by C. F. Harris
I just didn’t know, and I didn’t want to find out the hard way. So I stayed put.
Jorav’s eyes burned with a fierce fury that surprised me. It also surprised me that this young pudgy emperor didn’t seem to notice that fury behind his uncle’s eyes.
“There was a time when I wouldn’t be afforded even that much honor, your highness,” Jorav said.
I’ll admit I wasn’t the greatest at reading alien emotions, but it seemed he’d just stuck his foot in it from the way everyone in the throne room started looking at one another. The emperor frowned, but it was only there for a moment and then the smile was back.
I was on guard. It didn’t do to let your guard down when somebody as powerful as this asshole looked upset and then tried to cover it up. In my experience with high-ranking types that never meant anything good. I’d seen similar looks from admirals right before they told me I wouldn’t be in command of anything bigger than a patrol ship on the outer edge of the solar system for the rest of my career, and maybe I should just go ahead and resign.
I’d shown them. Gotten my ship destroyed and most of my crew captured. Yeah, I was on a roll.
“You seem tense, Jorav,” the emperor said. “You need not worry.”
He waved a hand. “As far as I am concerned, all the sins of the past are forgiven.”
Something was wrong here. He just told Jorav that all the sins of the past were forgiven, sins that were actually my fault, but there was something about the tone of his voice and the expression that passed across his face that told me those sins weren’t completely forgiven. No, there was something dangerous going on here.
The emperor turned his attention to me and I found myself wondering how much of that danger was directed at Jorav and how much would soon become my problem.
“I understand from my intelligence sources that you are the woman who was responsible for the destruction of the station that caused Jorav’s dishonor,” he said. “I find it odd that you would be so close in his company after that unfortunate meeting.”
I darted a look to Jorav, terror seizing my heart. I had a very strong feeling that I was about to die. This guy knew I was responsible for Jorav’s dishonor which meant he knew I was responsible for killing his mother and his aunt. I didn’t even know that I’d been responsible for that up until a few minutes ago, but he’d had plenty of time to stew over it. Several years. He didn’t seem to happy about it, either.
“I have taken her into my protection, nephew,” Jorav said.
The emperor looked back at Jorav and anger flashed on his face again. I had a feeling there was some weird Livisk honor thing going on here, but for once I was all for their weird honor thing if it meant I got to keep my skin intact.
“So I’ve heard,” the Emperor said. “I admit this disappoints me, Jorav.”
“Does that mean you are taking back your…”
“I said that all the past was forgotten,” the emperor snapped, some of that anger that had been lurking under the surface finally bubbling up. There was more chattering from the Livisk around us. All of them looked just as portly as the emperor, with the exception of a few younger fit Livisk who were obviously there to be aesthetically pleasing for the rich and powerful types.
I guess not all of them on the homeworld could be mighty warriors. The propaganda we saw back home had lied. There was a big surprise.
The emperor droned on in an almost bored tone. “But the past being forgiven doesn’t mean that the present or the future will be forgiven as well.”
“What are you saying nephew,” Jorav said.
Only the emperor ignored him. He turned his attention back to me.
“I’ve heard that you fought very well. You would have to if you were able to destroy a space station and best my uncle. He is one of our best tacticians and warriors, after all.”
I couldn’t decide if that was dripping with sarcasm or not. Hell, I wasn’t entirely sure the Livisk even had a concept of sarcasm.
Jorav grunted as though he’d been slapped, but he kept his peace. If the emperor was trying to provoke him it wasn’t working.
“I’ve taken the command level crew from your ship and had them tortured for any information they might have. They don’t get to enjoy the protection my uncle has extended to you for some reason I can’t begin to understand.”
The way his eyes ran up and down my body left no doubt that he thought he understood exactly why his uncle had extended his protection to me. I held my tongue. Now didn’t seem like a good time for me to let my smart mouth get me in any more trouble. Especially speaking a second language that I wasn’t at a hundred percent on.
I was just glad I wasn’t expected to read anything as part of this exchange. I couldn’t get past Dick and Jane levels of reading in the weird pictograms that passed for an alphabet on their world. Though I suppose for them it would be Krull and the Gatharg Beast or something ridiculous like that in their reading primers. Assuming they even had something like that.
“After they are finished being interrogated and tortured I have every intention of sending them to work hard labor with the rest of your crew. We might even use them for propaganda purposes or something,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “What do you think of that? Having your failure broadcast all across the galaxy? Letting humanity know that even their home system isn’t safe from the might of the Livisk Ascendancy and it’s all your fault?”
I felt a chill run down my spine. Torture and hard labor. Suddenly the idea of staying in a cushy apartment with a sexy and horny alien that I was sort of warming up to didn’t seem like the worst thing in the galaxy.
“Tell me human,” the emperor said. “What do you think of the idea of your crew being tortured like that? Of your failure being known on all the charted worlds of this galaxy?”
