by Stella Cassy
“Wow.” I swallowed hard. “When was the last time you were on Earth?”
“Years ago. I should have mentioned that my parents are from Earth but ...” She clasped her hands together, her brows puckered slightly. “I’ve never lived there, only visited my home planet.”
“How in the world is that possible?” I gripped the side of the pool. “You’re completely human, like a million other women back home.”
“Yes, I am, but I was born here.”
“In space?” That was a question I would never have thought to ask her. I wasn’t surprised to see she was brainwashed by Tarion.
“Yes.”
Hell. Her almost perfect alien accent, the way she held herself, her ease. She was more than just an ex slave, or a human like me. Odd, but familiar. Human born, but alien bred. Like me, somewhat. I rubbed a finger across my nail beds. “My manicurist is going to have to spend an hour on these cuticles.”
She swam to the other end of the pool. I let go of the edge of the pool and floated on my back. A thin strip of space filled with starlight glared down at me.
“Lara?” She was back, treading water in front of me.
“Yes?” My voice cracked and I cleared my throat. I sniffed. She put her hand over mine. A tear splashed into the green liquid.
“Don’t cry,” she said. “You’re lucky to end up with a Hielsrane.”
“I wasn’t at first. Those white furry aliens took me. The —”
“The Pax,” she said, her voice hard for the first time. “They’re the worst. I was with them too.” She laid back and floated on her back beside me. Unlike her arms and back, her belly was completely smooth. This was obviously her first baby. The few pregnant women I’d encountered had complained bitterly about the stretch marks all over their bodies.
“Why are humans slaves out here?” I asked.
“I don’t know. There are only a few of us as far as I know. It’s as if there’s some kind of pact to operate discretely among the mercenaries abducting people from earth. As long as it’s not widely known on Earth what’s happening out here and the number of humans in space remains small, then they can control the market indefinitely.”
“Do you think governments on Earth know?”
“Tarion does not think so,” she said. “Or they’re trying to conceal it from being known to the general public as has happened with some of the planets we’ve taken.”
“I was hoping to get back home by going with you.” That was not going to happen easily now. It hardly seemed like an option. She didn’t know anything about Earth. “You can keep living like this, but I wasn’t born out here. I can’t do it. Abducting people, making slaves of them, it’s not right.”
“It isn’t. I’ll do what I can to help you and any other human I come across, after I deliver this baby.” She patted my shoulder. “You’re safe with Lehar. You’ll have to get him on your side. Tarion was a lot more stubborn than Lehar seems to be. I tried to escape the pompous Drakon, but he tracked me down every time.” She smiled and patted her belly.
“You don’t have a collar.” I touched the necklace.
“No.” The bitter edge was in her voice again. “But I did for years before I met him.” She gave me a wry smile which softened into another dreamy look.
“You ...you love him?”
“I do.” That serene look was back in place. “At first I thought I had what I used to hear my mother describe as Stockholm syndrome.” She threw her head back and laughed. “Have you heard of it?”
I nodded.
“After a awhile, I knew it wasn’t that.” She looked me straight in the eyes. “Could you love Lehar, too?”
“What? My home is on Earth.” I wasn’t like her. She had been born out here. The first human I encountered turned out to be an alien expat, dual citizen.
I squeezed my eyes shut as tight as I could and plunged completely underneath the liquid.
12
Lehar
I tipped back a hydro pack and stretched out on the chaise while the surveillance footage of Coovoo played out on the viewing screen. On the adjacent chair, Tarion’s expression grew pensive as he watched.
My dragon had settled by the time Dashel exited soon after the females had left. Carissa, big with Tarion’s heir, must be inciting unrest in every Drakon she encountered, if the rumors were true that females carrying a Drakon emitted hormones which stirred a male’s dragon need to mate.
If I didn’t keep my distance, I would be in my quarters with Lara more often than I already was. She would have reason to move back into the room across the hall.
Tarion paused the video. He lifted a palm-sized container and tossed it my way. I caught the treat, which we’d discovered many rotations ago. It was packed with nearly a day’s caloric requirements per noumat.
“Only found on Ercoaip, cousin.” I smiled at the familial title we only used among close blood while off-duty.
“I am empty-handed this time.” I threw my head back and tapped out a couple of noumat seeds into my mouth.
He grinned. “I am one up on you then.”
“The next one shall be mine.” For once, it did not needle me because I had gained much more than another point in our game. Waiting for me in my quarters was a female more rare and exquisite than I ever imagined possessing. Although he, too, had a human, she was not like mine. “Matilda has given me her list of wants from the markets of Coovoo. She thinks her latest punishment will prevent her from going planet-side.”
“That is quite possible as she was pardoned from her last infraction of the ship’s rules.” Tarion tossed seeds into his mouth. “Your recent acquisition from Nish pleases Carissa very much.”
My mind went first to the damaged circlet I managed to hang on to for Matilda. She was delighted, but that token was too insignificant for Carissa to comment on. I was always bringing my niece trinkets from my travels. Acquisition, the word caused me to hesitate. “She said that?” I said to cover my confusion.
