“I can hear you fine, Sava,” he said.
“This is for you. We grew it using my cells. It should be as good as it ever was,” I tapped the glass.
“You have my gratitude.”
“You are being assigned as my guard. I don’t know if you will hate this post or not. If you hate it, tell me the truth, I will not be offended.”
He opened his one good eye, piercing me with the naked intensity of his gaze.
“You are the mate of the Red Dragon. It would be an honor to even the best of us,” he said.
The sincerity in his voice was shocking. I looked around to see if anybody else heard. Everybody seemed locked in their own world.
“We are docking. I don’t know what will happen next, but I wanted you to know that I have three on this ship whom I trust other than Rakesh. They are named Puva, Meck and Detack.”
His face twisted as I spoke, as if my words irritated some wound that I couldn’t see.
“I know them,” he said stiffly.
“You do?”
“You should go to them, Sava. I cannot protect you like this. I will do what I must, and come for you,” he said, his voice carrying a pleading note.
“I don’t know where to find them,” I whispered, desperation making my chest constrict.
“In the ventilation ducts,” was all he said before closing his eyes again. Though his breathing was deep and evening, the muscles in his body seemed tense.
I wasted no time, trying to remember if I’d ever seen an opening to the ventilation system during my trips around the ship. To my knowledge, there was only one, and it was at the top of the ship where a vast biosynthetic forest did everything from recycling the air to purify the water. As the lights moved from blinking green to a solid blue, I felt adrenaline rush through my veins.
I charged through the corridors, making my way through the decks. As I turned the corner on the corridor closest to the uppermost deck, I crashed into another body. I fell backward and used the momentum to flip over and land on my feet again. Standing in front of me was the Grand Marshal.
“Master,” I choked.
In his hands was a case.
“You will need these,” he said, putting the case down and walking away calmly.
I opened the case and looked at the blades that sat inside. I picked them up and tested the weight of the blades in my hands. They fit perfectly and were lighter than most of the blades I used to train. They were obviously designed for a human hand. Tucked around the blades was a change of clothing. I stripped down and slipped into the sleek jumpsuit he provided. It was a jumpsuit made of a sleek, black, slightly iridescent material. It looked like fabric, but it felt like tiny chainmail.
The door to the observation deck was unlocked. I slipped inside, reminding myself that I couldn’t afford to stay inside for too long. The nanites would keep me conscious for a while, but my physiology was unsuitable to this environment. I couldn’t afford to lose time.
I made my way along the edge, feeling my way along as I looked for the access tunnel. I vaguely remembered it from the last time I was here. Above me, flashes of light burst like fireworks. I looked up and felt an intense sense of vertigo. The space station floated above me, but the orientation was wrong. It appeared that we were docking upside-down. I could even make out the people walking around inside, looking like spiders walking along the ceiling.
My fingers hit something solid, and I nearly screamed. A tangle of thick vines covered the panel to the ventilation shaft. It took several tries to pry it free. I slid inside and began making my way down towards the lower decks, avoiding the shafts where large fans pushed and pulled air through the ship.
I had no idea where I was going, but I couldn’t sit still and wait for P’tah’s friends to find me. I knew that P’tah could probably track my whereabouts on the ship using my nanites. I was hoping that her love for her brother would keep her from going that far. I crawled until I found myself in a dead end. The duct was in a storage closet of some sort.
I had no idea what I was waiting for, but I sat still, willing my heart to slow down. I was sure that it was hammering so loudly in my chest that it would give me away. The green lights turned off as an ominous boom echoed throughout the ship. We were officially docked and clamped into place. There would be no getting out of here without clearance.
I didn’t know how Rakesh was dealing with this problem. Nedan was in no position to help anybody, and my three new friends had yet to prove their mettle. As far as I could tell, I was on my own, and I’d never been more afraid.
The risings ticked by slowly and I began to wonder why I wasn’t tired or hungry. Maybe I was losing my mind. Maybe it only felt like I’d been there a long time. My mind circled around and around like that until the door of the storage closet opened. The pale pink hair came into view, but I stayed quiet, just in case she wasn’t alone.
“This is for you,” Puva said.
She looked around the room and put a small package down on the ground. She turned on her heels and left the room.
I pried open the grate with my fingers. It was a long drop down to the floor, an easy ten feet. I wasn’t sure how I would get back up but it was a storage closet, there had to be something I could use there. I dropped through the grate opening and landed softly.
“Not bad, Kearney,” I said.
I opened the packet and found three small canisters simply labeled “nutrition,” and a blanket. Somebody knew I was here and they knew I would probably be stuck here for a while. I popped the top on the nutrition cannister. It was full of a gnarly smelling sludge. I held my nose and sucked it back. It tasted as if an algae monster had shat down my throat. I guessed that it was one of P’tah’s “human food” prototypes. It probably had everything my body needed, all in one convenient, disgusting slurp.
P’tah.
The disappointment was like a shiv in my chest. Was she ever my friend? Was it all just a matter of protocol? A scientist treating its subject humanely was good ethics. Especially if the subject happened to be the Commander’s pet.
