by Cora Blu
“Captain,” she said, putting some distance between those muscles and her hands, “How old are you?”
“Seventy-eight,” he replied blowing her assumptions of thirty-six out of the realm. “We age slower up here.”
This gave new meaning to the slang, “My old man, back home.” “I would have guessed thirty younger.”
The ribbed tank snug over her breasts betrayed her attempt to appear unaffected by his presence. The old tight gym shorts she never left the house in, showed more leg and ass than she cared for him to see. She folded her arms over her breasts. “May I check on Norese and see if she’s okay? She needs to know nothing she did caused me to drop her on the floor.”
His gaze darkened.
“Please, Captain. I don’t want her afraid of me.”
One thick burgundy brow raised above a black and burgundy eye. “The way you’re scared of me now, Sadie?” he said in a questioning tone she let roll around in her head for a minute.
He couldn’t understand her need to verify Norese’s comfort. “My fear of you appears to be your goal above the happiness of your daughter. Keep me scared of what you’re capable of doing to me.” She hesitated as his eyes began to glow, but she was already upset. “No matter how you feel about it, Captain, I won’t tolerate Norese’s fear of me. A child must see the adults around her as her safety, not her enemy. Now, either I talk to her or forget her ever trusting another adult.”
He didn’t move, studying her, his gaze traveling from her head, to her toes, back to her face. A glint of humor sparkled in the corner of his eyes. Did her sparring with him give him pleasure? “You’d challenge me to help Norese?”
Her mother had taken in any child needing aid or a clean shirt for school. It never mattered whom she had to approach, that child wouldn’t fight alone. “Yes!” she answered, her voice shaky knowing a child sat upset because of her fear. “For however long you keep me here, she needs to know I’m her friend. If I had my way, I’d be on Earth, not here.”
Sadie waited patiently as the captain relaxed his shoulders. Without a word or indication he trusted her, he pivoted on those biker boots he wore. Crossing the room, he poked his head out into the hallway to call Norese.
Tension in her chest relaxed, and she wanted to drop to the floor. This day’s events drained her of her usual feisty comebacks. Sadie set her attention on his spine where the muscles of his back worked and followed the line of his lean waist. If he weren’t an alien…she left off seeing Norese.
Bouncing burgundy curls covered Norese’s head when she came through the door. She stood at the captain’s back. Together they settled on the sofa in his office, and Sadie held her arms out for Norese. She waited patiently for a sign she hadn’t ruined the inkling of trust she experienced before. Then little fingers reached over, touching Sadie’s hand.
Thirty minutes later, Norese on her lap, Sadie found herself missing her time with Timothy. Her arms ached to pull Norese in for a hug until the little girl drifted off to sleep. Would she misunderstand it as an attack and lash out hurting Sadie somehow? The possibility held a fifty/fifty percent chance of happening.
Sadie opted for safety over emotional need at the moment. “How do I help her learn to control her spikes when she is relaxed, Captain?”
“Karuntee spines are sensitive and the weight of fully extended bones can be cumbersome. If possible, and there’s someone at home, we enjoy a firm massage to unknot the tension in our backs.”
As she raised her hand to rub Norese’s back, Sadie asked, “I bet Norese enjoys this every night. The little boy I watch on Earth is asleep within minutes of the first touch.”
He looked away, moving toward his desk to put it to rights after depositing her on it an hour ago now. Why wouldn’t he answer her question?
Two hours passed. Judging by Norese, asleep curled in her arms and the peaceful expression on her father’s face, Sadie made a significant impression on the captain.
“Captain,” she said looking around for a second door, “does she have a room down here? I can tuck her into bed and stay with her if you prefer.”
He extended a hand gesturing toward the doorway. “The last room at the end of the hall belongs to Norese. There’s a set of drawers under her replicator panel. You’ll find her clothes. Pack enough things for the both of you to last a month at the beach.”
Were they going back to Earth to meet up with aliens living among humans? “Captain, according to you we’re in outer space. There are no beaches and what I’m wearing is the extent of my wardrobe.”
