Shalia's Diary Omnibus

by Tracy St. John

  I glanced at Candy. She watched him from behind her concealing curtain of hair. Her gaze was wide and wondering. The poor girl was head-over-heels infatuated with the Kalquorian icon.

  “Too perfect,” I whispered. “I bet he leaves toenail clippings all over the floor.”

  “I can live with that,” she responded. “Isn’t he beautiful?”

  He was, but I had more than my share of delicious men to enjoy now and contemplate enjoying in the future. Men with substance. I was betting this guy had rocks in his head. “Sure. Absolutely gorgeous. You would make a stunning pair.”

  “You think so?” Candy sighed. “I wonder what his name is.”

  “Ask him.”

  She stopped peeking at Mr. Wonderful to give me a startled gaze. “In front of the others? He’s already got all those women paying him attention. He probably wouldn’t glance at me.” Her expression went glum, as if she’d actually been rejected by the Nobek.

  Sweet prophets. It really was like middle school. My intelligent, self-assured friend had lost her marbles over a guy who probably wasn’t worth twenty Candys.

  Torn between laughter and dismay, I concentrated on finishing my breakfast. Lovesick, Candy didn’t touch a bite. Considering what was on her plate, that was for the best.

  I cleared both our trays when I finished and returned to the table where she suffered in silence, watching Mr. Wonderful and his adoring fan club. As I reached Candy, the object of her affections rose from his seat. Yep, shorty shorts. Impressive crotch bulge for days.

  He smiled at the chorus of disappointed voices as the women realized he was readying to leave. He offered them a slight bow.

  He spoke to his adoring public. Darn if the gorgeous bastard didn’t have a perfectly deep and resonating voice to go along with the rest of the package. “Mataras, thank you so much for honoring me with your company during my meal. It has been a pleasure.”

  Then he looked straight at Candy. She’d forgotten to secretly worship him from the cover of her hair, staring at him as he faced her. His stunning smile widened.

  “The name is Nobek Stidmun. I’d not only look at you if you spoke to me; I’d stare at you all day if given the chance.”

  With that he bowed to Candy, picked up his tray, and left. I would have watched that finely chiseled ass walk away if I hadn’t been so interested in Candy’s reaction.

  Her mouth hung open in comical surprise. She blinked slowly as if in a trance. Then she blinked harder and woke up.

  “Well, there you go,” I said. “The mighty Nobek has spoken. You should wait around for lunch and sit with him—”

  “Fuck that.” Candy jumped up as if she’d been hit by an electrical shock. She grabbed my hand and hurried for the door Stidmun was walking out of. “Come on, Shalia! Stop dragging your feet!”

  “For heaven’s sake,” I groaned as I trotted to keep up with her. “You are acting like a nutcase.”

  She could have cared less that I found her actions ridiculous. Candy was on a mission to talk to Nobek Stidmun. Or maybe it should have been Nobek ‘Stud Man’. Ha.

  We hurried after the quick-moving trainer across the promenade.

  Stidmun veered off into a corridor. A few seconds later, we veered too. There was no sign of Candy’s quarry, just a closed door several yards down the hall. It had a sign on it in big, bold Kalquorian letters that read ‘Proper Credentials of Rank or Training Status Required’. In other words, authorized personnel only.

  “If he went through those doors, you’re out of luck,” I told Candy as we headed down the corridor and peeked in the training rooms we passed. Two had the sweatiest Nobeks I’d ever seen doing exercises while older Nobeks screamed at them. It reminded me of training with Resan. There was no sign of Stud Man.

  Candy shot me a grin that promised mischief. “No, I’m not. I can’t read Kalquorian and neither can you. We’re innocent Mataras taking a tour. No harm.”

  I was reminded that we would probably not land in trouble. Being a mom had woken some sense of responsibility in me, however. I couldn’t help but point out, “Betra went over the signs that tell us where we can and cannot go. Red signs mean ‘no’. That is a red sign.”

