by Hayes, Susan
“Why do you have bodyguards, because you’re unclaimed?” he asked, running a hand-held diagnostic tool from her head to her feet as he talked. She was fatigued and under stress, which he could see for himself, but her feet were in bad shape from running barefoot. She needed to have them cleaned up, and then stay off them for a while until she healed. Six to eight hours would do it.
Sonja started to speak, then hesitated as Trevar lifted his head to watch her. “My parents didn’t want me being claimed by just anyone. Not when they could use me as a means to increase their influence. Today they let me know negotiations were complete. I didn’t like their choice, so I ran away. My bodyguards weren’t happy about it. My fathers are going to tear them a new one when they find out I got away from them.” Sonja prayed she sounded more confident than she felt. Her head was clearing, but all that meant was that she was now painfully aware of how desperate her circumstances really were.
Being off planet might be an advantage. It would be easier to vanish out here than it would be back on Earth, but only if she could convince these two Alliance elites to help her. Alayna, her new sister-in-law, had managed to hide the scroll tattoo that marked her as a fertile, claimable female, and Sonja had assumed she’d be able to do the same. Hiding somewhere in the badlands wouldn’t have been so bad, but now…now there was a chance she could actually travel off world. Sonja had watched her brothers become elite soldiers, vanishing from her life to live among the stars.
Like every female child on Earth, Sonja had been tested for fertility on her tenth birthday. But unlike most of her peers, Sonja had wished with all her heart and soul that she’d be infertile. Infertile girls were tested further, and the best and brightest of them were allowed to join the Alliance, along with the best of the boys. When they’d given her the scroll tattoo of fertility instead of the star she’d hope for, she’d cried, frustrating and embarrassing her parents with her outburst. They had taken turns lecturing her on the way home, telling her again and again what a wonderful thing this was, and how grateful she should be.
She hadn’t felt grateful. She’d been crushed. She had only been ten years old, but even then she’d understood that being fertile heralded the end of her freedom. Scrolls were to be protected at all costs. They were the future of the human race on Earth, and what few fertile females remained were cherished and safeguarded until they day they were claimed.
By the time she had been given the first course of enhancing drugs, Sonja already had a bodyguard. By the time she turned sixteen, she had three. Her world grew smaller the closer she got to her eighteenth birthday, the day she could be legally claimed. She would have left, but her parents had found the one thing she loved, and used it as a bribe. Stay at home, and she could work at G-Mex. Watched, of course, but she could have her own lab and a chance to do something besides act as a lady of leisure. Now, even that would be gone. The chosen of men like Jasper Jones and Allan Forks would never be allowed to do something as common as holding a job.
“And who exactly are your fathers, kitten?” Trevar asked, his casual tone belied by the intense look in his eyes.
“My name is Sonja Grekov. My fathers are Petr Grekov and Carl Burrows.”
“Holy shit,” Deke swore, and Sonja could swear he actually took a step backward.
“What am I missing?” Trevar asked.
“Sonja’s family is big in robotics. I’ve spent a lot of time working inside their systems.”
Trevar knew an opportunity when he heard one, and an idea started to blossom in his mind as he asked, “How big?”
“Very. As in, they own G-Mex robotics.”
Jackpot.
“That true, kitten?”
Sonja nodded, her ice-blue eyes wary now. “That’s true.”
“Then I think I have a proposal for you.”
Deke groaned, but Trevar ignored him. If this worked, they could save the damsel in distress and get them closer to their dream. Regulations be damned, this was the chance of a lifetime.
“I’m listening.” He had to give the girl credit. She wasn’t stupid. No open offers or tearful pleadings.
“Twenty thousand credits. That’s what it will cost you for passage to Alpha Station X2. It’s out on the edge of what used to be Krytos controlled space, and it has a Krytos sanctuary. Once you’re there, no one will be able to touch you.”
