He kept walking past her to where Bowie was with Sveti. He didn’t see the annoyed and hateful look Rianna shot at his back, but he was well aware of it.
“So,” Tomi continued with a big toothy grin, “as I was saying, the group will be split as we need to access boats and they are located at two different stations. There is not one boat that we can all fit on so a larger group will go to Station A which is closer and where there are numerous water craft but not enough to transport all of us, and a smaller group will go to Station B, which unfortunately is further away.
“When we reach Protostar, we will send recruits to retrieve your bags. For now, you can only bring what you can easily carry, like a toothbrush.”
He spoke over the grumbling, “I’m going to call off your names, you all have been randomly assigned by computer to the groups. And,” he grinned broadly, “as Captain Dravidian said, any of you that wish to stay here, we will give you some supplies, but no weapons. You will not have access to the ship.”
Tomi’s grin slightly mean he told them, “Just to let you know, this planet is rife with savage wild animals. That said, I am going to call off your name and either the letter A or B. All A’s will gather there,” he nodded to an area where a series of enormous boulders were clustered, “and B’s,” he indicated a second area, “go there. We leave in fifteen minutes. Be ready, or stay behind.”
Dev told Bowie, “I will stay with the prințesă; you go get your gear.”
Bowie gave him a surreptitious frown, and glanced at Sveti who was watching Tomi call off names. “How about she stay here with Tomi, he’s already got his supplies, or she can come with me-” Bowie shrugged at Dev’s silent, narrowed eyes, shut his mouth and headed back to the ship.
Uncertainty in her unsettled voice, Sveti said, “Um, Mr. Dravidian, uh, Captain, Mr. Tomi hasn’t called my name, should I just join a group?”
Her wellbeing ambiguous, Sveti wasn’t sure if Dev planned on leaving her behind to stay by the ship, or have her in the group he wasn’t heading, or…
His arms crossed over his rocky chest, Dev didn’t look at her, he said, “Nay. You will not leave my side until I deposit you with your bráthair.”
She squared her body to bravely face him. “Captain, I choose to stay here.”
Not used to anyone balking at his orders, Dev’s head swooped down to her so fast his hair swung over his shoulders. “Must you debate everything I say? I will do whatever I see fit. As my prisoner, you have no say in the matter.”
Her lips clamped shut and she lowered her head.
He gripped her jaw and raised her head. “You understand me? I am telling you that you will not leave my side until we reach your bráthair.”
His fingers were digging into her soft skin when he realized he could damage her and lightened his grip. “You try to escape and you will face the unpleasant consequences when I catch you. Am I clear?”
Avoiding looking directly into his blades of angry obsidian eyes, Sveti whispered, “Everyone is staring at us,” and watched his skin darken.
Positioning his head inches from hers, his voice so low it was barely audible, he ground, “I don’t give a fuck. I am talking to you. Do you understand my command? Because I don’t want you later to say you didn’t know.”
Sveti braced herself to look him calmly in the eye and said, “He is my half-brother, not my brother. And, I am not one of your people to be barked at with orders.” If she thought he looked ferocious before, he looked about to detonate now.
Apparently he didn’t care for people arguing with him and not answering his questions. His eyes flickered black-white-black and his fingers tightened around her jaw.
He glared at her, she glared back. Eyes tapered with anger, he said, “You’d better-”
“Hey Dev,” Tomi was advancing on them, “everyone is in groups and ready.” He looked from Dev to Sveti with a smirk of humor at the pair locking horns, so to speak.
Dev held her defiant chin for another few seconds, his glower like an ice storm, but she stared straight back at him. He released her and said, “Stay here with Tomi,” and he stalked off to meet with the rest of his team.
After Dev’s team carried on a brief discussion of how to proceed, they returned to the waiting people.
“All right everyone,” Tomi said loudly, “let’s get going. Please stay with your group and keep your leader in sight at all times. Any serious issues, tell one of us soldiers immediately. Don’t stray from your group, never wander off alone. Okay,” he announced and gave the signal to the soldiers that would be leading each group.
