by S. E. Smith
“I guess that makes sense. Do we need to be decontaminated, too?”
“Our uniforms take care of that.”
“What if you pick up something on Earth? A germ or a sickness or something internal?”
“I and my crew have been inoculated against any pathogens that might do us harm. We’ve also been purged of anything that might be harmful to Earth’s life forms.”
“Good to know,” she murmured.
She finished with her hair, putting it in a ponytail high on the back of her head and looping the long strands into the band so that it was gathered together in something akin to a loose bun. He missed seeing it flowing around her shoulders and rippling down her back.
She tilted her head at him. “Is it okay?”
“Yes, it’s—”
“Adequate?” She smirked.
He had a feeling he was missing something, but couldn’t figure out what it was. Giving up on that particular mystery, he said, “I can help you with your bag.”
“I’ve got it.”
They both reached for the handle, their hands colliding. They rose at the same time, standing close and still holding on to the bag.
“I appreciate your help,” he said.
She arched an eyebrow at him. “It’s going to cost you.”
His heart felt as though it plummeted through his stomach and into his belly. Earth was still dominated by commerce-based cultures. What would she even find of value? He was a soldier, not a merchant. Life on his ship was all he’d known. This was yet more new territory for him.
“I will see to it that you’re compensated for your time.” He relinquished his hold on her bag and stepped back. “I have ample resources with which to trade.”
“I don’t want your resources. Well…” Her gaze slid over his body like a caress, and her smile broadened.
His body responded once more, energy pulsing through him, heat flooding his abdomen.
“I want answers,” she said. “A lot of them.”
That, he could do.
He nodded, and said, “I will tell you everything I can, once we reach my quarters and you’ve had a chance to examine Meredith. It’s too dangerous to discuss these matters in front of my crew.”
“So you can get in trouble for bringing an Earthling aboard. I thought ‘your crew will do as you say’.” She lowered her voice and scowled as she repeated his words from earlier. He felt a strange urge to laugh at her imitation, but stifled it.
“They will follow my commands,” he said. “But I’m not the highest authority in the Coalition. There could be consequences if you’re discovered.”
Consequences he was finding less and less acceptable.
“Who’s in charge now that the High Council is gone?” she asked.
“General Serath. On Earth, he’s known as Adam Smith.”
“Adam Smith? Seriously? That’s the best you could do?”
“I don’t understand.”
“That name sounds really fake. I mean—”
Their conversation was interrupted as the hatch opened and the ramp slid down to rest with a soft thud on the hangar bay floor. Caitlin glanced at Marq once more, then turned toward the exit. She halted at the top of the ramp, taking a deep, shaky breath.
Marq went to her side. “I swear, I won’t—”
“I know, I know. You won’t let anything happen to me.” She smiled at him and nodded.
“You must act the part. Say nothing. Stay close.”
“I’ll follow your lead,” she said.
She was putting such faith in him. He wanted to hug her, to kiss her, but that would absolutely reveal his deception.
Instead, he headed down the ramp, relieved when he heard Caitlin’s steps behind him.
As expected, he noted more security personnel than standard arrivals dictated. They were most likely there to make sure that Marq was indeed the one returning with the skimmer.
He had hoped that Sorca would not be among them, but she stood near the landing pad, fists propped on her hips, the silver uniform tight enough to show the lines of her muscles even through its fabric.
The amber of her skin was washed out in the lights from the hangar, and her dark hair had golden streaks from her time on Earth in the sun. Her gray eyes twinkled with even more amusement than usual.
Marq felt his pulse quicken. He tried to calm his body so Sorca didn’t detect anything amiss. She strode up to him with her relaxed gait, a broad smirk on her face as she looked at him, and then pointedly at Caitlin.
“Commander,” Sorca said, though she was still looking at Caitlin. “Welcome back. I trust your trip to Earth was…vegeful.”
“Vengeful?” Caitlin said.
Marq’s stomach felt like it was collapsing on itself. Caitlin was already veering from their plan.
“Vegeful.” Sorca stepped in front of the Earthling. “It’s an Earth expression meaning that it was productive.”
“I don’t understand,” Caitlin said.
“It’s a metaphor. It means something like, ‘I hope that your trip provided sustenance in the form of plant-produced nourishment’.”
Caitlin made a face, her head tilting as she sorted through whatever idiom Sorca’s brain was twisting around this time. Understanding dawned—the crease in Caitlin’s brow disappeared and her mouth dropped open.
“Oh, you mean fruitful,” Caitlin said.
Sorca laughed. “What’s the difference? It all beats nutrient bricks.”
She nudged Caitlin playfully, which sent Caitlin staggering sideways into Marq. He caught her quickly, glaring at his security officer.
“Mind your strength, Sorca.” Marq’s voice had lowered. Even he could hear the menace in it.
He also realized he was holding Caitlin against his chest. He stepped back from her as soon as he was sure she had stabilized her stance.
Sorca’s smile only grew. “Of course, Commander. And my apologies. I sometimes forget how much stronger my Cygnian DNA makes me when compared to other sentients.”
