by L. M. Brown
“Him? How do you know it’s male?”
Kit raised a brow and smirked.
“On second thought, don’t answer that,” Halor said.
“We should feed him,” Kit said. “It would be cruel to starve him.”
“You are not going anywhere near the creature,” Halor insisted, his tone making it clear this was not an argument Kit was ever going to win. “It’s probably dangerous and it could be riddled with disease.”
“I wonder what he eats.”
“It’ll have to make do with what we have on board. We’re not going back to the spaceport to pick up anything else. We’ve no room anyway.”
The craft wasn’t exactly large, with just three levels, and crammed to the hilt with the cargo they were currently delivering for their latest customer. Making room for another being was going to be a struggle. At least, for the moment, he was contained behind the safety barrier that secured the flight deck from the back of the ship in the case of an emergency.
“Perhaps we should put some seeds and water into a bowl and slip it through the barrier now, while he’s sleeping?” Kit suggested.
“Good idea,” Halor agreed. “I’ll keep the laser on it while you’re placing the bowls in there. It should be safe enough.”
“Maybe we should give him enough food to last a few days, while it’s safe.”
Halor nodded. “I like the way you think. What would I do without you?”
Kit kissed him on the cheek before jumping down the hatch to the lower level. “You’d be sexually frustrated and bad-tempered,” he called back as he landed safely on his feet.
Halor’s laughter echoed down after him.
* * * *
When Logan woke again, he groaned at the sight of the same strange surroundings he had seen the first time. He guessed it wasn’t a dream, then.
He still felt weak, but the dizziness he had experienced the last time he had tried to sit up was blessedly absent.
“Hello?” he called. “Is anyone there?”
No one replied or came to see him.
Logan wondered whether to risk standing up while he was on his own with no one to support him. His stomach growled, a reminder that now he was out of cryo, he needed to eat and drink.
As he studied the room around him, he spied two bowls on the floor that reminded him of dog or cat bowls. He couldn’t tell what was in them from where he was, but he guessed that might be his next meal. If he wanted it, he would have to get down from the pod, whether or not help was on its way.
Taking it slowly, Logan sat up and swung his legs round to the side of the pod that didn’t have the control panel on it. He didn’t recall the pod being quite so high when he had climbed into it.
It took him nearly five minutes to ease himself off the pod and stand on his own two feet. The food and water seemed so far away, but he knew he had to get there if he was going to regain his strength.
Taking it one step at a time, Logan slowly made his way across the room. When he reached the bowls, he stared at the contents for several minutes.
Seeds? Do they think I’m a bloody parrot or something?
He recalled the bird-man who had been working the panel on the pod. He guessed this was his diet. He wondered what the cat-like creature ate and supposed he should be grateful that the bowl didn’t contain cat food like the felines on Earth were fed.
Ignoring the seeds, he sipped from the bowl of water instead. Perhaps one of the creatures would return and bring him something more palatable. He wasn’t sure whether the seeds were safe to eat or not, and he wasn’t quite so hungry that he wanted to take the risk.
A movement out of the corner of his eye distracted him from the food. Logan stayed still, quietly sipping the water as he watched the cat-man across the room. The feline didn’t appear to have noticed him yet.
When the green eyes of the cat-man stared in his direction, Logan gave a small—and he hoped friendly—smile. “Hi.”
The feline jumped a little and backed up a couple of paces. He yowled loudly and a moment later the bird-man clambered up from a hatch in the floor.
What followed was some form of conversation between the two creatures that Logan couldn’t understand at all. The squawking and meowing meant as much to him as the noises of any of the birds and cats on Earth had.
Deciding to approach them slowly, Logan was unprepared for the barrier that halted his progress just a couple of feet past where the bowls had been placed. It didn’t look like glass or any other material Logan was familiar with. In fact, the barrier was completely invisible to him. He could feel the smooth surface, but he couldn’t see anything at all.
The bird-man seemed to be keeping an eye on him as he ushered the feline behind him. Logan could see the protectiveness he had for his smaller companion.
Logan picked up the bowl of seeds and waved to get their attention. The bird-man approached the other side of the barrier and stared at him.
“Do you have anything else besides this?” Logan asked, not hopeful at all that either of them would be able to understand. The blank look he received in response to his question seemed to confirm that. Logan supposed gestures were the best way for him to get his point across, since there was clearly a language barrier here. He pointed at the bowl of seeds, shook his head, and held it out towards the barrier.
The bird-man gave a sound that could only be described as a snort and walked away.
“I can’t eat this stuff,” Logan called after him. “Don’t you have anything else?”
The feline stepped closer. Logan wondered what he ate, because even if the bird-man survived on seeds, surely the cat-man didn’t.
Unlike the bird-man, the cat-man seemed to be more skittish, and Logan made a valiant attempt to keep his voice calm and soothing.
Logan picked up one of the seeds from the bowl and scrunched up his face in an expression of distaste. The feline gave him a smile in reply and stepped a little nearer.