Instead of answering, Sonja closed her eyes and went silent. He waited for a bit, thinking that her headache had returned, but when she remained perfectly still for another minute, he tried to get a reading…and got nothing. No emotional ping at all. It’s like she simply wasn’t there. Damn weird. “Sonja? You okay?”
There was another second of silence, and then she opened her eyes, looking past him to the wall of the shuttle. “You have a deal.”
Wherever she had gone in the seconds she’d been silent, it seemed to have cost her the last reserves of her energy. The diagnostic program chirped in alarm, and when he glanced down at the readout it showed that her blood sugar was low and her pulse elevated.
What the hell?
Sonja knew she shouldn’t have tried to do another precognitive forecast when she was already feeling like shit, but it had been worth it. The headache was back, but now she knew for certain that if she left the Arca, the general in charge of the orbital ring would send her back to Earth and her parents. That left only one option. She was going to have to use most of her credits to buy passage to X2. If she could reach the sanctuary, the Krytos would not allow her to be taken against her will. She’d be safe there. It was as good a place as any to start her new life, and she couldn’t get much further away from her family’s influence.
“Not feeling so good,” she muttered as the box she was sitting on seemed to dip to one side.
Strong arms wrapped around her and she felt herself being lifted up, which did nothing to improve her disorientation. She slammed her eyes tight and reached out blindly, clinging on tightly as the darkness returned, threatening to steal the world away again. Now she remembered what had happened on the flight up. Something had ensnared her, trapping her in place like a fly in amber and smothering her startled screams. Then the pressure had started, squeezing down on her like a giant fist, crushing the air from her lungs. The darkness had come then too, swallowing her whole.
“Easy, kitten, I’ve got you,” Trevar said, his voice surprisingly gentle.
“You taking her to medical?” Deacon asked, and Trevar grunted an affirmative. She wanted to thank them for taking care of her, but her mouth didn’t seem work properly and the darkness was still lurking at the edges of her mind, waiting to devour her. She opened her eyes, thankful for the dim lighting of the cargo bay. It would be a long time before she would feel comfortable in the dark again.
“We’ll work out the rest of our arrangement after you’ve had some rest, okay? I want to get those cuts on your feet treated, too, so we’re going to take you to the ship’s medical bay.” Trevar was looking at her with a hint of concern.
“It’s more like a medical cubbyhole, but you’ll be comfortable enough,” Deacon added.
“Sounds good,” she managed to mumble, offering them both a weak smile. “Sorry I’m being such a pain. It’s been a very long day.”
“It’s okay. You’re safe now,” Deacon told her, giving her a ghost of a smile.
Deke wasn’t sure what the fuck was happening to him. He’d always been logical, working through things rationally instead of reacting emotionally, and his elite enhancements had only increased that trait. It was why he had been selected to get the implants. Syncing with a computer required a calm mind, as emotions made it impossible to fully connect.
Sonja was stirring emotions that had been relatively dormant since he’d been tapped for elite training and given the enhancements. He wanted to comfort her, to ease the pain that had been evident in every word she’d uttered while talking about her parents and the future they’d carved out for her. He wasn’t good with people, and
generally, people weren’t good with him either, but Sonja made him want to reach out.
He wasn’t sure if having her on board was going to be a good thing or not, but it appeared he was going to get the chance to find out. It would take them approximately two weeks to make their way to X2 station. They had one other stop to make along the way, and the ships jump engines, while well maintained, were far from new.
Twenty thousand credits would put them within reach of their dreams, but as Deke followed behind Trevar, he couldn’t shake the feeling that everything they’d been working toward was about to go right out the airlock.
***
CHAPTER THREE
Deke finished his checklist and opened a comm-channel to Trevar, who was running through a pre-flight list of his own. “The cargo is secure, manifests are signed off and the engines are on standby. Ship’s good to go as soon as you’re ready to head out. I’m going to go check on our passenger.”
“I’m sorry, comms must be acting up, because I could have sworn I heard you say you were going to go check up on Sonja. When did you turn into nurse-fucking-nightingale?”
