by Cheree Alsop
He tossed the rag down and motioned for her other hand. Liora hesitated, but she wanted the rags off and couldn’t get them by herself. He opened his hand wider. Liora set her right hand in his.
She fought back a wince when he prodded at the knot with fingers like steel rods. As much as training had numbed the pain, the retaliation from her arm and hand wounds were making themselves known in angry jabs. Tariq’s rough treatment didn’t help. He pulled at the knot hard enough that she finally yanked her hand from his grip. She held her arm and glared at him.
“Actually, I trust your lips to judge who is the best fit for you.”
Tariq watched her for a moment, then his eyes widened. “You saw Kiari kiss me.”
“I saw it after hearing how in love with you she is. I hope you are both very happy on the Kratos,” she retorted, her tone gruff to hide any feelings that might try to sneak through. “Don’t worry. I plan to leave the crew as soon as I have the chance.”
Tariq stared at her. “But how…?”
“I told myself that your choice of standing outside my window for your little midnight kanoodling was sheer coincidence, but I haven’t quite gotten myself convinced.”
“Is that…” Tariq gestured at the Tin Sparrow’s Hull. “Is that why…?”
“No,” Liora replied, her chest heaving angrily. “I like to beat myself into numbness out of the sheer fun of it.”
She couldn’t explain when her self-control had fled. Tears burned in her eyes. When she blinked, they broke free. She turned away from him and stormed toward the jungle, ready to be anywhere but at his side.
“Liora, wait,” he called.
Liora ducked under the glowing branches of the nearest tree. She heard his footsteps and pressed on faster, anxious to put as much distance between them as possible.
She stopped when she found the bog where she had rescued the felis. It surprised her how quickly she had reached it. Exhausted from training and the fury of emotions, Liora took a seat on a log near the yellow bubbling liquid. Tariq’s footsteps came up behind her; she didn’t turn around.
“Liora, it wasn’t what it looked like.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. She winced and he pulled his hand away.
“You’re bleeding,” he said. “You need to get patched up.”
“I already patched it up,” she replied quietly.
“You probably tore the stitches hitting the ship back there. I’ve never seen anyone take out their frustrations like that. Let me check it.”
He reached for her shoulder again. She jerked away from his touch. “Leave me alone.”
He stepped around in front of her. His face showed pent-up fury.
“You are the most stubborn person I’ve ever known in my life. Let me check it out before you’re the one I’m giving a blood transfusion to.”
Liora turned her head away when he drew the edge of her Ventican shirt down to reveal her shoulder.
Tariq drew in a breath. “Just what I thought,” he said, his voice quieter. “You need to get this taken care of.”
“I’ll deal with it.”
Tariq was quiet for a moment. He crouched slowly and took her right hand in his. Without a word, he worked on loosening the knots much more gently than before. When the knot was free, he carefully unwrapped her hand. Part of the bandage showed blood, but a quick check revealed that the healing wound had held despite her intensive battering.
Tariq crumpled the rag into a ball and rose. He passed it from hand to hand as though debating what to say.
“I broke Kiari’s heart.”
The heaviness of his words made Liora look at him. Tariq studied the rag instead of meeting her gaze.
“I told her that after losing Dannan, I didn’t have the ability to love anyone that way again.”
Liora forced herself to ask, “How did she take it.”
“You saw.” His brow furrowed as he kept his eyes on the rag in his hands. “She tried to convince me otherwise. She said I didn’t need to love her like I did Dannan, and that if I let her come with us, I would learn to love her in other ways.”
He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and glanced at Liora. “Saying no isn’t always easy.” His mouth lifted wryly on one side and a touch of embarrassment brushed his cheeks with red. “Kiari can be very convincing when she puts her mind to it. She used to get into all kinds of scrapes with us when we were younger, and she never got in trouble while Dev and I were perpetually grounded.”
For a moment, Liora saw a younger Tariq in his boyish smile and the way he couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze. It was endearing, as much as she tried to tell herself it wasn’t.
