by Abella Ward
The T'shav looked utterly exasperated. Jada narrowed her eyes. Why would he give in to her so easily? She tightened her grip on the knife. This had to be a trick. Sildon stepped forward, and she raised the knife a little higher, aiming it at his heart.
"Put down the knife, Jada."
"No." She shook her head. "You're not going to save the baby at all. You're just waiting for me to drop my guard so you can lock me up and fly away."
"Well, that would certainly be the smart thing to do. But no, that is not what I am going to do. I am going to go get that baby like you want me to." He stepped forward again. Another step and he'd be in the range of her knife. His eyes locked onto Jada's, dark, dangerous and challenging.
She swallowed hard. "How can I believe you? You're nothing but a criminal."
The T'shav darted forward. Jada swung her knife wildly, but he grabbed her wrist and twisted sharply. Pain shot up her arm. She dropped the knife with a cry. Sildon pushed her against the wall. He used his body to pin her in place, his huge hands gripping her wrist. Her heart jumped to her throat, and for a wild, insane moment she wanted him to kiss her.
What is wrong with me?
"You know nothing about me, human," he growled in his deep, gravelly voice. With his body against hers, tingles of heat coursed through her body. Her core tightened, and no amount of telling herself that it was her stomach clenching in fear could erase the truth.
She had to get him off her before she gave herself away; he didn't need to know the kind of effect he was having on her – if he didn't already know. Her arousal at his presence could easily be his musth enticing her in. With a snarl, she threw herself forward. Her teeth locked on his neck and she clamped down hard. Sildon howled in pain and yanked back.
He released her and stumbled back, his hand going over the bite mark. Jada stayed where she was, heart hammering. Sildon's black eyes burned, making him look all the more like a devil. But there was admiration in his gaze as well. Jada held her breath, waiting. Excitement mixed with her fear stunned her.
Who knew I'd be into this kind of thing?
Sildon stepped forward again. "We are going to get the baby. At least, we'll look into its situation. If it was bought by a family, then we back off and leave it there. Anything else, and I'll introduce you to a life of crime."
"Rescuing a baby isn't a crime."
"Stealing slaves is. Now sit down. If this is going to work, we have to have a plan."
Jada hesitated, but she had no choice. She had to trust Sildon at his word. It wasn't like she could fight him off. And there was something telling her that she could trust him. Whether it was hormones or something else, she didn't know. But she did know that he was her only chance to save the baby, or at least satisfy herself that it was going to grow up in a proper life. She might not be a mother, but she wasn't going to ignore her maternal instincts.
She sat down on a stool beside the island. Sildon remained standing on the other side. He frowned at her for a minute.
"Before we start, I want to know how you broke this rail."
"I jumped on it."
The T'shav's brow arched. He grinned at her and nodded. "Smart. We have a chance at this after all. Good. Now, first off, you'll stay on the ship while I find where the baby is."
Jada opened her mouth to protest. How could she trust him to tell the truth if the baby wasn't in a good home?
"After I find it, then I'll take you to see it. Or we'll go to steal it. Either way. But Jada?"
"What?"
"If you are determined to go forward with this, I am not going to risk my life to save yours if you get into trouble."
She scowled at him. "I wouldn't expect anything else."
"Good."
***
Jada's mouth tasted like the fruit she had eaten while Sildon searched for the baby they'd seen sold at the market. He'd tracked down the buyers to find that the baby had been sold to the Planchet Corporation. Jada didn't know a lot about the government outside of the Sanctuary, but she knew enough. The United Species was a collation of various planets. They worked together, policed their states, and worked to create a harmonious existence. And then there were the corporations. They ruled through wealth. They owned their own planets, and even when charges were brought against them by the United Species Corps, they rarely stuck.
Of course, there were also the warlords like Zon, who carved out their own roles in the galaxy through sheer strength and shielding various planets from the big corporations. The Planchet Corporation was one of the largest. They'd suffered a setback when their CEO was killed a few years back, but they were quickly rising again. The Planchets were most well-known for their breeding and sex-trade programs. Jada's blood boiled when she thought about what that would mean for the tiny, helpless infant they had just purchased.
