She turned on the orange male following her, “Stop following me!” she shouted. Then she brandished her dagger at him, taking a step toward him.
As she hoped, he backed up several steps.
“Go! Leave me alone!” she shouted again.
Vor was aware that their Sirena was nervous around them, perhaps even outright feared them. But he was sworn to protect her. He decided that if they gave her a little more room, watching her from a distance was better than not at all.
Vor told the others without looking over his shoulder, “We frighten her, back off a little, we will watch from a safe distance.”
All four males obeyed him, backing up a little. Vor moved several steps back as well, joining them about twenty feet down the hall from where she stood now. Their Sirena seemed satisfied, nodding and turning away from them to continue on her way. She seemed to be mumbling to herself, but no longer trying to make them leave.
They had no way to know that she was, in fact, telling the computer to close the doors immediately when she rushed into the next lift, allowing no one time to join her on it.
No sooner had she taken three or four steps, than she rushed into the lift at her right. The doors closed behind her, and the lift began moving without pause.
Vivian giggled at the sight of the five large males rushing toward the lift, shouting as the doors closed. Then she had a thought, she was sure they’d be angry, “Are you sure they are safe?”
“Who, Vivian Ehlealah?”
“Those males, the ones you call my guard.”
The computer was quiet for a moment before answering, “I have reviewed all their files, they are not a threat. They have each volunteered for your personal guard. Your safety is their priority.”
“Hmpf. I’m trusting you here, computer. You steer me wrong, I’ll disassemble you,” she muttered under her breath.
“That will not be necessary. I am programmed to serve, Vivian Ehlealah.”
Vivian rolled her eyes, “Can you please stop calling me Ehlealah?”
“What shall I call you?”
“I don’t know. I don’t even know who this Ehlealah person is,” Vivian answered.
“You are Ehlealah.”
“I am Vivian,” she answered.
“Shall I call you Vivian, only?” the computer asked.
“Please.”
“Very well, Vivian.”
Vivian waited until the lift stopped moving, and she exited, wandering down the hall thinking about the fact that the computer was more like a person than a computer. “I think you should have a name, computer,” she said aloud.
“You may call me whatever you like; I will answer just as I always do.”
“Missy. I’ll call you Missy.”
“Very well, Vivian. I shall respond to Missy.”
“Great. Now, listen carefully. Do not give a translation to anyone I pass in the hallway today.”
“Suggestion. Your guard will want to hear your translations. Can I not provide several as I’ve been? They will not know which, if any, you can understand.”
“Fine, but don’t translate my words for them. And don’t address me directly. Okay?”
“Yes, Vivian,” Missy responded.
Vivian wandered until she reached the end of the corridor, with one very large door on her right, “Missy, where does this one take me?” she asked.
“Those doors lead to our surplus storage facility. You are currently on our storage deck, Vivian.”
“Excellent!” Vivian said. “May I explore there?”
“You have no limitations, Vivian,” the computer reminded her. “There are many things stored here that will provide you with hours of discoveries.”
“Well, then, let’s get started,” Vivian responded, her head dancing with imagined curiosities she may find.
She’d located a set of shelves stacked with bedding and after being assured by Missy, the computer, that she was welcome to whatever she’d like, was picking out her own blanket — she never wanted to be cold again. She was enjoying the freedom to pick out her own things. She’d had only about ten minutes alone before the doors to the storage facility whooshed open. Vivian heard the sound and stepped back into the shadows of some of the shelves.
She watched silently as all five of her guard rushed into the storage facility. They each took a section of the very large room and started methodically searching the room. She had no doubt they were searching for her. The large orange one that she’d decided was their leader rounded the corner of the aisle she currently stood in and immediately locked eyes with her.
“Oops,” she said to herself.
He snarled quietly, a very unhappy look on his face. He called out and at the sound of pounding footsteps, the other four also rounded the corner and joined him.
He used his thumb to point to himself and said, “Vor.”
Vivian didn’t respond.
He did it again, “Vor.”
She figured it was his name. “Go away, Vor.”
Vor didn’t know what she said other than his name. He pointed to the entrance of the storage facility, the doors they came in through, then at her. She should leave here and return to the inhabited floors of the ship.
Vivian raised her chin and watched him, while she lifted her dagger at him, then pointed at the floor of the room she now stood in. She wasn’t going anywhere.
Vor sighed, nodded his acquiescence, and stood watching her, waiting for her next move.
Vivian turned back to her browsing through the blankets and bedding, but found she couldn't concentrate with him watching her. She turned to him, waved her hands and repeated her earlier command, “Go away.”
He shook his head, then snarled some words at her. Missy, true to her word, supplied several translations, one of which was English. He’d told her, “We cannot protect you if we do not know where you are. We will not leave you, stop trying to wave us away.”
