by L P Peace
‘We have to go, Sophia,’ Tara said.
‘Join us for breakfast?’ Sophia offered. She knew Danielle and Tara didn’t get on, but Danielle was one of those people Sophia felt protective over. Defensive of. She didn’t know what Danielle had gone through before they met, but she recognised the signs of abuse when she saw them. She’d seen them enough in Rosie, after all.
‘Yeah, nah, thanks. I’m having brekkie at a small place down the… street?’ Danielle shrugged. ‘It’s weird a space station has streets.’
‘It really is,’ Tara agreed behind her. ‘Danielle, look, I know we’ve had our differences. But I’d like it if you joined us.’
Danielle’s jaw tensed. ‘You were right to have differences with me,’ she said. ‘I was a bitch. I got us into this—'
‘No, you didn’t,’ Sophia interrupted her.
‘No, I did. I pushed for the Halidan integration. If I hadn’t done that. If I’d passed your report up like I was supposed to—’
‘They’d have found another way,’ Tara said, stepping forward. ‘They were always going to find a way. They’d have blown our engines out or attacked us sooner. Then Daris wouldn’t have been on Tolomus’s ship to get Zoe off, and she wouldn’t have rescued you guys and you’d all have been sold.’ Tara shook her head. ‘They were always going to find a way, Danielle.’
‘I quit,’ Danielle said quickly. ‘I took the honourable discharge they offered. Truth is I’m relieved. I was never cut out for the military. I just wanted to be out here.’ Danielle had a forced smile as she spoke, but it faded. ‘But out here is a nightmare.’
‘Come have breakfast with us,’ Sophia insisted. ‘We’re having it with Zoe and Rhona Desares, and Rhona is so nice.’
‘You spent time on their ship for your training, didn’t you?’ Danielle asked.
‘Yes, and still want to hear all about it.’ Tara waved her hand, reminding them she was there.
‘I’ll tell you. I’m sure Rhona will be happy to share some details. We had fun while I was on their ship.’
She turned to Danielle. ‘C’mon. Have breakfast with us.’
‘Rhona always stocks too much,’ Tara said. ‘Because Makios and the crew of Tala join her for a second breakfast after.’
‘Have breakfast with us.’ Sophia smiled at her.
Danielle rolled her eyes. ‘Fine.’ Danielle tried to hide the pleased smile on her face as she followed them down the hall, towards Rhona’s suite.
‘I thought you were staying on Endurance?’ Tara asked Danielle.
‘They’re doing some maintenance work for the next couple of days,’ Danielle said. ‘I had to get off.’
‘Damn. I need some things from my room.’ Sophia thought about her personal pad with her family photos on.
‘We can go after breakfast,’ Tara said, reaching Rhona’s door. She hit the chime, and Rhona let them in a few moments later.
‘You don’t mind Danielle joining us, do you?’ Tara asked.
‘Not at all. You didn’t mind us on the bridge when we came here. Thanks again, by the way. I felt the need for some human solidarity.’
‘I really appreciated it.’ Danielle smiled.
Zoe was staring from the table, her mouth slightly open. Sophia gave a small shake of her head and Zoe shut her mouth.
‘Hi, Lieutenant Commander Abrami,’ she said.
‘Danielle, please. We all know I’m only in charge because there’s no one else to do it.’
‘Only one. What happened to Commander Davenport and Captain Durrani?’ Sophia asked.
‘Commander Davenport got sold as a batch with the other men to a mining company in Iladar space,’ Zoe said quickly. ‘The Tessans are negotiating for their release, but Iladar isn’t a part of the IGC or the Tessan Protectorate. It’s not looking good.’
Sophia sat, absorbing the news. ‘Madre da Dios,’ she whispered, thinking about the commander. He was one of the best officers she’d ever served under. Then she thought about her male fighter pilot friends. The bridge staff. Everyone.
‘All of them, including Whittaker?’
‘No.’ Zoe shook her head. ‘Whittaker was deemed too old. He’s in an Amaran medical facility here still recovering from the abuse he got for not being marketable.’
‘Oh, god!’
