by L P Peace
The comm went black.
Ronin sat there, staring at the screen. When his shoulders and hands began to ache, he realised he was holding himself stiffly out of sheer anger.
Whatever was happening here, Ronin had been brought in from the cold so they could use him; that infuriated him. They thought he was a male without honour, one who wouldn’t question or look too closely at what was actually happening.
Worse, they thought they were going to use the human as well.
Ronin wasn’t sure exactly what was happening here, though he was beginning to put some pieces together. But he did know one thing for certain: there was no way he was ever leaving that human in the hands of Hekalion vrokking Dar.
When he’d calmed somewhat, Ronin walked back through the ship towards the cells. His hand hesitated above the plate, but finally, he touched it and walked back inside to find the human sitting on the cot. As soon as she saw him, her eyes brightened and she smiled.
‘Hey there.’
Ronin stared at her, feeling his insides twisting once more.
‘Look at that spirit. It would be fun to break her.’
It would be more fun to break Dar.
She got up from the cot and approached the bars. 'Hey, Mando, got the job done, yeah?'
Ronin frowned. 'What are you saying?' He slipped off his helmet.
She looked at him, disappointed. 'Aww, you ruined it.'
'Ruined what?' Ronin frowned. Was the human defective? 'Are you defective?'
Her eyebrows rose at the question. 'If I were, would it stop you from handing me over to the people who hired you?'
'No,’ he lied just to see her reaction. Was she an escaped slave? Could it be just a coincidence she was on that ship?
'Ah,' she considered, ‘no, then.'
'You are strange.'
She beamed at him. Her smile lit her face and did things to him no non-Kerisian had ever done. 'I am.’ She bowed a little. 'Thank you.'
'That was not meant to be a compliment.' Ronin frowned at her.
She seemed to think about it for a moment. 'Well, this is the thing.' She leaned against the bars as though imparting a secret. 'Very soon, you'll love how strange I am, because I'm adorable.'
Ronin scoffed.
The human shrugged. 'The consensus is universal,' she said this as though she were announcing a scientific fact. 'I'm not being arrogant. This is just what I am told constantly by everyone I meet, and I'm pretty.' She smiled exaggeratedly. Ronin felt a tug in his stomach. 'I'm half-Spanish and half-black, so I have this gorgeous skin tone.' She spread her hands; her bare arms glistened golden brown.
'I prefer green,' Ronin said. Yesterday this was the absolute truth. Now he wondered what a touch of green would look like against her skin.
'So do I.’ She winked at him. Ronin's stomach rolled with nerves.
'My hair is beautiful.’ She lost her smile now and touched her hair. One side of her face scrunched up in a half-grimace. 'Usually. But I was on that planet for almost two weeks and there were no showers available.' She leaned against the bar. 'Let me have a shower and show you how beautiful my hair is.' She smiled again. 'I bet you've never seen medium tight curls before, have you?'
Ronin shook his head at the human, repressing a smile and curiosity.
'Of course you haven't. And I smell amazing when I've had a shower. I smell like saffron.' She said this as though it had significance. 'Saffron is the most expensive spice. Worth more than gold.' She said this as though it had significance as well.
Ronin turned to walk away.
'Where are you going?' Her voice was high-pitched. The tone distressed Ronin, though he couldn't tell why.
'To have a shower,' he said, unable to resist.
'Cold.'
He looked at her.
She was shaking her head, but there was a grin on her face. 'That's so cold.'
Ronin walked away pleased with himself. She was so strange. So different. So… No, don't think it.
'You're thinking it, aren't you?' she called after him. Then, her voice lower, 'Yeah, you’re thinking it.'
Sophia watched the green alien walk away.
As much as she’d joked about the helmet, in truth, seeing it had scared her. People could wear something like that and you never knew what they were thinking, what they were feeling. It added a barrier between people, stunted communication, and allowed the wearer to dehumanise those around them. When he took off the helmet and revealed his face, she had to suppress breathing an audible sigh of relief.
