My spirits soared at the sparkle in his eyes. “Yes, Dylos.” I kissed his fingers then moved to get a uniform for him, only the faint upset stomach remaining of my nerves. He would be fine, now, I felt sure. Moju had asked that I stay close by and let him know if Dylos seemed tired or was overdoing in any way. I found that no hardship.
We walked together to the bridge, something I had protested since he’d only moved around his quarters a bit so far. Moju had suggested the admiral use one of the scooter-like transports available, but Dylos feared such would be seen as weakness and would not add to the worries his crew, and those of the other ships, had no doubt suffered during his illness. He laid an arm over my shoulder, and, as we paced the corridors, I found myself supporting at least a little of his weight but didn’t say a word about it. If I could not lend my assistance, what good was I?
Once in the command center, he released me to stride to his chair, to all outward appearances in full strength. His color was still a bit off, but that was something Arythians had no control over, so far as I could tell, and nobody commented beyond welcoming him back before turning to their stations to continue their tasks.
And me? I moved to the quartermaster’s station and settled there, no longer a mere observer. Through his illness, I’d taken on the responsibilities if not the title. I’d not hidden it from Dylos, but we had not discussed it. Since it was the single position aboard ship that had been previously held by a woman, the long-lost Felice, I hoped it would be easier for him, and the others, to accept. Until now, I’d been working from the admiral’s quarters, so most of the crew probably weren’t even aware of my activities.
Facing the screen, I settled in to work on the plans for the next planting in the garden section of the ship. Most of the botanicals were unfamiliar to me, but I’d been delighted to find a small stash of seeds from Earth. Apparently, they had been obtained at the same time as the women, an Arythian attempt to help us feel less homesick, and a recently harvested bed of ngast tubers given over to tomatoes, chilis, onions, and cilantro. My mouth watered at the thought. The ngasts, a starchy vegetable served roasted or mashed, could probably be thinly sliced and fried. I couldn’t wait to try the “ngast chips” dunked in fresh salsa. I hadn’t even been a big fan of salsa, but, suddenly, it was all I could think about. Would Dylos like it?
“Trreena?” Moju’s face popped up at the corner of my screen, his voice coming over my headset. “Is the admiral doing well?” We had agreed he would not hover but remain in his office unless needed. His presence might indicate weakness to the crew. Life aboard a modern-day ark was certainly complicated.
How could I have gotten so caught up in my food fantasies, I’d neglected my real duty? Guilt assailed me, and I cast a glance over my shoulder. Dylos was speaking with Rahul, the first mate bending down so the admiral could remain seated. They looked serious, but to my immense relief, the admiral looked better than upon our arrival rather than worse.
“He seems fine. Aren’t you watching the feed from here?” The medic had clearance to watch the images from anywhere but private chambers, and, in case of illness, those as well.
“Yes, but I didn’t think you were paying attention.”
My stomach roiled again. Damn. “You’re right. I was focused on the quartermaster work.”
“Trreena…”
“I know,” I said, low. “The admiral is more important than salsa.” So much more important. What was I doing?
“What is salsa?” he asked.
“Earth food…it doesn’t matter.”
“If you have to choose between your duties, Quartermaster Trreena, I think you know where your priorities lie.”
I apologized and disconnected before I realized this was the first time anyone had addressed me as Quartermaster. Did that make it official? I did like the sound of it. Way better than kidnapped female handed off as a sex slave. Not that Dylos treated me as such.
I turned back to the screen and made some entries, but every few minutes, I glanced over at the admiral and then at the time. I shifted in my seat, the abdominal discomfort distracting as well. Did Moju have an antacid or Pepto or anything?
To the moment, when Dylos’ half shift was up, I was on my way to his chair. “Admiral, are you ready?”
