Quin sighed.
Bart’s adrenalin started pounding. If that wasn’t Vivian, it was her clone. And she was young, and beautiful, and alive! He had to cover his response, he knew Quin would pick up on his accelerated heart rate. Quin was, after all, a member of a warrior race.
“Was that a shraler?” Bart asked, hoping that the fear most people had of them would justify his reaction.
“Yes,” Quin answered, still looking at the place the girl had just run past.
“Was that the human female that Malm is so anxious to get his hands on carrying the shraler?”
Quin snarled, “He will NOT get his hands on my Ehlealah!”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Bart stated emphatically.
Quin pulled his attention back to Bart, where he stood at his side, staring him in the eye, looking for any sign of deceit. He asked, “Why? Are you not one of the Consortium?”
“I am. But I’m a man first. One with morals and integrity. And I have no doubt that male is up to absolutely no good.”
Quin regarded him for another second before finally answering Bart’s original question, “Yes, that was my human mate. And she was carrying a damned shraler.” Then he started walking, fast, while he called out, “Computer! Where did Vivi find a shraler?! And where the hell has she gone now?”
They turned the corner almost at a jog, Quin leading the way, Bart at his side, but she was nowhere to be found.
The computer started responding, “Commander, the shraler has been living on the maintenance deck in an enclosure. Vivian found it several days ago when exploring. She calls it, Kitty.”
Quin, stopped again, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Where is she?”
“She is securing the shraler, Commander.”
“Where exactly on the ship is she securing the shraler?” he bellowed.
“She has returned to your quarters,” the computer responded.
Bart stood to the side, grin wide on his face, watching the feared commander of the Cruestaci arguing with his ship’s computer. He was only able to hear Quin’s side, but that was enough to give him a pretty good idea of the situation.
“Gods, this female will be the death of me,” Quin mumbled before heading to the nearest lift with Bart in tow.
“Is there a problem?” Bart asked. “I mean, other than the shraler?”
“You are human, yes?” Quin asked.
“Yes.”
“Are all human women of such an elevated intelligence?” Quin asked, seriously.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
Quin stepped closer, thankful to have someone not of his crew to speak with, he lowered his voice before glancing around the lift, “Computer, do not record.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Quin leaned down conspiratorily, “She uses the ship’s computer against me.”
Bart couldn’t help it, he laughed.
Quin’s expression went from one of confidence to one of offense.
Bart hurried to explain, “I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing because you have your hands full. A tiny, human female has you perplexed. Most human women are headstrong. They do what they want, when they want. They do not respond well to a patriarchal society. They are very independent.”
Quin considered his words, “Then this is standard.”
“For the most part, I would think so. But, just to be sure, what did she do?”
“She used the orders I gave the computer to her own benefit.”
“In what way?” Bart asked.
Quin huffed, sighed, then said, “I told the computer to respond to her every need, without hesitation, without question. When she discovered this, she instructed the computer to not advise me that her native language had been determined and to not advise me of where exactly she is. If I do not phrase the question exactly in the manner that forces the computer to tell me explicitly what I want to know, it is evasive. She has taught our ship’s computer to be evasive!” he explained exasperatedly.
Bart was laughing, full on laughing. He reached out and patted Quin on the shoulder. Which caught Quin off guard, no one ever touched him. But Bart kept on patting his shoulder as he laughed. Quin started smiling, then laughed himself — it started off small and grew big.
“I think that you underestimated her.”
“I think you are right,” Quin agreed. The lift doors opened and Quin stepped out, “Come, let me introduce you to my Ehlealah.” He paused outside his door, “But let me warn you. No one — not you or anyone else — will take her from me. You try — you will pray for death.”
All joviality left Bart, “I will not betray you or her. I am here to assist the females and help them through their trauma. She is one of them.”
“If your presence upsets her, you will not be given access to her,” Quin said.
“I thought you called for me specifically to help her.”
“I did, but I… Perhaps it is better if I explain the conditions she was found in first. Just try not to upset her until then.”
Bart agreed, and Quin slapped his hand on the screen mounted on the outside of the door. Immediately the doors whooshed open, and they entered.
“Ehlealah!” Quin called gently.
There was no answer, even after the translations had completed.
“Ehlealah!” he tried again, a little louder. “I try not to raise my voice too much. The louder I get, the more it seems to unnerve her,” he explained to Bart.
Bart nodded his understanding, then said, “May I try? Perhaps hearing her native language will help.”
Quin raised his eyebrow and motioned for Bart to proceed.
Bart called out, “Vivian? Are you here?”
They heard a noise from the bedroom, then slowly that door slid open, and Vivian peeked around the doorjamb at them.
“Ehlealah,” Quin said smiling. “I have brought a friend to meet you. I believe he is from your planet.”
Vivian’s eyes rounded when she saw Bart standing there. She slowly entered the room, and the closer she got, the rounder her eyes got. They filled with unshed tears, and her lip trembled.
“Leave! Go now!” Quin said.
“Wait, please. She’s only surprised to see another human. Give it a chance,” Bart urged.
