by Lynnea Lee
Isabella had a point. As the rush of rage subsided, Mia’s sank to sit against the dirty wall. Her hands hurt. She had never been a violent person. Sure, Mia had cursed and yelled plenty, but this was the first time in her life she had hit anyone out of anger. She hadn’t known she had it in her.
Mia felt different. The woman who had gotten out of bed that fateful morning on Earth, pulled that baseball cap over her greasy hair, and trekked to work, felt like someone else completely. This Mia had been kidnapped, saved, started fresh, fell in love, lost it all, and been kidnapped again. But despite the unsure future ahead of her, she felt stronger, more capable.
Mia made a decision then. No matter what happened, she would find her way out somehow, even if she had to lie, cheat, and kill to do it. Then, she would find her way to the Defiant and tell Arus how she really felt about him. Tell him she loved him. And what if it was too late and he no longer wanted her? It didn’t matter; nothing in life was a sure bet. But this, she decided, this was worth the risk. They were worth the risk.
Arus surveyed the destroyed home. The lock to the door was scorched and broken from the plasma cutter. Furniture was strewn around the place with a few pieces of it piled on top of the couch. The females had tried to use the weight of the couch against the door to stop their attackers. It hadn’t worked.
They were the second team to arrive on the scene. The first team had found Sala unconscious but still alive. She had been shot twice. The two males on the team took it upon themselves to get Sala to the medical center immediately. Mia’s friend would make it.
But what of Mia? Arus inhaled deeply, and a growl rumbled menacingly from his chest. Even through the overpowering stench of the split liquor, the piquant bite of Sala’s blood, and the residual ozone of the plasma cutter, the unique scent of Mia’s fear smacked him in the face.
“I can smell her. She was frightened. I’m also picking up a few humans, including the male who attacked her the other day in the dorms. They have a Tallean male helping them.”
They pieced together the scene the best they could. The human males had used a plasma cutter to render the lock useless. While the attackers worked on the lock, Mia and Sala had pushed the couch up against the door, blocking it. They piled as much furniture as they could onto the couch to make it heavier. As the attackers charged against the door, one of the females had run to the bedroom to grab the comm, knocking over the bottle of liquor in the process.
Sala had gotten a call out to the security office just as the door had busted open. It shoved the couch back just far enough to allow the attackers into the room. The rest was caught on comm and recorded by security.
Vore knelt and examined the bloodstain on the baseboard.
“It doesn’t belong to Sala,“ Vore noted. “It’s human blood.”
Arus growled again, imagining his Mia hurt and bleeding, but calmed when he realized that the blood didn’t belong to Mia. He could recognize her scent anywhere.
“Your female made one of them bleed profusely. She fought well and gave us a strong trail to follow. We will find her, Arus.” Vore stood up, ready to hunt down their quarry.
The coppery tang burned his sinuses as they followed the trail out of the building and into the street. Luckily, the group had gone on foot instead of taking a transport, which meant one of two things. Either the group was too large to fit into a transport, or the group did not have their own vehicle and needed to rely on hired transport. Hired transports were easily traced and could even be stopped by security mid-journey, locking the suspects within.
The sickly-sweet scent of Mia’s fear combined with the acrid reek of the human male’s blood made the trail effortless to follow. Even without the scent of blood, Arus would have been able to pursue the group readily, from Mia’s scent alone.
As the trail approached the port, a sense of unease spread in the pit of Arus’s stomach. What if the Talleans involved had a ship? What if they couldn’t get to Mia on time? Unease grew into dread as they neared a hangar, and Arus could detect the recent smell of exhaust. A ship had recently moved into or out of the hangar.
They called Director Ryek to get security clearance for access to the hangar. And though it only took a few minutes, they were the longest minutes of his life. He paced in front of the heavy-duty hangar door like a hungry stalker circling its prey, his hands clenched into tight fists.
