by Layla Stone
Chapter Thirty-Six
Garna
Sasha exited the transporter and joined the single line. She found her spot next to Sci and clasped his hand. He was still distant, even after two weeks on board the transporter. He always responded and listened to her after her shifts, but he declined to play card games or connect to her consciousness to go rock climbing in his memories again.
She didn’t know what to do for him, and after all her efforts, nothing worked. So she did what she could…she just held on. Held him and touched him, and made sure he ate, slept, and met with Ansel when it was time to train.
Sasha was so focused on Sci that she almost forgot to check on her mom, who had decided to live on Hetten, a planet with a humanoid race that had the strongest family culture in all the Federation. Rannn had been able to put in the request and prove that Joan would be a benefit to the community by adding her stitchery skills.
Captain Rannn was the first one out of the ship and to the head of the line. Beside him was Yon, the Yunkin she had not had a chance to get to know or speak to in the entire two weeks on the galleon. He remained in his room most of the time. Pax was next, then Ansel, Sands, her, and then Sci.
On the far left side of the receiving platform in the ship’s hangar, Sasha watched as the side door slid back, and a Yunkin and a Night Demon with powder-white skin and pure white hair in the shape of a Terran faux hawk walked in.
The Night Demon’s eyes were pitch-black except for the small, yellow irises. His lips moved back as he approached the captain. “Captain Rannn, I assume.” His tone was friendly, but his wide mouth full of alligator teeth was far from reassuring.
Sasha had never seen someone like him. Black eyes meant Demon, but Demons were just as sparse in the Federation as Terrans were. How did a Demon like that become a Federation member?
The Yunkin spoke. “I’m Commander Ganne. I have been running the ship since our last Captain died during the last mission. This” he pointed at to Night Demon, “is Communications Officer Clalls. He will show your crew to their rooms after a short tour.”
Rannn stepped out of line and pointed to the Yunkin next to him. “This is Commander Yon. He will be my second in command.”
Sasha watched the other Yunkin to see if he showed any signs of anger at being replaced. She wasn’t exactly sure how Federation transfers occurred.
Ganne didn’t tone was even. “Yes, sir, received your transfer requests earlier last week.”
“I updated the onboard system and assigned each of you single, live-in cabins with the exception of the Terran pilot and her spouse,” Clalls said with his creepy, easygoing smile.
Pax lifted his chin to the fellow Demon. “Clalls.”
Clalls repeated the greeting. “Pax, good to see you alive.”
Pax grunted.
“You’re the highest-ranking Demon in the Federation. Didn’t see that one coming. Back in the academy, I would have placed bets on you washing out.” Clalls smirked.
“You did place bets,” Pax replied.
It was Ansel who broke up the reunion, “You’re a Night Demon, aren’t you?”
Clalls looked Ansel over slowly. “I am that. I am also one-quarter Yunkin.”
Rannn pointed at Sands. “This is Sands. He is a FAVII and will be stationed with engineering.”
This time, Commander Ganne stuttered. “I thought he was a Federation cyborg. I…I…I’m not sure what his bio-classification should be.”
Clalls tilted his head to the side taking in the new member. “He’s enhanced humanoid. I will get his title changed and assign him a berth with the rest of the engineering crew.”
Ganne rubbed his mouth, eyes till on Sands. “Has his coding been checked?”
Pax moved to Sands’ side and patted his shoulder. “He’s as obedient as we are.”
The Night Demon narrowed his eyes. “That’s telling.”
Sands dropped his shoulder to remove Pax’s hand. “I’m standing right here. You have questions, you can ask me.”
Ganne opened his mouth to say something, but captain Rannn pointed at Sasha next. “And this is Sasha. Once she learns Federation navigation, she will be promoted to head of primary flight defense.”
Ganne’s eyes were the size of Sasha’s fists. “Wait, what? You’re elevating her to head of pilotry? She’s a FAVII not an officer.” At the captain’s disparaging look, Ganne closed his mouth, and Clalls swiftly responded. “Right, right, she’s the new top pilot…just like you said.”