He shook his head, his eyes on the bog as his smile disappeared. “But I told her I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t draw someone on without the hope of filling that place in my heart. It’s not empty. It’s so full of rage and pain that the thought of letting someone else in is impossible.” He threw the rag into the bog. The cloth sizzled and disappeared beneath the yellow liquid.
Liora’s heart went out to him. “That couldn’t have been easy.”
He glanced at her. “Kiari slapped me and ran back into the house.”
“She slapped you?” Liora repeated, amazed.
Tariq lifted his shoulders. “I guess that’s what you do when someone bares their soul to you, right?”
Liora shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand girls.”
Tariq chuckled. “That makes two of us.” He held out a hand to her. “Come on. Let’s get you patched up before the Gull flies out. If we’re quick, we can catch one of Mrs. M’s famous flapjack breakfasts.”
Liora gave in and put her hand in his so he could help her up. “Deal.”
They walked side by side toward the house. She could see the structure through the trees when a rumbling growl stopped them in their tracks.
“That’s not good,” Tariq said.
Liora peered into the darkness of a tree that for some reason didn’t give off the glow of the others. A form moved, and it was much bigger than she had first thought.
“I thought the felis was the biggest threat to Echo,” Liora said, backing up.
“They’re usually the biggest threat,” Tariq modified, backing up with her, “Unless, of course, there’s an ursilis around. They’re rare.”
“Good to know,” Liora replied.
She stared at the creature that emerged from the shadows. When it shuffled forward, its black fur which had camouflaged it took on a deep green glow. Beady yellow eyes glowered in a massive head filled with teeth. Its paws left huge gouges from claws that appeared too big for even its massive body.
“Did you bring a gun?” Tariq asked, drawing his.
Liora pulled out her knife.
“This is going to be interesting,” Tariq muttered.
The sound of paws in the underbrush caught Liora’s ear. She slid her knife back in her sheath.
“What are you—” Tariq stopped speaking at the sight of the felis pack.
The big cats placed themselves between the ursilis and Liora. Low growls emanated from their whiskered, fanged faces. The ursilis paused, looking from them to the humanoids as if debating whether it was worth the fight. Liora’s felis hissed. The ursilis backed up. The cats followed. The ursilis swung its head from side to side. The felis swiped at its nose. The ursilis spun on its back feet and lumbered through the trees with the felis pack following close behind.
“That was amazing,” Tariq said. He holstered his gun and glanced at Liora. “I guess it pays to save a felis from boiling in the bog.”
Chapter 11
“Done.”
Tariq pressed a bandage to Liora’s shoulder and she held it in place so he could wrap it with a clean cloth to keep it there.
“That should hold unless you decide to pick on a ship again. The Calypsan would be furious if he saw you treating his Sparrow like that.”
Liora fought back a smile at Tariq’s teasing. “H
e was furious before we took the ship. I think there’s got to be a better word for how he’ll respond if he ever sees us again.” She settled her shirt and tested the range of motion of her shoulder. Satisfied with the results, Liora rose from the small chair.
“Irate?” Tariq said, leading the way into the kitchen where the scents of batter and tarlon eggs made Liora’s mouth water.
The rest of the Kratos crew already sat around the table laden with enough food to feed an army.
“Outraged,” Liora shot back. “Thank you very much,” she said as she accepted the plate Mrs. Metis handed her. It was already piled high with more food than she could eat in a week. “This looks delicious.”
“I just want to send you guys off with full bellies,” Mrs. Metis said. “I know those rations you get aboard ship aren’t the freshest.”
“Don’t tell Jarston,” Officer O’Tule said, “But you’d beat him any day at a cook-off.”
“Thank you, my dear,” Mrs. Metis replied with a pleased smile.
“Full of wrath,” Tariq said, taking a place at the table.
Liora took the seat across from him and thought for a moment. “Fuming.”
Devren gave them a curious look. “What are you two talking about?”
“About how that Calypsan is going to react if he ever sees us again,” Tariq told him.
“You mean the one you stole the starship from?” Shathryn asked.