He pushed to his formidable hulking seven feet. “Thirty minutes,” he said as if that were enough time to pack for herself and a toddler. Sadie grimaced. It took her hours to get Timothy Edwards ready to go on vacation. The little minx would be filthy by the time she’d packed his suitcase. She’d have to bathe him again. But Norese was a girl, and there were no mud puddles as far as she could see up here.
“There’s a replicator at the end of the hall. Come with me, and I’ll show you how to call down an appropriate wardrobe.”
“I’ll lose my job on earth, Captain.” Her words came out strained and pleading.
“We resolved any inquiry into your absence. We altered their memories.” He got to his feet and held a hand out to her, which she took, jostling Norese on her hip. “They’ll only remember you’ve taken the time off needing to get away for a while. It won’t hurt them.”
“Then what happens after a month and I’ve fulfilled my side of this arrangement?”
“You may not want to leave. Have you considered that option, Sadie?”
“No…” Why would she want to stay with aliens instead of going home to her family? What could he possibly offer?
“Go,” the captain commanded in a dark voice.
She hurried down the hall, peering over her shoulder to see if he’d followed her. Relieved he remained in the office, she relaxed.
In Norese’s room, Sadie jumped in the shower. After washing with the sweet smelling soap, she rinsed then dried off with the thick rose-colored towel—an influence of Norese’s mother no doubt. One she wrapped around her body and the other around her hair, quickly absorbing the water.
Sadie sat on Norese’s bed, under the round window overlooking space. Male voices wafted in through the partially open door. Crossing the room, she poked her head out into the hall.
“Is she cooperating?” a dark voice asked, the tone thick as the captain’s.
The words should’ve frightened her. They had, but Sadie recognized the dark voice she’d heard when they arrived.
Earlier, when the captain brought her here, she pretended to be sleep. A karuntee named Montage spoke to the captain while Sadie kept her eyes closed hoping they’d leave the room so she could look for a way home. From the way the captain addressed the male, he held a prominent position at the station. A commander if she heard correctly.
“Sadie’s not a female you convince or persuade to get what you want,” he said, a hint of self-awareness in his tone Sadie appreciated. “Present the facts then leave her to decide. There’s something pure about her nature I don’t see in many humans, I believe Norese would flourish under.”
Sadie rested her head on the doorjamb, hands braced on the wall. Relief filled her to hear him say he respected he couldn’t change her mind and wouldn’t try.
“And if she doesn’t comply?” the other man asked conspiratorially, as if he already had punishment lined up if she became a problem.
“Then she’s not the female I hoped to help raise my daughter and I’ll take her back to Earth. I’ll erase her memories; she’ll have no recollection of ever seeing our faces.”
The captain’s emotionless tone saddened Sadie, the pain surprising. She held a hand over her heart. Realization struck her hard. She didn’t want to go home.
The quiet now filling the air added to her discomfort. She drew away from the door. An overwhelming sense of loneliness weighed heavy on her soul, uncomfortab
le in her new surroundings away from everyone she knew. Her legs felt leaden, heavier with each step across to the window.
She stood before the window, arms folded tight around her body. With a shaky hand, she reached out and pressed the button on the wall, raising the shade to peer at the expanse outside.
The blackish-blue expanse dotted with stars and planets far in the distance brought home the truth. As dire as her situation appeared, who’s to say if the aliens roaming feet beyond the door of the station weren’t as much of a threat to the one holding her now?
Ready or not, she was on her adventure, waving goodbye to the ho-hum of everyday life. She lived with an alien.
She couldn’t have this taken away pretending it never happened. It was 1960, and she was a single black woman from Georgia facing a once in a lifetime opportunity to live in outer space. Nerves fluttering in her gut, she shakily flattened the palm of her hand on the glass, pretending to touch the shuttles as they passed on the landing strip around the station. Wondering what the outer hull felt like, Sadie pictured a foreign material lighter than steel, able to withstand whatever gasses surrounded it. From this distance, the illusion became palpable, almost sensing the unique material on her hand.
