The Spider Queen (The Space Merchants Book 5)

by Wendie Nordgren

  “My poor baby, all alone with a jungle full of predators,” I said as I tried to see out.

  Small windows about the size of my hand had been covered with a fine wire screen at eye-level at the side and back wall of the small bathroom to create a cross breeze. Looking out, I saw the tree houses were being built in the upper portions of the trees where the branches were still thick.

  “Don’t worry. You are safe from the tusk bugs up here. I won’t let anything hurt you.”

  I frowned at Farowyn from behind the pale blue curtain. “I can take care of myself.”

  He made more of the huffing sounds. “We have grown weak in space, but you are as soft and frail as one of our females. One of them sent you these,” Farowyn said as he held out a set of brown clothing and an odd device.

  “What’s this?”

  “It is so you can relieve the pressure from not nursing your young. Our females are ashamed of us for keeping you from your baby.”

  Thinking of Niklos made me cry. Farowyn left, giving me some privacy. The pump with its attached bottle was easy to use and quickly filled. Sensing my captor was nearby, I called out, “Farowyn, I need another bottle.”

  When I heard him in the room, I passed the full bottle to him and began filling the empty one he passed around the curtain.

  “If you do not want this to go to ruin, there is a child who is in need. His mother is injured.”

  “Um, sure. He can have it, but what if it hurts his stomach?”

  “The physician will check it first.” Farowyn disappeared.

  I sighed in relief once my breasts were empty. I worried about Niklos. My baby was doing without while I remained trapped on the surface. Farowyn returned for the second bottle, and I handed it over. I rinsed my chest again in the shower, grateful that my boobs were no longer painful rocks on my chest. I listened as angry trills and whistles followed Farowyn up the tree. I now wore a soft brown jumper. The waist was at my hipbones, and the wide-legged shorts reached my knees. In the front, a panel went up and divided at my collarbone to tie behind my neck. The jumper left my sides, back, and arms exposed. This time, Farowyn had brought a basket which he placed on the center of the floor.

  “Come. Eat. Drink.”

  My stomach growled loudly, surprising Farowyn and getting him to make another huff of laughter. He handed me a skewer. On it were what looked like burnt purple carrots.

  “What is this?”

  After my question became clicks and whistles, Farowyn answered. “That, Teagan, is a sampling of our new diet. It’s got to be better than ships’ rations.”

  “You haven’t tried it yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  I slid one off of the skewer and handed it to him. After he had pulled one of the whatever it was off, we stared at each other daring the other to take the first bite. We crunched into them at the same time. I contemplated the smell, feel, texture, and taste as I chewed. It smelled like fire, kind of charred. It felt crunchy, but became smooth once my teeth bit through the outside. It tasted like yogurt seasoned with pepper and grass, but it was something to put in my stomach.

  Farowyn pulled another roasted bug off of the skewer for me and handed me a jug of water and a cup. After we had eaten everything he had brought up, he lowered the empty basket on a plasti-rope and pulled up a roll of cloth. It contained a pallet and a thin blanket. Thunder rumbled through the jungle, and from the trees and around us excited Eloneave took cover.

  “I was a small boy when last we experienced climatic changes.”

  “We call this rain. Thunderdrop doesn’t like the rain, and he’s out there all alone.” I tried and failed not to cry.

  Farowyn stared at me with brown eyes. “You command a fleet of ships, broker peace with my father, sacrifice yourself for your soldiers, give your milk to our young, and cry for an insect.”

  I shook my head. “Spiders aren’t insects. They are arachnids. Arachnean Silk spiders are special. They can communicate, think, and feel just like us.”

  “Did you conquer them, or did they conquer you?”

  “What? Neither. We live in peace and care for each other.”

  Farowyn was silent and thoughtful. “I doubt more and more that you ordered the attack on my ship. What could you have gained by it?”

  “It was an accident. Your father heard the reports as we did.”

  “No, it was no accident. The question is who wants us at war.” The fires in the camp below had gone out, and all was dark. “It is time to sleep. Do not attempt to leave. The jungle is dangerous and more so in the night.”

