CaressoftheStars

by Viola Grace

  The elder waved her to follow and led her past the crowd of women who were helping Jenu with the lost shipment.

  Huana had seen the inner workings of the collective before, but the open spaces full of children always caught her by surprise. Dozens of children played and learned under the watchful eyes of their keepers.

  "What level are we on?"

  "Level eight. The children are enjoying their end of classes. Do you want children?" Elder Nehatho's voice was sly.

  "Of course. Every Hashka woman wants children. It is doubtful I will find my mate though."

  "Why is that?"

  "Not many males can handle a female who knows where he is at all times. No one can lie to me for long either. If I seek the truth, I find it."

  The elder howled with laughter. "I can imagine that it would take a certain kind of man to deal with a woman with that talent. It seems that the priest is interested in applying for a chance to try."

  Huana shook her head. "He informed me himself that I am not the kind of woman that a priest would seek as a mate."

  The elder bumped into her, hip to hip. "Sometimes it isn't what you seek, it's what you find."

  Huana pondered those words as she was shown to her room and got her passkey. Her bags had already been brought to the room and her tunics were hanging neatly in the wardrobe.

  "Veel remarked to me that your wardrobe could use a little enhancing."

  The elder watched her move around the room, learning its dimensions as well as the location of all amenities. Her own private lav was a lovely surprise.

  "Someone in my line of work does not need feminine garments. These do just fine for me." She ran her hand over her tunics.

  "Sometimes it is not what we need, but what we want. Before you leave, I want to see you in traveller clothing. Something tells me that it will suit you despite the differences in our skins."

  Huana just shot her a light glare and kept unpacking the last of her garments. When it was complete, her stomach growled alarmingly.

  The elder laughed again. "Come with me, Seeker."

  "Call me, Huana."

  The wrinkled and tanned face smiled. "Only if you call me, Neha. Elder makes me feel old."

  "Done."

  Neha took her by the hand and hauled her into the ship once again. They passed dozens of friendly faces and some not so friendly, eventually ending up in the huge main dining hall.

  "You will find your priest here. Try to eat near a chaperone."

  "Will you fit the bill?"

  "I thought you would never ask. I have dozens of questions about Hashka that I have never gotten the courage to speak."

  "This is the time."

  Eating with an elder had an unforeseen side effect. Huana's food was brought out to her instead of facing the lines of diners.

  "You pick the spot. As one of the only blue women here, Yaedo should have no trouble finding me."

  Huana picked up her fork and dug in to her meal. It was a charming mix of stewed rations and a fresh roll. A salad of fresh greens was placed on the table as well and once Neha had served her, she munched those down.

  Yaedo arrived with a tray just as Huana finished taking down the last of the greens on her plate.

  She was still tired but managed a smile for her priest when he sat down across from her. "You look like hammered hell."

  "Thank you. Those young men are determined to learn everything I know in the next few days. I am exhausted." He grinned and it was a happy grin.

  "Glad to see that you are enjoying yourself. This is Neha. She has agreed to be our chaperone this evening so that we can speak freely."

  He nodded and ate quickly, stopping only to say, "We need a chaperone?"

  "I am sure that the young men you were with filled you in on their traditions of segregation of the sexes. They only mingle at specific events and meals. Other than this, we will not see each other until we arrive at our destination."

  "Then I am glad that we have this moment." He reached out his hand palm up and she placed her hand in his without thinking. His grin was instant.

  "Why are you smiling?"

  Neha was sitting quietly, sipping her tea but watching them closely.

  "I am smiling because the elder was correct. You do touch me in reflex."

  She tugged on her hand, but he had a tight grip on it.

  "Let go."

  "No. We have this moment and I will retain contact with your hand if that is all I am allowed to touch."

  Neha leaned forward. "You have full access to each other in your normal lives?"

  Huana shook her head. "No, I am busy with my duties as seeker and he lives in the temple. Our lives do not cross."

  "But, as Hashka, your bodies could if you so willed it."

  Yaedo shook his head. "Not unless she was in season. For a first mating, it has to be confirmed by our attraction to each other, reinforced by the signals that the stars gave us."

  Neha looked fascinated. "What are those?"

  Huana bit her lip. "A Hashka female will feel attraction for a male via his voice before she can even see him. Her body will go into heat and she will begin looking actively for a mate."

  "He, in turn, will be attracted by her scent. It will intensify his attraction until he can't think straight and has to possess the female in question."

  Neha nodded. "I have always wondered what happens to a female when she can't find a mate."

  Grimly, Huana slid her hand from Yaedo's. "She goes into heat twice more and then her mind begins to give way. The stars give us a lot of power and to restrict the outlets for that power is a dangerous thing."

  The elder was shocked. "What?"

  "Yes. It is how things work and why now that the Hashka have spread over the universe our populations are shrinking. Few of us have enough children to make up for the loss of others over the years."

  Yaedo looked solemn. "It is true. The stars are getting aggressive in their bids to make sure that their children are breeding, but in every generation, there are a few that slip past, their mates beyond their reach."

