by Lynn Tyler
In short order, she found herself bundled into a car and driven to the landing site. The shuttle was a smaller craft than she’d expected. When she asked, Thantos had gone on a long dissertation about how a smaller craft breached most atmospheres easier than a large one, complete with a mathematical explanation on why that was.
Kerek laughed and wrapped his arm around Thantos’s waist. “My Thantos is an academic. He’ll talk your ear off about anything you want to know.”
Thantos blushed but seemed to beam with pride at Kerek’s pronouncement.
There was something so sweet about the relationship between the two men, something she found herself wishing she had.
The pilot cracked open the door and jumped out, grinning like a loon at Kerek and Thantos. He spoke in that beautiful language the Helans had, and Kerek answered him. The pilot shot her an incredulous look and gestured to the open door. “Please, Miss McManus. After you.”
She looked doubtfully at the shuttle. She was only five foot two. There was no way she’d be able to haul herself up there gracefully.
Thantos seemed to understand her problem. Maybe it was because he was the smallest of the three men and had had to contend with the very same problem himself at times. Thantos was the smallest Helan she’d ever seen, which was saying something since the man towered over her by a good eight inches or so.
Instead of giving her a boost from the ground and making her climb into the shuttle, he placed one hand on the bottom of the doorjamb and vaulted neatly through the opening. He reached out a hand for her to grab, and with his help she managed to get into the craft with a minimum of embarrassment.
The interior of the craft was even smaller than it seemed from the outside and completely windowless except for where the cockpit must be. It had six seats with small compartments between each of them. She opened one of the compartments and blanched when she saw the syringe and needle. “What are these for?”
Thantos glanced up from where he was leaning over the edge of the door, speaking coaxingly to his mate. “That’s medication for motion sickness. Many people find the ride in the shuttle hard on their stomachs.”
Great. She’d never been motion sick before, but she really did not want to be heaving and puking her guts out in front of these three men.
The pilot got in and started fiddling with his instruments, leaving Kerek the only one outside. She was just about to ask what the holdup was when Kerek hauled himself into the shuttle, looking distinctly ill at ease.
Was the idea of spending time with her in such close quarters really that hard to stomach?
Thantos patted his mate on the arm, speaking low and sweet to the man before turning to her. “Ms. McManus, please have a seat in the chair closest to the pilot. Should you feel ill, just open the compartment, get the syringe out, and press it against your upper arm. The machine will take care of the rest.”
She sat down where Thantos indicated and let him fuss over the harness that strapped her in.
Kerek sat down in the farthest seat, that nervous look still plastered on his face. Clearly, something else was going on. Was this trip in the shuttle that dangerous? Were they going to burn up in a fiery ball when they tried to punch a hole in the atmosphere?
Suddenly, this didn’t seem like such a great idea after all.
Thantos checked Kerek’s harness and sat down between her and Kerek, securing his own harness. He looked remarkably calm, although there was just a hint of concern glittering in his emerald eyes.
The craft roared to life and began to lift straight off the ground. It zipped forward so fast, it left her stomach somewhere in the back of the shuttle. She’d had this sensation before, on roller coasters, and she relaxed, breathing in deeply through her nose, knowing that in just a quick second, the sick feeling would leave, and she would be left only with the exhilaration of a good ride.
What would it be like to sit in the front with the pilot and see all the stars? Would they get bigger and brighter as they flew farther into space, or would they still seem as far away as they had from Earth? Would the blue sky of day fade gradually, or would it be a sudden change from blue sky to black space?
She turned to ask Kerek if she could sit up front, but the words died in her mouth. Kerek was a sickly shade of green. He was sweating, beads of perspiration running down his temple, and he was swallowing convulsively. Kerek the Mighty was space sick.
Thantos was leaning toward Kerek as much as he could in the harness, crooning in his mate’s ear and rubbing his back. “Why doesn’t he use the medication?”
Thantos spared her only a quick glance before he turned his attention back to Kerek. “Kerek is one of the few people it doesn’t work on.”
Her heart went out the strong, proud male hunched over. It probably ground on his ego to be laid out by a little bit of motion sickness. Thantos, on the other hand, looked right as rain. “You don’t get sick?”
“Thantos has the constitution of one of Earth’s oxen,” Kerek said on an agonized moan.
The shuttle lurched, throwing her against the restraints and then pressing her back into the cushion of the seat before finally settling into a somewhat smoother ride. It didn’t seem to help Kerek at all.
Thantos angled his chin toward the front of the shuttle as he unstrapped his harness. “You can sit up front with the pilot if you want. It’s only a few minutes to the ship, but the docking process is even harder on Kerek.”
She was torn. The views from the front beckoned her, but she was desperate to do something for Kerek. “Maybe I can help.”
Thantos shot her a grateful smile and knelt in front of Kerek. “Why don’t you sit next to him and rub his back? I’m just going to let him out of his harness and get him to lean forward just a little.”
Kerek slumped into Thantos’s waiting arms the second his harness was released. Kerek muttered something in Helan and remained limp, clearly trusting his mate to keep him from falling on his face. Thantos replied in their own language, whispering directly into Kerek’s ear.