People collected into their various assigned lines and each group started marching in separate directions.
Walking was fairly easy as the planet was mostly hard reddish dirt bisected by slices of lime green streams and yellowish square lakes.
The interior was comprised of forests chock full of trees with gnarly black as pitch trunks, and enormous leaves like elephant ears tangled with bushes that were spiked with thorns and needles.
The soil horizon, the ground beneath the first layer of hard packed dirt and of that below, was soft sand and that made it very difficult for any airship to land on it.
Dev had pulled off the impossible by keeping the landing gear raised and gliding in light as a feather instead of abruptly landing as the spaceships were designed to do.
To get to the retrieval airships, the group would need to head to where there were stations on solid rock.
Dev led his smaller group of fourteen civilian males and females, plus two ship personnel, Sveti, and five other warriors besides his lieutenants; Bowie, Tomi, Connar and Lukas.
The other group A contained the majority of the passengers and crew. The boats were disparate. One location had only one watercraft, whereas the other site had many but not enough to ferry everyone.
Dev’s group would be traveling further to the site with only one craft; their site was twice as far as the other. He led up front with Bowie, Sveti was behind him with Connar beside her, the rest of the warriors were scattered throughout the group with Tomi and Lukas the last at the rear to ensure the most protection.
The passengers consisting of several different species but most more or less resembled humans after eons of replicating to look like them as the universal model; whined and groused until they grew too tired to complain.
They finally made camp for the night within a circle of mordant black trees. As the people dropped to the rust colored ground in exhaustion, Dev and Bowie make several fires to keep the animals at bay.
Three warriors handed out the compressed food to everyone along with tubes of water. The others set out silver thermal pads that automatically filled with an inch of air when unwrapped, with an attached light blanket.
Sitting in clusters, as they ate and rested, the group gained strength back and now the people were chatting away getting to know each other and sharing grievances.
Sveti sat quietly eating, listening to Bowie, Tomi and Connar chat amongst themselves. They talked about people and events she knew nothing about. She kept her head down to avoid being drawn into their conversation. They were all kind to her, but she didn’t trust any of them.
Only a few feet away, Dev and Lukas with their backs leaning against some trees smoked thin cigars. Noticing Dev’s gaze seldom left Sveti, in a low voice Lukas asked him, “Dev, you are delivering her to her bráthair, Krystian the Sautarine, getting rid of her, why are you scowling at her?”
Even heavily serious as Lukas was, his brain a constant science experiment, he still had compassion. “I’ve never known you to have any feelings one way or the other over one of your…missions, or, prisoners. What’s biting you?” One hazel eye squinted as he took a deep drag. The smoke swirled around his Marine-square head and tawny buzzed hair, before dissipating into the night.
Sucking on his cigar, Dev’s broad shoulders rose in a shrug of disinterest. He could not move his brain away from how she felt in his arms last night.
>
If they hadn’t had ship trouble he would have tried to maneuver her into his bed, and she undoubtedly would have blown him off, and he would have resorted to force. And that pissed him off and made his gut churn.
Not keeping his voice low, he replied, “Ah, I am just annoyed at how…frail she is. She is not like the other women, human and otherwise. That creamy skin will burn easily on this planet with its multiple suns, the flaming hair will draw notice from the indigenous tribes that savage this land.”
Uncaring that Sveti could hear him he continued, “She is too small, too slight,” a grunt of irritation, “she will require constant protection. Unlike the other females that are stronger, bigger, more robust, they can take care of themselves. At least they have meat on their bones. If we had to stay here any longer than a week she wouldn’t make it.”
Bowie looked over at him with a frown to let Dev know they could hear him. Sveti’s spine stiffened, her head was still lowered but her cheeks turning pink in shame were visible.
