though.

  The stairs proved to be an exercise of strength. Without Brody, I never would have climbed the slanted walls. At the entrance to the bridge, we sat and stared while catching our breath. The crew was strapped into their chairs working catty-corner to us.

  “What are you two doing here?” the captain snapped upon laying his eyes on us. “You should be netted to your bunk.”

  “Are we under attack?” Brody helped me into a vacant chair next to him and assisted in strapping me in since the bridge floor was now the wall.

  “I can’t tell. Most of the ships are trying to undock while still clamped to the station. The board is red with emergency fail-safes going off. The station is no longer actively spinning, which is why the gravity is all off-kilter. We’re coasting now.”

  My already pounding heart stalled for a second. “The Jurranians! Did they start this?” I recalled the elder’s statement about undocking.

  The captain shrugged. “I can’t tell, but it’s happening all around the station.”

  Brody gazed at me. “If the hub doesn’t release the clamps, the station will get torn apart.”

  “We can’t fly with bits of station still clinging to us, can we?”

  He shook his head.

  “We can’t fly anyhow!” the captain roared. “The engineer can’t be found to install the part you stole.”

  “He might be lying unconscious in the hall.” I pointed down the stairs.

  “This is a fine mess. May as well hand us all over to the Ko.” The captain radioed someone to find the hurt crewmember and safety strap him. “Everyone else will escape and we’ll be floating waste.”

  Brody removed his EV suit and stuffed it in his pocket.

  I grabbed at his hands. “What are you doing?”

  “I need to install that part and the suit is too cumbersome to maneuver with. Anyhow, if we don’t break loose like the other ships, we’re as good as space dust.” He gave me a quick kiss through my suit. “Stay close to the captain.”

  He slid down the wall of the staircase as the station’s structure protested with another ear-shattering groan.

  The captain spun in his seat. “Where’s he going?”

  My chest seemed hollow, echoing the sound of my heartbeat. “To save our hides.” I stared out the bow viewing screen at the other ships still attached to station against their will.

  All my limbs froze to the chair. A Ko ship skimmed over our heads and parked above the station hub.

  Silence lay over the busy crew as one by one they stilled to watch. All of them were humans in their disguises just like me. It was odd, yet awe inspiring. Sagging against my chair with my feet pointed up to what used to be the side wall, I couldn’t breathe. I’d never been in a room filled with my own kind, and always pictured this moment as being joyous, filled with laughter and hugs. “Captain?” I whispered. “Do you have any safeguards if we’re boarded?” The room stank of fear and their faces were filled with their grim thoughts.

  He glanced my way, deep sadness etched in his expression, and nodded. That meant the Ko would never take any of us alive. He’d blow the ship before that happened.

  I breathed a small sigh of relief. Their timing sucked, though. Brody and I had needed only
a few more minutes to seal our love.

  A familiar loud clank knocked against the hull and we all jumped at the sudden noise. I met a crewmember’s questioning stare. The dock clamps had released?

  “Captain, the hub is clearing everyone for emergency take-offs.” The pilot’s voice was filled with excitement. Maybe we’d live through this after all. “They’ve given us a flight path with jump points.” The crewman waited for orders, but the captain remained silent as we floated from the station.

  What had been left of the gravity vanished and I floated in my restraints. My empty stomach rolled and I had to work my throat to keep from heaving. I hated zero g.

  Dead in space, we drifted closer to the station and rotated enough to face the Ko ship above us. It didn’t help the state of my stomach.

  I clenched my straps and closed my eyes. I’d always known my death would be violent; most human lives ended that way, but I’d hoped that I would have the courage to face it. And not alone.

  If Brody were here I’d stare into his eyes and pretend we had just met on the old cargo ship between the crates. Something had clicked in place. For a split second and for the first time in my life, I hadn’t been afraid. I wanted that memory to be my last.

  The radio squawked. “It’s done. Start her up.” Brody’s voice carried in the room.

  A cheer rose, the captain barked his orders, and I could finally breathe again. All engine rooms contained jump chairs. Brody would strap in there.

  The rosy color of ship engines igniting brightened our view. Five ships left at the same time. Their throttles must have been on maximum to achieve that speed. I silently cheered them on.

  Thrumming vibrations of our engine coming online ran through the ship. It brought us upright again and my feet were on the floor once more. It wouldn’t be long before we joined the evacuation.

  The Ko warship followed those who’d left first. The dark metal monster outsized the freighters. I leaned forward, the chair straps fighting me. “What are they going to do?” I didn’t know why I asked. I knew the answer. Maybe I hoped I was wrong.