Vivian stopped within about three feet of them. Her forehead was wrinkled in confusion, but her lip had stopped trembling. He wasn’t who she thought he was.
“Hello, Vivian. My name is Bart.”
Vivian started to answer, but stopped. Quin didn’t know that the computer had found her language yet. If she answered, she’d give herself away.
Vivian simply stood and watched the man Quin had brought with him. Until a scratching and a horrible yowl sounded from the bedroom.
Quin started to stomp toward the bedroom, but Vivian got in front of him, shaking her head and holding her hands out as though to stop him.
“You’ve brought a very dangerous animal into our home,” Quin told her calmly, though he was very obviously irritated. “It must be caught and ejected from the ship before it kills someone.”
Vivian took two steps back, placing herself in front of the door to the bedroom and simultaneously drew her dagger while allowing the chain looped about her arm to fall to the floor. She leisurely started a slight swing to the chain and pointed the dagger at Quin.
“Whoa!” Bart breathed from behind him.
Quin sighed, “It will kill you, Vivi. It will kill others. They are dangerous!”
Vivian waited for the translation to tell her what he said, but gave no indication that she’d heard.
Quin tried to advance on the bedroom door where the scratching had gotten louder.
Vivian slapped her chain on the floor and snarled, trying her best to sound threatening, holding her dagger higher.
“You would strike me? Your own male?”
“Quin, perhaps the shraler isn’t as dangerous as believed. She was carrying it.”
“They cannot b
e trusted. Their venom is deadly. I cannot take a chance that it won’t harm her.”
“You will put down your weapons my Ehlealah, allow me to remove the shraler. They are dangerous. I cannot have you to come to harm.”
Vivian opened her mouth to speak, but stopped.
“Go on, respond. I know that you have been speaking with the computer for days now. I am also aware that you advised the computer to answer evasively.”
Vivian’s eyes rounded again, and she looked from Quin to the newcomer and back. Her heart rate picked up, and Quin could sense her fear.
“I am not angry, my little one. I only wish to speak with you and have you speak with me. I would never harm you, not even in anger.”
Vivian nodded. Her first indication that she understood. Quin was encouraged.
“Tell me, Ehlealah, why did you deceive me?” Quin asked gently.
Vivian shrugged, “I was afraid,” she whispered.
The shraler yowled and threw itself against the door.
Quin snarled and moved to go around her to get the damned animal out of his quarters and away from Vivi, but she stopped him, “Please! Please don’t hurt him. He’s my friend,” she begged.
“Vivi, they are not friends. They are fiercely independent. They are very solitary creatures, trusting no one. To have one bond to another is very rare.”
“Just like me,” she whispered.
Chapter 18
Quin was already halfway to the bedroom door when he heard her whisper. He froze. “It’s not that I wish to cause you distress, Ehlealah, I wish to protect you.”
Vivian raised her eyes to his, “Give him a chance.”
“I cannot risk your safety,” he said, pleading for her to understand.
“He won’t hurt me. And if you send him away, you’ll break the only part of me that’s left intact.”
Quin was torn, he wanted the creature removed. Had his own personal hatred of them, having been stung by one when he was a child. He’d been trying to play with the damn thing, and it had stung him, twice! He’d been very ill for weeks afterward. But he didn’t want to hurt Vivi, and she was asking him to allow her to keep the damn thing.
He met her eyes, her soft, sweet, begging eyes. He melted, “Fine. But just one slip up — if it so much as scratches you — it’s gone.”
Vivian smiled and nodded, stashing her dagger back in her sash.
Quin approached the door, but it didn’t open. He stepped back, looking up at the sensor, waved his hands in front of it, but still it didn’t open. He scowled and turned to Vivian. “Why won’t it open?”
She didn’t meet his eyes, “Because I told it that it was to stay sealed until I opened it, so I could keep Kitty protected.”
“Rescind your order, Ehlealah,” Quin said, quietly but forcefully.
“Missy, please open the bedroom door, so Kitty can get out,” she said sweetly.
The door slid open, allowing a very irritated shraler to pounce in the room with a plaintive yowl, at the same time Quin asked exasperatedly, “Who is Missy?”
Vivian shrugged, “The computer. She should have a name, so I named her Missy.” Vivian sat down on the floor, and to Quin’s combined horror and relief, the shraler climbed into her lap and proceeded to bump her with his huge furry head, purring loudly.
Vivian sat on the floor, cuddling and snuggling the huge cat-like creature, until her ass started to get numb. She stood and moved to the chair — the shraler followed, hopping up into her lap.
Quin watched, astounded. “How long have you been caring for the shraler?”
“A few days,” she answered.
He just shook his head and watched her stroking the shraler, “Will you please stop commanding the computer to deceive me?”
Vivian didn’t look up, but she nodded, as she slowly dragged her fingers through the shraler’s fur.