He looked up from the screen he’d been studying, his expression darkening for a moment before he arched a brow and his frown relaxed. “My keeper,” he told the two crewmembers who stood on his other side. “I have other…duties to attend to.” His tone left no doubt that he referred to activities of the lascivious variety, and the men grinned at him—but did not ogle me, something I attributed to the fact I was the admiral’s property. That didn’t bother me as it might have once.
In my secret heart, he was mine as well.
He stood and left the bridge with his usual long stride, standing tall and nodding to those he passed, giving a few orders as he went, but once we were in the corridor, the wall reformed behind us, he sagged. “Thank you for that. I am more tired than I would like to show. Odd how sitting in a comfortable chair can exhaust one.”
“It’s just the first day,” I soothed, wrapping an arm around his waist. “There’s no one to see. Lean on me, Admiral.” When his arm was over my shoulder again, I moved off down the hallway toward his quarters, thankfully not too far away because that stomach annoyance was back in full force, accompanied by a slight lightheadedness as well.
We entered our quarters, and I assisted him to sit on the edge of our bunk, a faint sheen of sweat coating my skin from the effort. “Thank you, Trreena. I believe I will take a rest before… Trreena?”
Why was I lying on the floor looking up? His voice came from far away, echoing.
“Moju, I think I have sickened my mate. Treeennna…she’s got the virus. Hurry!
Chapter Sixteen
Dylos
Fear stabbed my heart.
I fell to my knees. Trreena lay crumpled on the floor in front of me, droplets of moisture forming on her pale face.
I lifted her in my arms and laid her on the bed. She’d always been tiny by Arythian standards, but now she weighed no more than a flaget. Guilt warred with the fear. She’d taken care of me for sols. Hardly sleeping, being constantly at my beck and call, ignoring her own health. As for me, I’d been a yozer. Too wrapped up in my selfish needs to see her wasting away before my eyes. Now, the virus had taken hold of her, and she didn’t have the strength to fight it.
She struggled to sit up. “I’m fine, really I am. I just felt a little lighthea—”
She doubled over, retching.
“Moju!” I bellowed. “Get in here. Now!”
She fell back on the bed, eyes closed. I raged for what seemed like half a sol, alternating between kneeling by her bedside to stroke her brow and pacing the perimeter of the room like a caged horu. Finally, his hol appeared beside me.
“You might consider unlocking your door if you want my physical body in here,” he said mildly. “I’ve been in the hall, knocking and calling your name, but apparently you’re cursing so loud you couldn’t hear me.”
“Sorry,” I muttered. “I forgot I enabled the sound barrier.” I’d installed the feature after my first night with Treena. I loved making her come until she screamed, but I thought it would be inappropriate for my crew to hear her wild cries echo through the halls of the ship. I had a mate to share my bed and bring me comfort, but they had only their grief-laden memories.
I collapsed into the chair by my desk, hands over my face. “Moju, I don’t deserve to be in command. I’ve been so focused on my goal of saving our race from extinction that I ignored the needs of the beings around me. I told myself it was my duty to mate with Trreena and impregnate her as quickly as possible without asking myself if another male on the ship might have been a better choice as a mate for her. I never considered the morale of my crew—or the feelings of the human. And then I allowed…no, demanded…that she care for me sol unit after sol unit, without seeing she was
falling ill herself.”
He patted me on the shoulder, a well-meant gesture, though it lacked any substance coming from a hologram. “Old friend, don’t judge yourself so harshly. You nearly died. You can’t expect to be evaluating the wants and needs of those around you while you’re battling for your life. Half the time, you were out of your head with a raging fever.”
He waved a hand at Trreena. “Besides, there was nothing you could have done to dissuade her. I’ve never seen a more devoted mate—or a more selfless soul. Your little human was determined to care for you herself. She knew the danger she was facing, but she refused to allow any of us to risk getting the virus. The good news is I’ve been creating a serum in the lab from the antibodies in your blood. It’s never been tested…” He glanced at her, lying inert on the bed, and lowered his voice. “But frankly, we might as well try injecting her with it. She’s much smaller and already in a far weaker state than you were when you were infected. From what I saw of the course of this strain, we have very little time before—”
“Before it kills her.”
