by Roxie Ray
It wasn’t perfect, but the Lunarians had at least fed me. That alone would have been enough to convince me that they weren’t so bad after all.
Now covered in grease, I stripped out of my hospital gown and did my best to make sense of the shower. I couldn’t figure out how to turn the water temperature down, but after a few moments of standing beneath the burning hot water and steam, my body got used to the feeling. It was…strange. My body had been aching before, but as I washed myself, my muscles felt soothed and relaxed for the first time in…well, for as long as I could remember, really. There must have been something in the water. As I toweled off, I noticed that a few of the cuts, scrapes and bruises on my bony arms and legs had even faded and healed a little.
Another point for the Lunarians. Whatever the weird healing solution in the water was, it obviously worked.
Between eating and getting clean, though, my body had been pushed about as far as I could take it. Every movement I made left me exhausted. Normally, eating gave me energy, but I wasn’t operating on normal anymore. I hadn’t been for a long time.
The bed was soft and the pillow on top of it was even softer. I sank into it, naked and still a little humid from the shower, with a sigh of relief.
But as I closed my eyes and tried to relax into sleep, it wasn’t as easy as it should have been. The darkness that my eyes were used to wasn’t always my friend. Every time I found myself drifting off, a pang of fear shot through me, startling me awake all over again.
My door didn’t lock. The Lunarians had been kind to me so far, but there was no real guarantee of safety here. At any moment, anyone who wanted to could come barging in on me, and no matter how badly I wanted to fight, my body was simply too tired to put up any resistance at all anymore.
For a little while, I gave up on sleep and shifted gears into worry.
Somewhere out there, Atlanta was still being held captive. Either by the yellow-skinned aliens who had taken us in the first place, or the Rutharians who had delighted so much in abusing me…or worse.
And I didn’t want to think about worse.
Instead, I wondered about home. My parents—they must be furious right now. Atlanta and I had been cash cows for them, insurance against anything that the sectors might want to do that didn’t work in their favor. The sectors themselves probably weren’t happy that we’d disappeared right out from under their noses, either. We’d been their prized possessions, distracting the masses with our little dance routines and spewing whatever propaganda they wanted to script for us. And our fans…
Our fans probably didn’t even miss us. There were other influencers that were all too eager to take our places in the minds and hearts of the population.
Part of me wondered if our fans had even realized we were missing at all.
Eventually, I must have drifted off. A soft rap, rap, rap stirred me back up out of sleep and immediately, I was panicking all over again. I shot up in bed, clutching the soft black sheets and blanket to my chest. I looked around wildly for the source of the noise, all but certain that I was somehow back in the Rutharians’ den all over again.
But in the darkness all around me, there was no one. Just another rap, rap, rap—and then, a voice.
“Savii? It’s me. I…I thought I would check on you before I finish my rounds for the night.” I recognized the voice as Coplan’s. “May I enter?”
I looked around for my hospital gown, but I couldn’t remember where I’d left it before I got into the shower. My eyes preferred the darkness right now, but I didn’t exactly have night vision or anything.
“Just a sec,” I called back. I gathered the blankets around me, making sure that I was as covered up as I could be in the circumstances. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do. “Okay. Come in.”
The door slid open. Coplan’s form was a shadow against the dim light of the halls outside. It must have been night on the ship.
How long had I been asleep for? It had only seemed like a few moments, but apparently, it was late enough that even the doctors—healers—were ready to call it a day.
“How are you feeling?” Coplan asked. He came into the room slowly and stayed in the center, which was kind of him.
He seemed like a good man. Or, well…not a man. An alien guy. Whatever. But good or not, I still didn’t want anyone with the slightest whiff of male around him coming any closer to me than they absolutely had to.
Even looking…well, looking as handsome as Coplan did.
“I’m…handling myself,” I said honestly. “That’s about all I can do right now, isn’t it?”
“It is more than enough,” he assured me. “Have you eaten? Washed?”
“And napped a little, too.” I could feel his gaze on me. Even though it wasn’t predatory, I hugged the blankets a little tighter to my chest anyway. “I’m doing okay. More or less. You don’t have to worry that I’ll, like…go on a murder spree or kill myself, if that’s what you’re here to check on.”
“You have been talking to Leonix, I see.” Coplan chuckled softly. “I am not concerned that you are a danger to anyone right now, Savii. Including yourself. I simply wanted to see how you were doing…in a general sense.”
“You came to feel me up again,” I guessed.
“I am not here to feel you up. Or down. Or in any other, nonmedical way.” He cocked his head to the side. “But I would like to test your rib again. If you have washed, I am certain you noticed the healing properties of the water here on the ship. It is my hope that it eased your muscles somewhat, which should aid in your recovery.”
“Oh.” I scooted back on the bed a little. “Um. I’m not…wearing any clothes.”
“That does not bother me if it does not bother you.” His voice wasn’t teasing or jeering, which was a relief. Just completely on the level.
And I supposed he was a healer. It wasn’t like he’d never seen a naked body before. I’d endured worse touches since I’d been captured. More invasive ones too, at that.
