by Lilly Cain
“Alinna.” He reached to touch her and realized he still wore his flight suit gloves. “Damn it.” He dropped his helmet and ripped his gloves off, rushed to touch her again. “I can’t stay.”
“I know.”
“But I want to.” He stroked the soft skin of her neck, followed the line of her L’inar in a gentle caress. “Don’t think it is because I don’t want to.”
David opened his mind to her again. It hurt to show her his past, but he offered her what he could. The memory of his parents finally admitting they were severing their marriage felt as raw and painful now, showing it to her, as it had when he was little and so alone. Alinna responded with a pulse of warmth, and he sighed with relief. He’d been lonely for a long time.
She leaned into his hand. A shiver ran through her shoulders. He let go of his handhold to wrap his arm around her, burying his fingers into her silky brown hair. He held her, melting into her embrace as though they were one. He sought her lips, took them, took her and kissed her with the passion burning inside him. This could be their last moment together. Whether he had a future to offer her or not, he ached for more time together. After what he’d just experienced though, he had to make sure that his people were ready, that they understood the threat and the necessity of the Confederacy’s offer of a Treaty.
He had to leave, go back and explain it all, now.
“Base to Major Brown, we request confirmation of your location.”
The compad in his helmet blared Eddie’s request. Alinna stilled in his arms, and he sensed a quiet withdrawal from her as though she waited to see how he would respond. For a moment, he did nothing. Alinna’s jade eyes watched him. Finally he sighed and released her, pushing away from the wall to grab at his free-floating helmet.
“Major Brown here. I’m making a swing of the moon, Base One. Is there a problem?”
“There are several officers here looking to have a chat with you and your guest.”
Eddie didn’t sound too happy. The implication that he was aware, as were others, that David had lied about who had boarded the ship with him was easy to read. David ground his teeth together. There would be no time to make love to Alinna again. No time to explain to her what she was coming to mean to him.
“We’ll be completing our swing of the moon in twelve minutes.”
“Base requests visual confirmation, Major.”
Sweat trickled down the inside of David’s flight suit. He licked his lips and thanked God he’d locked the controls on his compad and on the ship. It would take hours for the base to force control over either. “We’re on the dark half of the swing, Base One. We’ve had a slight malfunction, and all visual is out at this time.”
“Base One requests full compliance, Major. Return to base immediately.”
“Copy, Base One, ETA in…fourteen minutes.” David flicked the channel shut. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“They’ll be waiting for us.”
“If we go back now, you’re done, the Treaty is done.” David slammed his fist against his thigh. “Damn it!”
“You believe me, then?”
He pushed off the floor and floated to her, pulled her to him. “I believe.” He drew her in for another kiss. “There isn’t time for this, though. We need to get you out of here. They’ll be watching this area.” He gestured toward the cockpit. “This doesn’t seem like a long-range ship, unless your technology is a hell of a lot different than ours. Do you have a base nearby?”
“Yes. But if I move the ship, they’ll probably be able to pick me up, now that they know there’s something to look for.”
David ran a hand through the short spikes of his hair, tugging them in frustration. “Okay. Where is your base?”
“Jupiter, the largest moon. What are you thinking?”
“If they see your ship, they’ll be on you before we clear the moon’s gravity. The You-fos are waiting for it, I’m sure. If we go in my ship, we can be halfway there before they realize we aren’t coming back.”
She gripped his arms, her fingers pressing deep into the thick fabric of his flight suit. “You can’t. You won’t just lose your career. You’ll be arrested.”
“Sweetness, I don’t think there’s much chance I’m going to get anything different. I’m in this, Alinna, all the way. Just make the Treaty worth it, okay?”
Chapter Eleven
David shut off all communications as he fired up his ship for the trip to the Inarrii hidden base. Guilt ate at him, but not as urgently as the need to protect both Alinna and his world. If he could get her to her people, one job was complete and the other well begun.
“We’ve got a ten-minute window before they realize we aren’t returning to Starforce.”
“That won’t get us to Jupiter. The base is on the fourth moon, the one you call Europa.”
“By the time they realize we’re headed somewhere else, it will be too late to catch us.”
Alinna fell silent. When he looked at her, her visor faced the navigation vid, its angle too steep for David to see her face. He pressed his lips together, clenched the controls a little tighter. No doubt she felt the tension within him. Hell, if I had any more stress, she’d likely smell it, even through her helmet filter.
There was no going back, only forward. He watched the Inarrii craft complete its disengagement of the docking hatch. The moment it completed the cycle, he pushed his ship into a steep ascent, driving it just beyond the recommended acceleration level for de-orbiting. Levering the controls, he set the course manually, disengaging the auto-nav in case Starforce opted to attempt a remote control of the ship when they realized he’d gone AWOL. He kept to the dark side of the moon, using it for as long as possible to shield his direction from detection. They wouldn’t be expecting him to head away from Earth. Even if he were trying to escape and take Alinna somewhere, where could they expect him to go? The abandoned moon base? The unfinished Mars encampment? Not likely, not enough places to hide.