“Comms are fine, jackass. And I know you could sense how upset she was earlier. Hell, I could tell, and I’m about as good at reading emotions as you are reading instruction manuals.”
“Yeah, whatever. You go see to the kitten. I’ll get us cleared for launch.” Trevar paused, and in much softer tone added, “Tell her not to worry, this launch will be a lot smoother than her first ride.”
Holy shit, is that guilt I’m hearing?
Trevar had been known to commit minor felonies without batting an eye, but that was definitely remorse Deke heard in the older man’s voice. Sonja had been on board less than an hour, and she was already screwing with their heads. “That’s why I’m checking in with her. After that last ride, she’s got every reason to be nervous.”
“How the fuck was I supposed to know she was back there? And don’t you even say it. I know what you’re thinking, Deke. We should have checked the cargo before takeoff. You know my opinion of people who say ‘I told you so,’ right?”
So much for remorse.
“I haven’t said a word, old man. Quit bitching at me, and focus on getting the ship out of dock without adding anymore dents to our hull. I’ll join you up front when I can.”
“Hey, Deke?”
“Yeah?”
“Call me old man again and you’ll be sucking vacuum.”
Deke didn’t bother responding. He deactivated the link and headed up to the crew deck, scanning the data streaming into his wrist unit from the ship’s computer as he went. The Arca was equipped with a rudimentary AI system, carefully calibrated to be intelligent enough to be helpful without crossing the line into self-awareness. If anything went awry, the ship would let him know. But that didn’t stop him from double checking. After more than a decade of syncing with countless computers, Deke knew better than most how fallible they were.
Despite that, he still preferred them to most people.
* * * *
Sonja was tired of feeling like a damsel in distress. She had run away because she didn’t want to be treated like a child anymore, and yet here she was, tucked into a med-bay after nearly fainting. How humiliating. She’d been carried in here and had her injuries treated like she was a little girl with a skinned knee, not to mention having to borrow a wrist unit to transfer funds from her account to Trevar’s, since her unit was abandoned back at the base.
All her life she’d dreamed of escaping. Even when she’d convinced herself that she was okay with her parents’ plans for her, she daydreamed about finding her own way in the world. In those dreams, she was the heroine, determined and brave, conquering impossible odds to achieve her goals. So far, the reality was falling a little short of her expectations.
It was time to change that.
She sat up, and declared it a minor victory when her headache didn’t return and the room stayed put instead of whirling around her in giddy circles. Her clothing situation, though, was definitely not one for the win column. Her dress had been more or less destroyed during her escapades, the delicate concoction hadn’t been made to withstand a wild night in the badlands, or crawling over crates. For now, she was wearing one of Deke’s shirts over her bra and panties. It wasn’t stylish, but it kept her covered. Hopefully, her new shipmates would not mind sharing their wardrobe, otherwise she’d soon be wandering around naked.
The thought of being naked around the two sexy elites made her pulse jump, and the med-scanner chirped an alert as it detected the change.
“Oh, shut up,” she muttered and swung her feet off the side of the bed. If nothing else, she could at least turn off the scan function of the bed. She didn’t need to be monitored for stars sake. Feeling irritated, she hopped off the bed—and cursed as the extent of the injuries to her feet became evident.
“Ow, shit, damn it!” she yelped, hopping from one foot to the other as she tried to turn around and crawl back onto the bed. Sonja didn’t realize she had an audience for her impromptu acrobatics until suddenly she found herself being cradled against a broad chest, held several feet off the ground.
“What are you doing out of bed?” Deacon asked. He was holding her easily, and didn’t seem to be in any rush to put her down.
“The stupid scanner was beeping so I was just going to turn it off…only I didn’t realize how sore my feet were.”
Deacon’s lips thinned a little, and for a moment she thought he was actually going to lecture her. Instead, he lifted her a little higher in his arms and swung her around so she could reach the scanner and deactivate it. “You could have called one of us to do it for you.”
