by Elin Wyn
He froze again, then wrapped his arms more tightly around me as he met my tongue with his own, teasing and twining.
The kiss was brief, but it still made my heart pound and heat run through my body.
When we broke apart, I was already wanting for more.
He ran one gentle finger down the curve of my cheek. “I envy you.”
“What?” I sputtered a laugh.
“It’s so easy for you to give smiles and kindness away, like it costs nothing.”
“It does cost nothing,” I told him. “There’s not a limited supply.”
“It’s clear you come from a happy home and have led a fulfilling life.”
“How astute,” I laughed. “You’re right about the home. My mother is the kindest person in the whole world. I even met with my father once a month. Most girls in the Terran System don’t get that luxury, but my father insisted on knowing every single one of his children. Believe me, there were a lot of them.”
“You have a lot of siblings?” Valtic asked.
“Biologically, yes. However, in the Terran System, you’re only considered siblings if you also have the same mother. I have two real sisters.”
“Was I right about your fulfilling life?”
“Partially,” I nodded. “There was a time when things weren’t so good for me. I almost gave everything up just to make it stop. I worked through it, though. I had to.”
Valtic smiled gently. “Perhaps you’d like to tell me about it someday.”
“Perhaps one day you can tell me about your squad.”
“That’s something we can work toward together. That’s how we’re supposed to do it, yes? Together?”
“Yes,” I smiled. “Life’s always easier when you have someone to lean on.”
“I’m too tall to lean on you,” he joked.
“Then hold my hand.”
I laced my fingers through his as we shared another kiss.
Valtic
I waited outside the room. Inside, Kalyn and Aryn were helping Lynna with her disguise, trying to make sure that it would withstand a bit of rough handling without anything coming off.
It was almost certain that the crew of The Terror would not be gentle with her when she ‘invaded’ their area.
Rage wouldn’t help me here. Wouldn’t help Lynna.
So I waited, pacing back and forth for the three hours that they spent working on her. Orrin, who passed by on his way back down to his workstation, quipped that I would wear a trench into the floor I was pacing so hard.
I tried to chuckle at his attempt at humor, but it must have come off as awkward because he walked away from me with a quizzical look on his face. I hated waiting. All it did was give me time to think and imagine all the possibilities of what could go wrong. Just as I was at the point of imagining her being sold away before I could save her, the door opened.
There she stood, resplendent in her cobalt blue skin framed by waves of black hair, all while wearing an outfit that accentuated her curves in such a way that I felt my blood rush to my face, and other parts.
“You like?” she asked shyly.
I had no words. I was so caught up in how she looked, I could barely nod.
“Yeah, I think he likes,” Aryn laughed as she peeked her head from behind the door-jamb. I cleared my throat as I turned away. It was embarrassing to be seen that way.
“Ahem,” I coughed. I couldn’t look at her. “Are you uh, rea…ready t-t-to, to go?”
“Oh, yeah. He likes,” I heard Aryn say again.
“Hey!” Lynna admonished. “Don’t tease.”
Aryn snorted. “Sorry. Come on, Kalyn. Let’s leave these two, uh, friends alone.” As their footsteps began to recede, Aryn shot back one more comment. “She might need a little more field testing on that dye, you know. Hint, hint.”
“Aryn!” Lynna called out in embarrassment.
“Bye-eee!” Aryn called back with a wave.
After the girls left, I forced myself to look at Lynna. “You…you look so beautiful.”
Her skin pinkened through the makeup. “Thank you.” Then, with a slight look of concern. “Is it because of all this?” she asked with a wave that indicated her entire form.
“What? No, no,” I said hurriedly. “No. You’re always beautiful. I truthfully prefer you the way you naturally are.” She smiled sheepishly. “You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.”
I reached for her and she reached for me. I leaned down and kissed her. “Don’t do this,” I said when we broke our kiss.
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t get yourself captured. Say you’re not feeling well.” I looked deep into her eyes. “Say anything to not do this, please.”
She pulled away from me as she shook her head. “I can’t. We need to do this. You know that.”
I did. I did know that. I just didn’t want to accept it. I nodded and held my hand out to her. She took it and we headed to the hangar bay. Qal already had the Skimmer powered up for us. He gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder as I boarded.
Strange.
But… not unwelcome.
I pulled the Skimmer out and drove it slowly down the docks until I was able to get it into the streets. Even with the ability to increase speed, I didn’t.
“Why aren’t we going faster?” Lynna asked.
“I…” I shook my head. “You know why.”
She reached over and patted my arm. “I’ll be okay. You’re here to pull my ass out if anything goes wrong.”
“It is a nice—um—ass,” I tried to joke.
“Why, you impertinent man, I knew you were looking,” she smiled. Her smile made me feel better. I increased our speed, got us onto the main thoroughfare, and we made our way towards the dock.