But Dev went on in his deep-pitched voice, “She is too skinny, except for those curves,” he sneered as if her body was deformed. “Those tits will attract damned attention from the men here, I don’t need brawls over the bitch.” His gaze traveled down the front of her like a finger touching her skin, drawing down between the breasts he disparaged, “Nay, she will require more work than the other women. What a pain.”
Her cheeks bubblegum pink, Sveti blinked back tears of mortification. Under her breath she whispered confused, “Just last night he had been so kind and gentle with me. Today he is the beast again.”
Bowie didn’t waste his breath telling her Dev didn’t mean it or what he said wasn’t true, she wouldn’t believe him. “Aw, Sveti, come on, let’s get you settled down.” He stood up, bent over and offered her his hand.
She took it and he helped her up then brought her to the air-pad that was for her. It was placed between Dev’s and Bowie’s. The other warriors and lieutenants were sleeping in a circle around the rest of the group for protection.
After he got Sveti settled, Bowie trod over to where Dev and the others were. “Fuck, Dev, you bastard. What the hell is the matter with you talking about her like that? You think she has no feelings? She didn’t ask to be here, and it’s not her fault she’s so...dainty, delicate, yet not a trace of complaint leaves her lips. On the contrary, she works twice as hard to keep up.”
Dev’s eyes were on Sveti who had curled into a ball of misery on her pad. His face like implacable iron, he said nothing.
Tucking his hands in his pockets, Bowie cocked his head and peered up at his friend with a knowing frown. “Deliberately being an asshole to her, bro, ain’t gonna snuff the attraction you hate yourself for feeling for her.”
Both men stared at Sveti lying a few yards away. His mouth turned down in a scowl at his friend, Devilos snarled, “I feel nothing for her, Bow, except hate and disgust for what she’s done. If I didn’t have to return her due to that warrant initiated from her brother, I would leave the troublesome package here.”
The squirm of her small body indicating she heard him, Bowie grumbled, “Fuck you, Dev. There are better ways to fight your desire for her.” Then he grinned slyly and suggested, “Go bang Rianna, or one of the others, get your lust under control.” The grin flattened and his blue eyes hardened.
He whispered crossly, “She doesn’t deserve this shitty treatment because you have a hard-on for her and despise yourself for it, for feeling weak because of it. That soft little bundle makes you feel out of control, and you aren’t familiar with that concept and it makes you uncomfortable, and you’re lashing out.”
Putting out his cigar, Dev shrugged out of his shirt leaving his t-shirt under it on. He shot an irritated glower at his friend and sniped, “I must have missed those years you went to college for your shrink degree. How ‘bout you mind your own fucking armchair psychology business and stay out of my head.”
Gripping his shirt in his hand, Dev turned his back to his friend who now snickered at him, and started towards his pad. Rianna moved in front of him.
“Hey, Captain.” Her finger traced his warlord’s tattoo on his arm, then she raised her hand towards a slightly pointed ear, hesitated, thought better of it and said, “How about you grab your blanket thingy there and come and sleep with, uh,” her smile oily coy, “by me? We can keep each other warm.”
“I’m good,” Dev said brusquely and strode from her. Stomping off, he thought, that damned Tomi should have known better than to put that skag in his group, random assignment or not. She was a goddamned danger to Svetiessa.
He threaded his way through the scattered bodies and sat down on his pad. Keeping his boots on, he lay on his side and looked at Sveti.
She stared back miserably then rolled over with her back to him and pulled her blanket up almost covering her head.
Chapter Eleven
The night passed without incident, the fires kept the carnivorous creatures away.
In the morning, the warriors passed out compressed food and water. Dev gave the people little time to eat and attend to their private relieving, everyone was given a toothbrush.
After the supplies were handed out, Dev brought Sveti over to one of the crewmembers, Elvana. The spectra officer was the only female on the journey that he knew wouldn’t try to hurt the princess.
He nodded with a short smile to the officer. “Elvana, I would like you and the prințesă to be, uh, bathroom partners. I don’t want anyone to go into the scrub alone. Everyone should be at least in pairs. You both already know enough not to stray too far from the group.” He bent his head to Sveti. “You understand what I’m saying?”
