by Luna Hunter
“I haven’t received word,” the guard says, his voice lacking conviction. Gotcha.
“Then you’re out of the loop. Now, are you going to open up or do you expect the ship’s captain to come down here himself to do it for you?!”
He hesitates. His defenses are down, but I’m not quite there yet. Time for my final attack. I don’t like using this one, but the situation calls for it.
“I’m just a woman,” I say. “What harm could I possibly do?”
If they think you’re weak… use that to your advantage.
The guard shrugs and opens the door. I wave quickly at Kozus before departing. Time for action.
A quick elevator ride later and I’m at the market, my favorite place on the Banks.
Or it was my favorite place. Now it’s that stupid little cell, back in Kozus’s warm arms.
The market is a large, open space, with multiple levels of shops and stores and cafes and restaurants. There’s always a bustling crowd you can get lost in. Days can be spend perusing the many little shops.
But I instantly see the market has lost some of its appeal. There’s armed guards at every corner, their rifles resting in their palms threateningly, and the crowd seems not as carefree. Everyone seems to be in a hurry. Some stores are closed.
I head to SpaceShack and there she is; Ciara’s red hair stands out in the crowd like a lighthouse at sea. I sit down across from her.
“Ciara.”
My friend is so startled she nearly spills her sundae. “Sasha! You made it! Here!”
She pushes a strawberry sundae my way. I ignore it and lean forwards. “The Council is off their rocker,” I say.
“I know,” she says. “You won’t believe what I heard.” She pauses to slurp her straw.
“Don’t keep me waiting,” I say. “Spill it! What’s going on?!”
“Before I tell you, I want to know what you learned,” Ciara says. “Trying to connect the dots here.”
“I don’t know anything, I’ve been fighting with Haas and Willow all day, and fuc… furthering inter-species relationships at night,” I say.
Ciara raises her eyebrow and cocks her head to the side. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
“It doesn’t matter. Talking to the Council is like talking to a damn wall. They hate aliens, especially Willow. Isn’t Ship Sec’s mission preventing petty crimes, mediating disputes? Who made them the boss of the ship? What’s the deal with all the armed guards everywhere all of a sudden?”
Ciara nods. “Exactly. So get this. The disappearances haven’t stopped. After the Vrek took us, more and more women have gone missing.”
“What?” I ask. “More alien attacks?”
“That’s the problem. These people just seem to disappear into thin air. No attacks, no invasions, no nothing. They’re just gone. Including Captain Haas’s daughter.”
“Wow,” I say. “Why hasn’t anyone told me?”
“People don’t want to talk about it — they’re superstitious, like acknowledging it will make you next in line. That’s why there are guards everywhere, why First Officer Willow is now the most important man on the ship, more powerful than the Captain himself even. Everyone is terrified.”
I lean back and stuff a spoonful of ice into my mouth. That explains the fear that seems to cover the crowd like a weighted blanket.
“So that’s why they are so afraid of settling on Aegon,” I say. “Everyone is paranoid.”
“Right. But it gets even weirder, because, while you’ve been furthering inter-species relationships, I’ve been getting my hands dirty as well, and also sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, just like you.”
“I get it,” I say, rolling my eyes as Ciara giggles. “Not a metaphor I wanted or needed, but carry on. What did you do?”
“I noticed all of the rifles, as I’m sure have you. I didn’t think Ship Sec had these many guns, you know? They were outfitted to keep the peace, not serve as an occupation force. I did some snooping, okay, light breaking and entering, and I found the ship’s manifest. It only accounts for half the weapons at best.”
Ciara pauses for dramatic effect.
“So, what does that mean? What are you getting at?” I ask.
“I don’t know exactly, but let’s look at the facts. Ship Sec shot through the ranks after the attack, and now they’re rule the entire ship, with Willow practically telling Haas what to do. There are a lot of new weapons, which have to come from somewhere, plus the people vanishing into thin air seem to be the ones who ask the most questions. It’s all connected, but… I don’t know how.”
“Fuck, that is bad,” I say. “Maybe that’s why Willow doesn’t want to settle on Aegon. The moment they touch down, he won’t be the most important man on the ship anymore.”
“Do you really think he’s that power-hungry? Ciara asks. “I couldn’t imagine someone being that evil.”
I remember the way Fist Officer Willow spoke to me, slamming his hand down on the table, spittle flying from his thin lips as his beady eyes stared hatefully at me.
“Oh, I can imagine that just fine.”
Chapter 11
Kozus
Sasha’s fragrance lingers in the room long after she’s left. Only when it has fully dissipated do I get up, take a quick shower, and dress myself. I also have some business to attend to.
I knock on the door.
The human guard peers through the little slit. I have to bend down just to look him in the eye. He takes a step back when we make eye-contact. I gesture for him to open the door.
He shakes his head vigorously.
I don’t have time to play these games. I grab the handle and pull. It only takes the slightest amount of effort to unhinge the door entirely and pull it out of its place. The young, male guard stares at me in horror. One hand moves to his hip where he’s carrying a gun.
