“What?” Josselyn’s temper lost some of its fire. They were all looking at her so earnestly. “I don’t believe you. I can’t...” Her voice cracked, held by the desire to cry out. She’d been so sure that her mother was alive, that she was in the right time, that vengeance was closer than she’d known it to be moments before.
“Watch,” Lucien urged her. Viktor reached forward, tapping the round platform. The little figure moved.
“Top secret. Prisoner two, two, five release order number six, nine, twelve. This is General Stephans of the Earth Settlement on Florencia’s Fifth Moon.” Jack’s miniature fingers pushed through his dark hair, a gesture she recognized from when he was worried about something. The fact that she knew him so well only made his betrayal of them all that much worse. His hand fell to the side and the images flickered like dying white torchlight. Jack’s mouth was opened, agape.
“That’s it?” Josselyn asked, every part of her not wanting to again believe in them. If she believed they were telling the truth, it meant she had to again give up on the hope of seeing her family. She clung to that hope, seizing it inside her cold chest.
“It’s old and freezes up. Hold on.” Viktor tapped it again, his finger thumping hard against the platform, causing it to flicker.
“...release authorized by my superiors and hereby given to the commanding warden in Ice Complex Five, Authorization code H forty-seven, fifty-one.” The sound of Jack’s voice, tinted with a hardness even beyond that which she’d known him to carry, made her want to vomit. “When the ice storms came nearly forty years ago, many of my men were killed. It was too cold to stay and finish our work releasing certain political prisoners and we abandoned post on supreme orders. However, there are a few who remain that should not, as they have been pardoned for their crimes. Attached is a list of prisoners set for immediate release. They will be hostile and should be escorted and left on the Rifflen base in the V Quadrant. No provisions beyond those orders are necessary.”
“Jack is on Rifflen?” Josselyn whispered. “Where is that?”
“Not far from the fueling dock,” Viktor answered.
“Vik,” Lucien scolded, as if his brother wasn’t supposed to tell her that.
“Hey, Viktor, what’s up with the comms?” came Rick’s faraway shout. “I’ve been trying to—Holy Space Balls!” The sound of footfall running hard and heavy down the corridor echoed throughout the dining hall. “Evan, blast it, someone help me!”
“What did you do?” Mei charged, glaring at Josselyn, even before she could possibly know the cause of Evan’s plight.
Josselyn’s heart sunk into the pit of her stomach, as she remembered seeing him fall away from her. “I—”
“Evan?” Mei yelled, before launching into a long, Lintianese tirade that clearly would not translate prettily into Josselyn’s language. The petite woman ran out of the dining hall. The others followed. Josselyn didn’t move quite so fast.
A commotion of shouted orders, exclamations, and even a few curses flowed over Josselyn as she forced herself to look out of the dining hall, down the corridor where she’d last seen Evan. Rick and Jarek had him hoisted in their arms. His face was pale, his eyes open but lifelessly staring into a fixed distance.
“Is he...?” Josselyn tried to ask, but her words were too soft and the others weren’t paying attention to hear them anyway.
Mei glared at her as the others passed, taking Evan down to the medical unit. The woman grabbed Josselyn’s arm in a bruising grip and jerked her along. “Come see what you did. And may your ancestors help you if anything happens to him, for no one on this crew will.”
“I...” Josselyn didn’t fight the woman’s rough hold. Too many of her emotions were swirling in her head. “I barely pushed him.”
Chapter 16
“I warned him about you.” Mei paced the small room that housed the medical booth, deigning to glare in Josselyn’s direction for good measure. Josselyn’s backside was sore from sitting on the hard ground, but she didn’t dare move. It’s the place Mei had shoved her to nearly three hours ago and it’s the place she remained in as she waited for Evan to wake up. No one would tell her what had happened, only that it was her fault—well, Mei really was the only one saying it was her fault, but the wary looks of the others didn’t help soften the blow of the irate woman’s words. “I told him bringing a cursed one onto the ship was bad luck.”
