by Mara Jaye
Punishment from him? Nice, I think before realizing I’m still transmitting to G’nar.
Stop it. “Thank you sir. I’ll keep you informed.”
I love G’nar’s voice in my mind. Feels like a caress. While I don’t like making someone jealous, it’s nice to feel his possessiveness. Stop what?
He’s most certainly not punishing you like that. You’re mine and I’m yours.
His thoughts warm my heart. Always, my bondmate.
Good. Remember that.
I laugh at the mutinous expression on his face. “So are we never going to talk out loud again?”
“Some people don’t. You can tell how old a person is by how much they speak. My parents paid for mine and Chin’s at the same time. He spoke far less than I did, thanks to being several years younger.”
“You’re not all that old. He must have been a kid when the mine collapsed.”
“He wasn’t legal to work there.”
“Oh.” I want to talk more about his family but when I did a search for where we were in relation to Ghar? We’re headed there right now. Which means we’re closer to being sentenced for the various crimes. “You’re good friends with the Emperor, right?”
“Somewhat. As much as a citizen and their ruler can be, I suppose.”
I shouldn’t keep teasing him, but then, I am rather worried about what will happen to us when we’re in front of the Emperor. “What sort of punishment will we get, because I don’t think it’s the one where I wear a short skirt and call him daddy.”
“That, no, you won’t, but I wouldn’t mind us playing that game.”
I offer, “Maybe when we’re released from custody in a couple of hundred years.”
“It won’t be that bad.”
“Are you sure?” I ask and he hesitates for far too long.
“No.”
Chapter Sixteen
G’nar
Xell’s reaction to Eldan is his payback to me. Or rather, Origins’ payback for my taking his Pax out on a date. We didn’t even kiss, but then, after seeing Xell go blank for Eldan? They weren’t even in the same room and I wanted to smash his face. I take a deep breath and notice Dr. RenShell is at the viewer again. I venture a greeting through my innercom. Thank you for the reboot.
Excellent and you’re welcome. I’ll patch through to Xell, too. After a click, she continues. Round one is complete. There doesn’t need to be a round two, but I’d feel better with another sweep.
Xell and I look at each other and nod. We’d like that, please, she says. But could we leave the shuttle for this one?
Of course. I’ll send another dose. There are waiting areas on either side of the viewer. Make yourselves comfortable there.
The shuttle door opens and Xell takes my hand. “Thank God. I was feeling claustrophobic in there.” She leans against me once we’re on solid deck. “Is that an Earther thing? Are you all used to taking spaceships everywhere?”
“No, not just an Earther thing.” I lead her over to the waiting area. The seats look comfortable and there is a food and drink dispenser. I’m hungry for real food and know Xell must be. But with the second dose already falling over us? We can wait. “Plenty of Gharians have never left their homeworlds. Vhadmoshi can’t stay on theirs and some of the Fifth Worlders have environments not suitable for space travel.”
She sits in a chair opposite me and puts her feet up. “Like?”
“Gleets. One of my Earther friend says they look like your frogs. Having seen these animals for myself, she’s right.”
The look on her face is part horrified, part disgusted. “Jeeze, how big are they?”
“They tend to be a little shorter on average than Earthers.” I put my feet up next to her and slump in the seat. “You all are so varied, though. A very wide variety, comparatively speaking.”
“Which sounds great until you think about how those differences gives us reasons to kill each other.”
I shake her foot to dispel the pessimism. “Come on, you’re not that bad. There are property disputes, jealous rages, all sorts of valid reasons for conflict.”
“About jealous rages…”
I laugh. “No, I’m not jealous of the Emperor. Not beyond the obvious but even then, no. He’s had centuries of attractive people in his family, the best everything Ghar has to offer, and yet? So much responsibility and he lost his bondmate to an assassin’s strike. I kept guard over him and his son for three Earth years and I don’t envy him at all.” She smiles and I add, “I might not like how much you like him, though.”
“Oh, he’s gorgeous, no doubt about it. Seems like a wonderful ruler, too. But he’s not you and you’re my everything.”
