Seeing Stars

  Drew debated on spilling her guts about the belt, then laughed. “Cred coins. Do you idiots think I’m stupid enough to use a cred card on Sefnee?” Larissa’s grip tightened, her other hand going for Drew’s throat before she was simply dumped on the floor. Drew laughed again, despite the bruising to her kidneys. “What the hell did you think I had? A Paradise prostitute’s dancing costume?”

  She focused on Shiv, letting the anger inside her spill out. Scrambling to her feet she started for her old shipmate. The shock rod wasn’t a surprise this time, but it still hurt like the devil. Drew seized up and fell to the floor, where she’d drool for a bit while the effects wore off. Captain Larissa’s boots stepped into her field of view. “Take the draconi to another cell. They’re both useless except as fodder for the pits.” Three pair of boots—one expensive, two plain—left the cell. Shiv was dragged between the plain, shaking and whimpering. She wouldn’t be safe or comfortable in a different cell, but Larissa wouldn’t have her tortured if Shiv wasn’t a bargaining chip.

  As soon as she could manage the feat, Drew turned over and rested her forearm over her eyes. How in the darkest blackhole of Hell am I going to get out of this one?

  “Ash—” Korm hissed as the other man dashed from behind a pallet of canned meat to a red and green painted shuttle with its cargo door wide open. “…win” His frustration went up a notch as a green cloaked priest strode out of the passenger area and properly bowed to several brethren before leaving the line of sight by skirting the freight area. A few moments later a green robe flew at him. Korm turned, ready to fight, and relaxed a bit at Ash’s green swathed fashion statement. “The punishment for impersonating a priest is flogging,” he growled. Shaking the robe out, he noted it was big even for his size.

  “Then don’t get caught.” Ash’s quip was as dead serious as when he’d said, “Fly the ship and don’t kill us in the process.”

  Korm nodded. Fine, they would find Drew and not get caught. He’d managed to navigate the Pandora and land in the Starpath’s bay without much more than a small fire contained in one of the engine crystal barrels. So, now he wouldn’t let them get caught. He dropped the slithery robe over his head, noting that it would tangle in his legs if he had to fight.

  “Drop your shoulders and keep your eyes on the floor,” Ash advised, placing his hands in the prayer position. All of a sudden, Proper Ashwin was gone, replaced by a tall yet generic priest of Gaemae, the life-giver.

  Korm led them through the commoner’s living quarters, briefly remembering playing and running through the small courtyards. Boys and girls training to become kith-ra lived in separate dorms near the brig, learning the aspects of their future roles of warriors and protectors of the kith people.

  “Father!” Korm cringed inwardly as a visibly pregnant young woman called out to them. One of her spouses took up the call and hurried towards him and Ash, who stood with the calm of a priest tending to the people. Korm wanted to grab him and run. Up close, Korm recognised the man and dropped his head and shoulders further, letting Ash take the lead. “Fathers,” huffed Korm’s cousin Lintle. “Our wife is due soon. Would you give us Gaemae’s blessing?” Soon? The woman looked like she would explode any moment. He settled at the warning in Ash’s thoughts, nodding as expected.

  Lintle rushed back to help his bond-partner huddle around the expectant mother. Korm had never bothered keeping up with his relatives once he’d bonded with Ashwin. He wasn’t dana but he was expected to fit in. Rough and rowdy commoners and warriors were not proper friends. Now, watching the close-knit group advancing to watch the two priests bless a commoner birth made him wish he’d kept some connection. He slumped some more, praying along with Ash’s birth blessing that none of his cousins or brothers would recognise him.

  “Blessings over your union.” Ash rested his hand on the woman’s distended belly reverently. “Blessings over the fruit of your union. Blessings over the unity of your family.” The crowd cheered and wept at the close of the ritual. They hugged one another, laughed, and chattered as only extended family and friends did. Korm and Ash slipped away in the celebration.

  A figure stepped into their path towards the brig. He bowed slightly. “Ashwin-dana.” Turning slightly he addressed Korm. “Kormec-ra.” Lanard held out his hand, open palmed in the way of one kith warrior greeting another. “She is not here. The captain plans to allow your woman to gain her freedom in the pits. Other than a few jolts with the rod, she hasn’t even been searched. Captain Larissa is extending your Captain Drew Roberts an honorary.”

