by Ashley West
"What are you doing here?" he said to Vess, unknowingly echoing the big sailor's words. "I thought you and Veralia were staying at the hotel?"
"Yeah, but she was feeling sick, so we didn't think there was any point in spending the money," he said.
"Right. Sorry about that, buddy," Nathaniel said, giving him a compassionate look. "You got everything under control here? Ashlyn and I need to talk."
"Sure. We got it."
"Since you and Veralia are back early, can we get out of here right away?"
He thought for a moment.
"The winds and tide will be right in about an hour."
"Okay, then, Vess. The sooner we're out of the restricted zone, the better. You know that."
"Yeah, I know, boss. We'll get out of here as soon as we can. You talk to your girl. And remember what I told you, Nathaniel. If she is your soul mate, you can work this out. You can work anything out."
He nodded curtly at his first mate and gestured for me to go below.
Soul mate?
Nathaniel thought I was his soul mate?
I looked at Nathaniel for a long moment before I turned and went down the stairs. I heard him sigh before he followed me, placing his hand on the small of my back as we walked down the hallway to the Captain's quarters.
The gesture was protective, possessive, and the kind that a man used for his wife.
Chapter Twenty-Two
NATHANIEL
When we got into my cabin, and she sat down on the bed, I had a vision of her. She was on top of me, riding me and coming hard, with her head thrown back and her breasts pushed out.
Focus.
Ashlyn clenched her hands together in her lap and looked at me. She appeared anxious.
I was silent as I thought about what I should say.
"I think we should start at the beginning, Ashlyn. Why don't you tell me everything? I thought you ran off as soon as you got your money, but it seems that you haven't."
"Ran off?" She looked outraged. "You're the one who left me in that gilded cage. And don't tell me it wasn't, I know better than that."
I held up my hands for peace.
"Like I said, why don't you tell me the whole story?"
"If we have to start at the beginning, I guess I need to go way back. My Dad left when I was nine. Mom had to work so we could pay the bills. The housework and taking care of my brothers was left for me to do. I got them dressed in the mornings and made sure they had breakfast. In the afternoon, I made sure they did their homework and had a snack. Sometimes I had to make dinner when Mom worked late."
Maybe that was too far back, but I wasn't going to stop her now. "How old were you?" I said.
"Nine when Dad left. Old enough that I was already helping."
I shook my head.
"To have to do it, day in and day out, as if you were their parent, is asking a lot of anyone."
"My mother died the summer that I graduated from high school. She got a rare form of cancer and passed away within the month. At that point, I was their legal guardian because she had named me in her will."
"How old were you?"
"Eighteen. Old enough."
"And your brothers?"
"They were teenagers. Jeremy was seventeen. Marlin was fifteen. And Tim was fourteen. So, it was only four years that I had to be their parent. After they finished school, they began to help out through jobs. When Mom died, I had to get a job, so I started working for a friend of hers who ran a dressmaking shop. She taught me to sew, and the job paid the bills."
I interrupted Ashlyn's life story again.
"But what about being a scientist? I thought you wanted to be an environmental scientist?"
"Life sometimes happens, Nathaniel, and you don't get to choose. I graduated with a full scholarship to go to one of the most prestigious schools in the country. They only take a handful of students every year, and I got into the program. I was excited."
She smiled at the memory, staring off into space.
"But then Mum died, and there was no one but me to take care of the boys. I wasn't about to skip out on them. They needed me."
I frowned.
"You've been working as a dressmaker since you finished high school? But you said you'd completed half your degree."
"I have. Online, at night. I've taken all the theoretical courses; now I have to do the practical ones. I haven't had a chance to do anything because it requires you to go work in the field. I can't do that and still pay the mortgage and the bills."
She smiled sadly. "I had been hoping to intern with you, but I guess pirates don't do a lot of research. Do you know his name?"
"What?" I said. Her deluge of information overwhelmed me, and now I wondered if we had an entirely different conversation altogether. "Whose name?"
"The scientist who does the all the research. The one who's famous all over the galaxy for his work on surging seas. Or maybe that is your real name, and you just impersonated him? How did you manage to forge his credentials? Oh right! You're a pirate."
I stared at her.
"You think I impersonated an environmental scientist? Why would I do that?"
"Pirates get laid more, I suppose, but you would have needed something respectable to get through the TerraMates screening process."
"You think I'm a pirate," I said, feeling both astounded and angry again simultaneously. I got up and walked over to the bed. She stood up, and I crowded into her personal space.
"You are a pirate. I saw it. But I don't hold it against you." She stepped back but her legs bumped the bed. I moved even closer, feeling dangerous again.
"Now that you know I'm a pirate…"
I leaned in, so our faces were inches apart.
"What do you think I'm going to do to you?"
She was staring into my eyes as if hypnotized.
"I don't know," she whispered. Her chest was rising and falling quickly.
I kissed her passionately. I was the one who had to break away before things got out of hand.
I stepped back, putting some space between us again.
"What were we discussing? You've finished half your degree in environmental science, then?" I slowed my breathing and tried to get myself back under control. That was enough of this pirate nonsense.
