by Cara Bristol
“This ship is taking off!” I said, disguising my voice.
“Yes.”
“It can’t leave yet! You—you—were supposed to wait for Madison Altman to board.” I hadn’t checked in. They were leaving before they knew I was here.
“According to entry sensor readings, he boarded twelve minutes ago.”
I clapped a hand to my neck. The translator chip! The ship had scanned me as I’d entered. Son of a bitch. I’d been abandoned on Dakon in the first place because my data hadn’t been entered into the computer so the scanner hadn’t read me as leaving the ship. Just my luck, they’d updated the system.
“Who are you?” he barked.
“This is Madison Altman,” I said.
“For what reason did you hail the bridge, pretending to be someone else?”
“You have to take me back.” There wasn’t time to chitchat over procedure. The ship was getting farther and farther away.
“Our orders were to pick you up.”
“The situation has changed. I have to go back.”
“Without good reason, orders from higher up, or an emergency requiring the flight to be aborted, we’re proceeding to Earth.”
“Patch me through to the captain.”
“You can speak to me.”
“Let me speak to the captain.”
“Denied.”
Panic flared. “You have to let me off the ship—it’s an emergency.”
“What’s the emergency?”
Love.
If I couldn’t get the ship to reverse course, it could be seven months or more until I could return. You couldn’t just book a flight to Dakon. Commercial passenger ships didn’t go there. I’d have to wait until the exchange program assigned me a new group of women to chaperone.
This conversation wasn’t getting me anywhere. Malloy wouldn’t consider taking me back to my mate a solid reason to change the orders. Probably, he didn’t have the authority to do so. And if he wouldn’t let me speak to the captain…
“Thanks for nothing.” I severed the comm link.
As my sports-crazy brother would say, it was time for a Hail Mary.
If it took an emergency to land the SS Masquerade, an emergency they’d get.
Chapter Twenty
Enoki
Snow fell, melting on my upturned face, as I stared at the clouded, dark sky.
She’d lied.
She’d left.
My heart seized with a pain so severe I couldn’t move. Why? Why? Had I meant nothing to her? How could she have done this? She’d led me to believe she’d accepted she was my Fated mate. That she’d reciprocated my feelings. We’d sealed our mating through physical intimacies.
A sham. A pretense. Oh, she was good at that. Hadn’t she fooled everyone she was a man? How easy it had been to dupe me into thinking she’d loved and desired me. She’d been avoiding conflict, biding her time until the ship had arrived. Was anything we’d shared real?
No wonder she’d kissed me with such fervor before she’d boarded—she’d been saying goodbye.
I bellowed my anguish into the howling wind.
I don’t know how long I stood there, my emotions as thick as the heavy flakes now spiraling from the sky. Snow covered my kel and buried the skimmer. And still I couldn’t move.
What if I left, and she came back?
She’s not coming. Madison would not return—not even to shepherd a new group of females, and if she did, I couldn’t bear to see her. I would delegate someone else to oversee the selection process.
I had to seek shelter before the blizzard worsened and I couldn’t find my way to an emergency hut. But foolish hope grounded me.
What if the ship leaving was a mistake?
Could every tender word have been a lie? Every caress meaningless? Had I only believed what I’d wanted to believe? I’d thought myself too wise to succumb to trickery and insincere exhortations, but I was the same as Icha’s mates. Like them, I’d deluded myself I would be different, that the one who’d cared for no one loved me.
When had I stopped paying attention to the truth? Madison wouldn’t have disguised herself as a man if she’d been interested in finding a mate. From the moment she’d been stranded, she’d insisted on returning to Earth. It had only been in the last couple of days that she’d “changed her mind.” Why? Because I’d pressured her, letting her know she would break my heart if she left? Had she been avoiding awkwardness by telling me what I wanted to hear? Had she feared I’d stop her from leaving?
I would not have.
I would have ached with longing for her when she left, but I would not have prevented her from leaving.
Betrayal sharpened the daggers of pain.