Hearing footsteps pounding on the floor in the hallway; Sadie whirled around to see the captain’s hulking form moving towards her in long strides. An unnatural fear coursed through her, and she placed one foot behind the other, retreating until she connected with the upholstered wall. He came around the metal casing of the door. The feral glint in his eyes made her heat up in all the right places. The cushioned surface under her hands brought an image of the captain slamming himself deep inside her body, her back bouncing off the fabric. She tore her attention away more to breathe than anything else.
Fear stared at her in the form of nerves pulsing in the corners of her eyes, sending spots skittering across her vision. Captain Farkus hovered inches from her face for an interminable moment, studying her labored breathing. Her heart would burst from her chest any minute.
He squat down, lifting her up onto the windowsill, the towel tucked tight between her bare breasts. He wedged his body between her knees, spreading her thighs wide. Air danced over her bare skin beneath the towel.
“Why aren’t you dressed? Eavesdropping on my conversations, I won’t tolerate.”
She swallowed. The smooth glass at her back slackened the quiver of her frantic nerves. And showing fear wasn’t her style. “This environment is new to me, Captain. If I hear a noise or voice I don’t know, I’m checking it out for my sense of safety. That’s not eavesdropping, but survival.”
Heat swamped her as his eyes trailed her bare shoulders. The dip at the base of her throat sucked in sharply with each intake of air. He raised both hands, moving them over her shoulders to her biceps. Aroc leaned closer, tilting his head when his fingers stroked the puckered skin of her inoculation on her shoulder.
“What happened here? Who hurt you?” Possession filled his words, giving Sadie a flutter in the pit of her stomach.
Her eyes followed the trail of his fingers tracing the edge of the scar. “It’s the scar from an inoculation. An immunization shot children on Earth receive before beginning school. The medicine protects against polio and other childhood diseases.”
He made an uncomfortable sound in the back of his throat. The touch of his index finger under her chin brought her attention and her face upward. He had beautiful eyes. “Karuntee don’t contract diseases up here, so you’re safe from any alien illnesses.”
A sarcastic alien. What next? She held his arms when he lifted her, setting her on the floor, adjusting her to face a panel in the wall.
“That’s a replicator. These buttons allow you to put in your body measurements then it’ll create a wardrobe to suit your needs. You can speak into the microphone here,” he said indicating a mesh screen above the buttons. “Speak plainly. It may have trouble understanding your southern accent.”
She had a slight Georgia twang, and he wanted to make it an issue. His differences concerned her from the moment they met. Sadie kept that to herself. She agreed with a quick nod, anxious to see this radio-like panel replicate clothes.
Suddenly the warmth of his chest filled her back before his hand came over her shoulder where he pressed a few buttons. Giving her the five-dollar tour of the controls, he stepped back as she clumsily made a few selections. When she said her bra size, Sadie would swear the captain drew in a long breath. The erection shoving at her back told her she’d heard correctly.
Captain Farkus moved away to stand with his arms folded; his chest swollen and bare. His sex appeal stood around him like a cloak or cape. Why was he single?
He told her to try on the pieces. He waited while she proved each item fit…each item. The jeans seemed to appeal to him more than anything she’d replicated. The last thing she wanted was to arouse him.
The captain abruptly went to the replicator and punched in a series of numbers before a few strings of yarn to the counter. He held out a string bikini, brown ribbons on either side of the panties and a drawstring holding the bra cups together. Her face warmed, sex clenched, and the skin of her inner thighs became moist at the thought of him seeing that much of her body.
“You’re shapelier than our females. Try them on so I know you’re decent,” he urged, handing the white crochet item in her direction.
When she emerged from the bathroom, near naked, she caught the flash of his pectoral muscles flex. He nodded then bolted for the door. “Pack Norese’s things and meet me in the living room in twenty minutes.”