Vivian regarded him critically. Then she had an idea. If he wouldn’t go away, then she’d make him shop with her. Because that was basically what she was doing — shopping. Men hated shopping. These males were men, of a sort. She snorted, plan in place, and turned to retrieve the blanket she’d chosen from the shelves.
Vor watched her, as did the other four males, not knowing what she had in store for them.
Vivian smiled at him, one of her best smiles, then tucked her blanket under her arm and took off to find something else to investigate.
She wandered up and down the aisles, poking into boxes and crates, fingering items as she passed them. Eventually she found a separate door at the back of the facility. She tried to enter and found it wouldn't open for her. She huffed and jerked on the door. Missy said in several languages, “You may enter. You have no limits.” Then the door slid open.
Vivian went through and found herself in a cooled area that had boxes up off the floor that she couldn’t reach. She stood at the base of the shelving, her hands on her hips, looking up at the containers. These were different — they looked to be a smooth white, almost porcelain-surfaced containers. And there were red markings on them. She looked around for her guard. She’d noticed that they’d given her plenty of space, but she’d glimpsed them from time-to-time keeping an eye on her. She hadn’t seen them follow her into this particular room though.
“Vor!” she called. She heard footsteps heading her way from just outside the door, then, there he was, smiling at her, waiting for her command.
Vivian returned his smile and pointed at the shiny white box above her. He saw what she pointed to, and he shook his head and snarled a bit at her.
Missy immediately translated into her varied languages, disguising English among them.
Vor told her, “No, you don’t want any of those.”
She raised her eyebrows at him and stabbed her finger in the direction of the boxes on the top shelf. When Vor made no move to get it down for her, she shrugged her shoulders, put down her blanket, waved him away again a
nd started climbing up the shelves. She only made it two feet off the ground before Vor was removing her from the shelf and placing her safely on the ground. He snarled at her, then continued to mumble snarls under his breath while he reached above his head to retrieve the box she wanted. She had to turn away slightly, so he’d not see her smile when his words translated as, “My Sire will have my head if you fall and injure yourself. Stubborn female! I must have been insane demanding to lead your guard.” Vor placed the box on the floor, but rather than back away when she advanced on it, he held his hand up to her indicating that she should stop.
She did stop, but she watched him curiously.
Again, he held out his hand, then squatted next to the container. He very carefully removed the clamped lid, then waved her over. She looked down into the box and saw why he wanted her to leave it alone. The box was filled with preformed rows and inside each preformed row was a syringe that contained a lime-colored, clear liquid.
He said, “These are for medical. They can be used in several different combinations when needed by the different species on this ship,” he said without looking up at her. Missy dutifully provided her multiple translations. Vor looked up at her, but she pretended not to know what he said.
“It will be a great deal easier to protect you when you can understand our words, and us yours,” Vor said.
Then he mimed closing it and putting it back.
She nodded and moved out of the way.
Vor returned the box to the shelf; then, he took another down from a few feet further down the row. He carefully opened that one and inside were similar vials, but with a pearlescent, silver-colored liquid. He put it back, then went to the next row and pulled another, then another. Each held a different type of syringe. And some of them were empty syringes. After he finished taking down a sampling of each type of box, showing her, then returning each to the shelf, he said, “They are all medicines, Sirena. All except the silver one. That one is deadly, to all species. It will liquefy your internal organs, then your very flesh. We are transporting that one to our biological labs on Cruestace.”
Vivian stood smiling, her expression remaining the same as Vor spoke, pretending as she had been, that she didn’t understand any of the translations.
Finally, he stopped talking and just waited, as though not sure if Vivian wanted him to do anything else
Vivian decided that she was better off in the non-dangerous areas of the storage facility and turned, leaving the medical storage, with Vor right on her heels.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Back in the main room of the storage facility, Vivian wandered around for a while longer, making any guard she happened to make eye contact with climb to the very top of whatever shelf she was near and get things down for her to investigate, before making them put them back and wandering a bit more. By the time she was finished, all of them had positioned themselves at the front of the facility and were making a pointed effort to not meet her eyes. They were tired of ‘shopping.’ Vivian was too, but she didn’t want them following her around the rest of the ship. She had an idea. They were all at the front of the facility, so she wandered to the back, near the refrigerated medical storage room. Then she started walking down the back wall, pushing on each of the metal shelving units. One of them moved under her slight weight. She smiled and pushed harder, causing it to rock. She put her blanket down on the floor and started shoving the shelving unit as hard as she could, causing it to eventually tip over and come crashing to the ground. She screamed and ran back to the opposite corner, then kept to the wall on the far left of the room while she heard the shouts of her guard and their footsteps thundering toward the shelves she’d tipped over.
She continued on her path, running for the front of the room and darted out of the door and into the corridor without them ever knowing she’d left the room.
She felt a little bad about deceiving them, but not that bad. She didn’t want to be shadowed every moment of every day. She hurried down the corridor, not slowing until she’d rounded a curve, knowing that they’d not be able to see her until they themselves rounded that curve as well.
