Precious Cargo

by Sarah Marsh

  “Oh. Well, that is unique. On Earth, we have children’s tales about magical beings with ears like yours. We call them elves.”

  Tannen quickly brought his hand up to gently stop her exploration before his arousal became obvious. She had no way of knowing how sensitive a Dolak’s ears really were.

  “Our ears are rather a sensitive area, Alison, and touching them is quite … intimate to my people,” he said, bringing her hand down to rest against his chest.

  “Oh my God, how embarrassing! I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

  It was clear from the flush of crimson spreading across her cheeks that she was embarrassed to have been obliviously fondling him, and he thought she was adorable in her shyness. He knew from the full body scan that he’d done when they’d found her that their species were biologically compatible, and he had to admit to himself that he found her extremely attractive. He simply couldn’t bring himself to move away from her.

  Chapter Four

  As the strange man moved closer to her, she couldn’t help but notice how beautiful he was. His skin wasn’t a flat grey, but a complex palette of greys and blacks that enhanced his bone structure and turned him into a living sculpture. Alison began to wonder how defined the rest of his body must look. Did it look as if it was airbrushed by an artist? Tannen had been so kind and gentle with her so far. Even as she'd yelled and accused him of being a pervert, he still hadn’t lost his temper. Which of course only made him more attractive to her, but he must think she was such an idiot when he had to stop her from basically reaching first base by groping his ears.

  Alison had been pretty shy for most of her life. She’d never really been the type of woman to be caught ogling a man, especially one so clearly out of her league. Fear of embarrassing herself or being humiliated by their rejection had always held her back from men, but apparently her libido had decided to stage a full-body protest about the fact that she hadn’t been with anyone in such a long time. Each step closer he took to her, the more interested her body was. She blushed even more as she felt her nipples tighten and crossed her arms over her chest, hoping he wouldn’t notice her reaction to him. To her complete mortification, her lower regions started to tingle and she had to clamp her legs tight. What in the hell had gotten into her?

  Her breathing started to increase, and Tannen frowned when Alison suddenly broke out into a cold sweat.

  “Are you feeling all right, Alison? You’ve gone pale,” Tannen asked, as he brought his hand up to feel her face. “I think we should return you to the med bay to rest.”

  He took her arm again, escorting her to his office, and helped her back up onto the bed. Her chills seemed to subside as they walked, but he mentioned he was concerned she might be having an adverse reaction to the virus the Wargs had infected her with. Tannen told her he had no way to know how it would react in an unknown species.

  Tannen pulled up a chair close to the exam bed and sat directly in front of her.

  “What’s going on? Your temperature seems to have spiked a few minutes ago, but now your readings are fine.” He seemed confused by the results on his screen. “How do you feel?”

  Her face had flushed again, and she worried that her reaction to him would be obvious so she attempted to change the subject.

  Ali shook her head and tried to collect her thoughts. “What do you mean ‘pirate freighter’? And what is a Warg?”

  The stranger tilted his head slightly as if he were contemplating something, his brows drawn together.

  “Alison, where exactly are you from?” Tannen asked carefully.

  “A small town just outside of Seattle. Why? Are we very far away from there? I’m still having trouble believing that we’re out in space somewhere,” she said in a small voice, trying to keep it together in front of this strange man.

  “What planet is this Seattle on?” he asked.

  She looked at him blankly. “Umm, Earth … what planet did you think it would be on?” she asked, trying not to sound condescending.

  “Well then, that explains why I don’t have your species on file, doesn’t it,” he answered back so matter-of-factly, like what he’d said made perfectly reasonable sense. He then walked over to the computer console and began speaking to another man somewhere else on the ship. She was still trying to reconcile what he had said previously so she only picked up the fact that he was speaking with the captain, requesting that he come and talk to her.

  “Excuse me, doctor, where exactly am I?” she asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

  He turned and looked at her with such a sad expression that it immediately made her anxiety worse.

  “I’m sorry, Alison, but you were taken from your planet by the Wargs, and you are now in the Huron F quadrant of space. Earth is not a member of the Universal Alliance, so we cannot approach the planet to return you there. Even if we could, there is one more complication that would prevent it.” He sat down beside her and put his hand gently over hers. “We can only surmise that the Wargs had planned to sell you to a brothel planet because they have infected you with a virus called the Seria 9 strain. It has not spread to your galaxy as of yet. Therefore, you would be terminated by the Alliance if you ever tried to return to your planet infected as you are.”

  As the words he told her started to sink in, she let the panic that she was feeling take over. She began to shake all over, tears streaming down her face, her breaths getting shorter until she was beginning to hyperventilate.

  She felt Tannen’s large hands pick her up and settle her back down on his lap. He began to rub her back in soothing, circular motions, whispering in her ear that she would be all right, rocking her back and forth like a baby. After about twenty minutes of an all-out hysterical crying fit, she began to calm down, letting the comforting feel of his strong arms around her sink deep. It had been so long since someone had just held her—it was a rather decadent feeling that she didn’t want to let go of. She felt how wet the front of his uniform had become from her tears, and started to feel bad for losing it and making him have to comfort her.