“You stole it?” Mrs. Metis repeated.
At Devren’s mother’s disapproving look, Tariq amended, “Not stole, exactly. We borrowed it with the intention of not returning it.”
“That’s stealing,” she scolded.
“Semantics,” Tariq said.
Devren shook his head with a grin. “Ask the Calypsan.”
“Yeah,” Shathryn said. “He’ll be piqued when you show up.”
“Pique’s a good word,” Tariq said.
Shathryn nodded. “I know. I use it all the time; especially when I’m talking about men. Though by the looks of that Calypsan, he was about as primeval as they get while still able to say actual words.”
“I don’t think those were words he was saying when we saw him last,” Officer Straham said as he poured a generous helping of tarberry syrup across his flapjacks.
“We’re leaving the Sparrow here,” Devren told his mother. “I hope you don’t mind. Returning it won’t exactly leave us in the good graces of the Belanites, and we need all the help we can get right now.”
“As long as you don’t mind me selling it off for scraps,” she replied. “I don’t want some Calypsan showing up and accusing us of stealing his ship.”
“He’s not going to show up on Verdan,” Devren pointed out.
“Just the same,” Mrs. Metis replied, scooping more pulon links onto the plate in the middle of the table. “I’d feel better if it disappeared one way or another.”
“Whatever you’d like,” Devren gave in. He stood. “We’d better get going.”
Kiari appeared at the door to the kitchen. She pointedly looked at anyone but Tariq. “Sveth’s out front. He says they’re ready.”
“So are we,” Devren replied. “Let him know we’re on our way.”
“Let him know yourself,” Kiari shot back. She disappeared down the hall.
Devren looked at his mother. “What did I do?”
Mrs. Metis shook her head. “I’m not sure, but she’ll get over it.”
“Maybe she’s mad at a boy,” Shathryn said. “That always puts me in a bad mood.”
She and O’Tule finished washing their plates and followed Officer Straham out the door.
“She’ll be fine,” Mrs. Metis replied. Liora followed her gaze to Tariq. She wondered how much Mrs. Metis guessed of Kiari’s feelings for her son’s best friend.
Devren gave his mother a hug. “We have a few preparations to make before we fly out. I’ll come back to say goodbye before we take off.”
“See that you do,” she replied with a motherly look of pride on her face.
Tariq and Liora were the only two left at the table. Liora helped stack the bowls, then took several plates with her to the sink in the corner.
The smile Tariq gave Mrs. Metis when he rose was sad. “Thank you for all that you’ve done,” he said.
Liora kept her attention on the pair as she washed the plates.
Mrs. Metis put a hand on Tariq’s arm. “Don’t worry about Kiari. She’s young. She’ll find someone else.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Tariq replied with genuine sorrow.
“I know.” Mrs. Metis sighed. “Maybe this is what she needed to move on.”
“I hope so,” Tariq said. He gave Mrs. Metis a hug. “Thank you again for taking us in.”
Mrs. Metis gave him a kind smile. “You know our home is always open.”
“Maybe we can come back and visit sooner next time.”
“I’d like that,” she said. “I miss my boys.”
Tariq grabbed the pack by his chair and followed the others out the front door.
Mrs. Metis crossed to Liora.
“You have better things to do,” she said with a kind smile. “Leave the dishes to the old woman.”
Liora found herself smiling back. “You’re not old.”
Mrs. Metis looked toward the door with longing in her expression. “I find myself wishing that I was off adventuring through the stars instead of here in Verdan.”
The thought caught Liora by surprise. “I’m sure Devren wouldn’t mind if you came along.”
Mrs. Metis laughed. “The last thing a new captain needs is his mother aboard his ship.” She shook her head. “As much as my heart may be in the stars, Verdan is my home. You’re always welcome, with or without the others.”
Her words warmed Liora’s heart. “Thank you. That means more than you know.”
“Take care of my boys,” Mrs. Metis said.
“I will,” Liora promised.