  “How?” Ash’s confusion eddied in the back of his mind. “Why?”

  “How indeed, Lanard-ra? It was coincidental that you showed up on Sefnee with Dresher.”

  “I could never fool you, could I, Kormec-ra?” Lanard dropped the hand that wasn’t taken and motioned for them to follow. “I have no intention of arresting you. Either of you. However, if you wish to save your wife from the pits, you will have to trust me.”

  “Yes.” Ash said, but Korm was already dogging Lanard’s heels. “How does he know?”

  The whispered question made Korm smile while they looked out over the arena in the bowls of the Starpath. They changed the robes for simple, but clean, tunics and breeches offered by Lanard. The whole idea of the one charged with bringing Ashwin back helping them was off on the surface. Yet, Korm felt he could trust Lanard.

  “She clinks like a newlywed in a brand-new trilliacia.” Lanard’s explanation made him look away over the crowd of dana, off-duty warriors and land-locked visitors that frequented the pit fights. The contest was an easy way for a condemned prisoner to gain freedom. Easy for the council who made the laws and judged most cases. Definitely not easy for the average prisoner who had to survive three combat rounds with a trained warrior representing the plaintiff against them.

  “But why the honorary?” Ash pushed through the crowd, making Lanard curse. Korm followed. Yes. Why an honorary to a skid captain who has been a thorn in Captain Larissa’s side for years? Shoving through to the edge of the wall that separated the crowd from the combat area, Korm ignored the gasps of recognition. Across the way, underneath the captain’s dais, were the prisoners. Drew stood apart from them, unchained, still in the ghastly coverall she’d donned before leaving the ship. He was never so glad to see the ugly thing swallowing her petite figure. It might at least offer some protection. One of the captain’s guards assigned to Drew motioned for her to enter the ring.

  “I am sorry,” Lanard-ra said from beside them. “We are too late.”

  “No.” Ash started over the barrier, barely restrained by Korm. He shook his head, drawing more attention to their place in the commons. “I can’t believe my own mother would do this. Not for helping us.”

  “Who says this is about you?” Lanard-ra grabbed Ash from the other side and finished hauling him back to the proper side of the rail. He leaned in. “It is not. This is—”

  “Captain Drew Roberts, how do you plead on the charge of theft?” The council member’s voice rang out, cultured and lilting, even speaking Common GI.

  Drew held her head up and marched out to the centre of the arena. She didn’t have much choice with the guards’ weapons trained on her.

  “I am a lot of things,” her voice rang out as she turned in a circle, addressing the audience. Captain Larissa, she passed over. She stopped facing Korm and Ash. “But I am not a thief.” She looked back at the presiding captain of the ship. Korm didn’t know if he wanted to cheer or shake some sense into her when Drew’s chin came up. The fire in her eyes fixed on her accuser. Lifting one hand, she wriggled her fingers in a ‘come on’ gesture. “If this is what it takes to get back to my ship, then bring it on.”

  Standing her ground, she watched Captain Larissa as an unknown female kith-ra walked onto the field. The crowd cheered. They loved the defiance and the chance for a good fight. Korm met Ash’s eyes and dread filled them both. Drew talked a good talk, was a damn fine pilot, but she was no warrior
.

  Drew assessed her options. She could run like a sissy and be shot in the back or she could face this head on—and die. She just wished she didn’t have to do it in front of Korm and Ash.

  The warrior woman, a freaking tall Amazon bitch, standing more than two heads above Drew, walked out to meet her. Ouch. This was going to hurt. Bad.

  The queen of the Amazons pulled out a pair of waerspic, twirling the small scythes with ease. Drew backed up. This was justice? Her opponent charged. Drew spun and ran. It was all she could do to keep from screaming like a little girl. From the corner of her eyes something hit the floor. She veered that direction, praying to God and any other deity listening that it was Korm’s prized waerspic. Instead it was one of those hand-held batons that extended out into a man-high walking stick. What the hell was she going to do with a walking stick?