I looked up at him. I was well aware that I was likely being recorded. I probably should have said something that would be bold and daring. Something that insulted him and would ensure that they would never be able to use that recording for their propaganda purposes.
But the only thing I felt in that moment was irritation. I had tried my hardest to get my crew into shape. To prepare them for an attack just like the one we’d suffered. I had pleaded with the Admiralty to let me reassign my crew and they hadn’t allowed it, and the crew had fallen even deeper into complacency when they knew nothing was going to happen to really punish them or endanger their careers.
What was left of their careers, which admittedly wasn’t much.
“They deserve what is coming to them,” I said. I didn’t even think about it. The anger and frustration I’d felt at the path of my career came tumbling out in front of what was quite possibly one of the most powerful beings in the known galaxy.
“Go on,” the emperor said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m very interested in hearing this.”
“They want warriors,” I said, trying to put it in terms that this pea brained aristocrat would understand. Not that I would call him a pea brained aristocrat to his face. It wasn’t a good idea to insult pea brained aristocrats who could have you killed with no consequence, after all.
“I tried to prepare them for battle but they had grown complacent,” I said. “I imagine it’s the same for every crew that’s been assigned to protect the outer rim of the human home system. Maybe even some of the other systems where things are more likely to heat up.”
Oh yeah, they were going to eat this up. This was going to be slapped onto some propaganda thing that would be broadcast all over the known galaxy very shortly, I was sure of it. I thought of the Admiralty that was already trying to throw me under the bus. I thought of how they must be sweating thinking about how dangerous it would be if word of their screwup got out.
I figured if this emperor was going to give me a mouthpiece to speak directly to humanity, though, then I would at the very least say a couple of things that would drop truths on the command level of the fleet. If I had my way, if I phrased this just
right, then I figured there would be people demonstrating all over the known worlds demanding the heads of the people who had allowed things to get so bad that a Livisk ship was able to drop into the Sol sector and take out one of our ships.
“I tried to warn my commanders about the danger. Tried to tell them that nobody cared, but they didn’t care either. They’ve all grown complacent. They assume nobody would try to attack our home system, and that’s how Jorav got us. I place the blame entirely on my crew and on my commanders.”
“You place the blame on everyone but yourself?” the emperor said. “How very convenient for you.”
“I would vouch for this one’s warrior spirit,” Jorav said. “She has bested me in combat on several occasions. Truly I do not doubt her desire to fight.”
“Again you come to this human’s rescue,” the emperor said. “You should be careful. I have never known you to prefer human women, and this new interest is unbecoming of you. Especially when you are on the verge of being reinstated to your full former glory.”
“All I ask is that you respect my honor and yours and respect the protection I have granted to her,” Jorav growled.
The two men stared at one another for a moment, and then the emperor chuckled. He stood and moved down to Jorav. Regarded him for a moment.
“I will respect your desire to have this woman saved,” he said. “Though I can’t for the life of me understand why you would want to save the woman responsible for my mother and your wife’s death.”
Jorav looked down. No answer wasn’t forthcoming. Not that I expected him to answer. I imagined that was one hell of a complicated question that he didn’t even know the answer to. It was a burning question that I wouldn’t mind having answered either. I didn’t buy all that stuff he’d spouted about what amounted to dating via trial by combat.
“No, I will have this woman spared and much more,” the emperor said. “I will grant the desire that I see hidden in the most hidden recesses of your heart, uncle.”
He said uncle as though it was a four letter word, and everyone around us started chattering again. I suddenly had a very uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. An itch between my shoulder blades that usually meant someone was about to try and plant a knife there. Or that someone was about to come up below my ship and rock us with a few targeted energy blasts, considering most of my combat experience was of the ship-to-ship variety.
I didn’t like this sudden development at all.
Jorav looked up, suddenly seeming worried. That worried me even more. Damn it. If the big dangerous alien was upset about something then it meant the danger was real. I hated it when the danger was real. Much easier to keep my hide intact when I was imagining things.
“What do you mean?”
Shit. What was going on here? What had we just stepped into?
14: Bonded
Jorav:
Every warning signal that I’d developed over a lifetime of combat was going off at the same time. I felt as though I should be surrounded by an entire squad of humans wielding those pesky weapons that had the ability to fire through our skin. I felt like my ship was under attack and we’d just lost weapons power and our shielding was about to go down while they’d just blown a hole through our armor.
There should have been an attack coming from all sides, but the only attack I could see was from my nephew. He had a look of supreme malevolence. Not good. I’d seen that look before, and it was usually right before he thought he was about to do something terribly clever. Where terribly clever was typically defined as him doing something stupid that would alienate someone, and it had caused him no end of trouble over the years.
Trouble that I’d had to help clean up on more than one occasion, though I wasn’t going to be there to help him clean this up if he decided to make an enemy of me.
It seemed that he was about to attempt to make an enemy of me. Not good for him at all. Assuming I survived.
