by Abella Ward
"The last batch of humans were woken today," Tom told her. "They're doing well. Total count, five hundred and seventy-two humans. They've already started to put together a good infrastructure together."
"Good. I'm sure it's terrifying for them, but starting over… that's human spirit. Do any of them remember anything about being abducted?"
Tom shook his head. "I'll bring the reports for you to take a look at. They were all taken in a period of time between 2000 and 2100, though. So you and my mother were among the first to be taken from Earth."
"Speaking of your mother, she'll be coming back soon, won't she?"
"Probably." He brushed her hair from her face, gazing tenderly into her eyes. "Are you feeling full? I can call her and tell her to bring the baby right away."
Sara shook her head. It hadn't even been a standard month since she had given birth to a healthy, robust baby boy. She and Tom had named him Alex Tang. Alex after her father, Tang after Tom's best friend growing up, who died when he was a teenager. Alex was the spitting image of his father, except for one thing. Rather than the black eyes that all T'shav had, Alex had blue eyes, the color Sara's had been before her accident.
The door to their room opened. In strode Tom's parents. His mother, Lisa, beamed at Sara. His father, the huge, intimidating warlord, Zon, carried the tiny bundle of blankets that held his grandson.
"We're heading down to the sanctuary," Zon said, handing the baby to Sara. "Are there any messages you would like to give the humans you helped save?"
Sara shook her head. "Not right now. Thank you, though."
Zon nodded as he and Lisa put their arms around each other. Tom was right when he said that they were deliriously happy. If Sara didn't know better, she would have said that they had just met each other, and were in the earliest stages of falling in love. She had never known two people who adored one another as much as these two did.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," Lisa said, smiling at her. "And if my son isn't helping you enough—"
"Mom, please." Tom shook his head, and Sara laughed.
"He's helping me just fine. Thank you."
The warlord and his lady both nodded and left the room again. Sara settled back with a sigh, gazing at the tiny baby in her arms. It was a little frightening how small he was, but he had more than enough people around him to protect him from anything life threw his way.
And he had parents who loved each other.
"Have I told you lately how amazing you are?" she asked her mate, smiling up at him.
"Yes… but what am I amazing for now? Last time I believe it was because I put jam on your toast for you."
"Well, it was amazing toast."
Tom rolled his eyes, earning him a laugh. Sara adjusted the baby, shifting her legs into a more comfortable position.
"You are amazing because even after I assumed the worst of you, you forgave me and still want me as your Starmate."
Tom brushed a kiss on her lips. "You're amazing for the same thing, then."
Sara nestled herself against him, sighing in contentment. For the first time in far too long, she felt safe. The man she loved also loved her. She had a strong, healthy baby. It was no longer her against the galaxy, no longer hiding herself from those closest to her. And knowing that she would never have to hide again was the most wonderful feeling that she could have possibly imagined.
*****
THE END
Story 3: Bought by the Barbarian
Description
His broadsword is his only love. Until he sees her curves.
T’Shav mercenary Ronan doesn’t want love. He wants a woman to take care of his ‘condition’, meaning raging hormones. And the bridal service is going to get him one. So where is the sweet, submissive wife he ordered?
Paramedic Erica Chase is bored to death on her spaceship. Until she and her cousin Bethy are sold to a bridal service. There’s no way she’s going to submit to her new owner. But why does he have to be so mouthwateringly hot?
What’s a gal to do? Just devour the sexy alien? Hell no. He says he’s not touching her until she’s on her knees begging for it. He must be joking.
But Erica needs the hunky alien to find back Bethy. And Ronan has his own mission to complete. Space is a crowded place with enemies at every corner. It’s a good thing Ronan enjoys a bloody fight.
Stuck on the same spaceship, Ronan knows one thing for sure. Anybody who thinks they can lay a finger on his mate and his unborn child will find another thing coming.
What Ronan wants, Ronan gets.
Chapter One: Erica
The medical bay of the USC Battleship Sidhe was probably the most impressive one in the United Species fleet. It was full of the most up-to-date medical equipment, including DNA scanners that could tell a person what diseases they were genetically predisposed to in under a minute. It was also connected with real-time updates on scientific breakthroughs on various species: Dibat, Aphrosian, Suesue and many more.
Erica Chase could remember vividly how she had felt the first time she came aboard the ship. She had been in medical school back on Earth before waking up one day to find she had been abducted and kept in a stasis chamber for hundreds of thousands of years. Almost everything she had known was ancient history. Even now, if she stopped to think about it, she was overwhelmed, feeling like she could easily have a mental breakdown. So she simply didn’t think about it, focusing on her job as a paramedic relief aid worker.
Erica stood at attention, waiting for the chief medical officer, a green-skinned, winged Odap, to address the gathered paramedics. The translator chip implanted behind her left ear was buzzing. She'd have to get someone take a look at it soon.
"Teniscore can be a dangerous world," the CMO said, glaring at the volunteers. "It’s been hit by a small asteroid, causing extensive worldwide damage, and as such it's the responsibility of the United Species Corps to step in and help the residents out. But the denizens of Teniscore are mainly T'Shav mercenaries, so you need to keep your wits about you. Especially the females among you. Understood?"
