by Bethany Aan
Hunter stood up, drawing all of their eyes. His men instantly fell silent.
“First of all,” Hunter said, calling attention to the start of the informal meeting. He addressed Ri and Bev directly. “I wanted to formally introduce you to everyone here. Commander Arianna, I believe you already know First Lieutenant Jace, our chief medical officer. Medic Jax is his second in command.” He nodded toward the medic she already knew, who saluted and went back to scrolling through the charts he was trying to organize on his scanner. Hunter then called Trey’s name, who nodded respectfully.
“Second Lieutenant Trey is head of computer systems and in charge of the command center. If either Jace or I are unavailable, you can be sure that Trey is ready to serve.”
Ri nodded, translating for the other girls as Hunter spoke. He indicated the next man, a tall, olive-skinned blond.
“Lieutenant Mors is head of security and combat training. Any security issue or fear, take it to him. If you have women who would like to be considered for guard duty, send them his way, so he will know to schedule them, instead of the men, to watch over your ladies.” Ri was surprised by this, but silently thanked Hunter for the measure to include the girls in the duty roster so early. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you with all of the officers, so you will meet the others as the need arises and circumstances permit.”
Ri nodded her understanding as she translated and Hunter moved on. “My Thorsani officers, this is Commander Arianna, her second in command Bev, and second lieutenant Chelsea, and over with Jax is their chief medical officer, Kim. From this point until such time as we decide to alter their rankings, please afford them the same respect and privileges that you would our own command chain.”
The men nodded and Ri got the distinct feeling that Hunter had told them that more for the ladies’ benefit than the men’s. His men knew what they were doing. But by making it an order, he had just given the women insight into the kind of behavior they should expect from his men. Ri sent him a mental thanks for that consideration, wondering if he’d had psychological training for leadership, as well. Hunter nodded almost imperceptibly at her, then went on with the meeting.
“To start off, I wanted to let you know that my men performed a preliminary investigation at the crash site, and we think that you were aboard a slave ship.”
Bev, her face paling, quickly translated for Chelsea. Chelsea swore under her breath.
“Hell, no! You mean to tell me that even out in space, a sista ends up being a slave?” she quipped. Ri bit back a horrified laugh, cutting her eyes toward Chelsea, who grinned at her and shrugged. “At least I had white girls with me. Guess we can’t claim racism this time, huh?”
The men, not understanding the exchange, looked at them quizzically. Arianna quickly explained the joke, though the men didn’t find it amusing at all. She supposed it was a context thing. Hunter continued.
“Without accessing their computers, I do not know where they were taking you, but it appears that their ship came under attack near here, decided to put down, and in the effort of landing, encountered one of the devastating lightning storms we have from time to time. The back of the craft was blown off. The fact that they didn’t know to avoid the storms tells me that our world wasn’t along their normal trade route. Even the most basic of scans would have alerted them to the danger. I don’t know what that means for you, though, or where you might have ended up. For that matter, it’s troubling that we don’t know who attacked your ship. The only populated areas we know of are much further from this planet. I won’t know more until we can get back to the ship and do a complete salvage operation, bring back their computers, and see what information we can retrieve from those.”
Arianna translated for her friends then waited when Bev put a hand on her arm, cocking her head to the side.
“Is it possible that the slavers had technology that was compatible with ours?” she asked. Hunter nodded.
“It is. Most slavers gather at least enough data and technology samples to be able to process their ‘wares’ and offer some sort of translating device or program when they sell the slaves. Supposedly, it aids in training.” His voice was filled with the disgust that Ri could sense rolling off of him in waves. He was especially enraged at the thought of Arianna, in particular, being sold at auction. Her heart nearly melted at that. There was something exciting and wonderful about being championed by such a big, capable man. The feminist in her raised her sleepy head, but the delighted romantic told her to go back to sleep.
“Then I would like to offer my help with that part of the salvage operation,” Bev said, her eyes bright with excitement when Ri translated. Hunter arched an eyebrow at her in question. Bev clarified. “I’m a computer science expert back home. Specifically, I was a civilian contractor for the military. I’m actually a translation specialist, really good at cracking into security systems, figuring out other folks’ computer languages and systems, et cetera. I think I can help, and I would like to be involved, if that’s okay.”
Hunter smiled at the young woman and translated for his men. Trey’s eyes lit up as well, his obvious interest in Bev deepening, respect mixing in with his attraction to her. He spoke to Arianna, but watched Beverly the whole time. Ri chuckled at his response and relayed to Bev, “Trey is their chief computer officer and information specialist, with a particular skill-set in decoding and translating alien technologies. He would be more than happy to have you on his team.”
Arianna wondered at the additional wicked grin the men exchanged. It had something to do with having Bev ‘on his team’, but she didn’t quite catch the reference before Hunter’s amused mind shut that thought down. She sent him a questioning probe with her mind, which he very gently turned away with a promise to fill her in later. She narrowed her gaze on him. He blocked the thought with a bit of amusement, but she felt sure it was sexual innuendo.