The more he paced, the more Arus hungered for a fight. He wanted to kick out at the enemy and sink the talons on his feet into their bellies. He felt his cheek crease start to unfold, an adaptation that gave his kind an advantage in unarmed combat. It allowed his jaws to unhinge and his fangs to descend.
A hand landed on his shoulder, and he snarled at the intruder, only to realize it was Vore.
“Calm, my friend. You do not want Mia to be caught in the violence. She is small and would be injured.”
Vore was right. He tried hard to calm.
The attendants finally arrived to unlock the hanger. But the hangar was empty.
“FUCK!” he roared. He felt frustration for failing to find Mia. He also felt cheated of a good fight. All his pent-up anger and violence had nowhere to go. He punched the nearest wall.
“A merchant ship used this hangar often over the last few months,” the attendant offered. “It was in ill repair. Even if they left Reka 5, they would not have gone far. If you get the clearance from the director, I can give you all the info and logs we have on it.”
Ryek granted clearance immediately. He did not appreciate anyone messing around in his colony. The owner of the ship had entered Reka 5 on claims he was a small-time merchant, but they found no records of him renting out a stall to sell his wares. Neither did they find any transactions that would suggest he was purchasing goods from Reka 5. It painted a suspicious picture. Records also showed that Arus and Vore had just missed the ship.
Arus picked up his comm and hailed the Defiant. The Defiant should be nearing Reka 5. It would have no problem intercepting a ship with those specs. Calix, who was acting captain while Zeylum was away, agreed enthusiastically to retrieve their females, especially as Arus referred to Mia as his mate during the comm.
There was nothing to do now but wait. Arus felt useless. He hated knowing there was nothing more he could do. He was supposed to be the one to go charging into danger to rescue his female. Instead, Arus was stuck tapping his claws on Reka 5, grounded, waiting for his crew to save the day.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The humans inside the cargo bay held on for dear life as the ramshackle ship bounced them around like marbles. Mia felt her body flung to the side, and her arms came up instinctively to protect her head from slamming against the wall. Instead, she bashed her already sore knuckle on the hard surface.
A scream sounded, followed by a loud, “Fuck! My ankle!” Another voice mumbled a muted curse.
She looked around for her mom to make sure she was okay. She found Bianca huddled in a corner next to Isabella. Keeping her center of gravity low, Mia sprinted over and slid in just before the ship lurched again.
“You two okay?”
They nodded in response. Across the room, Gary gestured wildly, catching her attention. Mia looked up to where he pointed and saw a tower of metal crates. It rocked dangerously with every movement of the ship and threatened to crush the people below in rubble.
“Move! The crates are going to fall!”
They scrambled out of the way just as the top crate careened down from its perch. It hit the floor with a crash, and a corner dented from the impact. It landed right where Mia had been standing.
“That was close! Thanks for saving my life. Again.”
Gary was too busy to hear her as the ship pitched once more, sending them sprawling across the room. The inside of the cargo hold looked like a leaking rust bucket, and Mia worried that the rest of the ship was no better. What was going on? Was this thing even space-worthy? Were they going to be stranded in the void o
f space?
Then the ship stilled, impossibly quiet. There was no thrust, no vibration of the engine, the ship just floated. A calm hum whispered through the vessel, and Mia suffered a sense of deja vu. She had felt this before when she was on the Second Chance. The Defiant had magnetized with them to run a scan. They had remained docked together throughout. This feeling of floating happened right before the magnetic dock.
Sure enough, a deep thud reverberated as another ship made contact. They were being boarded. Was it friend or foe?
A buzz of excitement and hope ran through the group. Something was happening. Outside their door, someone issued orders in Tallean. A hush fell over the room as they tried to make out what he said. The speaker was not happy. For a few long seconds, nothing happened. Then someone shouted, and multiple blaster shots rang out. Instinctively, they all dropped to the ground, trying to keep their bodies out of the line of fire.
