Her face flushed a charming pink. “How do I zip this thing?”
“The fabric melds when you press the sides together.” He pulled the suit closed over her chest, touching the two halves together. The fabric united in one seamless weave. Automatically, the fabric adjusted the length and tightened, shrinking to the correct size.
“God, that felt weird,” Thalia said.
“Is it comfortable? Walk for me.”
She walked the length of the cargo hold, flexing her arms like she was fighting an invisible opponent. “Feels good. What about shoes?”
The armor covered her from feet to her neck, including her hands. “Unnecessary. You will need the helmet.”
She cast a dubious eye at the helmet. “Am I going to be able to breathe in that thing?”
“Terrans need to breathe?” She sputtered, which amused him greatly. “Yes, my mate. The armor will protect you from radiation and will filter the air.”
“Well, I wasn’t sure. Sometimes you don’t see the forest for the trees.”
Her words made no sense at all. “Is the translator working correctly? This environment is a desert. There is no forest.”
“What I mean is, sometimes you lose sight of the small details when you’re working on a big problem.” She set the helmet in place. The dark visor obscured her face. “You did lock your first wife inside the house rather than think of this solution.” Her voice came through his comm unit.
“The armor will only protect you for a limited number of hours. It is not a long-term solution and…you are teasing me.” Her shoulders and hips did that shimmy when she felt she was being particularly amusing. “That is particularly hurtful, as I feel deeply ashamed for how I treated my previous mate. She did not deserve to be locked inside the house, as you say.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. That was a shit thing to say.”
He grinned and her visor reflected his expression back at him.
“Oh my God, Danger B, are you teasing me?” She playfully hit him on the arm. “That’s a terrible joke. You’re terrible.”
“I do have a sense of humor,” he said. Why was everyone so surprised?
“Yeah, well, it was a shitty thing to tease you about. I’ve really got to stop spouting off every thought that comes into my head. Are we ready?”
Havik checked the seals on her suit once more. He could never be too careful with his mate. “Ready.”
He transferred the egg and Stabs into a soft-sided carry-all before leaving the ship. Outside, the sun blazed overhead, and the dry air wrapped around him like a welcoming hug.
“Ugh, feels like I stuck my head in an oven. I can’t believe I’m on a desert planet. This is some Tatooine-level heat.”
“Rolusdreus has multiple biomes. For one planet to have only one biome is bad science.”
“Tell that to every sci-fi movie ever. So, you grew up near here, in this biome?”
“Half an hour to the east,” he said, pointing in the general direction. “But my father’s clan spans all the sands. Come. We waste time.”
While he landed his ship as near to the rescue operation as he could, they had a brisk ten-minute walk. A timer on his comm unit counted down the remaining minutes that Thalia could be exposed to the ambient radiation.
“So, this radiation…Is that naturally occurring? Like your people evolved to tolerate it?” Her little legs pumped, struggling to keep pace with him. He considered tossing her over his shoulder to save time, but doing so would compromise his hold on the egg.
“It happened, as you would say, from bad shit. Long ago, there was a war and several weapons were detonated. Scientists at the time adapted the Rolusdreus genome to survive. We still live with the consequences.” He had heard the stories of his mother’s people, about callous leaders who did not care about the consequences of their actions and only saw short-term gain. Millions perished. The surviving population forever changed. “There is a particularly good documentary about that conflict. It is several hours long. You will like it.”
“Great, another documentary,” she muttered over the comm. “The sky’s a pretty pink, though.”
A tall female with a regal air waited for them inside. He had not seen her for several years, but little had changed.
“Garu Havik,” she said, giving a slight nod.
“Garu Mais,” he replied. Then, “Mother.”
She smiled, the warmth of it filling the air between them. “It always pleased me when you called me so.”
“But the warlord would not allow it.”
The smile vanished. “No.” She turned to the carrier. “What do you have for us?”
Thalia leaned in and whispered, “That’s your step-mom? You didn’t say she worked here.”
He knew his father’s mate had connections to the rescue and volunteered. He did not know that she would be present.
Stabs did not want to relinquish the egg, but Havik coaxed it away from the kumakre. Mais carefully examined the egg before declaring it viable and placing it in an incubator.
Donning heavy gloves, Mais placed Stabs on the examination table. The kumakre hissed and rattled his tail in warning. “So, you found your female,” she said, voice low enough not to carry. She glanced over her shoulder to Thalia, clad in armor with the visor down. “Healthy carapace but he’s ready to molt. There’s thinning at the joints.”
“I located Vanessa and we made our peace. She has a new mate who treats her properly,” he said. “This is Thalia. She is my mate because I have chosen her and she brings me joy.”
Mais blinked, then gave a short nod. “I am glad to hear it. I was proud when you left.”
Now it was Havik’s turn to be surprised. “Yes?”
“We treated your mate poorly.”
“I failed her.”
“I always disagreed with your father’s stance on Terrans.” Mais gave up any pretense of examining the kumakre. Stabs curled his many legs around her hand and gnawed on the glove. “I know he did not mate me for love, but I always thought he was an honorable male and it pleased me to be his helpmate.” She shook her head, a few strands of hair escaping from her braid. “His subterfuge has torn the clan apart. I no longer reside in his domicile.”