  Farowyn motioned for me to rest on one side of the pallet, the left side. My thoughts turned to Yukihyo, Nico, my babies, and then Eric. I hoped they were safe along with Zared. Then, I worried about the ships in orbit, Quaid, the Empress, and my babies again. My troubled thoughts returned to Thunderdrop as I dozed off. At some point, I woke up shivering under the thin blanket. Carefully, I got up and followed the meager starlight into the little bathroom. After I peed, I looked through one of the screened windows and saw jungle bugs crawling throughout the leafy canopy as giant birds swooped down after them. Frightened, I backed away and into Farowyn’s chest.

  “For you to be cold and afraid while under my care is shameful. Come,” he said as he took my arm.

  He sat on the pallet and helped me down. He pulled the blanket over us. Then, he slipped an arm behind my shoulders and his other arm over me, enclosing me in a fleshy cocoon of his patagium. I tried to ignore the sounds outside. Soon, the steady beating of Farowyn’s heart, his even breathing, and the warmth seeping into me had me dozing.

  Carefully, so as not to wake him, I touched the thick membrane of skin with which he surrounded me. I felt the bit of skin between my thumb and index finger and the skin of my elbow noting the similarities. I listened to the rain and slept.

  “I have waited for you to sleep,” Zared said as he held me against his chest. We were in a hammock under a pavilion on Thalassa listening to the rain as it hit the sand and waves. “Eric will recover. The children are safe and content. Yukihyo, Eli, and I are sheltering a few miles away from your location. We have had you under constant visual and audio surveillance since you stepped from the land transport.”

  “How?” I asked. I knew the question sounded more relieved than anything.

  “When they surrounded you, I caused you to faint. Xavier redirected their thoughts. Yukihyo, Eli, and I used the diversion to climb up onto the transport’s roof. Then, we concealed ourselves in the trees where Thunderdrop found us.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Yes, and his webs are invaluable at trapping bugs. Also, leaves stick to the strands providing a quick shelter from the rain.

  “Ew.”

  “Yes,” Zared agreed. Bugs were everywhere on Talpa.

  “I had bugs for dinner,” I said.

  “Yes, and even so, I wish to kiss you.”

  “Why haven’t you come for me?” I asked as I stroked my fingers across his warm chest and snuggled closer.

  Zared paused. “The alien ship was sabotaged. With you missing, the Patagee, or rather the Eloneave, and the Talpa are in a panic. Soon, we will learn the truth. You are in no danger, but soon we will come for you. Now, sleep, my love,” Zared said as he stroked my hair.

  I cuddled closer to him and slept knowing that those who I loved were safe. Huddling closer to Zared as he pressed himself to my hip, I nuzzled his jaw and gently rolled pleasure into him through my lips. I had already grown ready for his touch and playfully rubbed my hand against his erection, his much smaller erection. A foreign sound escaped him as he lost himself against my hand.

  “Zared?” I questioned, still confused by sleep. “What’s wrong?” I snuggled closer to him to go back to sleep when soft trills sounded beside me. Suddenly wide awake, I remembered where I was. “Farowyn, I apologize. I dreamed of my husband, Zared.”

  Farowyn’s heart pounded beneath my cheek, and his arms that were more like bat wi
ngs still surrounded me. From the box, I heard, “Hush, little female. Go back to sleep. It is not yet light.”

  Carefully, I moved my hand from his now soft phallus and drew it away to clutch against my chest. When next I woke, Farowyn still held me.

  “Wake, little bird. Rejoice in a new day.”

  “You’re in a good mood.”

  Hesitantly, Farowyn opened his arms letting me feel the chill in the air. I rubbed at my arms and went to use the waste unit. After Farowyn had his turn in the bathroom, he came out, kneeled before me, and touched my feet.

  “Now, I understand why Parvacs wear animal skins on their feet. Your toughest flesh is as soft as one newly birthed.” He slid his palm across my toes and gazed at me before handing me my ice bear boots. “Here,” Farowyn said as he placed the spider tiara his father had given me onto my head. “The females wish to see you. They are curious. Come.”