  “I’m sorry about all that,” she said in a tiny voice full of embarrassment.

  “Alison,” he said, as he used his finger to urge her head up and away from his chest so he could look her in the eyes. “It’s a lot of information to take in, and I want you to know that the virus isn’t fatal. I’ve given you the vaccine already, but since I could not know how long it had been since they infected you, I have no way of knowing how it will react in your body. Most beings in the Alliance have been vaccinated so you needn’t fear infecting others. We will help you manage the symptoms as they may manifest, but I am sorry you cannot return home. Do you have a family that will miss you, a mate, perhaps?”

  “No, I don’t have any family left, and I’m single. The truth is, I’m not leaving much behind.” She sounded so lost and sad. “So what’s going to happen to me now, Tannen?”

  Chapter Five

  When she looked up at him with those beautiful green eyes, all red and swollen from her crying fit, his heart ached for her. He just wanted to gather this little female up in his arms and never let her go. He brought his big hand up to cup her cheek. She closed her eyes and nuzzled into it, releasing a breath like no one had ever touched her before.

  “I can’t say for certain how your physiology will respond to the virus, but in the humanoid species we have documented, it was designed to make pleasure workers more cooperative and easier to handle for the slavers who traffic them. It creates a biological need for physical contact.” He paused for a minute, as if he was waiting for confirmation that she understood what that meant. “We will have to wait and see what the effects will be on your species.”

  “Wait—so I’m going to become some kind of nymphomaniac prostitute?” she asked, her voice trembling once she seemed to realize what he’d just told her.

  “You will never become a pleasure worker,” a new, very commanding voice from behind her said, sounding mildl
y insulted. “You are our responsibility, and we will take you back to our planet and make sure that you are well looked after.”

  The new stranger stepped around the table into her line of vision, and he was a large man. Tannen was tall, but this man had at least twice as much muscle as the doctor did and several more inches in height. He was also very handsome but in a much harsher, much more serious manner. He had skin so dark it was almost black, and his hair was much shorter than Tannen’s.

  “Alison, this is our Captain,” Tannen said, sliding her off of his lap and back onto the exam table. Finally, the other man seemed to relax a bit as his mouth turned up into a half smile.

  “You can call me Conn, little one. There’s no need to be so formal with only the four of us on board. I assume Tannen has explained everything to you? We are sorry that all of this has happened to you, and we will do our best to ensure you’re taken care of,” the large man said as he looked into her eyes, and she actually believed this stranger meant it.

  “Thank you. This is all a lot to take in. I think I’m noticing some side effects already. I keep having hot and cold flashes,” she said, not wanting to mention what she had to assume were the other side effects she was experiencing, such as her overwhelming need to reach out and touch these two men. She’d already assaulted poor Tannen once. What if she did something to embarrass herself again? “Is it all right if I lie down?”

  The doctor frowned and looked back at the monitors on his computer. “Your bio-signs were fine just a moment ago, but now your heart rate and stress levels have elevated. What exactly are you feeling, Ali?”

  She thought about it for a moment. She was beginning to feel like she was getting the nasty flu, but her skin was hypersensitive all over in an almost painful way.

  “My skin is starting to hurt, and I feel kind of an all over body ache,” she said, trying to get comfortable on the bed. “I’m also really antsy, like I can’t sit still.”

  Her breathing began to increase as the anxiety started to take over. Alison was getting scared. She’d never experienced anything like this before.

  “Alison, I need you to try to slow your breathing,” Tannen said as he turned back to look at her. “Or you’re going to hyperventilate.”

  ****

  Conn hated seeing the small female going through such distress. He couldn’t comprehend how the Wargs could have such little thought as to what the virus might do to an unknown species. Although, they were just assuming that the Wargs were unfamiliar with Alison’s home planet, Earth. But if they’d harvested from the planet once, it could very well mean that they’d been there before and done this to countless people, but he hoped that wasn’t the case.

  Her whimper brought his head around to Tannen, who was using the hand scanner to see which medications should alleviate her pain, but when the red light kept signaling there was no match, his bond mate growled.

  “None of the pain meds will work on her, Conn. I need to keep her from moving.”

  Alison’s thrashing on the bed brought his attention back to her, and he immediately climbed up to grab her, wrapping his arms around her, holding her tight.

  “Shh, Alison, try to calm yourself,” he said as he gently rocked her back and forth as if she were a child.

  “It hurts,” she responded in a quiet voice.

  Conn could feel the tension in her body, and he didn’t know if he should let her go or not, but he didn’t want her to harm herself.

  “Her levels are starting to stabilize. Keep doing whatever you’re doing, Conn,” Tannen said in a relieved tone as he looked back to the monitors.

  A few minutes later Conn felt her body begin to relax in his arms, and her breathing became even once again.

  “Thank you. I don’t know what just happened,” Alison said as she snuggled closer to his chest.

  Conn just held her and began to slowly rub her back, trying to soothe her as her muscles continued to slowly soften against his body.

  “I think I have an idea of what is happening to her,” Tannen said as he typed furiously. “Conn, stop moving for a moment.”