As we got within two miles of the dock, I took the Skimmer off the main roads and down into an industrial park. I put the Skimmer into hover mode, which was much quieter, but slower, than normal mode, and we made our way towards the dock. I pulled it behind an old building about two blocks away and set it down.
“Why are we stopping here?” Lynna asked as I helped her down.
“Don’t want to risk being seen.” We made our way towards the dock and stopped in the final bit of shadow, maybe a hundred yards from the entrance. “Are you sure about this?”
She swallowed hard and nodded. I reached for a knife and she stopped me. “I don’t need it.”
With a tilt of my head, I let out a questioning grunt.
The left corner of her mouth twitched in a slight grin before she became serious. “I have some syringes hidden on me, along with the gas and filters. One is deadly, the others are meant to knock someone unconscious.”
I rolled my head and let out an exasperated breath. “Are you sure they won’t break?” I asked, trying to keep my composure. She answered with a nod. “Okay,” I began. I didn’t like the idea of her using syringes filled with toxic liquids as her defense, but I knew I couldn’t do anything about it, not now.
If she trusted in her materials, I would have to trust her. “Let’s make sure your trackers are working.”
I slid my tablet out. It showed a blue dot, right next to where I was.
“How accurate is it?” she whispered.
“Take three steps that way,” I pointed into the deeper shadows. With each step, the dot moved.
She came back, eyebrows raised. “I’d be able to follow you anywhere with this.” I tapped the screen.
And I’d do it, even without the tracker.
“Don’t do this,” I asked, one more time. I knew the answer. But I had to ask.
Lynna wrapped her arms around me and I held her tight, wishing we were anywhere other than here.
“I’ll be back, and we’ll be home before you know it,” she whispered.
“And then you’re not leaving the ship. Possibly ever.”
“We’ll talk about that later, alright?” But despite her brave words, she looked nervous. She kept looking
to the side towards the dock where the ship sat.
It looked massive in the night time, it’s dark-colored hull seeming to soak up the light around it.
Even I felt a bit intimidated by it.
“I should go, or I’ll get cold feet,” she said. “I believe in you. I know you’ll keep me safe.” She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and made her way out of the shadows across the street, then began walking towards the dock, sticking to the shadows.
I tried to keep my breathing level and slow, despite the fact that I was already anxious. I hated this plan, hated it to the ends of the universe and back.
When her scream rang through the night, I braced myself.
This was part of the plan.
She tore away, looking over her shoulder at nothing, carefully being ‘careless’ as she approached the dock.
Staggering to the fence, she paused as if to catch her breath, and looked around.
A hatch opened and two shadowy forms rushed through, towards her. She backed away, pleading.
She could do this.
I could do this.
And then I’d kill every one of them.
Lynna screamed, as planned, and put up a small fight. They grabbed her and restrained her forcibly.
I found myself already on my feet.
My breaths came quickly, my hands clenched and unclenched rapidly, my heart pounded loudly in my head. I needed to save her. I had to save her. My only thoughts were to save her, to rescue her and return her to safety. I needed to get to her.
But I couldn’t. I had to let this happen. I had to let her be captured and taken inside the ship. The best I could do was get closer, so I did. I worked my way closer to the dock, closer to the ship. I needed to be close by so when she set off her beacon, I could rush in and get her as quickly as possible.
I snuck up to the fence surrounding the dock, staying in the shadows as best I could to find a way in. Locating a weak point in the fencing a few hundred feet from the entrance, I pulled it up and crawled under, creeping stealthily toward the ship.
All I could do now, hidden away between two shipping containers, was keep an eye on my tablet and wait for her signal.
I hated waiting.
Lynna
I let my fear work in my favor.
If I appeared too calm, that could alert my captors that something was amiss.
My hands trembled, my breaths were irregular, shuddering spurts. Genuine tears welled in my eyes.
I believed in Valtic. Trusted him.
And was still terrified.
It wasn’t a huge surprise that they hadn’t really looked at the women they’d abducted and sold.
Made up like this, I was close enough to resemble their missing cargo.
That was all they cared about.
With a speed that would've taken my breath away if I’d had any left, one of the guards snagged a pair of manacles from behind him and slapped them over my wrists.
Seriously, was he wandering around looking for women to abduct?
That was about all I had time to think before the two of them dragged me back onto the ship.
This was the plan, this was the plan, I repeated to myself.
“You know, everyone else is on shore leave,” the creep on my left growled. Deep black hoods shrouded their faces.
But the one on the left had a smooth, pale hand, almost human, except for the extra thumb on the side. On the right, three green scaly fingers ending with claws gripped my arm.
“Captain assigns rotation,” Greenie answered. “Stick to the rules. It’s the safest thing.”
“Man, I don't understand you,” the first one grumbled as the two of them dragged me down another corridor.
My struggles gave me a great reason to be looking around, trying to make out any sort of useful information.
While Kalyn had painted me up, Maris and Orrin had gone over some basic rudiments of spaceship design.
I wasn't exactly going to be taking a job in engineering anytime soon, but I should be able to decipher conduit types.
