Avren: An Auxem Novel

by Lisa Lace

  "You're invited, for sure," Dar said.

  "Great. Hopefully, I'll be back in time."

  Or at all. It was unspoken and we were thinking it, but we all ignored it. The congratulations kept coming in, but finally I was able to slip away to find Elara.

  I poked my head into the library. Elara was sitting in one of the reading bubbles but she wasn't reading. Her eyes were red and she was rubbing her nose.

  She'd been crying.

  "Hey," I said, softly. "Are you okay?"

  She smiled sadly.

  "Yeah. I'm fine. Congratulations."

  "I'm sorry, Elara."

  "You're sorry you got engaged? Well, maybe you ought to break it off then," she said, trying to make a joke. "It's just that I wish..."

  She didn't finish, just laughed self-consciously and dropped her eyes to the floor.

  "We all do, you know. I was once in your shoes. I thought I'd never find someone like Dar, who would love me. It still feels like a crazy miracle that I can't quite believe, Elara."

  "Really?" she said. And she looked so young when she gazed up at me like that. It was an illusion, surely, because with that much schooling behind her, there was no way that she was as young as she seemed. Still, she had an innocence about her that was charming. I was afraid someone would hurt her and make her cynical and jaded.

  "Really. You'll find your sheeranlo. He's out there."

  "Sheeranlo? What's that?"

  "It means your soul mate in Susohnnan. He's out there waiting for you."

  Jakk stuck his head in.

  "Or maybe he's closer than you think," I murmured to myself.

  "Dar's looking for you, Kenna. We're docking in twenty," he said.

  "Thanks, Jakk."

  "No problem. I was looking for Elara as well. Can you run through the supply list one more time with me and make sure we haven't forgotten anything?" he said.

  She sat up straight, sniffing and trying to pull herself together.

  "Yes, sir."

  "Good, I'll see you on the bridge." Then he was gone.

  She looked at me for a long time before she finally spoke. I don't know what the words cost her but she could hardly get them out.

  "He's married."

  I pressed my lips together, shaking my head.

  "Not anymore, Elara. The divorce went through."

  "Are you serious?"

  "You bet. Dar just told me. He's a free man. He's also hurting and lonely because his relationship with his wife has been dead for some time, so tread carefully. Men's hearts are awfully tender, remember."

  She gave me a shy smile.

  "I remember."

  I pulled her in for a hug.

  "We'll meet again, Elara. I know it. You're invited to my wedding, so don't do anything stupid when you're off squid hunting, okay?"

  She smiled.

  "Okay."

  "Now, I guess there's a supply list that needs to be gone over, again. Maybe he just wants to spend time with you."

  Her face lit up in surprise and then she gave me one last smile.

  "Thank you, Kenna," she said as she headed for the door.

  "May you may find as much happiness as I have," I whispered to her back as she disappeared through the doorway.

  DAR

  I looked around me and smiled. We were in the oasis at the back of the palace.

  To one side we could see through the trees out onto the burning hot sands. The harsh wind was blowing across the desert but here the air was cool and moist. The huge trees sheltered us from both Susohn's suns as they traveled across the sky together.

  The servants had set up banquet tables and we had invited people to come celebrate our engagement. My heart ached when I thought about Mana and Jared and how they would have been here if they hadn't been captured.

  There was a ship on its way through the wormhole right now but I didn't have much hope. They might even be dead already. I shook my head to clear it and tried to pay attention to what my mother and my fiancee were talking about.

  "I've talked to the Conveyor and he is willing to give you a special dispensation to get married this year, since you have known each other for some time and have proven your love for each other in many ways — not the least of which is you completing the ritual, Kenna. That really impressed him."

  Kenna smiled a little and ducked her head. She was wearing Susohnnan pants that had a panel cut out to show the skin of the left hip. Mother had probably picked them out for her. She loved showing off her future daughter-in-law's scar and telling people what Kenna had done to get it.