He nodded gravely. “Yes.”
“Then do it.”
Moju disappeared, leaving me alone with my human. Treena stirred, whimpering, and I went to her. Stroked her hair, held her hand. Whispered apologies and promises I didn’t know if I could keep.
She was already burning up, and I realized Moju was right. When this illness took hold, it progressed with shocking speed. Half a sol unit ago, she’d been helping me to my cabin. Now she lay motionless, barely conscious, her body racked with fever.
“Trreena, forgive me,” I murmured. “I’ve been treating you as a breeder, a possession without feelings. Never letting myself get too close to you. I didn’t realize how much you meant to me. These sols we’ve spent together, talking, laughing, becoming friends as well as lovers—they’ve given me something I thought I’d never have again in my life. Hope. Not only hope for the survival of my race, but hope that, one day, I could find happiness again. Promise me you’ll fight, my love. Fight for your own life as hard as they tell me you fought for mine.”
I buried my head beside her on the bed, tears streaming down my face. When Moju knocked on the door, I pulled myself together and let him in. He was dressed in a full biohaz suit, carrying a vial and what looked to me like an enormous syringe.
“Dear gods! That thing looks like it’s meant for a yaruba. You can’t use it on her!”
He shrugged. “It’s standard size for an Arythian. It just looks bigger next to her. Besides, it’s all I have. The ship wasn’t outfitted with child-sized medical supplies.”
It was all I could do not to throttle him when she cried out in pain as he slid the needle deep into her arm.
“Help me,” he muttered. “Hold her steady. The serum is thick, and I need to inject it slowly.”
I put my hands on her shoulders, keeping her pinned in place. Her head whipped from side to side. “Please, you’re hurting me! I’m sorry, Master. I promise I won’t disobey you again. Please, don’t punish me.”
She babbled on, delirious, and I felt like a total yozer. “Shhh, it’s all right. I’m not punishing you, Trreena. I swear I’m not. You’re sick, and we’re trying to make you better. It will be over soon, my tassi.”
Moju gave me a sharp glance when he heard me call her a private name, but he didn’t say a word. In the past, I’d have made some excuse to save face, but I was beyond that. It didn’t matter anymore if she was an alien. A lower species sent to us to become breeders. I loved her, and it was time those around me learned to accept the fact.
He withdrew the needle and wrapped a bandage around her arm. I barely noticed when he left. Carefully, I slid into bed beside her and gathered her into my arms.
She opened her eyes. “Dylos. Your fever is gone! You feel so cool.”
She shivered, and I tucked the blanket around her. “Yes, tassi. I’m just fine. You took such good care of me. Now, it’s my turn to take care of you.”
Another shiver racked her body, and she whimpered. Her eyes drifted shut. Frightened, powerless, I sent a prayer to the gods and then did the only thing I could think of to comfort her.
“Row, row, row your boat…”
* * *
Sol units passed. Slowly. I put Rahal in command of the ship, with Joran as his second. It was time to let go, give up some of my control, and show my crew I had faith in them.
The enemy forces were gathering outside Gamma Librae’s orbit, and we’d decided to hold off until our remaining ships could join us, then launch a full-blown attack. Mantsk was on his way as well, moving in with the massive solport, so we’d have a base of operations.
Rahal reported to me on a regular basis, and I joined everyone for daily briefings in the command center by hol, along with Mantsk and the other ship captains en route to our location.
“We’ve received a strange transmission from the Terrans,” Mantsk informed me at our first meeting. “It seems one of their unmanned roving ships detected evidence of a pod that looks to be Arythian, crashed on an uninhabited planet in Vector Seven. It’s possible a member of our race was able to get away just before our world was destroyed. They’re sending the crew of their nearest cruiser to search the area for any sign of life.”