Kim ached for him. The last time she’d suffered like Kerek was a couple of years ago. She’d had the stomach flu and had spent the better part of twenty-four hours paying homage to the porcelain gods. Brushing Kerek’s hair to one side, Kim laid her palm on the back of his neck. It was cold and clammy, and she could feel the small bumps rising on his skin. She knew that he was close to losing control of his body, and the rising tension in his muscles and the increase in his respiration rate told her that she’d better grab some kind of bucket soon.
Thantos beat her to it, neatly slipping one under Kerek’s bent head. She traced designs on his clammy skin and began whispering instructions in his ear. “Deep breaths, Kerek. Just concentrate on Thantos’s voice and breathe deeply.”
The craft began shuddering again, and Kerek groaned. “Docking sucks,” he said in clear English through gritted teeth.
“I know,” she said sympathetically. “We’re almost done though. Right?”
“Yes,” Thantos agreed, forcing Kerek’s head down to his shoulder as if he could shield Kerek from the worst of the shaking. “Maybe another thirty seconds or so, talan.”
Sure enough, the shuttle landed with a clang, and the pilot jumped out of his seat and jogged to the door. He didn’t tell them to rush Kerek off, but his impatience was clear. She wasn’t sure if he was just eager to return to the surface to wait for his other passengers or if he just wanted Kerek off the shuttle in case he tossed his cookies.
Whatever the case, Kim took the cue, and she and Thantos ushered Kerek off the shuttle. Kerek was hardly able to hold his own weight and was leaning heavily on both her and Thantos. Instead of looking better, Kerek looked even sicker. He mumbled something in Helan, and Thantos nodded sharply.
The ambassador dragged them to a little room and sent Kerek in with a little shove, sealing the door behind him. The sounds of Kerek retching were mostly muffled by the walls. “Please tell me that was a bathroom,” she said to Thantos.
&nb
sp; Thantos leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yes.”
It was clear that Thantos wanted to be in there, taking care of his mate. “You don’t have to wait out here with me,” she offered. “If you want to go in and help him, I’ll be fine here.”
The man sighed and let his head fall back against the wall. “He doesn’t like anyone to see him like this. It just makes him irritable if I try to help.”
She could understand that. She hated being helpless, too. Poor Kerek didn’t sound like he’d be slowing down anytime soon. “He’s really having a tough time with this, isn’t he?”
Thantos nodded. “That’s why we’ve been living on Earth instead of commuting by shuttle. He didn’t want me going down alone but can’t stomach the idea of traveling like that twice a day.”
“How does he do with regular space travel?”
Thantos looked at the door when Kerek stopped for a moment. His finger hovered over the button to open the door, but Kerek started up again. He pulled his hand away and faced her fully. “He’s fine. The motion of the star ship is quite smooth, almost as if we’re on solid ground. He’ll need a shower and a couple hours of sleep, and he’ll be back to himself.”
The doors slid open, and a pale, grim Kerek emerged. He looked exhausted and disgusted, but at least he didn’t look like he was going to be sick again.
The trio walked in silence to what looked like an elevator. She looked at it skeptically. Would it make Kerek feel worse?
She didn’t ask the question. She knew what it felt like to be furious with a body she couldn’t control. Once the doors closed, enveloping them in silence and blissful privacy, Kerek relaxed and slumped against the wall.
No one said a word until they exited the elevator, Kerek once again walking tall and straight. He glared at anyone who walked by, even going so far as to bare his teeth at someone who dared to look too long at Thantos.
Thantos seemed to take it all in stride and simply led the way to yet another set of doors. This time he pressed his thumb against a screen mounted to the wall, and the doors slid open to reveal a tiny living room. “These will be our quarters for the rest of our stay on board.”
Kerek stumbled into the small bathroom and shed his clothes immediately, stepping into the shower stall and pressing a button. A beam shot down from the ceiling, moving slowly over Kerek’s body, starting at his head and moving slowly down.
Kim didn’t know what to be more fascinated with, the display of technology from the showerhead or the display of utter maleness in the shower stall.
The huge man staggered out again, walking right past them and into the small bedroom on the other side of the living room. He fell onto the bed, naked as the day he was born, and buried his head in the pillow.
Thantos pulled on her arm. “Come, let’s give Kerek some time to recover. Why don’t we get you set up with a translator.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
This was it! Her journey was about to begin in earnest.
Chapter 6
Thantos escorted his guest down the hall, enjoying the look of wide-eyed wonder on her face. It had been so long that he’d found anything on a star ship fascinating, and he was thrilled to be able to show it off to her, if only to see the smile that graced her face.
A visit to sick bay and the doctor was first on his list.
“How do you keep track of where everything is?” she asked breathlessly. “Everything looks the same.”
“All star ships are laid out the same way, and the symbols that you see above each door aren’t decoration. They’re signs.”
She looked up at the Helan letters as if trying to read them. “Will the translator help me learn to read Helan?”
Gods, this woman was smart. Not one human had asked that question, at least not to him. “Not directly, no. The translator works only with spoken words. But we’ll be able to teach you the letters of our language much easier with you being able to understand what we’re saying.”