"Stay with me, Jada," Sildon whispered.
She nodded and pushed aside those thoughts, focusing instead on the situation at hand. She and her T'shav kidnapper were both dressed in tight-fitting lavender suits, crouched in the pale purple bushes outside a fairly large house. Security seemed to be light. Sildon thought that the Planchets were betting on a low profile to keep their identities a secret and stop competitors from going at them. The planetary location was fairly safe as well, so close to the Zon Sanctuary and deep in the heart of United Species territory.
"Stick to the plan," Sildon whispered. "Deviate, and I'll—"
"You'll make me pay, I get it already," Jada snapped back.
The T'shav narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, then shook his head, grumbling under his breath. He drew his thin sword from the scabbard on his back and crept towards the house. Jada remained close behind, feeling both sick and excited. Sildon had told her multiple times that this might end in their deaths, but she couldn't just turn her back on a helpless baby.
Sildon led her to the front door. He pressed his ear against it for a moment before he nodded at Jada. Her heart jumped to her throat, but it was too late to turn back now. Sildon reared back and kicked the door open. He charged in, yelling and cursing. Shouts and curses answered him. Soon there were quick blasts from a gun and the clash of metal against metal.
Jada peeked inside. Sildon was at the end of the long corridor, driving through a knot of people. They turned in towards him, their backs to the door. Now it was her job to find the baby. She slipped in silently, turning into the first door. It was a toilet. Not the right room. Across the hall was a kitchen. The third door led down into a basement. She crept down the stairs, listening hard. Her fingers, clutching the blaster Sildon had given her, were sweating.
The baby's cry wafted through the dark basement. Jada fished a penlight from her pocket and switched it on. The huge space was utterly empty. She found the baby soon enough, lying in a nest of blankets with a stuffed toy propped near its head. Or rather, her head. She was utterly naked, tears streaking her little red face.
A shout of pain came from upstairs. Jada hoped that Sildon had skewered one of those monsters. She wrapped the baby up quickly, rocking her to quiet her, and then headed up the stairs. Three bodies lay stretched out of the floor that hadn't been there before, but Jada paid them no mind. With the little T'shav girl tucked in her arms, she ran from the house.
This was the part that Sildon had schooled her on more than anything else. She was meant to get back to the ship. She was not to turn back or stop for any reason. For all his bluster about not putting himself at risk for her or this baby, he had taken on the worse of the danger for himself.
He still made it back to the ship before her.
Jada hadn't expected to feel as much relief as she did when she ran up the gangplank and found him waiting for her. She almost rushed to his arms but stopped herself just in time. Sildon didn't speak to her. He grunted as he raised the gangplank and rushed to the cockpit. The engines roared to life, and the baby started crying again.
Leaving Sildon to his flying, Jada turned her attention back to the baby. She had s
oiled the blankets, one fist flailing in the air. Given her size, she was probably only about six months old. The dark red of her species was only a rose-pink on her, indicating she was either sick or malnourished. Maybe both. Jada discarded the soiled blanket and retrieved a luxurious robe from her wardrobe, wrapping the baby in that instead.
By the time she was at the kitchen rooting around for something to feed the baby, they were in space, headed away from the planet. She heard Sildon order the autopilot to engage. He stomped over to her, eyes narrowed and mouth drawn thin.
"Thanks to you I'm going to have the Planchets coming after me now. I am not stopping again until we need to refuel, understood?"
Jada chewed her lip. Maybe she should wait until he was calmer to tell him they were going to need different food and clothes for the baby. His eyes narrowed further.
"We're not stopping," he repeated.
Yes, that would definitely wait. She put a hand on his elbow, balancing the baby in one arm. "Thank you. She would have died with them."
Sildon blinked. "Uh… okay. She?"
"Yes. What should we call her? I always liked the name Isabel."