"Yes," she said. "I wanted to study the Maldives back home." She was panting a little as she answered, which I found distracting, but I ignored it.
"Are those islands? You'll know a little bit about the ocean, then. The one on Earth is remarkably similar to here."
"I know."
"Really. Do you?" I pinned her with a glare. "Because you did your homework and researched Vandwa so well, especially the inhabitants that have evolved to be able to breathe underwater," I said sarcastically.
She turned red.
"I would have. If there had been time."
"Never mind." I held up my hand. "It doesn't matter. Since you know so much about the ocean, you won't mind if I ask you a few questions."
She looked puzzled but she was willing to play along. I had doubts about a mail-order seamstress's knowledge on environmental science.
"Mrs. Lachlan." I went on. She got an odd look on her face when I called her that, even though my staff had been doing it for days. "Tell me what you know about the ocean."
Ashlyn looked nervous now like she was taking an exam. "The average depth of the ocean, on Earth, is about 3000 meters, with the deepest point being over 8000 meters. The top three meters of the ocean holds as much heat as the entire atmosphere."
I nodded. "Go on."
"The oceans cover 71% of the Earth's surface and hold 97% of the water."
"On Vandwa, that number is much higher. The oceans cover over 86% of the surface. The deepest point in our oceans is 3456 meters. Ours are more shallow than Earth's due to the shape of Vandwa's crust."
She gazed at me for a moment, processing what I had said and wondering how a pirate knew such facts.
"Continue, Earth sci
entist. I'm finding your lecture quite enlightening."
"Okay." She looked quite unsure of herself. "90% of the volcanic activity on Earth occurs in the ocean…"
"Yes, we have microscopic volcanic activity on Vandwa, due to the composition of the planet. But seismic activity is much higher than on your planet, causing thousands of tidal waves — or as you call them on Earth — tsunamis per year."
She was staring at me in consternation.
"Shall I go on? We've classified over 750,000 marine species, but we estimate that there are over 25 million which we've never seen. The sea levels on Vandwa have risen at a rate of twenty centimeters per year over the past fifty years, hence our difficulties with finding enough land mass for our populations."
"Nathaniel…" But I wouldn't stop now. I continued spouting information that I knew like the back of my hand, my eyes drilling into hers and daring her to call me a pirate again.
"There's so much fucking water, Mrs. Lachlan, that 99% of the living space on Vandwa is below sea level. Does that give you any ideas for a solution to our problem? We have to either build on the water or beneath the water. There's just not enough land to hold us anymore."
Now she was studying me with a look of wonder on her face.
"I know. Not as interesting as a pirate," I said, shrugging and leaning on my desk. I pulled out the report I had been working on before the refugee situation. I tossed it to her, and she caught it awkwardly. "You can read about it."
She stared at the booklet.
"You are the true Nathaniel Lachlan?"
"That's me," I said, unsmiling. "50%, scientist, 50% pirate, 100% sexy alien," I said, turning my hands up in a flourish.
She grinned suddenly and ran over to me, grabbing my face in her hands and kissing me. Then she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. It was unexpected.
When she stepped away, I studied her, not sure how to interpret her reaction.
"I'm happy that you are who I thought you were, but I don't understand," she said.
"I am Nathaniel Lachlan, famous in certain circles for my scientific work. But I am also a son of a founding family of Vandwa. We've been around for centuries. Our family has tons of money; that's how I could afford the astronomical fees that TerraMates charges and the beautiful house and to maintain this ship. When my sister and I discovered that the ships destined for some of the poorer refugee camps were being diverted, we knew something was wrong."
"That woman was your sister?" she said, putting her hand over her mouth in dismay.
"Yes. Who did you think she was?" I asked, glowering at her.
"I thought you had a woman in every port."
"Were you jealous?"
"Let's get back to the original topic."
I smiled. Jealousy wasn't nice, but the fact that she had been upset that I was with another woman made me happy.
"We developed a plan to get the supplies back. I would intercept the ships and take the cargo. Freya would meet me at the camp and distribute the supplies to those who needed them. Even with us bringing in supplies every few weeks, those people are barely getting by, Ash. The kids are hungry." I sighed thinking of Miralee and Johnny — troubled as always by the state of affairs on my home planet.
"You're a scientist, turned pirate for a good cause? What about that woman saying that you were selling the supplies for your profit?"
"I don't need any money, Ashlyn. I have enough to last forever and longer. The money I would get from selling the supplies would be a drop in the ocean of our vast fortune. I don't mean to sound pompous but me doing this for money is ridiculous. It certainly would not be worth the trouble."
"I'm glad," she said, tapping her toes together and wriggling around a little. "I was mistaken about you, Nathaniel. I'm sorry." She looked contrite when she said that, and I felt sorry for her.
I went and sat beside her on the bed.
"It's all right, Ashlyn, I guess we were both mistaken. But you didn't finish telling your story."
"Right. Where was I?"
"Doing part of your degree online, at night. After working all day as a seamstress and taking care of your brothers and the house." She elbowed me in the ribs.
