Changing Course

by Brey Willows

  She and her group walked away, and Kylin turned to Jessa. “Shall we? Even if they decide to execute us later, I’ll be glad to die clean.”

  Given the look on Jessa’s face, the joke wasn’t appreciated.

  They headed into the inn and a woman stood at the foot of the stairs, waiting. Her eyes were kind but wary. “Room three is all set up. I’m afraid the other rooms are in use, so you’ll have to share. Dinner is in an hour, down here to the left.”

  Kylin led the way up the stairs. She wasn’t entirely sure where they stood. The people with the guns had walked ahead of them, not behind. That suggested some measure of trust and that they weren’t necessarily prisoners. But it wasn’t like they were welcome guests either, and they’d clearly comm’d ahead to say they were bringing people in. In Quasi, people came and went all the time, and suspicions were only raised if it looked like they were going to be trouble. Here, it looked like you had to prove you weren’t trouble before they invited you in.

  She opened the door to their room. It was clean, the furniture all looked like hand-carved wood, and the bed…there was only one. The feeling of Jessa in her arms rushed through her, and she cleared her throat. “You want first shower?” That brought with it an image of Jessa in the shower and her knees went weak.

  “Thank you, yes.” Jessa hesitated by the door like she was going to say something else, but then just gave a quick smile and closed the door behind her.

  Kylin blew out a breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. Stupid. It was stupid to think of Jessa as anything more than a quick side note to a fruitful trip. A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts of Jessa in the shower.

  The innkeeper stood there with a pile of white cloth in her hands. “I thought you might need something to wear. If you’ll leave your things outside the door I’ll get them cleaned up for you. Storm mud is practically impossible to get out.”

  Kylin accepted the white clothing, holding it at arm’s length so she didn’t get dirt on it. “That’s incredibly kind of you, thank you. I’m Kylin, by the way.”

  “Sherta. I own this place, and the woman who directed you here is my mate, Liselle. I’m sure she didn’t introduce herself.” Her smile suggested she knew just how they’d been greeted. “Give me a shout if you need anything.” She walked away, humming quietly as she went downstairs, her long skirt flowing around her.

  Kylin ducked back into their room and tapped on the bathroom door. “I’ve got some fresh clothing here, if you want it.”

  Jessa opened the door and stuck her hand out. Kylin put the cloth in her hand and sighed when the door closed. Not even a glimpse… She looked out the window at the street below. Thin, flowing fabrics with patterns that varied from intricate to subtle seemed to be the fashion here. Kylin was only somewhat familiar with the Thalla people, mostly through stories told by people who had encountered them on their travels to Quasi. But the people going about their lives outside appeared to be normal folks. There wasn’t an atmosphere of fear or violence. Just, life.

  The bathroom door opened, and Kylin turned around to see Jessa come out towel drying her hair. Kylin leaned against the door and tried to keep her expression neutral.

  Jessa’s hair, loose and clean, looked even softer. It framed her beautiful face perfectly and highlighted the deep green of her eyes. The loose white robe had a deep V-neck that showed the generous sides of her breasts. Kylin swallowed hard, unable to look away.

  “As much as I appreciate the look in your eyes right now, it’s you who looks like a mud monster.” Jessa’s tone was teasing, but her voice was husky in that way Kylin loved when a woman was turned on.

  Kylin moved past her, careful not to touch her for more reasons than not getting her dirty again. “Sorry. Wasn’t looking, really. Right. Be out in a minute.” She turned on the shower, stripped off the filthy clothes, and moaned out loud when the hot water sluiced the grime from her. As she washed she thought of Jessa doing the same, and the way her curves would feel soapy and wet. She let her imagination run and leaned against the cold shower wall as her fingers found their way to her clit. She got off in record time, making sure she didn’t make a sound. She couldn’t face Jessa if she had any idea that she’d driven Kylin crazy.

  A little more relaxed and in control once again, she put on a loose pair of white pants and a long, loose shirt. The material was incredibly soft and felt like a lover’s touch caressing her everywhere at once. It didn’t help the flame that jumped to life when she came out and saw Jessa reclining on the bed.