She came to a slightly recessed alcove. There was a ladder mounted on the wall in the alcove that led down below the deck she was on, but it was blocked with three double lengths of chain strung between two hooks, one on either side of the alcove. She reached out and ran her fingertips lightly across the chain. She looked down at her dagger tucked safely in her sash, then to the chain — she could use another weapon. She looked behind herself to be sure her guards were still nowhere to be seen. Satisfied she was still alone, Vivian reached out a hand, unhooking one side of the top length of chain. She felt the familiar weight of it in her hand and immediately reached for the other side. She took the chain in both her hands, swinging it out in front of her. “Hahahahh!” she shouted. “I feel much safer already.” She swung the chain again and winced as it bounced off the wall. She looped it around her wrist a few times and swung it again. Much better, now I’m ready to explore the entire ship, she thought.
She did not notice the yowl that followed the scrape of the chain against the floor.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
It took Vor and his fellow guards more than a few moments to tear through all the fallen items and the shelves to determine that their Sirena was not lying injured beneath them. Vor knew immediately they’d been fooled. “She has intentionally misled us.”
“Why would she do such a thing?” Kail asked, disbelievingly.
“To distract us so she could slip away from us! Again!” Vor thundered.
“Does she not understand that we mean only to protect her, to see to her welfare?”
“No, she does not. Come, let us find her,” Vor said.
“That is very easy. Computer, where is our Sirena?” Kail asked.
“No! Do not ask where she is! Our Sire will be alerted that we lost her! And fool that I am, I am not ready to be replaced,” he finished.
But it was too late, the computer was already responding, “One moment, Warrior Kail, I shall inquire,” the computer was scanning its data base for her whereabouts.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Zha Quin was on the Command Deck, when his communication officer on duty drew his attention. “Sire?”
“What is it?” Zha Quin asked.
“I am routinely monitoring all communications. I’ve just observed an unusual one. If I may be so bold, Sire; do you know where your Sirena is?”
“I do. She is resting in our quarters. Why do you ask?”
“Because Warrior Kail just asked the computer where she was. I thought it unusual for him to ask of her whereabouts since he should be very aware of exactly where she is.”
Zha Quin growled, jumped to his feet and made straight for the exit door of the Command Deck, while calling to all on the Command Deck, “Maintain your heading. Comm me if needed!”
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Vor and his team rushed into the corridor, intent on finding Vivian before their Sire found them. They all tensed when their Sirena came back toward them swinging her new chain lazily in the air as she walked. They froze as she strolled toward them, smiling.
One of them whispered, “Who gave her a chain?”
Vor, one of several who bore the scars of trying to get near her and her last chain, answered, “I do not know, but we will punish him severely.” He stepped forward and smiled pleasantly at Vivian, holding his hand out for her chain.
Vivian laughed, stopping where she was, keeping well out of reach of them, “I don’t think so, dude. My chain.”
Vor knew he needed to remove the weapon from her, but he was confused — she laughed, which indicated happiness, but scowled at him and swung her chain menacingly.
He tried again, holding his hand out, “Give me the chain, Sirena. You have no need of it here.”
Vivian ignored him and took a step closer, swinging it perilously close to his head, “You better think again. I said, mine.” she told him.
Vor just managed to sidestep it. He narrowed his eyes and regarded her suspiciously. Vivian narrowed her own and glared right back at him.
Vivian took her dagger from her sash with her left hand and pointed it at her guard — all of them. Then she indicated with the dagger that they should move aside and let her pass.
“She wants us to move,” Asl, another of her guard whispered to Vor.
Vor, hesitant to allow her to walk around with her chain, but not wanting conflict with her, said, “Allow her to pass. We are to protect her, not inhibit her. And she seems more confident with her chain.”
Asl stepped back, and the others followed his lead while Vor stepped back against the opposite side of the corridor to allow her to pass easily. As they watched her walk confidently toward the lift, Vor added, while rubbing the scar across his nose and cheek, “Just stay out of reach of her chain.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Asl responded.
Chapter 13
“Computer, locate my Ehlealah. NOW!” Zha Quin demanded the moment he entered the corridor on a mission to find her.
“Vivian Ehlealah is currently exploring the ship. It is believed that she is having a pleasant morning.”
Zha Quin’s brow wrinkled in confusion, he hadn't asked if she was having a pleasant morning. “Where exactly is she?”
“She is aboard Command Warship 1, Commander.”
He was not getting a straight answer. He decided to try another line of questioning, “Where are her guard?” he asked, tension permeating his voice. He didn’t like that she was wandering around the ship which was filled with single available males of several species, even with her guard. And since one of them asked where she was, chances were, she was alone. Which made him extremely agitated. He was somewhat possessive.
Haven 1: Ascend Page 11