“Wait, Captain,” she called after his hulking form. He stopped without turning around. “Am I going home to Earth? You can’t possibly have a beach up here.” She gestured to the window.
“We enjoy a good swim the same as you, Sadie. It strengthens the lungs, heart, and back muscles,” flexing his back to expand and bunch, highlighting just how big he was. “It’s important exercise for the health of a karuntee warrior.” The tight angle of his chin as he peered back over his shoulder gave the tattoo of the moon situated above his ear the appearance of being in motion when he spoke. "Prepare to leave in twenty minutes.” A walking piece of art.
The stainless steel doors slid apart, the mechanisms whirring when they closed seconds after the captain cleared the threshold. His spicy scent remained.
She dropped to her knees, fingers clasped together and prayed. “Lord, give me strength to endure this adventure I’ve longed for, but certainly wasn’t expecting it to come in such a sizeable package.”
Her mind made up, she hurriedly packed the replicated items then selected a month’s worth of clothes for Norese. For the Captain to be so gruff, he had excellent taste for his little girl. Her clothes were adorable.
She ran into the bathroom, splashed cold water on her face, then found Norese and gathered her into her arms. Waiting in the living room, she prepared her mind for the next month. She was a prisoner to an alien.
Chapter 5
Two hours later, dressed in jeans, a white T-shirt, and tennis shoes, Sadie stood with the captain in a corridor full of aliens coming and going. Norese held her hand and gave small waves to each as they passed into the bay, like a child standing on the porch watching the older kids going to school. Sadie found the notion endearing. And from the smiles and nods, it was evident Norese held a vital role in this community. Obvious Captain Farkus had a heart under his maudlin grumpy exterior.
Sadie eyed the ceiling down to the tan walls with their gray horizontal stripes. Each parking bay had replicator panels before each shuttle.
“Is this safe? I’ve never ridden in anything taller than a Ferris wheel. Will it make me sick…nauseated? Do I need a particular air suit or helmet in the event something happens?” Anxious, her tone came out wobbly, barely recognizable. Surveying the crowd’s attire, she noticed no one wore jeans other than her. Pants with multiple pockets down the legs were common among the karuntee.
&nbs
p; The captain’s look hung between amused and annoyed. Heat poured off his body in waves with him inches from her side, bumping her with every step.
“Sit over here along the wall. Take hold of that strap hanging from the shoulder rest and bring it across your body. There’s one for your lap. For your safety, remain fastened securely in your seat until we’re clear of the launch bay doors.” Their bodies barely cleared the other when she eased around him to her seat.
The chair had a high back and a thick cushioned seat as she got Norese then herself settled, securing their individual straps. The captain flipped a few switches on the ceiling. A clanking mechanism churned, closing the doors. The lights inside dimmed. “We’ll be there in under an hour.”
“An hour,” she retorted, her voice higher than normal. How slow did this ship travel for it to take an hour? “Are you good at driving these shuttles?” she asked hesitantly. “How safe are they? Does anyone ever crash?”
His eyes pierced her with a cold stare. “There’s a blanket in the drawer beneath your feet,” he said, ignoring her comment to speak with his daughter. “Norese, are you cold?”
“No.” Inching her way onto Sadie’s lap, Norese gave her father’s hand a little push to clear her path.
Sadie reclined, giving her space to cuddle her body to her chest where she withdrew a toy from the cushion of the seat. She clutched the stuffed animal in the shape of an iguana—orbital black eyes on either side of its head—to her chest. Norese’s warm breath penetrated Sadie’s T-shirt when she settled into her chest.
“I’ll take a blanket,” Sadie told him, needing to be comforted herself. Up here on the space shuttle for the first time, she should be looking for a bottle of liquid courage to accompany the blanket, but Norese’s little body would do.
She drew back when he knelt, fishing a blanket out from the drawer under her seat. His dark eyes trailed her open legs up to her face. The overhead lights, although dim, illuminated the curve of his bald head, and she bit back the urge to touch his face. His body came over hers. He draped the dark velvety cloth over the both of them, careful of where he touched.