by L P Peace
‘I disagree. If Tolomus is taken out, it gives us breathing room to coordinate much-needed moves. More importantly, if we’re the ones to take him out, we gain Crucible and whatever ships she carries, plus the bounty on Tolomus, which I’m told is substantial.’ Aerdan didn’t actually know it was, but it was the Tessans who wanted Tolomus, so he felt like it was a safe bet.
Cuulden’s face tensed, his lips pursing, his eyes wary.
‘Hmm.’
‘At the very least we need to meet to strategize moving vulnerable Temerin before the slave trade recovers and finds a new Tolomus.’
‘Hmm.’ This time Cuulden’s tone was darker and more annoyed. Finally, the Poogarin nodded. ‘Very well. I will choose a site and call a temit. I’ll get back to you in a few rotes.’
Aerdan felt the thrill of victory light up his nerves. He grinned. ‘Thank you, Cuulden. I will see you there.’
‘See you there, Aerdan.’
The screen went blank. Aerdan stared out at the stars before turning to the console and changing the ships trajectory. Danielle wouldn’t be going to Tessa. He had no intention of ever letting her leave this ship, though not through force, but through kisses, orgasms, and love. He’d intended on taking the time he was supposed to be transporting her to the Tessans to woo her.
But going after Tolomus wouldn’t just take out the most successful independent slaver, it would also give the Temerin his ship, Crucible, which could house hundreds of their people and even be a moving trading post. The defensive ability of the ship was well-known, and the bounty would go a long way to buying as many Temerin slaves as possible, while giving them somewhere safe to go.
This was far too important a job to leave up to someone else. He’d explain it to Danielle. Besides, he believed she had good tactical skill and would be able to help them refine the plan once he’d convinced the other mita to go along with it.
He imagined how thrilled she’d be to have the temit turn to her for her wisdom and advice. How proud he’d be of his mate’s intelligence and how admired she’d be among his people.
Leaning back in his seat, Aerdan let himself go to his fantasies.
Danielle walked out of the shower and tugged her clothes from the cleanser before walking into her room to dress. She was looking forward to breakfast. It was strange, but this routine was becoming a daily ritual that Danielle knew she’d miss when she got to Tessa.
It was so easy to be around the Temerin, once they’d calmed down a little. They were funny, open, and welcoming, and she liked them. She liked being around them.
For years, Danielle had always been alone. Her parents worked all day and partied all night, leaving only him for company, and his had been the worst kind. Then after they died, she went to live with her grandparents only to find where they weren’t neglectful, they were controlling. It was even harder to stomach than her parents. At least her parents hadn’t been around to know about the abuse, not that it’d made any difference when they found out. With her grandparents, they were always there, judging her, criticising her, breaking her down until she didn’t know who she was or what parts of her were her and what parts were reactions to their criticism. She was never enough. Never pretty enough. Never smart enough. Never disciplined enough. Never driven enough. Clothes didn’t fall on her properly, meaning the expensive brand new clothes she suddenly had in her wardrobe looked just as second-hand on her as the clothes she wore at home. Her grandmother detested it and her as a result.
When Danielle went to university to study physics and astronomy her grandmother almost had a fit. She wanted Danielle to go into fashion or some other ridiculous career Danielle knew she’d hate on instinct. Her grandmother’s hatred was such that she’d refused to pay for university, which was fine with Danielle, right up until a dinner party where one of her grandmother’s friends had assumed she was paying. Her grandmother couldn’t tolerate the idea of people thinking she wasn’t paying and had even made sure Danielle had a generous allowance to live on.
That had pissed Danielle off more than anything. That her grandmother had tried to steal her independence.
It had made no difference; as soon as she graduated, Danielle joined ISAF. The Intersystem Armed Forces. She was given an officer’s commission on graduation, and a few months later was making a regular run between Earth and Mars.
