by S. E. Smith
Ha’ven had given up trying not to laugh. “I think we have found our missing hairball,” he said when he could catch his breath. “I’m just not sure who he needs rescuing from, the Marastin Dow or the female who is manning the communication’s console.
“I heard that, honey,” the husky voice replied with a mid-western drawl. “I would place all bets on that bossy, arrogant, demanding…” a loud roar interrupted the female’s description. “Well, if you don’t like what I have to say about you then you can just dump my ‘big’ ass back on my planet!”
“Uh oh,” Creon murmured. “He didn’t say the right thing when he was asked.”
Carmen elbowed Creon in the stomach to quiet him. “Hi there, my name’s Carmen. I’m from Wyoming,” she called out giving into a hunch that she had discovered another missing Earthling.
“Oh, hey darling,” the woman’s voice changed to excitement. “My name is Riley St. Claire. I’m from Denver. What are you doing out here? You don’t know how nice it is to hear another girlfriend way out in the Twilight Zone! I hope you’ve had a better time of it than I have,” there was some muttering too soft for Carmen to understand before they heard the woman reply. “No, Bob. I didn’t mean you, you gorgeous tub of Jell-O. I was referring to that annoying pile of cat…” this time when her voice faded it was because a very irritated male voice was responding.
“By Guall’s balls Riley, I’m going to spank your ass until it is bloody red if you don’t stop giving me a hard time,” the deep voice snarled out.
“Don’t you mean my ‘big’ ass, you moron,” Riley replied sarcastically.
“Female, I am going to…” the voice died off as a loud curse filled the air above the sound of laser fire. “You shot me!” The deep voice roared out in astonishment.
“But not where I was aiming for,” Riley snapped back. “So help me Vox, you better stay away from me until my temper has cooled or I won’t miss where I’m aiming for the next time I shoot you.”
“Vox, do you need assistance?” Creon called out.
“Yes! I need you to come and ….” Vox growled out before he groaned. “Come on, Riley. I didn’t mean anything when I said you had a big ass. I like big asses. I… shit. Will you quit shooting at me!”
Carmen put her hand over her mouth to try to stifle the giggles escaping her. The men on the bridge, including Creon and Ha’ven, didn’t bother trying to hide their amusement. It was obvious when they heard Vox’s long line of curses followed by threats of what he was going to do to all of them.
“Come get us off this piece of worthless Trillian shit,” Vox snarled out. “There are ten of us on board. You can kill any number over that.”
“A shuttle will be dispatched immediately,” Creon said with a chuckle. “It is good to hear your voice, my old friend.”
“Yeah, well your uncle isn’t going to like to hear it. That piece of Valdier royal ass is mine! He’ll wish he had never messed with this Sarafin prince,” Vox bit out harshly.
“Yewww, the big putty-cat is hissing again,” Riley’s sarcastic voice sounded behind him. “Watch out, the next thing you know you’ll be shooting hairballs.”
“Riley, so help me I’m going to wring your neck when I catch you!” Vox snarled out.
“Tor!” Riley said in a singsong voice. “Vox is being mean to me again.”
“Don’t you listen to a thing she says. I am not being mean to her! What did I ever do to deserve a mate like this?” Vox groaned out before the communications link was cut.
Carmen turned to look at Ha’ven who had a bewildered look on his face as if he had never heard his friend talk like that before. He looked at Carmen with a raised eyebrow. All she could do was shrug her shoulders and smile innocently.
“It must be a human thing,” she replied, not bothering to hide the grin on her face.
*.*.*
Carmen sat relaxing with Cal and Riley down in the repair bay drinking coffee and laughing as Riley explained how she ended up in outer space and with five mates, four of whom were not allowed anywhere near her by one said ‘hot-headed-stubborn-frustratingly royal prissy cat’. A soft giggle escaped from behind some of the cargo crates where Mel, who still refused to come out whenever anyone was there, hid.
“So, who is the scarecrow?” Riley asked looking over the rim of her cup at Cal.
Cal’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Scarecrow?”
Riley jerked her head toward the cargo crates. “Yeah, little miss Priss. Does she think I have cooties or something?”
Carmen frowned for a moment before understanding dawned on her. She felt so stupid. Of course! Mel wasn’t Cal’s grandson. Mel was his…
“Granddaughter,” she replied, softly looking with compassion at Cal. “That is why she stays hidden and doesn’t talk.”
Cal let out a deep sigh before he nodded reluctantly. He glanced at the door to make sure that Cree or Calo were not in the repair bay. He glanced at both women sitting across from him for a few seconds longer before he called out.
“Melina, come here,” he said gruffly. “It’s okay, honey. They won’t tell anyone.”
The slim figure slowly emerged from behind the crates. The huge hat that she normally wore was in one slender hand. She was wearing the oversized clothes she favored and was twisting one of the ragged edges nervously between her fingers. She walked toward her grandfather with slow, cautious steps before kneeling on the floor next to him.
She had the biggest, greenest eyes Carmen had ever seen. She smiled shyly at her before turning to look at Riley with wide-eyes. Carmen watched as Cal tenderly brushed his hand over Melina’s dark brown hair.
