by Marie Dry
“Go to sleep.”
Susannah closed her eyes but couldn’t sleep. She’d never been off this farm. What if he was pretending that he would help her find Noah? She didn’t know anything about the outside world. The things on the TC seemed wondrous, but looking at it on the TC and experiencing it were two totally different things.
What would her mother have said to her? In the darkness, Susannah felt a small, sad smile pull at her lips. In spite of the way her father treated her, the way the others shunned her, her mother had shined. Susannah had always thought there was something so bright and good inside her mother that nothing could extinguish it. In the end, sorrow had done it. But before sorrow killed her, she would’ve told Susannah to take the chance. To grab every opportunity to see the world out there. She used to say a frog in a well did not know the great sea. Susannah would be a sea-faring frog. When she brought Noah home, she would try to shine for him like her mother did for her.
***
Azagor woke before the sun came up and lay looking down at his breeder. She was different from how he’d thought she’d be, and he wouldn’t have her any other way. Moving carefully so as not to wake her, he went to the kitchen and made coffee while he talked to Zacar.
“I am brining my breeder to the mountain.”
“You will present her to me on arrival,” Zacar said.
“Yes, my leader.” Azagor hesitated. “She is different than the other breeders. Do not scare her.”
“She lacks courage?”
“No, she has scars on her body from punishments where they burned and whipped her. Her own people.”
Zacar growled low in his throat. “Bring her here. She will be safe, and I will not scare her.”
“Thank you, my leader. I would also formally request the farm to be allocated to me. My breeder has never left the farm before. It will give her ease to know it is here waiting for her.” She might think she wanted to be gone from the bad memories, but the farm was her home, the only place she knew since she was born.
“I will have it done,” Zacar said.
They discussed a few problems with the equipment and signed off. He contacted Viglar.
“I’m sleeping, go away,” Viglar said.
“I know you’re not sleeping. I’m presenting my breeder to Zacar this morning. After that, I want your breeder to examine her.”
“She is sick?”
“No, she is malnourished, even with the food tablets I’ve been giving her. I want to make sure she is healthy.”
“I will tell Madison to be ready for her, now go away.” He clicked off.
Azagor contacted him again.
“You are looking for a fight, young warrior,” Viglar snarled.
“Can you genetically alter a rat to be stronger and longer living?”
Last night, after she’d fallen asleep at last, he’d done some research on teacup yorkies and found some disturbing facts. He didn’t care if the little rat died, but Susannah would be heartbroken.
“I am not a doctor of pets.”
“I don’t care. Find a way to make this rat live forever.”
“Fine, now go away.”
Before he clicked off again, Azagor heard Madison talk in the background.
Azagor looked down at Killer who sat with his chin on Azagor’s boot. “If Viglar can’t fix you, you are going to make her heart hurt. Don’t do it.”
Killer gave a short woof and then ran to the bedroom. Azagor stared after the small, useless animal. It couldn’t even run fast.
He heard Susannah yawn and talk to Killer and took her a cup of coffee. When she was in their dwelling, she would have a soft bed, proper cups, and anything else she needed to be comfortable. When he deleted the Space Ranger episodes from the TC, she would not notice because she wouldn’t have time to watch that miserable excuse for a warrior.
“Thank you.” She accepted the cup with an almost awkward movement, not looking him in the eye.
Azagor handed her the food tablets, and she made a face but put them in her mouth. He sat down on the floor with his cup. He’d have to get furniture for her for when she wanted to come and see the farm. “Are you afraid to go to my dwelling today?” That had to be the reason for her awkward behavior.
She shrugged. “Yes, but I’m also looking forward to seeing it. And to have Noah back. Last night, I decided to be a sea-faring frog.”
He didn’t know what that meant. Humans had many strange sayings, but this one seemed especially odd. “As soon as you have packed everything you want to take with you, we will leave.”
She looked down at the cup in her hand, her lashes fluttering against her cheeks. “Will it take us long to reach your house?”
“It is not too far away.” He had run to her farm but had called Larz to bring a shuttle over. They had to walk a short distance to where Larz would meet them. She was strong for a human female and would be able to walk there. If she tired, he would carry her and the rat.
Susannah stood and took his cup. Even for sleepwear, she wore a long dress made from thick brown material. He heard her rinse the cup, then she came back from the kitchen and went into the bathroom.
Azagor watched as she wrapped her few belongings in brown paper that looked as if it had been used for at least a century. Julia had been in hiding and said she’d traveled light, but she had more possessions than Susannah had accumulated over a life time. She suddenly scowled at him. “Killer goes where I go.”
“Your rat may come with us.” He would beat the first warrior who made a comment about him owning a rat. He’d keep him safe to please Susannah.
Giving him a strange look, she went to the small room at the end of the hall and lifted a floorboard. Inside was a hollow space that had a package wrapped in old paper. She took it out and held it protectively against her. She knelt there, clutching the packet, and her lips moved. He couldn’t hear what she said. There was something sad about the way she knelt there, holding onto that package. When they reached their dwelling, he would find out what was inside, but he suspected it was Noah’s belongings.