  We passed the last open doors before reaching the end of the line. The rooms within were empty. Candy turned to me with a rogue’s smile. “This is where I went yesterday to spy on Nobek Stidmun. I wasn’t caught then. If you’ll stop being such an old granny, we won’t be caught this time either.”

  “All this crazy over a pretty face,” I said. “With all the men we have access to on the ship ... with all the men waiting for you on Kalquor ... why this one?”

  Candy looked perplexed. “I don’t know. I noticed at him yesterday, and I’d swear my heart exploded. I thought if I saw him again, I’d notice some flaw that would make me say, ‘Oh I built him up to be much more than I thought. He’s not so amazing after all.’ I can’t say that, Shalia. It hit me as hard a few minutes ago as it did the first time.”

  She was the most ridiculous I’d ever seen anyone, but I could tell Candy wasn’t doing this for a lark. If there is love at first sight, it had happened to my friend. She was gone over Nobek Stud Man.

  I sighed. “What the hell. We’re among Kalquorians. It’s not as if they’ll put us in a prison camp.”

  Candy muffled a happy squeal behind the hand she clapped to her mouth. “Crouch down low. This is the cool vid-simulation chamber I told you about. If it’s set up how it was yesterday, there will be bushes and trees hiding us from sight when we go in.”

  “Won’t they spot that the door is open?”

  “No, the simulation shows nothing of the real room as far as I can tell. The door is invisible. Hands and knees, Shalia.”

  I crouched down next to her, casting a glance over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching us go where we shouldn’t. The coast was clear as we crept towards the door.

  It opened silently, allowing us entrance. My mouth dropped open.

  Candy was right. It was easily the best, most realistic vid-sim I’d ever encountered. The corridor’s flat gray floor ended at the doorway, giving way to a forest with straight, slim trees and pink foliage that hugged the ground. We crawled in, and I turned to note that indeed there was no sign of the doorway we’d come through. Or had the silent door closed already?

  “Pay attention to our location,” Candy whispered. “We don’t want to end up lost in here.”

  I listened to the alien calls of animals I couldn’t name as I noted my surroundings. Candy pulled a blue ribbon out of her pocket and placed it so it looped on the pink leaf-strewn ground behind us. “This will tell us where the door is. Move in the direction that the top of the loop points and you’ll walk out.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “You were planning to come in here all along, weren’t you?”

  She shrugged, but she had that up-to-no-good grin again. “I knew it was a distinct possibility.”

  I decided dear, adorable Candy might need to have her neck wrung later. Oh, that’s right; I owe her after what happened.

  I reached my hand out to the bush in front of me, its bluish branches heavily festooned with rosy pink leaves. I felt a pulse of sensation against my fingers. I pushed harder. Definite resistance.

  “Cool, huh?” Candy whispered. “You can’t pass through the objects even though they’re vid. The only way it could be better is if they felt real.”

  “Impressive,” I agreed. “You can’t walk through the objects. You have to go around or over them.”

  All at once, wild, rabid howls filled the air. Every hair on my head stood at attention. I had the sudden need to get the hell out of that faux forest.

  “What the fuck?” I asked, backing in the direction of the door’s last known location.

  “The trainees. They must have started the exercise,” Candy whispered. “Come on. Let’s see if we can peek at Stidmun.”

  I wanted to find a lavatory instead, especially when more of those ter
rifying howls floated our way. “Those were men? They sure as hell didn’t sound like it!”

  “I love an animalistic Nobek,” Candy breathed. Her expression was wilder than I’d ever noticed before. The woman needs a keeper, that’s for damned sure.

  “I’m not sure about this, Candy,” I said, but she was already crawling through the brush, deeper into the woods.