  She scooped it up, giving the middle section a twist to extend out full length. Hey, now she had a bo staff. She turned, flashing back to her childhood karate course, and set her stance, aiming downwards. Bitch swung first. Drew took a step back, whipping the stick across her opponent’s extended wrist. Quickly, she tapped the woman’s face. While the Amazon was temporarily stunned, Drew spun around in a circle, building her momentum. The crack of the stick struck her attacker’s blocking left hand. The sound cracked again with bone. Damn, she’d been aiming for the head.

  The bell rang once, signalling one round.

  Amazon Bitch stepped back, her broken hand hanging loosely, the lost waerspic at her feet. Boy, does she look pissed off. Both women studied each other. Drew saw the moment her opponent decided to close the distance. Instinct said run like hell. Seeing the sharp spikes shoot out above the Amazon’s hand, Drew decided to duck. She braced the end of the stick against the floor, pointing the tip below Amazon’s sternum.

  Her attacker shifted left, blade driving down at an angle. The curved weapon caught the loose material on Drew’s coveralls as she rolled back away. The swinging wearspic cut from the shoulder down to mid-stomach. For a frightening millisecond it felt like Drew was going to lose a nipple. It barely missed. Drew rolled back onto one knee, bringing the now charging Amazon into her sights. Bitch tried to fake her out again, but Drew wasn’t falling for it twice. It all happened in a blink of an eye. Drew shoved up with the staff, coming to her feet, and her opponent flew over her shoulder.

  The bell rang twice signalling two rounds as the Amazon landed with a thud on the metal floor.

  Drew spun again, facing her opponent once more. Amazon was on her back wheezing for air. Pointing the staff downwards, Drew edged into her enemy’s space. The staff aimed for the woman’s neck. Drew hesitated. Even though the big-ass Amazon bitch was trying to kill her, Drew couldn’t reciprocate. Wound, yes. Maim, sure. Kill, no.

  Using the moment of hesitation, her opponent slashed at Drew’s legs with the remaining weapon. Drew shuffled back, blocking with the end of the staff. The uber-sharp waerspic sliced through the end of the staff. An arc of electricity sparked at the cut end. Drew grinned. “Oh, yeah. This is going to hurt. Bad.” She jabbed the sparking end into the Amazon’s shoulder. The woman yelped and jumped as if struck by lightning.

  The third bell rang.

  Drew jumped back, out of the woman’s range, in shock that she’d survived. Sweat soaked the binding coveralls that flapped across her chest. She tugged the material free, shoving the coveralls down her hips. The crowd was silent. The trilliacia belt shone in the arena lights.

  Chapter Six

  Drew heaved a breath, warily watching the kith-ra warrior woman climb to her feet. By all rights, Drew should be lying in a puddle of her own blood, dead. She kicked the coveralls free of her boots, just in case she needed to be light on her feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Korm and Ash vault the wall that separated the sick fuckers in the audience from the poor schmucks getting slaughtered. Across the arena, Captain Larrissa bent to talk to one of her lackeys, then left the dais and the area. Amazon Bitch bowed and shuffled off the arena floor.

  “How do you feel?” Ash immediately ran his hands over her arms and chest. Even now, his attention generated a spark of sexual heat, tightening her nipples to buds and sending a shiver of gooseflesh down her arms. “I saw the waerspic slice you.” His dark grey eyes perfectly matched the concern and agitation she felt swirling around them.

  “It was a good fight,” Korm said, softly. “You are good with the staff.” Arousal made his lighter grey eyes gleam. Drew nodded, fighting off the urge to throw herself on her lovers.

  “About that. You tossed me a walking stick?” Emotion ping-ponged inside Drew and she nudged the big warrior instead of smacking him.

  Korm smirked. “You are smaller. You needed reach that the waerspic did not have.”

  She turned to the approaching lackey. “You will all come with me.” His perfectly neutral voice gave nothing away, but the jolt of panic in her companions was definitely cause for concern. They filed out, each of her men bracketing her protectively as they walked into the lioness’s den.

  Captain Larissa sat behind a moderate, plain desk. Funny, Drew would have thought her more the intimidating exec desk type. An earther tea service sat on one end, steam curling from the spout. She steepled her fingers, staring at Drew.

  Instead of being uncomfortable, Drew chose a chair and sat.