Before I can reply, a door opens. “Enough with the mushy stuff. Let me scan you two so I can declare you Emol nano free.”
“Shouldn’t you do this from a distance?” Xell offers.
The doctor is busy running a device over first her, then me. “I should, but the preliminary results show you’re clean.” Her eyes cloud and she nods. “Yes, completely cleared.” She refocuses. “Congratulations. You’re the first survivors of the Emol outbreak. There are residual nanos in your systems. Expect the waste to reflect this.” She turns to me, her eyes sparkling with glee. “Your former setup is gone, I’m sorry to say, as is all the data collected. I assume your backups are current?”
“They are.”
“Good. When the rebuilding is complete in another couple of hours, you can transfer your data into the new repositories.” She smiles at Xell. “Schedule regular backups as soon as possible. You may never need them, but then, G’nar here probably didn’t think he would, either.” She pauses, tapping her cheek with a finger for a second. “You know, follow me and I’ll add a few bionans to both of you, just in case. They’ll help speed up the cleaning process and I’ll feel better about letting you roam my ship.” Follow me.
We do, into a larger medical area. It’s pretty standard. Healing pods with a large basin for the wetter species. Xell wanders over to the water. “Oo, a hot tub? I could have used one of those a month ago.”
“Were you a Gleetar?” Dr. RenShell asks.
I laugh and Xell grins at me. “No, but bubbles are bubbles.”
“I agree,” the doctor comes to me first. “Let’s set you up, then your bondmate.” I push up my sleeve and she injects me with fresh bionans. “I’ve sent instructions to you for living quarters. We’re two days from Ghar if we don’t hurry, and yes, you’re together.” She injects Xell. “I don’t want you two wandering my ship, mooneyed for each other and getting in my way.”
Xell grins at me before her eyes cloud. “Wow, these nanos don’t mess around, but if they’re working, why am I so tired?”
“The illness, new environment, long day for an Emoli? Take your pick.” Dr. RenShaw shrugs. “You’re still humanoid despite the tech. You’re going to feel things. Also, I know you’re freshly bonded, but you’ll want sleep more than anything. The bionans need you unconscious to build the networks.”
“Do we have to sleep the entire way back to Ghar?” Xell asks and I love the sly glance she gives me.
“Oh my Origins. You’re all alike.” The doctor begins to put equipment away. “No, you don’t have to do anything more than be intimate. Just don’t expect to stay awake through the entire event.” She shook her head, leaving the room. “I’ve just dispensed a breakthrough cure and all anyone can think about is sex.”
I’m trying to not laugh when she pokes her head back into the room. “Forgot to tell you, you can go now. Eat, sleep, and you know, in that order.”
She disappears again. I grab Xell, hugging her. “You heard her. We have to follow instructions.”
“Let’s go. I don’t want to anger someone of an advanced race.” She steps back, leading me out of the medical area and into a hallway.
The walls light up as we go, showing us the way to our quarters. I haven’t shared a living space officially with a woman in a very long time. Xell’s
hand is warm in mine. I can almost feel the bionans at work in her because they’re running amok in my system, too. Soon, the door to our room slides open and we hurry inside. I kiss her, holding her close while I rake my tongue across her teeth. Her moans kill me and I want more but not until after I’ve given her something decent to eat. “Food?”
“Please. I love you but I’m too hungry to focus right now.”
She loves me. I bask in the sentiment for a few milliseconds before going to the food dispenser. “I’ll come up with something filling.”
“I trust your judgement.”
I dial up something Pajii-based, similar to her beef, and in a rills sauce. Sweet and savory. The food is soon ready and she’s already at the table. “Me too,” I say, bringing our plates to her. She’s set out glasses of water and our utensils. “We get metal injections after receiving the older nanos, but the bionans need food and water.”
“Makes sense. Biological nanites need biology, not metallurgy.” She takes a bite and rolls her eyes. “Mmmm.”
“Good?”
