The Kiss: An Anthology About Love and Other Close Encounters

by C. A. Newsome

  The Thorian growled and shook the door again, but it only made her angrier herself.

  “And on top of that they knew I'd gone to the Captain's bed, like a slave does for a master. They'd have treated me like a slave and I'd have been unable to stop it.”

  “This crew would never do something like that. Dylan wouldn't have allowed it.”

  “They've already been doing it... I've been invited to be their slave because I must miss the warmth of a master's bed. I've been told I'd be the first to enter a combat zone because I'm an expendable slave, and many more things. I've already been leered at and touched, and propositioned by men who think I'd be willing because they think I must want to be treated that way.”

  “If what you are saying is true, there's no way you'd have gone to the Captain's bed. Someone so scared of what men might do to her doesn't offer herself up like that.”

  She shook her head at his anger. Explaining herself was draining and she didn't think she wanted to do it.

  “And you lied to me about wanting to talk to him. You intended no such thing.”

  “I thought you were encouraging me to go to him.”

  “I was... to talk!” he yelled and once more the cell door rattled. It wouldn't take many more shoves from the extra strong Thorian.

  “You told me to give him something he could work with. I thought you were agreeing with the idea I'd had.”

  “You seriously thought it was a good idea to try and seduce the Captain?”

  “Yes!” She stood up, determined to make him see why she'd acted the way she had even if nothing could be done about it now. “I had two choices. I could offer myself up to a man I respected and gain his protection as well as a safe place to sleep, or I could continue to trial, which had two possible outcomes, be pardoned and then used by the crew who found out my secret, or dismissed and abandoned on a planet with nothing, where I'm likely to have to sleep with men I don't want to just to survive. I was trying to choose the man I had to give my body to. Can you really blame me for that choice?”

  The Thorian didn't say anything but backed off. For the first time she felt like she had got through to him. Rather than making her feel better and allowing her to stop spewing her thoughts out loud she found her mouth continuing, wrapped up in the outpouring of emotion.

  “If I'd thought you would want me, I'd have offered myself up to you. If you'd been human not Thorian you wouldn't have your rank and your breeding to keep you from considering a relationship with me, but the Captain was the most sound risk, and I really thought you were encouraging me to try it as well. None of my risks worked out. I took a risk on this ship and space but the uniforms made me feel safe and I let my guard down with your crew. I really thought a Fleet ship would be different, but the men here are just like the men on my planet.” She stopped, feeling better for the outburst.

  “Why didn't you tell Dylan what the crew were doing and saying?”

  “The last time I had a problem with my fellow slaves and I told my master, he punished me and let them know what I'd said. It made it a thousand times worse. After that I learnt to sort my own mess out as best as I could. Not that it really matters anymore. The trial has happened and I'm being taken to a planet. If I'm really lucky my old master will accept me back and I'll get another few months to find someone who'll buy me for something other than my body.”

  “You want to go back to being a slave?”

  “No,” she said and sat back down again. Saying what was going to happen out loud made it seem more real than it had before and the full weight of her situation crashed in on her. “I am unlikely to have another choice.”

  “You could get an honest job, rather than using your body to get what you want.”

  “This trial is going on my record. No one will give me a job after being dismissed from the Fleet for attacking my Captain. I'll find it difficult to be a slave with any respect. A job is impossible now.” Her eyes welled up and she lowered her head, hoping he wouldn't notice.

  “So that's it? You're just going to sit there and cry? You've wasted the Captain's money and put him and several others of us through days of problems to get to the bottom of this. I should come in there and...”

  “There's nothing you could do that would make this any worse. If you'd feel better using me as a punching bag for a while, go ahead.” She glared at him, almost daring him to try. “Maybe you could pimp me out to the crew before you drop me off and the Captain can earn back his money that way. I can go along with that if you need me to. Might as well start the rest of my life a few days early so the Captain gets his credits back. Then maybe I wouldn't owe him anything and I could stop feeling so guilty for screwing this up.”

  The Thorian's expression changed and softened and for a while neither of them spoke.

  “You already know I couldn't hurt you.” He sat down in the nearby chair. “Get some sleep. I'll stay with you to make sure nothing happens.”

  His kindness diffused the majority of the emotion in her and after sitting for a few minutes, trying to take in what had just happened, she found herself unable to fight off sleep any longer. Knowing she was safe with the Thorian her mind stopped showing her old memories and she drifted off, propped up against the back wall.

  The Magic of Christmas

  It took Dylan half an hour to think through all the information he'd just overheard. The Thorian had suggested Dylan observe and listen in on the conversation between him and Auraylia, and, although it was deceitful, he was glad he'd done it. Her fear had been evident as she'd shrunk back from Varl and told him of the crew's reaction to her being a slave. In light of the new information her actions finally made sense, but he needed more than her word for it. He needed someone in his own crew to give an indication she'd been treated like a slave.