“I have some sketch books hidden on the farm. I need to go get them before we go.”
“I will go with you.” He didn’t ask why she hid it. The more he heard about Joseph, the more he wanted to find that human.
Chapter 11
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she twisted her hands in front of her. “Oh no, it’s not necessary. I won’t be long.”
“I will go with you.”
She looked undecided then went around to several places and collected sketchbooks wrapped in plastic. Killer ran around, sniffing everything, and came back to them to touch their shoes with his nose, before he went exploring again. “Why did you hide it this far from the house?” The way she handled them, showed him how much they meant to her.
She smiled and then quickly straightened her lips. She would learn that it was all right to smile with him. “Joseph never liked to walk long distances.”
“Why did Joseph not allow you to have these books?”
She turned back to the farmhouse, looking up at the sky with a wary look every now and then. “He had no problem with me making drawings, but he wanted me to draw what he told me.” She firmed her lips, looking stubborn. “So I hid most of my sketchbooks where he couldn’t find them and drew what I wanted when I was alone.”
“In our dwelling, you can make many drawings of anything you want.”
She turned to him, her brown eyes sparkling with glints, as if the earth sun had come up behind them. “Can I draw you, and the others like you?”
“You can draw me, but you will not look at the other--”
Something screeched above them, drowning out his words, and a large shadow moved over the ground.
“No, Killer,” she screamed.
Azagor grabbed Killer and, at the same time, moved in front of Susannah. The birds were not known to attack humans, but it was an instinctive movement from a trained warrior.
H
er eyes as big as a shuttle’s, she took Killer from him and clutched him against her. “Thank you, if you didn’t grab him, that awful bird would’ve got him.” She hurried back to the farmhouse, clutching her sketchbooks and Killer. “I’ve been worried about one of the birds getting him from the first time I saw those awful things.”
Azagor took the sketchbooks from her but didn’t try to carry Killer. She needed to hold him to know he was safe.
She stroked a finger over killer’s head. “You poor thing, you almost got carried away by that horrible big bird.”
The rat preened and sent Azagor a superior look, and he instinctively put his hand on his hip wanting his sword. One slice and Killer would not be a problem anymore.But if he did that, Susannah would be sad and miss her rat.
She was a soft-hearted human. He could see sadness in her eyes from missing her cousin, Noah.
When the house came into sight, she slowed. “Uh, why don’t you go ahead? I need to check a few things on the farm.” She tried to look innocent.
“Larz will be here with the shuttle soon. I will return and do anything you need doing on the farm.” He would’ve preferred to let her do these “chores,” so that he could see what she was up to, but Zacar waited.
She bit her lip and, still clutching Killer, walked to the farmhouse that looked ready to collapse. He couldn’t accept such decay and, when he had time, he’d return and fix it. Susannah would look at him with gratitude and do much kissing with tongue. Maybe she would even demand the first knowing. Or fall more madly in love with him.
She went to where they left the packages and pillow cases containing Killers food and favorite bowl and then she just stood there.
Staring at him with wide eyes. Her lip trembled, and her skin became white.
“Killer will be with you.” He didn’t like giving Killer the added attention, but she always grabbed the rat into her arms and held him when she was upset.
“I’ve never been off the farm.”
“I will keep you safe.”
The silence lengthened as she stood in the ancient kitchen, staring at him between the ears of the rat she clasped against her chest.
“I need a few minutes,” she said at last.
“Why?”
She wouldn’t be able to outrun him, but she’d been trying to get away from him the whole morning.
“I’d like to change clothes before we go.” She had to be up to something because she looked even more scared than she had a few minutes ago.
Azagor took Killer from her. She wouldn’t try to run without her pet rat. He would make sure she carried Killer by the time they met Larz.
With one last scared look at him, she went down the hall. He tracked the sound of her footsteps to the small bedroom. Another creak that sounded, as if she lifted a floorboard. It said a lot about the ways she was treated by the humans, that she still hid her belongings, even with the others gone.
Rustling sounds, as if she took off her clothes. He could imagine her naked, her breasts bare for him to see, the place between her legs. It took all the self-control he’d had to learn as a warrior not to go down the hall and look at his breeder. The image of her beautiful breasts had been haunting him. They’d been soft and smooth under his fingertips. He wanted to see the rest of her.
Silence, and he frowned. The rat made soft yipping sounds, and Azagor carefully put down her possessions and went to the small room at the end of the long corridor leading to the bedrooms. It angered him that she’d had to live in such a small space. Her people deserved the justice he would give them when he found them.
He stepped inside and looked around. It was like a closet that had been turned into a room. From the marks on the faded paint on the wall, he guessed there had been two beds, one on top of the other, but no space for any other furniture. Joseph had better enjoy his lazy life because when Azagor caught up to him, he was going to suffer.
Susannah stood, still wearing her dress, clutching what looked like the jeans Julia liked to wear. She turned to him. “I’m ready to go.”
Azagor could kill or punish anyone she needed him to. He looked forward to catching up with Joseph. Seeing her standing there, looking lost, tears glimmering in her eyes, her bottom lip trembling, he had no idea what to do.