He checked the ship’s energy level. Even at the exhaustive pace he’d set, there was more than enough power to reach Europa a dozen times over. Eddie ran a tight division—David didn’t doubt the man had personally ensured every ship in the squadron was completely battle-ready, even though their mission wasn’t set for another month.
So much for that mission. David’s thoughts turned grim. Everything would change when the Inarrii approached the Human council about a Treaty. It would make the conflicts over the Mars settlement sound like a squabble over a child’s game. Earth would either come together for a while, or erupt in chaos. Until, of course, they understood what the alternative was. The Raveners could mean the end of the world. That, beyond anything else, must be stopped.
David added another degree of speed to the set course.
“I’m going to contact my commander and let him know we’re arriving.” Alinna’s terse words and abrupt tone had alarm bells sounding in David’s mind.
“What’s wrong?”
Alinna hit the control to release the magnetic force holding her in her seat. She floated upward, pushed against the seat back to move into the main body of the fighter. David turned his chair to face her, but made no move to release his seat restraints. If anything were to go wrong he wanted to be within easy reach of the controls.
Unlike Alinna’s craft, his fighter ship had only the cockpit and a cramped living quarter, barely more than a pair of tethered bunks, a food re-heater and a recycler as well as a tiny lavatory. He watched Alinna float around, apparently absorbed in checking out the restrictive space.
“Alinna.”
“When we get there, you’ll have to leave again, right away. Starforce will know you’re up to something, that I’m missing, but they won’t have to know that you were…aware…of a spy and didn’t report it.”
“It’s gone too far now. You must know that.”
She pulled her helmet off. Procedure required that occupants of a ship keep all flight gear on at all times while the ship was in thrust mode,
but David couldn’t blame her. The sight of her chestnut hair floating loosely around her as she moved—exposing her L’inar—had his cock tightening in his flight suit.
“I wish we’d taken my ship. We would’ve had more room…we could’ve taken a few minutes to ourselves,” she grumbled.
“I’d want more than a few minutes.”
She looked up at the heat in his voice but then looked away. “I…I guess we won’t be getting them.”
“What would you have done if we had the time?” David closed his eyes, taking in the sound of her voice.
“I would have touched you like this.”
David felt her hands running over the back of his neck, running down the curve of his pectorals. His eyes flashed open, but she hadn’t moved. He shut his eyelids again, a smile creeping across his lips.
“This mind stuff is great. You would have touched me…”
“I would have touched all of you.” Soft caresses roamed his body. His cock throbbed, pulsing and growing with every beat of his heart as her touch grew more erotic. When her lips found the tip of his erection, he groaned out loud.
“I’d have wanted to touch you too, sweetness.”
“I know, but I want this. I want you in my mouth, Ya’lenali.”
“What does that mean?” He struggled with the thought. Her lips, imaginary though they were, made concentration nearly impossible as she kissed the length of him, then worked back to the tip to take him deep inside her mouth. She sucked hard and then soft, her tongue caressing, milking him. He sank his fingers into her hair, rubbing the tips against the L’inar he knew were there. She moaned in response, and the sound broke his resolve. He bucked up, fucking her mouth until he came, spurting inside her greedy lips.
“It means ‘my love.’”
David pulled her close to him, held her against him. In their shared mental contact, they were skin on skin, and heart to heart. “I love you, Alinna.”
A soft tone chimed.
David blinked his eyes open to find Alinna had floated close enough to touch him. Her green eyes reflected the black space in the viewer beyond his shoulder, but he didn’t need to look back. The chime meant they had passed the window of time that their motions would go undetected. They were now seven minutes from their destination. A second alert blurted. They were being hailed, but their closed communications channel would not respond.
“We’re almost there.”
Alinna moved back to her chair, pulling herself closer until she could initiate the magnetic grappler. She tapped the skin behind her ear. “Tel sho ahoi. This is Agent Alinna Gaerrii, Unit Nine. I am approaching Inarrii Jupiter Moon Base in a human vessel. I am accompanied by Major David Brown.”
“Inar tel sahiir, Agent. You are expected. Base out.”
David raised his eyebrows at Alinna, silently asking how they knew. Alinna smiled. “They would have been monitoring my ship. They greeted us with honor. They’ll be glad to meet you.”
David swallowed hard. The light above the incoming comm channel continued to blink, but he ignored it.
In moments, the shadow of Jupiter became more distinct. The moons loomed, and David pulled back on the acceleration, hauling back on his ships controls until he could approach Europa at a safer speed. Alinna pointed out the security satellite as they passed it, disguised as an orbiting rock. Even prepared, he couldn’t stop the gasp that slipped from his lips. The base was far more extensive than he had imagined. Several very permanent-looking buildings, nearly as large as his own Base One set-up, gleamed in the darkness, their surface coming to life just as the walls of Alinna’s ship had when she had adjusted them to his optic range.
“Cut your acceleration completely, and they’ll bring you in.”
David followed Alinna’s instruction and felt the ship hang motionless for only a moment before a steady force drew them down toward the base. He sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. Alinna reached out and touched his arm through his flight suit. The guiding power drew them in, past a polarized field, until the ship set slowly down in a huge hangar. Activity bloomed around them, Inarrii and those David could only describe as androids or…others…moving toward the ship. None wore protective gear, and all appeared to be comfortably grounded—atmosphere and gravity were clearly not a problem.