  With that perky thought, Huana's appetite died and she pushed her plate away. As if they were companions of long standing, Yaedo ate her leftovers, including her untouched dessert.

  Neha was looking at the two of them with a focussed air, a small smile on her lips.

  They discussed seeing the navigator in the morning and reporting to speak to Yaedo over dinner once again.

  With much food for thought about her life, her future and how the opening of Yaedo's shirt showed just enough chest to make her mouth water, she went to bed.

  Tomorrow was another day and as a seeker, they could call on her anytime.

  Chapter Five

  Morning on the ship was punctuated by the laughter of children and the hushed tones of women in the common room.

  Huana sat with the elders and enjoyed the conversation. Her night had been plagued with heated images of Yaedo, so she was only too glad to have something else to concentrate on.

  The object of her dreams was engaging in morning class with the young men of the collective, so he had taken an early breakfast.

  "So, Seeker, do you wish to meet with our navigator?" One of the male elders was looking at her with a speculative gaze.

  She was wearing her standard tunic and trousers, no skin showing other than her hands and face. A few of the males had sent interested glances at her, but her body wasn't wired to respond to them. Only one man on board had any chance of gaining her interest and he was decidedly not interested in her.

  "Please." She tidied up her plate for the young woman bussing tables and got to her feet.

  Elder Callen was a handsome man, white hair at his temples and a spring to his step. He escorted her through the halls to the command deck of the collective.

  A dozen personnel were working on the day-to-day operations of the ship and only one turned away from their station when Huana and Callen entered.

  "Seeker, I have b
een told I was expecting you."

  Huana blinked in surprise as the Hashka male approached. He stopped a few feet away from her and she noticed the recoil in his posture.

  "Seeker Marsh, this is Navigator Zali. He has been with the collective for several years and a better navigator has never been with us. If anyone can find what you are looking for, it is he." Callen left and Zali motioned to one of the nearby offices with his head.

  She followed his gesture and took a seat at the table in the first conference room.

  "If I may ask, Zali, what is it you feel when you approach me?" She was curious. She knew that Dekkar had marked her, she just didn't know how.

  He looked surprised by the question. "I feel a vague nausea. As if you were in heat but my sister."

  "Ah. Good enough. Thank you. Now, do you have star charts on display?"

  They got down to the business of the star charts and finding the location that she had found. It took two hours, but eventually, they managed to come up with a direct route that would allow Huana and Yaedo less than a day's journey in their small shuttle.

  "We will remain in the star system for a week in case you cannot find the planet you are looking for. On my charts, there is no planet in that system that matches your coordinates." Zali had a worried furrow between his brows, as if she was indeed a sister that he was worried for.

  "I trust my own instincts as well as the information I gleaned from the archive. The planet is where I have determined it to be. I am betting my life on it."

  He nodded and snapped a salute. "Aye-aye, Seeker. I look forward to seeing you again on this journey. It has been a while since I saw a friendly blue face."

  She chuckled. "Look me up at dinner. I sit with some of the elders."

  Zali nodded. "I will. Now, to lay in the course we have plotted. We will have you and your priest in place within the week."

  Huana got to her feet and smiled. "Thank you for your help."

  "It was worth all measure of difficulty to have a chance at finding a lost world. That is a mission I am glad to be part of."

  He left her alone in the room and she watched the star map rotate slowly above the table for a minute before she closed it. They were on their way and with Dekkar blessing their voyage, his lost world would soon be found.

  It was a young woman who reminded Huana how horrid life could be.

  She sidled up next to her and whispered in her ear. "Seeker, may I have a moment in privacy?"

  Huana was watching the children get the basics of self-defence training from Yaedo on the fourth day of their time in the collective. He taught them all equally, the boys and the girls. Several of the mothers pulled their daughters away but most let them stay.

  She turned her head to look at the young woman and when she read the shame and concern on her face, she immediately followed her into a more private area.

  The relief in the woman's face when she and Huana were alone in the small alcove was palpable. "I need your help finding something that I lost."

  "Of course. I am here to serve. What have you lost?"

  The woman burst into tears. "My virginity."

  Huana held her as she cried and pieced together the gist of the occurrence. There had been a dance, she had had some punch and after that remembered nothing. She woke alone in a storage room and there had been semen on her thighs as well as blood.

  As a traveller who had lost her virginity, she had no value to the collective, but if she could find her attacker, she might have grounds to make him pay for her lost marriage ability, or he would have to marry her himself.

  "I will find him. Give me until dinnertime. Did you keep any of the clothing that you were wearing that night?"

  "I kept all of it."

  "Did you wash it?"

  She blushed. "No, just bundled it up and hid it."

  "Good. We can compare the scans to the man and confirm it when we find him."

  Hope bloomed in the woman's face. "You will really help me?"

  "I am a seeker. I will find the man who took your virginity."

