Gamma Rift

by Kalli Lanford

  “For a what?”

  “America, there is something I haven’t told you.” He paused and swallowed. “I’m a prince,” he said softly and diverted his eyes away from me.

  Shock zoomed through me. “You’re a prince? The prince of this planet,” I said, pissed because he’d kept that from me.

  “Yes, I didn’t tell you before because I thought you’d expect more from me. I am a prince, but I am a prince with little authority until I am king. That’s why you are here and not back on Earth. I don’t have the permission or the means to—”

  “Then don’t ask his permission. Just do it. Sneak me out of here. Please, don’t leave me alone again. I don’t think I can handle another day of this, knowing I’ll be killed in ten days if you can’t free me and not knowing what’s happening on Earth. I miss my family and friends, and I know they miss me. Please, send me home,” I pleaded, as a set of tears freed themselves from the inner corners of my eyes with a blink.

  “I wish it were that simple. I told you I will do everything under my power and abilities to help you, but this building is highly secured and under surveillance at all times. It would be impossible for me to take you out of here undetected, so I need to come up with a plan.”

  “But as a prince, you’ve got to have some kind of pull and—”

  “And it doesn’t matter. At least not to my father. His authority is golden. In his mind, I’m just a naive and overindulged prince. Until I’m ambassador, he won’t recognize my intellect, abilities, or accomplishments, and even then, my authority will be limited.”

  “You’re going to be the Ambassador of Enestia?”

  “Yes, in two years, upon my twenty-third year of life. It’s my destiny. What I’ve been groomed for—taking one course after another at the royal conservatory, studying our planet’s history and the legacy of my family name.” He sighed and his shoulders slumped. “But I just don’t know if I really…” He stopped and sighed again.

  “If you really want to be the ambassador,” I said. “Because you want to be a pilot.”

  “Yes, but I could be both.” He squared his shoulders. “And I would be both if I could eliminate some of the duties ambassadorship entailed. I’d be king, too, if I could govern differently. Right now, I don’t want to be king—not if I have to rule the way my father would want me to. He prefers the threat of war over the peaceful words of negotiation.” He crossed his ankles and straightened his back. “There are many things, kingly traditions, that come with being a prince and ambassador that I’d prefer not to follow.”

  “Like what?”

  “My eventual marriage. It will be arranged at my father’s choosing when he thinks I am ready to take a bride.”

  “An arranged marriage? That’s awful! Are all Enestian marriages arranged?” The thought of Garran being with someone else made me a bit jealous.

  “No, like humans, we prefer to begin a family based on emotions, not convenience, with a formal courtship, love, and then commitment and marriage. Family units are encouraged, a husband, wife, and their eventual children if they wish, but for a royal, the rules are different. The goal of my marriage will be to gain a political advantage over another planet in our galaxy.”

  “What about having a girlfriend before you’re slated to get married?”

  “No, for me it is forbidden,” he said softly, though his tone was tinged with what I could only interpret as being resentment. “I’ve known my fate and my duty to Enestia since I was a child, so at first I accepted it,” he said, his shoulders lifting and settling as he inhaled deeply enough for me to hear it. “But now I want to make my own decisions.”

  “I wouldn’t want an arranged marriage, either. I’m going to marry for love—only love. That is, if I get back to Earth. Sometimes I still can’t believe this—any of this—until I relive that night in my mind. The ship, dark and expansive, triangular with tiny lights, how it was above me, and I fell and became numb.”

  “That ship was a dual propulsion galaxy cruiser with long-range travel capabilities, the flagship of Enestia’s fleet.”

  “And you can fly a ship like that?”

  “Yes. As a prince, there is one thing I don’t regret—the education I was required to receive. All royals are trained in intergalactic flight.”

  “Then you can take me home.”

  “If I can gain access to a ship. Activating a flyer’s controls takes a proper shell scan, and I have not been given clearance. My first priority is to get you out of this cell. Then I’ll try to find a way to get you back to Earth.”