“Umm hum.”
“I’m glad.” We’re hungry and there’s not a lot of talking. Xell yawns, making me yawn, too. “We can have and be desert later if you’d like to sleep now.”
“Yeah, as much as I want more, I’m dragging.”
Picking up the dishes, I put them in the cleaner. “I’ll admit this is tougher than I remember. On the positive, we don’t have to make the bed.”
“No, that’s a good thing.”
She’s already under the covers by the time I’m done, struggling to keep open her eyes. I peel off my clothes and join her.
A soft, “Oh damn,” wakes me up.
“Huh?” I look over and Xell is staring up at the ceiling. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re in Ghar’s solar system and nothing happened between us.”
I can’t help but laugh. We’ve slept nearly an entire cycle. “Don’t be frustrated. Think of it as resting up for a lot more later.”
“Promise?”
“You know I do.” I pull her to me only to find she’s just as naked. My cock is instantly hard. I know the pheromones I’m giving off affect her when I notice the hunger in her eyes.
“Do we have time?”
“Pless, no. We have enough to clean up and dress. I didn’t think to set any sort of alarm.”
“Me neither.”
I get up, throwing back the covers. “We’d better shower separately.”
“Yeah, otherwise we’d keep the Emperor waiting for a while.” She frowns. “He’s the one person in the galaxy I don’t want to anger.”
“How about you shower first and I’ll follow.”
“Shower?”
I hate to disappoint her but say, “No, not with water. Not on ships. The medical was the exception.”
“Damn.”
As soon as she disappears into the cleaning room, I ping Eldan. Can I have a preview of your thoughts concerning Xell?
I don’t know, can you?
Pless it, Eldan, I’m not your son.
Thank Origins because of all the people in my command, I thought you would follow the laws about Lesser Worlds.
You know what happened, I send.
I do. It’s why I sent our best team to cure you as soon as I learned.
Thank you. All I ask is that you punish me as you see fit but spare her. She’s innocent and a victim of the Vahdmoshi.
There’s a slight delay before Eldan asks me, Is it true she buried other Earthers while injured?
Yes. She dug the graves herself.
I see. My decision for her will be merciful. For you, it will be just.
I’m so relieved, the air seems to go out of me. That’s all I ask. Thank you, sir.
Don’t be late.
I stop short of reminding him I never am, but let him have the last word. Xell opens the door and comes in gorgeously naked.
She nods at me before coming over to give me a kiss. “You’re still not ready to go? It’s a real shame we’re in a hurry.”
“Yeah, and the Emperor reminded me to be on time.”
Her expression changes from lusty to fearful. “Shit. Let’s go, then.”
I sit up, kissing her again. “After my shower.”
“Hurry.”
I take her suggestion and rush through my own washing up. By the time I exit, Xell is dressed in a smaller and more fitting Alliance uniform. She gives me a wan smile. “Is this all right? My choices were a uniform I don’t deserve or a surgical gown. My other clothes are still on the shuttle and need scrubbing.”
“You look great. Everyone will understand.”
“I hope so.” We walk out together. “Why does every medical gown open enough to show your butt? Is there something coded in our DNA for such a thing or is it just a happy accident?”
Other personnel pass us in the hallway. Our signal shows us where to exit the ship. “Someone has been studying the Origins, I see.”
“Yes, I went down that rabbit hole of information.”
I pull up rabbit hole and agree with the twists and turns research can take. “Setting limits on diversions is one of the first things we learn with new nanos. Otherwise, we’d sit in a stupor all day being entertained or educated.”
“Entertained? Oh, I can get shows here. Ha! English subtitles, too. I’m doomed.”
I want to tell her to focus on the upcoming hearing, but her enjoyment of the new worlds I’m giving her is so pleasing. Still, she needs to be ready. We’re at the airlock between the medical ship and Ghar. The door opens and I feel Xell’s pulse spike a bit at the harsh rush of air over us. “Don’t worry. It’s another brushing off of any germs. Very ordinary.”
