At the hole leading to the bridge, Raf stopped, looking a little unsure. He took a deep breath and glared at me.
“If you hurt a single hair on her head, I’ll kill you.”
I gave him a respectful nod. Thanks to Kili, I was in the wrong. I had to make amends and run around with my tail between my legs. Not that I had one; that was a very Trad thing.
Raf squeezed through the gash in the hull. He’d talked to the other Trad via his communicator on the way here, so I assumed Kili was still unconscious or at least subdued in some way. Maybe it was better that way. I had no idea what to say to Kili. Punching him was the only thing I craved.
“You can come in,” the Trad called from inside the ship.
Wren gave me a wary look before climbing in, barely having to duck. I was the last to enter their bridge. It was a mess. I’d only got a small glimpse of it earlier, but now I could take in the true extent of the destruction. This wasn’t salvageable. We had to be grateful that the ship hadn’t exploded yet. Sparks flew through the air, precariously close to Wren’s beautiful mane. Was it flammable? Her hair looked so much softer than that of Athions, even that of our females, although I barely remembered the way my mother’s mane had felt. She’d died a long time ago, along with the rest of the females in my family.
I pushed that thought away. Even though it had been years, it still hurt.
Kili lay on the floor, bent over a collapsed computer terminal. I bent down to take his pulse. He was just unconscious. I was almost annoyed at that, before I reminded myself that he was a friend. That’s what I’d thought, anyway. Now I wasn’t so sure. Could you still be friends after having been deceived like that?
“Help us with this beam, will you?”
The female’s voice was stern. Together with Raf, she was trying to get a particularly large piece of metal off the other Trad. I hurried over and gently pushed her aside, taking her place.
“You shouldn’t exert yourself,” I chided. “You got shot not long ago.”
“And whose fault is that?” she hissed, reminding me of a wild poomii.
I didn’t reply, but I put my full strength into helping the Trad lift the beam. It shifted, almost slipping from my grip, but luckily Raf remained in control, pushing it to one side and letting it fall to the ship’s floor. We worked silently, removing the debris trapping the other Trad. Wren watched from the sidelines, her hands twitching as if she was having trouble keeping herself from helping.
Her strength was surprising. I’d imagined human females as helpless, gentle creatures who needed to be cared for and protected round the clock. Either this one was an exception or I was completely mistaken.
It would have been Kili’s and my turn next year. Going back to Athion, hopefully finding a female. Now that he’d shot the human, there was no chance of them ever allowing us back. Me, maybe, but we were a team. Right?
Kili groaned and I swirled around. He’d opened his eyes, but he looked weak and disoriented.
The female – Wren, I had to remember to use her name now that I knew it – shrunk back, towards the Trads. I cursed beneath my breath. She was afraid of Kili. She was angry at me. Not exactly a great start.
The Trad on the floor lifted his weapon and pointed it at Kili. I should have stepped in the line of fire, but I remained where I was. Kili met my eyes and frowned.
“I know,” I said gravely. “We all do.”
The frown deepened and a vein popped on his forehead. That only happened when he was either very angry or very upset. I hoped it was the latter.
I took one step forward, then stopped, wringing my hands. “How could you?”
He blinked, then looked away.
“Coward,” Raf spat. “The least you could do is admit your actions.”
“Kili, help us understand,” I begged. Laird, I sounded desperate.
Instead of turning back to me, Kili looked at the female. He held out a hand, as if he wanted her to help him up, or maybe just touch her. I cringed in disgust.
“It was an accident,” he whispered hoarsely. “I wanted to shoot the Trad, but she threw herself on top of him just when I pressed the trigger. I’m sorry, female. I never intended to hurt you.”
“My name is Wren,” she snapped. “And even if you didn’t plan to shoot me, you still tried to kill a defenceless, injured man. How can you stand looking at yourself in the mirror? You’re despicable.”
She pointedly turned her back on him and Raf did the same.
