by Leslie Chase
That was no way for a man to live, taking whatever he wanted without a thought for the consequences. That there would be pirates was probably inevitable, Rorax knew — someone would always take to that life, as long as there were parts of Mars that couldn't be directly controlled by the emperor. But a pirate kingdom like his brother was building, that would be a lot more dangerous than a few individual crews.
Not just to the empire, but to the humans as well. Seizing them for ransom was bad enough, but the way Grorg was speaking about stealing mates sparked an anger in him that Rorax had to fight to keep from showing. That's not how mating works, he thought. You can't just snatch away some human woman and expect her to be yours. But he couldn't say that, not without giving himself away.
"All right you two," he said before his thoughts showed, "don't count treasure we haven't stolen yet. We need to get some rest, all of us. Once Korgan gets back in touch, we're going to be on the move and we want to be well rested. I don't want him turning up here and seeing us looking like easy marks."
"He's your brother, he wouldn't see you like that," Tamak objected.
"If you think that, you don't know him," Rorax said. "He'll take any advantage he can over anyone. If you don't want to be right at the bottom of his crew when we join up, we need to look like we're valuable to him. Too valuable for him to just snatch our prize and ignore us."
7
Laura
No daylight reached the room Laura was locked in, but she woke at 6 am anyway. Long practice had given her the habit, and being in new surroundings wasn't going to change that. Rolling up from her bed in the strange, alien room, she looked around and sighed. For a second as she woke, she'd hoped that this was all some strange dream brought on by her worries about Adele.
No such luck, I actually did get myself into this. Hopefully I can get myself out of it, too.
The bathroom area held a pool that would have been large enough to swim in if it had been full. Unfortunately it wasn't, not even nearly — the water was only an inch or two deep at most. At least it was clean and fresh, which was better than she'd feared. Somewhere there was an alien water filtering system that she owed her thanks.
Laura had slept in her spacesuit. Without the helmet it wouldn't have done her much good if the atmosphere had failed, but despite the discomfort, it at least provided some armor and made her feel safer. Now, though, she was glad to strip it off to wash in the cold water of the pool.
Feeling a good deal more human as she let the warm air dry her off, she started on her morning routine. Just because she'd been captured by aliens and dragged around the planet was no reason to relax her discipline.
She stretched, loosening her muscles and getting ready before she started her exercises. It was easy to lose herself in them, to relax and forget where she was. Forget that she was a prisoner of pirates, and the danger she was in. The danger that would get worse if they somehow worked out that she was lying about her identity.
The thought of one pirate, in particular, wouldn't leave her mind. No matter how she tried, she couldn't stop herself from thinking about Rorax, about the way he'd looked at her and how that had made her feel. Moving through her martial arts forms, she tried imagining him as her opponent. If he had to be in her thoughts, at least he could help her spar.
Laura was half-way through the forms when she heard the door start to move and remembered that she was still naked.
Jumping up, she managed to pull on her undersuit just as Rorax opened the door wide enough to get inside. His eyes gleamed as he saw her, and she blushed at the smile tugging at his lips. Standing still in the doorway, he admired her in the thin, figure-hugging garment. It was hard not to return the favor: Rorax wasn't wearing any more than he had been the day before.
"What do you think you're looking at?" Laura asked finally, scowling and trying to hide the way his gaze made her feel. Her heart pounded and she cursed herself for the way her body responded to his presence. He's a damned pirate, she reminded herself.
"The most beautiful human I've seen," Rorax said simply. Laura felt her cheeks heating further, and his infuriating smile grew. She wanted to throw something at him but settled for turning her back.
"What do you think you're doing, barging in here? I may be your prisoner, but that doesn't mean you can be rude."
"I apologize if I'm intruding," he said, and that only made it worse. "I came to see if you need anything, and to tell you that we'll be moving you soon."
"Oh?" Laura looked around at that, confused. "Has the ransom been paid already?"