“You can speak, girl. They won’t tell on us,” he assured her, looking sternly at Carmen and Riley to let them know he would not accept anyone else knowing about his granddaughter.
“Hey,” Melina said in a softly accented voice. “It’s nice to finally get to talk to you.”
Carmen leaned forward, looking at Melina with concern. “Hello, Melina. If you don’t mind my asking, how old are you?”
“I was twenty-one last week,” Melina said with a sad smile. “Gramps and I have been counting the days since we were taken so we could keep track of how long it’s been.”
Carmen glanced at Cal and asked the question that was bugging her. “Why?”
Cal looked down sadly at his granddaughter. “The Antrox use women as a way of controlling the men. They don’t give them much choice. If they knew my granddaughter was a woman, there’s no telling what would have happened to her. It was easier passing her off as a boy. The trader who sold us to the Antrox couldn’t tell the difference and those insect creatures just accepted Mel as being a young boy, not old enough for the heavy work in the mines yet but old enough to keep for other duties,” he explained.
“I saw some of the other women being sold to traders who would come to drop things off at the mines,” Mel said quietly. “We were afraid they would sell me, especially if they knew I was a woman. I worked with horses at a farm near our home and was always good with animals so I worked with the Pactors. They aren’t much different from mules in the way they act. Gramps thought it would be good if I acted like I couldn’t speak and was not all there in the head,” she continued touching her temple with the tips of her fingers.
“When the mines ran out the Antrox decided I was too old to do much. Mel overheard them and hid in the tunnels where they couldn’t find her. She knew the tunnels backwards and forwards from the years of running errands. They couldn’t find her so they left us behind,” Cal said. “When the men on board the Horizon showed up, I had to take a chance. We were down to less than a week’s worth of food and water. Mel and I decided it would be best if we continued pretending she was my grandson with a handicap. It’s kept the men on board from looking at her,” he added.
“I don’t want them looking at me,” Mel said forcefully. “I saw what the males did to some of those women,” she said, flushing as she looked at Riley. “N
o offense, ma’am.”
Riley laughed and shook out her heavy mane of blonde, curly hair. “Darling, those insects didn’t know what to do with me! I had those bastards shaking in their long underwear!” She said with a wink. “I don’t think they were too happy with the trader who dropped me off at their place. Once we get home things will be better.”
Carmen looked startled at Riley. “Home? I thought you had ‘five’ mates with four of them not counting?” She asked with an amused grin.
Riley snorted in a very unladylike manner. “I just said I’d take the five hemorrhoids so they wouldn’t end up on someone’s plate for breakfast, lunch or dinner. But like all good hemorrhoids, they have continued to be a pain in my ass and it is time for them to pass on and be flushed down the nearest toilet, as my dear Grandma Pearl would say,” she said with an exaggerated sigh and one hand clenched over her heart as if she was making the ultimate sacrifice.
Mel giggled and glanced at her Granddad. “That sounds just like something you would say, Gramps.”
“Unappreciative little whippersnapper,” Cal said affectionately.
The door to the repair bay opened suddenly and Cree walked in. Mel immediately slammed her hat on her head and jumped to her feet, heading for the crates again. Carmen watched Cree’s face darken as his gaze followed Melina. A look of strain tightened his mouth into a straight line before he tore his gaze away to look at Carmen.
“My lady, your mate wishes to see you,” Cree said carefully. He cleared his throat before he looked at Riley. “Your mate as well, Lady Riley. Lord Vox said quote, “tell her to get her beautiful ass to our living quarters now’.”
Riley snorted and tossed her head in dismissal. “Tell him quote ‘my beautiful ass is quite comfortable where it is and he can shove his…” Cree choked on a cough as Riley continued to tell him what he could repeat to Vox. “Oh, never mind. Tell him I’ll be there when I’m damn well ready.”
Cree bowed stiffly before glancing toward the crates where Mel was hiding. “Yes, Lady Riley. Carmen?” He asked.
“I’ll come with you. See you later, Riley – Cal,” Carmen said with a smile. “Bye, Mel,” she called out as she stood up.
Cree’s eyes searched the darkness before he turned and escorted Carmen out of the repair bay. Carmen laid a gentle hand on his arm to stop him. Cree was surprised at the compassion he saw in the human female that had changed so much since his first meeting with her.
“We Earthlings are not always what we appear to be,” she said looking into the golden flames of Cree’s eyes in concern. “We don’t give up our hope of returning home easily. Cal and Mel want to return to Earth.”
Cree stiffened before he shrugged. “Why should I or Calo care if the old man and the boy want to return? It would be better off for all if they did.”
Carmen opened her mouth to repeat her comment about all not being as they appeared but thought better of it. From the closed look on Cree’s face, it was obvious he did not want to discuss it anymore. She glanced at the door to the repair bay with a frown. Things could become very complicated if he or Calo found out that Mel was actually Melina.
Chapter 19Several days later, Carmen stared out the viewport in the lounge area aboard the Horizon lost in thought. Her life had changed so much in such a short time. She gently brushed her fingers along Harvey’s smooth head. The gold symbiot could sense her emotional distress and had stayed close to her all day. She let her fingers caress his head, needing the touch to help calm her.