  When she'd revealed her reasons for getting into his bed, he hadn't been able to decide if he was embarrassed or flattered. She'd sought him for protection since the moment they'd met and so far he'd let her down and made the situation worse by being open with the rest of the crew. Until now he'd believed that being honest and forthright with everything was always better, but he'd put her in danger from people who wouldn't understand her actions.

  Somehow he had to put it right for her.

  After thinking for a few minutes, he opened a channel through to his officers and called them all to his quarters. As soon as they were seated, he started the video from the beginning.

  Once they'd seen the footage of her conversation with the Thorian, he asked them for their opinions.

  “Sounds like she's had a rough ride and doesn't trust anyone,” Beth said and clucked her tongue against her teeth. “We can't kick her out if all that's true.”

  “I agree. As much trouble as she's caused, we can't just drop her off at the nearest planet to fend for herself. You let me, Trell and the Thorian join your crew in a slightly unconventional manner.” Kaiden folded his hands together like the matter was settled.

  “It's not that simple. We had a trial and the whole crew witnessed. If the crew have abused her or made her frightened, we'll need more evidence than just her word.”

  “She's your slave. Surely you can keep her either way?” Trell asked and then frowned “That sounded more innocent in my head.”

  “In theory, I could keep her as a slave myself, but I've got no home on any planet, and I can't afford one. She'd be mine in records only, and the idea of keeping her as my personal slave...”

  “It would be a strange possession for a Fleet Captain.” Beth finished his sentence.

  He nodded and they went silent as he thought about what they could do to help her. Suddenly it came to him, he turned to the officers.

  “We need every crew member to write a report on their observations of Auraylia and how the crew responded to having a slave on board? Have them to upload the information to the database for my eyes only. I want to see if they shed some light on her behaviour. Also, tell them it's to study the effectiveness of buyin
g slaves as recruits for manual labour.”

  “All right, that should help. We might even find ourselves able to get some of the not so savoury crew re-assigned. Shall we get on it now?” Doug got up, more eager to help than Dylan had expected.

  “Yes, tell them I'd like the report as soon as possible.”

  With nods and encouraging smiles they all hurried out to make his request happen. His officers appeared as sympathetic to her as he felt.

  “Oh, before I go,” Beth said with her head around the door. “Are we doing a crew Christmas dinner tomorrow, or just the officers?”

  “I'll think about it and let you know. I'd forgotten it was Christmas Eve.”

  She grinned and shut the door behind her, leaving him alone with his emotions.

  Dylan picked up his datapad to look over the ship reports and check on the repair bots' progress but every few minutes he found himself checking his inbox to look for messages from the crew. After an hour he gave up even pretending to work on other concerns and sat refreshing the screen at regular intervals.

  As soon as the first account arrived he opened it and started reading. It wasn't as detailed as he'd hoped, but mentioned the talk of her being a slave causing arguments amongst some crew. Most of the crew thought she was still a slave, but owned by the Fleet, although a couple of engineers argued that she must have been set free. The woman who'd written it didn't appear to have interacted with Auraylia at all, but there were another two messages waiting for him as soon as he'd finished reading.

  Dylan spent the next five hours reading crew logs of Auraylia and the crew's reaction to her. By the time he was half way through the reports he had four names of people who'd taken extra interest in her in ways that seemed unhealthy. Thomas, the officer in charge of Crime and Punishment and watching anyone in the brig, was mentioned as having made suggestive comments to her, which explained Auraylia's requests for someone else to have the key to her cell. The lower ranked of the two Bens aboard, was reported to have invited her into his bunk and frequently put his arm around her waist or shoulders. One report from another female suggested Auraylia had asked for the attention but most mentioned her looks of discomfort.

  By the time he'd gone through every report he knew she must have been telling the truth and his discoveries sickened him. Bringing her aboard had seemed like a great way to help her, but his trust of his entire crew had put her in danger. He felt like a fool.

  At the least, he could let her know she wasn't going to be dismissed with a criminal record. The news would prevent her worrying quite so much and give him the impetus to sort out the rest.

  When he entered the brig, the Thorian put his finger to his lips and glanced at Auraylia. The room was darker than normal but he could see the shape of her body, half-sitting and half-leaning against the back wall. It didn't look like a comfortable position to sleep in but she'd been awake so long he wasn't surprised the tiredness had snuck up on her.

  Varl opened the cell door for him and he tiptoed in until he was only a couple of feet away. From there he reached out to her and stroked her shoulder.

  “Auraylia,” he whispered, on guard in case she tried to attack him again once she awoke. After calling her name three more times, each a little louder than before, she stirred and reacted to his presence.

  In less than a second she gripped the hand he'd stroked her shoulder with and bent the fingers back as she shifted the rest of her body out of reach. He tried not to cry out in pain, in case it would alarm her further.

  The lights brightened, making her blink and let go of him. When he glanced towards the door, he noticed the Thorian at the room's main console and nodded his thanks.

  “Sorry,” he said as he turned back to Auraylia and noticed her shivering and panting for breath. He needed to get better at waking people without making them jump. “Can I sit? Here, on the end?”

