by J. M. Page
They both looked at it for a long moment, Mara still in shock, her father in denial. Finally, he turned to her with tears in his eyes and Mara’s breath caught in her throat. Had she ever seen her father cry?
“I’m sorry Pixel,” he said. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” He wrapped his sturdy arms around her and pulled her in close for a hug.
Twice in one day.
He released her, looking reluctant to do so, and started to climb in the pod that would take him up to that terrifyingly huge ship. Without thinking, Mara reached out, placing a hand on his arm.
“You’re not going up there alone,” she said, stepping into the pod ahead of him before he could stop her.
“Mara! You can’t!” he said, following her in. The moment they were both in the pod, the door shut and it hovered off the ground, drifting upwards.
“You don’t know what you’re doing. You have to go back. Turn this thing around!”
Mara frowned, looking around at the featureless interior. There were a handful of seats and not much else. “We don’t even have a way to control it,” she said. “Besides, I’m not letting you do this by yourself.”
Dad just kept muttering incoherent panicked things that she couldn’t understand, occasionally pleading with her to go back and stay safe. It was a little pointless by then, there was no turning back.
The massive ship’s shadow grew darker and darker until there was nothing else above them. A port on the underside opened, practically sucking the pod up with it. The pod settled and stilled while Mara’s stomach churned with anxiety and her chest fluttered with a mixture of dread and anticipation. She and her father stared at the door, neither daring to even breathe.
A pneumatic hiss released the door and when it opened, they found themselves surrounded by rough intimidating men, all scowling and brandishing weapons.
If they were surprised to see two people instead of one, they didn’t let on.
“Come,” the one in the middle said.
The men surrounded them completely and ushered them forward, through long winding hallways and up six levels to the flight deck.
Once there, the armed men filtered out, leaving just Mara, her father, and two alien men.
One, standing a little to the back, had skin dark as space itself, with eyes and swirling tattoos in glimmering silver. Long rope-like hair hung down his spine and he towered over everyone else in the room by at least half a foot. Though he was intimidating and made Mara nervous, he was nothing compared to the other man.
Only slightly shorter, but with a broad muscular frame that made him look bigger next to his lithe companion, the other man just oozed authority. He held himself with confidence that Mara envied. He wore simple clothes of high-quality materials — clearly a man of means though not boastful, she noted — and the way his shirt clung to his defined chest made her mouth go dry. With eyes yellow as sulphur and skin the color of cobalt, he didn’t look like anyone Mara had ever known.
Sure, there were millions of species and races throughout the Queen’s Empire, but in all her studies, Mara hadn’t stumbled across any accounts of someone that looked quite like him.
It was something in the way he regarded them both that told Mara he was the man in charge. The silence dragged on and he seemed to enjoy making them squirm with uncertainty.
“Are you prepared to pay your debt?” he finally spoke, his voice guttural and gruff, each word harsh and clipped in his strange accent. Strange, but striking, she thought, her stomach doing a somersault. His voice was a pick and Mara the string; he’d plucked at her and sent vibrations coursing through her in a wholly unnerving manner.
Dad shook his head, his shoulders trembling. “I have no means to pay you. Nothing of value,” he said, biting back another coughing fit, his voice raspy and strained because of it.
Mara watched him try to hold in the coughs, his eyes watering again. Guilt tore through her; her father was panicking and she was admiring the pirate’s physique. What was wrong with her?
“Then you’ll pay off your debt in some other way. My crew is always in need of more laborers.”
Mara sucked in a sharp breath, her hand going to Dad’s shoulder, gripping tight enough to hold him in place. “He’s too old! His health isn’t what it once was. He can’t!”
The blue man looked at her quizzically, but seemed unmoved by her pleas.
“Please,” she begged. “There has to be another way we can pay you.” She was grasping at air now, hoping to come up with something on the fly. If she’d had more time to think about it, maybe she could have come up with a plan. Why had her father kept it from her for so long? Why didn’t he think she could handle these things? It was just like the story of her mother. She was an adult, not a child. She could handle an uncomfortable truth.
But no. He wouldn’t ever confide in her and that left them in this awful position.
If I want to know the truth I have to find it myself.
“What if I take his place?” she asked in a rush of breath before she could reconsider.
“NO!” Dad shouted, his outburst surprising them all. “You can’t, Mara. He’s dangerous, just look at him.”
Mara didn’t dare tell her father she was looking at him… and admiring him.
“You don’t belong out there. You have to stay home where you’re safe!” he continued.
Mara clenched her teeth, not wanting to get into a heated argument with her father in front of these strangers.