She rolled her eyes. “I am not entirely obtuse, Sire.”
He said coolly, “The last person who rolled their eyes at me no longer had a head to keep them in.”
Elvana’s expression sharpened, her smile fled, a bolt of fear flashed in her dark teardrop eyes. She didn’t doubt what he said one bit. But Sveti just glared back at him.
Dev turned back to his officer. “All right, then. Neither of you goes to the bathroom alone. Always together.”
Elvana smiled weakly at him with a nod, the glossy black, webby hair swished forward over her shoulders then back.
Crossing her arms with a huff, her lips pursed, Sveti didn’t acknowledge his command.
Dev said, “Elvana, you may take your place in line, Svetiessa will be right there.” He waited for her to leave then with his hands on his hips he said to Sveti, “You can stuff the attitude, little girl. You are trying my patience.”
“Oh?” One flaming brow rose. “You have patience?” Before he could open his mouth in retort, she turned away from him and moved to where Elvana was waiting with the others to get in line. The spectra officer was almost a foot taller than the prințesă.
Dev saw the two women converse, then they disappeared briefly into the pocket of scrub around the clutch of wiry black trees the group was gathered in. He’d tied his long hair back with a band. Rubbing the back of his neck like it hurt, he went to join Bowie at the head of the line.
When everyone was back and in line, they resumed hiking.
They took breaks regularly, but as the day wore on, tiring, Sveti started slowly drifting back down the line until most had passed her.
Tomi and Lukas had their heads together talking and didn’t notice as the group had grown loose and the trail they took became winding. They were now having to travel across big rocks and boulders, and often had to jump over holes as the terrain changed.
Sveti observed everyone easily leaping over a wide hole. It was three feet across, five or so feet deep, the length of it went on and on. If she tried to go around it she’d lose sight of the group.
She knew it wasn’t likely she would be able to clear the pit, but as she saw the tail end of the group disappear around a bend, she had to jump or she would lose them. Which, she considered, wouldn’t be bad.
Her plan was to run
at some point and not be on that boat. But right now, she was deep in the woodlands and needed to be nearer to where she could find a way off the planet, without being in the Dravidian’s custody.
Taking a deep nervous breath, she backed away from the hole to get a running approach then she sprinted and leaped, and landed with a yelp just on the edge of the pit.
One leg fell into the hole, but her other foot managed to catch the solid ground. She grabbed at rocks on the ground and pulled herself clear of the hole.
“Oh, Goddess Satrine,” she cried in pain, she had landed hard and twisted her ankle, “why is this happening to me?” Sitting on the ground, she pulled her knee up and rubbed her ankle.
“Svetiessa, what the fuck did I tell you,” Dev ground out as he came up from the trail.
Then he saw her ashen face and rubbing her ankle. “What happened?” The hole had meant nothing to him, but he had pictured Sveti trying to leap across it and he had turned around to help her over it, and he didn’t see her. So he jogged back to find her.
“It’s nothing, I didn’t quite clear the hole.” Keeping her head down she didn’t want to look at his annoyance, hear his complaints that she wasn’t as hardy as the other women was showing to be true.
Dev crouched beside her, then knelt sitting back on his heels. “Let me see.” She didn’t move but he grasped her ankle. Her pained gasp cut out of her.
“Sorry,” he mumbled curtly and pushed the leg of her jeans up to examine her ankle. He untied her hiking boot and slipped it off. His long fingers felt under her sock all along her ankle, lower leg and foot.
As his fingers stroked her bare skin, the horns on his head increased slightly in size, the tips of his ears reddened. “It doesn’t seem to be swollen. How does it feel?” he released her foot laying it down gently.
Sveti set her heel on the ground and put a little pressure on it. “It’s fine, just hurts a little. I’m good.” She pulled her boot back on and tied it.
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