Now that he could see him closer without the fog of being newly awoken, Logan could see the creature was even more cat-like than he had first realised. His ears were furred and pointed and while they weren’t on the top of his head, they were situated higher than human ears. He didn’t have whiskers on his face, but the smile had revealed the long incisors in his mouth. Farther down, he appeared to have the long tail of a cat poking out from beneath the kilt that covered the lower half of his body. Neither he nor the bird-man wore shirts, though considering how warm the ship was, that wasn’t much of a surprise. Perhaps when they were in cooler climes, they would be more fully clothed.
“Please?” Logan said. “Do you have anything else I can eat?”
The cat-man clearly didn’t understand his words, so Logan tried the tactic of gestures again. He picked up a seed and pointed it first at his own mouth, then at the feline.
The feline shook his head.
Logan put the seed back in the bowl. He pointed at the feline then at his mouth then at the feline again.
He had never seen a cat blush before, but there was a definite reddening to the lighter parts of his patched cheeks. He couldn’t imagine what he had said to embarrass the creature. Unfortunately, it didn’t answer his question as to what the feline ate in lieu of seeds.
Logan placed the bowl on the floor and sat down beside it, leaning against the wall. He had been on his feet too long. The short distance he had walked from the pod had seemed like miles. He closed his eyes and drew a breath, trying to gather his strength again.
He didn’t realise the feline had moved or the barrier had been lowered until he felt a touch on his shoulder.
The cat-man held out a bottle to him and gave a soft meow.
Logan took the bottle and sniffed at the contents. There was a fruity smell to it—citrus, maybe. It wouldn’t fill his belly, but it would have to do for the moment. He took a swallow of it and found the taste pleasant.
“Thank you,” he said.
The feline nodded, seeming to un
derstand his words, at least on some level.
When Logan tried to rise, he found his legs were shaky, but the feline helped him, keeping him steady as he stood.
A loud squawking made both of them jump, and Logan nearly fell back down onto the floor.
The feline hissed at the bird-man, who drew his weapon and pointed it straight at Logan. The squawk he gave was very clear—one false move and he would shoot.
Logan simply wanted to get back to the pod, lay his head down, and rest again. A single look out the window at the blackness of space told him that no escape attempt would be worth it. They were clearly on some form of spaceship and that meant there was nowhere for him to run to. Perhaps, if he proved himself friendly—or at least not dangerous—they would help him find the way back to the rest of the human race and the new world they’d hoped to build for themselves.
Chapter Two
“I don’t think he’s dangerous,” Kit said after he and Halor were back on the other side of the barrier to the creature once more.
“You’re too trusting.”
Kit wrapped his arms around Halor’s waist, pressing against him. “That’s what my mama said to me when I told her I was going to work for you.”
“Did she indeed?”
“Oh yes. She was most unhappy about my decision.”
“But you did as you pleased anyway and will no doubt do the same again now.” Halor kissed him lightly. “Just be careful. Don’t lower the barrier without me there to cover you, and don’t get so close to him.”
“He’s weak. He can barely stand and needs help to walk. I’m pretty sure I could overpower him in a fight.”
“I don’t want you fighting him.”
“He seems scared rather than violent.”
“Not too scared to turn down good food.”
Kit screwed up his nose. “Just because he doesn’t like that rubbish you eat.”
“It’s good seed, the best on the market.”
“Don’t we have some fruits in the cargo?” Kit asked. “He seemed to like the juice I gave him.”
“The cargo is for our patron.”
“Would he really miss a few pieces of fruit?” Kit whispered. “Just enough to keep our guest from starving to death on the journey. We’ll be there in…what, twelve days?”
“Something like that—ten to twelve, fourteen at the most.”
“Fourteen days’ worth of fruit,” Kit said. “If they notice, you can take a pay cut, but I bet they won’t.”
Halor sighed and Kit knew he had won the argument. “I’ll go check the delivery and see what I can find to feed him.”
“If you must,” Halor said. “But he’s not our guest. Remember that. He’s a strange creature and he’s not to be trusted.”
Kit jumped down the hatch, landing on his feet with ease. He put in the code to open the cargo hold and used his nose to sniff out the best fruits for their guest. And he was a guest, no matter what Halor said. He wouldn’t trust him blindly, not until that trust was earned, but he wasn’t going to treat him as a prisoner.
When he had chosen a selection of fruits, he nimbly climbed up to the flight deck again and from there to the temporary quarters of the strange creature they had brought aboard.
He was sleeping in the same odd container they had found him trapped within. It appeared neither comfortable nor particularly warm. Kit detoured to the ship supply room and grabbed a couple of blankets and a feather-filled pillow. He hoped they would make him a little more comfortable. He wondered what the creature’s name was. Did he have one or was he the type of species who didn’t bother with such things? He couldn’t keep thinking of him as “the creature” or “the male.”
Kit lowered the barrier while Halor held his laser ready. He stepped over the threshold and placed the food down on the top of the small crate. He put the bedding on the floor beside it.
“Come back now,” Halor ordered.
“Let me take a closer look at the control panel,” Kit said. “I want to see what it says.”