Not other Sadirians. Other sentients.
Sorca knew. Moons, this could complicate matters.
He should have foreseen this. Sorca’s bondmate, Eric, was an Earthling. With all the time she’d spent with Eric, Paige, and Evelyn while traveling to and from Sadr-4, she must have learned how to differentiate humans from Sadirians.
“I’m happy to tell you I have nothing to report.” Sorca emphasized the last word, then glanced over at her officers, dismissing them with a silent tilt of her head. “But know that I am available to you, as always, should you need…advice.”
She winked at him, then turned and headed toward the exit from the hangar bay.
As soon as she was gone, Caitlin said, “Okay, she seems weird even by alien standards.”
Marq gripped Caitlin’s arm and led her toward the same exit Sorca had used. He leaned close, and said, “You’ll need to watch what you say now that we’re aboard.”
“Right. No ‘alien’ talk, but— Oh…my…God!” Her voice rose on the last words—gaze locked on something above their heads. She seemed to be trying to muffle her volume, but ended up making a high-pitched, sustained “Eeeeeee” noise.
The remaining workers in the hangar turned toward Caitlin—including the pair of Antareans that she was staring at, wide-eyed, lips curled tight around her teeth and mouth clenched shut.
The Antareans were hanging from a coupling on the ceiling that only their species could reach without some form of antigravity lift or ladder. Ven, the Reckoning’s chief engineer, was scowling on a gravlift next to them, his arms crossed as he oversaw their work.
Antennae twitching in Caitlin’s direction, the Antareans tilted their large heads from side to side. One of them lifted three of its arms and waved at her.
Caitlin kept making the sound, only quieter, as she slowly waved back.
Marq bent down and whispered, “Caitlin,” in her ear.
“Sorry.” Her voice was still a high-pitche
d squeak, but at least she stopped making that sustained sound.
Marq squeezed her arm gently as he guided her through the door.
This was going to be more of a challenge than he’d thought.
Chapter Eleven
“I’m so sorry, but what the heck even were those?” The muscles around Caitlin’s eyes felt weird. Probably because she couldn’t seem to shut them after seeing giant ant people hanging from the ceiling.
“Those were Antareans,” Marq said. “They’re helping my chief engineer, Ven, with some intricate repair work.”
“Antareans. Like the ones who helped build that colony on the moon.”
“Yes.”
They had both been about her height, with slender reddish-brown bodies and watermelon-sized heads and eyes as big as grapefruits. At first, she’d been afraid they were going to drop on her and…eat her or something, but then she’d noticed that they had tools in their hands.
Or claws. What was the word for ant-hands? Had she learned that in her studies? It seemed like something she should know.
Her thoughts were racing. A shrill laugh bubbled up inside her, then spilled out.
She would have slapped her hand over her mouth to stop it, but one was busy carrying her bag and Marq had a firm grip on the other. He used it to pull her into a smaller side corridor and spin her around.
He pushed her up against a wall, leaning in so close his breath rustled the loose hairs around her face. Her body immediately lit up, all the laughter and fear pushed away by the heat that welled within her whenever he was close.
“Caitlin, you’ve got to get yourself under control,” Marq said. “You’re going to see things on this ship that are unlike anything on Earth. If you keep having that kind of reaction, my crew will know you’re not Sadirian.”
“Kind of like how you reacted to my donkey?”
Marq let out a sigh, lowering his head. “I will protect you from physical harm, but there still may be consequences if you’re discovered.”
She let out an uneasy laugh. At least this time, she could keep the volume of the sound relatively low. “What, like space jail?”
He looked up at her, his gaze intense. “Like a mindwipe.”
A chill swept through her that even his heat couldn’t eradicate. Her imagination had managed to conjure up an image of her sitting in a chair with no memory of how to walk or talk or who she was or…anything. Heck, with this ship’s technology, they might erase her mind and just stuff her into some sort of suspension tube to experiment on and—
She stopped herself before she could freak herself out any more than she already had, and said, “You mentioned that when you were talking to Dane and Brigid earlier. What exactly does that mean?”
“It means your memory would be erased. Everything that’s happened since just before I woke you up.”
She would forget the amazing adventure her sister was having, and the fact that her twin had apparently found someone she cared for deeply. Caitlin would forget the amazing things she’d seen. The moon colony and the space station.
She’d forget Marq.
“What if I refuse?” She hated how small her voice sounded, but she already knew the answer.
“You won’t have a choice. And neither will I.” He leaned even closer.
“Just so you know, protecting my memories is just as important to me as keeping my body safe. And I expect you to keep your promise.”
“I should have realized…” He shook his head. “I forget how different Earthlings are from us. Mindwipes have always been an accepted part of our culture.”
“You’re okay having your memories erased?”
“No, I’m not. This is more complicated than you realize.” He glanced down the hall, then leaned closer, his voice barely above a whisper. “Sadirians sleep in regen beds to maintain our bodies in optimal condition. Dane and I discovered that some regen beds have been integrated with technology from our programming chambers—devices that directly input the skills we need to complete our tasks, like languages and knowledge of various cultures.”