His skin was dark green, somewhere between forest green and pine green. He had a high forehead, his hairline only starting behind his ears, and instead of hair, he had thin tendrils that he wore tied back. His eyes looked chartreuse and he had stunningly masculine features.
He was so alien.
When she talked about her skin and hair, she’d seen the curiosity in his eyes, and when he joked about the shower, she could see he was proud of himself for making her smile.
Beyond the door, she heard the sound of a shower starting. A moment later, a door closed, and the sound of the running water dimmed.
Working quickly, Sophia grabbed her jacket and worked on one of the cuffs, pulling out a small chip. She placed it over the lock on the cell door. It activated, a red light blinked twice, then turned to green and the lock opened. Grinning, Sophia snuck out of the cell and quietly closed it behind her, ensuring she had her jacket with her, rushing to put it on. She opened the main door to the cells and crept across the short hall, listening carefully at the door.
Unable to hear anything, she opened it slowly, creeping through. Sure enough, Ronin was in the shower. She could hear him through the door, mumbling to himself.
She crossed the space to the bridge and approached the console.
This was very similar to the one on Tala. She’d have no trouble working it out. Even now, the advanced language chip she carried was interpreting the controls for her.
She re-entered the main space and looked around.
If Ronin was like the average human man, he’d be out of the shower very quickly. She didn’t have long to come up with a plan.
It took less than a minute. Sophia grinned when she thought about what she was about to do.
‘Aww, poor cute green alien,’ she murmured to herself, then set to work.
He was going to have to go through the vid again. Dar said a few things that disturbed Ronin, but there was something else as well. The way he said things, the way he moved, the smirk that Ronin wanted to punch right off his ugly Bentari face.
Turning the water off, Ronin felt a little clearer in the head.
He had to talk to the human. Make his position clear to her. He’d meant to do that earlier in the cells, but somehow, making her smile that way had seemed the perfect end to that conversation. He shook his head. He was confused, thrown off by her. Something about this whole situation was wrong, but nothing more so than the way he’d turned into a moronic vashni every time she so much as looked at him, or worse, smiled.
Ronin absently scratched at his chest and stomach. There was an irritation there. A reaction to the female? Looking down, Ronin’s jaw almost dropped open. Spots were appearing on his skin, dark shadows dotting across his stomach. When he brushed his fingers across them, his muscles flinched beneath his touch. This was definitely some kind of reaction, but Ronin wasn’t sure if they were to the female or the alien ship. He hadn’t reacted to Sarah this way.
Choosing to deal with it later, Ronin got out and wiped himself down. He should let the human have a shower. It had been a joke, coming here, but now that he was feeling better it was time to let her shower, cook her some food, and discuss what was happening and what they were going to do about it.
The door to the escape pod was open.
Immediately on guard, Ronin turned in time to see the dainty human throw herself bodily into him. He was mid-turn, so his balance was off. He lost his footing and crashed back into the p
od. He was up a moment later, but the door was already closing. Hitting the release, he stared at the human through the two-way viewscreen.
'I'm going to tie you up this time,' he called to her. 'Tie you like a colga beast and hang you from the ceiling.'
'Naked?' she shouted.
Ronin's whole mind wheezed to a stop as the image entered his head. There was a strange stirring inside his cloaca.
'No,' he said. The female was confusing him, so he concentrated on hitting the release again while gathering the shredded shards of his mind.
She made a disappointed noise.
The door wasn't opening.
Ronin looked at the door release. The light was off.
'Yeah, that'll come back online in about an Earth hour,' she said. 'And if you're not going to tie me up for,' she pressed her whole body against the viewscreen and whispered, 'naughty sex games,' she stepped back, voice returning to normal, 'I'm just going to eject the pod now.'
'No, wait—’
'Don't worry. I've put in a habitable planet,' she smiled. 'You'll get there in about a week.' She frowned. 'An Earth week, that is.'