Sasha could tell that the two heads of the ship were not taking the sudden change very well.
“And this is her husband, Sci. He’s a Cerebral and has been given permission to join his wife while on mission.”
Sasha paid close attention to Ganne’s reaction to her and her husband. After the objection about her position, she wondered if she would find the other pilots resentful if not hostile.
Ganne didn’t respond. Clalls had locked eyes with her. “Yes, I read that.”
“Good.” That was Pax.
Captain Rannn jerked his chin to Ganne. “Now, Clalls can give my crew a tour of the ship and then take them to their rooms. You and I have a lot to go over about the most recent assignment. I want to read all the reports and the medical autopsy.”
“Yes, sir.”
The small group followed Clalls out of the hangar and offered to wait while everyone signed out a Minky pad. While waiting, Sasha heard Rannn ask Clalls, “When you’re finished with my crew, find me so we can go over Admiral Orin’s latest assignment.”
Clalls had been cleaning his teeth with his tongue. With a wet snick, he removed a dark brown fragment from in between two of his teeth. “We have not received any assignment. We are still recovering and accepting transfers from the last mission we had. We lost several of our crew on Eldon.”
“We do have an assignment. It was sent to me two weeks ago.”
The Night Demons’ pale white eyebrows lifted.
No one moved. “You’re excused,” Rannn said.
Following the crew out of the bay, Sasha had no idea what Eldon was, and she desperately wanted to ask what had happened, but Sci clenched her hand and shook his head. That was the first time he had initiated communication with her. Squeezing his hand back, she moved closer, hoping that it was a sign that he was coming out of his depression.
After they had visited the main deck’s galley, Pax said, “Couldn’t help but notice how dangerously low I am on whiskey.”
Yon shook his head.
Pax looked at Clalls. “Who’s the logistics officer?”
Sasha knew the logistics officer was the person who stocked the ship, compiled supplies and worked with ports and planets to arrange for their arrival.
“Her name is Vivra.” Clalls made an awkward facial expression. Sasha had no idea what that meant.
Pax quickly lifted up his Minky pad. Sasha watched as he typed out a request order for the whiskey, giving the justification of: I’m a Demon. It’s that, or I drink fresh blood.
Sasha stopped, and Pax turned around with a wolfish grin. “I don’t, but it speeds up the approval process.”
Sasha chuckled lightly and peeked up at Sci, who still had not laughed or shown any outward emotions.
Clalls gave Pax a once over before telling Yon, “You sent me a request to find a male named Jaccy. He is not with the Federation. The only record the Federation had was from a report you wrote. You named him the person who sabotaged your previous ship.”
Sasha knew the story of what had happened, and not once had Rannn mention it being someone’s fault. “You think your ship was sabotaged?”
“I don’t think. I know. The soon-to-be captured and punished male’s name is Jaccy.”
“Hmm,” Clalls said, “Then I was looking for the male in the wrong circles. I’ll adjust that and let you know what I find by tomorrow morning.”
Clalls finished the tour and escorted each person
to their respective cabins.
***
Settling into their new room, Sci and Sasha stowed the cots and made their own large bed. It left plenty of room for the Minky screens, storage shelves, table with two chairs, and a mini sub-cooler.
In bed that night, Sasha kissed her husband. They had not been together in two weeks. Some of it was because she was not there yet. The miscarriage had messed her up emotionally, even if the medscope had healed every part of her physically.
Now, though, her hormones that had seemed disinterested in sex with her husband had flipped, and she felt the desire for him acutely. But she held back, not wanting to push him into anything he was not prepared for.
“I wish you’d tell me what I can do for you.”
He didn’t answer for several heartbeats. “I want to make you pregnant.”
She sat back. “Is that what’s been bothering you?” She hadn’t even considered it. Sci had shut down after he learned his brother had died. She wanted to be patient with him and supportive because she knew her own heartache when she’d had to leave her mother on Nexis, assuming that Joan would be punished and killed.