“I told you there’s nothing on the panel that tells us how to install an autopilot. The language is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
“Did you try running it through the translator?”
“Of course,” Halor replied impatiently. “Now, leave it be.”
Kit shook his head and ran his fingers over the strange symbols. He couldn’t read it at all.
“Logan.”
Kit jumped at the sound of the male speaking his weird language.
“Kit, step back,” Halor said. “I haven’t got a clear shot if he attacks.”
“I’m fine,” Kit replied without taking his eyes from the stranger.
“Logan,” the man repeated, pointing to himself.
Kit tried to repeat the word, but the sound was one he had trouble forming. He gave it his best shot, then pointed to himself. “Kit.”
Logan frowned up at him and didn’t attempt to repeat Kit’s name or say anything else.
The differences in their languages were clearly going to cause problems if they hoped to communicate effectively.
Kit pointed at the food he had brought up from the cargo hold. “Eat,” he said.
Logan looked over at where Kit pointed and nodded. That at least was something.
* * * *
Halor didn’t lower his laser until Kit was safely behind the barrier once more. He sometimes wondered how the feline had become so important to him in such a short space of time. Or, not so short, he amended. It had been nearly two years since he had hired Kit. How time flew.
Halor navigated the craft into the safe orbit of a nearby moon and decided to call it a night. Leaving the stranger to his own slumber, Halor retreated to his bed, taking Kit with him.
“I think he tried to tell me his name,” Kit said as they snuggled beneath the blankets. “He said the same word a couple of times and pointed to himself.”
“And what is it?” Halor asked.
“Logan,” Kit replied, his tongue struggling with the word this time, as well.
“Are you sure that’s even a word?”
Kit shrugged. “I guess it is in his language. Maybe when we reach port, we can see if the universal translator can help?”
“When we reach port, we’re dropping him off and he can be someone else’s problem,” Halor replied. “This ship isn’t big enough for three of us.”
Kit gave him a knowing look. “It had four berths last time I counted, and we’re only using this one. Once your cargo is delivered, there’ll be plenty of space.”
Halor grumbled at being caught out. He should know better than to get into an argument of this nature with Kit. He was too quick-witted by far.
“I don’t like the idea of dumping him in some spaceport,” Kit continued. “He seems so lost and confused. Besides, we’re responsible for him.”
Halor closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to escape the sound of Kit’s voice, the voice of reason. His soft-hearted lover would take in every stray they stumbled across if he could. Already he could tell Kit was becoming attached to their latest acquisition.
“It might be quite nice to have an extra set of hands around here,” Kit commented. “You know, someone to pilot the ship when we’re…er, otherwise engaged, shall we say.”
Halor could hear the pleading in Kit’s tone, but he had no intention of making promises that he might not be able to keep. Trust had to be earned, and while Kit had proved his loyalty a dozen times or more, the stranger had not.
“We don’t even know if it’s of sufficient intelligence to handle a craft of this nature,” Halor reminded Kit. “Many sub-species are not able to complete more than a single task at a time, and piloting this ship means being able to monitor the sensors, watch the visual display, and at the same time, actually control our direction and speed. It’s not something everyone can manage.”
“I know,” Kit agreed. “But I think he seemed intelligent.”
“You’ve spoken
to him for barely a minute. You’ve no idea what he was saying, he can’t understand you or speak either of our languages, and you think he’s intelligent?”
Kit grinned. “Very well. He might be a complete fool, but he is handsome, isn’t he?”
Halor rolled his eyes. “Now we get to it, don’t we? You’re thinking of him as a new food source.”
“Maybe,” Kit said. “Plus, your parents do keep hinting that you should expand your nest.”
Halor didn’t care what his parents thought about his unusually small nest. Their pushing him to expand and take more lovers only served to drive him off-world for longer periods of time. “Am I not enough for you?” Halor teased.
“Oh, you’re more than enough,” Kit purred in his ear. “But there’s something about our new companion that draws me to him. I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I did when I scented you across the spaceport. Even when he’s not in the same room, I can sense his presence. My mouth waters in anticipation of tasting his cream. I can smell his arousal, strong enough that I believe our new companion may be amenable to such an idea. When I was close to him, I could feel he was hard and aching.”
Halor smiled. “I’m hard and aching when I’m around you, too. He might just be a species that gets that way at certain times of the year. It doesn’t necessarily mean he’s attracted to you.”
Kit licked around one of Halor’s nipples, over his chest, and along his neck, his rough tongue causing Halor’s cock to twitch in anticipation of being touched there. Instead Kit moved higher, teasing and nipping at Halor’s ear. “Oh, he is. When I enter the room, I can feel his eyes on me—watching, studying, desiring.”
“He does?” Halor hadn’t noticed any particular reaction from the creature, but Kit had always been the more observant of the two of them.
“He wasn’t in any position to act on it at first,” Kit said. “Perhaps now that his strength has been restored, he may wish to join us here.”
“This berth is rather small for three of us,” Halor pointed out.
“I believe we can make do,” Kit teased. “Or we could remodel the ship.”