  “Thank you,” I said, smiling as hope kindled in the center of my chest.

  “And if I hadn’t been forced to take an intergalactic language, I wouldn’t be able to communicate with you.”

  I couldn’t see him smile, but I heard it in his words. His voice cradled my soul, and I longed to keep its sweet cadence in my ears, to let it rock me gently and give me some comfort even after he was long gone from my cell, and I was left alone, once again, to huddle in the corner and pray I’d last another day.

  “When you talk, I forget that you’re not human.”

  “And I forget you’re not Enestian. I used to think the English language was harsh and lacked depth, but when I hear you speak and imagine your soft lips forming each word, your language is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard in my life.”

  A euphoric sensation rose from deep below, flooding into my warmed chest. “Come closer,” I whispered. “As close as you can.”

  Garran pushed up from his palms, leaning forward as I did the same, and our faces came within inches of each other. The wall’s warmth pulsed against my lips in small puffs, and I yearned to kiss this unique alien creature.

  “You’re beautiful,” said Garran.

  “And how would you know?” I laughed as my body tingled.

  “I’ve seen you.”

  “You’ve seen me?”

  “Your intake image when I looked at your file, but even if I hadn’t, I’d still think you were an amazing being.”

  “I don’t remember a picture being taken.”

  “You were unconscious,” he said in a tone that sounded like an apology. “Your eyes were closed,” he continued softly. “Your eyes, what color are they?”

  “Brown, but sometimes, depending on the light, they look green,” I said. “What about yours?”

  “They’re a bit hard to describe. You’ll just have to wait and see them for yourself,” he teased.

  My chest expanded without taking a breath, and I imagined his body with a layer of shell, smooth but masculine, defined yet indistinct, the thought stimulating instead of repulsing me. I pictured someone like Batman with his strong, amazing body covered in a muscular superhero outfit. “What about your lips— Are they covered with shell?”

  “Yes, but it’s different from the shell that covers the majority of our bodies. Shell lips are porous instead of solid, forgiving instead of stiff.”

  He turned his head slightly to the side. His jaw lowered as his lips parted, and even with the wall rippling between us, I could just make out the tip of his tongue as he licked his lips. I thought he was beautiful, too, this statuesque blur of a creature whose nose was straight but faint, and whose sharp chin cut to the clean lines of a throat and neck.

  “I want to touch you,” he said.

  “And I want to touch you.” But even more, I wanted his touch upon me, his shell against my skin.

  “I will do everything I can to see you, even if it breaks protocol. I’m touring the lab tomorrow. I will try to see what I can do.”

  My heart beat hard, and I closed my eyes, imagining the prince, a human form with shell-like skin. I heard a high-pitched voice, and when I opened my eyes, a second form appeared behind Garran, but it wasn’t Slaine. I recognized its shape from the day before. It was the female, and she was there to tell Garran it was time to leave.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Garran

  I found Lestra
in the servant wing of the palace, dumping a load of dirty tunics into the steamer.

  “Thanks for keeping Slaine occupied for me again while I talked to America,” I told her.

  “You’re welcome,” she said without looking at me.

  “And you still haven’t told me.”

  “Told you what?”

  “What you wanted when you called me at the lab yesterday. We never got a chance to talk about it.”

  “I honestly don’t remember,” she said as she continued to keep her eyes from mine.

  “Here, let me do that,” I said, reaching for the clothes bin.

  “No, I can do it,” she snapped, pulling the bin away to shake out the last of the tunics. “This is the work of a Timuary, not a royal. A prince doesn’t even belong in this room. You should leave at once.”

  She was right, but normally she wouldn’t care. Why did she have to be so damned difficult? “Come with me to my quarters, so we can talk.”

  “Is that an order?” She fidgeted with her tunic, pulling at the hem.

  “Yes, now come on. I know what’s bothering you. Just forget about it. You know I could give a shit less about what my sister has to say.”

  “How can I forget it?”