Neither she nor her grandparents had attempted to make contact after her graduation, at least, not until the launch party of Endurance, where they’d showed up dressed in ridiculously expensive clothes and talked to the press about how proud they were of their beloved girl that she was a part of an undertaking of this import. How they’d supported her decision to join ISAF and were so proud of her stellar rise through the ranks.
Later, Danielle had asked them about her so-called “stellar rise”, which had actually happened at the standard rate.
‘Don’t make a fuss, Danielle,’ her grandmother hissed. ‘You are so like your mother.’
For the first time in her life, Danielle had actually understood why her mother ran from them. Ran all the way to Alice Springs and married the first guy she fell across. For the first time, she felt sympathy for her mother, however precious little it was.
‘Now Danielle, it’s not nice to lie.’ She remembered her mother’s words. The looks on her parent’s face. Him standing in the background with a smirk on his face because he knew he’d won.
Danielle stood from the bed where she’d settled while putting her shoes on, and scrubbed her face.
Being taken was a trigger, because of course it was. It brought all of the feelings from that time back to her as though he’d just left, closing her bedroom door behind him.
There were times Danielle wanted to go back in time. Go back to that small house in Alice Springs. Back before he’d started and take her away. Take her somewhere safe where he’d never get to hurt her. Let her know she was loved and worthy, which was a laugh, because she still didn’t feel that way and doubted she ever would.
Leaving her room, Danielle walked towards the mess. As she got closer, she heard raised voices. Sidha was shouting at Aerdan, who, when he finally answered, seemed nonchalant in his reply.
The voices stopped as soon as she walked in.
‘What on Earth is going on with you guys?’ Danielle asked. ‘Well, not on Earth, but you know what I mean. What’s going on?’
She looked from Sidha to Aerdan and back again. Sidha was practically buzzing with anger standing in front of the galley counter where Kentor was currently getting breakfast ready. Aerdan, in contrast, sat at the table with his legs on top in a move which seemed to cover for an underlying tension he didn’t want to admit to. Kentor looked amused, while Haddis and Bedvir looked at one another, their faces suspiciously neutral.
‘What’s wrong?’ Danielle asked again. ‘C’mon, guys. Don’t make me keep asking.’
Sidha looked at Aerdan. ‘Why don’t you tell her, Aerdan?’
‘It’s none of your business, Sidha.’
‘Don’t talk to Sidha like that,’ Kentor said, seemingly speaking for the first time.
‘You didn’t have the right to make that decision without us, Aerdan,’ Haddis said.
‘What decision?’ Danielle asked, getting irritated. A weight shifted in her belly. Some prescient knowledge, but she couldn’t quite grasp it.
‘Well, tell her,’ Sidha demanded.
A strange look fell over Aerdan’s face. He looked at Danielle and she saw a flicker of guilt before it was gone again, the nonchalant look back on his face. ‘We’re not going to take you to Tessa right now,’ he said. ‘We’re going to take down Tolomus instead.’
‘Oh. Are the Tessans coming for me?’
Sidha crossed his arms, his face furious.
‘They’re not coming for me, are they?’ Danielle said. ‘Because you haven’t told them you’re not bringing me.’ It was a guess, but the look on Aerdan’s face confirmed it. ‘Right.’ Danielle nodded. Turning, she walked
out into the hall.
‘Danielle, where are you going?’
‘Back to my room,’ she said. She stumbled down the hall in a daze.
* * *
Four days had passed since Danielle had spoken to him at breakfast, and she hadn’t said a word to him once.
Aerdan rankled at the rejection. He was supposed to be wooing her now. How was he meant to do that when she walked out of a room whenever he walked in?
Bedvir and Haddis were in fits of laughter about it. They rubbed salt in the wounds whenever they were around, and it was beginning to really get to him.
Danielle was his mate. He’d never been so sure about anything in his life. So why was it so hard?
Aerdan was standing in the hall outside engineering listening to Bedvir and Haddis talking. He’d been coming to see Bedvir about what parts he might need that they might be able to order from the other Temerin while at the temit, but when he got down here, he heard Haddis. Now he couldn’t bring himself to go in the room.