“All right.” She brushes her bangs from her eyes. “Glad I didn’t fix my hair.”
I lean over to kiss her cheek. “You’re beautiful.”
“I need peroxide.”
“Whatever,” I say and she laughs. I grin until we approach a long vehicle. It’s the Emperor’s white with gold accents to show his status. I nod to the driver and open the door for Xell.
Sweet ride.
He’s the ruler, I reply and we’re both quiet on the way to the palace. The driver sneaks peeks at Xell and I don’t blame him. She has a freshfaced beauty and sweetness about her. I take her hand, wanting the physical connection. I’m certain Eldan will be fair with her and I’m afraid he’ll be fair to me, too. I don’t know if I could take being apart from Xell. Even imagining how I’d tell her goodbye hurts.
I can feel your thoughts, even if I don’t know them.
She obviously hasn’t hit the access laws portion of our data links. I don’t mind, but need to warn her. That’s a little intrusive when it’s not me.
Oh, sorry.
Taking her hand, I send, Don’t be. You have access to everything I am.
I don’t want it. You deserve privacy.
I smile. I have enough, don’t worry. The car slows as we approach the palace. When it stops completely, the door opens. Seeing the tech through Xell’s eyes, I’m impressed, too. We slide out and am greeted by Eldan’s imperial guards. We wear similar uniforms, the difference being theirs are gray with gold piping instead of my gray with silver.
The piping is status, isn’t it?
Yes, or rank and branch of service.
And black is?
I smile at her because her uniform is lined in black. It’s Helper or Giver, depending.
Oh, crap, it’s housekeeping. I’m a maid on Ghar? Damn.
Everyone is essential, I respond.
That’s just crap people say to keep the underlings in line.
I cough a laugh before engaging the emotional dampeners. Not here it isn’t. Our population is half Earth’s with several times the planets.
Oh.
Exactly.
Eldan stands. He’s dressed far more regally than usual. Nice cape, I send to him. Is it new?
He narrows his eyes at me and I rely on my c
ontrols to not smile back. He steps down halfway. “So. Another Lesser World Order broken. This time by one of my most trusted Enforcers.” He continues down to stand in front of Xell. “I almost approve.”
I glare at him. Not so much for the warm way he’s looking at her but for the besotted stare she’s returning. I clear my throat. “I approve completely, sir. She was abandoned on Emol and I knew in an instant she was my bondmate.”
He waves a hand, circling Xell like a shark. “I know the story.” In a softer tone, he asks, “Are you from Albuquerque?”
Xell’s jaw drops before she recovers. “Yes, how did you know?”
“A guess. The Vahdmoshi who took you were after me and Daneul, my son, and found us there.”
She turns flirty right before my eyes. The woman is dangerous when she turns on the charm. Giving Eldan a smile, she says, “You lived in New Mexico? And I missed ever meeting you?”
I employ my emotional dampeners, not responding when Eldan gives me a sly grin. “Afraid so. I’m surprised you didn’t meet G’nar before now. He was much more popular with the ladies than I was.”
“I find that difficult to believe.”
Eldan laughs. “You flatter me. I know you’re bonded to G’nar and see no one but him.”
Her face reddens. “Afraid so, your highness. I am his and he is mine.”
“And you.” Eldan comes over to me and even the dampeners aren’t enough to keep me from grimacing. I don’t think he’ll be as flirty with me. “All of those lectures about Pax I had to endure? What do you have to say for yourself now?”
“I understand your actions far better now. Although in my case—”
He interrupts me. “Choose your next words wisely.”
I reconsider saying anything about how Xell was trapped and Pax wasn’t. “You’re right. I could no more leave Xell to die than you could do the same to the Empress. I have far more empathy for your plight now, great one.”
“Let’s not overdo it, hmm?” He grins, going back to his throne to sit. “Enforcer MaKrell G’nar, I am deeply disappointed that one of my most trusted Gharians managed to endanger his life by landing on the quarantined planet of Emol. You risked one of my most vital assets unnecessarily.”
