Tchaikovsky: Stargazer Alien Barbarian Brides #3

by Black, Tasha

  She felt it through the bond, something troubling him.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Only a small thing,” he told her in a soothing voice.

  She meant to sit up and demand answers, but Peter drew light circles on her shoulder blades with his fingertips and sleep gathered her up instead.

  25

  Angel

  A few hours later, Angel was awake again, and piloting their shuttle back toward The Stargazer at top speed.

  When the cruiser rebooted, Peter had woken her gently to explain about the shadowy creature he suspected was aboard Mama’s ship.

  “I just don’t understand how it could have gotten onto The Stargazer,” she worried aloud. “None of us would have brought it back.”

  “I only know what I saw in the other one’s mind,” Peter told her. “I saw it clearly, in the cargo bay. As soon as we dock we’ll go after it.”

  “What if it’s too late?” Angel worried.

  “We can’t think that way,” Peter told her.

  She felt his strength coursing through her, lifting her up.

  He was right. There was nothing they could do but get to the ship as quickly as possible.

  We’ve made it this far.

  His unspoken thought passed through their bond and she smiled up at him.

  It was hard to believe this beautiful man was her mate. He was complicated, but she loved his every imperfection. Together they filled each other’s empty places. She was no longer rudderless. They were a family now. A family that would protect and cherish their son.

  His hand on her shoulder told her that he had heard her thoughts as easily as she had heard his.

  They were getting close to The Stargazer.

  Angel pulled up just shy of smashing into the dock.

  The gateway lifted and she brought the little cruiser home.

  She lifted the door and leapt out, with Peter hot on her heels.

  Just inside, the others waited.

  “Angel, what were you thinking?” Raina demanded.

  “Brother,” Leo said darkly.

  “That was a speedy rescue mission, privateer,” Mama commended Angel gruffly.

  “Can’t talk now,” Angel yelled as she elbowed her way past them. “Which unit?”

  12-C, Peter told her.

  It took her a second to realize he hadn’t spoken it aloud. Now that their bond was at full strength, he didn’t need to.

  The other’s hadn’t followed, but she sensed Peter close behind her and confidence filled her chest. He was all the back-up she needed.

  “What in the hell is going on?” Mama’s voice rang down the corridor.

  Angel took the aluminum stairs down to the cargo bay two at a time, reaching the right cage just in time to remember that she didn’t have the handful of keys necessary to get inside.

  “Keys,” she screamed up to Peter, not trusting herself enough to rely on the bond for communication.

  He laughed and bounded down the stairs, one arm out, tan skin turning shiny and reflective before her eyes.

  He flicked the lock off the cage with his metallic claw as if it were a toy.

  Angel burst through the gates, scanning each crate for some sign of the shadowy evil that lurked within.

  In the dim of the cargo bay, everything looked like a shadow.

  She paced past sacks and chests, crates full of tubes, and racks of powdered foodstuffs.

  “There,” Peter said, pointing to a wooden crate in the rear corner of the bay.

  They approached it cautiously.

  Angel slid her hand into her pocket and felt the reassuring weight of the baton.

  “What are you doing down here?” Raina’s voice cut through the silence at the stairs down to the cargo bay.

  Angel shook her head, trying to concentrate.

  She spotted movement in the shadows. One shade peeled itself off from its brethren and rose like smoke before them.

  There was a clattering on the metal stairs as the others ran down to join them.

  Angel took a step closer.

  “Now,” Peter whispered.

  But she wasn’t sure it was all out. She had to be sure she got it all.

  The shadow trembled with excitement.

  Angel stepped closer still.

  The shadow swelled to her size, its form beginning to roll and waver with glee.

  She held still, feeling the icy cold emanate from it. Misty tendrils swept toward her and still she waited.

  “Angel,” Peter hissed.

  At last the thing drew itself up tall enough that she could see the ragged edges of it floating over the floor.

  The tendril closest to her slid around her left wrist and turned solid.

  Angel moved quickly, sliding the baton out of her pocket and activating it.

  Angel had modified the charge of the baton, after she’d noted its effectiveness on her first mission. What had originally been designed to incapacitate was now enough to kill. Activating it while the creature was latched onto her was risky. The charge might be enough to finish them both.

  She thought of Tchai, sleeping peacefully in a cabin above.

  It was a risk she was willing to take.

  The creature seemed to sense danger at the last minute, but it was too late.

  She braced herself and thrust the electrified baton into the center of its form.

  “Angel, no,” Peter’s voice echoed in her ears.

  She felt the jolt of electricity, pain splintering through her body as she struggled to hold on.

  The claw around her wrist gave way and she felt sweet relief.

  The shadow convulsed in front of her, droplets of it exploding into nothing as it danced out the last of its misery.

  When it was over, Angel stood frozen for a moment, her baton sizzling.

  Her knees gave out and she felt herself sink to the floor.

  26

  Peter

  Peter lifted his mate from where she had fallen.

