by Viola Grace
“No. You won’t be leaving Lrrko once you arrive.”
“How about you?”
He shrugged. “It will depend. If I am requested or the Elders assign me to a project, I will have to leave.”
She was still trying to figure this out. “So, I will get a new keeper at that point?”
He tilted his head. “No. Medical has arranged storage for you.”
“Wait, storage? I am not luggage. You can’t just put me somewhere and forget about me.”
“I will not forget about you.”
“What will happen if you don’t come back?”
His head tilt changed direction. “I will come back. I always complete my missions.”
“Humour me. What if you don’t?”
Helbri nodded. “Well, I suppose I shall have to show you how to defend yourself against those who would force themselves into your life.”
“Really?”
“Really. Shall we begin?”
“Now?”
The cameras shifted focus. “Now is as good a time as any. You are alert and fed, and I do not need to rest.”
She nodded and got out of the chair, heading to the rear of the vessel. The area with the mats was well lit, and she got to the centre of the room before turning to face Helbri.
“Where do we start?”
He beckoned her back to the bench near the hallway she had just walked down. “You haven’t been on your feet for days. You are going to start with weapons training until you build up your stamina.”
“Weapons? In a ship?”
“The walls are shielded and the rounds are blanks. You will be aiming at sensor points on the targets.”
He pulled out a small pistol of smooth material, and he checked the unit’s power supply. “It is ready and primed for your grip. Once you use it, you will be filed as an authorized user and you will be able to wield it without my supervision.”
She smiled and took the instrument. It hummed as she closed her hand around the grip. She carefully aimed it at the floor, and Helbri nodded in approval.
For the next two hours, he corrected her stances—standing, crouching and kneeling. When she was finally allowed to fire at the targets that began to move around at the end of the space, she was more than ready to shoot.
There was no kickback, so she was able to continue firing until she struck the target. The first target took her seven shots. The second took three, and after that, she was able to focus when she shot, and she hit the target every time.
“You have a knack for this. Now, do it while kneeling.”
She nodded and fired again. It was more difficult to focus as her kneecaps were aching, but within the hour, she could hit a target at a hundred feet.
“I wish we had a larger space or a holographic projector, but we don’t, so short range will have to do.” Helbri nodded as she got up.
Cleo crouched and fired. It was the worst position of them all. By the time she was competent to Helbri’s consideration, her body burned with fatigue.
“I am done for the day, if that is all right.”
Helbri nodded. “Of course. Come with me; I will get you a meal, and you will be able to rest for the rest of the day.”
Cleo nodded. “That sounds delightful.”
She stretched carefully, never aiming the weapon at either of them and then walked to the storage cabinet.
“The selection of weapons here is amazing.” She set the small gun down in the slot that was waiting for it, and it hummed lightly as she released it. “What was that?”
“It is reset for me once again. It will always take a moment to set itself for you.”
“So, this is your collection.”
“It is. It travels with me at all times.”
“Ah.” She locked her hands behind her back. “Well, you said something about food?”
As they returned to the galley and he set her up with a meal once again, she had to wonder if the weapon she had just used had ever been used on another living being. She was a little shocked by the fact she wasn’t disturbed by the idea. Life as an assassin didn’t seem a reach for her. It was as if it had been part of her all along.
The short time in the tank seemed to have woken something. Frankly, she didn’t know if it was the treatment she should blame or herself for having it inside her the entire time.
“Your expression indicates dark thoughts.” Helbri spoke and she jumped.
“I thought you had returned to the flight deck.” She jerked her head up and stared at him.
“No. I remained to keep you company now that you have shaken off your mood.”
“Oh. I was just thinking.”
He sat across from her and cocked his head. “You are feeling something, are you not? Your mind is distancing itself from those around you. You are becoming Lrrko.”
She nibbled at her meal for a moment before glancing at him. “Is that what this means? There is a riot in my brain and I am accepting violence with a bland, casual attitude that shocks me. I am changing, and I don’t know if it was the treatment or if it has always been me.”
He paused before answering her thought. “You have always had the Lrrko bloodlines within you. It may have passed through you and landed in your children or grandchildren, but it would have risen. You got the line from your father?”
“It would have to be. My mother doesn’t look anything like me, so the line must have come through my father.”
“I am going to ask you a difficult question, but you might want to think about it.”
“What?”
“Are you your mother’s child, or are you a strange egg laid in her nest?”
Cleo scowled. “I didn’t hatch.”
“I will show you your genetic profile and that of your parents. You can tell me what you learn, and when you have questions, you can send them to the Alliance, and they will seek them out.”
She was stunned, and her hands remained on the table. “That is ridiculous. Mom and Dad would have told me.”