  With that, he picked me up, tossed me over his shoulder, and began the long climb down the tree. Once he reached the ground, he put me on my feet, but kept a clawed hand on my arm. Farowyn whistled and trilled back to his men. They had blades sheathed at each hip. If any of his men stared too closely at me, he cocooned me in his arms, hiding me from view. After walking several yards over roots through the growing treehouse camp, we arrived at a covered area. A large, flat piece of hull had been hung with plasti-rope from thick tree branches.

  This was where most of the female Eloneave congregated. Freshly washed laundry hung from lines strung between trees. Cookfires burned. Males throughout the settlement emptied traps they had set overnight and brought the meat of animals or bugs that they had cleaned in the jungle to the females to be cooked.

  Each of the females wore jumpers of similar designs to the one they had provided me. I saw my pants and length of fabric drying in the breeze. The females trilled at me and opened their arms. When Farowyn seemed to trill encouragingly at me, I stepped closer to them. He hadn’t brought the box. He stepped away to speak to his soldiers.

  One of the women gestured for me to sit on a pile of large flat tree leaves. Another gave me a cup of water and some roasted meat. They sat and ate with me. After they had fed me, they wanted to see my feet. Apparently, my lack of claws was reason for pity. Everyone had claws, even the babies. A baby was brought forward for me to hold.

  “He’s so tiny. Look at you with your itty-bitty toes. My goodness. You’ve practically got talons,” I said to him as I ran a gentle finger over his feet that were only as long as my thumb. The tiny claws were soft. I stroked his tiny forehead before giving it a soft kiss. Sighing contentedly, the tiny bundle in my arms centered me and gave me peace.

  He began to cry in distressed little squeaks, so I put him to my shoulder and sang to him as I looked around to see if his mother would take him. One of the females did while another offered me the suction device with its attached empty bottle. The females had me completely surrounded and hidden from prying male eyes but also handed me a small blanket. Covering myself, I quickly provided for the hungry infant. Obviously, he was the child of the injured female of whom Farowyn had told me.

  The other females had their own children to feed and weren’t producing enough for the injured female’s baby. I had filled a second bottle, but the baby had gone to sleep after drinking less than half of the first one. I watched as the bottles were capped off and placed into a small, portable cold storage unit. Power generation seemed to be a problem.

  The females smiled at me with their V-shaped mouths and patted me kindly. Motherhood seemed to be universal. Then, a commotion had all of our attention. A band of Eloneave soldiers had entered the encampment. Farowyn and the others seemed overjoyed to see them. They had brought boxes of Parvac and Militia rations with them. However, after further conversation, they began to hiss and argue. I realized that Eloneave females were just as nosy as the Parvac females who frequented cafés and garden parties.

  When one of the new visitors pointed me out, the conversation escalated into outright hostility. Eventually, the new group left, but Farowyn and his advisors continued to whistle and hiss. I was given more gamey meat and another cup of water while the females around me began talking so quickly with one another that it sounded like twenty flutists were being attacked by a swarm of bees. One of the females pointed to my spider tiara, straightened it on my head, and continued to trill and whistle at the others. Another wrapped the now dry cloth around my shoulders.

  Farowyn came for me. I put on my boots, stood, and was hastily thrown over his shoulder. He strode quickly to his tree and climbed. Once he helped me to sit on the pallet, he let the box translate what had transpired.

  “That was my brother, Nyronyn. He argues that the Parvacs and Galaxics destroyed my ship. He will not listen to reason or look at the sensor readings that prove otherwise. He says we should take Talpa for ourselves and wants me to side with him against our father.”

  Shocked, I sat up straight. “This planet belongs to the Talpa. You should ask them to let you stay. They don’t even seem inclined to visit their jungles.”

  “Yes, my father and I agree. Nyronyn suggests treasonous usurpation of our father’s rule. Once our perimeter fence is set to protect our civilians, I must go to my father.”

  “What was Nyronyn saying about me?”

  Farowyn paused and looked me in the eyes. “Nyronyn wanted me to give you to him to use against your people.”

  “Isn’t that what you are doing?” I asked.

  Farowyn trilled softly at me. “That was my intention before I knew the truth of you.”

  “Then, let me return to my children.”

  Farowyn looked at my hands and then back up at my eyes. “No, I will keep you here until my father says what to do to give you back to your people. Our females will watch over you.” He stood to leave.

