Jin-Bennu

by Vivienne Savage

  They had to realize that. He kept a loose lid on his emotions, feeding only what he wanted them to know each time he felt the talented fingers of a psychic needling away at his skull.

  "Then it would be in your best interest if you conceal your motives throughout the entire affair. Leave no evidence," Khepri said. "Leave no one alive."

  His blood ran cold. When he accepted the assignment, he'd known it might mean some dark deeds. Murder, however, wasn't a path he wanted to tread.

  "I'll handle it," was all he said. "I assume once I deal with the guards and security system, you'll follow?"

  "On your signal," Vashta replied.

  "Excellent. When is this operation to begin?"

  Vashta's chilling smile unnerved him. “On the hour."

  "Until then." Bennu bowed as was appropriate and turned to leave.

  A stab into his subconscious prompted him to turn once more, as Vashta called, "One more thing, Jin-Bennu. We were under the impression you came alone. Why have our scanners indicated otherwise?"

  "Was I required to present my property? I needed entertainment on the long voyage here.” The words made him sick to his stomach, but he didn't let it show. After a cock of both brows, Bennu darted his gaze to the silent human companions. “Is this Show and Tell, Vashta? Maybe you should begin by naming your pets."

  Vashta stared at him a long, hard minute. Then she smiled again. "Of course. So long as it doesn't cause any complications."

  "It won't."

  Within an hour of concluding the meeting with the rebel Lexar, Bennu passed through checkpoints admitting him to the prison. Veryn remained aboard the vessel with her phony credentials. Her false identity held up to the scan; otherwise, he suspected the group would have murdered them both.

  Or maybe they plan to do it once I’ve completed this task.

  Heavy silence fell over him as he stepped inside the secure facility. For such a large building, only a few people were required to run it. That and the advanced security system. His identification codes allowed him safe landing and entry, but without official orders, he couldn’t do much else.

  "We weren't expecting your arrival, Alpha Jin-Bennu. What can I do for you?"

  "Unexpected security inspection," he grunted brusquely.

  “We don’t have any such orders.”

  “It would not be much of a surprise if you did.”

  “Of course, sir,” the human said. “I need your authorization ord—”

  Bennu forced his mind past the human’s mental walls, an easy enough task. The guard’s expression promptly slackened from the brain-numbing intrusion. “I will buzz you through to security, Alpha. Your authorization has been approved.”

  Once the sentry input his codes and the door opened to the area beyond, a second push was all it took to put the man in a deep sleep. He slumped over the desk and didn’t move.

  Bennu hoped it was enough.

  The next room served as the command center for the prison, only five technicians present, three of them Lexar.

  Finesse crept his gift through the nearest guard’s mind. Bennu discovered an honest Lexar—a good man who didn’t deserve to die.

  Pass.

  A predator lurked among the flock, a human who took favors and bribes, selling some of the female inmates. He doctored their files to make them vanish from existence then transported their stasis pods to the buyers.

  Fail.

  Bennu never thought he would be the one to choose who lived or died, but he had only moments to come up with a plan that wouldn’t set off the alarms. Five against one under those circumstances were not odds in his favor.

  You need something from the breakroom. Bennu pressed the message into the first of his passes, and then the next. With two out of the way, circumstances shifted more in his favor.

  The attack came before the rest even knew what was happening. Bennu released a psionic wave that took the remaining three off their feet. He gave them no chance to react, grabbing the one who sold female inmates by the throat and snapping his neck. The other two succumbed to his mental push, blacking out in the same manner as the guard at the front. Only one needed to die.

  Silence.

  He waited a moment, gaze sweeping over the bank of monitors, but nothing flashed red. Mindful of what he touched, Bennu swiped through the security camera holos and brought up the breakroom footage. Both guards he’d sent away, as instructed, were passed out.

  He signaled Vashta, hoping they were swift. Compulsions only lasted so long.