She was caught off-guard by Mrs. Metis’ hug. Instead of feeling awkward like those from the crew, the woman’s hug filled her with warmth and security.
“And take care of yourself,” Mrs. Metis said, stepping back. “You have a lot to give to this Macrocosm yet, Liora Day. Have some adventures for me.”
Liora smiled. “I will, Mrs. M. Thank you.”
When the Gull landed on the SS Kratos, Liora stepped onto the Iron Falcon with a feeling of coming home. She used to miss her mother and few members of her clan, but for the first time in her life, she realized she had actually been homesick for the big starship with O’Tule’s paintings at each intersection.
Liora entered her room and paused. Instead of the bare walls she had become accustomed to, the panels had been painted with various sunrises; on the left wall, two suns came up behind purple mountains; one the right, a sun rose from behind an ocean of water, its rays reflected in the silvery waves; on the wall across from her, the scene was of a sun caught above the ledge of a red rock canyon.
The one that held Liora’s attention had been painted above the bed. She set a hand on the painting of a sun rising from a white, stark valley. There was beauty in the sandy slopes and the trickle of water down the edge of a ravine. It looked just the way she had left it after her clan had been killed.
“I hoped you would like it.”
Liora turned to see O’Tule and Shathryn standing in the doorway. O’Tule gave her a hopeful smile. “You mentioned you wanted paintings.”
“This looks just like Ralian,” Liora replied in amazement. “How did you do that?”
O’Tule and Shathryn exchanged pleased smiles.
“We did some research into your clan,” O’Tule said. “I hoped you wouldn’t mind.”
“It’s perfect,” Liora told her. “Thank you.”
The intercom buzzed.
“Calling all crew members to the bridge,” Officer Duncan’s voice announced.
“Off to the Atlas,” Shathryn told Liora. “Time to see if Hyrin’s got a lea
d on destroying the Omne Occasus. I can’t say I’d be sorry to see that thing go. It’s definitely taken our lives and turned them upside-down here.”
“And the sooner we get rid of it, the sooner we can talk to the colonel again, right Shath?” O’Tule asked, nudging her friend as Liora followed them up the hallway.
Shathryn threw a grin at Liora. “The colonel, and possibly the major. I’ve heard he’s got green eyes that can see into your soul.”
O’Tule shook her head. “You listen to way too much gossip.”
Shathryn laughed and patted a strand of her bushy purple hair back into place. “How else am I supposed to know where to find all the hot guys?”
Devren nodded to them when they arrived. “We’re taking Sveth’s ship to the Maffei Two Galaxy. They’ve lost several cargo transports and can’t afford to lose another. Also, it’ll give Hyrin time to get in touch with Tramareaus.”
A groan went through the bridge.
“He’s not that bad,” Devren said with a half-smile as though he had expected the response.
“Yes, he is,” O’Tule replied.
“What did I miss?” Liora whispered to Officer Duncan.
The dark-skinned man with the bands through his ears leaned over to her. “The women seem to have a complaint about him.”
“That’s an understatement,” Shathryn said, swiveling to face them from her seat at the monitors. “Tramareaus happens to be the most vile creature who ever lived on Titus, and that’s saying a lot because I’ve met plenty of disgusting lifeforms, and he beats them all by a longshot.”
“Isn’t it a bit risky to go to Titus, given our most wanted status?” Officer Straham asked.
Devren nodded. “It is, but the only way we can destroy the Omne Occasus is to figure out what it’s made out of. Hyrin’s stumped, so we have to move on to the next best thing.”
“I never thought I hear the words ‘Tramareaus’ and ‘next best thing’ in the same conversation,” Shathryn muttered.
“I know it’s not the best plan,” Hyrin began.
“It’s the worst by a zillion,” O’Tule pointed out.
Hyrin’s sideways eyelids blinked rapidly, revealing his discomfort. “If we can’t figure out both forms of energy that make up the Omne Occasus, tampering with it could blow us and the closest galaxy into oblivion. I’d rather know what I’m dealing with than risk accidentally wiping billions of people off the star charts.”