“Your credits must be light.” Tarion directed an intent look my way.
Of course he meant my human, Lara of line Abernathy. In such a short time span, I had become so accustomed to her being by my side, a few strides away, or within sight on one of the security monitors, that she didn’t seem new, only a regular part of my daily life. “My human.” Lara. “A rare find.”
“Will you be keeping her or —”
“No,” I said more forcefully than I had intended. Whatever he was going to suggest was not a possibility. Why did everyone think I wanted to relinquish her? “She suits me very well. Human females, there is something magnetic about them, is there not? I am beginning to understand why Carissa had such an impact on you.”
“Carissa is my life mate.” He leaned forward. “What is her purpose here, other than the obvious?”
Why was he interrogating me about this? “She wears a collar.”
“You covered her nudity during our transmission,” he said.
So, he had noticed and remembered to point it out to me.
“Insignificant.” Her presence in my chambers suggested a significance that was not intended, and my covering her body would seal my intentions in any Drakonian’s eyes. No one covered a slave’s body, especially from their superior. It was not normally done, even when the superior was related. My ignorance of such matters should be sufficient.
I laid back on the chaise and laced my fingers behind my head.
“How often do you visit her? Does she spend all her lunars in your chambers as I am told?”
“Occasionally, I visit her room and she visits mine. Why would anyone relay that information?” I did not know why I lied when I could not remember the last lunar I lay alone. First commanders did not have to lie because they were not questioned and scrutinized about such trivial matters.
“The information was overhead and relayed to me,” he said. “Is she mate or slave, Lehar?”
“Are you commander or cousin at this moment, sir?” I dr
agged my nails along the underside of the chair as I struggled to maintain my usual equanimity, to keep my face neutral but attentive.
“Is there a difference for a Hielsrane?” He clapped a hand on my shoulder.
“Once, such a comment would not have bothered you. Of the two of us, it would have bothered me.”
“I demand the name uttered.”
“No name was given. I would have recognized the signs from my own history. Do you not recall my behavior when I first met Carissa? Your unrest is concerning, as your captain and cousin. You do not often surprise me, a quality I’ve come to rely on. It was a surprise to me that we had a new fleet member.”
“Cousin, you are correct,” I said. “She has a room near mine. She fits well into Hielsrane life, into my daily routine. She’s inquisitive but not disruptive.” Of late that was true.
“I would be surprised if she were not often in your quarters, considering she is a recent acquisition.”
“I don’t think of her that way, as a result of the transaction,” I said. “I think I’m beginning to understand your feelings toward Carissa.”
“Have you given her your fire, your bite?” he said, in a tone that suggested he thought me imprudent, reckless even.
Was he right?
I dropped an elbow on one knee. “No, I—” I scarcely remembered what I said or did when I was in the heat of mating with my human. I had blown her tears dry, her hair. Nowhere else. “I care for her and would not part with her under any circumstances. That is all I can be sure of.”
“Do you recall a similar conversation between us before Matilda was born?” he asked.
“Yes, but Carissa stole your craft right out of the cargo hold—”
He threw his head back and laughed, instead of the annoyance I expected. “She did cause every trouble I could imagine. Carissa is no longer a problem.”
“Although you had taken Carissa as your life mate, I did not expect such strong attraction to a non Drakonian.”
“Nor did I,” he said.
“Now let us talk of your new heir to be,” I said.
He needed no further prompting and launched into his healer’s estimation of Carissa’s delivery date, which was not as predictable and nearly a rotation long, unlike Drakon females. Carissa and Matilda were the only subjects other than the Hielsrane operation that he spoke of at length. Not even his ancient weapons collection warranted more.
“Carissa’s talk and mind has been more on your slave than our next heir.”
“Her name is Lara Abernathy,” I said, in a similar tone as the one as she had used to correct me when I referred to her as slave. Not that the title meant anything other than what it was, a matter of fact. Her voice was the one that whispered in my head, which then brought her face to mind, her brown eyes and solar blessed skin.
“Lehar,” Tarion scowled at me. “Give me your ears as well as your eyes.”
“Your words are heard.” I shook her image from my mind, looked him in the eye, and picked up the noumat container. I tossed another in my mouth. “I would have thought Carissa would not have time to think of anything other than you and Matilda.” Even though he did not mention Lara by name, I could not lie to myself that the thought of her had something to do with my blood rate returning to normal.
“Mattie is more a warrior than Carissa and I together already.” He went on to recount her endless pursuit to become a working crew member. “There is no convincing her that being a cadet is not optional even for my heir.”
I leaned back while he once again spoke on his favorite subject.
“However, it is not Carissa, Matilda or your slave that is at issue, but your disposition of late which has caused me and others concern.”
“Why do you talk of me in the same manner as you do the Coovoo rebels?” I laughed but his countenance remained serious. “Such talk has not found my ears or that of my first officers.” Or I would need to replace them. It was their job to keep me privy of any discontent in the ranks. We were sequestered in here to talk of the Coovoo threat. I faced the screen. “Computer resume—”
“Computer, ignore request.” Tarion stood and paced in front of me. “A question for you: what are your intentions in regard to this fleet?”