  Kylin turned away and gave herself a mental slap. She gathered her dirty clothes, along with Jessa’s, and put them in a pile outside their door.

  “Feel better?” Jessa asked.

  Something in Jessa’s tone made Kylin grin. “I do. There’s nothing like getting clean after you’ve gotten really dirty.”

  Jessa blushed but didn’t look away. “Do you have someone in Quasi?”

  It was an innocent enough question, but it was like being doused with ice water. It was also a timely reminder to think with the right part of her body. “Not anymore, no.” She looked at the timepiece. “Should we head down to dinner?”

  Jessa frowned slightly. “Sure.”

  She felt bad for shutting the conversation down that way when it felt like something might be opening between them. The flash of hurt in Jessa’s eyes made her uncomfortable, and she put her hand on Jessa’s lower back as they made their way to the dining room, hoping the gesture would be taken as the small apology she meant it to be. She was both pleased and frustrated when Jessa pushed back into her touch.

  The smell of cooking food was divine, and the spread on the table looked heavenly. Sherta motioned them in. “Have a seat. Liselle will be here any second.” She set drinks in front of them then disappeared into the kitchen.

  Kylin leaned close to Jessa, trying to think past the way she looked and smelled. “It just occurred to me that we don’t have a story about who we are together.” She’d told Jessa not to say she was a ship’s captain, but she hadn’t told her what she should say.

  Before Jessa could answer, the front door opened and closed and they heard Liselle shout from the front. “Anyone home?”

  Sherta came out with a huge smile on her face, and when Liselle entered the room she practically threw herself into Liselle’s arms. “I missed you.”

  Liselle gave her a lingering kiss. Kylin knew it was polite to look away, but she couldn’t. They made a striking couple.

  “I missed you too. Our guests give you any trouble?” She looked over Sherta’s shoulder and winked at Kylin.

  “Only in the fact that they brought half the storm back in their clothes.” She gave her another quick peck and then moved away. “Dinner is just about ready.”

  Liselle took off her coat and rested her energy gun against the wall in the corner.

  “Thank you for bringing us to your home,” Jessa said.

  Liselle nodded. “Sorry about the welcoming committee, but we’re careful about who we bring in, and when the lookouts said there were people in the storm, we had to wonder who would be crazy enough to come this way at the start of storm season. I made a judgment call that you weren’t a threat.” She looked between them before leaning toward Kylin. “I saw your mark.” She looked toward the door and lowered her voice. “I trust we’re good, scrounger?”

  Kylin winced. Her mark had been with her for so long she’d forgotten about it, and no one had asked about it in years. She rubbed at the raised scar between her thumb and forefinger. “We’re good. I never take anything that isn’t given freely anymore. Just a youthful indiscretion.” She saw Jessa glance at her hand and covered the mark with her other hand.

  Liselle sat back and turned her attention to Jessa. “And just to make things clear, I don’t need some convoluted backstory about who you are. I recognized your uniform. Sherta and I took a trip for our honeymoon, and we sat at the captain’s table.” She gave Kylin a disbelieving look. “I can’t
believe you let her walk around wearing it. Dangerous move.”

  Kylin’s stomach turned. She hadn’t even thought about what Jessa’s uniform would tell people. She never thought about clothing much beyond its function, but that V-plunge in Jessa’s robe was enough to make her start paying close attention. And like Liselle said, it was an amateur move to not suggest she change.

  “Let me?” Jessa said, her head tilted and her cheeks pink. “I’m not sure how you do things in Thalla, or on this planet in general, but no one lets me do anything. I’ve got a fully functional mind, thank you.”

  Liselle put her hands up in surrender. “Bad choice of words, sweet lady. No disrespect meant. But as the person you’re traveling with, for whatever reason, she should have suggested that you change into something less conspicuous, given that she knows what a slaver’s squad would do to get to you.”

  Seemingly mollified, Jessa sighed. “I should have changed the moment she told me about that issue, but I didn’t think of it. It was my responsibility and I wasn’t paying attention.”

  Responsibility. That was a word Jessa used a lot, and Kylin wondered if there was much she didn’t feel responsible for. Other than another planet’s poverty, of course.