She might have disagreed, but she never raised an objection. Still, to leave the warlord’s house made a bold statement. In all his years, Havik had never known Mais to go against the wishes of the warlord. Part of him wished for it to have occurred when he was a child and desperately wanted a mother’s unconditional affection.
If he were ever to be blessed with a son, he would never fail to show the child that he was wanted and cherished.
Havik glanced at Thalia, knowing that the hardships he had navigated brought him to this moment.
Stabs abandoned his plan of kicking Mais’ gloved hand and uncurled.
“Is the kumakre too docile?” he asked, using the opportunity to switch subjects. He worried Stabs would be unsuited for life in the wild.
The barbed tail struck Mais’ gloved hand.
He had never been prouder.
Thalia
The staff buzzed with curiosity. Thalia saw the way the staff watched them, then acted as if they were too busy to notice when they got caught.
“Are you going to introduce me?” she finally asked.
The woman tilted her head to one side. “I know I taught you better manners than that. I am Mais, the second mate of the warlord.”
Havik placed a hand on her shoulder. “This is my mate, Thalia Fullerton of Earth. Thalia, this is my father’s mate, Mais.”
“I am delighted to meet you,” Mais said.
Thalia muttered a greeting but did not know what else to say. Enough bad blood to fill an ocean stretched between Havik and his family. He had seemed surprised at seeing the woman and remained cordial. Thalia didn’t know what to make of this formal stiffness.
They placed Stabs into a yard behind the building. With no fence, the yard stretched straight into the sands of th
e desert. There was a water trough but little else. It seemed to Thalia that the professionals just wanted Stabs to wander off. She had to trust that the professionals knew best but releasing Stabs into the wild was a lot easier in theory than being confronted with the actual moment.
Havik’s tail curled against his leg, a sure sign he was unhappy.
“This is tough,” she said, leaning against him. Unexpected family reunions. Saying goodbye to the pet he refused to admit was a pet. None of it made for a good time.
In silence, they watched Stabs roll around in the sand. Thalia smiled at the delighted chirps and rattles.
“I do not wish to keep Stabs in captivity. He is a wild creature,” Havik said, finally breaking the silence. The sorrow in his voice could not be hidden, no matter how stoic he kept his face.
Her Danger B was going to miss his pet monster.
Thalia patted his back, reaching as high up as she could. Stabs was not a wild creature, he had been tamed as much as possible, but life on a ship was not the correct environment for the sand demon.
Stabs dug into the ground with surprising efficiency.
“We will let Stabs’ actions dictate. If he follows us, then the wind has decided,” Havik said.
Mais joined them. She folded her hands over her stomach, the very picture of poise and elegance.
“Will you remain on Rolusdreus?” she asked, breaking the silence.
Havik continued to watch Stabs. “My mission was to deliver the kumakre egg. I am expected to return to my clan,” he said at length.
The older woman remained expressionless.
Thalia didn’t have a whole lot of experience with healthy family dynamics, but all this standing around and being stoic was ridiculous. “We could spare a day or two,” she offered, because no one else would.
The woman’s eyes flickered with something that resembled wanting. “Kaos will not welcome you in his territory,” she said.
Right. Dear old dad putting a wrench in the works.
“We will not linger,” Havik replied.
Something unseen chirred in the distance, the uncanny sound making Thalia’s hair stand on end.
Stabs raised his head and answered with a call she had never heard before, a high pitched staccato.
At the crest of the dune, a dark figure emerged. The kumakre was huge, easily the size of a truck.
“Are they going to fight?” Thalia asked, her voice barely above a whisper. The massive kumakre would tear Stabs to pieces. She grabbed Havik’s hand and squeezed. If releasing Stabs into the wild resulted in his instant death, then she’d happily clean his sand tank forever. He’d be a house monster. The new ship wouldn't be as tolerant of a monster scurrying down the halls, but Stabs didn’t like to be confined to one room. Maybe they’d find a harness for him and take him on walks.
“It is a female,” Mais said.
“That’s a female? She’s huge,” Thalia replied.
“She must be, to defend her eggs.”
The female kumakre called again. Stabs reared up on his hind legs and rattled his tail.
“She’s going to tear him to pieces. Stop him,” Thalia pleaded, tugging on Havik’s hand.
“I will not get between two kumakres in a mating dance,” he said.
“Mating! Stabs is a baby.”
“He is a juvenile ready to mature and healthy. His size will increase out of captivity,” Havik said.
The female kumakre and Stabs exchanged more chirps and rattles. Whatever had been decided, the female turned her tail and disappeared over the dune. Stabs followed.
The wind decided.
“If you love something, set it free,” Thalia said, echoing her mother’s words. Those words had felt cruel and mocking at the time, but Thalia understood the cold comfort that came from letting someone go for the sake of their happiness.
Havik gave her a severe look. “I love you too much to ever let you go.”
Lightness filled her. He loved her. He had made promises of devotion to her but that was the first time he said the L-word.
She leaned into him, not wanting to make a big deal about it. She’d tease him about most anything and everything in the universe, but love had been off-limits.