  “Nicely done. I thought we would be waiting longer,” Vashta praised as she and Khepri joined him. A shadow moved in the reception lobby beyond, likely Massui covering their exit.

  “Get who you came for. The longer we linger, the higher the chance of discovery.”

  “Then you should have killed them all.” Khepri nudged the dead guard with one foot.

  “Easy, Khepri. These are our brethren, misguided as they may be,” Vashta chastised. Her hands flew across the controls with enough familiarity to make Bennu wonder if she had once been stationed here herself. With focused ease, she released two stasis pods from their containment. Machinery hummed to life. Within moments, both pods slid into the cylinders on the far-left wall.

  “Who exactly are we waking up?” Bennu asked. He gave the nearest clock readout a purposefully long stare.

  “No one here. We’ll wake them up on the ship. Khepri, I need you.”

  Vasta and Khepri moved in concert, a comfortable and trusting partnership evident. Bennu stepped aside, giving way for them to guide each hovering pod past, but not before glancing at the names displayed on the side of each one. He froze to the spot, blood going cold.

  Jin-Nassi and Jin-Navi, twins who refused to accept Imperial decree to make peace with the humans at the conclusion of the Lexar-Human War. Jin-Nassi and Jin-Navi killed thousands—maybe millions—before being caught, tried, and imprisoned. They loathed everything about humanity.

  And he helped free them.

  I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to this.

  "Dock your ship to mine when we reach orbit," Vashta said once they reached the hangar. "It's time you met the whole crew."

  “Very well. First, however, I need to delete the security logs and ensure no one here remembers I was the one who arrived. Otherwise my cover will have been blown.”

  “Do what you must. Soon, the time for hiding will be over and the charade won’t be needed. For any of us. This is the beginning of a new world, Bennu, and you’re helping to shape it.”

  All he had to do was kill and allow others to be killed. The guilt associated with the evening’s actions would never fade, no matter how righteous the cause. Bennu merely nodded and turned back to the lobby to complete his final task. Wiping the security logs was easy. Wiping the minds of the remaining guards without damaging them took a little more time, but he managed. They would awake with no recollection of what transpired.

  Veryn didn't say a word when he returned to his shuttle. She took one look at his face and slid into the copilot seat in silence.

  Once away from the asteroid, he initiated docking procedures with Vashta’s ship. His small craft fit perfectly against the hull of the larger vessel.

  "Remember," he said in a low, quiet voice. "I will not let anything happen to you."

  "I know. I trust you."

  "By the way," Bennu murmured, placing one large hand on the small of her back, "what is your name? What will I call you?"

  "Does it matter?" Veryn tilted her face up to his and arched one pale brow. "I belong to you, Master. I'm whatever you want to call me."

  A jolt of arousal surged directly to his cocks. As they grew and stiffened with newfound need, he hated himself for the thrill of excitement her words elicited.

  He shouldn’t be enjoying any aspect of this job.

  Most of all, the idea of having humanity’s only princess as his submissive shouldn’t have filled him with a raging need to revert to the
Lexar’s conquering nature.

  As a human, Veryn received little more than a glance when she followed Bennu onto the Maa Kheru. Her new Lexar master had already given her a quick rundown of the vessel's leadership. To them, she was nothing more than a dog on a leash down to the collar he purchased along the way to the asteroid. Playing the role of obedient slave meant she didn't look anyone in the eye, not even the other humans. Her gaze skimmed over each crewmember without lingering while she quickly assessed the environment.

  Vashta lounged in a leather seat while the newly freed twins both stood in the center of the room, playfully jousting with one another. "Bennu, welcome," she greeted.

  One of the male Lexar stood behind her with an intimidating air. Veryn wondered idly if they were mates.

  The humans in attendance paid little mind to her aside from shy glances. They wore collars as well, though theirs were lower quality than the gorgeous wesekh Bennu placed around her neck. These were plain and carved from wooden beads, paling in comparison to the painted clay surrounding her neck. Hers felt... pretty.