“Item two… housing.” Hunter went on briskly. “We can have a dormitory up for your women by tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, your ladies may-“
Whatever he was going to say was cut short when a static pop and crackle were heard. Bev gave out a cry of pain and clapped her hand to her translating device. Jace rushed to her side as the others looked on, each man out of his seat and prepared to go into action if needed.
“Make it stop!” Bev cried, tears pouring from her eyes, agony shooting through her. Ri clasped Bev’s arm, quickly delving into Bev’s brain to drain off some of the pain, as Hunter had done for her. Hunter rose from his seat at that, worried that Ri would drain herself too much, but stilled and sat back down when Ri sent him a gentle assertion that she was fine.
Jace quickly pressed a series of tiny buttons on the device and it popped free of Bev’s temple. Shaking and gasping for breath, Bev sank against Ri, who held the younger woman as best she could while Jace gave her a shot of pain killers and quickly bandaged the tiny puncture in her head, where blood trickled in a small stream down the side of her face.
When Bev calmed down and signaled that she was fine to continue the meeting, Hunter raised an eyebrow and grinned ruefully at Arianna.
“Do you think we can make it through another few hours without something going wrong?” he asked. Ri chuckled and shook her head.
“We’ll give it a shot, Commander,” she told him wryly, “But recent history suggests… probably not.”
Hunter laughed, shaking his head, then called the meeting back to order.
“Second item to address is housing,” he repeated. “As I was saying, we’ll have a temporary dormitory built by this time tomorrow. For tonight, at least, the women may remain in the great hall. We have guards at the doors, to keep them from fleeing and probably coming to harm in the forest. We don’t wish any of them to leave the compound until their translators are working and we have a chance to teach them which plants and animals to be wary of. You’’re not prisoners, of course. We just don’t want to keep having repeats of the most recent incident, and until Jace can do full
lab workups of your physiology and chemistry, it’s better to be safe than sorry. There is another alternative, but it involves your ladies being housed with the warriors who have spare beds in their quarters. I didn’t think that your women would accept that this early.”
His grin was a bit wicked as he sent her a picture of his bed, with her in it. It was a direct invitation and she colored as she quickly translated for Bev and Chelsea. She sent him a firm thought to behave himself. Completely at odds with his fierce ‘commander’ face, he sent her back a mental chuckle and the determination to misbehave as much as she’d let him. She wished she was in better condition to take advantage of the offer. His wistful inward sigh let her know that he was one hundred percent in agreement with her. He also let her know that he was aware that she hadn’t told him ‘no’. She blushed prettily at him.
The other girls in the med center overheard Hunter’s plans for their immediate future, of course, as Ri translated for Bev and Chelsea, but thankfully kept silent. For the most part, they seemed to accept that someone had to speak for the women, and that the men had chosen Ri. But then she sensed Amy rousing from the depths of her drug-induced sleep, and sensed the girl’s growing irritation that a meeting seemed to be happening and she wasn’t involved.
“Third,” Hunter went on briskly, “Clothing. We will have materials for clothing for your women shortly. It will take a little time to sew enough for all of you. In the meantime, those who are still under medical care should continue to wear the med gowns. The other women are being given tunics borrowed from the men, until we can arrange permanent clothing for them. Will that suffice?”
“Of course,” Arianna said immediately. “Loaner clothing is better than naked.”
“You have no idea!” Jace muttered with a heartfelt sigh. Before she could ask what he meant by that, Hunter went on.
“As Jace said this afternoon, as soon as they are well enough, any injured will be removed to the dormitory. I would like for Beverly to remain with the other women, if that is all right with you, Ri. She can relay messages back and forth to you via the com system. It may be inefficient, but it is the best we can offer at the moment. However, with increased interaction between species, the neuro-translators will work more quickly, and an intermediary will no longer be required.”
Arianna was a bit disappointed at that thought, simply because it meant that her need to interact with Hunter would come to an end once the translators were on line.
“And last, but perhaps most importantly,” Hunter said, hesitation in his voice and reluctance in his mind, “We should discuss the mingling of our people. We have almost two hundred men, only about one quarter of which are uninterested in women. However, the remaining men will likely be very interested. There are some who still hold hope that their families and mates from Thorsan are alive and will find us. There are others who have accepted the possibility that such a thing might not ever happen. And there are still others who are unmated and will be eager to begin courting your women.
“I only bring this up now,” Hunter held up a hand to forestall Bev and Chelsea’s questions. “I bring it up when you have just arrived because it will be something the men will want to know about as soon as possible. We have not seen women, of any kind, in many years now. Far too many. Your women have no need to worry for their safety,” he assured them when he sensed Arianna would have asked about that. “But as their leaders, we should be aware that at some point, natural instinct is going to assert itself, and if we do not understand one another’s culture and courting traditions, there could be many problems. We can avoid that by discussing it now, revealing the sort of things we each expect, culturally and perhaps spiritually, and move forward from there. You don’t have to answer now, but I thought you should go ahead and be talking about it amongst yourselves, so that we can start working on a cultural exchange, if your ladies are interested.”