She held her hand up and wiggled her fingers before reaching out and hitting the pod release.
She, along with his ship, shrank into the distance, leaving Ronin standing with just a towel, on his way to vrok knows where.
The viewscreen turned off.
‘Vrokking—vrokking—vashni.’
Ronin snarled and turned on his heel. The escape pod was still slaved to the main ship. If he could tap into that, he could follow Vernaya wherever it went. Slower. It would take time to catch up with her, but when he did…
Ronin snarled again.
He didn’t know if he wanted to punish her or kiss her!
The green alien was gone, but that majestic smell was still in the air.
'Damn, that boy smells good!' She took in a deep breath, appreciating everything ocean-based about the scent.
Turning on her heel, Sophia went straight to the pilot's seat. She switched to navigation. For some reason, they were standing static outside of Endurance. He hadn't taken her anywhere or even plotted in a course.
'Son of a bitch!' Sitting on one of the screens were the coordinates for her rendezvous with the Tessans. Next to that, a call had been put into the Bentari ambassador.
'And he was so cute!'
There was no way she could risk rendezvousing with the Tessans now.
Sophia covered her face with both hands and ran through her options.
Going through the ship's navigation, she saw they were still sitting near the border of Halidan and Teyas space. Amaran space was a four-day flight from here, Dahnus Ascent another day on top. Then she could easily book passage to fly through the gate to the IGC. Decision made, Sophia set the course. The ship was in FTL a few minutes later.
Once she got to the IGC, she'd need to blend in. As a human, it would be difficult. She knew she could pass as Surilan if she dressed right. The big guy had been wearing a suit. Maybe she could cut that up and put it back together, make it fit.
Her mouth opened in a massive yawn.
What she really needed—right now—was a shower, food, and sleep.
It took a few minutes to get her head around the system, but when she felt like she had it, she went into the main room. Her bag was still sitting on the long chest of drawers. The green guy had returned it there when she returned from her escape attempt.
She grabbed some fresh clothes and laid them out on the bed, then went into the bathroom, or facilities, as aliens tended to call them.
They were exactly like the ones on Tala. Groaning in happiness, Sophia switched on the water and stripped.
Just like Tala, there was a cleaning appliance in there. She loaded her dirty clothes in, then stepped under the water.
The stink of Mustafar sloughed off. She pulled the band from her hair and felt it unfurl from the tight knot she usually wore it in until it was down almost to her waist.
The green alien didn't have hair. That was going to be a problem. Sophia hadn't inherited her father's tight afro, but she had inherited all the other traits of black hair, including its thirst for moisture. Eyeing the one product he had in there sceptically, she poured it out into her hand. It had no fragrance. With no other choice, she washed her hair and body, scrubbing her scalp until she felt clean.
By the time she was dry, the only thing she had the energy for was a ration bar. Promising herself a meal as soon as she woke up, Sophia climbed into the alien's bed. Surrounded by his scent, she fell asleep.
'Avin Korvalus. Avin Korvalus. What's your name, human? I'm not human. I'm Surilan. I'm Avin Korvalus.' Sophia repeated it like a mantra. 'Avin Korvalus.'
Dabin, Tala's doctor, had inserted the chip in her neck two years ago in the event she was ever out here alone. It had all been a part of her training. Now, she sat at the pilot's seat and rewrote the registry for the Vernaya, the ship the Kerisian, Ronin Dosh'Ventis according to the registry, owned.
She rewrote the name, Avin Korvalus, keeping the job title 'bounty hunter'.
'Boba Fett! Boba Fett!' She cackled with laughter. If only she'd asked Dabin to change the ID chip's name, she could have been the bounty hunter Boba Fett instead. No one would ever have known.
A notice came up on the ship. 'Confirm change in registry?'
'Yes, please.'
Sophia grabbed the glove she'd picked up from the cool suit Ronin was wearing when he took her prisoner and took another sniff at the inside.
