by Rose, Renee
“Or maybe we all need to work together to ensure a strong future.” She’s not scared anymore.
“As you can see, I’m under guard, and I understand I’ll be locked in here. So chances are I won’t be wreaking any havoc in the immediate future.”
“But I can see it inside you, waiting to burst out.” She taps her chest.
“You must have amazing eyesight.”
“You must have an amazing story.”
I wasn’t expecting that from her, and I frown in surprise. “What?”
“To do what you did. Do. You must be a really incredible being.”
I blink. Nobody has said that to me before, and even though she’s angry at me, her sincerity shows through. “I…do not think in such terms. I merely think about my goals, and make plans to get there.” I choose my words carefully. “And I assume you have a non-ordinary life as well.”
“Any human being has a non-ordinary life.”
She pulls a comms device from her satchel. Pushes a button and holographic images flicker to life. “Look.”
She hands me the device.
“What am I supposed to see?” But my eyes catch on the first graphic. I catch my breath. “Oh, stars.” It’s a group of at least twenty human women together. And unlike other groups I’ve seen, these being are smiling. Strong. Healthy. Happy. And some of them are holding babies in their arms.
I spin the holo. “Are these Zandian babies?”
“No. They’re human-Zandian babies.” Her voice swells with pride. “Keep looking.”
I scroll through.
She gets out of her chair and comes to stand by my shoulder, leaning over to narrate. I smell her scent, light and floral. Clean. “That female is Janette. she works with Dr. Daneth and develops medicines for our planet. Some of her creations are better than the most advanced salves you can get on the open market from Zellion.”
I whistle. “Zellion is known for its medical technology.”
“Yes.” She swipes. “This is Angela. She does mechanics and helped create the newest cloaking system. She’s an equal partner with the Zandian designers. Super smart.” She flashes up a picture of a craft.
“Oh, stars.” My fingers itch to get behind the controls and fly it. “That’s a dream.”
I want to enlarge it to examine details, but she leans in and swipes for me. “This is a picture of the farming homestead run by Betha. Look at the produce she grows! Better than the stuff you can get from Allurex.”
I swipe back to the picture of the craft. “This is fantastic. She actually works on it?”
“Of course. She’s known on our planet as one of the smartest beings around.”
Jealousy and competition swirl in my gut. “I could do that. Stars, you let me behind that for one planet rotation and I could.” I shake my head. “I could do amazing things. I know it.” For a second, I see myself in that craft, helping improve it. A vision of me and Lanz and Domm in the craft, fighting and working together, rescuing—I shake my head. What in the stars? Where did that ridiculous notion come from?
“You’d have to earn trust, first.” She taps her fingers on the table top.
“And how would one do that?” I remember that I need to fake interest in doing just that. The problem is that I’m not sure it’s entirely fake. Seeing those humans and their accomplishments? It makes me want to gnaw off my own arm if needed to get access to that kind of tech. Work together that way for a common goal.
She doesn’t answer right away. She sits across from me. Looks at me. Then she says, “We like it here. We’ve chosen this as our home. Our future.”
“But, and I’m sorry to say this, but you probably have nowhere else to go, right? So it was easier for you to acclimate.” I think of Jesel. “You had no commitments to a place you loved. Just a bad situation to escape.” It’s okay to say this, because not only is it true, but it would be suspicious to everyone if I accepted life here in the blink of an eye. I need to draw it out. Show my initial reluctance.
“That’s what you have, too.”
“Not at all. I have a home I helped build with my own hands and blood. Just like you have, here. And my primary oath of loyalty is to that place.”
Unease pricks at me, because this isn’t precisely true. At least, my dedication isn’t as strong as I’d like to have her think. Jesel is a dangerous, strange place, as horrifying as it is familiar. All my life I’ve dreamed of something more. And while I didn’t think it looked like this life, something in me has relaxed here. Feels right.
But I’ve spent my whole life fighting to make it better there, to help the humans still living there, and I’m not about to give up that dream now.
“Sometimes life has a twisted path, but you end up in a place that fulfills your destiny,” Kristine says.
“That I agree with.” Only problem is that I’m currently in the wrong place.
She stands up. “I’ve been asked to take you around to visit a few other places on the planet.”
“With the guard, of course.” I look at him.
She flushes. “He’s authorized to use force if I, I mean, you, disobey.”
Interesting. I think this human woman has some kind of feelings for the powerful warrior. Although I can’t argue that these Zandians aren’t wickedly attractive. Just thinking about last night makes my body thrum with desire.
I clear my throat. “I will do nothing that requires the use of force. I will be the very model of propriety.”
“That’s good.” She looks at me and her face is serious. “Because living here is pretty amazing, Mirelle. Don’t lose the opportunity before you even realize how badly you need it.”
I’m not so satisfied with her answer to come up with a glib reply. And I need to conserve my energy for information acquisition.
Chapter 9
Domm
“Are you ready?” I glance at Mirelle. As usual, just looking at her makes me crave her. I growl and adjust myself.
“Yes.” She’s acting confident, but I can see her anxiety in the way she grips the edge of the table tightly. The way she bites her lower lip. “And it’s about time you let me out of here.”