I tried not to let myself think about Rakesh. I wouldn’t be able to stay quiet and sit still if I was constantly wondering what he was facing. I knew he would be working hard to keep the Academy from taking me off of the ship. But they had powerful backers, and he was a ship’s Commander. Even his newfound status as the Red Dragon wouldn’t be able to stop them from taking me away.
I chased those negative thoughts away and stayed focused on my goal. I was buying time.
I looked up at the vent. There was no way I could make it, but I was tempted to jump for it anyway. Crouching low, I sprung up as high as I could, barely missing the edge with the tips of my fingers. I landed softly, careful not to make any noise.
Maybe all the training with the Grand Marshal was paying off. I tried it again, crouching low and focusing my energy as I sprung upwards. I almost audibly laughed when my hands made contact with the edge of the vent. I pulled myself up into the shaft and replaced the grate.
I heard people passing by the storage unit. I heard large pallets of equipment and supplies being hauled on and off of the ship. I listened to conversations between crew members. Despite my disappearance, it seemed like nobody was alarmed at all.
I could only hope that was a good sign. I wrapped myself in the blanket as fatigue began to set it. It smelled like Rakesh and made my body ache for his touch. I fell asleep clutching my blade and wishing Rakesh was stuck in the pipe with me.
Chapter Six
When I woke up, Detack was standing in the storage closet, looking up at the grate. I bit my tongue to avoid crying out in alarm.
“It’s safe to come out now, Sava,” he said in his gruff baritone.
I looked at him closely for a minute, trying to get my bearings. To his credit, he stood perfectly still and waited. Even if this was a setup, it was clear that they knew where I was. There was no point in hiding any longer. I kicked the grate down, and Detack caught
it before it hit the floor. I strapped my blades to my back and jumped down from my perch. To my surprise, Detack caught me as well, putting me down on the ground gently.
“What happened?”
“The Commander will see you now,” he said. His face remained impassive and grim. His tail hung low behind him. It was clear that the situation had changed, and he didn’t think it was for the better. I followed Detack back to the Commander’s quarters. He stepped to the side as we approached the door and waited.
I took a deep breath before entering. The door opened, and I laid eyes on Rakesh, I audibly gasped. Nothing about him changed. Nothing that the naked eye could detect, but he looked diminished somehow. It was as if the lights inside him had gone out. He stood, bare-chested and proud, yet somehow less than he was.
“You are... well?”
His face was calm, but his eyes danced with an emotion I couldn’t identify. Fear? Pain? Remorse?
“Very well,” I said.
We were alone in the room, and yet the way he held himself erect made me suspicious.
“Is there somebody here for me?”
He shook his head, his tail flicking behind him with annoyance before hovering above his head. There were so many things to say, but I couldn’t fight the urge to go to him, to lay my hands on his warm skin and know that he was healthy and whole.
I stood in front of Rakesh and stretched my hand out to his face. It was a trust exercise. Did I still trust him not to hurt me? Not to lose control and injure me? I closed my eyes and waited.
He shifted, leaning forward to press his cheek into my palm. Relieved, I opened my eyes and drank in the sight of his face. I could see the tension drain from his body and the light within him begin to rekindle. He cupped my hand in his and rubbed his cheek against my palm, purring softly in his throat. It was a glorious sound.
“How did you find me?”
“You set off an alarm when you crawled into the ventilation shafts. Luckily, Meck was the one to respond. It was a big risk. Why did you hide?”
“The Academy is coming to take me away. I didn’t want to go, and I didn’t know how else to buy you time to find a solution,” I said.
I felt like a small girl hiding from burglars in a linen closet.
“I cannot stop the Academy from examining you, but I can promise you that they will not separate you from me,” he growled, his too sharp teeth snapping together as he pronounced the words.
“Don’t,” I said.
“Diem…”
I pressed my fingers against his lips to silence him.
“Meck, Detack, Puva, Nedan, even the Grand Marshal...they are my people, or at least they will be soon. You have your people, people who will fight for you and protect you. I need to have the same.”
“What about P’tah?”
“She is still hoping to build her career on my back. She is useful, but not trustworthy.”
He bristled at my words but didn’t argue. Perhaps he had similar suspicions. Either way, we no longer had the luxury of being polite to each other.
“She may also be the source of the leak,” I added.
He nodded stiffly, his tail indicating just how agitated he was by the idea.
“I missed you,” he whispered, pulling me closer to his body. He didn’t hug me, but I took the opportunity to hug him. I pressed my face into the fine, soft fur on his chest and inhaled his scent. The sound of his heart beating was like a metronome for my own. It felt as if our bodies were syncing, and for the first time in two days, I felt normal.
“When you are gone, it is...difficult for me,” he said.
“Difficult?” I leaned back and looked up into his fiery red eyes.
“As if my skin is too tight.”
“Does that scare you?”
He looked down at me, his brows furrowed. He was a warrior; he could hardly admit to being scared, even to a little human woman.
“It scares me. When we’re apart for more than a day, I feel as if maybe you aren’t real. Like maybe you are dead. Even just now, although I saw you, I couldn’t convince myself that you were real until I touched you.”