The snow had stopped melting on my face and begun to freeze, crusting my cheeks and eyelids. I had to seek shelter. The emergency huts would remind me too much of the time I spent there with Madison.
I could get another tribe to shelter me. No one would refuse a traveler in need, and a couple of camps were located closer to the Meeting Place than my own, but in different directions.
I swiped snow off the skimmer seat and swung my leg over.
Stay. Stay…
“She’s not here!” I shouted. I was done listening to the Fates. They had caused me heartache, played on my longing, toyed with my emotions.
Stay. Stay…
I fired up the skimmer and sped across the landing field into the woods.
Chapter Twenty-One
Madison
“Warning! Warning! All crew and passengers clear the area. Doors closing in ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven…”
Shrieking alarms pierced my eardrums as I sprinted to the next section of the passageway. The barrier sealed shut behind me. I darted to the emergency panel and punched in the fire code then hauled ass.
“Warning! Warning! All crew and passengers clear the area. Doors closing in ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven…”
I scooted around the corner, up a side corridor, and burst into the tiny crew galley. I activated the alarms and fled. I followed a mental diagram of the ship, plotting where to activate the fire alarm, while not boxing myself in. I needed to ensure starboard and port gangways were accessible. Forcing the ship to land wouldn’t do me any good if I blocked myself from the disembarkation corridors.
In case of fire or other emergency, alarms were located throughout the ship in corridors, in passenger zones, in staterooms. Tripping them activated the automatic fire suppression system. The computer sealed off the area and sucked out the oxygen.
You had ten seconds to clear out before you got locked in and suffocated.
The ship’s engines growled beneath my feet. Had it shifted direction? I couldn’t tell. Were we still within Dakon’s atmosphere, or had we entered outer space?
One little pretend fire wouldn’t do the trick. I needed to cause a massive, ship-wide disturbance. At the safety briefings and fire drills held before every voyage, we’d been informed a major incident would cause the computer to reroute the craft to the nearest habitable planet for safe landing, and the ship would be evacuated while robos evaluated and resolved the emergency.
If we weren’t out of Dakonian space yet, that planet would be Dakon. That’s what I gambled on. All my money rode on that bet. Winner takes all.
“Madison Altman. Report to the captain’s ready room. Madison Altman, report to the captain’s ready room,” a computerized summons boomed through the address system.
Now they granted me a hearing with the captain? If Malloy had patched me through when I’d requested it, this entire incident could have been avoided. Alas, I would be a no-show—like the captain himself. I seriously doubted he’d be waiting for me. They dangled the meeting as bait to reel me in. As soon as I showed my face in the ready room, they’d arrest me and confine me to my stateroom. Lock me in.
Falsely reporting a fire aboard a spacecraft was a criminal offense, almost as
serious as starting one. To set off an alarm, you had to key in your ID code. Every crew member and passenger had one. They knew I had done it—and by now they’d figured out there was no actual emergency. I needed to keep moving because each alarm I activated betrayed my location.
I had to get off this ship, I hadn’t set any fires, but I had burned bridges.
Once they got me to Earth, I’d be formally charged and prosecuted. I’d do jail time, after which I’d be barred from future space travel. Of course, the exchange program would terminate me. I suspected the main reason the ship had launched so quickly had been to avoid the blizzard. If it landed now, the SS Masquerade would be grounded until the storm blew over.
With an eye out for crew, I scurried to the observation lounge. I’d probably already set off enough alarms to force a landing and evacuation, but I had to keep moving to avoid capture.
View panels had been retracted, but snow obscured visibility, a positive sign we hadn’t reached space yet. However, I couldn’t tell if we were headed up or down. Maybe the ship had turned back toward the planet? I ran to the window for a glimpse of a treetop, a river, a spiral of smoke, anything to indicate we were headed in the right direction.
Just…whiteness.
Maybe I hadn’t set off enough alarms. At no time had it felt like we’d reversed direction.