All too seriously, he said, “I remember reading about Kooyons in the Cerebral archives. In one of the passages, it said that the males and females of Kooyon conceive only when both parties agree to it. That they cannot activate the proper reproductive system otherwise. It is purely emotional.”
If that was true, then she’d wanted to conceive the last time. But she didn’t remember wanting to have a child with Sci. To be with him forever, yes, but she’d not been consciously trying to conceive. Maybe her reproductive system was more Terran.
“Female Kooyons can control their ovulation.”
Sasha was trying to make sense of Sci’s request. Putting a hand on his chest, she said softly, “So you’re saying that if I get pregnant, it will make you feel better?”
He leaned down slowly and kissed her lips once before he lifted back up. “Yes. I already wanted to ask this of you before I found out about Chollar. But now, I need it. I need to be a part of you, for you to be a part of me.”
She could agree to some degree, but her concerns had to be voiced. “And you want me to have a child on a ship that loses several of their crew members each mission?”
Moving away from her, he stood up and raked his hands through his hair. “I know that you are worried. I can see it in your thoughts. I also know that you think I’m overreacting. I know you have suffered in silence since I spoke with the Cerebral liaison, but you don’t know my mind. My kind is not tribal, and yet I can’t think of anything other than recreating the life we lost. It’s like a hole in my mind, a place that he or she once inhabited. A piece of me is broken, and more so now that Chollar is gone.”
Sitting up, Sasha held the sheet against her breasts and wrapped her arms around Sci’s middle. “I’m not objecting at all. I just want to make sure that the kid or kids we have will be safe. Can you promise me that?”
Sasha was worried Sci would take her question wrong, that he might think she blamed him for the first miscarriage. But to her astonishment, he said, “I can promise you that. I can promise to never let anything ever happen to my family ever again.”
She could hear his voice shake. He turned to her and grasped the sheet to gently pull it away. She watched his eyes darken. Sci wound his arms around her back and began to nibble on her mouth. His tongue traced the inside of her lower lip, sending shivers down her spine.
He seemed to get better and better at his kisses.
She tightened her hold and leaned up to deepen the kiss. Her chest rubbed against his, and she let out a broken sigh over the sudden heavy tightening of her breasts and the hardening of her nipples. She deliberately rubbed against him, ever so slightly so he wouldn’t stop his mouth from moving down her jaw to the crook of her neck.
His mouth returned to hers, settling on a gentle caress. He acted as though he had all the time in the world. He was slow and deliberate, exerting only small points of pressure as he kindled the fires of passion within Sasha.
She moaned. Sci pulled back, saw the passion in her eyes, and whispered, “My wife.”
He didn’t give her time to respond. He used his thumb to force down her chin and thrust his tongue inside, retreating before penetrating again. She allowed him to lead and gave in to his demanding mouth play. She couldn’t think, she could only react.
Sasha moved against him restlessly, needing to alleviate the building pressure in her womb. Her fingers threaded through his hair, and his growl snapped her composure. She kissed him back like the ravenous beast she was. Their passion ignited into raw desire.
Lifting her into his arms, he set her down on the single cot in the room and licked and bit his way down her body, leaving little marks of possession everywhere. Settling between her thighs, he parted her wet folds with his thumb. The need to come caused her back to bow as she begged for him to come inside her.
He didn’t listen. He slid his tongue between her folds, lapping up every bit of cream. She pushed against his mouth, needing him to hit the right spot. She gasped as his tongue teasingly fluttered around the entrance of her pussy. She bucked her hips, needing more. His tongue sank inside her.
A moan slipped out of her, and his mouth clamped around her. He suckled her clit and, yeah, she was gone. She gripped his hair as bolt after bolt of pleasure racked her body, leaving her a shivering mess.
Sci rose above her, licking his lips. His face was stamped with possessiveness, and it made her pussy clench. “Now. I need you inside me now.”