He nodded. He had a faraway look in his eyes as he contemplated my words.
“I have heard that Dragons mate for life. They do not do as we do. They do not separate out of convenience.”
“For life?”
He nodded again.
“So, I have to see you every day?”
“No, you can live without me. I am sure of that. If your vitals had slipped for even a moment, P’tah would've turned this ship inside out to find you. You would get over it eventually.”
“And you?”
“There are myths, but nothing concrete.”
“And?”
“It is nothing for you to worry about,” he insisted. It didn’t feel like “nothing,” but I wasn’t willing to push. He would tell me everything in due time.
“I have arranged for the Academy’s scientists to come and examine you here, in the lab. They are not to take you away. Under no circumstances must you allow them to take you off this ship,” he said.
“What happens off the ship?”
“You become a Ward. They can take you anywhere and do anything to you.”
A chill ran down my spine, and I hugged him tighter. Flashes of monkeys in cages slated for testing in cosmetic company labs ran through my mind.
“Nedan has had his surgery. Although he is not fully healed, he insisted that he be allowed to take his post. I don’t like the idea of another male sticking so close to you, but I have little choice in this matter. You understand, Diem?”
“Sure. Some protection is better than none.” I let the silence stretch out between us for a few minutes longer before letting go of him. “You won’t be there?”
He took a deep breath, and his lips peeled back away from his teeth in a ferocious snarl.
“If I must watch them treat you like a specimen, I cannot be held responsible for my actions.”
“Will it hurt?” It was a silly question. Still.
“I do not know, Diem. P’tah will be there with you, although I don’t know how much comfort that will bring you since she was the one to bring them aboard in the first place.”
He lifted his hand to stroke my hair, the same way he’d done many times before. I closed my eyes and leaned forward slightly in anticipation of the contact. But it never came. He closed his fingers into a fist and dropped the hand back down to his side, looking away from me instead.
“I am fine. I am healthy. You didn’t harm me,” I said.
He cast a skeptical glance at me.
“I am no fool. I saw how much blood there was on the floor,” he mumbled.
“I was fine. I’m okay now.”
“You ran all the way to the lab, bleeding everywhere. How is that fine? How am I supposed to protect you from others when I can’t even protect you from me?”
His frustration strained his voice, and his tail sliced the air behind him. I didn’t have any answers for him. I was still asking myself the same question. But I was sure that there had to be an answer.
“I have arranged for your quarters. They are close by, just in case.”
“Oh.”
I blinked away the sudden pain in my chest. He was only doing what I asked of him. It wasn’t supposed to hurt.
“Nedan will stay with you at all times. Never allow them to separate you two. Stay within three steps of him always. Farther than that can be dangerous.”
I nodded, looking at my shoes.
“This is just until we leave the station. Once we leave, then you can have your freedom back.”
I smirked. Freedom, I was learning, was all relative.
“What about you? Won’t you need protection?”
“I can protect myself, Diem. And like you said, I am not alone. I have my people. I will do my best to make sure you have yours.”
“Rakesh, won’t you hold me?”
He hesitated, trying to
decide whether it was worth the risk.
“Please?”
“Move back,” he said, his voice ragged.
I shook my head and refused to move. Neither of us knew what tomorrow held for us. If we were going to make it, we had to trust each other, and we had to trust ourselves.
“Diem!”
It was a plea, a desperate cry as his body gave way to another form. The sound of his muscles and sinews popping and reshaping was disturbing. He usually shifted while in motion. Watching Rakesh the male give way to Rakesh the Dragon was nothing short of breathtaking. His long, powerful body uncoiled from within itself and stretched out in front of me. As soon as he had completed the transformation, I jumped on his body, stretching my body against his shiny, smooth skin. The great red beast coiled its body around me like a constrictor, allowing me to nestle against its belly. It rested its head on my feet and snorted in contentment.
“I’m still scared, Rakesh. I won’t lie to you. But, I have to trust you. I don’t have anybody else I can trust. So, I choose to trust you.”
The dragon opened its eyes and looked at me for a minute before dropping its head and nestling closer to me. Although his shape was different, his smell was the same. I let all of my weight rest on his body and took comfort in the familiar feel of his body against mine.
The entrance chime alerted us to the fact that somebody wanted our attention. I could feel the tension seeping back into Rakesh’s body. I sprung up and jumped on his head.
“I got this one, big guy. You just back me up,” I said quickly.
I went to the entrance and opened the door.
Nedan stood in the entrance, an eyepatch covering his newly implanted eye.
“Oh! How are you feeling?”
Nedan looked uncomfortable with the question and shuffled his feet.
“I am well. I should have the use of my eyes in a day or two, Sava.”
“Good. Are we ready?”
“Your quarters are prepared. You can go and make sure they are suitable. And then I have orders to escort you to the lab.”
“Orders? From whom?”
“From the Commander,” he said, dipping his head.
I looked back at Rakesh; his menacing frame stretched out along the floor. He blinked at me and nodded slightly.
A Pet For The Commander: The Complete Series Page 13