Seeing Stars

by Lisabet Sarai, Justine Elyot, KS Augustin, Buffi BeCraft, Lizzie Lynn Lee, Sophie Angmering

  “I would like it a matter of record, Admiral, that I think you are making a serious mistake. That was no Danyeo diplomatic barge and Lomax and Clarke are…”

  “Your comment is noted. Good day, Captain Thorn.”

  Aware of her temper rising hot to tell the Admiral exactly what she thought of him, Kate shut her mouth abruptly and left the room without another word. She had not made the rank of Captain in her mid-twenties without realising when it was time to walk away from a fight.

  If the Danyeo diplomatic group were calling for her arrest, it was most likely that their next step would be to attempt to extradite her to the Rim for trial. They were most tenacious when it came to making an example of those GEF personnel who they felt had transgressed against them and her gender and relative youth had made her a well-known figure in the GEF command structure. In doing her job as she saw fit, she had just crossed the line with people who would think nothing of getting her busted down to insect level, if they did not get their hands on her first.

  It was a long walk back to her cabin. For a woman who had spent almost her entire adult life living on her wits in deep space, she had an instinct for trouble and when she was about to walk into a trap.

  Kate really did not want to be stuck on an administrative hub when a sixth sense was telling her she was being lined up as a sacrificial diplomatic concession to the whims of Rim politics. She had no intention of ending her days on a remote Rim stockade planet because she had been stupid enough not keep a closer eye on the wily Lomax and, it would seem now, the even more cunning Clarke.

  I’m a fighter and a Thorn. It’s not going to happen, Kate told herself. She was going to fight it.

  The question was, how?

  Chapter Four

  The ISS Star arrived at Port Luz within three days of her being relieved of command, and no sooner had they arrived than a representative party from the Danyeo System Fleet had also appeared. The larger, sleeker battle class cruisers were allowed to manoeuvre without hindrance around the Port’s space and that of the ISS Star. Kate watched their jockeying with no little interest. If she was Clarke or Lomax or even her old self, she’d be feeling pretty anxious, but Lomax had no fear and Clarke no brain and she was not her old self anymore. She was now simply Katherine Thorn. The Danyeo ships had done nothing more than dock at Port Luz but such was their size and firepower that alarms were sounding for ISS Star personnel to return to their stations. What they were going to do, Kate had no idea. Port Luz was an unprepossessing hub on the edge of GEF space with a couple of fairly average bars and a busy dispatch rate from its warehouse stations. They had few weapons of note and Kate was pretty sure that from what she had seen the pride of the Danyeo fleet would make short work of her new place of residence and the ISS Star within a few minutes should they wish to do so.

  Kate made her way slowly back to her allocated quarters on the Port Luz main hub, only to be met by the sight of an armed guard by her door. They were GEF troopers from the ISS Star.

  “House arrest,” Kate reminded herself. “That’ll teach you to demand a fleet hearing and embarrass the hell out of Bow.” It felt good to have made Bow uncomfortable but Kate was well aware that in requesting a hearing she may well have just opened a whole can of trouble. She stared at the guards, deciding whether to simply enter the room then be stuck there or enjoy the freedom to walk the station a while longer. Kate released a long sigh.

  “Tough not having a ship, isn’t?”

  The voice behind her made her spin round and bang her head against the wall of the corridor. Momentarily stunned, she blinked and her sight cleared to take in a small but deadly army of giants.

  “Shit!” Kate felt the blood drain from her face as she absorbed the implication of the scene before her.

  Dom stood with a group of ten armed soldiers who she knew for certain could not be GEF. He was dressed for fighting, as were the soldiers, in the distinctive Danyeo family colours of silver and black. They were most definitely descendants of the genetically engineered inhabitants of the Rim standing at least a head taller than any of the GEF troops. They must have boarded Port Luz from the Danyeo fleet even as she had been watching the ships earlier.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Attack was the best form of defence, right? Kate forced her breathing to slow. “Still a ship down, Dom? Having to take on contract work? Working in a snatch squad must be a bit of a comedown, though.”