"Call her whatever you want." Sildon glanced at the baby then looked away. "I've got a blaster burn to take care of. Try to get her to stop crying, will you?"
Jada nodded, fighting a smile as he stalked away. She patted Isabel's back, adjusting her again. "He's not as grumpy as he pretends," she whispered. "Now the only trouble is getting him to see that."
Chapter Six – Sildon
He was weak.
There was no other explanation for why they were here, on a planet that was still far too close to the Zon Sanctuary, shopping. While he understood they needed to get certain things for the baby, Jada seemed to have everything from half the stores they visited. Maybe he should have just ransomed her to herself, rather than waiting on money from the Sanctuary.
Sildon sighed as Jada grabbed yet another soft toy and waved it in front of Isabel's face. The baby smiled and reached her grabby hands for it. He knew that he shouldn't let Jada delay their progress like this. They already had clothes, blankets, food, a crib that could be set to hover at four heights with a walk setting, and a dozen or so toys for Isabel. But there was something about seeing the way Isabel grinned when she was given new toys and the way Jada exclaimed over the cuteness of everything that made him reluctant to tell her that their shopping trip was over.
Is this what it feels like to have—?
He cut himself off quickly and shook his head. "Jada, we have enough. It's time to get back to the ship."
The human shot him an irritated glance. "But I'm not done yet. We're going to need more diapers."
"You bought four packs of the washable kind, how much more do you need?"
Jada adjusted Isabel in her arms and frowned. "I don't know," she admitted. "But I don't want to get to whatever backwater planet you're taking me to and find out that I can't take care of this child. And I don't think you want that, either. Do you?"
Sildon didn't reply. He shouldn't care. But maybe it was because Jada did care so much about Isabel that he was allowing this. It wasn't everyone who would love a child that isn't their own – a fact he knew very well.
"I understand what you mean, but we have enough supplies to last for a year, and you aren't going to be that long with me. If everything goes according to plan, you and Isabel will be back in the Sanctuary in only four standard months." Sildon tapped the toy against the mobile bank he wore on his wrist to pay for it, then tucked it into a bag. Grasping Jada's arm tightly, he pulled her away from the open-air toy store. "Come on. The Planchets will be after us, too, remember."
Jada winced. She glanced around as though expecting Planchet enforcers to be creeping up on them as they spoke, but of course, the only people around them were other shoppers. Still, he noted that she held Isabel a little tighter. Without a word, she nodded and let him lead her back towards the ship.
It was a shame they couldn’t stay longer on this planet. It had a slightly heavier gravity than he was used to, and that would be excellent for training in. The air was clear of pollutants as well, and the large yellow-orange flowers that grew everywhere reminded him of the garden he vaguely remembered his mother working in.
They were almost on the ship when a voice spoke from behind them. "Jada Isles?"
Sildon jumped. He turned, dropping the bags he carried–and two thin blades crossed over his throat. Jada gasped. An Aphrosian woman held the blades, her blue skin gleaming in the sunlight while her golden eyes glowed. Unlike the usual slenderness of her species, she was as muscular as he was. Two male T'shav stood on either side of her. One had a beard and mustache that was indicative of his status – half-human. Zon's son, Tom, with the two warriors that accompanied him on his missions to retrieve humans taken from the Sanctuary. Tag, the genetically enhanced Aphrosian, and Ronan the reformed mercenary.
"That was a neat trick, blowing up your escape pod," Tom said. "But you'll be returning to the Sanctuary now. Dead or alive."
Sildon growled. His fingers twitched, longing to draw his weapon even though he knew he didn't have the skills to fight three trained warriors. Tag pressed her twin blades harder against his throat. He glared at her while she smirked.
"Excuse me, but what do you think you are doing?" Jada's angry tone shocked Sildon. He twisted his head to see her awkwardly shifting Isabel to her hip while she attempted to pick up the bags he had dropped. She gave Tom a withering glare. "Here we are, buying things for our little girl that we just adopted, and then you people show up and make my mate drop all this stuff. Look at it! It's covered in dirt. Do you know what sort of germs and parasites that alien earth can contain? So help me, if my daughter gets sick because of you…"
She was lying for him? Tom couldn’t keep the surprise off his face. Tag didn't lower her blades, but her smirk increased. She opened her mouth, but Tom shook his head and she closed it again. The warlord's son studied Jada for a moment before stepping a little closer to her.