“I thought you couldn’t use blasters on ships,” a feminine voice asked rhetorically.
Another person answered, anyway. “We used blasters to subdue the original owners of the Second Chance. I’m sure we hit quite a few walls, and we never depressurized. I think we are safe as long as they don’t shoot at us.”
Someone blew out a breath and whispered, “Thank goodness!”
The sound of the firefight continued outside until something heavy thumped against the door. Then, silence. The two men by the door braced themselves, ready to jump on whoever entered.
The door slid open. A Tallean male stood outside. He holstered his weapon and leaped back, avoiding the two humans keen on stopping him.
“Hold it, don’t attack! I’m here to help you!” he exclaimed, hands in the air. “My name is Calix. Reka 5 sent us to retrieve their kidnapped colonists.” He looked at the faces around the room and settled on Daniel, who cowered in the corner. “That’s the male from the video they sent us.”
He motioned to someone behind him. Then another alien came forward with cuffs.
“Hey, what are you doing with those? You can’t do this to me!” Daniel wailed. They ignored him.
Isabella spoke instead. “You might want to lock up that entire side of the room!” She gestured at Reverend Jon and his goons.
They secured the group of miscreants and threw them into their ship’s brig, along with the two remaining Dominion soldiers who’d surrendered.
“Come with us,” said the leader. “This ship is old and failing. We plan to haul it back at a distance. You’ll be safer and more comfortable on our ship.” Surveying their sad-looking group, he added, “Our medic is currently on leave, but we have med beds for those who need emergency care for their wounds.”
The longer Mia looked at the Tallean who had come to their rescue, the more it felt as though she had seen him somewhere before. She had met so many new people recently, she wasn’t able to pinpoint where. But she decided that he was trustworthy. They followed their rescuers onto the other ship.
Calix gestured grandly. “Welcome to the Defiant.”
The Defiant? Arus! Mia pressed her way to the front of the group and grabbed Calix by the forearm.
“Did you say the Defiant? You mean Arus’s Defiant? Is he here? Please, I need to see him!”
One look at her, and Calix’s eyes softened. You must be Mia. Arus’s mate.”
She looked down and shuffled her feet. “I’m not sure we are mates just yet. He’s probably pissed at me right now.”
Calix waved her comment away. “Nonsense! He seemed eager to see you, last we talked. Arus and Vore are still on Reka 5. We needed to intercept the ship fast and weren’t able to pick them up. He really wanted to be here for your rescue. You will be together soon.”
Relief flooded Mia. They would be together soon! All she had to do now was sit pretty. It was much easier said than done. With the amount of knee-jiggling and nail-biting she did, Mia hoped she would still have nails left by the time they landed.
The rest of the rescued humans napped in the common room of the Defiant as Mia sat awake. Her fingers tapped nervously at the table as she ran through what she would say to Arus when she saw him. She was grateful to have another chance. She didn’t want to make a mess of it again.
A short woman, the same one who had told Gary it was not his fault, sat down next to her. The woman turned to Mia.
“Hi, you must be Mia. I’m Scarlet, but you can call me Lettie.”
Lettie was short even compared to Mia, and Mia had always sat front row in class photos. Her pixyish features made her almost childlike, but it was clear by the way she held herself that she was no child. Plastic frames perched on her pert nose. Unlike Isabella’s glasses, Lettie’s frames made the journey from Earth intact, though a bit banged up.
“Hi, Lettie.”
“So you are the one who’s been seeing Vore’s friend,” Lettie said slowly, testing the water.
“Oh, you know Vore?” Mia’s interest was piqued.
“You can say that. He’s been trying to get into my pants for the past few days. It was a waste of his time, though. I told him he’s not my type. But it doesn’t seem to dissuade him.”
“Is he bothering you? Should we talk to someone to make sure you are safe?”
Mia didn’t think Vore was the type to force himself on anyone. Then again, she didn’t know him well enough. From what she knew, Vore often had great luck with women.