I’m coming back, Enoki. I’d trip every damn alarm on this ship if I had to. Compressing my lips with determination, I marched for the emergency panel.
The door slid open, and Malloy entered with two crew members. “Madison Altman, come with us.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Enoki
The blizzard howled, throwing snow into my face as the skimmer bounced through the woods. I could barely see, but the camp wasn’t far. I’d visited before, and I knew the tribe leader; we’d served on the Council of Dakon together. He would shelter me for as long as I needed, until the storm ceased.
The storm within would rage much longer. My chest constricted into one massive ball of pain. I squeezed the skimmer handlebars so tightly my knuckles locked in place.
Go back…go back…go back…
Snow and trees obscured my view of the compound, but woodsmoke drifting on the air indicated I’d arrived. This tribe hadn’t switched to illuvian heaters and cookers but continued to light fires in their stone huts. I idled on the skimmer. I didn’t want to face anybody now. Couldn’t stand to look at another person, make polite conversation. The solitude afforded by an emergency hut would have been the logical choice, but with the memories it held, I couldn’t have stayed there.
How could Madison have left? I’d known of her ambivalence at the start, yet I’d believed she had committed to me and accepted we were meant to be mates, that she’d come to care for me. She’d told me so.
Go back…go back…go back…
Go back to what? Madison had flown away on the ship. I’d watched it disappear into the sky. It had come for Madison; it had left with Madison. Gone. It wouldn’t be back. My stomach knotted with anger, betrayal so strong I could taste the bitterness. My feelings had been true. Hers had been false. And now she was gone.
The female sent by the Fates had rejected me. Why risk getting lost in the blizzard to stare at an empty field? To torture myself with memories of the parting kiss. The joy I’d felt. While I’d been recording our mating, she’d been leaving me.
Go back…
Madison was gone; nothing would change that. I had to focus on my own safety and seek shelter. I opened the throttle on the snow skimmer.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Madison
Twenty-two crew members in govvies lined up on the port side disembarkation corridor. One crew member, my newly assigned guard, flanked me. He had orders to deliver me to my stateroom, where I’d remain under cabin arrest for the entire trip.
Arms folded behind his back, Malloy strolled down the line. “Due to the storm, we have a limited launch window. I need everyone to disembark but remain close to the ship. The computer will record your exit. Once everyone is off the ship, the captain can clear the emergency, you can reboard, and then we’ll take off.”
I eyed my keeper. Guard duty wasn’t his regular job. I think he was a robo repair technician or something, and he looked pissed at drawing a babysitting assignment. Unfortunately, his attitude didn’t affect his performance—he discharged his duty with an overabundance of diligence, sticking to me like white on snow. I could scream in frustration.
Enoki, I’m sorry. I had no way of contacting him to let him know what had happened. Malloy had refused to allow me to communicate with Dakon. It would take months before we reached Earth, and even then I wasn’t sure I could get a message out. I’d be handed over to the authorities as soon as the SS Masquerade landed.
I refused to give up. Maybe a chance to escape would present itself. I hitched my duffel more securely on my shoulder. My sitter zapped me with a warning glare.
“What about the captain? Doesn’t he have to leave?” a junior officer asked Malloy.
Good question. Malloy wouldn’t crack. But if the captain appeared, I could throw myself on his mercy.
“The captain is not required to leave the vessel.” My nemesis dashed my hopes.
“Is that safe? For him?” she asked.
Malloy glowered at me. “Seeing how there is no fire, no emergency, remaining on board is perfectly safe. However, before we can launch, we must complete the emergency protocols.” He raised his hand. “And before anyone asks how we’re going to take off in a blizzard—the computer has forecast an eye of calm for a duration of about twenty minutes. Thus, every minute counts. Once I get the all clear from the captain, you must reboard as quickly as possible. Otherwise, we’ll be grounded for several days, possibly a week. To forestall any more mischief, Mr. Altman here, will be the last to disembark, and the first to reboard.” He punched a code into to the keypad, and the hatch slid open. Biting cold whipped into the passage. The crew gasped at the shock of it. There wouldn’t be any delay in getting them to reboard.