She was no longer nervous about being in space which was a good thing considering they were going to be away from Valdier for several more months. That didn’t mean she was ready to jump into one of the small shuttles anytime soon, she was just more comfortable on the larger warship. There was plenty to do on board to keep her busy. She and Creon worked out each day at different times due to his work schedule. Sometimes when they couldn’t meet up she would coax Cree or Calo into a sparring match by baiting them. Most of the time when he was working, she studied the history of Valdier and worked on learning their language. She also chatted with her sister a few times. Their relationship was slowly improving. It wasn’t quite what it had been before Scott’s death but it was better than it had been in the past three years.
Creon had stopped by during a brief break in his work to tell her that Kelan had found Trisha. She had been taken to a hostile moon known for its dangerous inhabitants. He had reassured her that Trisha was unharmed and safe aboard the V’ager. She didn’t know all the facts about what happened, just that Trisha and Kelan were safe and they were headed for Earth.
He and Ha’ven had also talked with Mandra and Adalard, Ha’ven’s younger brother as well. They had met up with an informant and were heading to an isolated moon on the outskirts of the Curizan star system. The Horizon was on its way to meet up with them. It would take a couple of days at full speed.
She had sadly said goodbye to Riley yesterday. One of the Sarafin warships had met up with the Horizon and Vox, Riley, and the rest of the crew from the freighter, minus Bob and Fred, transferred over to it. Vox’s warship was traveling beside the Horizon to Raffvin’s hidden base. The Sarafin King was not about to let a chance at retaliation slip through his fingers. Riley was going to stay on board the Horizon but Vox had refused to let her. She didn’t go quietly. In fact, Carmen was pretty sure everyone within three star systems could have heard her. On Vox’s side, there was a lot of cursing, followed by a wide variety of threats that Riley blew off. Riley on the other hand was more into throwing a few wild swings and anything else she could get her hands on. Carmen decided she was in desperate need of a few pointers after she belted ‘Fred’ upside one of his heads and her fist got caught in ‘Bob’s’ gelatin body. She suspected that was one of the reasons those two unusual aliens decided it was safer to stay aboard the Horizon rather than transfer with the others. Vox finally had to tie Riley up and thrown her over his shoulder before they all departed in a hurry. She had tried to help her new friend but Creon had caught her and pinned her down when she went after the huge cat shifter.
She raised her hand and laid it against the cool, clear glass, staring with unseeing eyes at the darkness on the other side. It mirrored the way she was feeling on the inside. She closed her eyes against the depression that was threatening to take her down its dark, cold path again. She had been down it so many times over the past three years. She had hoped that she was finally able to resist it but the dark hold of pain and grief appeared not to be done with her yet.
“What troubles you, mi elila?” Creon’s soft, concerned voice came from behind her.
Carmen wiped at her face self-consciously, trying to make sure she wasn’t crying. “Nothing,” she said, glancing quickly over her shoulder at him with a forced smile before turning back around to face the dark cloak of space.
His dark frown showed she had not been very convincing. He walked toward her. Once he was standing behind her, he wrapped his arms around her drawing her closer to his warmth. They stood like that for several minutes before he brushed a light kiss against her ear.
“Perhaps you have been overdoing it lately?” He suggested. “Between your studies, your visits to Cal, and working out you have not had much rest,” he said.
She shook her head. “I’m fine,” she said distantly.
“You forget you are also carrying our younglings,” he insisted. “This will take much out of you, as well.”
Carmen leaned back in his arms and wrapped her hands over his. “How would you know that?” She asked with a small, sad smile as her head rested against his chest.
“I asked Dola,” he confessed sheepishly. “I wanted to know everything there was to know about a female who was with young. She told me it was different for each female, and even each youngling, but that there are some things that happen frequently to all females during their breeding time.”
“Like?” She asked curiously.
He moved his hands down to cover the slight
rounding that was appearing under her loose shirt. “Like you would become tired more easily. You might become emotional at times. If you do, she said I must always agree with you,” he added teasingly before continuing. “You will go through a period when you might become sick all of the sudden,” he said resting his chin on the top of her silky hair. “She also warned that it might be worse for you because our species do not carry as long as yours does.”
“Well, that explains why I was puking my guts out earlier,” she mused before her shoulders slumped. “I want to go home, Creon,” she whispered.
Creon’s arms tightened. “We will return to Valdier as soon as we have killed Raffvin. We will be joining Mandra and Adalard in a few days. With the combined force of Curizan, Valdier, and Sarafin warships there is no way he can defeat us,” he assured her.
Carmen bit her lip and shook her head. “I want to go home. Not to Valdier but to Earth.”
Creon’s body stiffened and his arms tightened around her. “Your home is now on Valdier, Carmen. You can never return to Earth,” he said in a soothing voice.
Carmen lowered her head so he couldn’t see the tears forming in her eyes in the reflection of the glass covering the viewport. She made to step away from him but his arms tightened, refusing to let her go. He reached down and tilted her head back far enough to look into her glittering eyes.