Bart had taken a seat at the opposite end of the couch. He was elated. He’d found Vivian, and she was alive. But it was clear that when she’d started to get upset, Quin was going to order him away from her. So he absolutely could not tell her of his connection to her at this point. He needed more time. He needed to learn about her. To determine if she even wanted to go home. It was apparent that Quin adored her and went to great lengths to even avoid raising his voice. She was obviously not being abused. But she was jumpy; she’d been traumatized. That much was clear in every move she made. It was clear in the way she watched everything while appearing not to watch. In the way she carried a dagger and a chain — and what the hell was that about — in her own quarters. He decided he’d watch for a while before he determined the best path forward.
Quin squatted down in front of Vivian, but adjusted his position several steps away when she pulled back from him, and the damned shraler growled. “Ehlealah, I will never hurt you. Do you understand?”
Vivian shrugged, just ever so slightly.
“I know that you do not trust me completely. I understand. The progress you’ve made is nothing short of miraculous. Give me time, you will see.”
Vivian didn’t answer, she kept her eyes on the floor.
“Please, Vivi, give me a chance, you will see. You are safe under my watch. No one will hurt you. I will prove my worth.”
Quin remained squatting in front of her chair. He apparently wasn’t going to go away until she agreed to his plea for a chance. She wondered if he’d be pleading for a chance if he knew she wasn’t this Ehlealah, whoever the hell she was. Vivian raised her eyes to his. He had nice eyes, once you got past the red irises.
“I will earn your trust, my little one,” he said softly.
Vivian nodded, barely perceptively, she nodded.
Quin smiled, “Thank you, Ehlealah. You have made me very happy. There is no reason to hide anything from me. I will never break your trust.”
“Commander, Chairman Malm is demanding to speak with you,” the computer prompted.
“What now?!” Quin asked, not really expecting an answer. But Missy decided to answer anyway, “He is concerned with Ambassador Bar-”
Bart shouted to interrupt the computer, “Bart, please call me Bart, no need for formality such as titles among friends.”
“As you wish,” Quin answered suspiciously, since Bart was yelling at the ship’s computer to keep it from stating his full name.
The computer echoed Quin’s approval, “Very well, Bart’s, arrival.”
Quin stood and turned toward Bart, ready to question his desire to keep his position unknown.
When he turned, Vivian rose from the chair and started toward the kitchen, her kitty right on her heels.
“Vivi?” Quin asked.
“He’s hungry,” she said, without turning around.
“Very well,” he said, realizing that he had no choice but to respond to Malm’s demand to speak with him, and he didn’t want the male to even see his Vivi. So her staying here to care for her ‘Kitty’ was actually in his favor. “I must report to the Command Deck. Will you please stay here with your Kitty until we can be sure that he will not attack any of my crew?”
Vivian peeked at him around the corner to the kitchen, “May I keep him?”
“If you keep him here for several days and can prove that he will not bite anyone, both you and myself included, we will see if it will work.”
Vivian nodded.
She handed Kitty several pieces of meat she’d taken out of the refrigerator and went back into the living room. By the time she’d taken her seat, Kitty had finished his meal and was bounding after her, landing in her lap and settling in to regard Bart suspiciously.
May not be a bad thing for her to have a shraler for a pet, Quin thought.
“Allow me a moment to change, and we will be on our way,” Quin said to Bart, having no qualms of leaving the room as long as Kitty was on her lap. The damn thing wouldn’t let him get close, much less anyone else.
“Take your time, Quin,” Bart answered.
No sooner than Quin left t
he room, Bart asked, “Do you remember how you came to be here, Vivian?”
Vivian raised her eyes to his and said, “No.”
“Have you been mistreated while you’ve been here with Quin?” Bart pressed.
Vivian looked around the room before looking back to Bart, “No. He’s been kind. Everyone here has been kind.”
He had many questions. He wanted to blurt out the whole story of who he was, who his family was. Tell her that they never forgot about her. He was very tempted, but she was very fragile. Her psyche could not take much more. It was apparent to him that she’d been through much, and he had already decided not to push her further for now. Hell, he thought, she may not even know that her uncles were dead. So, instead he asked, “Is there anything I can get for you?” Bart asked.
Her head jerked up from where she’d been watching her fingers as they slid through Kitty’s fur, “Really?”
Bart sat forward, “Of course. Tell me what you want — I’ll get it for you.”
“I want to go home. I want to see my uncles. I want to have my life back. Can you get me home?” she asked, tears beginning to fill her eyes again.
That confirmed it — she had no idea that her family was gone — at least the family that she’d known. “How long have you been here, Vivian?” he asked, instead of answering her.
“I don’t know. Not long, a few months, maybe a year or so.”
Damn, she had no idea of how long she’d actually been gone. He was unsure now of what to do next. “It’s not that easy. I can’t just take you home. But I tell you what. I’ve been invited to come here to talk to all the women who were on that ship with you. I’ll be here for some time to come. Let’s talk, get to know each other. In the meantime, I’ll see what I can do. I don’t want to promise you that I can get you home until I know for sure that I can.” He shrugged his own shoulders, smiling, “Who knows? You may want to stay here with your shraler.”
Vivian didn’t like his answer, but she understood. And at least he was human, and he seemed honest. She listened to the sounds of Quin in the bedroom getting dressed. Suddenly she leaned forward, whispering, “I’m not Ehlealah!”
Haven 1: Ascend Page 16