‘He’s still planning on representing us in the central sphere tomorrow,’ Danielle said. ‘He’s pretty determined, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. He’s really angry and bitter. They had him in iso the entire time we were on the ship.’
‘Iso?’ Rhona asked.
‘Oh, Yeah isolation.’ Danielle smiled. ‘Sorry, Australian!’ She stuck her hand up and tension at the table broke when everyone broke into laughter.
‘I love the way Australian’s talk,’ Sophia said, grabbing a piece of fruit. ‘I’m sure one day you’re going to give up on English altogether and just talk in diminutives!’
Danielle grinned. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me.’ Her smiled faded. ‘But back to the subject, James has changed.’
‘He’s a different man now,’ Zoe agreed.
‘What about the captain?’ Sophia asked.
‘When we abandoned the bridge, she disappeared,’ Danielle said. ‘I thought she abandoned us, but…’ She looked at Tara.
‘I think she went to launch the buoy,’ Tara said, nodding at Sophia. ‘But she obviously never made it. We have no idea what happened to her. It’s almost like she made it to the bridge and just,’ Tara shook her head, ‘was gone.’
‘And she’s not the only one,’ Zoe said. ‘Five more women disappeared. They were never on The Crucible. They were never sold. They just disappeared from Endurance, like they were never there.’
‘Who?’
‘Durrani,’ Zoe began a count off, sticking up her index finger. ‘January Alexander—’
‘She worked with Addison in the galley,’ Sophia said.
‘Along with Abigail Walker.’ Zoe nodded. She stuck up two more fingers. ‘Then Katey Sachs from Procurement and Sheena McCall and Meredith Cole.’
‘Specialists from the flight deck.’ Sophia went cold. Meredith was the one who prepped Sophia’s Raptor before she left for the battle.
‘Besides being women, they have nothing in common. No intelligence value outside of possibly Katey. No common thread.’ Tara shook her head. ‘No idea why they disappeared.’
‘There is one other thing they have in common,’ Sophia said. ‘They’re all white. Isn’t that a Cealin thing? They don’t like people of colour because they don’t know how to eliminate our colour. There was some treatment Kallis used for the Protectorate, but he’d lost the research by the time he came to replicating his experiments.’
‘That might be something,’ Zoe said, a sceptical look on her face. ‘I’ll pass it up the chain.’
The door chimed, and Rhona waddled over to answer it. A pale orange-skinned alien stood there. ‘Sorry I’m late.’ He strode into the room. ‘I’ve been trying to find out who the Temerin contingent are sending. They’re supposed to be arriving today.’
‘Wouldn’t they send their leader?’ Danielle asked.
‘They don’t have a leader. It’s not really how Temerin do things.’ The male grinned. He looked around the table at all of the grim faces. ‘What did I miss?’
Sidha was a peach!
As soon as he heard what they were talking about, he changed the subject and was now regaling them with tales of his adventures.
Sophia had heard the story about Hidinus station before and how Sidha had been so instrumental in getting everyone out alive, but to hear him tell the tale, he was the hero and everyone else the bystanders.
Rhona grinned and shook her head as she listened. They’d raided the stores on Endurance and were enjoying croissants and jam with coffee.
‘You don’t drink this “coffee” either?’ Sidha said, watching Sophia pour juice.
‘Err, no,’ Tara said. ‘Sophia is banned from drinking coffee.’
>
‘One couldn’t hurt,’ Sophia teased, reaching for the pot.
‘No!’ Zoe said, pulling it out of her grasp.
‘What’s going on?’ Rhona asked.
‘Sophia has a lot of energy,’ Tara said. ‘Coffee makes her even crazier than she is naturally.’
‘I saw her on coffee once,’ Danielle said. She smiled shyly at everyone. ‘It was at her Persephone tournament.’
‘Oh. I remember that,’ Tara nodded. ‘She was practically twitching on the matt while she waited for the ref to start it.’
‘I won that tournament,’ Sophia complained.
‘And in record time,’ Danielle pointed out.
‘And no one has ever beaten that record,’ Sophia shot back, a grin on her face.