  Hers matched Bennu's in design, less elaborate so as to never be confused for a Lexar bonding collar between mates, but denoting one subservient to another.

  Yet another aspect of Lexar life she never learned until recently. The concept of voluntary subservience had never occurred to her in their alien society of giant warriors.

  "Are you going to tell me what we're doing?" Bennu took a seat in an empty chaise without invitation. "And what we need them for?"

  "No. Not yet." Vashta's thin smile never reached her eyes. She turned her gaze idly to Veryn, finally looking her up and down. "Much has changed since my time in the Nova Force. I thought the only humans on your ship were scientists."

  "They are. This one I keep at home, for obvious reasons."

  "Mm. Yes."

  As quickly as Vashta assessed Veryn, the scarred alien dismissed her apparent lesser and returned complete attention to Bennu. It didn't take a psionic to see the Lexar woman was interested in him. Her gaze lingered on his chest and the strong muscles of his arms. So either the male behind her wasn’t a mate or there was more involved with bonded pairs than Veryn understood.

  "If you're only going to keep me in the dark, what is the point of my being here?"

  "One would expect greater patience from an alpha held as high in esteem as you, Jin-Bennu."

  "My patience is great when it comes to many topics, but I won't be used," Bennu said tersely.

  "Believe me, we have plans to use you. But not as merely a tool. We're all here, because we share the same ideals. The time to step up for our heritage is now. These humans believe they command all within the ‘Verse, and our weak rulers indulge them."

  "Empress Tal-Jin Maat will not change her beliefs," Bennu said carefully.

  "You're right. She won't. Which is why she must be dealt with."

  Bennu made no effort to conceal his surprise, the genuine emotion filtering to Veryn with ease. Likewise, she allowed hers to seep through, and when a casual Lexar gaze settled on her, she tucked her chin to appear as the very model of deference.

  "You mean to assassinate the empress. But what of her mate? What good is it to remove one when the second remains as an obstacle?"

  "The emperor may be convinced that it is time to return to the old ways. He is a wise man."

  "Killing his mate may change that."

  "Perhaps without her, he will lead our people to a new age of glory. We will never know until we try. If not. What is one more neck on the chopping block?"

  A mind skimmed against Veryn's thoughts, a caress of psionic will that was as skilled as it was gentle. It probed, searching the surface. Her breath caught in her throat. Was it one of the twins? Or another? Psionic gifts ran heavy in the Lexar, most of their population gifted in some way.

  And she couldn't discount the other humans. A pet could still be used as a tool, and any one of them could be more than they appeared. Exactly as she was.

  She didn't want to think about it, careful to let her natural anxiety show through her thoughts without the truth.

  "So that's the plan. Kill the empress, create chaos, and strike."

  "It will get our point across."

  "No, it will only fuel their attempts to put an end to groups like ours," Bennu argued. "They'll strengthen alliances with the humans."

  Vashta's sudden smile was so cold Veryn shuddered. The Lexar leaned forward in her seat, all eyes on her. "Not if the ones who kill the empress are human."

  A spike of genuine delight reached her from Bennu. The male standing behind Vashta must have felt it, because he gently tapped one finger of the hand resting on the woman's shoulder. Had Veryn not quietly watched for such signals, she would have overlooked it.

  "You are brilliant," Bennu said.

  "I've been told as much before," the woman replied, absolutely smug and... elated that Bennu agreed.

  "It's the perfect plan. It will take quite a large number of humans to accomplish such a task. ASR?"

  "Somewhat. Those fools are so eager to grasp at any power they can that they don't even realize we're the ones using them. Besides, we have our humans to handle delicate tasks. Yours as well."

  Veryn kept her body loose and relaxed. "I serve Jin-Bennu in all matters."

  "What a well-trained pet," one of the twins said. Veryn hadn't had a chance to study either one in depth to put a name to each, their features near identical. The one who had spoken had a small scar on his chin that the other lacked. “Though I question the choice of feline DNA.”