Arianna nodded, her brow furrowing in thought. She explained it all to Bev and Chelsea. From the other end of the room, Amy could take no more. She sat up in her bed, ignoring her pain, and called out.
“I’m not mating with a filthy alien!”
Hunter, Jace, and Ri all turned to stare at her. Ri blinked at the utter rudeness.
“You didn’t seem to mind their attentions in the shower,” she retorted. Amy blushed.
“I was drugged and they were taking advantage. But I’m not going to mate with one of them!”
“That will be your choice,” Bev said, shrugging and turning back to the meeting. Amy’s face darkened at the obvious dismissal.
“They weren’t taking advantage of you,” Ri frowned. “And you know it.”
“That’s not for you to decide,” Amy said, faking a shudder. “I feel violated.”
Ri snorted. “No, you don’t. You’re just trying to find a way to excuse the fact that you enjoyed it. Now, if you don’t have anything constructive to add…”
“I demand to be part of this meeting!” Amy shouted, glaring at Arianna. Hunter raised an eyebrow at her. Amy sent him a nasty look. “She’s obviously got some kind of brain damage, if she thinks she can speak for the rest of us.”
“Your commander will discuss this meeting with all of you ladies at once,” Hunter said, and Ri translated. “You may make your opinions known at that time.”
He turned away from the angry young woman, troubled by her outburst. Normally, he welcomed discourse from anyone who would be affected by decisions that were being made. And while Amy’s opinion definitely mattered, there was something else at work in her mind, and he didn’t like it. Every time the woman opened her mouth, the mental energy she exuded put Hunter’s Reader senses on edge. He regretted his rudeness, and the looks he was getting from his officers let him know that he was acting out of character. He liked that even less. Hunter had a very strong will. He could not allow one human woman’s anger to cause him to act abnormally. Determined to talk it over with Ri later, not in front of everyone else, he went back to the meeting.
Too weak and injured to get out of her bed and with the officers ignoring her, Amy settled back to her pillows, seething. One of the medics hurried over to give her another injection of pain-killers. Fortunately, that put her right back out, sending relief through Hunter and Arianna.
“I think that we should discuss this with all the women at once,” Bev said quietly, bringing the topic of integrating their people back to the fore. Hunter nodded. “But, with that in mind, I don’t see why we can’t put our heads together and talk about mating rituals and such. I can’t see the harm in that, and the sooner we can compare cultures, the better. It will help to establish the rules we’ll use to govern our combined society, if you guys decide you want to keep us.”
Ri smiled and expanded on that. “To be honest, there are many different ideas about what is acceptable and what is not, on our world. It really depends on the religion of the woman, the ethnic background, perhaps the part of the world she is from. For instance, in our part of the world, one man marries one woman, and that is the ‘norm’.
“What about those who love the same sex?” Jace asked, his brow knit in concern. Ri shook her head, surprised at the question.
“Illegal in most states, though there were a lot of folks trying to change that.” The men murmured angrily at that. Hunter snorted.
“How do you keep them from being together?” he asked. “And why would you wish to?”
“It’s a long, complicated story,” she sighed, her head beginning to ache. “We will tell you about it. But in our country, it is mostly illegal. In other parts of the world, there are different ideas about marriage. Sometimes one man marries and supports many women, and occasionally one woman marries several men. There are even cases where entire family groups consider themselves wed, with multiple husbands and wives all living in the same home.”
“And this is accepted?” Hunter asked, seeming anxious about her answer. Ri shook her head. She wondered at his keen disappointment.
&n
bsp; “Not where we’re from,” she admitted. “But the region we lived in was a highly religious area. Not everyone believes the same way, but for the most part, people don’t go against the grain, or they end up being ostracized. If they do live an alternate lifestyle, such as homosexuality or polygamy, they tend to do so very quietly, so that their family and friends don’t find out. It’s really sad.”
Hunter sensed that she was hiding something, but it had to do with her personal beliefs, not those of her society. He could feel her frustration with the situation back on her world and realized that she was one of the advocates for letting people love who they wished. His respect and liking for her went up a notch. He added ‘personal beliefs’ to the growing list of things he wished to go into detail about when he was able to sit down and talk to her at length. For now, he sighed, disappointed, but not really surprised to hear about her peoples’ traditions.
On many worlds, the accepted practice was one man, one woman. Even on Thorsan, his home world, such had been the case in the private sector and the more densely populated areas, where there was not a shortage of either sex or the danger of losing a spouse in the next battle. But there had been no laws against anyone marrying, as long as they were considered of legal age and sound mind to make such a decision. Things had changed in the last several decades, as far as people marrying, but that was out of growing necessity, not law. Shaking himself from the downward spiral into his people’s tragic past, Hunter mentally shut the thought down. Remembering what they were talking about, he shook himself and went on.
“Our colonization directive states that we eventually mate, if we’re able, to build numbers to sustain the colony. Do you think that your women would entertain the idea of that? Not immediately, as I said earlier, but perhaps at some point in the future?”