"I was making enough to pay the bills and Tim got a student loan to go to university. One day I came home and my brother, Marlin, was beaten up. He told me he'd been gambling, trying to make some money to help us out."
"By gambling?"
I must have looked pretty skeptical. She shrugged.
"He's always wanted things to come easy. The idea of getting something for nothing appealed to him. He had gone into debt, and his creditors were threatening him and our family if he didn't pay up in two weeks."
"How much did he owe?"
"420,000 credits. There was no way in hell I could ever get that money."
"Unless you became a bride for TerraMates," I said, the light bulb going on in my head.
"Right. The money from TerraMates paid his gambling debts, the remainder of the mortgage, and will even cover the bills for about a year, I hope."
"You're not going to use any of the money on yourself?"
"I never had any intention of using that money for anything except taking care of my family. That's what anyone would do." I wanted to point out that not everyone would do what she had done, but something told me that she wouldn't believe me. It was natural for her to sacrifice herself for her family.
I looked at her, feeling grateful that she was not what I thought she was. I was devastated when I thought she had run off.
"I can't believe how much I love you. I've never felt this way before. I thought I had lost you forever, Ashlyn."
"Nathaniel, I'm sorry," she said, turning back and taking my hands. "I wanted to be with you." She hadn't left. She had stowed away on my ship. "I didn't want you to leave me behind, but I acted silly. I don't usually do reckless things like that."
"No. I'm glad you're here and that we've settled things between us."
She nodded.
"Maybe we can start fresh?" I stuck out my hand. "Hi, my name's Nathaniel Lachlan."
She took my hand and shook it, firm and strong.
"Ashlyn…" She stopped herself and gave me a shy smile. "I'm Ashlyn O'Connor Lachlan. I'm pleased to meet you, Nathaniel."
I pulled her into my arms and lost myself in her kiss.
Chapter Twenty-Three
NATHANIEL
Ashlyn and I were kissing again. A knock on the door made us jump and we pulled apart.
Her cheeks were flushed and her hair messy. I yanked my hand out of her shirt.
"Yes?" I said.
"Sir, I need to talk to you," came Vess's urgent voice through the door. "I've got that report you wanted."
"Come in, Vess," I said. I moved to put some space between Ashlyn and me. She went to the window and opened it. I hoped the air didn't smell like sex.
It turned out that Vess was preoccupied and didn't notice us. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Ash was combing her hair, trying to bring it into some semblance of order. I faced Vess, and he handed me some papers.
"You asked me to get Derron to follow the trail back to the government and find whoever was diverting the ships."
"Yes."
"He couldn't find anyone, but all of the ships that were being diverted were actually the same ship every time: the Desert." I rolled my eyes at the name. "Captained by the same man. Lazarre Deerwone."
"Okay."
"That wasn't the most exciting thing. You know how good Derron is at making people talk. The guy tells him that he's being paid by an anonymous company."
"Does he know which one?"
"He didn't know. But Derron did some investigation and found out. The company that was paying him was Meryl and Dover Shipping. That was only a front for the company that was paying him."
"What company, Vess?" I ground out.
Ashlyn moved over beside me and took my hand, sensing my distress. I had a feeling I knew which company it wo
uld be.
"The Lock Land Group." Freya and I had been afraid of this.
"What?" Ashlyn said, looking back and forth between Vess and me.
"Lock Land is a play on our name," I said, feeling empty. How had my little brother come to this? "The Lock Land Group is the part of our empire that my brother, Jori, controls."
"Your brother is behind this?" Ashlyn was looking at me with dismay on her face.
I stared at the papers that held all the information we needed to tie the refugee scandal to my brother.
My communications device pinged. "Nat here," I said.
"Bad news," a female voice said. It was Freya.
"How did you hear already?" I said.
"Hear what? I called to tell you that they're moving the Dlo camp to make way for refugees of a higher socioeconomic class. The Wai camp got an influx of refugees. They think they need additional space."
"For what, their fucking tennis courts?" I was upset.
"They're moving them out as we speak. People are grabbing their things and trying to pack. Everything that we've created is being torn down. I'm tearing my hair out and trying to be diplomatic when I'm dealing with these government assholes."
"I have other exciting news. I got Derron to investigate as you suggested."
"And?"
"It's the Lock Land Group, hiding behind another company that's paying off whoever is diverting the ships."
She didn't say anything.
"How can we turn him in, Freya?" I felt like I was being torn in two. Surely we couldn't put our little brother in jail?
"Now they're not only taking more than their fair share of the supplies, but they're also taking more than their share of the land. There's only so much to go around."
"Where are they moving the people from Dlo?"
"To Agua. We can't protect him anymore. He made his bed, now he's got to lie in it."
I didn't say anything, but I felt broken. We had to expose Jori, and he would go to jail.
"Nat? There's nothing else to be done. Think of those kids on Agua."
Agua was the smallest of the Southern Isles. It was devoid of vegetation and had high levels of pollution. The previous occupants had ignored the environmental laws. Eventually, they were forced to leave the island because they had fouled it so much that it could no longer support the population.