Instead of arguing with him, or explaining how she desperately wanted to leave home and explore the wonders of the galaxy, Mara simply turned back to the Captain and raised an eyebrow. “Well, do you accept my offer or not?”
Chapter Three
Torak
Torak shoved down a smile as the girl questioned him. She certainly had nerve, he’d give her that.
Still, he couldn’t bring her on his ship. She’d likely get in the way more than she’d be of any use. By the looks of her narrow frame and deliciously womanly figure, she wasn’t capable of the hard labor he’d intended to give her father.
And yet… That fire he saw burning in her amber eyes made him wonder.
“Ahem,” Sande cleared his throat softly, drawing Torak’s attention backwards.
“Captain, remember what we discussed about their—”
Torak didn’t much care for a lecture at the moment. He turned back to the girl and her father, giving her a long appraising look. She didn’t glare at him with contempt or fear like many others. In fact, there was no recognition in her eyes at all.
It intrigued him. Too often impressions of him were colored by his lineage. What would someone unfamiliar with Basniel think of him?
“Please, don’t listen to her. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. Don’t take my daughter,” the old man begged.
Torak felt Sande’s unease behind him, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the fiery beauty still hounding him for an answer.
He looked from one to the other, realizing how desperate the man was, a new scheme forming in his mind.
If he really wanted to show everyone that he was back in full force, that leniency was gone and the ruthless Torak they knew was back, what better way than to take this man’s precious daughter far far away?
Slowly, a smile curved his lips and he gave a curt nod. “I think that will be satisfactory, yes. Sande, have Mr. Duport escorted back to his home.”
Sande let a refusal hang on his lips before he pushed it aside and called in their brute enforcers.
“No! You can’t! You don’t understand! She needs me,” the man screamed, kicking and flailing as he was carried away.
“Mara, please, think this through!” His voice rang through the doorway even once he was out of sight.
The woman — Mara — watched the scene unfold with barely contained horror, her hand flying to cover her mouth, fresh tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.
A sense of unease drifted through Tor
ak’s intestines. He wasn’t sure how to identify the feeling — guilt, maybe? He shook those thoughts free. Couldn’t be. They were just doing business.
He watched her with intent interest, wondering if she was suddenly going to have a change of heart. She likely didn’t think he’d take her up on her offer. He was surprised by it himself.
Sande cleared his throat softly, his voice breaking as he spoke. “Shall I have Delta give her a tour, then?”
It took a great force of will to rip his eyes from her, but finally Torak did it and nodded. “I think that’s wise.” He couldn’t be the one to give her a tour. He’d ruin it somehow.
One look at those wide trusting eyes and he knew she was innocent. She didn’t know anything about his business or operations. She may be beautiful and captivating, but that wouldn’t stop her from looking at him like a monster once she realized what he truly was.
No use in deluding himself. They were better off keeping a healthy distance between them.
As Sande escorted the girl out, Torak sank into the Captain’s chair and wondered what exactly he’d agreed to. Without thinking about it a moment longer, he put in the orders to head to their next destination.
After hours in flight, Torak stood and stretched his long legs with a mighty groan. It was getting late. It had been an exceptionally long day and it was about time he headed to his quarters for some rest.
In all the hours since, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Mara with her mahogany locks and unsettling amber eyes. Images of the woman stirred his imagination restlessly until he couldn’t stand it anymore.
He had half a mind to go straight to bed and try to forget all about her, but his legs had other intentions, navigating the ship with only input from the dark recesses of his unconscious mind. He didn’t know where he was headed, only that he didn’t want to retreat to his quarters just yet.
“Hallway 7-G-Epsilon…? No, I need 7-Epsilon-G,” a voice muttered from one of the lower walkways. “But then this is Sector B and I need… Oh nova, where am I?”
Torak slipped back into the shadows and peered over the railing, a smile lifting the corners of his mouth. He didn’t even realize it was happening until he let out a little chuckle.
She spun on her heels, twenty feet below him, her eyes narrowing in the dimmed lights. Most of the crew was asleep, only a skeleton shift on-call in case of emergencies. They were all alone.
“Hello?” she called, shielding her eyes with her hands against the overhead lights that surely blocked him from view.
For the briefest moment, Torak was angry that his crew could be careless enough to let a newcomer roam around the ship unaccompanied. Her getting lost or maimed was the least of his worries. What if she were a spy for the Queen?
It seemed unlikely, but that was his call to make, not the crew’s.
Still, he couldn’t help but be pleased at her presence, however alarming that feeling was.
“Are you lost?” he asked, stepping closer to the railing.