What were they talking about? Were they making fun of him?
Gritting his teeth, Aerdan walked in to find Haddis handing something to Bedvir. ‘What are those?’
‘Nothing,’ Haddis said, before he dropped it in his mouth and swallowed it.
‘Well, if it’s nothing, give me one,’ Aerdan said.
‘I don’t have any more,’ Haddis said.
Aerdan turned to Bedvir and saw the male of Vadra Mita raising the item towards his mouth.
Something rose in Aerdan. He jumped, striking out at the older male, who took a step back. He swung his arm up, deflecting Aerdan’s blow and dropped the thing in his mouth before Aerdan could reach him.
A red mist descended over Aerdan’s eyes and lashed out.
Dimly, he heard voices shouting, talking to him as he threw punch after punch at both males. He couldn’t respond to them with anything but unleashed fury.
Nothing was going the way it was supposed to, and it was the fault of these two. They were working together, shutting him out. What had begun as a fun competition had suddenly become serious.
‘Stop it, Aerdan. What has gotten into you?’ Bedvir said, finally cutting through the haze and dim.
Aerdan looked up from the floor. They had wrestled him to his back, both of them having to work together. Aerdan felt some pride in that. He glared up at them. ‘As though you don’t know. As though you both don’t know.’
‘Why don’t you tell us, so we all know where we stand?’
‘She’s mine,’ Aerdan gasped, his breath tearing in and out of him from the effort of a fight he could barely remember. ‘She’s supposed to be mine, and you’re both trying to steal her from me.’
‘I’m not yours.’
The room fell still. Bedvir and Haddis looked towards the door. Knowing what he was about to see, Aerdan raised his head off the floor and saw the flushed and angry face of Danielle staring back at him.
‘I don’t belong to you. You don’t get to decide my future.’ She shook her head. The betrayed look that had been in her eyes for days had turned to anger now. ‘You don’t get to decide these things without any reference to me. I’m not property to be owned.’
Danielle’s face turned to stone. With one last look at the males on the floor, she turned around and walked out.
The room was silent for almost a full metri before Bedvir and Haddis finally stood.
‘You’re really vrokking this up for all of us,’ Haddis said. For the first time in the years Aerdan had known him, he looked angry.
‘What are you talking about?’ he said, reaching out so that Haddis could help him up.
Haddis glared at his hand. ‘When you figure it out, let me know.’ With that, he walked out.
Bedvir walked over and took Aerdan’s hand, pulling him off the floor.
‘What is he talking about?’ Aerdan asked.
Bedvir shook his head. Instead of anger, he looked sad. ‘What do you want, Aerdan?’
‘I want to know what everyone’s problem is.’
‘There is something happening here. Something that could be,’ Bedvir shook his head again, ‘something that could be wonderful, and you’re vrokking it up by being a selfish charvosh.’
‘What?’
‘You have to figure it out yourself,’ Bedvir said. ‘Now what do you want, Aerdan?’
‘What were you taking?’ Aerdan said. He looked around the room as though an answer might present itself. ‘What were those things?’
‘A gift, for you,’ Bedvir said.
‘How…’ Aerdan shook his head. ‘How is you taking something a gift for me?’
‘When you figure out what’s actually happening here, then you’ll get your gift,’ Bedvir said. ‘For now, what do you want, Aerdan? Or do I have to throw you out of my engine room?’
Aerdan felt his hackles raise but forced himself to back off.
‘It’ll wait,’ he said, turning around and leaving.
Aerdan walked back to the bridge and sat down, feeling his whole mood slump.
Over the past few days, he’d watched Danielle become closer to Haddis and Bedvir. She was friends with Sidha and Kentor and that didn’t bother Aerdan because neither one were interested in females sexually. But over the last few days she’d grown more comfortable with Haddis and Bedvir and that bothered Aerdan. She should be closest with him and only be close to them because of their relation to him. But Haddis made her laugh, Bedvir listened to her talking. There was no space for Aerdan. He didn’t know how to deal with it.