  “Bring her.” Dom indicated that the guards should take Kate with a jerk of his head.

  A guard seized Kate at Dom’s command. Kate spun round and knocked his hands off her in a reflex action, back straight, her face indignant, her stupid hormones suddenly in overdrive at Dom’s unexpected appearance. “Who the hell are you to take me anywhere? I’m on a space station that is well within GEF protected territory!”

  “I’m here to arrest you.”

  “You have no jurisdiction here.”

  “I have appropriate clearance from the Luz authorities to remove you.”

  “But I am not subject to the Luz authorities. I am still a Captain of the Galaxy Elite Fleet and am already under house arrest pending a fleet hearing.” That did not sound good. Kate winced.

  “But you are not in a ‘house’,” Dom pointed out a little too reasonably, indicating the obviously restless guards standing at the doors to her empty quarters.

  “Then maybe Commander Lomax should be the one to arrest me. What has Lomax to say about this?”

  Dom’s response was to cast a withering look.

  “Clarke?”

  “Clarke spluttered a little about protocol but I doubt you’ll receive much help from that quarter either.

  Kate snorted angrily and smacked away the hands of her captor. “I refuse to leave. I have a fleet hearing to attend. Because of you I’ve lost my ship.”

  “There’s a coincidence,” murmured Dom. “I know how you feel.”

  She threw a seething glance at Dom, who stared back with his mesmerising green gaze. “If I fail to attend the hearing, then the GEF authorities will decide against me. I have to be there. It’s a matter of life and death. You really have no idea!”

  Chapter Five

  A furious Kate was marched along the corridors of Port Luz surrounded by the tall, intimidating figures of the armed Danyeo escort. People stared at her as if she was part of a freak show as she passed, no one dared question her progress and only one of the ISS Star’s troopers was brave enough to challenge the Danyeo force as they moved towards the exit docks.

  “We are under instruction to forbid the removal of Katherine Thorn from the station,” he informed them as additional troopers from the Star took up their positions behind him.

  “Captain Thorn is under arrest,” Dom stated in a tone that brooked no argument, moving to walk past the armed man as if he was not there.

  The trooper clicked his rifle into the ready position and went to step back into the path of Kate’s captor, but his way was blocked by one of the Danyeo guards.

  “Don’t you know who this is? This is Lord Danyeo.” He moved closer to tower over the Star trooper. “Lord Dominic Danyeo. He has more diplomatic clearance than you could possibly imagine. Do yourself a favour and let him through, soldier.”

  “Lord Danyeo may have clearance but the fact remains we have orders not to let Katherine Thorn off of Port Luz.”

  “She is under my jurisdiction,” Dominic Danyeo replied, “for confining two individuals with diplomatic immunity as specified by the GEF treaty with the Rim World confederation. Are you about to make the same mistake?” The trooper shook his head. “Any other questions, soldier?” The man shook his head again. “Then get out of my way.”

  The troops melted away and Kate was tugged forward again. She stumbled slightly and found herself caught under the arm by the man she now knew as Lord Dominic Danyeo. A Rim Lord. Not her lucky week.

  “Careful.” He smiled a grim smile at her as he continued to lead her through the last of the corr
idors of the station. “Don’t look so unhappy, Kate. You should be very grateful—you could have been arrested by the new Captain of the ISS Star. Although apparently he’s not as bad as the old one is reputed to have been.”

  “Really?” was all Kate could manage, her expression fixed as a very real dread started to rise inside her. There was no way that Lomax or the GEF was going to stop them taking her. Despite Rim and ISS differences, to do anything to genuine confederation diplomats that could be deemed torture or coercion contravened the Rim World Confederation treaty and was a career buster. She shook her head in an effort to get her thoughts straight and when she did Kate could barely suppress a grimace of despair. She’d taken prisoner, stolen data from and attempted to blackmail a member of the Danyeo family, a leading clan amongst the outer Rim ruling class. No wonder the ISS Star had surrendered her without protest; little surprise the GEF top brass had instructed Lomax to relieve her from duty as soon as possible. She’d made Lord Dominic Danyeo, Rim Lord, suck another man’s cock. If nothing else, she was a walking target. The Danyeo reputation for fast, brutal retribution in the face of transgressions against them was well known.

