“Really, I hadn’t heard you both fought. I assumed that you would have stayed back in the safety of your rooms.” He turned his head towards the Commander, “You allowed your mate to fight? But she isn’t trained. Please tell me she didn’t get in the way of your leading the defense of the city.” I saw what he was up to, he wanted to get the Commander out of the picture and was trying to make him out to be a bad leader.
“Actually, Paris is quite adept at defending herself as well as anyone else in her care. She was on a different part of the wall with Zelan and Natalie. From what I understand, they killed quite a few bugs. In fact, Paris and Natalie both figured out we were battling young bugs right about the time that I did. I had just given the intel to Captain Mypo to disseminate when Zelan called to tell me. Zelan was able to relay the news to his side of the wall quite easily, and they worked together to kill more than their fair share. I will always be happy to have her watch my back in battle.”
“Thank you, Venay. I hope I can live up to your kind praise.” She bowed her head toward him. I hadn’t seen her act so compliant before. There must be more going on here than I understood. I knew the Captain was a jerk, but why care about impressing him?
“Interesting. Well, maybe we should send more slaves to the settlement and have them help guard the families. I wonder if they would really help or use the opportunity to kill our species.” What was he thinking? Why in the world would we kill their families! I swear, if I ever get the chance, I am going to kick that man in his family jewels. He seriously needs to be taken down a peg or two.
I looked over to Paris and rolled my eyes. She just smiled.
The Commander stood up and picked up his glass of water. “I would like to propose a toast to our newest Captain.” He looked over to Zelan who was positively beaming.
We all picked up our glasses and cheered to his new promotion. Both the Commander and Zelan were pulsing green, but the Captain was going back and forth between orange and dark blue. I knew that orange meant he was frustrated. The dark blue must have meant he was despondent. Strange that he would be upset over Zelan’s promotion.
As soon as we were done with dinner, the Captain said his goodbyes, and everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief once the door closed.
“Venay, I don’t trust that man. He gives me the creeps the way he looks at us women. I get the feeling he just wants slaves, not mates or helpers. Please never leave me on this ship alone with him.” Paris walked over to the Commander and put her arms around his torso.
He put his around her and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “He isn’t a fan of humans. I promise I will never leave you with that man. Like I said back on our ship, you are not to leave my side until we get off this planet.” They really did make a cute couple.
Paris looked to me. “Natalie, you said you had some things you wanted to discuss with me? Why don’t we go into the kitchen and talk?” She nodded her head into the kitchen, and I followed her.
“What was up with the Captain at dinner? If he hates us so much, then why did he join us?” I had brought some plates with me and put them in the alien dishwasher contraption.
“I think he felt like he had to come. Venay didn’t order him, but when your commander invites you to dinner, you don’t say no.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“I guess. Why did the Commander invite him?”
“Venay told me that he wanted to try and bridge the gap between us all. Make him see that humans weren’t so bad. Something tells me his plan didn’t work.” She blew her bangs out of her eyes.
“So, when did Zelan get his promotion? I never heard them discuss it until the end of dinner.” I was really excited for Zelan and couldn’t wait to tell him.
“Maybe they offered it to him while you were helping me get dinner prepared? That could be why the Captain was upset too. I heard them talking before you got here, and he wanted his Lieutenant to get the job and the promotion.”
I stopped working on the dishes and looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was coming in the room. “Do you think I should go to the settlement? If the Captain is mad at Zelan, do you think he will try to take it out on me?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him. In his mind, you are still just a slave. It might be better if you chose to mate with Zelan sooner rather than later.”
"I know that is what I am supposed to do, but I wish everyone would let me take the time I need to get over Ben. It's not that I was in love with the man, but he was the only boyfriend I ever had as an adult. Can we stop bringing this up? When I am ready, I will let you and Zelan know." I huffed and slapped the dish towel on the counter.
“I’m sorry, Natalie. That wasn’t very nice of me. I guess there are so few of us who are mated, that I was thinking about myself in this case. It was just that I wanted more nights like tonight. Well, without the Captain.” She started to laugh and I smiled.
“Okay, just let me go at my pace, alright?”
“Of course, forgive me?”
“Always.” We hugged and finished the dishes.
Paris grabbed a couple of teas, and then we both sat at her kitchen table. “Alright, here is what I wanted to know. If I moved to the settlement, would I have free rein of the place like the other humans who live and work there?”
“I think so. But you would need to talk to Venay about that one.”
"Zelan and I spoke today. I want to date him and get to know him, slowly. If he is going to the settlement, I should too. It was actually what I was hoping to do. That place was almost like home. Well, besides the mutant bugs who attacked the place and killed a bunch of people."
“Was it the chocolate chip pancakes that sold you on the place?” Paris started to giggle, and I followed suit.
“Yes, it was. But even meeting people like Clarissa made me feel like that could be home. If things don’t work out with Zelan, at least I will have a place I can fit in. You know what I mean?”
“Yes, I do. It was the kind of place I would like to settle down in as well. Too bad Venay is a ship’s commander. He wont be able to stay here longer than the five months. But if you stayed here, I would see you twice a year when we made our trips to Earth.” Her smile faltered as she thought about it.