‘That’s because they would have to be on serious drugs to do it.’ Zoe shook her head. ‘You’re formidable on your own. Coffee just makes you faster!’
The door chimed at the same time as Zoe stopped speaking.
Rhona moved to get up, struggling with her almost due pregnancy belly.
‘I’ve got it!’ Sophia jumped up and ran to the door.
‘I hate you so much right now,’ Rhona grumbled. ‘With your speed and waistline!’
Sophia flashed a grin at her before opening the door, half-expecting it to be Ronin.
Instead, four alien males stood there.
They were tall. Not as tall as Ronin, but all well over six feet. Two of them had dark grey skin with red striped markings that cut horizontally across their face, naked torsos and arms. One had lighter grey skin with an orange-spotted pattern, and the last dark grey skin with a thick striped purple pattern that seemed to highlight his bone structure and muscles.
They each had long hair that only grew down the centre of their heads which they’d plaited in intricate braids. The two males with the red patterns looked almost identical, making them obviously related. However, one of them was at least half a foot taller than the other, and the only one to hit around the seven-foot mark. He stepped forward, his eyes searching the room.
‘Kentor!’
Sophia turned to find Sidha staring at the door, shock on his face.
‘Sidha!’ the taller male said, grinning.
‘Kentor! The Kentor!’ Rhona said, her mouth wide open.
‘Kentor!’ Sidha stood, his mouth agape. ‘Kentor!’ he said again before running across the room and into the alien male’s arms.
He was wrapped around him a moment later, arms and legs and lips locked as they kissed passionately.
‘I have a room,’ Kentor said.
‘Go!’ Sidha agreed before the large male turned, and they were gone.
Sophia looked into the room at the table of women, all staring at the door in shock.
‘I thought this was our room,’ the male with the purple patterned skin said. He looked genuinely shocked and confused.
The tension was suddenly cut, and everyone but the remaining three alien males broke out into peals of laughter.
‘I’m so happy Kentor came,’ Rhona said, laughing and crying at the same time. ‘Sidha’s missed him something crazy.’
‘Kentor has missed Sidha just as much,’ the purple patterned one said, entering the room. ‘May we stay here for a short time? Kentor is the only one who knew where our room was, and after living with both Kentor and Sidha on my ship for several cycles, I don’t want to go there.’
‘I don’t want to hear that,’ the other alien with red markings said, a sneer of distaste on his lips.
‘Come on in.’ Rhona waved them in.
Sophia waved them in with a small flourish and a bow.
‘Have some food. We’re having breakfast.’ Tara pointed at the untouched food.
‘You guys are Temerin, right?’ Rhona said.
Everyone had gravitated to the centre of the table, leaving either side clear. The seats were all on one side of the table, but as the new arrivals joined them, the three males picked up their chairs. Eyes set on Danielle, they each sat down across from her.
Danielle squirmed a little under their attention.
‘Yes. I’m Aerdan,’ the one with the purple pattern said. ‘Kentor’s brother here,’ he slapped a hand on red, ‘is Haddis, and this,’ he gestured to the orange one, ‘is Bedvir.’
Rhona quickly introduced them as Sophia grabbed her food and drink and sat down next to Danielle to offer her support.
Danielle turned to her, a grateful look in her eye.
‘So you’re the ones your people sent to represent you in the meeting tomorrow?’ Rhona said.
Aerdan nodded. ‘I won. It was all fair.’
‘Hmm! If you call getting your competitors too drunk to compete fair,’ Bedvir grumbled. His voice was like chocolate-covered gravel. Rough, yet smooth, and imposingly deep.
Aerdan snorted. ‘They all had the option not to drink! And you say this like I was the only one. The only reason everyone got drunk so quickly is because so many of us were spiking the alcohol.’
‘What system of government do you have?’ Danielle looked up at them, confusion on her face.
Aerdan turned his attention on her and Danielle seemed to freeze under the weight of it. ‘We don’t really have a system of government.’
‘We have competitions designed to help our people choose the best person for the job,’ Haddis said.
‘And I’m the best person for the job.’ Aerdan flashed Danielle a smile.