"No. This is only a temporary camp, and it won't be safe for long. We're going to the lair of Korgan and joining up with his crew. That will be more secure," he said, stepping closer to her. Laura thought that she could feel the heat of his body, and her breath caught. She found herself looking at the muscles of his torso and tore her eyes away, making herself look him in the face.
There was something there, behind his eyes. Not fear, but a wariness. She realized that he was hiding something. There were too many thoughts in those strange, intense eyes for the simple pirate she'd thought he was.
"There's something else, isn't there," she said, cursing the huskiness of her voice. I am not going to let this man see me lusting for him. No matter how gorgeous he is.
"Yes," he answered, voice deep and rough. He paused a moment, calming himself, and then he spoke. "A warning. Korgan is a powerful captain, with a large crew of pirates. They... may not be as reasonable as I am, so you will have to be careful not to antagonize them. Stay calm and everything will be fine, I promise. I'll protect you."
"That's not exactly reassuring," Laura said, cocking her head to the side. Rorax seemed genuinely concerned, which surprised her. "If you were really worried about my safety, I wouldn't be here at all. I'd be home in Olympus Colony."
Rorax winced at that, and Laura frowned. She hadn't expected that comment to hit him so hard, but it seemed he actually did care. That he was feeling some guilt for dragging her into danger. But then why is he doing this? He didn't have to turn pirate, after all.
It looked like he was going to say something. Maybe even apologize. Then he snarled, getting his emotions under control and stepping back from her. His face was like a mask, cold and unfeeling, though she still saw passion burning in his eyes.
"That's irrelevant," he said, voice cold and calm now. Still, Laura was sure she could hear the faint tremors of suppressed emotion in his voice. "You are my prisoner, and I care about my investment in you, no more. So you will not do anything stupid and get yourself killed or injured — that would reduce your value as a hostage. Now, get your gear on and get ready to travel."
Laura looked up at him, ready to protest. His harsh words were covering his real feelings, that was clear to her, but it didn't stop them stinging. Still, she pulled herself back from an argument. She was already feeling emotional, and despite his protests she could see that Rorax was too. If they started shouting, she didn't know what she'd end up saying, and she might give herself away.
No matter what he felt about her, Laura didn't want to find out what Rorax would do when he found out that she'd been lying to him since the moment they met.
The arrival of the other dragons was sudden and, Laura had to admit, frightening. Dressed and armored in her spacesuit, she'd followed Rorax down to the front of the ancient ruined lair, wondering where he was taking her. But the aliens just sat her down near the entrance and waited.
And now she saw what they were waiting for. A huge skyship sailed overhead, its shadow blotting out the sun as it came around and descended to settle on the sands outside. For a moment, she thought it was her rescue, a LakeTech security team daring to attack the alien lair. But then she saw the alien writing on the side of the ship, replacing the name its human owners had given it, and her hopes vanished.
As soon as the ship landed, half a dozen aliens leaped from it. Each of them looked like a dangerous opponent, warriors turned pirate, and the
y all had a frightening glint in their eyes. Their leader, though, stood out. Taller than the rest, he carried himself with a confident poise that made it clear that he was in charge. And there was something about him, a look on his scarred face, that told Laura he was not a pleasant man.
She recognized him as the alien Rorax had spoken to through the hologram, and she could see the cruel ambition in his eyes even more clearly in person.
There had been rumors about someone organizing the pirates for as long as the alien pirates had plagued human colonies on Mars. Laura had always assumed that the increasing activity of the pirates had been down to them stealing human skyships. That would let them be more mobile, striking further and hitting harder to reach targets. But what if it was more than that? This looked like someone who could pull the pirate bands together into a single force.
That could be a bad sign for the human colonies. The Dragon Empire itself hadn't tried to impose too much on the human population on Mars. A rogue group of aliens willing to steal and kill would make for a much worse neighbor.