I balled my hands into fists, tension filling my body. I was torn between the two sides. Kili was my friend, but he’d done something terrible. Gritting my teeth, I turned as well and continued with freeing the other Trad. Helping him was more important than wasting my time on a traitor.
Chapter 5
Wren
The nice Athion, Kion, led us over to his spaceship, across the dark rocky ground. Halfway between the ships, I stopped, staring out into the blackness of the universe all around us.
“How is this possible?” I gasped. “How are we not sucked into space?”
It wasn’t like standing on Earth at all. There was no sky. No clouds. Just the rock beneath my feet. The horizon was close and curved; the planet couldn’t be very big. Yet there was air and gravity. I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to ease the tension and fear. The aliens around me all seemed comfortable standing on a rock in the middle of space, but I wasn’t.
“We call it an oxy-tent,” Kion explained. “It’s a very new technology and we’re lucky our ship was equipped with one. See that shimmer in the distance? That’s where it ends. It surrounds us like a dome, keeping in the oxygen our ships produce and generating artificial gravity.” He grinned. “Try jumping up and down a little and you’ll see that it’s not as strong as you’re used to. Actually, don’t. You’re still injured.”
I gave him a glare and jumped. It was a strange feeling. I stayed in the air for a fraction longer than I should have, and the landing was a little softer. Weird. I’d never noticed that on either of the spaceships I’d been on, so their gravity had to be set to how it was on Earth.
“How is there enough oxygen?” I asked.
“There’s less than I’d like, but it’s not enough to affect us,” Kion replied. “Once we’re back on our ship, we’ll close the hatch and won’t go outside unless we have to.” He turned to Raf and Vuk. “I’d say it’s best if we all stay in our ship. Yours is too badly damaged. Maybe we should even pull the oxy-tent back to only enclose ours, just in case yours explodes.”
“Explodes?” I repeated, unable to suppress a gasp. “Is it that bad?”
I’d only just started to feel comfortable on the ship. Not quite home yet, but still…having to get used to new surroundings would be hard.
Vuk lifted his arm and pressed a few buttons on his comm bracelet thingy. “I’ve been running diagnostics while I was trapped. I hate to say it, but the Athion is right. It’s bad. We might be able to salvage some parts and get our belongings, but the Phoenix won’t fly again.”
No rising from the ashes for this Phoenix. I swallowed back my sadness. I didn’t even know why I felt this way. Attached to a spaceship…weird.
“We can use our ship’s sensors to decide if it’s safe for you to return there,” Kion offered.
Now that he knew his mate had shot me, he was incredibly friendly and helpful. The calculating part of me was already making plans on how to exploit that to get us out of here and away from the Athions. I didn’t recognise myself. I was changing and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.
“Shall we go inside?” he asked.
I took one last look at the darkness around us and nodded. It was fascinating to be on this rock, but also terrifying.
There was one more thing I wanted to know though. “Is this an asteroid or a planet?”
“Asteroid,” Vuk and Kion said as one.
“It’s too small to count as a dwarf planet,” Raf explained. “We’re lucky though that we crashed on th
is and not one of the smaller rocks that wouldn’t have been big enough to accommodate our ships.”
“And the oxy-tent needs at least some very low gravity to work,” Kion added. “All in all, we were lucky even though we’re now stranded in the middle of nowhere.”
“I assume you’ve sent out a call for help?” Raf asked the Trads.
Kion nodded. “The nearest ship will take several days to get here. Until then, we’re on our own.”
He led us up a ramp and through a narrow hatch into his craft. I followed, with Vuk right behind me. He limped slightly, but he seemed fine despite having been buried beneath debris. Raf was at the back, pointing his gun at Kili, just in case the Athion got any bad ideas. Kili was unsteady on his feet, but I didn’t trust him not to pretend to be injured. He’d shot me, that fucker.
When we were all inside a large, mostly empty room, Kion touched the watch-like device around his wrist and the ramp folded inwards and the hatch closed. We were locked inside the ship.
“Does it have a name?” I asked to bridge the tension.