  “So, you’ve garnered yourself a marriage into the Nightsky clan.” Larissa picked up her cup and sipped, setting it down as the shock registered in Drew.

  Marriage? To Ash? The importance of accepting the trilliacia hit her. To both Ash and Korm. She looked at him, then controlling her emotions, returned her attention to her real adversary. Drew shrugged. “You think I chose the trilliacia to get back at you?” She chuckled.

  “Didn’t you? I overbid the sodium mine out from under you and several others in the past.”

  “That’s business.” She stood, taking the time to wipe her hands on her denims. The action drew attention to the trilliacia belt swinging. She took the time to touch each man on the arm before walking to the door, paused, and met Larissa’s eyes. “This is personal.” The door opened, disappearing into the wall as Drew slid an arm through that of the men and sauntered out.

  “What the hell did she mean by married?” Drew strode from the cockpit to the engine room, nose in the air like a hunting hound. “And why the fuck do I smell smoke?” Neither man answered, standing slightly apart and waiting. Drew threw her hands up. “You tricked me into marriage.”

  “Yes,” Ash said.

  “No.” Korm flushed and looked down. “You knew it was important. The bond was already there.”

  “You tricked me.” She hissed, advancing with tears in her eyes. “Why?”

  Ash raised a hand, then dropped it. “You were the one.” The simple answer and his eyes begged for her to understand. Drew didn’t. She wasn’t anyone’s anything.

  “You just wanted out of an arranged marriage.” The truth fell from her lips, hard and painful. She turned away, walking in to the engine room. The stench of burnt crystal made her eyes water. “Damn, but you almost destroyed the ship,” she choked out.

  Long elegant arms wrapped around her. “It’s fixed. Come back with us, Drew.”

  Closing her eyes, she asked the question again. “Why? I’m not pretty, not important. Just a down-on-her-luck skid captain. Rough, tough, inside and out.”

  A large roughened hand cupped her cheek. His thumb wiped away a stray tear. “Not so tough,” Korm whispered. “Perfect.”

  “There’s only one woman for every kith pair.” Ash nuzzled his favourite spot in the crook of her neck. “The goddess Gaemae knew that her daughters were strong. So strong that only one was needed where two would do in the other races of man. So, to balance that she doubled the men borne to the kith, knowing that two would balance the one. Three stand strong where two would crumble.”

  Drew sighed, tracing her fingers down the solid planes of Korm’s face. “How did you know
to throw me a staff instead of the waerspic?”

  He smiled, turning his cheek to nip at her fingers. “It’s my job.”

  “And the fire?” She wanted to run her hands over the crystal barrels to check, even though she didn’t have a clue.

  “That’s my job.” Ash reminded. “All done.”

  “So what do I do?” A smile teased around her lips. Then she froze. “Shiv! I’ve got to go back for her.”

  Korm cupped her face between his hands. “I have it on good authority that the draconi, Shiv, is well taken care of. My contact will arrange for her release after she’s well. Your job is to just say yes.”

  “That’s it?” Drew laughed. “Say yes? To you?”

  “To both of us,” Ash interrupted.

  “Yes,” she sighed, sinking into the warmth and comfort of her men and her crew. Yes, she might be able to do this after all. “Yes. Then we’re off to Kisk-Q.”

  Korm raised an eyebrow as she sashayed towards the cabins. “Still? What’s in Kisk-Q?”

  Drew leaned around the corner, “Business. Now, how about something a bit more…personal?”

  Epilogue

  The cold ice cavern made a perfect lair, thought Mara Destris as she kept watch over her treasure. Beside the egg-shaped sapphire, her long slinky blue-green dragon body rested in the dark sleep, comfortable in the low temperature. She had slept so long that she no longer wanted to ride the seductive dreams and what-ifs. Mara wanted to wake, to warm her egg, stirring the life within. She wanted to fly with her mate, travel between worlds as their kind was meant to do.

  Unfortunately, she did not know how. Waking was as elusive as the mate who’d abandoned her to return to his master. She sighed, drifting the circumference of her icy prison. Soon, Drew would return and attempt to wake her again. Mara’s confidence waned. What if she never woke? What if her egg remained here, frozen in the same half-life she led?