Lanz takes her hand. “Let me examine your cuff.”
She glowers but allows him to take her arm. He touches the shiny silver side and a green light flashes briefly.
Lanz looks at me. “Domm, is yours activated?”
“Already tested it. She’s set up to be released only at either of our command, and the cuffs will deny access to sensitive areas of the city.” I turn to her. “Mirelle. The cuffs will flash yellow when you are approaching a forbidden area. They’ll blink blue when we are near, so you can know that your masters approach.” I smile.
Mirelle crosses her arms and scowls, and I wince. “I’m sorry, little warrior. You’re an exceptional fighter and a crafty adversary. We’d be fools to allow you around without a security system.”
“You do realize this just makes me all the more determined to escape, don’t you?”
Veck.
Of course it does. We want her to trust us, but show her no trust ourselves. This doesn’t sit right with me, but letting her run around free would be idiotic on our part.
“Remember that the cuff will alarm and lock to the wall if you try to enter the flight zones, mechanical shops, or technical training areas that are off limits to you,” I warn.
She sighs. “It’s entirely clear.”
“And what happens if you disobey?”
She smiles. “I’d probably invent something in five minutes that your crew have been working on for a few solar cycles. Fix a few mistakes, prevent you from killing yourself with a new weapon that you’ve wired incorrectly. Simple things like that.”
I can’t help but grin back. I step closer. “I’d like to see that.” What’s she’s suggesting is my dream version of Mirelle—fully integrated, alive, part of Zandia. Keeping her prisoner is breaking her, and that breaks me.
Her gaze skitters away,
like I just got too real with her.
I know she likes me, and Lanz. Likes what we do, punishment and pleasure, all of it. And I know she’d love this planet if she gave it half a chance. But her mind is so full of her old life, that I’m afraid there’s no room for her to even think about something new.
She won’t talk about her past or her life on Jesel, but I can see it in her eyes every vecking second of every planet rotation. She’ll still more there than here.
We need to fix this before we run out of time.
But for now I hope our outing is a good start.
“You can visit the farms, other homesteads, the city center. Start interacting with other humans. Surely that sounds like a good plan to you?”
I slip my hands around her waist, then slide them down to cup her ass.
“Mmmm.” She pushes her body into my hands. “Certainly.”
My body has ideas on what another good plan might be.
“We’re already late to meet Rok.” Lanz checks his comm. “There will be time for that later.”
“I certainly hope so.” Mirelle pushes into me again. I know she uses sex as a distraction, maybe to keep her mind off other things. And I don’t mind. I just hope she gets to the point where she can appreciate life here even without the orgasms.
* * *
Lanz
“This is amazing.” Mirelle’s said it more than a dozen times, and each time with more enthusiasm.
I catch her hand, her appreciation infectious.
“How do you get the craft to glide so smoothly over the ground?” She glances at the controls. “Is it magnetic propulsion? Obviously.” She shakes her head. “Dumb question. But you don’t have magnets in the ground. Unless the ore implicitly present in the core of your planet is adaptable and can provide a thrust for steering?” Her lovely face is lit up like a hundred stars.
“Yes,” I say.
“To?”
“All of it.” Domm smiles.
“I knew it!” She pumps her fist. “Yes. But that means you must have strong neodymium-cast 3 magnets, which means you have the capability to contain the magnetic field, which means you also have light-controlled barrier transistors. Mother Earth!”
“How do you know about light-controlled barrier resisters?” I throw up my hands. “Is there anything in this universe you haven't heard of?”
She smiles. “The worst part about driving a small, archaic clunky craft like mine is that everyone sees you coming. And the best part is that nobody sees you coming, if you do it right. I can get into places like I’m invisible. Listen, pick up tech, scavenge. Ah”—she coughs—“ah, sometimes, emancipate things from others.” She gives me a sidelong glance. “That they could do without, and which I need.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re a little vecking pirate.”
“Liberator,” she corrects me with a grin.
“Mother Earth. Is that—what is that?” She presses herself to the glass of our craft, her whole body quivering with excitement.
“That’s a homestead dome.”
“The honeycomb shape of the metal—that’s genius. If I could just get the materials, I’d like to do that back on Jes…” She breaks off, and her body freezes. One second she was vibrant, now she’s stone. Flat.
By the one true Zandian Star, I wish she would forget the deathtrap planet she came from and find a purpose here.
She sits back down and looks out the window, quiet.
“What would you do?” I make my voice low and enticing, as if I’m trying to coax over a small animal.
I don’t expect her to answer; she usually avoids talking about her old life. But this planet rotation she surprises me.
“I’d create homes with that shape. See how the form is automatically load bearing? It’s weatherproof and durable.”
“What kinds of homes do you have now? There?”
“Haven’t you been to Jesel before? I know Zandians have dropped off humans in the past.” She sounds a little sarcastic. “Interesting that what is my entire life is a footnote in yours.”
“Me, personally? Solar cycles ago, yes. But not often. And not recently. Our captain’s mate is from Jesel. He rescued her from a pack of human males who were dragging her by the hair and forcing themselves on her. Repeatedly.”