“Oh no, he hasn’t done anything bad, just been hovering around being all protective and stuff. It’s actually been kind of sweet, but who knows if it’s just an act. I thought talking with you might help clear some things up.”
“Okay, I’ll see if I can help.”
“I heard that when Tallean males form a mating bond, they are very faithful. Other females don’t interest them. Do you know if this true? Or is it just an exaggeration?”
“Yes, from what I have heard. It’s very hard to break a mating bond, and mates remain very faithful.”
Lettie paused in thought.
“Why do you ask?” Mia was curious.
“I’ve been voluntarily single for a long time. I’m considering going fishing again, if you know what I mean. If they really mate for life, a Tallean male would be a viable option. Just not Vore.”
“Why not? He’s kind of mouthy, but he didn’t come off as a bad guy.”
“Word around the colony is that Vore’s a real player, a total fuckboy. And I’m done with that type. They make promises they can’t keep.” As she talked, Lettie took down her hair which was coiled into a bun, recoiled it, and tied it back up. It was a nervous habit, similar to nail-biting for Mia. “I fell for a reformed player once. It turned out he wasn’t so reformed after all. I wasted six years of my life. Found out near the end, he was cheating on me for all six of them. I ain’t falling for that shit again. This time I’m looking for something real, something permanent.”
Mia understood the woman’s reluctance to spend time with Vore. He had a reputation as the playboy type. Lettie was brave to put herself out there and try again to find love. Mia had a friend back on Earth that swore off relationships altogether because of a cheating ex. She gave Lettie a genuine smile.
“I’m glad you are willing to look for love again. Especially after what you went through.”
“Me too. I’ve been alone for far too long. Being stolen from Earth and now again from Reka 5, I realize how short life is. If I ever want to find love, I better start now. If a mating bond means he will never cheat on me, then I guess I’m looking for a Tallean.” Lettie grinned. “They’re kind of scary, but they’re also kind of hot.”
Mia grinned back. “For sure!” Then, more seriously, “I almost let love get away. I’m glad we both get a second chance. I just hope he forgives me for running away when he asked me to stay.”
Calix cleared his throat and sat down across from them.
“I’ve known Arus and Vore for a long time. When Arus commed the ship for help, he
referred to you as his mate.” He looked pointedly at Mia. “There is very little you can do that would be unforgivable in his eyes.” Then he turned to Lettie. “Vore’s reputation for enjoying the pleasures of the flesh precedes him. But many in our profession use it as a shield to hide our true desires. Females see us only as temporary fun. We learn to do the same. That doesn’t mean we do not crave a mate. Don’t judge Vore by his reputation.”
Lettie didn’t look convinced, but Mia felt her nerves calm.
“Thank you, Cal.”
“Anytime.” A look of longing flashed in Calix’s green eyes before vanishing as if it was never there. “Now get yourselves strapped in, as we will make the landing soon.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Calix stood in front of the oversized screen of the shipboard comm. The Defiant was not his ship, but he loved it as if it were his own. The crew was his family. And Zeylum, the ship’s rightful owner, was like a brother to him.
Unlike Zey and Arus, who had both found their mates without looking, Calix had been hunting for a female to call his own for years. Their medic, Sidas, hooked up with Moira a few years back. The lucky bastard found a mate who not only wanted to stay on the ship with him, but she also got excited about their missions. Watching their interaction made Cal realize what was missing in his life.
Cal forced himself to the task at hand. He had just interrogated the two low leveled Dominion lackeys with Vosken. The Dominion pawns had known little about why they were on Reka 5. They only knew that their mission was to find out if anyone was helping slaves escape the Dominion.
The team was badly provisioned: even their ship was barely space-worthy. Their leader had abandoned the post, hoping to gain the approval of the Dominion by returning a few slaves. The two Tallean who had surrendered were against the plan. The Dominion was more likely to punish them for subordination than reward them for the return of their merchandise.