Erica nodded, though she had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. T'Shav were thought of nothing more than mercenaries across the galaxy. The males were considered especially dangerous because of their musth, a hormonal fluctuation that made them more prone to violence, but that also produced pheromones that made any woman exposed to them go crazy with sexual lust.
But Erica had met several T'Shav, and they were perfect gentlemen towards her. In fact, she had been rescued from a medical corporation that wanted to perform experiments on her by the T'Shav warlord Zon and given a place in his human sanctuary, until she decided to explore the galaxy.
"Some of you might not take me seriously," the CMO continued, flapping his wings so he lifted a few inches from the ground. "But for your own good, you must not stray from the Corps officer assigned to your group. Do not leave the regulated safety zones. The USC cannot protect you if you don't follow the rules."
Beside her, her cousin Bethy shifted, snickering under her breath. She brushed a strand of impossibly fine hair from her face. It was always falling out of the bun that United Species Paramedics were meant to keep their hair in. Erica's own brown bun was still tightly in place. But then, it had always been thick and coarse.
"The way he's going on you think that these uniforms were negligees," Bethy muttered.
Erica snorted loudly, which caused a few of the others to give her dirty looks. The uniforms were shapeless things, designed for comfort and maneuverability rather than looks. Erica had needed a size larger than what was commissioned to accommodate her extra-sized curves. She wore it as baggy as possible, but sometimes she still thought that she might as well walk around naked. Back on Earth, she had been self-conscious about her size. Everything about her was curvy, from breast to butt to thighs to stomach.
Out here, though, curves on women were highly sought after. Not like on Earth where the ideal seemed to be big boobs, big butt,
stick-thin everywhere else. In this new world she found herself in, they wanted curves everywhere. Flat stomachs were unattractive. 'Thigh gaps' were a cause for medical concern. When she first mentioned wanting to lose weight to her doctor, the Dibat had been horrified at Erica wanting to 'starve' herself.
The downside was that Erica now found herself the center of unwanted attention, and she didn't know how to handle it. Going from being the girl nobody looked at to the girl everybody wanted was tough to get used to.
The CMO grunted from where he stood and shook his head. "Take a look around you. Some idiot in this group will be certain to leave the safety of Corps protection and won't come back. Do you want it to be you?"
"Oh, just shut up and get to the actual medical rescue already," Bethy muttered under her breath. "We get it, dangerous world."
Erica repressed another snicker. The Odap took a moment to look around again. "I would again remind our human recruits that laws on human sentience are not yet fully legislated. There are still corporations that would love to get their hands on your universal DNA, and species that are dying out that would love to use you as breeders. But you are all so very smart that I doubt you would listen to me. Get to your shuttles."
Bethy and Erica headed to the station they would be manning together. It was their job to record which paramedics were going to the surface and to make sure they had the supplies they needed. They weren't even going down to the planet, which Erica thought was pretty cheap. She left Zon's sanctuary with Bethy to explore the galaxy, but so far all she had seen was the USC paramedics training barracks and the inside of this ship. Not to say that the technology that she was encountering wasn't awesome, but she wanted to breathe the air of a new planet, she wanted to actually treat more than a few minor burns.
She wanted an adventure. But she wasn't going to ask to be sent to the planet, not until she had a better grasp on the first aid. After all, she and Bethy were still quite new to all of this. Right now, as boring as Erica found it, they were best suited for the job they had been given.
"You know what's weird about T'Shav?" Bethy asked as they settled into their station. "Apparently their women don't ovulate like us. No periods. Must be nice. I wonder why it's only the males that go through musth. Do you think it works on lesbians?"
"How should I know? You're the expert in that area, not me."
Bethy shrugged. They started their work, which went smoothly. They had been well trained. Erica stared longingly at all the paramedics being sent to the surface but reminded herself that doing what she could do to save lives was more important than having her adventure. Soon, it was just her and Bethy left in the medical bay, keeping an eye on medical requests, making sure that the robots did what they were designed to do: essentially nothing.
Several hours after this mind-numbingly boring activity, Erica's comm activated.
"Paramedics Chase and Chase, you're needed on the surface!" The CMO's voice was strained. "Get to shuttle A-43 at once. The robots can take care of the processing."
"Yes, sir." Erica glanced at Bethy to make sure her cousin also got the message and headed for the shuttle. "Why do you think he changed his mind?"
"There must be more wounded down there than they anticipated."
The shuttle was a small vessel that ran completely on autopilot. With the medical supplies crammed into it, there was just enough room for Bethy and Erica to squeeze themselves in. Erica's heart pounded with excitement, and she checked her belt three times to make sure she had everything she needed. Fleshseal, Bloodstore, regenerators.
The flight down to the planet seemed to take forever, but as soon as the doors opened, Erica bounded down the gangplank, looking around for the CMO. She froze halfway down. They were in a large clearing, but on every side were giant twisted trees. They were blue-barked and had a sickly yellow moss of sorts growing over them. A small transport ship was also in the clearing, but it was the only thing.