  The moment that the words were spoken, Huana felt a surge of energy. It happened sometimes when Dekkar felt strongly about a cause.

  She breathed a little easier knowing that the star was on her side in this investigation. Dealing with personal lives was always difficult.

  "When will you begin the investigation?"

  "I have already begun it. Where did you hide the clothing?"

  "I will bring it to you this evening. I share accommodations with my sisters."

  Huana nodded. "I will get the data clearances from the elders. What day did it happen?"

  The woman filled her in on the date and quickly left before anyone stopped to ask her what she was doing.

  Huana wandered over to Neha and asked for access to the data core.

  "What do you need it for?"

  "A matter of investigation for your collective. It is a matter of personal wellbeing for one of your members." The phrase was as well thought out as she could make it. She had deliberately not asked the young woman for her name. It was an attempt to avoid lying to the elder if she asked for the identity, fortunately, Neha merely nodded and went to one of the master terminals on the wall.

  "You will have complete clearance for thirty-four hours. I hope you can find what you are seeking in that time."

  Huana gripped the elder's hand lightly. "So do I."

  Chapter Six

  It took nine hours of sifting through data, but Huana finally pinpointed the moment when her client was drugged and the men who removed her from the party.

  The collective did not keep active files on their members, but by comparing the faces with records on customs' manifests, she was able to pin down the three men that had hauled the poor girl out of the dance.

  A timid knock on her door snapped her out of her data-absorbing trance. A bundle of fabric was on the floor and when Huana leaned out to look for her client, she didn't see anyone. Someone had dropped the fabric and hidden immediately.

  Her senses were still active and she saw the heat trail left behind by the courier who had delivered the bundle. Wrapping it in a neutral sheet from her pack, she hid the clothing and took it with her to the medical centre.

  She kept the bundle tightly confined as the nurse on duty summoned the doctor on call. It should have surprised her when Yaedo came through the doors with the physician, but she was far beyond being shocked at what Dekkar could do with his servants.

  "Huana, what is wrong? The doctor said you were demanding to see him."

  Yaedo's concerned expression touched her, but she scowled at the nurse who blushed a dark crimson.

  "I am here in the course of my investigation. I needed to get one of the physicians off hours for privacy's sake."

  The doctor was watching their exchange with interest. "How can I help you, Seeker?"

  She shoved both of the men through the door to the exam room and closed the door behind her. The nurse looked like the nosey kind, so she waited, holding the men silent with her hand in the air before opening the door suddenly.

  The nurse fell into the room and stammered apologies.

  She triggered her eye change and glared at the woman. "Get out. Keep all others from entering the medical centre unless it is life or death. If I catch you listening again, you can guess what your fate shall be."

  The woman paled and scurried back on her hands.

  Sighing, Huana closed her eyes and resumed their normal deep purple colouring. When she returned to face the physician, Yaedo was grinning and the doctor seemed surprised.

  "Now, Doctor. I need you to examine some clothing. It will have sexual contributions from at least two parties. I need those parties identified." She held out the bundle and the perplexed physician took it.

  "If a woman has loosed her morals, I cannot help you." He tried to push it back to her.

  Her hands flexed and if she had been home, she might have pulled her blade. "And if the blood tests s
how that she was drugged? And forced? What then?"

  "I don't know if you understand our collective, but a woman is responsible for her own morals." He was sneering and she took a shuddering breath for calm.

  She walked to the terminal on the wall and brought up the time codes for the drugging.

  Yaedo took her lead and hauled the doctor over to watch.

  "See here, she is sitting with friends and the males come over. Now, she begins nodding and her friends leave her and now the males haul her away, her body limp and eyes shut. There is no chance that she has volunteered to go. Here she wakes, fights briefly, before they leave the monitored area."

  The physician paled as he watched the obvious nefarious abduction. He didn't speak again, simply took the clothing and started running scans.

  Yaedo touched her shoulder and she jerked out of her observational trance. "How did you know to look there?"

  "It has happened before. I have checked the records and one of the males requested medical supplements on their last landing. Apparently, he claimed a problem sleeping that his doctors would not help him with."

  The doctor jumped as if he was stung. "He was trying for weeks to get some sleeping aids, but his body didn't show any signs of sleep deprivation. I simply sent him away."

  "I need the names, Doctor. Once I have them, I will determine the best candidate and my client will be able to divorce him immediately after the wedding."

  Yaedo looked confused. "I don't understand. How can she divorce so soon?"

  Huana grinned. "It is a peculiarity of the collective. He is aware of the situation, she is aware of the situation. He either marries her and splits his assets or he is outed as a rapist. She need never see him again after the wedding day, but she will be able to wed another man of higher standing immediately if she so chooses."

  "It seems peculiar to shift mates like one would change shoes."

  "It is beyond our poor Hashka minds to consider swapping mates at the drop of a hat, but as long as the proper forms are registered, the collective has no problem."

  They were together on one side of the room when the doctor looked up and glanced over the clothing on his exam table. "Seeker, we have a problem."