by Siren Allen
“I believe it.”
“Good.” He took a step back, her hand still resting on his cheek. His hand covered hers. “I will go and get the crew. I will try my best not to kill any of them for getting too close to you.”
“Please behave. I don’t need you dirtying up my new kitchen.”
He smiled, before pulling her hand away from his face and placing it over his heart. Her breath caught.
“This is all yours,” he told her. “I promise.” He released her hand and went in search of his crew, leaving her breathless.
Stars, what had she gotten herself into?
And how the hell was she supposed to get out of it with her heart intact?
***
Malia stood back and watched the males file into the room. They entered with their eyes glued to the table, none of them looked her way. She glanced at Silver who smiled back at her. Yep, this was his doing.
Conversation would break the ice. “Hi, my name is Malia.”
Silver’s smile disappeared. “They know your name.”
“You promised,” she told him.
He took a deep and exhaled slowly. “Guys, this is Malia.”
They didn’t look up, just sat at the table looking down at their plates. Malia gave Silver a what the hell look.
“You guys can talk to her.”
They all spoke at once, turning to her.
“Hey, I’m Gamma. Do females like tattoos?”
“I’m Beta. I pilot this ship. If it wasn’t for me we’d be stuck on Venus.”
“I’m Ep.”
Okay. Though she felt slightly overwhelmed she didn’t let her smile waiver.
“Um, Hi, Gamma and yes, some females like tattoos. I guess it just depends on the female.”
The one called Gamma nodded and mumbled. “She’ll like it. I know she will.”
Malia turned to Beta. “Hi Beta. And thank you for being such a good pilot.”
He nodded before staring back down at his place. Malia turned to Ep. He was looking at Silver.
“It’s nice to meet you also Ep. That’s a very unique name.”
“It’s short for Epsilon.”
“Wow. Wait, you all have names of Greek letters. How did that happen?”
Every gaze in the room found something to look at other than her, even Silver.
“Okay, I’ll save the questions for later. Just tell me, where’s Delta?”
Beta and Gamma laughed. Silver grinned.
“I didn’t like that name,” Ep told her. “I once had a pet named Delta. It died.”
“Makes sense. Okay, I hope you guys enjoy my biscuits and omelets?” She waited for them to eat. They still sat there staring at the food.
“Go on, it won’t bite,” she told them.
“I’ve seen food that bit before,” Gamma informed them.
“Liar,” Beta told him.
“For real. On planet Hepton. The plants there will eat you before you eat them.”
“On yeah, Hepton. I forgot about that world. I hated that place. Mostly swamps. The indigenous people that live there are carnivores. When that female told me she wanted to taste me, I didn’t think she meant literally taste me.”
“Beta,” Silver roared. “Not in front of Malia.”
“Oh, sorry, Malia.”
Too late. Malia was trying to hold her amusement in, but she couldn’t. She burst out laughing. Every male turned to her. That only made her laugh harder. Their worried expressions were too funny. Had they never seen a female laugh before?
“Mate, what is wrong? What’s happening?”
She gripped her side, tears falling from her eyes. “Nothing,” she couldn’t finish. The males were all looking at each other. Seriously? Had they been away from the opposite sex for that long? Malia attempted to pull herself together. She raised her hand, pointing at Beta.
He shook his head. “Captain, I swear I didn’t do anything.”
Silver moved toward his crew member. Malia grabbed his arm, her laughter subsiding a little.
“He didn’t do anything.” She wiped her eyes. “His joke.”
“I made no joke,” Beta said. “I didn’t do anything.”
“About the Hepton lady. The one who wanted to taste you literally.”
“I shouldn’t have said that. Especially with you here. It was wrong of me. Shit, female, tell him I didn’t do anything. Do you want him to kill me?”
“No, it just that your joke, it was hella funny.”
Silver turned to her. “Funny?”
“Yeah.” She released his arm. “You all may not have thought it was funny, but I did. Geez, can a girl not laugh on this ship?”
Gamma burst out laughing. “She was laughing. Stars, I thought she was having a fit.”
“Really?” Malia stared past Silver. “Do I laugh that badly?”
Everyone began denying it.
“It’s just,” Gamma said, “We don’t spend much time outside of our ship. We’re not used to hearing females laugh. You sounded like a banshee. I liked it.”
“Gamma,” Silver growled.
“It’s okay,” Malia patted Silver’s shoulder. “I thought it was funny that’s all.”
She walked past Silver and sat down at the table to eat. She knew she had a weird laugh. The kids in school had picked on her about it for years, calling her chuckles. At least the males here hadn’t called her any names. Silver pulled out the seat next to her and joined the rest of them.
“Shit, I forgot the boy.” The one called Ep stood up.
“What boy?” Silver said, eyeing Ep.
So there was someone else on board. Ep froze. His gaze swung from Silver to her then back to Silver. She was so tired of secrets. Malia scooted her chair back and stood up.
“Go get him. I’ll fix him a plate.”
Ep sat down. “There’s no one else.”