A few hours had passed since Danielle had found Aerdan on the floor with Haddis and Bedvir in the engine room and she’d finally gotten over her anger enough to return there.
Bedvir smiled at her as she entered and something in Danielle’s chest stuttered. It had been doing that more and more lately, which wouldn’t have been a problem if Bedvir was the only one eliciting this response.
Bedvir’s smile was sexy and warm. Haddis’s held a dark undercurrent of promise to it that Danielle found herself drawn to.
At first, Danielle had found Aerdan attractive. But after his high-handed handling of the temit, she was angry and confused.
It was worse because Danielle hated being attracted to anyone. She didn’t trust it. Didn’t trust her senses. After everything she’d been through, how could she ever trust that her instincts were choosing males who cared? Males who wouldn’t hurt her? Aerdan’s betrayal seemed to confirm her thoughts.
But there was something protective about both Bedvir and Haddis that had her second guessing her second guessing. Maybe her instincts about men were right, but what about alien males?
‘Hi.’ She smiled at him. ‘I’ve done some engineering work,’ she said. ‘I can learn. If I’m going to be here for god knows how long, I want to do something.’
Bedvir had stopped working and was focusing on her with such an intensity, Danielle had to resist the urge to squirm under his gaze. Finally, he nodded.
‘Most of engineering, in this system, is monitoring the engine and the systems around it to ensure it’s working exactly at the level we need it to at any given moment,’ he said. His voice was rough, like gears grinding against each other. ‘I can teach you how to help me monitor the system and what needs doing when little situations arise, as they do constantly. Then if you’re enjoying it, we can go from there.’
Danielle nodded, nervous, but relieved to be useful. ‘That would be great.’ She looked at the window on the engine and felt her nerves rise. She pointed at it, then looked up at Bedvir. ‘I just… Can you tell me about that first?’
Bedvir smiled at her and her heart did a flip in her chest. ‘You’re comparing it to the engines you know.’
Danielle nodded.
Bedvir laughed and Danielle was shocked by how rich and dark it was, like dark chocolate turned into sound.
‘Temerin engines are very different to engines of other races,’ he said, leading the way over to the window.
&n
bsp; Tentatively, Danielle followed and once she was at his side, she looked inside.
There was fluid filling the chamber which glowed with a bright white light that lit up the whole space.
‘This is vysor,’ Bedvir said. ‘It’s a type of water that occurs naturally on Temerin. It is filled with life-forms that exist on radiosynthesis.’
Danielle felt her jaw drop. ‘They feed on radioactivity? We have a mould on Earth that we use in the hulls of our ships and space stations to protect from solar radiation. We don’t need it with amot,’ she said.
‘No. Amot is an exceptional metal. We never had any on Temir. We used a metal we call teneel. It’s a composite metal made in such a way as to be as strong as amot, but it doesn’t have the same energy-absorbing properties.’
‘So you use this instead.’ Danielle looked into the chamber. ‘Where is the light coming from?’
‘From the fluid. The lifeforms are bioluminescent, but they’re too small for the eye to see. So the fluid appears to glow on its own.’
‘That’s incredible. How do you replenish it away from Temir?’
‘The lifeforms are self-propagating. As long as they have fresh fluid to expand to, they do. There is a set amount of our fluid recycling that is dedicated to it.’
‘Hmm. Must be a delicate balance.’ Danielle looked up and saw Bedvir’s eyes alight with enthusiasm.
‘It’s a steady drip to account for the reproductive rate of the organism. If we put too much in, the fluid would dilute the effectiveness of the lifeforms. But the fluid is more effective at protecting crew from the radioactive properties of radiant than amot.’
‘What about the two of them together?’
Bedvir’s whole face seemed to light up with pride. ‘Even more effective. They act as redundancies for the other.’
Danielle nodded. ‘That makes sense. I know engineers who’d give their right hand for some of this fluid.’
‘We don’t want their right hands.’ Bedvir frowned.
Danielle laughed at the confusion on his face. ‘It’s just a saying.’