Danielle stood suddenly. ‘I have to go. Thanks, Rhona.’ Danielle crossed the room and was through the door a moment later.
‘That is the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen,’ Aerdan said, almost as soon as the doors were closed.
‘Your cock’s too white for her,’ Haddis scoffed. ‘She needs a male with a bit of colour to his prick.’
‘The pair of you are uncut korosh.’ Bedvir sniffed at the coffee jug and placed it back on the table without pouring any.
‘You guys went about that all wrong.’ Sophia shook her head.
‘What do you mean?’ Aerdan turned to her, an eagerly curious look on his face.
‘Danielle just spent the last few weeks in a cage believing she was about to be sold as a sex slave,’ Zoe said. ‘She’s freaked out and not really alien friendly right now.’
Aerdan sat back, his face becoming grim. ‘Then she needs comfort,’ he said.
‘No! She needs space—’
Aerdan stood. Haddis pushed him down and sprang up, running towards the door.
‘Vojan!’ Aerdan called, and then he was up, on Haddis’s heels.
Haddis reached the door first, but when Aerdan grabbed his arm and swung him away, it gave Aerdan enough advantage to hit the panel and get through first. The door closed after him.
Haddis, meanwhile, crashed into one of the sofas and was up a moment later and through the door a moment after that.
The room went quiet as they watched, stunned.
‘Apologies,’ Bedvir said, standing. Then he was gone.
‘Tonni was nothing like them.’ Rhona sighed. ‘Temerin girl we had on board once. She wasn’t nearly as excitable as those three.’
‘That is the weirdest thing I’ve seen out here,’ Tara said. ‘And I met a snake man!’
‘I met a snake man too!’ Zoe said.
‘They’re called Hieladan.’ Sophia rolled her eyes and got back to her breakfast.
Sophia messaged Ronin and told him they were going to Endurance. A few minutes later, he appeared at the door to Rhona’s suite, and, along with Danithor and Tara and Zoe and Daris, they caught one of the weird golf carts to the Endurance dock.
They walked on board, and immediately everything felt wrong. Sophia couldn’t tell what it was, but there was something off about the ship. She put it down to the fact that she’d been away so long and that it was abandoned. But there was something else and she couldn’t put her finger on it.
The Amaran and Tessan techs walked around the halls moving from one assignmen
t to the other. The Amarans were the most numerous of the techs on board; however, there were also aliens from every world that held Tessan membership as well. Sophia recognised a Zenin, a Hinari, and a Sehn with his long antelope horns walking through the halls.
They split up—each going to their own rooms. Zoe was technically a part of the Protectorate now and would be returning to Tessa on Thanesh’s ship, and Tara was in talks about what role she and Danithor could play in helping to get back the crew.
Sophia led the way into her room and with Ronin’s help started packing it up.
‘I’m thinking about asking for a role with the Protectorate,’ Sophia said, turning to Ronin.
‘I think you should,’ he smiled at her. ‘I think we both should.’
‘You’d do it too?’
Ronin was passing her things from around her room. She shared the room with three other women, Kayleigh, Eileen, and Tamara, all of them fighter pilots, all of whom had been sold. Sophia looked at their beds and shivered. If she hadn’t been chosen by Earth gov to be the one with jump capability, she’d be one of them.
Ronin saw her face and walked over to her, gripping her chin between his thumb and forefinger and turning her face up to look at him.
‘My Sophia. We need to get your crew back.’ His thumb traced over her lip, his eyes tracking the small movement. ‘We have the suits. We have my ship. We have both of our skills and experience. We’d be vashni not to go out there and help track them down.’
‘You’re the best,’ she whispered, reaching up and pulling him down for a kiss.
A few minutes later, they exited her suite.
Someone bumped into Sophia. She felt pain radiate down her right side and turned to see a Todaal staring at her. His brownish-grey skin paled when he saw her, then paled further when he saw Ronin.
‘Watch where you’re going,’ Ronin growled, he turned Sophia, looking at her shoulder as though he’d seen some evidence of the impact with her clothing in the way.