  “I’m sure she’ll be okay,” Raina said, scampering down to retrieve Angel’s baton. “Let’s get her up to the sick bay.”

  Peter carried her up the stairs. In spite of her larger than life presence, she felt small in his arms.

  “Please wake up,” he whispered into her hair.

  A hand fell on his shoulder and he turned. The woman the crew called Mama stood there, apprising him with her one good eye.

  She’d been facing away when he watched Angel hand over Tchai. And he’d raced by her so fast on the docks.

  Now, for the first time, he really saw her. The recognition hit him like a hammer.

  “Thirteen,” he said, barely able to form the word.

  “Seven,” she replied. When was the last time someone had called him that? “You got out.”

  He looked her in the eye and saw it all right there. The two of them had suffered so much together in that dungeon. But the woman they called Thirteen had never lost her fire, no matter what was done to her on the pleasure ship.

  “So did you,” he said.

  Now he understood why she bought out the stasis pods and helped the occupants. She knew what fate they might suffer if she didn’t help.

  “I’ll take you to sick bay,” she said gruffly, marching beside him.

  He walked along, silently. Wondering if she knew what he had thought of her before.

  “How did you get out?” he asked at length.

  “A woman bought out my contract, just when I thought I couldn’t hold onto my sanity anymore,” Mama said. “She gave me the skills to become a privateer. Now I do the same for others. You can call me Mama now. I don’t ever want to be just a number again.”

  He nodded. “I’m Peter.”

  “Glad to meet you on your own terms,” Mama said with a half-smile.

  Peter couldn’t smile back. Not with his mate limp in his arms.

  “She’s strong,” Mama said, looking down at Angel.

  He nodded.

&
nbsp; Come back to me, please…

  Her eyelids fluttered as if she had heard his call through their bond.

  “Peter,” she murmured.

  “Angel,” he sighed in relief.

  “I-I…”

  “Yes, my love?”

  “I’m so hungry,” she moaned.

  Peter smiled down at his mate as Mama threw her head back and let out a deep, throaty laugh.

  27

  Peter

  Peter paced the corridor.

  “Hold still,” BFF21 chirped excitedly.

  She wanted to fix his tie. Again.

  He stopped and let her fuss.

  “Are you nervous, brother?” Leo teased.

  “He’s probably just excited about all the good food that’s finally on this ship,” Nick laughed.

  Leo laughed too.

  Finally, Peter joined them.

  Everything was easier now that they were all together. He hoped they could find work together, or that Mama would keep all of them on. Now that The Stargazer’s regular crew was back from their mission, the little ship was beginning to feel crowded. At least they had brought good food back with them.

  “Marriage is a big commitment,” BFF21 said brightly.

  “I’m already committed to her,” Peter said. “Don’t worry about that. I just don’t want to mess it up. Human women dream of this day.”

  “If you make a mistake, just shift into Leo, so she blames him,” Nick said.

  Leo shoved Nick.

  “Hey, you shoved me,” Nick yelped, shoving him back.

  “Stop your rough-housing, this is a wedding ceremony, not a Cormathian tavern.” Mama’s familiar hoarse voice carried down the corridor and instantly all three men straightened up.

  Peter smiled at his old friend.

  “I’ve got a wedding gift for you three,” Mama said, her eye twinkling.

  Leo’s eyebrows went up.

  “Privateering isn’t really a family business,” Mama explained. “There’s a lot of rough language on this ship, and that’s during the good times. Honestly, your skills would be wasted on my outfit.”

  “It is our privilege to help you—” Nick began.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Mama said. “We managed to get all three ships out of that shadow web. One was enough to buy out the next shipment of stasis pods, I’m taking delivery next week. The second one will set me up to buy out another shipment if it should come in before the new crew recoups my investment on the first.”

  “That’s great,” Peter nodded. He was happy that Mama would have enough to continue her mission, and enough to line her own pockets with the sale of the third ship. She deserved wealth and happiness.

  Though if he had thought The Stargazer was crowded now, he could only imagine what it was going to be like next week.

  “The third ship is for the six of you,” Mama said. “It will need some work, but with all of you pitching in, I think you have the skills to get it up and fully running. Hospitality travel is a good family industry.”

  He could not begin to imagine the value of the ship. It still had a working biodome.

  “Well, nine of you, I guess,” Mama continued. “If you count the little ones.”

  Peter stared at her, dumbstruck. In the space of a few breaths, this woman had changed his life, all of their lives, forever.

  “Don’t worry,” she told them. “All mentions of the babies have been scrubbed from the salvage records. As far as anyone knows, they disappeared with the rest of the crews. It’s up to you to keep them safe and help them hone their skills from here on in. I don’t know anything about babies, especially ones that were engineered to interface with ships, so you’re on your own there.”

  “Mama, we appreciate the gesture, but we can’t accept—” Leo began.

  “It wasn’t a question, so don’t worry about it. Title’s already in your names. I haven’t told the girls yet. I thought you might want to deliver that news yourselves,” Mama said, wiping what surely couldn’t be a tear from the corner of her eye. “Now do you three want to sit around arguing politely, or do you want to get married?”