“I couldn’t be with Zelan if he joined you guys on that ship and started abducting people. There is no way I could support that.” I shook my head.
“Do you think I can support it? Because I can’t. I am just biding my time for a chance to make a difference and change the status quo."
“Really, you think you can make a change?” How could she? It wasn’t like she married the V’Zenian President or anything.
“Yes, I do. I may not be able to stop it right away, but I think I could have a hand in who he chooses. Maybe I can get people to volunteer. I was thinking of a way to gather volunteers without telling them it is for a ‘mission to Mars,’ so to speak.”
“Hmm, that is interesting. I bet you could find a lot of volunteers. But you can’t keep it from them. Once they are on the ship, they will figure it out, and then you will have a riot on your hands.”
“Yeah, but if we don’t say anything until after we have vetted them, I am hopeful that we will get most of them to agree to go. I was thinking we could look for those who had no family and were without a job. Start there since there are so many. Shoot, we could even take a bunch off the streets. I had some friends who might want to go.”
“So you have a plan on how you are going to do this?”
“Not exactly. I do still have close to a year before I have to know what I am going to do. If you come up with some ideas I will be very happy to hear them.”
I sipped my tea and thought about that. “Maybe by the time you guys leave here I will have something for you. Do you think I will get to see much of you when I go to New Hope?”
“Yes. I expect we will make regular trips over to see you all. I know they have their own Commander, but Venay really wants to help make sure they have
the best defense possible. Since he has seen other outposts, he has some ideas to help them. Maybe you can be on our team? You know, be Venay’s personal assistant when he is there and handle things for him when he is gone? That would be a great job for you!”
"I was an accountant before the abduction. Running numbers is my thing. Tax returns on Earth? Sure, I can do that. But helping to run an alien outpost? I don't think that is in my wheelhouse." I shook my head and drank my tea.
“You have a degree don’t you?”
“Yes, I have a Master’s. But that isn’t going to help me be a personal assistant. The skill set is very different.”
“I didn’t mean it was something you learned in college, I just meant that you have the ability to learn. You are a very smart woman. Believe you can do this, and you can. Something tells me a personal assistant here is very different from one back home. Just because someone on Earth is a PA doesn’t mean that they could do it here. Just like you couldn’t do their taxes for them. It is a very different kind of job that will require learning new skills. Let’s talk to Clarissa when we get there. I am sure she can help you figure it all out.”
“Paris, why do you want me to do this job so badly?” I scrunched my eyes, as I looked at her, wondering what was up.
“Because, I trust you to be faithful to Venay. He is going to need someone to be his eyes and ears and who won’t try to stab him in the back. I think this Captain might be after his job. Plus, I will get to see you in a much better environment.”
“That Captain would be crazy to go against the Commander. He would never win. Your Commander is so much stronger and more menacing than the Captain. Plus, I think the men will follow Venay over that idiot any day.”
“Which is probably why the Captain is after Venay. He is jealous. When I first met him I thought he would be a nice, proper gentleman. But he just wanted to make a good first impression. Or maybe to see if there was a way to get between me and Venay.”
“You know, I really hoped we had left that petty stuff behind us, there is woman in our prison section who wants to get her claws into Zelan too. I guess ‘human’ nature isn’t just for humans is it?” I shook my head and chuckled thinking about Rachelle and what she was going to do now that we might have some freedom.
Even though I wasn’t ready to mate with Zelan, it didn’t mean that I wanted her to keep going after him. What I needed was another alien to distract her. I wondered if I could get Aysiaer to keep her busy for a while. He was a huge flirt. They might actually make a good couple.
As I sipped my tea, Zelan came in and sat down next to me. “Natalie, have you and Paris discussed moving to New Hope?"
“Yes, I want to go with you although not as your mate. Is that alright?” I reached out and took his hand and watched as his veins pulsed purple before turning a bit red.
He squeezed my hand. “Yes, I think we can arrange that. What type of job were you thinking about trying out for?”
What did red mean? I wanted to ask him that, and I almost did. “Paris thinks I should be Commander Venay’s personal assistant. What do you think?”
His smile grew wide, and his veins went back to a beautiful purple again. “I think that is a great idea. We were just talking, and we agreed to share an assistant. If you got the job, we would work together every day.”
I looked over to Paris who was smiling behind her cup of tea. “I see. That might be interesting. How would that work if you and I are dating?” I scratched the back of my head.
Back home, I never would have dated someone in my office, let alone a boss. HR would have put a stop to it if they ever got wind of any sort of romantic entanglement.
“It would be great. We could spend more time together and get to know each other much better.”
“You don’t have any rules against workplace dating?”
“No, we don’t normally date our mates. Once we meet our mate, we make plans for the ceremony, and within a couple of weeks, are mated and living together.”
“Do mates work together in your society?” Paris asked.