  "Really, mother? When can we get married?" I said, eagerly.

  "Now, now, calm down child. You're as good as married now. There's no need to rush."

  I took a deep breath, trying not to be annoyed with my mother for calling me a child and telling me to slow down, as if I had been running in the halls of the palace. I felt Kenna's hand on my thigh under the table. I could tell she was trying not to smile.

  "Mother, we are not rushing."

  Just then a servant approached me.

  "This just came in for you, sir. I thought I ought to give it to you immediately." He handed me a piece of paper.

  I opened the note and read it while the servant waited to be dismissed. I stared it, reading it over and over.

  "Where did you get this, Mervoll?" I demanded.

  "It just came in to the communications center, your highness. Is there a problem?"

  "How did it come in?" I said, knowing my voice sounded urgent, but unable to control myself.

  He smiled then, shaking his head.

  "You won't believe it. Morse code. My brother and I always loved old Earth war movies and one year we spent a couple months learning Morse code. I recognized it right away. Good thing I was on duty, or someone else might have missed it as just space noise."

  Kenna and mother were watching our conversation curiously.

  I drew in a shaky breath.

  "Thank you, Mervoll, excellent work." He made the sign of The Three and left. I made a mental note to give him a huge bonus.

  "What was that about?" Kenna said and they leaned towards me.

  I swallowed hard.

  "It's a message."

  Kenna gave me an exasperated look.

  "Yeah, we got that. What does it say?"

  "It says...We're alive. MJ."

  "That's it? That's the message? Who's MJ?"

  "Mana and Jared?" I said. My mother made a surprised sound. "They managed to get us a message somehow, using Morse code. Jared must have taken the prototype of Mirallaley's communication technology with him. They left before we got the full shipment. They're alive, Kenna. They're alive."

  I felt like crying I was so relieved, but that wouldn't do. I grinned instead.

  "Thank The Three," my mother said, putting her hand on her heart.

  "This makes this evening even more perfect," Kenna said, smiling at me happily. "I've been so worried about them. There's probably more to worry about but if they were able to get us this message, then there's hope."

  I nodded. That was my thinking exactly.

  I leaned back and let a servant set the next course in front of me. There was a white cube, drizzled in some kind of red sauce.

  "What is this?" Kenna said under her breath to me. She was clearly disgusted.

  "It's space whale. Speaking of the Mirallaleyans. Remember the diplomatic visit I went on to Mirallaley to thank them for the intergalactic technology they provided us with? They took me whaling." I grimaced at the memory. "And I got one."

  She blanched.

  "A space whale? I didn't even know there were such things. And this is it?"

  She poked at the small white cube.

  "Well, this is some of its blubber. The Mirallaleyans have a very cold planet and so they used to go out into space and hunt the whales and then bring them back and live off them for months as the winter raged. They often eat the blubber straight up. They consider this
a delicacy."

  She gave me a look.

  "They made me take some with me. I was going to give it away or throw it out but somehow it must have got into Chef's hands."

  "Oh, stop complaining kids, and eat it." I watched as my mother cut off a piece and put it into her mouth.

  Kenna cut off a small piece. She pulled it gingerly off her fork with her teeth and chewed slowly but didn't gag.

  "It's tough," she said.

  "Wouldn't you be if you had to survive in space?"

  "I guess so," Kenna said and she continued to eat.

  "You don't have to eat it if you don't want to," I said, unsure whether I wanted to eat mine.

  "I come from an Italian family. If it's on your plate, you eat it," she said.

  "Italian?" My mother found it difficult to pronounce the foreign word.

  "It's an ethnic group on Earth that my family comes from. We're big eaters."

  My mother and my human fiancee were getting along and discussing space whale blubber and Earth's ethnic groups together. I must be dreaming.

  I thought back to when I had met Kenna and was so glad I could remember my life again. We had been through so much. And now that we were engaged and would get married soon, we would be going through the rest of our lives together.