  “Easy, just get over it, okay? I don’t believe her anyway.”

  “Why not?” She sighed. “It’s true.” She left the room, walked into the hall, and I followed.

  What? I gave her an out, and she didn’t take it? I didn’t expect that response. Well, maybe I did. I don’t know. Most of the girls I was around were either cousins or servants, and because of my fate, in terms of marriage, my interaction with eligible Enestian females had been limited because it was simply unnecessary.

  “I don’t know what to say, Lestra.” My shoulder plates tightened.

  “You don’t have to say anything. I know I shouldn’t have these feeling for you, but I can’t help it. I really care about you.”

  “I’m sorry, Lestra. Did I…”

  She finally lifted her head and bit her bottom lip of shell.

  “Did I do anything to make you think…?”

  “You mean did you lead me on?”

  “Yeah, I guess that’s what I mean.”

  Like me, Lestra’s life was pretty sheltered when it came to romance. Serving our family since birth, she led a very isolated existence. The only boys she had any real contact with were either part of my royal family or the sons of high-ranking military officers—both groups were off-limits to all servants, even servants with the last name Timuary.

  “Well, yeah, kind of.” She stared back down at the hall’s black stone floor worn glassy smooth over time by the padding of many royal boots.

  “Like?”

  “We spend a lot of time together, Garran. You request my services more than you do any other palace maid. You ask for me personally.”

  “That’s because you’re smart and dependable. And those are traits I admire, traits I hope my wife someday will have. But you know the rules. Even if my feelings for you extended well beyond our professional relationship, we could never be together. It’s not allowed. No exceptions. A royal could never—”

  “But you’re not like that, Garran. I know you too well, better than your own sister. You’d break tradition and defy your father for someone you loved.”

  She was right. She did know me as well as she claimed. If I found myself falling in love with a palace maid, I would break the royal rules and disappoint my father by asking for her hand in marriage. But I didn’t love Lestra.

  “You must not know me that well because I’d never do anything to disrespect my father in terms of my marriage obligations,” I lied.

  “Yeah, go ahead and say that. Play the role of the prince, but you don’t have me fooled. You’re defying him right now, lying about your interest in intergalactic biology in order to see that thing in cell fifteen. You’d break your oath to marry at his choosing in a heartbeat.”

  “Shhh,” I whispered, scanning the hall for untrustworthy ears like Murelle’s. “It’s different when it comes to the human. A life is at stake.”

  “A human life. So what?” She marched down the hall, her arms folded and her steps harder than usual.

  “It has feelings. It’s…” I said as I walked behind her.

  “And I don’t?” She stopped when we reached the dining hall, and I almost ran into her back.

  “Of course you do, and I care about your feelings, and I care about you—just not the way that…you know.” For all the years I’d known Lestra, I wasn’t quite sure why this conversation felt so awkward.

  “Yeah, I know—now.” She turned and gave me a hard stare.

  “Lestra, to me you’re not just a palace maid. You’re a friend.” I took a deep breath and exhaled so forcefully air whistled through my shell. “A good friend. I trust you. Not just because you’re a Timuary, but because you are who you are.”

  “So what does that mean?” Lestra stroked the top of her hand as if it were donned with precious jewels.

  “It means that I want you in my life, not just now, but for a long time. I’m considering you for the position as my royal adjutant.”

  Did I just say that? Not that it wasn’t true—it was. But the fate of an adjutant’s marriage lies in the hands of the adjutant’s royal, meaning me. Just as my father had my married future in his grip, it would be my duty to choose Lestra’s husband for her at the turn of her twenty-first year.

  “What’s up with you two?” interrupted Murelle as she sashayed into the dining hall. Bellow Timuary followed, carrying a tray of ripe fruit. Following the rules for servants, Lestra and Bellow didn’t make eye contact, although I’m pretty sure they were first cousins.

  “None of your business, sis.”

  “So, did you two kiss and make up?” she teased as she selected a cape apple from the tray and took a bite.