'Damn, that male smells good.'
She turned it over in her hand to try and find a seam she could unpick, but it seemed to have been woven into the shape of the glove. That was going to make it harder.
It was big. Too big for Sophia’s tiny human hand. She slipped it on to check and waved her hand back and forth, feeling it slipping over her fingers. She was about to take it off when the glove conformed to her size.
'No way!' She stared at the glove. Not only did it perfectly conform to her size, but when she ran her hands over the console, she could feel the textures of the panel, and the buttons reacted to her touch.
'Oh!' She cackled again. 'This is amazing!'
Standing, she ran out to the main room. She'd slept through the night with Ronin's suit next to her on the bed. She headed over to the bed now.
The suit was made to look like the interior muscle structure of a bipedal being. Probably Kerisians. Sophia stood back, appreciating the view and then imposing it over the glimpse of the bounty hunter's body when she pushed him into the pod.
Taking off of her clothes, leaving only a vest and panties, she climbed inside the suit. She didn't even have to do it up; it closed as soon as she had it in place, then shrank, showing off the few curves to her body.
'Okay, now, what about you?' She picked up the helmet and slipped it on. It took a moment, but suddenly the helmet closed around her face. A moment of panic struck her, and she almost tore it off but managed to get a hold of herself.
'Stay on mission, Sophia.’
'Language recognised. Earth, English. American or British?'
'Err, you're a pretty savvy helmet, aren't you?' Sophia said. 'Either one. I grew up in both countries.'
'British English selected. Would you like to create a new user profile?'
Sophia had to stop a squeal of excitement. 'Absolutely.'
'Please input authorisation.'
'Erm, is that the same authorisation as the ship?'
'Yes.' The AI spoke with a smoky, feminine tone.
‘Sophia four-five-four-five-star-omega.’
'Code accepted.'
'What’s your designation?’
‘Cintra.’
‘Cintra. I’m completely new to these suits. Could you give me a full rundown of everything you do, please?’
For an hour, Cintra demonstrated the suit’s capabilities. By the end, Sophia sat, slack-jawed at the number of things it could do.
The
best part, the suit could interpret everything she said in any language in its database. She could talk in English, but the suit would translate it into Surilan, ensuring no one would suspect what she really was.
Sophia dropped down to the bed, holding her hand in front of her to stare at the suit. It was fate this suit had come to her when she needed it most. Her heart full of gratitude, she went through the instructions once more, to ensure she understood it.
Over the next few days, Sophia worked with the suit to learn everything it was capable of until it was like muscle memory.
Every day, she scanned the quartex for news about Endurance or her crew. So far, no one even seemed to know they existed. Sophia found herself on edge whenever she thought about it.
Over the following days, Sophia worked on learning everything about the ship. She spent almost an entire day in the engine room recalling everything Kenian had taught her. As Vernaya crossed into Amaran space, heading for Dahnus Ascent, Sophia set up surprises on the ship in the event she found herself back on there. She was determined to leave nothing to chance.
The day before she was due to arrive at the station, the ship received a message from the Bentari ambassador. Sophia only hesitated a moment before she hit the play button.
‘Marita Gonzalez.’ There was a smug smirk on the Bentari’s face that she found herself wanting to punch off. ‘She is an escaped slave.’ Sophia’s picture came up on a second screen. ‘She killed her Bentari master. Bring her to me. I’ll see he gets justice.’
‘Oh, you’re even worse than I heard you were,’ Sophia said, scowling at the screen, but while the picture, and the look, were definitely her, the rest of the image was fake. It looked like an alien version of a police mug shot.
‘Marita! Where did you get that name from?’ Even as the words left her mouth, she knew the answer. Somewhere, a slave looked racially like her so they stole her identity and applied it to Sophia.
She looked back at the first screen. She’d heard of Hekalion Dar. He and Makios had a history and Makios and Rhona hated him passionately.