Kion frowned at me. “What?”
“The ship. The Trad ship is the Phoenix. What do you call yours?”
"Athion designation gamma-three," he replied, sounding as bored as the name was dull. "We don't generally give ships names." He grimaced and frowned at the Trads as if he was offended that they'd done something he hadn't thought of. "But maybe we should. Look around and let me know if you think of a good name."
He led us into the belly of the spacecraft, through a smelly engine room and up some stairs until we reached a large living area. It looked familiar. I squeezed my eyes shut and grit my teeth, fighting the memory.
"Wren?" Vuk asked in alarm. "What's wrong?"
He took my hand - or maybe it was Raf touching me; I refused to open my eyes - and squeezed reassuringly.
"Are you in pain?" Kion asked. "I knew it was too early for you to leave the med pod."
His voice shattered the last of my control. Too similar. That same accent.
Bile rose in my throat and I gagged. I couldn't breathe. Too many memories. Trapped. Taken. Afraid. The blue men, touching me. The bowl on the floor. Their threats. Pain, all over my body.
I whimpered.
Vuk's earthy scent hit my nose just before his arms wrapped around me. He pressed me against his chest, hard with muscle, just like his arms who were protectively curling around my back. Another memory broke into my mind, but this was a good one. Curled up in his embrace. Feeling safe for the first time in too long. A soft blanket wrapped around my naked body. Laughter. That was after the shower, the weird moment when Raf had flashed me. I shouldn't draw on that memory to make me feel better, but somehow, it worked. A little.
"You're safe, my Queen," Vuk whispered. "I won't let anyone harm you."
Raf put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll kill whoever tries." He growled, probably at the Athions.
"Is there a room we can take her to?" Vuk asked quietly. "Wren needs rest. Alone."
A second whimper escaped me. I didn't want to be on my own, assaulted by my memories. I needed him to anchor me.
"Don't worry, I won't leave your side." His hot breath hit my skin and I relaxed a little. "Can I carry you?"
I should have said no, but I was way too weak to walk. Standing was hard enough, with my body trembling and my breathing too fast. Being in Vuk's arms helped, but I was still close to breaking.
I nodded, rubbing my cheek against his shirt. The fabric was wet. No, that was me. I was crying and I hadn't even realised.
Gently, he picked me up, cradling me in his arms. I nestled into his embrace, feeling strangely protected. Not weak and pathetic as I maybe should have. I was supposed to be a strong woman who didn't need men in her life. Who didn't want them. But right now...I would have fought whoever tried to get me away from him.
"There's a spare bedroom that seems to be intact," Kion muttered. Again, his accent chafed against my mind, reminding me of the other Athions. I turned my head further, making myself as small as possible.
"Stop talking, can't you see it scares her?" Raf snapped. "Just show us."
Vuk walked slowly, keeping a gentle but firm grip on me. A human male may have had trouble carrying me like this, but he wasn't human. He was big, strong and very alien. I breathed in his scent again, focusing on how Trad he smelled. Not Athion. That was the important bit. He was good. Safe. I could trust him. Vuk was on my side. Safe. Trust. Safe. Trust.
I kept repeating that mantra until he stopped. The sound of a door sliding open with a hiss, then we were moving again.
"Let me know if you need anything," Kion mumbled, before the door shut again, drowning out his voice.
"We're alone now," Raf reassured me as soon as the door had closed. Something to my left broke with a crack, then he pushed something heavy across the floor. "And I've barred the door. They won't disturb us."
I smiled at the pride in his voice. He'd broken part of the ship to make me feel safe. How sweet.
Chapter 6
Raf
I was so jealous of Vuk that I was close to tearing him into pieces. Starting with his tail which he'd wrapped around Wren's ankle. She was tiny in his arms, almost like a child, but I didn't see her as weak. She had a moment of weakness and she was allowed that. We should have anticipated that returning to an Athion ship would affect her. No surprise after what those kraktz did to her.