“I am sure they would have, but why else would they fear your entering the Volunteer Project? Your genetics would be examined in detail, not just the light scanning from that ancestry group that you joined. You would know where you came from and from whom.”
“I think I need to lie down now.”
Helbri got to his feet. “You haven’t finished your meal.”
“I will have something later if you don’t mind. My appetite is gone.” She smiled and got to her feet.
She left him and went to the small room, sitting on the bed while she fought her way out of the clothing.
When she was naked, she crawled between the sheets and wished for the lights to go out. It didn’t work, so she pulled the covers over her head and hoped for sleep.
Chapter Three
Cleo woke with a jerk of panic. She sat up and stared at her surroundings. “Right. Spaceship. Stuck in space.”
She got up, used the lav attached to her quarters and got dressed. It wasn’t too difficult to find her way back to the training area in the dark.
The weapons locker was closed but not locked, so she opened it and took out the small gun again. She triggered the targets and started firing.
It wasn’t her normal way of waking up, but it definitely got her up and running. She was alert, her body was sore, but she was invigorated. It was quite the confusion of sensations, but she didn’t mind it. That worried her a little.
Helbri was waiting for her in the galley, and he got to work on her breakfast when she arrived.
“So, are you ready to upgrade your weapon today?”
“Sure. It seems like the best course of action considering that we are stuck in this ship for the next few weeks.”
“Excellent. After you are checked out on all the weapons, we will begin sparring.”
“Sounds wonderful. What else can I study?”
“Whatever you like. History, etiquette,
cooking, spaceship repair. Take your pick.”
“Seriously? I can just choose something and pursue it without paying?”
“It was part of the arrangement organized by one of your own. The other four females of your species are rather aggressive negotiators.”
Cleo blinked. “Four others?”
“Yes. You saw the file; you are the fifth and final trace of the Lrrko on Terra. The process has been begun to try and get pure Terrans in to see if a blending of our genes can create a new branch of our species.”
“Wow. That is... Would the women know what they were getting into?”
“They would be offered a choice by the Alliance. A choice between a life as a human or something more.”
“I liked being human.” She sat back as he slid her breakfast in front of her.
He paused and tilted his head before putting a steaming cup of tea down in front of her. “I can understand that. I have never been anything other than Lrrko, but I can see the problem from your end.”
She prodded at her meal, but eventually, hunger drove her to eat.
The tea tasted rather tannic, but she swallowed it nonetheless.
When breakfast was over, she was handed a bag of water, and they returned to the shooting gallery.
It was the first day of many that involved increasingly heavier weapons and faster targets.
The day that they switched to combat, it was a relief to be able to hit something at close range, even if it was her only companion.
Sparring took up the better part of six hours until she was bruised and exhausted. Helbri coaxed her to the shower and helped her take her clothing off. Her entire body was stiffening rapidly.
“I will give you a massage when you finish your solar shower.”
She was too tired to argue. Naked, she stumbled into the stall and activated the solar cleansing with the smack of her palm.
The heat flared and her skin warmed, loosening her muscles. Cleo groaned, and when the light faded, she stepped out into Helbri’s arms. He lifted her and carried her over to the med bay where a table had been folded out of the wall. He laid her face down on the bed and smoothed oil on her back before he began to massage her muscles with strong but careful motions.
She groaned. “Do they take you aside in high school and teach you this?”
“It was part of the preparation to become a Familiar. We were taught how to care for your physical being as well as train you.”
“That is peculiar. Why not let you learn as you go?”
“Because we would make mistakes and mistakes break trust. Trusting your Familiar is all important. Many of our population would jump at the chance to get their genes into the next generation without authorization.”
She tensed under his touch. “You mean rape.”
“Yes. And though it would mean death for any man who tried it, for many, it would be worth the risk to see their genes carried on into the next generation.”
“Why would they risk death for such a little thing?” She grunted as he worked at her shoulder.
“It isn’t little. We may live as clones, but we see other species. We know how they mate and how their children grow. Sometimes, we save the children and sometimes they are targets.”
She sighed. “Answer me one thing.”
“Name it.”
“What happened to the women? The Lrrko women. There were some. The records mention them in passing, but they only say that the females dwindled. Why?”
He paused for a moment, and then, he stroked his hands down her lower back and butt. “The women were targeted. Those species who held resentments against the Lrrko identified the women as our weak point and targeted them. As they were the better agents, they were in the field when the wave of attacks came. By the time the Lrrko reacted to the danger, the female population had been reduced by ninety percent. It was decided that the ladies should donate their eggs and the children would all be gestated in the tanks. At that point, no one knew that the women who were off world had been poisoned and they only had six months before they began to die.” He worked on her legs.
“That sounds unpleasant.”
“It was. There are memorials to many of the women around Lrrko.”
“I would like to see them.”