Mara frowned, still trying to figure out who was talking to her.
“Just stay where you are, I’ll be down in a moment,” he said, navigating the ship with ease. In a matter of moments, he approached her on the floating walkway.
As he grew nearer, her expression changed and Torak felt that familiar pang of disappointment. No one would ever look at him any differently. Not even the girl who knew nothing about him. He’d already taken her from her father, that was enough to make him a bad guy.
“I— Thanks,” she said, not looking him in the eye at all. “I was trying to get the lay of the land and managed to get turned around I guess.”
Torak nodded, leading the way through the labyrinth of corridors and walkways. “It’s a big ship.”
“It’s quite impressive,” Mara said, her voice quivering slightly. Was that fear? Nerves? She was obviously just trying to be polite because the conversation fell flat after that, a chill permeating the space between them.
He led her through the ship in silence, not really thinking about where he was headed until he found himself outside of his own quarters rather than hers.
Before he opened the door, he turned to see her frowning, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“This isn’t my room,” she said, voice detached.
Torak tried to keep his growing disappointment from showing. She couldn’t wait to be away from him. What had he expected really? And why wasn’t he on board with that? He had no business wanting to be around her, he didn’t even know her. She was a complete stranger, capable of bringing down his entire empire if she happened to be the wrong person.
“We should have a drink,” he said, the statement bordering on a command. “I need to know my newest crew member. We all rely on each other here on the Affliction and you shouldn’t be made to feel like an outsider.”
Mara narrowed those arresting amber eyes at him, making Torak’s thorny cold heart beat a little faster. She looked ready to refuse him, but then something in her expression softened and she nodded, accepting his outstretched hand. “Okay, one drink,” she agreed.
Chapter Four
Mara
The door opened silently and they both stepped into the Captain’s quarters before it slid closed again, sending a wave of panic through Mara.
What was she doing? What was she thinking?
She couldn’t believe she agreed to this. To joining a strange man in his quarters, alone and trapped.
He was the Captain of this ship. If he wanted to do terrible things to her no one would stop him. No one would help her. He was three times her size. It would be nothing for him to overpower her.
And yet, he just took a seat on an oversized cushion set on the ground, and watched her intently.
Mara glanced around the room and its lavish furnishings. A huge bed took up a large portion of the room, but there was also a sitting area — a circle of large cushions on the ground, with a whole host of different bottles and glasses in the center. Judging by the amount of liquid in those bottles, the Captain didn’t do much entertaining.
“Join me,” he said, gesturing to the other cushions. Mara stayed frozen in the doorway, unable to convince her heavy feet to budge.
“I need to learn more about you to better determine which services you can provide the ship,” he said, his accent making every word sound slightly exotic and intoxicating.
Mara’s heart jumped into her throat at the word “services,” she knew what that meant and she stared at the Captain with wide-eyed horror, her face boiling and her hands balling into fists.
Her voice trembled once she found it, but Mara didn’t care. He couldn’t take advantage of her. Even if she was trapped on his ship trying to repay her father’s debt. That was not the way.
“Would you expect such services if it had been my father in this position?” she hissed, full of venom.
The Captain’s eyes went wide, his pupils shrinking to narrow slits. He looked shocked. Shocked that anyone stood up to him, maybe, Mara praised herself.
She turned toward the door, trying to open it to make her hasty exit, but it didn’t budge. She was quite proud of her nerve, even if she couldn’t get the door open. She could feel his eyes burning into her back and knew he wanted to say something, but she couldn’t face him now. She’d said her piece and she needed to go.
Mara glared at the seam of the door, trying with all her might to will it open, but it wasn’t going anywhere. Her forehead dropped to the door with a sigh and she refused to look back at him. “I would like to go back to my room now, please,” she muttered, still staring at the crack of the door.
Once the words left her, the door opened and Mara was a little surprised that the Captain said nothing at all to her. As she stepped out into the corridor, he spoke.
“Goodnight Mara.”
Instantly, her spine stiffened and her shoulders turned to steel. Mara sent him the most dangerous look she could muster before giving him a curt nod. “Goodnight,” sh
e said, her voice softer than she wanted. It always betrayed her in times like these, turning meek and unsure instead of vibrating with anger like she wanted.
As she stalked off, Mara tried to look haughty and unaffected, but managed to trip before she was even out of his sight, stumbling forward with a curse under her breath. The door slid closed and Mara was left feeling like she might throw up at any moment. Her stomach churned and twisted, and her throat closed tight with tears that threatened to choke her.
What had she gotten herself into coming aboard this ship?