I watch Mirelle turn pale. It’s a low blow, but I know her home planet may harbor free humans, but it’s a wild, lawless place, unsuitable for civilized community.
“Yes, that happens,” she chokes. “Women are greatly outnumbered by men, as they are here,” she volleys with a pointed look.
I ignore the jab. “It’s odd that you were there the whole time, and we never knew.” How could the universe have hidden her from us?
“We stay off the radar.” She nods. “Underground cave homes.”
“So how do you live?”
“Things have changed,” she allows. “Our homes are made of mud bricks, typically, or thatched. We live rough so we can focus our energy on craft and technology.”
“Sensible.” I nod. “As long as you don’t need to worry about elements or animals.”
“There aren’t many predators on Jesel.” For some reason, she pales.
“Yes?” I sense this is critical. I reach out my hand, hover it above her arm, but don’t touch her.
She shakes her head. “The important part is that you have to be stronger than the challenges. Never give up, even when it’s hard.”
“Were dangerous creatures accidentally imported?” There’s something she’s not telling me, and I’m curious. I want to know why her face is so serious, her shoulders tense.
“Life is always importing something dangerous. The question is how you handle it.”
She’s regained her composure, but at some cost. I can see that her arms are tight, as is her whole body. “And on Jesel, I can handle things.” She presses her nails into her palms so hard I think she might cut her own skin.
She keeps talking about going back to Jesel, but veck, the idea is also tearing her up inside for some reason. I know the place isn’t safe at all, and clearly, she’s had some bad interactions there.
“I feel like you’re talking in circles.” I rest my hand on her arm. Stroke. I reach down and uncurl her fingers, run mine over the little half-moon indents she’s created in her flesh.
“What kind of predators do you have here?” She allows me to open her hands, but looks away.
And...she’s changed the subject. I let it go for now. “Vipn live in the forests. They’re fast, with razor sharp teeth and saliva that can cause a nasty, hard-to-heal infection. Make a being delirious. Pack animals, protective of their young. But they do prefer to avoid Zandians, so if you don’t surprise them or make them feel you’re attacking their young, you can avoid ugly encounters.”
“Good fighters, you said before?” She raises a brow, smiling again. “Bayla said so, too.”
“Absolutely. They move with a conservation of energy that’s like a dance. So powerful.”
She remembers I called her one. Clearly. She’s checking to make sure she likes the comparison.
“I’m not poisonous, though.” This beautiful human looks at me and narrows her eyes.
I smile. “That remains to be seen.”
She rolls her eyes, but I know she likes my joke, a smile lights up her face.
“We’re here.” I take the craft off auto drive and park it outside the large, silver engineering dome. Glance at Domm.
He raises a brow.
“What is this?” Her whole body is alit with energy.
“A place where some of our best work gets done.” I open the door and take her hand, although she hardly needs it to get down the craft steps that automatically descend.
“And you’re letting me see it?”
“Some of it yes. Other parts, no. As we discussed.”
“No, never?”
“No for now. The future? Up to you. How you handle this much.” I raise my hands. “You own your destiny,
Mirelle.”
She grimaces and looks up at the sky, although—bright as it is with the full burning sun, you can see nothing but glare. if she’s looking for the stars, she’ll have to look harder.
“Domm. Lanz.”
Mykl comes forward, his dagger glinting in the bright sun. “We’re ready for you.” His gaze, as it passes Mirelle, is even. But the way he clenches his jaw betrays his unease. Not everyone is happy with our plan to rehab our little human.
“Mirelle, this is the dome leader, Mykl. You will obey his commands explicitly.”
She affects a bored look. “Got it.”
“He will show you the area you are to work for now. We are going to give you a chance to work in electronic repairs with another human. See how well you do.”
She frowns. “I assure you, I will do fine.” She leans forward, peering past Mykl. “In there?” She shifts from foot to foot. Darting her gaze all around. She’s wide-eyed, her whole body leaning to the dome.
Mykl’s voice is curt. “Yes. I will take you to the station. If you cause any trouble, I won’t allow you back.”
“I see.” She clears her throat.
“It’s set up?” Mykl steps closer to me. “The security protocol on her cuffs?”
“Yes. Mirelle, just to review: If you attempt to enter a forbidden zone, it will alarm and lock you to nearest wall. And your privileges will be revoked. Mykl will take you into custody. The king notified. Clear?”
Subdued, she nods.
A gnawing in my belly tells me this isn’t the right tactic to take with her, but I don’t know how else to give her purpose—let her start to build a life—and still be sure she won’t escape.
I know she hates being under someone’s control, especially ours. And it’s not like I especially like micromanaging any being. But for now, until we trust her, it’s necessary.
As we zoom away in our craft, the space feeling less than, now that Mirelle isn’t with us, I glance at Domm.
“Do you think she's ready? Did we do it too soon?” I pause. “Mykl wasn’t happy with it.”
He shrugs. “We don’t have time to spend. Either she fits in here, or she does not.” His hands are clenched on his tablet.