“I really don’t like where this is going,” Caitlin said. Her stomach was in knots.
“Many Sadirians are programmed and reprogrammed every time they use their regen beds—their minds sculpted to best match our society’s needs. Most aren’t even aware of it.”
“That’s awful.” She shook her head. A million questions lined up in her mind, struggling to escape all at once. “How invasive is the programming? Why haven’t the people who know about this put a stop to it? Oh my God, is that why you’d never loved something before?”
“I was programmed to have my emotions suppressed, but Dane and I have worked to restore them.”
“Marq.” She didn’t know what else to say. He was right. There was so much more going on here than she’d known.
“This is why you have to control your emotions. Many of my crew have gone through the same suppression program. Dane and I hope our work will help them should they decide to restore their own emotions.”
“Did it work, then? For you?”
Marq laughed lightly and nodded. “It’s taken a long time, but I believe it has.”
“No wonder you were so freaked out before. This whole thing with Meredith must have been overwhelming.”
“It was worth it to meet you. To experience this.” He reached up and brushed a few stray hairs from her cheek. His thumb lingered, tracing her jaw, then down along her neck. His gaze heated.
The temperature seemed to jump about a hundred degrees. Once again, her body reacted instantly. Tingling energy rocketed through her belly and…lower.
“Stars, you’re beautiful,” he said.
Marq looked at her like he wanted to explore every inch of her body. He was leaning closer. So was she.
Using every ounce of willpower she hadn’t known she possessed, she pulled back.
“If you want me to not show my emotions, this isn’t the way to go about it,” she said. “Because I guarantee that kissing me is going to get you a reaction.”
His smile deepened as he shook his head. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
She rested her hand on his chest, just above his heart. “You weren’t thinking. You were feeling.”
He let out a little laugh, then gripped her wrist and lifted her palm to his lips briefly.
“Are you going to be reprogrammed again if they find me here?” The thought made her skin break out in goosebumps—the unpleasant kind. She suddenly realized she would do anything in her power to protect him, too.
“I’m not going to let that happen to either of us.” He gripped her arms and squeezed. “If we go through proper channels, there’s a good chance you could join the Department of Homeworld Security. But proper channels do not include us being discovered talking about this in a corridor on my ship.”
“Right. Sorry.”
“Most of my crew is loyal to me, but there are some on board who would welcome any excuse to remove me from my position. I don’t know who they all are.”
No wonder Brigid had been worried.
“Can you control your emotions?” Marq asked.
Caitlin glared at him. “Sure.”
“Commander?” A feminine voice carried to them from the main corridor.
Marq let Caitlin’s arm go and stepped back quickly, turning toward the woman who had interrupted their moment. She had dark brown skin and her black hair was pulled into a bun. Some of the tight curls had escaped, and brushed across her forehead. Her full lips were pressed together tight as she tried to suppress a grin—and mostly failed.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” The woman held up what looked like a thin silver tablet computer and wagged it at him. “New requisitions, along with an update on our progress and some incident reports.”
Marq’s soft smile had been replaced with a grimace, and the lines between his brows were back. For someone trying to not show emotions, he looked pissed.
He stepped toward the woman, his long strides bringing him close quickly. Caitlin fought another ridiculous surge of jealousy. The woman looked way more interested in Caitlin than Marq.
Marq took the device from her and started swiping the surface, staring intently at whatever it displayed.
“Contact with Earthlings is to be kept to a minimum,” he said.
“I’m aware, sir.” The woman was still staring at Caitlin, sporting a smirk she was no longer trying to hide.
“Nika,” Marq said. “I’m not approving sandwiches from Buddy’s House of Subs for you. It’s enough that your team is receiving Earth-based rations.”
“Well, you won’t be getting my best work on Outreach station, then.” Nika plucked the device from his hands. “Those sandwiches are inspiring.”
Marq ignored her quip. “Send the full report to my quarters. I’ll review it later.”
“Of course.” Nika’s grin broadened. “I can see you’re busy.”
She turned and walked back toward the hangar bay. Marq headed in the other direction, and Caitlin hurried to keep up with him.
“Why can’t she have her sandwich?” Caitlin asked, relieved to have a less-heavy topic to discuss.
“Nika’s more interested in visiting Earth again than obtaining specific food,” Marq said. “She didn’t like being assigned to head the team building the space station, but she’s the best engineer in the fleet. I need her focus here. The Reckoning has a supply of Earth rations now and has been incorporating it into our meal cycles. That should be enough for her.”
“Is Brigid helping with that? Because I could totally see her coming up with a new fusion that incorporates your food with ours.”
“We normally only eat nutrient bricks. I doubt she’d want to fuse that with anything.”
“That sounds…” Caitlin wasn’t sure what to say. It sounded awful, but she didn’t want to offend him.
“Brigid called them gross and boring, if that helps.” His smirk returned a bit as he glanced down at her, but disappeared quickly.
When they reached the end of the corridor, he waved his hand over an etched section of the chrome wall. It slid aside to reveal an elevator. Caitlin followed him into it, then watched as he started tapping on more controls.