She nodded her understanding as they entered sick bay. The doctor rose from behind his desk and smiled at them. “Good afternoon, Ambassador. May I help you with something?” His English was crisp, clear, and concise, not having had enough contact with humans to pick up the contractions and slang as of yet.
“Yes, thank you, Doctor. This is Kim, and she is here to receive a translator.”
The doctor nodded and gestured for her to sit down on one of the exam tables. “Of course. I am Dr. Tabar.”
Thantos briefly considered introducing Kim formally, but she was notorious on the ship, and he didn’t want any backlash from anyone, especially considering she’d come on board of her own free will, willing to learn about their culture.
Instead, he helped her up on the table, marvelling at how tiny she really was. He was on the small side for a Helan male, standing at only five feet ten inches, but she fit against him nicely as he lifted her to the table.
Her nipples scraped his chest as she settled comfortably, and she blushed to the roots of her hair. At least he wasn’t the only one who was cursed with a fair complexion.
Tabar held up the syringe that housed the tiny translator. “The translator is self-propelled and will attach itself directly to your brain in the exactly location of your speech center. It is suspended in a slightly acidic solution. It stings a little, but the discomfort is over quickly.”
Kim cast Thantos a nervous look and grabbed his hand. He didn’t think she even realized what she’d done, turning to him for comfort, but there was no way he was going to let go of her hand now. Not when she’d shown him a small crack in her vulnerability.
The syringe made a small hissing noise when Tabar placed it against Kim’s neck. The tightening grip on his hand was the only sign that she was feeling any pain. “You know,” he whispered to her, “Consort Varin told me that Queen Jacy swore up a storm when she was given the translator.”
Kim cracked a small smile, but her eyes never lost their focus on the far wall. “That is something I would have paid to see. Jacy was a firecracker, but she was never crude.”
Thantos smiled at the thought of his queen. Firecracker was certainly the right word for her. She’d certainly given her mates a run for their money, that was for sure. “You knew her well then?”
He already knew the answer to that, of course. He’d done a thorough check of her when he’d first landed on Earth. It usually paid to know who his main adversaries were, even if they were tiny and female. Kim was proving him right, too. The woman was wicked smart.
“No, not as well as you probably think. We met at college and went to a few philosophy classes together. But we knew each other well enough that when things started going down, she felt comfortable contacting me about funneling money to start the mass evacuation.”
Her eyes widened when she realized that he was speaking Helan to her. “This is so weird.”
“Yes, the sensation does take some getting used to. It’s actually easier if we speak Helan to you, since speaking in English will cause an echo. Queen Jacy found the echo quite disconcerting.”
Tabar looked up from the readings he managed to take while Kim had been distracted. “You’re in your most fertile time,” the doctor said in Helan. He looked at Thantos and smiled. “Chances are very good that your mate will conceive a child in the next few days.”
Before Thantos could correct the man, he started talking to Kim again. “The solution the translator travels in may give you a slight headache. I’ll give Ambassador Thantos some instructions, and he and Chief Kerek can take care of the headache for you. Most of the females love the cure for the headaches.”
Kim’s brown eyes were so wide, Thantos wondered if they would fall right out of her eye sockets. “Kim is actually not on board as a mate. She is here to learn about our culture.” He didn’t mention their deal that if she was mistaken in her beliefs about them, she would stop trying to sabotage their campaign.
Recognition crossed Tabar’s
face, and his expression cooled considerably. “Ms. McManus, I presume?”
Kim looked taken aback by the sudden ice in the doctor’s tone. “Yes. Thanks for your help, Doctor.”
Tabar nodded crisply and turned away from them to sit at his desk again. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Ambassador.”
It was a good thing Kerek wasn’t with them. His mate would have had the doctor pressed against the wall by the throat for daring to question Thantos. Normally, it would have been Thantos soothing Kerek.
A strange, violent urge welled up inside of Thantos, and he advanced on the doctor menacingly. “Ms. McManus is a guest, Doctor Tabar. My guest and Kerek’s. It is not for you to question.”
A small, smooth palm landed on the bare skin of his forearm, instantly cutting through the rage that was threatening to overwhelm him. “It’s okay, Thantos,” Kim said. “I’m not surprised at the doctor’s reaction.” Her long, slender fingers stroked over the strained muscles of Thantos’s arm. “Would you maybe show me around the ship some more?”
Thantos took a deep breath. What was going on with him? He’d never before felt so violent before. Maybe this was what normal Helan males felt.
He bared his teeth at the doctor one more time, satisfied when the other male blanched considerably.
Once completely happy with how intimidated the doctor was, despite the fact that Thantos was shorter and slighter than the doctor, he offered his arm to Kim. “It would be my pleasure.”
He led her out of sick bay without a backward glance. Thantos was aware of the speculative look the doctor was giving him. He could feel his eyes boring into his back. Still, he didn’t stop to explain himself.
The first room he showed her was the arboretum. Women were always enchanted with the garden, and Kim was no exception. She wandered around for close to an hour, exclaiming over each and every flower and plant.
He reached out and plucked a bright-red blossom from one of the trees and tucked it behind her ear. The smile she gave him caused his heart to beat faster than normal.