The ground around the shuttle was completely bare. No rocks. No grass. No wounded patients.
Only the CMO, accompanied by several men with guns wearing Planchet Corporation uniforms. What was Planchet doing here? They specialized in livestock breeding. What would they want on a planet suffering a disaster?
Breeding.
Erica's stomach dropped.
"Where is everybody?" Bethy asked, brows drawn in confusion.
"Get back to the shuttle!" Erica grabbed Bethy's arm. She tried to drag her cousin back into the ship, but it was too late. The Planchet men bounded up the gangplank and seized them both around the waist. Erica screamed, kicking and thrashing about. She wasn't going down without a fight!
"The Warlord Zon knows we're here," she shouted. "Do you think he'll just stand by while you abduct us?"
"But you left the sanctuary voluntarily," the CMO replied. "Do you think he has the resources to keep an eye on every human in the galaxy? I did say that there are always some foolish individuals that leave USC-secured areas. Unfortunately today, it's you two."
Erica continued to struggle uselessly. The Planchet men grunted as they hauled her towards their ship. To make it worse, Bethy was allowing herself to be carted away without so much as a whimper. Her eyes were wide, but she was silent. Erica threw a weak punch at one of the men holding her. He grabbed her wrists and tied them.
The CMO turned to the Planchet men. "Well, here you are. Two human beauties for your bridal program. They'll fetch a handsome price. Now, my payment?"
"Bridal program?" Erica threw her head back but unfortunately didn't hit her captor's face. His arms were tight around her. "No freaking way!"
The Planchet officer who was paying the CMO turned to her with a bored look. "Your other option is to be sold as a laboratory subject. But we would prefer you cooperate as a bride. After all, our breeding services are completely legal. Experimenting on humans, on the other hand, borders the illegal, and is highly frowned upon these days." He turned back to the CMO. "Thank you for your business."
Bethy started to cry softly. Erica screamed. No way was this how it ended. She would find a way out of this. Somehow, she would find a way to get her and Bethy both free.
Chapter Two: Ronan
Ronan carefully inserted the thin needle into his vein. The cool liquid that he injected burned slightly, but he could instantly feel the effects as his muscles relaxed. His heart rate evened out, and the building frustration and desire to kill all but vanished. The aggression of the false onset of musth was difficult to control. He knew that if he hadn't taken the enzyme at once, he would have ended up losing his temper.
As the perijan swept through his body, he took a careful look around. From here he could see his ship. He hadn't really taken the time to scope out the area, too desperate to do the injection. Workers bustled to and fro, using their hover carts to move large amounts of cargo through the docks. He happened to have found a little alcove to take his perijan, mostly blocked from the views of the workers.
The most effective way for perijan to take hold in a T'shav body was through an internal microprocessor, which would help the liver produce the enzyme naturally. Ronan had had one implanted when he was a child and first diagnosed with Cilaze, a disease that suppressed his natural production of perijan. Over the years, however, he had been in so many fights and without regular medical checkups that it stopped working. Since returning to his birthplace to have a new one implanted was out of the question, Ronan had to give himself regular injections to keep his body in balance.
Without these injections, his brain would think that his body wasn't getting the oxygen he needed, making his heart rate increase to the point where it triggered a self-induced heart attack. That perijan naturally dropped low during a T'shav's musth also meant that whenever the enzyme dropped too low he would enter the beginning stages of musth. A very unpleasant experience. Fortunately, he was able to keep a supply of perijan on hand. Usually.
Ronan brushed a hand over his sweat-slick red skin as his breathing returne
d to normal. Well, that would last him for a standard day.
"Hey!"
The T'shav looked up to see a blue-skinned Aphrosian wearing a United Species uniform marching towards him. Ronan finished his injection and put the needle back into its case before slipping it back into his pack. He stepped out of the little alcove, trying to appear unthreatening. Not that he could really help it. As a T'shav he was quite a bit bulkier than most species. Plus, the devil-red skin of the T’Shav led many other cultures to believe they were demons. Add to it that his toe claws were larger than normal, and he usually found himself being accused of intimidation even when he didn't mean it.
Although his appearance certainly helped in interrogations.
"Is there a problem?" Ronan asked the USC officer.
"I should say there is." The Aphrosian pointed at the small trickle of blood running down Ronan's arm. "What were you injecting? Kinsing? Cakehi?"
Of course. The officer assumed he was doing drugs. It would be amusing if Ronan wasn't so sick of law enforcement officials assuming that he was up to illegal activities for merely breathing. His hands clenched, the increased musth hormones in his system telling him to just break this Aphrosian and be done with it. The perijan might help calm him down, but it didn't erase all the aggression instantly.
"Perijan. I have Cilaze."
"I have never heard of that," the Aphrosian sneered. "I wonder what the scans will say when I take you in."
Ronan rolled his eyes. Aphrosians were stronger than they looked, with their skinny arms and bodies, but that didn't mean that they would stand a chance against a T'Shav like himself. The USC officer pulled a set of energy cuffs from his belt.