  “Well, it’s taken care of now.” Sherta put a dish of food on the table and gave Liselle a look of mild reproach. “Let’s enjoy dinner.”

  The food was delicious, and when Kylin asked about the city, the rest of the meal was spent hearing anecdotes about some of the city’s oddball residents. She felt Jessa relaxing beside her and was glad she wasn’t scared anymore.

  After dessert, Liselle poured some flaxberry wine. “Now it’s your turn. How does the captain of a pleasure cruiser end up in the storms of Thalla with a scrounger?”

  Kylin turned to Jessa and let her start.

  “We were on our way to Andine when we were hit by an unexpected asteroid strike. It was in the glare of a solar flare, so we didn’t catch it in time to move above it.” Jessa picked at her napkin. “It did so much damage so fast. We managed to get everyone off ship and into escape pods before the ship came apart. But then our escape pod took an asteroid hit as well, and this was the closest planet.”

  Sherta put her hand over Jessa’s. “How terrifying. And how amazing that you lived through it.”

  Jessa took a deep breath and smiled at Sherta. “It was, and it is. If it weren’t for Kylin, though, I’m not sure we would have lived much longer.”

  The look she turned on Kylin made her breath hitch, and the softness of her hand over Kylin’s made other parts twitch.

  “She saved us from the prowlers in the forest, from other scroungers, and ultimately from the slaver’s nets.”

  It sounded so heroic when Jessa said it like that. But that wasn’t how it felt. She’d just done what was right, and even that she’d regretted here and there. She shrugged and didn’t say anything. She liked the version of herself Jessa saw.

  Liselle looked at them speculatively, her fingers under her chin. “So…why were you out at the wreck?” She pointed at Kylin. “You were scrounging, weren’t you? No harm in that.” Then she looked at Jessa. “But why would you risk coming way out here?”

  “I needed to see if there were other survivors from escape pods that crashed here. Kylin was going to check out other areas where pieces of the ship had come down, so I came with her.”

  That left out the blackmail bit, but Kylin didn’t mention it.

  Liselle nodded and accepted the drink Sherta handed her. “Makes sense. A little foolish, really, but makes sense.”

  Kylin wondered how trustworthy this couple was. Her instincts about people were rarely wrong, and they seemed okay. And it wasn’t like they had a whole lot of options. “I was heading to the Doreen Mountains next. How bad is the storm sand when it’s packed in like that?”

  Liselle looked apologetic. “Sorry, friend. That storm was a bad one and you didn’t have any kind of buffer. If you want, some of the others and I can go back out with you tomorrow and assess the damage. But if I had to guess, you won’t be leaving in it any time soon.”

  That was pretty much what Kylin had expected, but it still hurt. To be grounded, to have her plans go black hole, not because of an enemy she could fight, but because of a stupid storm…she wished she was in one of Orlin’s fights right now. Her shoulders ached with the need to hit something. “I’d appreciate that, thanks. It okay if I get some air?”

  Liselle nodded like she understood, and Kylin looked away from the empathetic look Jessa sent her. Kylin went onto the porch and sat on the step. She rested her head in her hands and tried to calm the rage inside. What the hell was she going to do now? If she was on her own it would be bad enough, but now she had Jessa to worry about too. She’d told her she’d leave her behind if she didn’t keep up, but that was bravado talking. She’d let her come with and now she was responsible for her. There was that word again. But hell, she was safer here in Thalla than anywhere on the planet with Kylin, so now she could decide how to take the next steps on her own. So why did the thought of leaving her behind make Kylin so uncomfortable?

  Chapter Eight

  The morning was clear and the sunlight through the curtains created pretty patterns on the walls. Jessa had crawled into bed not long after Kylin had gone outside, and she’d barely registered when Kylin had slipped into bed next to her. When a soft knock at the door had woken her, she’d been curled up against Kylin, with Kylin’s arm wrapped securely around her waist. She’d never woken with anyone before, and it was both novel and extremely comforting.