“Come, there are many here to meet you. These people will treat you well, David. Remember that what you represent is hope for your people and mine.”
David released his seat’s grapple and moved with her toward the hatch. His heart still raced. Damn. Here come the aliens. Hope to hell this was a smart thing to do.
* * *
Alinna felt the anxiety rolling off David. No wonder he was worried. What had she done but abuse his trust from day one? The Inarrii as a people would do the right thing—offer the Humans full protection with the hopes that they would become the partners the Inarrii were looking for.
As an individual, however, Alinna had done everything wrong. She’d spied, lied, dragged David into her problems when she couldn’t handle the stress. That she felt anything for him was a fact that ought to be ignored; she didn’t deserve him. In her deluded desire to keep him, she’d even given in to the fantasy of completing M’itta lensahn in their mind contact.
He wasn’t her mate. She had no rights to him. Because of her, he’d be forced to lose his command. Even when the Humans became aware of the entire situation, understood the threat they faced, it would be doubtful that anyone would trust him. She’d probably grounded a gifted pilot for life.
As the Inarrii and Confederacy contingent on the base gathered to greet David, to thank him for returning her and to have their first contact with a Human, Alinna slipped away. It only took a moment before she was out of his sight, although his confused feelings followed her through the corridors of the moon base. She staggered with grief. I’ll never see him again.
“Agent Alinna, I would have a word with you.” The concerned mind contact of Confederacy Examiner Asler Kiis brought a wave of sorrow over her. The soft touch of his hand on her shoulder finished her. She sagged until he was forced to support her. “Come with me.” He led her into an empty side room, helped her take a seat on the low cushioned bench. “What is wrong?”
“Nearly everything.” Alinna drew in a sharp breath, steadied herself. As an Examiner, Asler Kiis had a reputation for the utmost sincerity and honesty. Perhaps this was just what she needed. She’d intended to speak with someone about David’s position, to try and help some way.
“Is it the human? Have we misinterpreted your report? Do you wish to amend your recommendation?”
“Gods, no. The humans are more than I have been able to pass on. You will find David to be a compassionate, honest, trustworthy man. He has the gift of m’ittar.”
Kiis radiated surprise for just a moment, the bright flash of the emotion like a ray of sunlight through clouds to her empathic senses. He controlled himself quickly.
Alinna continued. “Examiner…I have violated this man’s trust. I would ask that you act on his behalf, make sure that he’s given a position on the greeting team and within the powers of the Treaty.”
Asler’s bright emerald eyes stared into her own. His expression grew even more serious. “I have been appointed Advocate on the human’s behalf for any Treaty negotiations, so I could do this. But I believe you’d better explain.”
Alinna ran tired fingers along the edge of her L’inar. The movement was not lost on the Examiner. “Do you need relief? I can call someone…”
“No.” She spoke aloud. “I don’t want anyone.” She stood, paced the tiny room. She turned back to him. “I want you to examine my memories, take them for your report to the council. You will find that Major Brown is the kind of man I mentioned.” She rushed to get through the next words. “You will find I have treated him badly. I lied to him.”
“As you were forced by your position to do.”
“I dragged him into this, and now he’ll lose the trust of his peop
le, lose his command and his dream of flying.”
“A risk a man of his position would have understood.”
“I…took advantage of him sexually. I entered his dreams. I…wished for M’itta lensahn.”
Asler’s eyebrows quirked upward, but his emotions were so tightly held, she couldn’t get a true reading of them.
“You invaded his mind?” His low rumbling voice remained steady despite the horror such an act would imply.
“Not exactly. His untrained m’ittar pulled me in—”
“You influenced him then with your skill in empathy.”
“No, he made me feel, feel things I never would have thought to experience.”
“Then what did you do wrong?”
Alinna stared at him. What had she done wrong? “I wished for M’itta lensahn. He doesn’t even know what it means. I wished for something for me, and now he has lost everything.”
“Alinna, we all wish for our perfect mate. That’s not wrong. Let me read your memories.” He held up his hand at her murmur of protest. “Just a light reading, enough to see what happened. I will not make you live through them again. It’ll be enough for council.”
Alinna bent her head. She owed David everything. Allowing Kiis to review her memories was a small payment. At her unspoken agreement, the Examiner laid a hand on her arm. After a moment, he released her.
“All will be well, Alinna Gaerrii.”
* * *
David paced the floor of the private room for the hundredth time, it seemed. The place felt less and less like a welcoming area and more like a prison with every moment. Alinna had disappeared in the press of his initial welcome in the flight hangar and now, no matter whom he asked, there was no answer forthcoming about her location. What the hell did I do wrong? One minute, she’s giving me the best head of my life and the next, she leaves me in the cold. His mind ran in circles and he kept coming back to one thing: I told her I loved her.
Maybe it was taboo to love an alien. Sex might be acceptable, but love? David ran his hands over the short spikes of his hair. “Damn it, I want her here now.”