  “Come on, Lestra. Let’s go. It suddenly got too cold in here for me.”

  As I crossed the threshold into the next room, there was a crash behind me. Turning, I saw the tray of fruit scattered on the floor and Lestra standing with her hand against her mouth. A handful of grapes rolled to meet my boots.

  “You did that on purpose!” Murelle screamed.

  “I am so sorry, my royal. How clumsy of me.” Lestra’s sorry tone was almost believable.

  Bellow chased after a grape and retrieved it, then came down on one knee to collect and toss the soiled fruit back onto the tray. “Sorry, Bell. I couldn’t stop myself,” I heard Lestra whisper when she knelt beside her relative to help.

  “I’m going to report this.” Murelle scowled.

  “It was an accident. Get over it,” I said, coming to Lestra’s defense. “Besides, any report you file against Lestra would be negated with a report I’d submit about her exemplary performance over the last few months, so don’t waste your time. Come on, Lestra. Let’s go,” I continued, taking her by the hand.

  “Now you’re both on my shit list,” I heard Murelle mutter as Lestra and I left the room. My sister sure had a lot of class for a princess.

  “I’m sorry about that, Garran. She just made me so mad. I’m a Timuary. I’m not supposed to feel anything but love and respect for the royal family we serve, but right now all I want to do is break your sister’s shell.”

  “I don’t blame you.” I laughed. “You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about doing the same thing to her.”

  Lestra tightened her grip on my hand. “Um, Garran,” she asked, “would you really do what you said, you know, save me from a reassignment by filing a report on my behalf?”

  “Of course.” When we reached the foyer and stopped walking, I gently pulled my hand away from hers. Her hand was a hand used to hard work, a hand smooth at the palm but rough at the fingertips.

  She took a deep breath and sighed. Her eyes told me there was something stirring inside of her, something that erupted from my touch and kind words, something that made her hand shiver in mi
ne, despite the fact that her hand was so hot. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she had a fever.

  She was waiting, waiting to sense the same emotions from me, emotions she would never find. Lestra, as pretty and graceful as she was, couldn’t send my heart beating a zillion times a minute like hers was beating for me right now. She desecrated her shell for me, not out of duty or because she thought it might bring her closer to a royal post, but because her feelings for me went well beyond what they were supposed to be.

  “Like I said before, I respect and admire you, Lestra. You’re loyal and trustworthy, and I enjoy our time together. You’re a good friend.” Her smile faded with my last word, and I felt like a total jerk. The truth needed to be told, but at the same time, the last thing I wanted to do was break her heart. It was time to change the subject. “So, when you called me last night, what were you going to tell me?”

  “I don’t know. I told you. I forgot.” She didn’t forget. She was getting moody all over again.

  “Well, anyway, I need to thank you for calling me when you did,” I said, heading toward my quarters. “It gave me an excuse to leave the lab. I was about to witness something unbearable.”

  “What? You went to the lab?” she asked, jogging up behind me. I knew that would break her bad mood.

  Once we were settled in my quarters, I told her about the Trispian, my graphic tale leaving me almost as sick and angry as I was while witnessing the horrific act of what I’d call murder.

  “I can’t believe it!” Lestra jumped from her sitting cube. “I can’t believe your father would do such a thing in the first place, besides making you watch the live dissection of an innocent alien.”

  “Why wouldn’t he? That’s what I’m going to be expected to do.” My shell plates clacked as I shuddered.

  “I’m going to talk to your father about this right now,” she declared while pacing my room. “I’m going to tell him there’s absolutely no reason to subject you to the mistreatment of galactic life-forms. Someone else can do it. It doesn’t need to be you.”

  All I could do was laugh. “So you’re really going to find my father and say these things to him?” The king didn’t even know her name. He’d immediately dismiss her to a lesser planet for her impudence. “Besides, I asked for access to the lab, remember? Now do you understand why I need to see that human before my father gets his hands on it?”