  She’d rolled over and watched as Kylin pulled on the borrowed clothing, quickly covering the hard body that was hard to appreciate fully in the dim light. Even in the dark she could sense the stress and worry she was feeling. When she left the room Jessa wrapped herself in the thick blanket, but it was nothing like the deep warmth of Kylin’s body against hers. When she woke again what felt like hours later, it was from a nightmare of falling from the sky and into a gaping black hole that would tear her apart. Someone reached for her, and she knew if she could just stretch a little farther…

  She blinked back the tears filling her eyes. A black hole would have been quick, at least. Here, she was surrounded by things she didn’t understand and a hostile environment she felt dreadfully unprepared for. If only she’d spent some time on the planets where she’d docked and learned more about the cultures there, maybe she wouldn’t feel so out of her depth. She got up, showered, and dressed in her borrowed clothes. Downstairs, the dining room was empty so she headed into the kitchen. Sherta stood at the table, her hands in a massive wooden bowl filled with what looked like blue goop.

  “Good morning.” Sherta nodded toward the counter. “Help yourself to a drink.”

  Jessa poured herself a steaming mug of tea and murmured in appreciation. “Can I ask what that is?”

  Sherta pressed and pulled, pressed and pulled, and then lifted a piece of material from the goop. “It’s a special material we make only in Thalla. You noticed how soft what you’re wearing is? The material itself comes from the farms and then we weave it and dye it using different types of softening rinses, like this one. We’re the only ones on the planet who make it.”

  The pride in her voice was clear and made Jessa smile. “It’s beautiful and so incredibly soft. I’ve never felt anything like it in all the planets I’ve been to.”

  Sherta’s smile could have lit the room. “That’s possibly the best compliment ever. Thank you.”

  Jessa sat at the table and watched in comfortable silence as Sherta worked the material. Eventually, she asked, “How did you and Liselle meet?”

  She knew right away it wasn’t a good question to have asked. Sherta pulled back slightly and looked away.

  “I’m sorry. That was insensitive. I never ask about people’s personal lives. I know better. Please forget I asked.”

  Sherta shook her head. “It’s just a sensitive subject, that’s all. It’s a sweet story
, in a way.” She pulled the material from the goop and placed it in a different bowl, one with white goop in it. “I was a nomad. Have you come across them yet? Then you have some understanding of what that means. Total freedom. It can be a hard life, but it’s built on community and love.” She smiled. “That sounds a little silly, but it’s true.” She pulled up a thick wooden spoon and began to swirl the material in the white goop. “And then one day we were attacked by a slaver’s caravan. Nomad tribes are kind of forbidden territory for the slavers. It’s an unwritten rule that we’re left alone. But this caravan didn’t care. Most of my tribe got away, but I wasn’t so lucky.”

  She pressed the material into the bowl and then turned to wash her hands. Jessa couldn’t imagine the pain the story still brought with it, and probably always would. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault, is it?” Sherta shrugged slightly. “I was taken to the docks in the slaver’s nets and put on auction with some others. Thank the universe Liselle was there selling material to merchants. She saw me on the auction block and spent every linari she’d made on the material to buy me.”

  Jessa wasn’t sure how to process that. “But you’re not a slave now? And who buys slaves here? Do the slaves get taken from a particular group?”

  “No, I’m definitely not a slave now. And she never treated me like one. By the time she brought me back to Thalla, I was in love with her and didn’t want to go back to my tribe. Or what was left of it, anyway. I knew I wanted to be beside her for whatever years we have left here. As for who buys slaves…” She made a disgusted sound. “The people with money. People in the Heathers often have slaves, as do some of the outlier cities and villages. It’s outlawed in Thalla, and I think it’s outlawed in Quasi, too, except that if people have them when they arrive they’re allowed to keep them. And who gets caught in the slaver’s nets? People associated with cities are usually safe. The slavers don’t want anything to do with angry families or politics. But anyone outside the walled cities, in the villages or towns, are often slavers targets. People alone, outsiders, people who can’t fight back. People who come here for a new life, but don’t make it to one of the cities fast enough.” She gave a long, deep sigh. “Anyway, I’m incredibly lucky that the worst moment of my life turned into the greatest blessing.”