  “I enjoy a challenge,” Bennu replied. Tension seeped into his spine and tightened his shoulders.

  The twin stepped over, grasped Veryn by her chin, and applied enough pressure to force her to a kneel. Her knees struck the deck with enough force to burn her eyes with unshed tears. Her teeth rattled together.

  "I wonder what matters she performs so well."

  "Don't," Bennu said.

  "Or what?" The Lexar chuckled, prominent bulge distending his environmental skin suit. It aroused him; just touching her and making her obey aroused him. "It's only a human. I'll touch it if I—"

  Bennu's hand snapped out. His fingers closed around the twin's wrist. "Don't."

  No more words came. The air warped around Bennu, collided with a shield Veryn hadn't seen—it was erected so quickly, faster than she could perceive with her own sight. Psionic power met power. A brutal fist was thrown, followed by more strikes. The two men twisted over one another, arm-locked then grappling. A flash of psionic activity cast them both in green-blue light as they wove physical combat with mind powers.

  "Stop," Vashta growled, stepping between them with a scattergun as long as Veryn's entire leg. She didn't need to feign the rapid way her heart thundered in her chest, overtaking the conversation with the volume of its ferocious rhythm flooding her ears. "You dare to fight a brother over a pet?"

  "My pet," Bennu growled. "There is a keyword here. The human belongs to me. Has been trained by me, a product of my time and money. My ownership has been questioned."

  "He is correct, my love," Khepri said. "You would never allow another to touch your belongings. You won't even allow me to hold your favorite blaster."

  Veryn had no illusions that Khepri was defending her. Still, she was grateful nonetheless but made no sign of being so. She kept her face turned down to the floor while they argued above her.

  "Let it be, Navi," the other twin said. "I'm sure they have someone onboard who can ease your dry spell."

  "But this one is—"

  "Mine," Bennu said once again, voice and eyes hard and flat. "My property."

  "Fine. Her mouth is too small anyway."

  "Hm," Vashta said as she turned away. "Khepri, please show our guest to his quarters. I have a call to make."

  "As you wish." The giant stepped over and brushed his lips against her temple. Instantly, Vashta relaxed.

  Bennu wrapped a hand around her bicep and
pulled her to her feet, his grip hard enough to bring the sting of tears to her eyes. He said nothing, but tension lined every muscle in his body. Khepri led them down a narrow corridor to a lift. They dropped two levels before getting out.

  "Mess is to the left. You are welcome to any of the stores to make your own meals, or send your human to do so for you. If you trust her cooking. You'll be in this third room to the right." Khepri stopped outside the door and pressed his palm to the panel then indicated Bennu should do the same. The opening door revealed a modest stateroom, large enough to comfortably house Bennu and Veryn, but lacking the accommodations he enjoyed on the Exemplar.

  "I feel I should warn you," the rebel said, folding thick arms against his bronzed chest. "Navi will not forget the defeat you dealt to him."

  "Defeat? I only fended him off my property."

  "Precisely. You stood against him, not once but twice. He will view it as a defeat."

  Cold danced over Veryn's spine, a trickle of fear traveling down each vertebra and eliciting the rise of fine hairs over her bare arms.

  When the door shut behind Khepri, Bennu slung their bag of belongings onto the floor and sank on the bed. He appeared more exhausted than words could describe.

  Assume we are always under surveillance, at all times, he instructed her, the whisper of his thoughts a gentle caress to the mind, slithering under and through her defenses. She left her thoughts open to him specifically, anticipating he would have guidance.

  Veryn had never been so out of her element before as she was now on an enemy Lexar vessel, unbeknownst to the UNE and all who were tasked with protecting her.

  How long would it be until they realized their princess was missing?

  10

  This cannot be happening.

  Bennu lay on his bed, staring at the overhead while an oblivious Veryn slept on, her cot tucked in the farthest corner of the room away from the door. Anyone trying to sneak in would have to overcome him first. And nothing—nothing—would stop him from flattening anyone or anything planning to cause her harm.