“Go get him, please. It wouldn’t be right for us to eat and him not to.”
Ep glanced at Silver.
“She knows about him now. What happened to using the code names?” Silver lifted his fork.
Malia smacked his hand. “Don’t eat yet. We have to wait on the other crew member.”
“He’s not really a crew member, he’s more like a…”
“Precious cargo,” Gamma finished for him.
“Cargo?” She was even more confused.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” Silver mumbled.
That was his answer for everything. How was she going to get info for Striker if no one would answer questions? That train of thought brought with it a wave of guilt. She shoved it aside. She had to do what she had to do.
Ep returned to the kitchen with a little boy following close behind him. A little blue boy. All of them, including the child stared at her, awaiting her reaction. Surely they didn’t expect her to be horrified.
She came from a planet that was the galaxy’s biggest tourist attraction. She’d seen all sorts of people, pink people, green people, people with three eyes and four tails. Her favorite customer had tentacles.
She embraced diversity. It was what made the universe a beautiful place. If each star in the galaxy was the same, the galaxy wouldn’t be the wonder that it was. Malia sat the child’s plate next to hers.
“Hi.” She waved at him and smiled, hoping to set him at ease.
The kid moved closer to Ep. Malia wanted to ask the male if this was his child, but chose not to. Everyone was so secretive. She didn’t want to step on any toes. It was too early in her plan for that.
“My name is Malia,” she pointed at herself. “What is your name?”
The child looked up at Ep, who nodded.
“My name is Frost.”
“What a lovely name. It’s nice to meet you Frost. Are you hungry?”
The young one shook his head.
“Okay. Would you like to sit next to me while I eat?”
He started to shake his head, then stopped. He glanced down at his feet and mumbled.
Silver groaned.
Who was Nahid? Anger filled her, but was quickly replaced by jealousy.
“Who is Nahid?” She could hear the anger in her voice. All the males on the ship spoke at once.
“She’s no one,” Silver said.
“She’s a friend of a friend,” Gamma added.
“Never heard of her,” Beta stated.
“It’s complicated,” Epsilon replied.
Which one was telling the truth?
“She’s my mata,” the young one spoke up.
“Mata, that means mother,” Malia mumbled. To the boy she asked, “She’s your mother?”
He nodded. “She’s resting. She’s sick. I don’t know how to help her.”
“And now he talks,” Silver shook his head.
Her heart went out to Frost. His mother was sick. The jealousy that shouldn’t have been there in the first place evaporated. “Come sit with me. Let’s eat.”
She hoped the meal would take his worries off his mother, for a while. He moved away from Ep and joined her at the table. After the child was seated, Ep took his seat once more. Malia placed a fork in Frost’s hand.
“Okay, let’s dig in.”
Silver dug in, the others picked with the food, sniffing it before taking a small bite. Malia smiled when their looks of apprehension turned to looks of appreciation.
“This is good,” Frost told her.
She turned to him and smiled. “I’m glad you like it.”
He nodded and resumed eating. He was so like the other males on board. It was cute.
“This is actually good,” Gamma told her. “No wonder you own a diner, well, owned a diner. Sorry about that by the way.”
“Shut up and eat,” Beta elbowed him. “This is good Malia. The best food I’ve ever eaten.”
“Thank you, Malia. The food is nice,” Epsilon told her. “And thank you for fixing the kid a plate.”
Their compliments made her blush. She stared at Silver to find him smiling at her as he forked eggs into his mouth. So this was what being accepted into the fold felt like. It was nice.
She had better not get used to it.
Chapter Sixteen
The coffee was a big hit with the males.
She tried to talk Frost out of drinking it, since coffee was a grown up drink. He begged and she relented and laughed when Ep said the child already had her wrapped around his finger.
Truth was, she wasn’t used to being around kids. Of course she wanted some of her own. There weren’t many children in her family. Most of her female cousins weren’t mated yet.
Having Frost around was a joy. When Silver announced that he would be manning the ship and told the others to clean the kitchen, Malia was shocked when the child asked if he could go with her to the navi-deck.
She’d said yes of course. And now here they sat, watching Silver man the ship. It wasn’t as exciting as she’d thought it’d be. There wasn’t much steering going on. The ship was flying itself.
“You’re not actually steering,” Malia pointed her observation out to Silver.
“True.”
“So why do you have to be up here?”
“Bored already?”
“No, I enjoy watching the stars. I just don’t know why someone has to be here all the time.”
“We’re having ship issues. Nothing serious. We just need someone at the steering in case something happens.”
“Makes sense.” She stared across the room at Frost who was playing with her E-pad that Silver had retrieved from her home. “He seems to like playing the games. He’s already passed the level I was on.”
“He’s smart,” Silver told her.
“So, who’s child is he?”
Her mate tensed. Wait, she’d just referred to him as her mate. At least it was only in her head. The words hadn’t actually spewed from her mouth like so many other unplanned statements had. Stars, this pretend life was inching too close to reality.