“Then you shall. The first day that travel is authorized, you shall see at least one of the memorials.”
She smiled and relaxed under his hands. “So, that is why the Familiars have been drafted. You are to keep us safe.”
“We are. There were more volunteers than the Elders could handle, but we were the final choices, and the honour of the duty is not lost on us.”
He patted her butt. “Turn over.”
She rolled to her back, and he worked on her abs, her thighs and massaged her breasts.
“What kind of tension am I holding there?”
He chuckled. “There are lymph nodes at the top and sides of your breasts that can hold tension. If I can release that...”
Salt rushed the back of her throat. “Holy heck. That actually worked.”
“We are similar enough in biology that it was easy to learn how Terrans work.”
He shifted his hands to the balls of her shoulders, and he massaged while lifting her until she was hanging from his hands. When he set her down again, he slid his hands under her hair and worked on the tension at the back of her skull. She fought the urge to nod off as the scalp massage took her over.
He slowly settled her back on the table and covered her with a sheet.
All of her muscles were humming gently, down to her toes. She lay back and dozed, waking up abruptly when she tried to roll over. The bed was extremely narrow.
“Shit!”
She grabbed the edge and sat up quickly. Her heart was pounding and the sheet hit the floor.
Helbri was at her side in a moment. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Sorry. Just a sudden wakeup and I wasn’t in a proper bed.”
Helbri nodded and lifted her off the med bed. “I shouldn’t have left you, but we just did our final jump. We will be home on Lrrko within the next six hours.”
“Wonderful. Where are you putting me?”
“You are obviously tired. You are going to be tucked into bed for the next three hours. Then, you will have a meal and we will watch the world grow bigger as we approach.” He set her down in her bed and tucked her in.
“I thought it was supposed to take weeks.”
He chuckled. “That is just what I told the Alliance. We have been through magnetic storms, hidden jump sites and a number of other impassable fields. No one knows where the Lrrko live. We had a planet mover hide us after the women were eradicated. We all are given paths to take and no two are the same. It makes for difficult timing when we need to make a group briefing after a mission.”
She nodded and pulled the blankets up over herself. “Oh, goody. More to learn. I thought I would have more time to learn to fight.”
He smoothed her hair from her forehead. “There is time for that, Cleo.”
Cleo nodded and let her fatigue and the warmth that she was feeling pull her into sleep.
A warm cup of tea was being waved under her nose. She opened her eyes to look into the lenses she had become used to. “For me? How thoughtful.”
He waited until she sat up, and then, he handed her the tea. “You slept longer than I anticipated.”
“I suppose I am not taking well to space travel.”
“On the contrary. Sleeping and functioning normally are very good signs that you are able to manage it without difficulty.” He patted her on the knee. “I would recommend that you get dressed.”
She sipped at the tea. “Why the rush?”
“Well, we landed ten minutes ago, and the medical staff is eager for the baseline scans.”
She looked at him. “What?”
“Yes. The Elders have already sent their welcome messages and our riot runne
r is waiting for us. You just have to put your clothing on.”
She pushed him aside and lunged for the drawer set into the wall. She pulled on the shirt and wiggled into the footed leggings with minimal fuss. Practice made perfect.
“Ready.”
He slid his hands around her neck and pulled her tumble of hair out of her top, setting it neatly down her back. “There. Much better. Well, if you are ready, here we go.”
He took her hand and led her out of the hatch. She watched as he punched in a code that opened the door.
There was a crowd of men, and a cheer went up as she left the shade of the shuttle and stepped into the light.
The crowd surged toward them, and Helbri pulled weapons.
Cleo realized that she must have been tired if she hadn’t noticed that Helbri had armed himself.
The crowd took the hint and backed off, leaving the clear path to the motorcycle-looking thingy. It looked like a Harley had mated with a hover car.
She walked next to him and settled in front of him on the bike. At this point, it was natural for her to lean back against him as his arms came around her and gripped the controls. The vehicle hummed to life, and they lifted off.
Cleo took in the city below, and she realized that it was surprisingly normal looking. Either looks could be deceiving, or she might even grow to like it here.
It wasn’t an enthusiastic thought, but it was one of the more positive moments she had had that didn’t revolve around weaponry. She would take it.
Chapter Four
“No. Absolutely freaking no.” She crossed her arms.
Medic Alveck looked a little surprised. “I know that you would prefer to be with your Familiar, but he has an assignment that cannot be delayed. The moment he is back in his body and ready for travel, he is leaving.”
“I am not getting into that tube.”
“It isn’t a tube; it is a tank. It is for your safety.”
He was trying to be reasonable, but she wasn’t having any of it.
She crossed her arms and prepared to go another round with him, but he moved more quickly than she was anticipating. A small cylinder hit her shoulder, and a cool jet of something entered her bloodstream.