Sci slammed his cock into her pussy that was wet, hot, and slick. She clenched around him and watched his mouth drop open, and his eyes close for a second. Curling over her, he pressed her into the bedding.
He rammed into her again, hard, over and over. Maybe a little too roughly, but she would worry about that later. She met each thrust, moaning for more. He pushed her deeper so that she couldn’t move at all, the tightness of being contained made her desire greater.
He hammered into her harder, faster, letting her feel all of his carnal power. She felt pressure on her clit even though both of his hands were at her sides. She almost asked what was going on, but his mouth descended on hers, his teeth biting down hard as he jacked one last time, flooding her with seed as she orgasmed. Bursting with agonizing pleasure that flooded every part of her body, it stole her strength and left her body weak and shaking.
Sci kissed her neck and then slowly moved to the side, pulling her into his chest. Sasha, barely awake, whispered, “I can’t wait to have a family with you.”
“Me either.” Sci kissed the top of her head. “I love you.”
She thought it rather than voiced it…she loved him, too—right before she passed out with a smile.
Epilogue
The Nex Day
Sci had watched his wife leave that morning for navigation training. Restless, he decided to find the mess hall in hopes of finding something edible. Walking down the empty hallway, another cabin door opened and Sands stepped out.
The two looked at each other for a moment, Sci bent his head in greeting and moved forward past the cyborg.
“Sci.”
Turning to the male he said, “Sands.”
“I,” he scratched fresh whiskers on his jaw, “I heard what the Cerebrals told you over the Quantum Connection.”
Sci took a slow breath, waiting for him to finish. He didn’t want to talk about that conversation. Dealing with the death of his brother was personal and not a topic to freely discuss.
“I didn’t think Cerebrals cared for each other, but even I can tell that-”
Sci interrupted, “My brother’s dead. I don’t know how your kind deal with death, but for me, I’m not discussing it.”
Sands held up a callused hand, “He’s not dead.”
Sci had to grind his teeth to keep from picking the man up telekinetically and slamming h
im into a wall. “I said—”
Sands cut him off with a shake of his head. “I heard what you said, but you need to hear me. Chollar, your brother, is not dead.”
Hearing his brother’s name didn’t bode well for the Cyborg. Sci lifted him up in the air, keeping the man tightly constricted, and getting tighter. “And how exactly, do you know that?”
The male pushed against the mental pressure but it was no use. “Because I was there. I was the one who shot you off your hopper. I was one of the Cyborgs that was sent to capture your brother.”
The air felt chilled, and a rush of tingles ran up Sci’s back. The confession hit so hard his feet no longer stable. His arms and legs felt like a vine, easily swaying this way and that.
He immediately dropped Sands back on his feet. “I don’t understand. Were you there? How? You’re not a Cerebral.”
“No, but I was bought by one.” Sand’s nostrils flared slightly, “Chollar was able to reset my basic operating chip. It was implanted in my head. Without the chip running its programming, I have control over myself again. I didn’t have control over my action when I was under the control of Elder Tanktum. He hates your brother, and sent five Cyborgs, including me, to ambush Chollar to lure to him out in an open field outside the city.”
Sci stood numb, conflicted, with needing to know what happened to his brother, and hating the answers.
“Your brother killed the other four and let me live because I promised to get you off the planet and keep you safe.”
Sci narrowed his eyes, “And you waited until now to tell me this. Why?”
Sands exhaled through his nose, “I know what it’s like to lose family. If I hadn’t seen how hard you took the news, I wouldn’t have ever told you.” He looked around the hallway and pointed to the nearest camera. “Being a non-Federation Cyborg has already been an issue, but if someone finds out that I have a Numan operating chip that can be reactivated with the right code, one of two things will happen. Either, someone will try to activate it, and then I’ll have to kill them, or someone will try and remove it— opening me back up,” he tapped the back of his skull, “and then I’ll kill them too.”