“Must we talk about it in front of him?”
He was trying to get out of the conversation. “He can’t hear us.”
“Trust me, there’s always someone listening.”
That sounded very eerie and ominous.
“Okay, that’s not scary at all.” Her words dripped with sarcasm.
“It’s not meant to be. It’s the truth. That’s why I can’t explain it all to you right now. But I will soon.” He rubbed her knee. “I promise.”
Another promise. She was tired of promises. She wanted some answers. Instead of allowing her anger to show, she stared out into the vast darkness. She’d never been so far away from home. It was both scary and exciting.
Space amazed her. Every culture had its own opinion on how the worlds came to be. Malia chose to believe that a higher power spoke them all into existence. She took comfort in knowing that there was someone out there watching over her, directing her steps.
Leading her to where she needed to be. That higher power had created her for Silver and him for her. But she was pretty sure that fate hadn’t planned on him taking her away from everything she held dear.
Then again, she wasn’t an expert on fate. Look at her, second guessing her plan to be free. But what would being away from Silver bring her? Loneliness. Yeah, she’d been happy with her diner.
Yet, every night she’d gone home alone. Her only bed buddy had been her book boyfriends. Though they were the perfect males for her, they couldn’t hold her at night. They couldn’t whisper sweet words in her ear the way Silver had done last night.
Though she was pretty sure he’d been dreaming. Still, the words had been sweet. And she knew he’d been dreaming of her because he kept saying her name in his sleep, begging her not to leave him. Stars, how was she going to turn her back on this male?
“I know it seems like I’m keeping a lot from you,” Silver interrupted her chaotic thoughts.
“It doesn’t seem like it. You are.”
“Well, yes, but it’s for your safety. The less you know, the better.”
“Okay.”
“I’m serious, mate.”
There were those chills again. “Okay.”
“You don’t sound like you believe me.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“Shit.”
“What?”
“I just, I hate doing this to you.”
Malia rubbed his knee. “It’s okay.”
“You sure?”
“Promise,” she threw his word back at him.
“Good. I’m going to make this all up to you. I promise.”
There was that word again.
“Malia,” Frost called to her.
“Hey Frost, what’s up?”
“The game says my battery is low.”
“Oh, I can fix that. Do you have a wireless charger?” She asked Silver.
“Next to the third console.”
As if she knew where that was. The child did. He strode over to the console. He glanced about for a second before grinning and sitting the E-pad down. He pulled the chair closer to the console and continued playing the game.
For a moment, Malia simply observed the boy. If the males on this ship was so bad, why was this child at ease with them? Why did his mother allow him to travel with them? What was he?
How were they all connected? Frost must’ve felt her staring at him. He raised his head. Their eyes connected and he smiled.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen him do that,” Silver told her.
At the captain’s words the child’s smile disappeared and he resumed playing the game.
“You have a way with children,” Silver told her.
Embarrassed yet delighted she stared back out into space. “I’ve never spent much time around children.”
“Still, they say kids can sense evil in others. The fact that he likes you, means you’re good. I already knew that though.”
Was she good? No. Her intentions were
n’t good at all. Sure, in the end she’d benefit. But what would happen to the rest of the crew? To Frost? To her mate? She had a lot to think about.
***
After watching Silver man the ship for what felt like hours, Malia grew extremely bored and decided to play a card game with Frost. Escorted by Beta, she returned to Silver’s room and rummaged through her dresser drawer in search of a deck of cards.
Frost was a quick learner, far quicker than the other members of the crew. She only had to show him how to play a game called ‘speed’ once and then he was an expert at it. The other males, not so much.
Despite Gamma’s cheating and Beta complaining about Gamma’s cheating, Malia had a lot of fun playing cards. She’d never laughed so much in her life. They even managed to wriggle a chuckle from Frost.
The crew had been just as shocked by his laughter as they had been by hers the first time they heard it. That fact raised new questions for her. Yet, she knew no answers would be forthcoming so she kept those questions to herself.
The game ended when Ep entered the kitchen to let Frost know it was time for bed. Malia could see that the child was not ready to leave. She expected him to pitch a fit. He didn’t. He simply nodded and stood up.
She was shocked when he threw his arms around her for a brief moment before turning to follow Ep out of the room. Even Ep raised an eyebrow at that. Malia blinked back tears, not wanting the crew to see how emotional his gesture made her.
She couldn’t turn this crew in. She couldn’t steal information from them. She didn’t care that they were wanted by Galaxy Patrol. Everyone made mistakes. But the members of the Striker seemed like truly genuine people.
“Malia are you okay?” Beta asked her. “Are you crying? Shit. Captain is going to have a fit.”
“No, he won’t.” Malia wiped her eyes. “I just, the hug was uh, unexpected.”
“Shocked the hell out of me too,” Gamma told her. “The kid likes you. That’s good. So why are you crying?”
They really knew nothing about females. “Sometimes females cry for no reason,” she told them. They both looked at her like she’d lost her mind.
“Why?” Gamma asked.