  I couldn't wait.

  KENNA

  The hovercraft had dropped us off at the entrance to the oasis and Dar and I strolled through, chatting.

  "So, when do you think your mother will let us get married now that the Conveyor has approved us?" I said, as Dar picked a small purple flower and tucked it behind my ear, kissing my neck.

  "Probably a month or two. Why do you ask?" he said, looking at me curiously. He knew I had something up my sleeve. He pressed the triangle in the rock and I followed him into the cave with swirling rainbow lights on the ceiling. I stared up in awe.

  "This place never ceases to amaze me," I said.

  "You never cease to amaze me," Dar whispered.

  I smiled, still trying to keep it light.

  "You've never seen a human eat space whale before? It wasn't that impressive."

  He picked me up and spun me around so that my legs swung out and I got dizzy. Then he set me down and very thoroughly kissed me until my knees got weak.

  When he let me go, I swooned.

  "Now, tell me what you're up to woman, or I won't be held responsible for my actions."

  His eyes looked predatory in the weak light. Good.

  "Are you saying that because you love me? Or just because you're on your mating cycle?" I said, as innocently as I could.

  He narrowed his eyes at me. "Both," he said.

  That's what I thought. I just needed confirmation.

  I swallowed. "If you're planning on ravishing me tonight..."

  He took a step towards me and I saw his chest rising and falling quickly.

  I took a step back.

  "...we might have to use some protection."

  "Protection? What is this protection?" he said. "I remember now, you mentioned it the first time we made love."

  "You remember that?" I said.

  He nodded.

  "On Earth, humans use it so that women don't get pregnant."

  He blinked.

  "Don't get pregnant?"

  "If you make love to me tonight, I could get pregnant because I'm on the fertile part of my cycle, too."

  He stared at me.

  "What? Shouldn't I have told you?" I said, feeling really nervous now.

  "Of course," he said. "I'm just stunned. It often takes years before a male and female's cycles come into alignment. It's just one more sign that you are my sheeranla."

  "So do you have anything?"

  "There's no such thing on Susohn. If the cycles line up, the couple is happy. And if they don't want to get pregnant, they simply abstain."

  "So we're going home now?" I hoped my voice didn't reveal the disappointment I felt.

  "Not on your life," he said, pulling me into the circle of his arms. "We're starting a family tonight."

  I smiled and looked up at the glowing lights dancing on the rocks of the cave. I remembered how I had been so sad that I couldn't see the stars before I left home to come on this crazy adventure.

  "I love you, Dar," I said, kissing his face with The Three — forehead, cheek, cheek.

  "And I love you, my sheeranla. Now come on. I've got some ravishing to do."

  Like the night when I had first decided to leave Earth, my life suddenly seemed full of possibility.

  EXCLUSIVE: Abduction

  Chapter One

  “Be sure to take the long route!”

  “Sure, ok.” Bethany pulled her backpack over her shoulder. She closed the door behind her, grimacing as the wave of heat hit her. She glared at their car, wishing she could somehow shame it into starting up. Sighing, Bethany resigned herself to the long walk to town. She went over the list of things they needed in her head.

  She got to the fork in the path and paused. Her mom always reminded her to take the long way, and she always did. After all, her mom was right – the shorter route may be more convenient, but it was also more dangerous. There were rumors of slavers who frequented that route, always disappearing when a patrol came by, but always at the ready to snare unwary travelers.

  Bethany hesitated, knowing she should go right, the safe way. But it was so hot, and it was such a long walk. She was sure she’d be fine and headed left at the fork.

  If she made good time, she could be home before her father returned from work. Lost in her thoughts, Bethany walked at a measured pace; this was hardly the first time their car had broken down, so she was well used to walking.

  A sound made her glance up, frowning. Deciding it had been nothing, Bethany turned her eyes back to the path, but quickened her pace just the same.