I shake my head.
He stays in that pose, frozen on the spot. I leave him and find my way through the human vessel, tracing my way back to my ship. The guards I pass along the way are nailed to the ground in fear as well.
Once I reach my ship I sit down in my seat — finally, something suited to my Aegir frame — and call Malak. Moments later his holographic image fills the room.
“Kozus! How fares your mission?”
“Poorly,” I say apologetically. “The humans are uncooperative, and that’s putting it lightly.”
“Hm. That is unfortunate. I had hoped they would see the wisdom in settling on Aegon — I have promised Emma as much. I want our child to be connected to both his heritages, and I want Emma to be among her own kind as well.”
I want the same for Sasha.
I nod. “I understand, Malak. I will do my best to convince them. Truth be told, they treat me like a prisoner. The human males are more scared than I imagined they’d be — for their women are so strong and passionate.”
“Hm. So you have taken to Sasha then, I assume?”
Damn it. This call is purely business. I didn’t want to show my emotions when I barely understand them myself — but it seems that emotions this strong cannot be hidden.
“Yes,” I say as flatly as possible. “But that is not important for now; the mission is. I wanted to send you a message, so that when my coms go dark for a while, you wouldn’t worry needlessly. It seems the situation here is going to get darker before it gets better. Consider this a heads up.”
Malak nods. “I had hoped that you could find a diplomatic solution, but if there will be trouble, I trust you to handle it. You don’t want to talk about Sasha, then?”
I want to say so much, but I don’t know where to start, so I stay silent.
“Savor these early moments, my friend,” Malak says. “We’ll talk more when you get back.”
The message cuts out, and I shake my head. Why wasn’t I able to open up to my good friend?
Is it because I knew what he would say?
Live your life. Be free. Follow your heart.
Sasha
All that Ciara has told me is still buzzing in my head as I return to the prison deck. My heart skips a beat when I see that the door to our cell if off its hinges.
The young guard is desperately trying to fix it, but the door is much too large for him to carry on his own.
Was there a fight? Have they taken Kozus? Am I too late?!
I’m terrified by how scared I truly am, how deep the fear cuts. I haven’t let myself be this vulnerable since my ex.
And I know how that ended.
“Oh thank god, at least you’re back,” the guard says when he sees me. “Now I might just be demoted instead of discharged.”
“What happened?” I ask.
“Your big blue friend went for a walk, and he ripped the bloody door off its hinges. I’ve been trying to fix it before command finds out, or my ass is toast. Hell, who am I kidding, it’s not like the blue giant is very inconspicuous, wandering through the damn ship as he pleases…”
I breathe a deep sigh of relief — but the fear hasn’t fully dissipated either. I didn’t think I could be that scared.
I push the thoughts away. Now’s not the time to worry.
“Uhm, I guess I can help,” I say as I grab the door.
It’s kinda weird, helping my own jailor, but this kid is barely past eighteen.
“Thanks. You know, as far as prisoners go, you two are pretty cool,” the young man says as he fiddles with the door.
“As far as jailors go you’re not a bad one either.”
He frowns. “A jailor? I never thought of myself that way, but I guess I am, huh?”
“How’d you end up here?” I fish.
His guard is down, literally and figuratively, and the kid needs little prompting to spill his life story.
“I needed a job, and Ship Sec was hiring like crazy.. and to be honest, if you volunteered you got guaranteed a good job, and if you didn’t, then you could be conscripted into being on sanitation duty, so I figured… let’s volunteer.”
“I get it,” I say. “There have been some changes around here lately, huh?”
“You can say that. Half a year ago I thought aliens were a pipe dream, and now… I’m guarding one. It’s been one hell of an adjustment, that’s for sure.”
“What’s the general vibe on the ship? Is everyone okay with the increase in ship security?”
“Most people are terrified of aliens, of being snatched, so yeah.”
“But there are no aliens on the ship, except for Kozus, right? So who could be doing the snatching?”
The guard adjusts his cap and wipes the sweat from his brow. “Some people say the aliens are in the vents. I don’t buy it — some of my mates are in sanitation, and nothing can crawl through these vents that they don’t know about. So I honestly don’t know what’s going on. All we can do is plow on ahead, really.”
Plow on ahead. That’s not bad advice.
“Hm. Thanks, kid,” I say.
“Please, call me Jim, ma’am.”
“Sure thing, Jim.”
“There.” Jim fixes the door in place. “Should hold now… until your blue friend decides otherwise.”
“I suppose I’ll go inside now,” I say.
“Heh, yeah,” he says. “Sorry about you know, the whole.. keeping you in a cell thing.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not your fault. Just make me one promise, okay? Don’t buy into everything First Officer Willow tells you.”
“Why? You know something I don’t?”
“Just a hunch,” I answer. “Just a hunch.”
I sit down on Kozus’s bed and wait for his return, my fear growing with every passing second. He went for a walk, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t attacked while on his stroll… and where was he going, anyway?
I can’t lose him, not already, not now.