I sat up straight. “What other baseless rumors have reached your ears?” My caudal smacked the floor and Tarion’s went from it to my face.
“Little, but what I have heard is not what I have come to expect from you. Are you thinking of leaving Hielsrane?”
A recurring conversation, but one we had not had lately. I reared back in my chair. “If I struck out on my own, I would spend my fortune on some hapless crew whose loyalty would not be a tenth of the one I have now. Dashel might be persuaded to join me and a few others, but even if they were loyal, I would spend all my credits on a good fleet a quarter of the size of Hiels Two. We would be target for every mercenary and despot in the verse. Not that appealing.” My dragon stirred at the thought of going where the whim led but every word was true. “Who is so concerned that they would report to you my actions? What accusations?”
His expression lost some of its intensity and he nodded. He knew the situation as well as the curse and blessing of baring the Hielsrane name. “As far as I know, your crew is as loyal as my own. Nothing of import has been noted, except the departure from your character. The information was not directly reported to anyone. Carissa and Matilda obtain information more easily than anyone because others’ guards are down with them as they will never be with us. You should encourage your slave to be an extension of your ears as well.”
I put my feet back up on the chair. “So, what exactly was said, Tarion?”
“Threats to eject someone from the airlock and strand crew planet-side, and Matilda was right, for once: your name has been bandied around the communi-channels attached with the Pax.”
“I would not have done those things, and every being of any substance has had more than one altercation with the Pax. Their enemies are numerous.” I would not reveal how I acquired Lara, just as he wouldn’t, unless explicitly asked, which there would never be a reason to do. I had won my slave as he had acquired Carissa indirectly.
My way had been a lot more fun. I smiled. Some of my anger dispelled.
“I have no plans to separate from Hielsrane.” At least he knew I would not be leaving with a skeletal crew, the only alternative.
“Good. Your contribution is invaluable.”
“Thank you, cousin,” I said. “What is important is quelling this rebellion on Coovoo, so that we can resume our primary mission —”
“Agreed. At last, a response I expect from you. Further discourse is required regarding your slave.” Tarion gave me a long look and exhaled deeply enough that it raised the temperature in the room by ten degrees. “But, Lehar—"
“I think you two have done enough planning for the moment.” Carissa entered the room and sat on Tarion’s lap. The creases in his forehead and the intensity in his eyes disappeared as she settled on his lap.
I exhaled and said, “You are correct, Carissa.”
My eyes stayed on the door until Lara stepped across the threshold. My muscles relaxed. I blew out a breath that scattered the remaining noumat seeds across the room. Tarion’s words of caution and concern were hard to hold onto.
Every time Tarion had said slave, I had wanted to correct him as she had done with me. And when he had to refer to her as an actual acquisition — something to stow away in the cargo hold – I wanted to take him down the corridor and throttle him in the rec bay. I hadn’t felt that way since we were younglings. Was it my dragon’s unrest or Lara’s presence?
13
Lara
Lehar shot to his feet as soon as I walked into the room. He walked into the hall and opened his palm for me to put my hand in his, which I did a little too readily. I didn’t know why he could make me do things on autopilot before I thought about them like I already knew the script.
I was getting to
o used to him and his alien ways already. I found a different nook every other day on the ship but felt comfortable. It was like a cruise where everything was available and prepaid. It had been only been days, but it felt as if I’d been cruising around with a ship full of Drakons for months.
I looked over my shoulder to say goodbye to Carissa, but Tarion was kissing her like no one else was in the room. I was glad his attention was occupied with her. I planned to only be in his presence when she was there. He wouldn’t catch me alone because he looked like he wanted to say something I didn’t want to hear. She would never leave him. Would she really help me?
As we left the room, I noticed that the screens were frozen on images of centaur like creatures. “Are you ready for nutrition?” he asked, we walked toward the recreation bay and up to the main level.
“Yes,” I said. “Who are those half horse beings?”
“Pests,” he said.
“I doubt that’s all they are.” Why was every bit of information a secret?
“Have you heard rumors too?” He rubbed his hair to the back of his head.
“About Carissa?” I asked.
“No,” he replied. “What has she told you?”
“Nothing much.”
“Did you enjoy your time with her?” Lehar asked.
I nodded.
Carissa seemed genuinely interested in my life in L.A, and I let her do most of the talking. Though I was quick to respond to her questions, I did not ask many of my own, afraid of her responses. She really wanted to visit again but her home was not on Earth. She was like those ex-pats who never returned to live and whose bodies were shipped back when they died to family members who barely remembered that they ever existed.
If not for the movie, which was going on without me, how many months would it take for my parents to notice I was missing? There was enough money in my main bank account for the automatic checks I sent to them to continue for years. I only heard from dad on my birthday or when a new movie of mine opened. I didn’t hear from my mom for months if she was not talking to me, which she wasn’t at the moment.