Around her, the three aliens who'd captured her drew themselves up to their full height. There was a tension present that hadn't been there before, and she could see Rorax sizing up the newcomers. Clearly this wasn't an entirely safe meeting from her captor's point of view.
If it came to a fight, Rorax was outnumbered two to one — and that assumed that this was the whole crew of the pirate ship. She hoped this meeting wouldn't turn violent. Better to be stuck with the pirate she knew than be thrown to the mercy of these newcomers.
The leader of the new arrivals drew his lips back in an entirely unfriendly smile and Laura suppressed a shudder. He looked at her as though she was a thing, not a person, and in that moment she made up her mind. If the two pirate crews did fight over her, she'd join in on Rorax's side, and damn the odds. Laura felt sure that he, at least, would actually hand her over if the ransom was paid. These new pirates looked as though they might just kill her for sport.
Plus, I'd rather not see Rorax lose, she thought, sneaking a look at her handsome captor. It wasn't an entirely comfortable thing to admit, even to herself, but Laura wasn't going to deny that there was something about him that drew her in.
She thought she caught an answering look in Rorax's eyes as he glanced at her, but he looked away without acknowledging her and stepped forward. The leader of the other dragons stalked towards him, and Laura thought they were going to leap at each other. Then the newcomer laughed and threw open his arms, embracing Rorax. There was a palpable relief from the two aliens beside her as Rorax exclaimed something in his alien language.
Laura let out a breath, feeling the tingle of adrenaline in her veins. It looked like there wasn't going to be a fight today, and that was just as well. The aliens all crowded together, suddenly behaving like old friends, leaving her standing at the back of the chamber watching. She couldn't follow the conversations they were all having, but she saw several glances back at her and thought she heard the name 'Adele St. George' come up.
It felt alienating to be left out of the conversation so completely, but with another look at the leader of the new aliens she decided that was better than coming to his attention. He was as big and formidable as Rorax, but there was something off about his body language. Where Rorax gave the impression of being a warrior, a dangerous fighter who would kill if he had to and take what he needed, the new alien looked like he would kill for the fun of it. Like he would take anything that took his fancy, whether he needed it or not.
The scar across his face didn't help, but it wasn't just that. There was something in the way he moved that made Laura certain that he needed a reason not to kill someone. She'd seen men like that on Earth during the corporate wars, cold-blooded men who'd kill for no reason at all. One of them with the power of a dragon was the worst kind of leader she could imagine.
He caught her looking at him and before she could look away, he stalked forward. His grin widened as he approached, like a cat coming up on his prey, and Laura found herself tensing for a fight she knew would be useless.
"So you're the St. George woman," he said in English as he looked her up and down. "My brother has brought me a valuable prize indeed. I am Korgan, captain of the Emperor Turian's Revenge, and you're my prisoner now."
Laura tried to keep her expression from changing, but inside that was a shock. He's Rorax's brother? She found it hard to imagine the two of them growing up together. There was something very different about the two of them, for all their similar appearances.
But this wasn't the time to dwell on that.
"I'm Adele St. George," she said, trying to keep the lie clear and simple and hoping that the aliens didn't have a good picture of Adele to compare her to. "My father will pay a good deal to get me back unharmed."
Korgan laughed, a chilling sound. Again, Laura was struck by the feeling that this was a man who needed a reason not to hurt others, and she hoped that the promise of a ransom would be enough. And that Adele's family would pay up. They were rich enough, but what if Mr. St. George simply wrote off her off and hired another bodyguard for his daughter?
Nothing I can do about that now, I just have to hope that Adele can talk her father into paying up. For all that the woman had been a pain to bodyguard, she had never seemed like the type to abandon her employees. Laura held onto that and tried not to let her worry show. A man like Korgan would only be goaded on by any sign of weakness, she knew from painful experience.
Behind Korgan, she could see Rorax watching the exchange. Laura could feel the anger radiating from him and knew that he wasn't happy about this, but she didn't dare look away from Korgan to try and see Rorax's expression. Was he angry at having his hostage taken away from him, or was he angry to see Korgan threatening her?