Or…
I don’t want to think about it, but the silence stretches on, and the gnawing thought at the back of my mind grows louder and louder.
Has he left me?
Chapter 12
Sasha
“Oh thank god, you’ve returned!”
Kozus looks at me in surprise when he enters our cell.
“I have,” he says. “You expected otherwise?”
My heart is still racing, the anxiety that plagued me far from gone. “You had me worried sick; where were you?!”
“I had to send a message to Malak,” Kozus explains. He cocks his head to the side. “You must never worry about me, Sasha. I can take of myself. Worry for these feeble guards instead.”
I want to relax, but it’s hard, with all this anxiety in my body, like a cloud charged with thunder. Kozus picks up on that instantly.
“What is going on, my mate?” He says.
“It’s… complicated,” I say. “I have these… fears. Because of things that happened in the past. And that’s my burden to bear, not yours, but at times I might get a little… emotional. All part of being human, I guess,” I ramble.
“I understand,” Kozus says as he nods thoughtfully. “I have similar… doubts.”
I feel a little twang of pain in my heart. Doubts? Doubts are not good. That’s not what I want to hear right now.
“What do you mean?” I ask. “What kind of doubts?”
Kozus searches for the right words. “As you know, I’m the prince of Kar. Royalty comes with its own, unique set of problems. In my Xeerdom, and in my family, it is a time-honored tradition that the patriarch picks the mate for the sons and for the daughters.”
“Ah,” I say. I sit down next to Kozus and grab his hand to show him that I support him, and that I’m willing to try and understand his alien customs. “And you’re worried that your father won’t approve of me? I’m sure that when he gets to know me, and when he sees what you feel, that he’ll change his tune. I mean, you do feel that way about me… right?”
“It… is not that simple.”
I let go of his hand. “How come? It seems that simple to me.”
“You are human. You do not understand.”
“I understand perfectly well what you’re saying. You don’t love me enough to stand up to your father. I’m right, aren’t I?”
I don’t want to snap at him, but I can’t help it — the fear is still too strong, my emotions too raw.
“You are not,” he growls with frustration. I haven’t seen this look on him before, this furrowed brow, this angry undercurrent in the deep sea that is his voice.
“Then explain what you’re trying to say, be precise,” I say, rising up and planting my hands on my hips. “As long as your father hasn’t picked you a partner, I don’t see what the problem is.”
“But he has.”
My mouth runs suddenly dry, as an icy sensation trickles down my spine.
“What?” I stammer. I must have misheard him.
“My father has chosen me a mate,” Kozus says, shattering my last hopes into a million little pieces. “Zunda Egos. The Princess of the Scourge of Egos.”
“All this time you’ve had someone waiting for you back on Aegon?!” I say.
My heart breaks at the mere thought of that. It’s like I can feel my heart turn to stone, like an icy dagger stabs my heart over and over again.
“No. Yes. It’s complicated,” Kozus says.
“It’s complicated? Oh, I’ve heard that before.”
After all I’ve been through, all the trouble to trust again… and I’m nothing more than the second woman. Something I swore I’d never, ever be. Kozus has been lying to me all this time.
“We’re through. You, me? We’re through. I don’t need this. ”
“Allow me to explain,” Kozus says. “Please, Sasha.”
“No,” I say as I turn away from him. Hot tears threaten to burst out, but I fight to hold them back.
I won’t let him see me cry.
“It’s not as you think. It means nothing.”
“Nothing? Your fiancé means nothing to you? You’re more cold-hearted than I ever thought possible. I was wrong to trust you. Wrong to trust an Aegir.”
“You don’t mean that,” Kozus growls. “You are being emotional.”
“Don’t throw that back at me,” I say. “Don’t you dare.”
“I have never even met the woman,” he growls, his voice thick with anger. “She means nothing to me. How could she? I have never met her. My doubt was between following my traditions or following my heart — but I choose my heart, Sasha, have I not made that clear?!”
I don’t want to hear it. Not any of it. None of it reaches me. The pain of the betrayal is too great. My heart is shattered in two, and nothing the Aegir can say will change that.
“I need to go,” I say.
I knock on the door
Kozus reaches for me.
“Don’t touch me.”
Jim lets me out, and like that, I’m gone. I roam the streets, my eyes down low, wandering to nowhere. I want to run away, but there’s nowhere for me to go on this damn ship.
When I lift my gaze I see that I’ve subconsciously wandered into the Presidium. I stop in front of the fountain and gaze into the clear water. A plaque adorns the fountain, and my eyes scan the text.
“Peace and Prosperity in Unity,” I mumble to myself. “If only…”
“What a load of shit, right?”
That voice makes my blood run cold. I turn and face him. First Officer Willow.
“What are you doing here?!” I say. “Are you following me?”
“I could ask the same of you. Aren’t you supposed to be in the arms of your big blue lover?”
“What?” I say, heat rushing to my cheeks. I cross my arms protectively. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Please, spare me the lies and the bullshit, and I’ll give you the same courtesy. You’ve been fucking that beast. And you’re not exactly coy about it, either.”