  I stayed put, torn about what I should do. Logic insisted that we wouldn’t find real peril, not when we were the wombs of Kalquor’s future, ha-ha. But my every instinct was on high alert after hearing those howls, telling me to escape before the beasts who made such noises found me. A primitive part of me knew the difference between predator and prey and which end of the equation I fell on. If my guts were correct, how could I leave Candy alone out there?

  My friend’s head popped up on the other side of a pink bush. I marveled that she’d managed to wander some distance already. When Candy’s got a purpose, she plunges headfirst into it. She gestured frantically for me to join her.

  The wild Nobeks hadn’t howled in the past couple of minutes. Maybe I was being silly. I mean, I’d gone warrior crazy all over those Tragooms not so long ago, and they were out to kill. Kalquorians were our protectors. I had nothing to fear from them.

  Wishing I felt the spirit of adventure more than the idea Candy and I were being idiots, I hurried to my friend, hunched in an effort to make myself as small and invisible as possible. I crowded close to her as if to hide. I love Candy to the end and would do anything for her, but some selfish bit of me saw her as a human shield. We had a tree to our rear and bushes in front and to one side of us. It would have been a cozy spot if my heart hadn’t been trying to fly up my throat and out of my mouth.

  “Peek over those bushes,” she whispered, her eyes glowing with excitement. “You’ll love this.”

  I slowly rose, peering in the direction she indicated. I looked out on a clearing that was an almost perfect circle of fluorescent green grass. And in the middle of that glade glowing under two suns...

  Wow. Near-naked Nobek heaven.

  Two groups of young Nobek trainees, resplendent in skintight short-shorts, stood facing each other from opposite ends of the clearing. Muscles gleamed in the glaring sun on bodies pumped for battle. Those on my left wore red shorts with black piping. Those on my right wore black shorts with red piping. They glared at each other across the glowing green expanse of grass, tensed for action, upper lips wrinkled to display fangs.

  Walking between them, glancing from one side to the other like a general inspecting his troops, was Stud Man. He was easily the handsomest of the bunch, and I glanced at Candy to see her reaction. Her eyes were wide and her mouth agog. I bit my lips together to keep from bursting out with laughter.

  Stud Man was accompanied by four others, also pleasingly near-nude as they stalked in his wake. Fellow trainers, I supposed. A quick glimpse told me they were older than the men in the teams, hardened and self-assured. I couldn’t concentrate on their faces. My stare fought against rising beyond chest height. There were just so many near-naked guys to stare at.

  Stud Man drew to a halt in about the center of the glade. He glared at the Red Shorts Team and barked something in Kalquorian. They responded with those hair-raising howls that made my skin want to crawl off my flesh. At least they weren’t hunting for tasty Earther girls to gnaw the bones of. I shivered at the sound nonetheless.

  Stud Man twisted and screamed at Black Shorts Team. More freaky howls. I cringed. I enjoyed the sights, not so much the sounds. I wished they would shut up and stick to standing around and looking amazing.

  I got my wish. After that latest round of inhuman shrieks, Stud Man held up a large black-handled knife. I gazed at the shining blade with admiration. From near the point to about halfway down, its edge it was serrated. Oh, the damage I could have done to those Tragooms with such a weapon. For a moment it held my attention better than the fellas.

  Stud Man grinned, his fangs down as he flung the knife to embed in the grass ... or the floor beneath the vid representation of grass, I reminded myself. It quivered for an instant, reflecting beams from the twin suns overhead.

  The five trainers sped out of the middle of the glade, blurred as they assumed positions at the edges of the clearing. I had an instant of panic when one raced straight for us, but he veered to the right instead.

  While I was on the verge of wetting my pants at the near discovery, both teams screamed in an ear-popping rush. Bedlam descended as they raced toward each other. Flesh smacked with unbelievable violence against flesh. The teams fought each other in brutal hand-to-hand combat.

  It took me a few moments to realize they fought to claim the knife Stud Man had thrown down. I’m not sure how I figured it out; the melee was pure chaos. However, they concentrated in the waiting blade’s vicinity, and that was where the bloodiest combat occurred. The blade was the prize.