  He did, and he immediately noticed the tension increase in Ali’s body, but she didn’t say anything. She just looked up at him with those big green eyes.

  “Okay, now let her go and move away,” the doctor added.

  Conn could see the brief look of panic in the woman’s eyes before he let her go and moved away from her on the bed. For a few moments, she seemed to be all right, and then little by little, he could see the tension and pain take over her body once again until finally she whimpered softly. Conn simply couldn’t take the thought of her in pain, and he quickly moved forward to hold her.

  “Well?” he growled out to his doctor. “What is it?”

  Tannen sighed as he turned back towards them from the computers. He didn’t look too happy, and that worried Conn.

  “It seems that the virus progressed far enough before we were able to give her the vaccine that she’s developed some sort of contact dependency. At least from what I can tell, when you’re in contact with her, her pain and other symptoms seem to go away,” he said as he stood and came closer to the bed.

  “Did this just begin?” Conn asked, while still rubbing her back. “Was she all right before I came in? What if it’s a pheromone issue?”

  “After she woke up, there were a couple of times that she started to panic and I moved to soothe her,” Tannen answered with a considering look. “I just didn’t put it together at the time that she calmed significantly when I was touching her.”

  “Well, she’s out cold again,” Conn said as he looked down and saw her eyes closed and her breathing even. “I guess I’m not going anywhere for a while.”

  Chapter Six

  When Kal finally finished the repairs on the ship from their altercation with the pirates and made his way to the med bay, he was exhausted. He just wanted to plot a course home and sleep for hours.

  “What’s going on? I’m in desperate need of a shower and a bed,” he said to Tannen as he walked up to the doctor and playfully smacked him on the ass with a wink.

  Tannen jumped, of course, and then tried to give Kal a disapproving look. The serious doctor always jumped. It was one of the things that Kal and Conn loved most about their third. He loved to play hard to get, and they loved to chase him.

  “This is serious, Kal,” Tannen said at the same time Kal heard Conn’s deep laugh on the other side of the room.

  “You’re always serious, T,” Kal said, walking over to the bed where his Captain seemed to be tangled up with the little female they'd rescued from the Warg ship. “Hey, did you guys have a party without me? Looks like you exhausted her and I missed all the fun.”

  “Shh, you’ll wake her,” Conn whispered. “There was no party, but our little guest has developed some issues from the virus.”

  “Damn, is she all right?” Kal sobered quickly, taking a closer look at the female. She looked so small lying there in Conn’s arms.

  “I hope so,” Tannen answered. “She’s developed some sort of contact dependency, and when the symptoms begin, her vitals go haywire and she is in a great deal of pain.”

  “So what, she needs to be touching someone all the time?” Kal asked, hoping that wasn’t the case. What kind of life could someone have with that kind of issue?

  “Well, when we get her home to Dolak, I’m certain the medics will be able to get a better idea, but from what I can ascertain so far, extended periods of contact will have a lasting effect but eventually will wear off,” Tannen explained. “When she begins to feel the symptoms, she will have to renew contact with us.”

  “Go have your shower, Kal,” Conn said from the bed. “You’re on rest shift next so you’ll take my place so I can get us on a course back to Dolak immediately.”

  Kal looked back at his Captain and bond mate lying very still on the small bed next to the female. He knew he’d never get any sleep like that.

  “Can I take her to
our quarters?” he asked, looking to Tannen to approve the move from the med bay. “You know I can’t sleep all cramped up like that.”

  “That should be fine, Kal. I’ll just give her a monitor so the computer will track her vitals,” the doctor answered as he attached a small bracelet around her wrist.

  Kal went and quickly had a shower, and when he returned to the med bay, Alison was awake and curled up in Tannen’s lap as he explained to her how the language translator that the Wargs implanted her with worked. She looked so sweet and innocent sitting there, her big green eyes going wide when she asked him to pull up a picture of what the Wargs looked like on the computer screen.

  “I remember seeing one after the first time I woke up in that cell,” she said in a terrified voice. “But just for a moment, then I think I fainted.”

  “They are rather ugly little beasties, aren’t they?” Kal asked as he walked up beside them and gave Alison a flirty smile.

  “Oh, hello,” she said with a shy smile back. “You must be Kallen. I’m Alison.”

  “Hello, sweet Ali,” he answered as he took her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it before Tannen snorted in laughter and ruined the moment.

  When he gave the doctor a dirty look and turned back to Alison, her face had gone a deep red as she blushed, and he found it rather adorable.

  “Don’t mind him, love,” Kal said, as he blew Tannen a quick kiss. “He’s just the possessive type and doesn’t always like sharing his toys.”

  ****

  Alison’s eyes went wide when Kal’s words registered in her mind, and she quickly formed a picture of these two men together. The third member of their crew seemed to be younger than the doctor or the captain, and Kal was obviously the carefree charmer of the group. He was just as large as Conn, but had almost a silver-toned skin and his shoulder length hair was a deep grey with beautiful waves of curl that almost made her envious. When he smiled at her and two dimples appeared in his cheeks, she swore her heart stopped for a moment. He was literally one of the most beautiful men she had ever laid eyes on.