And if I could find one, I should be able to run it back down to—
Fuck.
The grumbling asshole had just run his hand down my ass.
I shrieked, then caught myself.
It wouldn't take much for Valtic to come charging in and save the day, and it was too soon. I could handle this. I'd volunteered.
But still.
Fucker.
“She's off the books. Nobody will know she came back,” Thumbs argued.
The slightly more reasonable jerk heaved a deep sigh and pushed open a heavy metal door, leading down a short flight of stairs.
“You're an idiot. They know everything.”
They know everything? Who was they?
“Please, I'll be good, just don't send me back. This is all a mistake,” I pleaded.
Maybe it was the time to go off script, but if they were talking, maybe they would drop something useful.
“There are lots of mistakes, but I won't be making one.” The reasonable one with green scaly hands shook my arm. “You'll be quiet. You'll be all alone since we've already dropped off the cargo. Try not to damage yourself.”
Well. That wasn’t helpful.
Another turn and another short set of stairs.
“Listen up. I know you're new to this assignment.” Greenie muttered, like he’d given this talk before. “I don’t know how things run in your chapter, but you’re here now. Don't make trouble or you'll end up in a pod.”
A pod. That was something, maybe a clue. Something to remember.
“They always need fresh meat in those things, you know.”
I wish I could see their faces, but nothing showed past the dark hoods. Because the one on the left hissed. Maybe some sort of cat creature. Or a snake. Or maybe just scared.
“I ain’t done nothing. Just talking. Nobody can get me in one of those things just for talking.”
“You never know, do you?”
None of it made sense. Maybe it would to Valtic when I got out. When he came.
But for now, I had to keep paying attention. The further down we went, more and more pipes and stretches of conduits joined each other near the base of the walls.
Orrin had explained that in the belly of the ship would be life-support. Engineering. And everything would run through there.
I swallowed again, telling my racing heart how kind these gentlemen were to bring me halfway to my goal.
Everything would be fine.
It had to be fine.
“End of the line, missy.”
This time when the door opened, nothing but darkness waited inside.
“Why do you think she came back?”
“I don't know.” Greenie sounded weary of dealing with the idiot.
If I wasn't terrified, I would be, too.
“They’ve never been to someplace like this, maybe she got turned around. Maybe she had nowhere else to go. Maybe she didn’t know how to get any further away and has been here the entire time.” He wrenched my arm. “Not our problem.”
They threw me in and I stumbled, the stupid high heels we'd all decided should be part of this outfit as annoying to walk in as such contraptions had ever been.
“Stay put this time,” the green jerk said. “Come on, idiot. Back to our shift.”
“Man,” the other one groaned, the sliding of the door cutting off his incessant whining.
I waited. Counted to one hundred, and then counted again.
They were gone.
My eyes slowly adjusted in the dim lighting, just enough to see shapes, corners of crates.
I patted my hands against the hard floor, froze as I felt the metal hasp welded into it.
The other abducted women, they must've been chained down here between whatever other cargo the ship carried.
I swallowed hard.
Whatever the fate of those women had been, I couldn't be caught up in my worries for them, or my own rising pani
c.
My lips twisted into a smile.
The loop of metal may have been placed there as a restraint, but it was going to be helpful to me now.
Slowly, carefully I rotated the broad bracelet that spanned my left wrist, feeling for the notches etched in the top of the settings.
It was a gaudy thing, brightly colored panels joined by links, each panel almost the size of two of my fingers together.
It looked cheap, but if it got me out of this, I'd happily wear one like it for the rest of my life.
I shifted the bracelet, one panel, a second.
With a swift motion, I brought my wrist down against the top of the hasp, cracking open the thin shell, allowing the two chemicals to mix and form an acid.
Aryn had been right, the manacles she had seen on the women she and Kovor had rescued were of identical design to the ones they had used on me.
There was just enough space between my wrists to lower the connecting link into the pool of acid.
Three one-thousand. Four one-thousand. Five.
I pulled my wrists apart with a sharp snap.
Perfect.
I kicked my shoes off, grabbed them with one hand and rose to my feet.
I'd seen the direction the piping was heading.
If my training had been accurate, I knew which way I needed to go.
But first, to get out of here.
Running my hand around the edge of the door, I stopped.
At about shoulder high was an indentation.
The emergency manual override.
I shoved one of the thin heel spikes in and then hammered it into place.
“Come on come on come on,” I whispered, waiting for it to click.
“Basic safety procedure,” Orrin had said. “Not a ship in the Dominion would not have a manual override.”
Good to know.
Clutching my shoes to my chest I tiptoed deeper into the bowels of the ship, watching as one pipe, then another joined the ever-thickening grouping, leading me on.
There, this had to be it.
The room was crowded with machinery.
I didn't know what any of it did, didn't particularly care. The only one I needed to know about was. . .that one
“Unless they've built everything custom,” Orrin had explained, “the recirculator opens here.”