"Miss Isles, this T'shav is known to have abducted you from the Sanctuary."
Jada shook her head. "He did nothing of the sort. We wanted to take a ride and the Sanctuary completely overreacted, coming after us like that."
"How do you explain this situation, then? If it was a misunderstanding, why didn't you tell us that, rather than faking your deaths and stealing a new ship?"
Uncertainty flashed over Jada's face, but she tossed her head, making her curls bounce, and her face took on a superior look. "How do you explain the baby if he kidnapped me?"
"The child isn't the issue. I think that you're afraid of him, and that's why you're lying," Tom said, his voice soothing. "If you're pregnant—"
"I'm not pregnant," Jada snapped. "I can't get pregnant. I've had men leave me over that before. But Sildon is my mate now. As soon as we saw each other, we realized we were Starmates, and we decided to adopt and start a family."
Tom narrowed his eyes. "That in no way is an answer to my question. We are returning to the Sanctuary, and we'll resolve the situation there."
"Oh, for Pete's green beans!" Jada smacked the blades from Sildon's throat. The three Sanctuary enforcers looked a little surprised. Sildon reached for her hand, concerned that she might have cut herself. But Jada wasn't paying attention to any of that. "Will this convince you he's my mate?"
She threw an arm around his neck and pressed her mouth to his. A thousand thoughts burst over Sildon's mind. Why was she doing this? He had kidnapped her, it wasn't like she owed him anything. What was she after? Did she just not want him to die? She didn't know what he wanted, all she knew was that he was planning to ransom her back…
Sildon groaned as Jada deepened their kiss. It didn't matter what she was doing. Only that it worked. Which it probably wouldn't, so he might as well enjoy this while he could… The taste of Jada's lips was sweet, her tongue quick and wicked. If it weren't for the three very bemused expressions staring at th
em, Sildon might have forgotten that this wasn't a real kiss.
It seemed to him that Jada did, in fact, forget. Her eyes slid closed and she brought herself closer to him. When he moved back, she moaned in disappointment. Her eyes opened again. The two stared at one another, panting for a moment before she turned to Tom and the others.
"Proof enough?"
Tom shook his head. "Let's not make this difficult. Your things might get even dirtier."
Sildon reached for his sword, but before any of them could move, a shout came from behind them. A dozen soldiers in full armor were marching down the street, all with their blasters at the ready. The three Sanctuary enforcers turned, weapons at the ready, closing ranks. Sildon grabbed Jada and shielded her with his body even as he searched for their attackers. His heart seized.
The symbol of the Planchet Corporation was emblazoned on their chest plates.
Chapter Seven – Jada
Jada held Isabel to her chest, heart pounding as she stared at the Planchet soldiers coming toward them. Would Tom and the others protect her and Sildon once they learned that they had stolen the baby? Whatever they decided, she wasn't going to let the Planchets get their hands on her again. Never.
"Hand over the human and the T'shav infant," the Planchet captain ordered.
Tom, Ronan, and Tag glanced at one another. Sildon pulled Jada back, his arms strong and tight around her. The three warriors had their weapons in hand, and they shifted away from one another, fanning out.
"Did I ever tell you how much I hate the Planchet Corporation?" Ronan said casually.
"They experimented on his mate while she was pregnant with his child," Tag said. "Now he always goes into a bloodlust when he sees that symbol."
Tom rolled his eyes. "Always so dramatic."
They launched themselves at the soldiers without another word. As they did so, Sildon lifted Jada from the ground. He ran hard, cradling her like she was cradling Isabel. Bolts of blaster fire chased after them, many just barely missing Sildon. His grip slipped slightly, and she threw one arm around his neck to help hold herself up better.