“Sometimes, I guess when the warrior goes on a long mission, like the trips to Earth, they do take their mate with them. Sometimes the female gets some sort of job on the ship. Everyone contributes in some way. But there are no issues if you happen to work with your mate.” He got up, fixed himself some tea, and came back to our table.
“Would the Commander consider hiring me?”
He walked in at that point. No doubt he had been listening to our conversation. “Yes, I would. Paris was right. I think it is important to have an assistant who is loyal to me. None of the males who served under the Captain would be as trustworthy as you. Especially since you will most likely mate with Zelan. It is a perfect situation. If you want the job, it is yours.” He grabbed a tea and joined us.
“Great, is everyone trying to force me to marry Zelan?” I pulled my hand back from him and looked at my lap.
“Natalie, I understand your hesitation, however you are in a very different situation than anything you have ever experienced on Earth. If you go to my homeworld and are not mated to one of my men, you will be a slave. There are no settlements on my planet where humans are treated as equals. You would be treated as cattle, and you would not be allowed to roam freely. In fact, Paris would not be allowed to associate with you. Not because I said no, but because your master would not allow it." The commander looked at me with that forceful look of his that always sent the bad kind of shivers down my spine. I rubbed my left arm with my right hand as I thought about what he said.
"What about staying on at the settlement? Is that a possibility?" I straightened my back and looked him in the eye when I asked.
“It could be but highly doubtful. Once I leave, Commander Croso will take over what I started. He won’t need me, and he won’t need you either.”
“ I see. So unless I want to be a slave, I have to mate with Zelan.” I nodded my head as I blew my hair out of my eyes.
“No, it could be another warrior. You will be able to meet a good amount of males at the colony. If Zelan isn’t the one for you.” Zelan started to stir in his chair and the Commander gave him the “look” which caused him to sit still. “Then there might be others. I highly suggest you figure out what you want before my new ship arrives.”
I chewed on my bottom lip and wondered if it would be so bad to accept Zelan. Although, I still had five months to figure this out. I wasn't going to worry about it tonight. "Okay, I have five months, so how about I worry about tomorrow first? Will I be able to get my universal translator?"
The Commander smirked. "It's about time you agreed to it. There are some on the planet who don't speak English, so this will make your job much easier." He got up and put his hand out for Paris, who stood up and grabbed it.
“Natalie, I will stop by tomorrow after your surgery and see how you are doing.” Paris walked off with the Commander and left me alone with Zelan.
“Come on, I will take you back to your cell, then tomorrow I will come and get you for the procedure.” I had a lot to think about so he was gracious enough to stay quiet for the walk back.
We walked around a corner and I wasn’t paying attention since I was so focused on everything the Commander and Zelan gave me to think about tonight. I almost walked right into a crate on the ground. Zelan gently picked me up and carried me over the crate and set me down. Ben would have just let me walk into and hurt myself. Zelan was always looking out for me, even in the small things.
I put my hand on his arm. “Thank you, Zelan. That was very gracious of you.” I smiled and we continued on our way.
Chapter 12
True to his word, first thing in the morning Zelan came to get me. The doctor was ready. He told me I was the first of ten girls who wanted the implant today, and the rest of the week was already filling up fast.
Word spread when I got back last night. I told my cell mates about the possibility of living at the settlement and having actual jo
bs, NOT working as slaves. Everyone was very excited and lined up, literally, to get their universal translators.
“Doc, will this hurt?” I was a bit of a baby when it came to needles, and I couldn’t imagine what was going to happen. The doctor explained it to me, but I all I could think of were the needles.
"It will pinch just a little, but after that, you won't feel anything. Even when you wake up you won't be in pain, just a bit groggy." He patted my shoulder like I was a little twelve-year-old. I expected to wake up and find a lollypop waiting for me. Oh, come to think of it, that would be nice.
He was right. I wasn't in any pain. Groggy was a good word for what I felt. At first, everything had this miasma over it. Then I slowly opened and closed my mouth, licking my lips. I blinked a few times to try and remove the haze, but it took a good hour to go away.
“Hi, there! How are you feeling?” Paris came in and sat in the chair next to my bed. That bed was the most comfortable thing I had been on since this all started. Well, except for that one night with Zelan. Nothing compared to sleeping in his arms.
"Paris, it's so nice of you to come visit. How long do I stay here? Can I arrange to sleep overnight in this bed? It's quite comfortable. Much better than that jail cell.” I almost shivered thinking about going back there, but my body was too relaxed.
“Sorry, they will kick you out in a couple of hours. I might be able to get you released to my care, if Venay agrees. We could start working on your new job tomorrow. I think that would be reason enough to have you staying with me.” She smiled at me, which caused me to smile.
Paris really did have a nice smile. I was surprised that no one back on Earth wanted to take care of her after her parents died. She was such a sweet and helpful person. Their loss, and my gain.
“Sounds good to me. Anything to get out of that cell. When are we leaving?” If we could go in the next few days, it would mean a much better life for everyone.
Paris pointed to a flower on the table next to my bed. “Did Zelan leave that for you?”
Worlds Collide: Sci-fi Adventure/Romance (Alpha Alien Abduction Tale Book 2) Page 9