Crew members glared at me as they marched by and exited. Their curses rose above the howl of the wind. I was the only one who’d ever left the ship when it landed. Swirling snow blew in to melt on the floor. The raging blizzard killed my tiny vestige of hope that Enoki might have hung around. After finding out the ship had left, why would he stay? He’d go to his warm and cozy cabin to curse me.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I’d never see him again. Never see his horns twitch, never hear him growl and call me his mate, never again snuggle in a bed of kel fur. I sniffed.
Everyone had vacated the ship except for Malloy, me, and my shadow. The first officer motioned.
I fastened my kel, donned my mittens, and flipped up my hood before stepping onto the gangway with the guard at my side. Snow and frigid air blasted me, but, with the heavy kel, the cold wasn’t nearly as severe as it had been the times I’d arrived wearing scientifically advanced Terran cold-weather gear. In only govvies, the crew risked hypothermia and frostbite.
My keeper herded me a short distance to where the shivering, cursing crew huddled in misery. I scanned the landing field and area beyond, vainly searching for Enoki. The snow was so thick, the big stone lodge and horseshoe of smaller structures had vanished. Enoki wouldn’t be out in that. Enveloped in a cloud of angry snow, I had no clue which direction to go, even if I could manage to break away and make a run for it. Alone in a blizzard, I would die.
Malloy stomped over, his expression fierce, his hand clapped over his earpiece comm unit, no doubt listening for the all-clear signal from the captain. He squinted as ice shards pelted his face.
Then he jerked his head. “Roger.” He looked at his shivering crew then at my guard. “All clear! Take Altman to his cabin.”
The guard seized my arm.
“What’s that?” someone shouted and pointed.
A beam of bobbing light headed toward u
s.
“Don’t care,” Malloy barked. “Take him on board.”
The guard tugged. I resisted, digging in my heels. He dragged me, slipping and sliding, through the snow. “No! Let me go!”
He’s here…he’s here…the wind howled.
The light bounced, growing larger and brighter as it neared.
My heart leapt with hope. Could it be? “Enoooki!” I screamed. “Enoki!” It almost felt like I’d wrenched my shoulder socket when I tore my arm out of the guard’s grasp and bolted, hopping through the snow like a jackrabbit.
“Grab him!” Malloy shouted.
Enoki rode in like a knight in animal skins on a snow-covered skimmer. He swung the machine around, planting it between me and the crew. He leaped off, and I flung myself into his arms. “You’re here! You’re here!”
The guard froze, hesitant to take on a man the size of a bear.
“Who are you?” Malloy demanded.
“I’m Enoki. The head of the Council of Dakon.”
“I’m First Officer Ransom Malloy of the SS Masquerade, and this man needs to come with us.”
“Madison is female, my female,” Enoki growled.
“That’s right!” I said. “Enoki is my mate, and I’m staying on Dakon.”
“Female?” Malloy snorted. I wanted to punch him, but I suppose his disbelief was my own fault.
The ship’s medical officer approached Malloy. “Sir, the crew is freezing. Can they board?”
The first officer motioned. “Yes, yes. All right.”
The medical officer trotted back to the crew, who sprinted for the ship, leaving me and Enoki alone with Malloy and the guard who glanced longingly at the open hatch.
“If Madison says she’s staying, she’s staying,” Enoki said.
“I’m staying,” I said.
Malloy shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t allow that.”
Enoki placed me behind him. “I’m afraid you don’t have a choice,” he said with quiet menace.
I recognized the moment the seriousness of the threat registered on Malloy. His squinty eyes widened, and if he’d counted on my guard for assistance, well, that ship had launched. An ordinary working stiff tagged for a job about to become more than he could handle, the guard inched toward the ship, leaving his commanding officer to face Enoki alone. Malloy was ex-military, but if he thought he could take Enoki on by his lonesome, well, good luck to him. It would be a short fight.