  I stood, tripping a little on the pallet and grabbed his arm to steady myself. Farowyn was short for a male, but strong, even after his many years of space travel. “Farowyn, please. I miss my babies.”

  He seized me by the back of the neck, made soft trills of sound, and then, careful of his claws, ran the back of his hand from my waist, up my side, and down my inner arm to my wrist. A loud commotion came from the ground far below us.

  “Stay,” Farowyn ordered. Then, he was through the trapdoor, on a branch, and gliding away.

  Seconds later, eight eyes and a few black legs peeped up at me from the opening in the floor.

  “Chirp!”

  “Thunderdrop! I’ve been terrified for you! Thank goodness, you’re okay.”

  Thunderdrop jumped to my chest and nuzzled my neck. Then, he began wrapping my torso in spider silk. Once he was satisfied with his work, he sent me an image of climbing down to a branch. I was afraid, but I did what he wanted. Soon, Thunderdrop was carrying me, as I dangled from his line, past large transport-sized leaves.

  In the distance, I could hear Zared loudly stating that he had come for his female. Fear for Zared down there alone with all of those sharp knives assaulted me. However, I remained still and quiet, just as Thunderdrop requested. I didn’t even scream when we passed within a few feet of a tree that was teeming with Tusk Bugs. Thunderdrop began edging us closer to the ground. Catching sight of a flash of dove-grey hair, a sob of relief escaped me. Yukihyo snatched me from the air and buried his face in my neck.

  I said, “I want to kiss you so desperately, but I’ve been eating bugs and haven’t been able to brush my teeth.”

  Yukihyo laughed and kissed me anyway. Thunderdrop jumped to the top of my head as Yukihyo got his arm under my knees and carried me away. He carried me past Jazon, Eli, Xavier, Rozz, and the rest of my Omnes Videntes, and into our stealth ship. The others had sniper rifles aimed toward Zared’s location.

  “Please, don’t kill any of them,” I whispered thinking of the infant I had held moments before.

  “Don’t worry,” Jazon said, making it sound like more of an order than a reassurance.

  Inside our ve
ssel, Dr. Savelli waited. I groaned when the scans, blood tests, and minute examination of every inch of my skin began.

  “Incoming,” Jazon said for our benefit as Zared jumped into the cabin.

  Quickly, Izaac secured the hatch. Then, we shot straight up into the air and then the stars.

  “What the hell is going on?” I asked as I glanced out of the viewport. The signs of space battle were irrefutably undeniable.

  “The Patagee or rather Eloneave fight amongst themselves,” Yukihyo answered.

  “Farowyn said his brother and father disagree about our diplomatic negotiations,” I said.

  “Farowyn’s brother is the one responsible for crashing his ship and killing several of their civilians and crewmen. He meant to blame it on us,” Zared informed me.

  “So, now what do we do?” I asked.

  “All you will do is shower, eat, sleep, and see to Niklos and Neema,” Nico said through the communications console.

  Chapter Ten

  After our stealth vessel docked in the landing bay of the Empress and the hatch opened, I saw General Nico Cassian and Fitz Jiri waiting impatiently for me.

  “You will not go on another venture without me. Ever,” Nico said with so much authority and conviction as to make his words sound like a new law.

  Fitz bowed to me. I scrunched up my forehead at his formality, but then I realized that he hadn’t been bowing for any reason other than to look at my legs. The jumper I wore had put a mischievous glittering into his eyes. Zared, Yukihyo, Fitz, and Nico accompanied me into the lift and up to the Imperial Deck. Thunderdrop climbed down me and sauntered over to Sue’s tank.

  “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” Neema yelled as she ran to me.

  I picked her up and kissed her all over her face while wrapping her in my empathic bond. “Oh, I missed you,” I said as I smelled her hair.

  “Mommy,” Neema said. She rested her head on my shoulder.

  Desperate screams and cries came closer as Lorca brought Niklos to me. “Oh, my poor baby. Mommy is so sorry.” Niklos shuddered in my left arm where I held him to my side. I engulfed him with my empathic bond and kissed every part of his little face that wasn’t wet from his tears. “Neema, Niklos, Mommy is stinky. Mommy needs to wash her hair.”