“You did, though, when I joined Smuggler Sue’s crew. I came back,” she said.
“I stole you back,” he clarified. He leaned down, a heated look on his face. “And then you marked me with the blood of your enemies,” he purred.
Aliens are so weird.
The timer on her comm unit chimed. “Time to go inside. I got my daily maximum dose of Vitamin Radiation. You can stay if you want.”
“Unnecessary.” He glanced once back to the sands but then scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder. His arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her in place as he jogged toward the ship. Thalia laughed, tugging on his braid and shouting, “Giddy up!”
Chapter 20
Thalia
The morning sun turned the ocean water a liquid gold. The wind was cool by Rolusdreus standards but still comfortable. Anything slightly less than boiling was considered cold, she soon learned. Bundled up in her armor, Thalia was insulated from the nip in the morning air. Well, and the radiation. Can’t forget that.
“How can you stand this?” Havik shivered next to her. He wore nothing but a pair of those tight pants she loved on him so much.
“You might not be so cold if you wore a shirt.”
“But then I could not do this.” He flexed his arms and pecs. Suddenly her mouth watered like freaking Niagara Falls.
“I’ll allow it,” she said, subtly wiping the corners of her mouth for humorous effect, despite wearing a helmet.
Havik grinned, all teeth and tusks, and turned his gaze back to the sunrise.
Thalia leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder and appreciated the solid weight of her husband. The words felt so strange to her. She rolled them around in her head. She never had a boyfriend or a serious relationship, but she jumped straight to marriage with the biggest, baddest red alien warrior around.
Regrets: zero.
The morning after he left his mark on her shoulder, they registered in a tiny office. If the clerk seemed surprised at Havik bringing in a new wife who was unlisted in the databank, no one said a word. A quick swab test determined their compatibility to be 99%, but Thalia didn’t care if it had been zero. Havik was her.
The future was nebulous, always shifting. Havik had his place in a new clan and informed her he wanted a dozen sons. She wasn’t against the idea of kids, but she wanted some time to get to know herself, maybe go to school and be a student. Kids could wait a few years. So much of her life had been about survival that it felt like pure decadence to do nothing more serious than sit on the beach and watch the sunrise.
She had never been to the ocean before, any ocean, and found herself enchanted by the sound of the waves and the play of light on the water. She was sure it smelled amazing, like salt and—okay, her creativity failed her. Fish? The river back in the city she grew up in had a fishy smell, so she just imagined that, multiplied by a ton. The armor filtered the air so the only thing she smelled inside the suit was her soap.
The ship needed a do-dad. Havik rattled off a very technical-sounding name while Thalia nodded. “Do what you gotta do,” she said, being a supportive-as-fuck wife. The technical what’s-it meant they had to stay on Rolusdreus while he hunted the part in a scrap yard and did the repair. Havik seemed to have enough mechanical knowhow to do the work with only the occasional call to Ren.
Basically, they were stuck on the hot, radioactive planet for a week. Havik rented a cottage in a settlement on the northern coast, which meant they had a beach honeymoon. The settlement was enclosed in a dome. To exit or enter the dome, a person had to pass through an energy barrier that cleansed them of radiation particles. Thalia was curious about the specifics, like how did the dome filter the air, but she was more interested in walks on the beach.
For the
first time, she was on an alien planet. So far, her adventures in space had been ships, stations, more ships, and more stations. Boring. Well, except for when she got snookered by smugglers and put up for auction.
She loved discovering the subtle differences and the surprising similarities. Like gravity. Almost the same, believe it or not. The sky was a soft, hazy pink. The sun was yellow. The plants were green. Just when she forgot about being on another planet, she’d look up at the sky and her breath caught in her throat.
None of it compared to watching the morning sun rise over the water. She wished she could bury her feet in the sand but did not fancy getting radiation sickness. One day, she and Havik could go to a beach on a planet with a human-friendly environment. Maybe that planet could be Earth.
Thalia had been slowly warming up to the idea of returning to Earth. Not to stay. Hell no. But to visit. She never put flowers on the graves of her mother or Doc, but the idea now filled her with warmth.
“I require your assistance,” Havik said.
“Yeah? As much as I love being held captive in your bed, I need food. Breakfast before ravaging.” And she really, really enjoyed being his captive in bed, but woman could not live on love alone. At some point, she required coffee.
“Sustenance now, then you will accompany me to an appointment.”
She couldn’t argue with that. “Sounds mysterious. I’m in.”
The cottage was a quick walk up a narrow footpath up the hillside. In theory, walking through the energy barrier into the domed village cleaned the armored suit of radiation, but the suit went through an additional decontamination cycle. The cycle took several hours, which meant Thalia could only leave the dome once a day.
Inside the dome, Havik insisted that she wear a wide-brimmed hat to block the sun. Still in the fluttery, stars-in-her-eyes stage of their relationship, she found his overprotectiveness cute. At some distant point, it might wear on her nerves, but she enjoyed having him take care of her.
Yeah, that was what the cynical side of her warned, but Thalia suspected that she would never tire of being doted on. She soaked up his care and attention like the parched earth after a rainstorm.
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