He wouldn’t say anything about the fact that she didn’t change clothes. Maybe the jeans didn’t fit. Zurian said never to make a comment when a woman couldn’t fit into her clothes. And especially not to tell the truth.
He took her arm and led her outside. He picked up her belongings and handed the rat to her. “I will not be seen carrying a rat.”
Again her mouth pulled into that almost smile. No matter how ugly a human smile was, he wanted her to do it all the time. Without trying to hide it. Clutching Killer to her chest, she walked beside him to the clearing a few earth miles from the house. She had the same strength as Natalie, who could also walk the distance without tiring.
“Will you trust me?” he asked when they neared the shuttle.
“Why?”
He didn’t know how she would react to flying. On his own, he’d run the distance, but he didn’t want her to have to walk, even if she was strong enough to manage it. With her slower speed, it would take many hours. All the other breeders always wanted to see the space ship orbiting Earth, and they want to fly in the shuttles. If Susannah didn’t believe they could monitor a TC, what would she think of a shuttle? At that moment, a shuttle de-cloaked and landed in front of them.
She screamed and held Killer so tight he yipped in protest. “Quiet, Killer,” she said and ran.
With a sigh, he handed her possessions to Larz and went after her. He never knew a human could run that fast. He ran around her and grabbed her carefully, and she blinked up at him. “How did you get in front of me?”
“Superior Zyrgin speed.” He stroked her head. “You do not need to run. What you saw was our shuttle landing.”
He held her slightly elevated, and her legs still moved as if she was running, trying to get her away from the shuttle.
“One moment it was just us and the farm and the next it appeared. Like black magic,” she said. “I’m not taking Killer near it. And stop stroking my head as if I’m a dog.”
Azagor led her back to the shuttle, mostly he had to drag her. “It’s all right. We use the shuttles to fly us where we want to go.” He should’ve told Larz to be on the ground and visible when they arrived. “Remember I told you about our space ship. This is a small space ship.”
She stilled and stared at the shuttle. “You want me to fly to your house in a magic box?”
“Yes. Will you trust me and get into the shuttle with me?” He’d explain to her about de-cloaking later. If it made it easier for her to accept, she could think of it as magic.
She turned to face him and searched his face, as if she wanted to read truth there. She squared her shoulders and stroked Killer. “I’m a sea-faring frog.” She threw her braid over her shoulder. “I will go with you,” she said.
He still had no idea what a sea-faring frog was, but he didn’t waste time asking questions. Just got her and the rat on board as fast as he could. He sat her down on the bench.
“Get us there fast. She’s afraid, her people live without technology,” he told Larz. “And make sure she can’t see outside.” He pulled the belts around Susannah. “I am going to put this around you so that you do not fall when we take off.”
She nodded, her skin had turned as white as the clouds in the sky, her eyelids fluttered, and Killer was in danger of being squeezed to death.
Larz didn’t waste time, and they were almost at headquarters when he said, “you should talk to mother. She will know how to soothe your breeder.”
Next to him, Susannah sat totally still, holding the rat to her. “It’s all right, Killer. We are sea-faring frogs.” She pushed back her hair, patted the plaits in her braid, and then clutched the edge of the seat with the arm not holding Killer, until her knuckles showed white.
“Why does she call herself a sea-faring frog?” Larz asked in Zyrgin.
“I do not know, but if it comforts her, I will not question it.”
“Mother might know.”
It still sounded strange when Larz and Zorlof referred to Natalie as Mother. Not even small warriors referred to the breeders who birthed them that way. When they went through their second change, they were seen as warriors to be kept away from the breeders. Azagor preferred the human way. “If Zacar will permit me, I plan to speak to Natalie.”
They fell quiet, only Susannah’s murmurs to her pet rat breaking the silence.
“We are almost there. You are very brave,” he said to Susannah in English.
Her sigh held the weight of the world. “I wish that was true.” She chewed on her lower lip and then asked, “Did you come to Earth in a box like this?”
“No, we came in a big space ship.”
He eyes rounded. “Where is the big ship?”
“It is orbiting Earth.”
She frowned at him.
“It’s flying around Earth,” he clarified.
She looked up at the opaque roof of the shuttle, clearly alarmed. “It just flies around the Earth. What happens when its fuel runs out? What if it falls on us?”
Larz made a choking sound, and Azagor spoke in Zyrgin without taking his eyes off his terrified breeder. “One sound out of you, and I will tell Natalie you laughed at my breeder when she was scared.”
All evidence of laughter left Larz. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Natalie had a gentle way of making a warrior feel remorse. And if that failed, Zacar never hesitated to make the culprit do guard duty for the rest of his miserable life.
“I would.” Next to Larz, Zorlof, and Alissa, Azagor was Natalie’s favorite because he used to talk to her when Zacar first claimed her. None of the other warriors would speak to her, but Azagor had decided to be a modern Zyrgin after they had watched those odd Star Wars movies with her. He turned to Susannah. “Our space ship uses energy that never runs out. It will not fall on you.”