Rahal jumped in, more animated than he’d been in a long time. “Let me know as soon as you have any news. The last time I heard from Felice, she said she planned to take a pod back to the solport after her father’s burial service, so she could join us on our next rotation. If the gods be merciful, she escaped the attack.”
“I know Felice was like a sister to you, Rahal, but the odds of it being her—and the odds of anyone surviving a crash landing on an uninhabited world—are slim,” I said as gently as I could. “However, we will join you in calling upon the gods.”
I bowed my head for a moment, and the others followed. Though I didn’t often entreat the deities, I’d beg them daily on bended knee if it would save Trreena. So I offered up another fervent plea that they spare the life of my little human along with that of our crew member, Felice. I’d lost all that was dear to me once before. I couldn’t bear to go on if I lost my tassi, too.
I was grateful for the delay in our battle plan since it gave me time to regain my strength while I cared for Trreena. Serving as a nursemaid was new to me, but I did it willingly. Bathing her forehead with a cool cloth, feeding her clear broth sip by sip, then holding her while she retched it back up again. Even after her fever broke, she couldn’t seem to hold down any nourishment.
Although Moju hadn’t prescribed it, in desperation, I finally tried a cup of the tea she seemed to enjoy so much.
“Thank you, Master,” she whispered as I held the cup to her lips.
After a few sips, she was more talkative. “I’m hungry,” she declared. “Could I have ngast chips and salsa?”
“I will have the cook prepare you some mashed ngast, my tassi, but I cannot give you salsa. I do not know this food. Is it Terran?”
“Yup.” She giggled. “Sometimes, I forget you and I grew up on different worlds. It seems like we’ve been together forever. Tell you what…I’ll make you some as soon as I get out of bed. You’ll love it!”
She started to rise then fell back against my shoulder. “Maybe I’d better wait a little while. I’m still kind of tired. But I’ll feel better soon. Little Dylolo said so. He said he’s helping to make me well again.”
“Little Dylolo?”
She lifted her head and gave me a dreamy smile. “It was so cute! He called me Ama…just like you did!”
My blood ran cold. Dylolo was going to make her well? She’d acted intoxicated the first time I gave her the tea. Now, she sounded out of her mind. Had the fever damaged her brain, or was the tea simply affecting her even more strongly because of her illness?
I kept my voice calm. “Did he? How nice.”
“Can I have more tea?”
“In a little while. Why don’t you close your eye
s and rest for a bit first? I need to get some work done.”
“Okey dokey. Will you sing ‘Row, row, row your boat’ when I wake up? Dylolo wants to hear it.” She giggled again.
“Of course.” I laid her gently on the bed. As soon as her eyes closed, I retreated to the com station at my desk.
“Moju? I need you to come quickly.”
His hol appeared in front of me. “What is it? Has she taken a turn for the worse?”
“Dear gods, I hope not,” I murmured. “Even though she doesn’t have a fever anymore, she’s disoriented. Confused. I made her a cup of Arythian tea. She drank a few sips then started talking about little Dylolo and how he spoke to her while she was sick. He called her Ama and said he’d make her well. A few days ago, before she fell ill, she told me I referred to myself as Dylolo while I was delirious and called her Ama. Now she’s making it sound like she spoke to someone else by that name. I’m hoping it’s just the effects from the tea and the high fever she suffered didn’t affect her mind.”
“I’ll be right there.”
He was true to his word, knocking at my door in the flesh when his hol had barely faded away.
“Please step out into the hall, Admiral. I need to examine her.”
Though the words were polite, I’d been in the military long enough to recognize a command when I heard one. It was obvious he didn’t want me getting in the way.
I paced back and forth, trying not to panic. Time slowed to a standstill. When the door finally opened, Moju beckoned me inside. I headed for Trreena’s bedside, but he stopped me.
Ravished: A Dark Sci Fi Romance (Centauri Captives Book 2) Page 9