  BFF20 sailed down the corridor.

  “Are you mad?” he demanded in his English accent. “The brides are coming. You can’t see them yet. Get in there!”

  Nick gave Peter a friendly shove.

  “Let’s do this,” Peter said.

  They marched into the mess hall. It was decorated with strings of helm-lights. The lights had looked a little odd when they were putting them up earlier, but now, with the main lights dimmed, it gave the impression of starlight, if you didn’t look too closely.

  Someone had covered the aisle between the tables with paper flower cutouts.

  The regular crew of The Stargazer sat at the tables. Three of the women held the babies.

  The two holding Tolstoy and Tesla were humanoid. Gelmarra, a crewmember Angel had become close with, held Tchaikovsky.

  The little fellow grinned up at Gelmarra’s silvery face as his fingers traced the place where her shimmering exoskeleton met the skin of her chest. The Brantarchian woman really did look exceptionally lovely by helm-light. Peter was glad his son had a new friend. Though, of course, it sounded like they would soon be going off on their own adventures.

  “Bah,” Tchai cried as Peter passed him.

  Peter smiled and tousled his son’s golden curls.

  Gelmarra gave him an impressed wink.

  When they reached the end of the aisle, they stood with their backs to the portal and watched the doorway.

  Someone was playing a piece of Earth music on a homemade melodisphere as Anna entered the mess hall, resplendent in a homemade gown.

  Leo sighed with pleasure and the whole room giggled.

  After Anna, Raina entered, wearing a crown that looked like it had been sculpted out of old copper circuitry boards.

  Then the song seemed to fade and the world to recede as Peter watched his mate enter the room.

  Angel’s hair was swept off her neck in a loose bun. A delicate copper necklace barely hid the spot where Peter’s bite had marked her.

  A swirl of fabric surrounded her like a cloud. It took a moment for him to realize her dress was made of the pale netting from the cargo bay.

  It hit him suddenly that she was a natural traveler. And so were her friends. These women could make a fairytale wedding out of a frigate full of scrap.

  And they didn’t know it yet, but they were about to make an abandoned luxury cruiser into a home.

  Hot tears prickled his eyes as Angel placed her hands in his.

  “Are you okay?” she whispered.

  “I’ve never been happier,” he whispered back.

  They stood patiently as Mama read the words of the ceremony three times, once for each couple. Peter listened to it all in a happy haze.

  “Now, by the power vested in me by the Privateer’s Handbook, section twelve, chapter fourteen, I now pronounce you legally married,” Mama said at last.

  No one waited for permission to kiss their mates.

  Humanoid and alien shouts of encouragement came from the mess hall as Peter kissed his beautiful bride.

  When at last he pulled away, she gazed up at him with starry eyes.

  “I love you, Peter,” she told him.

  “I love you too,” he said, smiling down at her. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Great things are ahead of us.”

  “Great things are already here,” she said, smiling her warm smile at him, sending sunshine to his very bones.

  “Oh, just you wait,” Peter told her.

  “Somebody misses you,” Gelmarra said, approaching them with a disgruntled looking Tchai.

  “Tchai,” Angel cried, putting her arms out for him.

  Tchai chuckled, all rainbows once again now that he was in his mother’s arms.

  “Let’s go for a little walk with your mom, son,” Peter said. “We have some really interesting news for her.”
>
  Angel gave him a questioning look.

  “Do you trust me?” he asked.

  “Completely,” she told him.

  He put an arm around her and they walked toward the corridor.

  “How would you feel about renovating an old luxury cruiser, and running it with my brothers and your friends?”

  The sound of her delighted laughter filled the corridor.

  And it filled his heart. All his broken pieces fit together, now. This was only the beginning.

  ***

  Thanks for reading Tchaikovsky!

  Don’t forget to sign up at www.tashablack.com to find out what’s in store for the the new crew and their special babies!

  In the meantime, if you’re in the mood for more steamy alien romance, just keep reading for a sample of the very first Stargazer Alien Mail Order Brides book: Bond.

  Or grab your next book right now:

  http://www.tashablack.com/stargazer.html

  Bond (Sample)

  1

  Posey

  It was happening again.

  But this time it was real, Posey was sure of it.

  She looked down and indeed her nails were done in the perfect French manicure she’d applied just this morning.

  But she couldn’t smell the fresh nail-lacquer over the overwhelming scent of cocoa butter.

  The silent girls backstage had slathered her in it and then rubbed her down until her whole body shone like a star.

  Now she was warm and smooth. Every step she took pleasantly jiggled her nearly naked body.

  She did have on a pair of very tall high heels that were somehow both supportive and stable, in spite of looking like nothing more than spider webs. She wore a thong made of a shimmering soft material she had never seen before.

  Aside from those two items, the only other thing that adorned her was a thick silver chain hung around her neck. It reminded her of the choke chain the neighbors’ Doberman wore, but Posey didn’t care.