  “This way, Captain Thorn.” Kate was led through into a shuttle bay. She pulled angrily at Danyeo’s grip on her arm, reluctant to appear at a disadvantage in front of the other GEF officers.

  “Don’t struggle, you might hurt yourself,” His Lordship hissed.

  Lomax, Clarke and what had been her bridge team stood silently to witness her departure in the hands of Danyeo’s men.

  Kate raised her chin and stared down anyone rash enough to look at her. She glared with particular venom at Lomax and Clarke, just so they would know she was nowhere near discouraged or beaten by the recent turn of events.

  No one said a word until a sob broke from one of her old communication engineers.

  “You won’t hurt her, will you, Sir?” she asked Danyeo.

  Lord Dominic Danyeo smiled a long slow smile.

  “We will be giving Captain Thorn our every attention,” was all he said.

  Chapter Six

  The interior of the Danyeo battle cruiser was minimally decorated and beautifully designed down to the last bolt. Even in her Port Luz overalls Kate felt garishly overdressed compared to the grey clad operatives they passed. It could have been worse—she could have been brought aboard in her GEF uniform with its white ornate jacket, gold braid, large buttons and breeches over trimmed with metallic ribbon. House arrest on Port Luz had meant that to wear her GEF uniform was forbidden. Good thing, really. It would seem the outer Rim fleet could teach the GEF something about taste.

  “This way.” Kate was directed into a modestly proportioned room by her guard. Lord Danyeo had left them shortly after they had boarded the vessel, the guard then taking her down into what felt like the intestines of the massive ship. The guard left her to be digested without explanation, the door shutting behind him with an ominous clunk.

  Kate scanned the empty room. The only means of exit possible appeared to be the same door she entered through with the guard. There were not even any door controls to try and manipulate or break open.

  “Damn!” With an angry sigh Kate made one last frustrated circuit of her prison.

  “So…”

  She jumped, spinning on her heel to meet Dom Danyeo’s speculative gaze.

  “Enjoying your new accommodation, Captain?”

  Kate’s breath halted abruptly at his sudden appearance, only to return shallow and fast as she reminded herself to breathe. She stood so still she could feel the muscles in her legs twitch in response to the enforced stillness.

  “Welcome to the battle cruiser Rimstar.” Dom’s voice was deep and smooth, far more relaxed it would appear now he was on his own territory. He sounded satisfied. Kate managed a tight nod and wondered if his fellow ‘free trader’ Ren was on board the Rimstar as well.

  “Ren will join us shortly.” Kate thought it might be prudent to be careful what she thought about in future.

  He gave a small smile. “Drink?”

  “Ah, no…thank you.” Kate kept her chin up and tried to keep her tone as businesslike as possible.

  “Take off the suit, Kate.” His voice was soft, but commanding.

  He pulled the ugly yellow suit from her arms as she stepped out of it, then seized the standard white issue shirt she wore underneath and removed it by pulling it over her head. Kate was left standing in her support vest, GEF briefs and her boots. He squashed the coveralls and shirt thoroughly between his large capable hands.

  “No listening devices there.” He smiled the briefest of smiles, his green eyes bright and predatory. “Now off with the rest of it.”

  Kate hesitated, uncertain. “You mean my boots?” There was, after all, precious else left of her outermost clothing.

  Dom frowned.

  “No.” He leant forwards and removed her support vest with a practiced flick of his wrists.

  Chapter Seven

  “Hey!”

  Kate’s vest shot from around her chest with a speed that had her clutching at the exposed wayward mounds of flesh with panicked hands. She was a girl in possession of larger than average breasts. It had been a constant annoyance to her in the male-dominated world of the GEF, for being a well-stacked female rarely secured the kind of attention that one would want. The standard issue support vests did a good job of flattening out such assets—particularly if, like Kate, one had an athletic build.