  Minutes flew by and warriors began to fall. The trainers hauled them out of the fight. Many protested they could go on, but the trainers’ decisions were absolute. When they declared a man was finished, he was finished.

  They’d gotten down to half a dozen guys battling when Candy whispered in my ear. “Where did he go? I haven’t caught sight of Nobek Stidmun for some time.”

  I’d completely forgotten we were there to stalk Candy’s crush. I’d gotten swept up in the fighting, wondering who would win the super nice knife. I’d picked a favorite, a guy in red shorts who wasn’t so big he couldn’t move fast and wasn’t so small he’d end up stomped on by the rest. I had concentrated on him as I silently cheered him on. I searched, but Stud Man was nowhere in evidence.

  “Maybe he’s hiding behind a tree, taking a nap,” I smarted off and returned to mentally urging on my pick to victory.

  “Damn it,” Candy whined.

  Maybe two minutes later. the fight ended. My guy was the last eliminated before the Black Shorts Team victor snatched the blade out of the ground. I’d almost picked the winner.

  Black Shorts Winner, whose head appeared tiny compared to his immensely wide shoulders, held the knife up in the air. His teammates roared their approval. Then the Red Shorts added their howls, acknowledging their opponent’s supremacy.

  A trainer – Stud Man remained nowhere to be seen – stepped to the winner and spoke a few words, probably hailing him as Trainee Numero Uno.

  Then the bad thing happened. Nobek Stidmun’s ridiculously resonate voice rang out, speaking in English. “You have indeed done well. I will add to your honor by allowing you to carry these trespassing females to my office.”

  He spoke from behind Candy and me. With startled high-pitched cries, Candy and I twisted about. Nobek Stud Man loomed over us, a cruel grin lighting up his perfect features.

  There was a Walk of Shame ... sort of. It was more of a Carry of Shame. The bloody, sweaty Nobek who’d won the knife slung Candy and I over each wide shoulder. He followed Nobek Stidmun through a maze of corridors, taking us to his office.

  I’m convinced Stud Man chose a roundabout route so he could parade us in front of as many soldiers and fleet officers as possible. The only place we didn’t glimpse was the promenade, where our fellow Earthers or someone from the Pussy ‘Porter might have noticed us and rendered aid.

  Candy pounded on the laughing trainee’s back as he carried her like a sack of potatoes. She kept yelling, “Leave me alone! I’m a Matara! I’m supposed to help save you people!”

  Meanwhile I did a fairly good potato sack imitation myself, also drumming my fists against the back of the trainee. I shouted to Stud Man, “You’d better com Nobek Oses, or he’ll rearrange that pretty face of yours! You won’t look good to your mother when he’s through with you!”

  The men we passed stared in shock or laughed or cheered. We were such a spectacle.

  We were brought into an office that resembled Oses’s on board the transport. Desk, computer, com, chairs. Nothing else, nothing decorative at all. Maybe it’s a Nobek t
hing. The breed is notorious for hating administrative duties, so I suppose there’s no urge to make the place where that happens nice.

  At least the guy carting us around set us gently on our feet. He grinned at us. “Did you enjoy the contest?”

  I adjusted my clothing, grimacing at the sweat stains and blood he’d left on me. “I was certain the last Nobek had your number, but you earned that knife. Nice job.”

  He grinned, pleased as punch that I thought he’d done well. At least one of us was happy.

  I was nice because the kid ... he looked pretty darn young once I had a close-up view of him ... had only been following orders by lugging us like so much baggage. It hadn’t been his decision, though I doubted he minded carrying us the way he had.

  Secondly, I was afraid to confront Nobek Stud Man. After all, we had been in a restricted area. Even with that smoking face and body, I figured he wouldn’t give us a pass over breaking the rules. He was a Nobek, a brute under all that pretty packaging. We were in serious trouble, even if we were women.