“How?” Sonja lifted her hand from her lap to show him her bare wrist. “No wrist unit, remember? I had to ditch it. My family had it programmed to act as a tracking beacon. I wouldn’t have gotten very far if I hadn’t left it behind.”
“They didn’t trust you very much, did they? I mean, you’re a grown woman, surely they didn’t think they could control you forever?”
Sonja tipped her head back so that she could meet Deacon’s hazel-eyed gaze. “They didn’t have to control me forever. Once I was handed over to my bonded, I’d be their problem. I thought I’d have more time to prepare, but you know what they say about the best laid schemes of mice and men…”
“They usually turn into a clusterfuck,” Deke replied. He set her back down on the bed with care, and Sonja couldn’t help but notice that he let his fingers graze the top of her shoulder as he withdrew his arm from around her. A sizzle of heat flared across her skin, and from the speed he pulled away, she knew he’d felt it, too. That’s when it finally struck her, and Sonja couldn’t believe it had slipped her mind until now. She was alone with two elites. What if they wanted to claim her? What would happen to her then? It couldn’t be any worse than what waited for her back on Earth, could it?
“This is probably a stupid time to ask this, all things considered. Are you and Trevar paired?”
Deacon’s eyes widened slightly as he shook his head in the negative. “We’re not paired. We’re not even registered as a potential partnership. Wouldn’t be any point, since there’s no way in the galaxies the Alliance would give us claiming rights. Why did you want to know?”
“Because, well…” she gestured to the scroll tattoo beside her eye. “I’m used to being so closely guarded I wasn’t even allowed to talk to an unbonded man, never mind have one touch me. It just occurred to me that I’m claimable, and there’s no one to stop that from happening anymore. I mean, if you two wanted me. But if you’re not partnered that way, then I guess that’s sort of a moot point. At least until I leave the ship.”
“Where we’re going, that’s not going to be an issue. The rest of the galaxy doesn’t share the Alliance’s fixation with breeding rights and claiming. It’s dangerous, but no one’s going to slap a tattoo on your face and claim you. You’ll see. It’s different out there in the big black.”
“I’ve wanted to go into space since I was a little girl. All my brothers went, but I got this damned mark and I thought that was the end of it. I’m glad I made it this far at least.”
Deacon gave her a long look. “It occurs to me that this might be the last time you see Earth. That being the case, I think there’s something you should see before we leave orbit.”
“Show me,” she said, drawing up her legs so he would be able to lift her easily. As he settled her weight in his arms, she had the oddest sense she’d felt this before.
Of course I did. Less than two minutes ago when he saved me from falling on my ass.
She draped one arm around his neck and set her head against the wall of his chest. The steady thump of his heart was strong enough she could have counted the beats.
“Comfy?”
“Yes, thanks.” Comfy didn’t begin to describe it. Now that her head was finally clear, Sonja was becoming very aware of just how attractive Deacon was, especially up close. The steel-gray and black uniform he was wearing fit snugly over a powerful body, and she could feel his muscles flex and shift as he carried her out into the corridor. She glanced up, admiring the precise lines of his carefully trimmed beard and the classic lines of his face. She could tell that if he smiled, he’d be dangerously handsome, but so far she hadn’t see him do more than crack a tiny smile. He was such a contrast to Trevar, who had kept up a running banter of jokes while he was seeing to her back in the med-bay.
She was going to be alone with them for the next while. For the first time in her life, she was going to be unchaperoned, with no one to answer to but herself for her choices. Both men were handsome and apparently single, and there was something about them both…a sense that she could trust them, though she couldn’t have explained why that was. Her gift was infuriatingly vague most of the time, but she’d learn to trust her intuition. It was rarely wrong. The idea of spending time with the two of them, doing all the things she’d only been able to experience in a holo-room was more than a little tempting. A tiny thrill of desire zinged through her veins as her imagination took flight.