He leaned forward. He grinned. We were inches away. I knew that all I would have to do is reach out and I could snap the bones in his body before any of his bodyguards had a chance to do anything. The only thing that held me back was the sure knowledge that it would result in Talia being tortured and killed, in that order. Whatever he had planned, there was still a chance to survive it. I would take that chance for her.
“I’ve decided that I will reward you, uncle,” he said. “And reward this human with what the two of you so obviously want.”
I swallowed. Tried to keep my voice under control. I’d never been particularly good at playing political games, my strengths always were with blowing things up, but this was a time for the subtlety that politics demanded. “And what does my heart desire?”
“Why it’s simple. I’ve decided to bond the two of you,” he said.
He held up his scepter and I truly looked at it for the first time since arriving. Next to all of the other dangers on offer in the throne room looking at his fashion accessories seemed like a secondary concern.
Now that I stared at it, though, I realized what a fool I’d been. If I had been more careful, if I’d paid closer attention, then there was a good chance I would have known what he had planned. He was never subtle, and our doom had been standing right in front of me this entire time.
He held a bonding scepter in his hand. I recognized its contours from the last time I’d undergone the ceremony with my wife so many years before.
There was a flash of light in the crystal on top of the scepter and I felt myself wracked with an incredible feeling. I felt my mind opening up. I felt a bond going out towards Talia. And I looked over at her feeling pure terror for what she was about to endure.
Her reaction was almost as immediate. Her face contorted in a horrible rictus of pain and she let out a scream that was unlike anything I’d ever heard, even in all my years of combat. She immediately fell to the ground and started shaking as though she was having a seizure of some sort.
The bonding. The melding of two minds. It was a Livisk tradition that went back into the dark days before our recorded history was preserved. It was a psychic link that allowed our mated pairs to accomplish things above and beyond what we found in any other species in the galaxy. And it was something that was typically only survivable by other Livisk. For some reason we’d never been able to bond another species in quite the same way. Even a species that was so close to us biologically and mentally like the humans.
I knew they’d tried many times with humans before, and the results had always been terrible.
I looked to the emperor. Glared at him. I put all of the malevolent promise that I could muster into that look. I would get my revenge for this, if I lived through it. That wasn’t a guarantee. The humans always died when this happened, but it could be equally dangerous for the Livisk being bonded. Researchers had died, though there were some who grumbled that it was the least they deserved for dirtying the bond in the first place.
I looked to Talia and she stared up at me with pure terror on her face as she writhed in pain. That was a look that said she expected me to protect her. It was an accusing look that asked why I’d done this to her. Why I’d brought her to this world where she could experience such pain. And in that moment I felt her mind opening to my own and all of that pain bloomed in my mind.
That feeling brought me shame, and I fell to my knees. I had no other choice. The bonding wasn’t affecting me in quite the same way that it did her, but having her mind opened to my own caused all of the pain she felt to feed into my body. I could understand why other Livisk had reacted poorly to bonding a human if this is what they had to endure.
It was astounding, and yet somehow she was holding on. Somehow she was maintaining her sanity. I didn’t see how she could in the face of all of that pain, but she did.
With a feeling like that it was no wonder that humans who had gone through the process were rendered insane when they weren’t killed. And yet there was something else there. Something that was pulsing deep inside he
r mind. Below everything else. Below the pain. It was determination. It was amazing. It glowed with a white-hot heat that combined hatred for the emperor and the Livisk and mixed in with a sense of duty and and strength.
I focused on that sense of strength. Tried to channel my own sense of honor and strength into her mind to shore up her defenses. It was strange how emotions could feed back between our two minds. It was something I hadn’t felt since that day that I was forever ripped from my former wife’s mind when Talia destroyed the station she was on. And yet I was able to return to those old habits easily enough as I tried to use my own inner reservoir of strength and add it to her own resolve in the hopes that she might survive this.
I felt her mind latching onto that tuft of grass at the edge of the cliff. She held on tenaciously and once more I was amazed at her sheer will to live. At the way she managed to conquer in the mind as well as she’d fought in person. Incredible. There were so many things about this woman that constantly surprised me.
“What is this?”
The words echoed everywhere and nowhere at the same time. No one in the room reacted to them, so they had to be in my mind. Talia’s voice. Calm. Confident. Maybe just a little confused. Still, she was reacting to the bonding far better than I would have imagined given her heritage. I focused my thoughts on her. I couldn’t recall ever carrying on a conversation like this mentally with my wife, it was always more feelings and impressions than anything else, but if she wanted to use words then I would use words. I even mentally prepared myself to use human words rather than Livisk.
“This is a mental bond. It’s something that happens between mating pairs of my people,” I sent to her through my mind. “No human has ever survived the bonding.”
I wasn’t sure if sharing that fact with her was the best idea, but I was sure that she could take it. She was strong. She had a mental fortitude that I could respect. It was impressive, but then again nothing about this woman wasn’t.