  Without warning, a huge ship rose from behind a small hill in front of her. Bethany screamed and leaped back, her eyes frantically searching the ship’s sides for a sign of some official seal, showing who it belonged to. There was none.

  Two men wearing masks leaped out and came straight for her. Bethany didn’t stop to ask questions, she simply turned and ran.

  The sound of a gun firing preceded a sharp pain in her leg, and she collapsed as her whole left calf went numb. The slavers loomed over her, waving their stun guns threateningly.

  “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” It was the only warning she would get.

  “Please – please just let me go. I won’t tell anyone I saw you, I swear.”

  The man laughed harshly. “Always the same. Come on. You’re young enough, we’ll get a good price for you.”

  The other squinted at her. “She may be young, but she’s old enough for marriage; what you say?”

  The first slaver eyed Bethany. “Perfect.” His eyes glinted with pleasure that made Bethany’s blood run cold.

  They grabbed her and shoved her roughly into the belly of their ship. Bethany screamed and kicked, but they simply laughed and slammed the cargo hold door behind her.

  Hands reached for Bethany and she jerked away.

  “It’s ok.” Bethany couldn’t see who the voice belonged to in the darkness of the cargo hold, but she could hear breathing. She knew she wasn’t the only one here. “Come on, sit in the corner here and hold onto one of these pipes. You’ll get bruised black and blue when we take off otherwise. There aren’t any seats back here.”

  Bethany obeyed the voice, letting the hands guide her until she was sitting, clutching at a pipe for dear life.

  Bethany trembled. “What’s happening?”

  “What’s happening is we’ve been taken by slavers.”

  Bethany groaned. She’d known before she’d asked, but was hoping to be proven wrong. “Slaving is illegal, they can’t do this.”

  Another voice cautioned her from the darkness. “Quiet, these guys aren’t exactly slow to anger.”

  “How long have you been here?” Bethany
dropped her voice to a whisper.

  “Just over a week. They’ve been flying around, trying to get a good haul for the auction tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” Bethany’s voice rose in panic. “We’re being – being sold – tomorrow?”

  No one replied, confirming Bethany’s worst fears.

  She clutched tighter to the pipe as they took off, barely managing to stop herself being thrown against the hard metal wall of the ship.

  The ride seemed to go on forever. Finally, the ship landed, the door opened, and a silhouette gestured impatiently.

  “Let’s go, bathroom, make it fast.”

  The woman next to Bethany rose immediately. “Come on, if you don’t go now, you won’t get another chance until tomorrow.”

  Bethany got up and followed, blinking in the sudden light. She was followed by a woman around her age, another slightly older, and three just younger than her mother.

  She stumbled as the slavers directed them to a truly disgusting little bathroom. Bethany believed that she wouldn’t get another chance and forced herself to do what was necessary.

  They were shepherded back into the ship and the door was closed again.

  “Where do we sleep?” Bethany sounded fearful.

  “Right here. These guys don’t have a base, they work from the ship. It helps them avoid detection, I think.” She put a hand on Bethany’s arm. “Don’t worry dear, you’re young. I’m sure someone will take you as a bride.”

  The other woman whimpered. “You say that like it’s a good thing?”

  “Better than taken as a pleasure object, as they call us. Those who won’t make bride are used and thrown away.”

  Bethany sputtered uncharacteristically. “But – but – I didn’t apply to be a bride, not for anyone. The Marital News is supposed to be a service that connects willing brides and grooms…”

  “It’s supposed to be. If these guys are caught, they’ll no doubt be executed, but some buyers don’t care. Some don’t even know.”

  The younger woman sounded breathlessly terrified. “We’re going to be eaten alive. Do you know what Evions do to their brides? They suck the life out of them – some say they even suck out the soul. Imagine, being without your soul. I’d rather die.”

  Bethany had to agree there. Her stomach dropped as she wondered who would buy her. What would her parents think when she never came home? She should have listened to her mother -- why hadn’t she just taken the longer route?