  “Bend over.”

  “Bend over?” Her reply was disbelieving. She could feel her expression becoming more incredulous by the minute.

  “Bend over, Kate.” He was checking for the chips and plastic patches that would indicate bugs or listening devices, running his fingers through her hair and across her skin.

  “Don’t pull my hair about.” She tried to twist away from his fingers as her hair started to fall in locks about her face. “It’s never undone when I’m on a tour of duty!”

  He pushed her head down firmly and continued combing her hair through his fingers.

  “I’m clean, you idiot.” Her protests were muffled by her hair and breasts. “I have not been bugged.”

  “Of course not, but in the same position would you not check me just as thoroughly?” Dom pulled her upright and held her face in his hands. “Ah, no. You would have Ren do it, of course.”

  With that his hands slid down her ribcage and forcefully into her sensible GEF briefs, only to rip them effortlessly in two to remove them.

  Kate’s intake of breath at the violence of his action rang loud in the room. She swallowed hard, reminding herself she was a decorated officer of one of the most formidable fleets in the known galaxy. She had taken him prisoner first in this game.

  “What is it you want?” she asked of him, her voice tight.

  Dom Danyeo stared straight back at her. “Several things. One of which is to set an example.”

  “Of course.” Kate bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself saying another word. It had been her own methods that had led to this, even if she had been trying to help both them and herself. “Look, my family has some influence…”

  “The Thorn family connections are a long way away, and can do little to help you now.”

  “Am I to be tried for breaking the confederation treaty then?”

  His laugh was short, brief and almost amused. “Not today, Kate, and probably not tomorrow.”

  But the implication was that she would be.

  Kate’s emotions spiralled and gave a tiny dead cat bounce as they hit bottom. “As a prisoner, I have rights.”

  More correctly, as a GEF Officer she had rights, but at the moment her status seemed confused.

  Danyeo moved a step closer and simply stared at her. “Do you?”

  Oh. My. Maker was all Kate could think as she stared up at him. Those long ambitious years in the Elite Fleet had simply not equipped her for standing naked in front of one of the most handsome and powerful men she had eve
r encountered. Dom reached his hands over his head and pulled off his black shirt, leaving him clad only in breeches and boots. He shucked the boots off, then calmly dropped his breeches. He was buck naked and dangerously gorgeous.

  “Come here, Kate.” He smiled enticingly and held out his hand.

  Chapter Eight

  As Kate sat on the floor watching the two men shower, she kept reminding herself that ‘the outer Rim societies are fundamentally different to those of the GEF worlds’. She shut her eyes briefly, only to open them again to the same images as before.

  ‘They are a race based on a different set of principles, brought about by a different set of rules. They were always going to be unusual.’

  Ren had joined them shortly after Dom had sat her in the corner, her hands cuffed.

  Danyeo and Ren obviously enjoyed the social aspects of showering together. Kate had watched wide-eyed as Ren soaped Dom’s body thoroughly before Danyeo did the same for him, lathering his arms and thighs before soaping him down his back and torso. She rested her back against the wall of the wet room, mesmerised by the action before her, her bound wrists resting on her knees folded in front of her.

  Kate had cultivated the concept of being a professional voyeur on the Star, but had yet to realise its full implications until now, when faced with men who were tall, muscular and quite breathtakingly beautiful involved in the strangely erotic practice of washing each other from head to toe.

  Stories within the Inner Galaxy worlds told of ships of genetically altered humans being sent to colonise the worlds of the outer Rim with little expectation of survival almost a millennia ago. But they had survived, and then some. Like an ungrateful child turning its back on a parent, the outer Rim worlds had declared their independence and had fought a short but decisive war to enforce it. The Galactic Elite Fleet had not only been established to protect the inner Rim worlds from any threat from their new neighbours but also to ensure no other worlds within the inner sectors had the same idea about establishing an independent state or joining the outer Rim worlds in their defiance. It meant they didn’t mix much.