“Okay. Just…don’t be a creep about it.”
He tilted his head the other way for a moment like he didn’t understand me completely, then nodded. “I will be gentle. I promise.”
This time, when Coplan kneeled next to me, I allowed myself to get a better look at his face. He had high cheekbones and a flattened nose that reminded me of a jaguar’s. There was something feline about it, even though it looked perfectly proportional to the rest of his humanesque face. His cheekbones were high, and his jawline was sharp, broad and angular. There were men on Earth who paid good money for features like those, though I suspected Coplan hadn’t needed to make a consultation with his plastic surgeon to get them.
It was his eyes that really did me in, though. The purple in them was…distracting. It seemed to glow a little in the dark, like there was a light source behind his eyes that swirled almost hypnotically.
But as he shifted the blanket to the side, just enough so that he could press his fingers lightly to my ribs again, his gaze didn’t wander. He took no liberties. He was only focused on what he said he’d come to check up on.
It was a relief. Out of all the alien men I’d encountered since I’d been kidnapped, I’d finally found one that wasn’t a creep.
“No pain?” he asked, touching the rib that had made me hiss and flinch earlier.
“No pain.” It was insane how much good one shower had done me. Maybe there were painkillers in it or something that had stopped me from feeling the aches in my bones…
Or maybe, he was right, and the waters themselves healed more than I could have imagined.
“You will still need to be careful,” he warned me. “It is healing, but just because it doesn’t hurt doesn’t mean you should—”
“Overexert myself. I know.” I laughed, a little bitterly. “I can’t, really. My whole body feels so…weak. Don’t worry. I won’t be turning cartwheels anytime soon.”
“I do not just mean to take care physically.” His eyes met mine. The glowy p
urple was muddying into a different color, but in the dark, it was hard to tell what that color was. “No one will hurt you while you are here in the medical bay. I sleep here, too, as I have promised you, I will keep you from harm. But, Savii…”
“What? You don’t have Rutharians wandering around the ship too, do you?”
“No. But there are…others. The males aboard this ship are loyal warriors sworn to good generals, but they do not see pretty females often. Given your…your past, I do not wish for you to feel uncomfortable.”
“Pervy soldiers. Got it.” Atlanta and I had run into worse when we’d performed for the red-class Sectionist military parades back on Earth. I didn’t like the idea of being gawked at, especially not now… But I’d be able to handle myself now that I knew it was a problem I might face. “Anything else?”
“Ah…” Coplan looked like he’d been about to say something else, but he stopped himself. “No. But I would feel most at ease if you would let Leonix or myself know if you wish to walk about the ship. A walk would be good for your muscles, and generally, I would encourage independence and exercise. It is only…”
“You’re going to keep me safe from any big, horny warriors while I do it?” I almost laughed. Even in space, I’d have an armed guard on me at all times. Incredible. Some things never changed.
“If anyone so much as looks at you, I will kill them where they stand.” Coplan’s jaw clenched, and I felt like he had something more to say still…but if he did, he wasn’t ready to say it yet. Instead, he settled the blankets back over my ribs and gave me a nod as he rose. “For now, rest. Recover. I will return tomorrow to check on you.” He paused in the doorway and cast a final glance over his shoulder at me. “Please just try not to do anything unwise until then.”
4
Coplan
I did not mean to, but I worried about her all night.
She had obviously been beaten by the Rutharians while she was their captive. Her ribs, the scratches and bruises and otherwise—those, I could heal. Her weakened muscles would strengthen over time, and with a healthy diet full of energy and nutrients, her cheeks would eventually fill out. Her bones would not protrude so sharply from her skin. Physically, the Rutharians had tortured her in ways that I did not like to think too much about, even as her healer. But if I had learned anything about humans, it was that they could endure much more than their tiny frames suggested.
With enough time and care, the body could be healed.
No, it was her mind that concerned me. Her essence. Her spirit.
The health of those things could not be measured with a touch, nor with any of the medical instruments I had at hand.
Those things, it was more difficult to heal. If they ever even healed at all.
During my time as a warrior, I had known many who had succumbed to mental difficulties over the horrors of war that they had witnessed. A troubling number of them had been made of stronger stuff than myself, even. Lunarian males, and even the occasional female like Leonix, were trained from birth for the warrior’s lives they lived. We went into battle prepared to kill for our beliefs. We marched knowing that we might fall ourselves, that we might lose our lives to defend those who could not defend themselves.
But Savii was not a warrior. Or, at least, she had not been before she was taken. She did not have my warrior’s training to guide her through her pain. No commander had prepared her for the brutality she had faced—and the things the Rutharians had done to her, I knew, were far worse than the transgressions committed on any battlefield.
Whether she liked it or not, in her own way, she was a warrior now. She had the strength for it. That much, I could still feel in the scratches she had given me on my cheek.
My worry for her now was two-fold.
One could only be that strong for so long before seeking help. She could push down her memories of her time with the Rutharians for a while, but to do so was trying to stop a coursing river with a dam built of pebbles, twigs and mud.