  He motioned to the end of the bunk and waited for her to give him some sign of at least acknowledging his words. When her head moved up and down he slowly perched on the edge.

  “I wanted to come tell you I heard everything you said to Varl, and I believe it all. I wish you'd told me what the crew, Thomas and Ben in particular, did to you.” Her eyes went wide at his mention of the names. “The rest of the crew told me how they'd acted towards you, and it's more than enough for us to drop the charges against you, but I figure you don't want to go back to the dormitory you're assigned to sleep in.”

  She shook her head, but her eyes remained wide and her breathing shallow and rapid.

  “Is there somewhere you would like to sleep? Somewhere you would feel safer?” Dylan expected her to ask for his quarters or the Thorian's if she wanted to go anywhere, but for a few nights he didn't have any qualms about sleeping elsewhere or on the floor. He'd messed up and he owed the frightened girl some peaceful sleep that didn't come with any conditions or strings.

  “The engine room. Where you found me before. Can I sleep in there? I like the hum the engine makes.”

  “If you'd like. We can go there now. I'm sure Varl can fetch your bedding and we can make it more comfortable.”

  “Now?”

  He nodded and stood up. It took a little while for her to uncurl herself and get to her feet but he didn't mind waiting. The Thorian left them without needing any more prompting, and Dylan led her back to the engine room she'd requested.

  He was thankful they didn't meet any crew along the way and they were soon at their destination. Dylan turned to the console near the door and tapped away until he'd set the room to only be unlockable and lockable by himself, her and the Thorian. As soon as he'd finished he explained it to her.

  “Thank you,” She said and stood in the middle of the small room. He felt as awkward as she looked.

  “I hope this arrangement will only be temporary, but you can stay here as long as you feel you need to,” Dylan said as they arranged the bedding Varl turned up with. The Thorian had brought her mattress as well as everything else she'd had in her bunk, so she would be as comfortable as possible and wouldn't have to go to the dorm for anything if she didn't want to.

  By the time she had something resembling a bed in the corner, the second officer had snuck out and left the pair by themselves again. She sat on the bed and gave him a brief smile.

  “If I decide to press charges against Thomas and Ben, would you be willing to answer questions for their trial? You might not need to, if I can show the video of...”

  “Please don't,” she interrupted him.

  “Don't press charges, or don't show the video?”

  “The video.”

  “I'll need you to present evidence somehow. I want them gone from my crew before we leave port again. I'd do the trial right away but I've not got enough officers of a higher rank.”

  “Can it be kept private?” Deep furrows appeared in her forehead at the thought of people knowing her secret.

  “Yes, I can request no audience from uninvolved people.”

  “Then I'll give evidence, but I don't want to run into them again. Can I stay here until we reach port. I'll work from here. I'm sure I could do something useful.”

  “You can stay here if you really want to. You'd have been in the brig anyway, but you may want to come out tomorrow for dinner.”

  “Why tomorrow?”

  “It's Christmas.” He gave her a lopsided grin, but she just looked away.

  “I'll stay here. Christmas isn't something I normally celebrate anyway.”

  “You don't celebrate Christmas? Why ever not?”

  “My parents were too poor and slaves don't really get days off. I've only got one or two memories of Christmas. There was this plant, with white berries, mum used to hang on her bedroom door and we sometimes got to eat a turkey, but not every year. It was the only time mum and dad wouldn't argue with each other.”

  “The plant was probably mistletoe,” he explained, but he didn't get to explain what it was for. A buzz sounded from the door and Trell called out f
rom the other side.

  “Auraylia, can I come in?”

  “Seems you have your first visitor.” Dylan got up, and when Auraylia nodded he opened the door, leaving as Trell bounced in. In her arms was her favourite novel.

  “I thought you might like to read this. It's the only one I've got left that you've not devoured, but it's my favourite,” he heard her say as he walked off. He grinned and it gave him an idea for the perfect Christmas present for Auraylia.

  He yawned and hurried off to wrap up hers and everyone else's. With all the events of the last week he'd forgotten to prepare for Christmas. Glancing at the time on his pocket watch, he realised he would be cutting into his sleep to get his task done but it couldn't be helped.

  *

  “I'm about to burst,” Dylan said, as he put his knife and fork together. The paper hat on his forehead fell forward once more and this time he took it off rather than readjusting it. Around him sat the rest of his officers, each with various amounts of food on their plates, and around them was strewn the wreckage of wrapping paper, cracker remnants, and spray on snow.

  As soon as all of them had finished eating he excused himself and grabbed the made up tray. It held another plate, piled high with the traditional Irish Christmas dinner and beside was his present for Auraylia, wrapped in the same snowflake covered paper already littered about the room.

  “I'll be back in a few minutes.” Dylan nodded at his officers and Trell jumped up to get the door for him.

  “Say Merry Christmas from us.”

  He grinned at her enthusiasm as he walked along the corridors. On the way to the lower deck's engine room he passed the main canteen and heard the laughter and noise as the rest of the crew also celebrated the season, which only widened his grin further.