Don't be silly, Laura, she told herself, trying to keep herself realistic. He's still a pirate, just like his brother. Even if he's interested in me outside of that, I'm still someone he kidnapped for money. Don't start thinking he cares.
She'd made that mistake before, and it had always hurt to learn she'd been wrong. This time promised to be worse.
Rorax put his hand on Korgan's shoulder and spoke quietly. "LakeTech is a powerful company, and a rich one. I expect you'll get a good price for her if we're careful."
Korgan kept his eyes on Laura for a moment longer, before turning to face his brother. The scar on his face twitched as his smile broadened. "I'm sure I will, Rorax. You've done well to catch her. How did you do it? Just luck?"
Laura saw Rorax glance at her before answering, and she wondered why the two of them were still speaking English. It had to be so that she could understand them, but what good did that do them?
"The Dragon Guard is monitoring human activity around Mars," Rorax said after a moment's hesitation. "They've started to try and track humans through various means, and I overheard that St. George would be leading a 'salvage' operation."
The word salvage came out as a snarl, and Laura swallowed. It had seemed ghoulish before, but now that she was amongst the aliens she felt even worse about the scavenging of their abandoned corpses. None of us felt good about it, she tried to tell herself. Even Adele said as much. But dammit we need their technology if we're not going to be helpless against the aliens forever. They were going to invade Earth, remember? How can we trust them to trade technology we need?
That wasn't her problem to solve anyway. It would be settled between the governments of Earth and Mars eventually, and that was above her pay grade. But being reminded of it made her empathize with the aliens' anger. Was that why they were speaking in English? So she'd understand?
That might explain Rorax, but she didn't think that Korgan would care if she knew why she was in the trouble she was. But his attention wasn't on her, anyway — he was looking at Rorax and ignoring Laura. She realized that he was trying to discomfort his brother, not her.
Nodding again, Korgan looked around the camp. "You don't have much to bring with y
ou, do you, brother? That's good. Let's get aboard the Revenge and get home. I've got a setup there which will let us communicate with the LakeTech humans."
Grorg and Tamak leaped to grab their things, and Laura saw just how little the trio of pirates who'd captured her actually owned. Each of them picked up a sack that they could carry easily and strode towards the exit. Rorax had even less to carry than the other two, and Laura found herself wondering how much they'd left behind when they'd left their empire for a pirate's life. Had they owned more before they left, and abandoned it? Or was this all a dragon warrior needed in life?
She'd come to Mars without much more, she supposed. There was a certain freedom in leaving your old life behind so completely and starting over.
A shove to her back sent her staggering towards the door, and she had to restrain a long-held instinct to whirl and kick at the alien who'd pushed her. Glaring at him instead, she kept her voice level with an effort.
"I can't go out there without my helmet," she said, adding you idiot under her breath. "Unless you want to try ransoming back a dead human and seeing how much I'm worth to you then?"
The alien snarled angrily, raising a hand to slap her. Laura narrowed her eyes — no matter how bad an idea fighting back was, she wasn't going to let someone just hit her. His hand came down, fast but predictable, and her arm swung up to block it. But before the block connected, Rorax was beside her.
His hand closed on the other alien's wrist with a meaty smack, and his fist lashed out to send her attacker tumbling to the ground on his back. Rorax bared his teeth in a growl, standing over the man.
"What part of this do you not understand, Dakar?" he snarled down at the fallen alien, who looked up at him in shock. "This is a valuable prisoner, and you will not hurt her."
Laura's heart hammered in her chest at the sight of him, wings spread, standing over the man who'd tried to hit her. His reflexes had been so fast, she hadn't even realized he was there until he was in the fight protecting her. She wanted to say that she could have protected herself, but she really didn't want to get in a fight with her captors if she could avoid it. He'd saved her from that, at least.