When those waters finally broke, she would need someone she could trust. Someone she knew she was safe to lean on, even on her worst days. As her healer, I yearned to be that person for her…but trusting me was not likely to come easy for her.
After all she had been through, there was no telling that she would ever be able to trust anyone ever again.
The next morning, I reported to Kloran and Haelian in the war room with tired eyes and a heavy heart. My worrying about Savii had left me restless all night long. Sleep had not come easy, and my dreams had been plagued with a sense of dread.
“You look like a steppe-beast just chewed you up and spat you out.” General Kloran wasn’t one to mince words. He was probably right, too.
“That’s how I feel,” I admitted as I slipped into a seat at the war table. “It has been…a very long few days.”
“Productive ones, though. Or so we hear from Leonix.” From across the table, General Haelian looked pleased with me. “She seems to think you have made some progress with our newest rescue.”
“Is it true?” Kloran asked.
I nodded. “True enough. But her story…I fear it may involve more troubles than we had anticipated.”
Kloran groaned. “Typical. Let’s hear it, then.”
I told it all to them, just as Savii had revealed the details to me. Kloran and Haelian shared a concerned look as I spoke of the yellow skin and sharp teeth Savii had noticed just before she lost consciousness on Earth. They were obviously coming to the same terrible conclusion that I had.
“Jeorkanians,” Kloran growled. “And here I thought we had put an end to Queen Lieja’s treachery nearly a year ago.”
“We did,” Haelian assured him. “She is still locked away in her prison, cousin. You made sure of that yourself. But the Jeorkanian people themselves…they are a clever species, and well versed in the acquisition of slaves. The issue of the abducted humans is a many-headed beast. Cut one off—”
“And three more seem to grow in its place. I know.” Kloran took his face into his hands and massaged the tension from his brow. “Perhaps we’ve spent too long trying to tame each branch of the problem. What we need is a way to strike out at the root of it instead.”
“You mean the Rutharians?” I asked. “For as long as they terrorize the galaxies unchecked, cowards like the Jeorkanians will supply them with whatever they ask for in order to save their own necks.”
“Or Earth,” Haelian mused. “The planet is completely unknowing of the threat its people are under. They have no way to defend themselves, either. And now that the Rutharians know that an entire world full of females who can bear their offspring sits in space, ripe for the taking…”
“The abductions that have already taken place were merely a testing of the waters.” Kloran clenched his hands into fists and set them on top of the table. I imagined if he allowed himself to move them from that place, he would end up trying to put them through one of the walls. “It is only a matter of time before they determine an invasion would be a simpler way to achieve their ends.”
“We are lucky that Nion murdered their king, then.” It was not much, but when matters were at their darkest, I always did my best to find the light. “Without the political upheaval that caused among their upper class, that invasion may have already occurred.”
“Perhaps we could dispatch him to murder a few more rulers,” Haelian said with a small smirk. “He obviously has a knack for it.”
“Starting with Queen Lieja and working from there.” Kloran thumped his fist against the table. It shuddered beneath his force. “I do not like this. Any of this.”
“We’ll task Apex with determining what role she might be playing in this farce. Along with the rest of the Jeorkanians. And while he is doing that…” Haelian sighed. I knew it pained both of the generals to rely so heavily on Apex, our former intelligence agent. Especially since his loyalty to them had compromised his relationship with his superior, Lady Idria, which had quickly led to his replace
ment with another here aboard the ship. Haelian looked tired as he turned his eyes to me again. “Your human—this Savii. Her sister was abducted with her?”
“And Savii has no idea where she might have been taken,” I confirmed. “Perhaps our new specter could help track her down. Daran, I think his name is?”
“Daran is worthless.” Kloran’s eyes flickered red at the mere mention of our new specter’s name. “Untrustworthy little snake. He has not given us fresh information on any human captives since he came aboard.”
“Likely under Idria’s orders.” Haelian’s cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment. I could understand why. For many years, Idria had done her best to tempt Haelian into a marriage he did not wish to engage in. As soon as he had married his own mate, the human, Sawyer, she had unleashed her wrath upon us, turning even some of our own allies against us out of pettiness. Now, we did not only have the ruthless brutality of the Rutharians and the slippery misdeeds of the Jeorkanians to contend with. Back on Lunaria, the political support for our mission to rescue abducted humans was dwindling as well. “We will have to ask Apex to search out Savii’s sister as well. I do not wish to put such a burden on him, but…”
“But we have no choice.” Kloran sighed heavily. “Unless… What of Savii herself? If she is willing, and of sound enough mind to be returned to Earth, we could wipe her memory and send her back to her people. It would win us a little of Idria’s favor back. We know that she does not wish for any more human females to take up lives on Lunaria, for fear that they will continue to steal potential mates from her.”
“Our planet has a hundred males for every female!” This time, it was Haelian’s fist that thundered down on the table. “If she was not such a wretched, scheming terror herself, she could have her pick of mates and leave us to our mission in peace.”