I sat down next to Vuk and my tail snuck around Wren's other ankle, almost without my doing. Almost. I may have encouraged it a little.
Vuk shot me a knowing glance, but said nothing. We both looked down at our little human, still trembling in his arms. Her tears had stopped, but her lips were shaking with every breath.
I wrung my hands in my lap, unsure of what to do. What did she need? Would talking to her help? Or was it silence she craved?
I wish humans came with a manual. It would make everything so much easier. How to feed them, how to keep them happy, when to be forceful, when to back down. How to protect them without being overprotective. And how to make them love you.
Maybe, someday, I could write such a book, starting with rule number one. Do not expose yourself to a human female.
Looking at Vuk and Wren made me more and more jealous, so I took in the room instead. It was a simple bedroom, nothing special. A single bed, some built-in storage, and a small table and two chairs in one corner. Instead of a window or even a screen, a large painting hung on the wall opposite the door, depicting some kind of abstract flowers. Not my taste. I didn't know what to do with art. If I wanted to see a flower, I'd look at a picture or go outside and sniff on one. Having a weirdly twisted stalk with purple petals drifting all around the canvas didn't do it for me.
I shifted and the bed groaned beneath me. It wouldn’t accommodate all three of us. I wasn't going to leave Wren on her own though. I'd rather sleep on the floor than abandon her to the darkness of her nightmares.
Vuk ran his finger through her silky mane. It took all my self-control not to rip her from his arms. I’d never had feelings this strong before. He was my friend, my best friend, and besides the occasional argument, we’d never fought. Something was happening to me. The little alien was bewitching me, turning me into a teenager controlled by his growing body and his unknown emotions.
Zut. Things couldn’t go on like this. Yet I wanted them to… Wren needed to be with us. Safe. I hadn’t known her for long, yet I already knew deep inside that I’d die for her. She was my Queen and I was her loyal warrior.
“She’s asleep,” Vuk whispered, relief swinging in his voice. “Let’s hope she’ll get some rest.”
I nodded. She’d only just been shot and then she’d had that panic attack. She needed time to recover. I watched as Vuk adjusted his position until he was lying on his back, with Wren draped across his body. She looked so small. Her face was no longer scrunched up in a mask of terror. Sleep had given her peace.
I got up and looked through the
storage cupboards until I found a blanket. I gently lay it over the two of them. Vuk didn’t need it; us Trads rarely got cold. I’d learned though that our female was comforted by having blankets and cushions all around her. I’d have to ask the Athions for more pillows to build her a nest again. She’d like that, I was sure of it. And this time, we were going to make the nest bigger, large enough for Vuk and me. If we were lucky, she’d let us in and stay with her. I wasn’t expecting her to become intimate with us, not after her ordeal, but I craved her closeness. Even just lying next to her, smelling her scent, feeling her warmth, would be a dream come true.
While I’d searched for a blanket, Vuk had moved on the bed and the spot where I’d sat before was gone. Kraktz, he’d done that intentionally. He shot me a wry grin, knowing that there was nothing I could do about it. If I’d start to argue, Wren might wake and I didn’t want that.
Zut. I sat down on one of the chairs instead and typed into my communicator. It worked independently from the Phoenix, so even though our ship was no longer functional, I still had access to most of its data and to its AI. I grinned. Time to familiarise myself with the Athion craft and do some hacking.
Kion
The silence between us was heavy. Kili refused to meet my eyes, preferring to stare at the table between us. So be it. I didn’t have to look at him while talking. Even though I wanted to shout at him. The idiot. The traitor. If he weren’t my friend, he’d be locked up in a holding cell in the ship's belly. There was nowhere for him to run though. We were stranded on a rock in space; there was no escape. I’d locked up all the weapons, although I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get to them if he really wanted. He was in command, after all, and without someone superior here to judge over him, I couldn’t demote him. That was a clear oversight in the rules. I supposed they wanted to prevent mutinies, but this couldn’t be the first time a captain had gone rogue. I had to trust in his integrity, whatever was left of it.
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