“Is it my presence on this ship, or the fact that I’m a woman who has his affections that irritates you so much?” Josselyn blinked, surprised that the hard words had slipped past her own lips. But how could they not? Mei had been hurling insults at her head since they entered the room.
“What?” Mei gasped, her mouth wide.
“I see the way you look at me, especially when I’m with him. You don’t conceal your thoughts too well. I’m surprised your husband hasn’t caught on to your affections for Evan. In my homeland, men do not tolerate such acts from their wives—even when the alliances are made out of politics and not love.”
“I love my husband,” Mei defended, as if completely shocked that anyone could assume otherwise.
“A surprise to even him, I’d wager,” Josselyn mumbled, staring at the corner of the medical booth. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Evan’s pale face.
“How dare you speak to me like that? I am a Lintianese princess, raised in honor and bound by my words and my deeds to my husband in love.” Mei tilted her chin regally in the air.
“And I am Lady Josselyn of the noble House of Craven, raised in true honor and title, bred to know my duty to my family and I would not make eyes at a man while bound to another.” Josselyn pushed against the wall, her legs stinging as she made them support her weight. She was almost sorry for the change in position, as it gave her a full view of Evan trapped inside the medical contraption. He hadn’t moved since they put him in.
“I don’t ‘make eyes’ at any man but my husband!” Mei argued. “I love him.”
“You keep saying it,” Josselyn said. “But your actions do not show it.”
“What do you know of my actions? All you think of is yourself. Why else would you not see the effect you have on him?” Mei pointed at Evan. “You are killing him. We all see it. Evan feels it. But you, who think to care for him intimately enough to call him lover, don’t even understand what you do. All you see is a means to protect yourself.”
“You have judged me since I came aboard this ship,” Josselyn accused.
“As you have me,” Mei countered.
Josselyn frowned. It was true. Since the first moment she glanced at the supposed princess in her male attire, she’d made assumptions. Not all impressions were wrong. Looking at Evan, his unmoving body, she shivered. “How am I killing him? Why is this my fault?”
“So you do see it. You feel it.” Mei sounded smug and Josselyn didn’t appreciate the tone.
A coldness worked up Josselyn’s spine, as if someone shoved icy fingers between the bones and wouldn’t take them back out. From there, her nerves stung, the cold prickling and spreading throughout her body like frost streaking over glass. Mei’s expression didn’t change and Josselyn was compelled to insist. “How am I killing him?”
“He’s empathic,” Mei said, finally taking her piercing gaze away. The woman looked at Evan. “He feels what we feel and your emotions—your doubt, your grief, your pain...” Mei sighed.
“He feels what I feel?” Josselyn didn’t move. He knew how deeply she’d come to care for him? Those were feelings she wasn’t even admitting to herself.
“He feels it and this is the second time you’ve nearly killed him with your pain. Why do you think we told him to stay away from you? But you couldn’t let it be. You drew him to you with your desire for him, asked him to protect you. How could he say no when he detects your grief, feels sorry for you?” Mei turned back around, her face filled with sorrow and anger. “You accuse me of things that aren’t true. I feel close to Evan because he understands me
and is there for me—as a friend. He’s there for all of us and that innate understanding makes him family.”
Josselyn glanced between Mei and Evan. Clearly Mei believed what she said, but could Josselyn? Evan did seem to know her, even when moody. When she looked in his eyes, she saw kindness and understanding.
“For some reason, you’re more connected than others. You have a bad day and he...” Mei motioned to the medical booth. “He nearly dies.”
“I didn’t know,” Josselyn whispered. The idea that she caused Evan’s condition just by feeling gnawed at her insides. She would never wish harm on him.
“You didn’t wish to know.”
“Had I known...” Josselyn took a step for him. Loneliness threatened. She only just found Evan and now she had to let him go or kill him. What kind of choice was that? Why would fate rest so much loss on her? As the emotions hit her, Evan’s lips parted in a painful moan. She gasped, pressing her hand over her chest, as if that simple act could force everything she felt deep inside. Josselyn buried the pain, the past, every emotion she could. As she did so, Evan blinked, his eyes opening. She whispered, “It is true.”
“Rick is orbiting the fueling dock, but we must land soon. Evan should be all right for now, but for his sake please try not to feel anything.” Mei moved to leave the room. “I’m going to tell the others he is awake.”
“Josselyn?” Evan blinked, confusion passing over his face as he looked down his body being treated by the medical booth lasers. Most of them concentrated over his heart. “I can...explain.”
His words were soft, gasping on each breath.
“Shh, there is no need.” Josselyn made a move to touch him, only to glance down to the lasers and thought better of it. “Mei told me, but I should have known.”
“I...should have...told...” Pale blue lined his lips, melting into the unbefitting pallor of his flesh. It was as if she’d drained the life out of him with her grief.
“I should have seen,” Josselyn answered. “I think part of me knew by the way we understood each other, but I should have seen what I do to you. I meant you no harm, Evan. I do care for you and I thank you for everything that you’ve done for me. I wish there was a way I could repay you for your kindness.”
“You’re hiding...”
“Yes, I am,” Josselyn laughed. “But it’s for your own good that I keep my emotions from you. I don’t think you’re in any condition to handle them now, do you?”
“No.” He shook his head.
“There he is.” Rick strode into the room. “Sleeping on the job again.”
Josselyn backed away. Rick gave her an easy smile. He was the only one. The others merely glanced her way as they gathered inside the small room. Josselyn found herself in the corner once more, pressed to the wall to stay out of the way.
“It says you’re cured.” Jarek pressed several buttons on the control panel. “Let’s get him to his room. Sorry, Ev, but you’re going to have to wait here while we dock.”
Mei stood in the entryway, meeting Josselyn’s passing gaze, only to draw it back and hold it. Josselyn nodded once in silent understanding. Mei stepped back, letting the others pass as they helped Evan walk from the room. Evan’s head drooped forward and she wanted to join his side. Every instinct she had told her to follow, to sit by his side and care for him until he got better as a good protected woman should. But it was her nearness that had done this to him. The only way she could help him was to stay away. That is the understanding she had shared with Mei. To help Evan, she must leave him.
As the others left her alone, Josselyn crossed over to the medical booth. Now empty, the lasers had settled and shut off. Reaching inside, she touched the smooth panel where they’d focused on Evan’s heart. The lights instantly turned on, flickering along her fingers. Warmth spread over the chilly digits, heating her like the licking flames of a fireplace. Just as suddenly as they started, the lasers stopped and the consul beeped. Curious, Josselyn walked over to the unit. She recognized her name above several red flashing columns, but the star language writing was harder to translate.
She pressed the screen for more help. The consul began to speak, the male voice distant and sterile as it lacked all emotion. “Passenger Josselyn Craven, medical status declining. Cellular deterioration of unknown origin. Incurable. Recommended treatments vary according to species culture, but are limited to heat treatment, pain management or ritual sacrifice. Comparing readings to the last known medical scan on file for this humanoid life form, death eminent in one to three weeks. Please send report case findings and preserved tissues samples to the Medical Alliance for Planetary Health for further study. Arrangements for burial or sacrifice should be immediately made.”
As the unit spoke, Josselyn didn’t move. She looked at her hands, the long, pale fingers even now shaking with cold. As she thought about it, there was a dull ache deep in her bones, just a hint, but there if she concentrated on finding it. Would it get worse? The unit recommended pain management.
“Or sacrifice,” Josselyn whispered.
“Would you like to file a report to the Medical Alliance?” the unit asked.
Josselyn ignored it, continuing to herself, “If I am to die, I might as well die with honor. Ago pugna quod intereo per veneration.”
“Would you like to engage override codes and delete entry?” the unit asked.
“Yes,” Josselyn answered, leaning in to push a button to mark her choice.
“Entry deleted, please wait while all records are altered to original state.”
“Live, fight and die with honor.” Josselyn heard her father’s voice saying the words with her. In her mind, she saw not the medical booth, but her front hall, her family, her brothers and mother. Suddenly, her path was clear. She didn’t belong in this time. Fate knew it. Her dying body knew it. Too bad her heart and her head had been late catching up. She should have died a hundred years ago, shot in her father’s study. Fate saved her. Fate brought her here and gave her just long enough to avenge the past.
“If you’re still alive, Jack Stephans, I’m going to find you,” she whispered. “And if you’re dead, I’ll dig up your grave and kill you a second time.” Laughing softly, she glanced down at her chilled hand and felt no humor in her situation. “This time, we’ll die together. We’ll take our place in history where everything Craven belongs.”
Chapter 17
“Evan asked that you stay onboard the ship,” Jarek said. They stood in the cargo hold, the men rummaging through some of the crates for items to trade. Lucien was at her side, having found her in the commons waiting for the ship to dock. He’d brought her to Jarek, as the captain had requested. Standing before the giant cat-shifter man, a man who commanded everything around him with just a look, caused a shiver to overtake her that had nothing to do with cold and everything to do with apprehension. “He regrets that he is not able to take you, but promises to speak to you once he’s well enough.”
“Speaking to me is what causes him not to be well,” Josselyn answered, seeing the truth of what Mei had told her in the captain’s eyes. She didn’t stand too close to Jarek, all too aware what a man like him would do if he thought someone betrayed himself or his crew. “I want to go with you to the fueling dock. The further away from him I am, the better chance he has at recovery.”
Jarek seemed to struggle with loyalty to his friend and her logic before finally conceding to logic. He nodded once. “Very well. You may come.”
“Thank you.”
“You won’t see him before you go, will you?” Jarek asked, slowly walking away from the others, toward a narrow pathway made by boxes in the cargo hold.
Josselyn absently followed him. She wondered at the question, only to assume it was her own guilt that made her read too much into it. “No. I think it is best if I leave him be. One slip of my thoughts, a little worry, and I could make his heart stop again. Don’t ask that of me. I won’t kill someone who saved me from prison.”
“Stay
by Rick once we land. He’ll keep you safe when we split up. We have to restock the ship’s supplies or we won’t make it to another port.”
“I understand.” Josselyn nodded.
Jarek looked as if he’d say more.
“I will be fine,” she assured him.
“Stay close to Rick,” Jarek ordered. “Others you meet will not be trustworthy.”
“I will be fine,” Josselyn repeated, though his unnerving warnings were affecting her calm.
“Captain, what about this one? I think it’ll fetch a nice price,” Lucien called from behind some crates.
Jarek’s attention diverted to the crew. He walked away to the far crates. “No, not that. It’s illegal in this quadrant. We’ll have to sell it in the Y.”
Josselyn frowned as she was left alone. Slowly walking through the cargo hold, she noticed many of the containers had been painted black, and some not so well. Running her hand over the side of a particularly large one, she saw the old lettering imprinted into the newest layer of black paint. It had read, ‘ESC’. Another read, ‘HIA’. The telltale labels were only noticeable at the right angle, but they were there. Following the narrow path between boxes, she noticed other alien names with corporate logos. And then, a narrow, light brown trunk caught her attention. The color stuck out in the sea of blackness. She knew that trunk.
Running her hand over the familiar worn crest over the front, she pressed hard. The latches flipped open. Josselyn glanced around to see if the others heard her. They didn’t and their debates on the other side of the hold continued as they tried to find what to barter and sell on the fueling docks.
Josselyn lifted the lid to the trunk. Inside, bright colors flashed in the dim light. The Craven family jewels. These men had found her family’s treasury.
“They’re pirates,” Josselyn said quietly, touching a ruby necklace she’d seen her mother wear to formal dinners. It all made sense—their lack of political alliance, the painted crates, some of the off comments she’d heard said amongst the crew. They were thieves and their mission to rescue her had merely been a raiding expedition prompted by the old holo-box they’d found.
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