“Give me a moment. I’ll have him call you with his decision.”
The viewscreen flickered again and went blank. But it wasn’t long at all before it came to life again and a new face—this one a blond Blood Kindred with fangs and pale blue eyes—appeared.
“Commander Sylvan,” Asher nodded his head respectfully. “Thank you for calling me. I was hoping to ask—”
“Commander Drugair has already told me all about both your dilemma and your solution to it,” the other Kindred interrupted. “And I have to commend you for solving the problem already.”
“Does that mean I get to go?” Lisa blurted, then bit her lip. She should have let Asher do the talking, especially since this was clearly a military-type chain of command.
But Commander Sylvan didn’t seem upset with her.
“Do you want to go?” he asked seriously.
“Do I want to go?” Lisa took a deep breath. “Let me put it this way—for as long as I can remember I’ve dreamed of traveling to new and exotic places. A whole other planet on the other side of the galaxy is about as new and exotic as you can get.”
Commander Sylvan smiled, the corners of his pale blue eyes crinkling with apparent amusement.
“Well, your enthusiasm is certainly a plus. You’ll have to stop by the Mother Ship for a short time of course, to get a shot of translation bacteria so you can understand what’s being said on Helios Beta.” He looked over his shoulder. “Oh, and my mate, Sophia, is telling me that you’ll also probably need to get some new clothing to match whatever is fashionable on the planet right now. But since you’ll be folding space to get to the coronation instantaneously, I believe everything will be all right.”
“That’s fine, Commander Sylvan, but there is the matter of payment,” Asher said, when it looked like the other Kindred was about to sign off. “Lisa should be compensated for her time and trouble—especially this close to the Earth holiday of Christmas,” he added.
“Oh yes…” Commander Sylvan frowned. “Let me see. That’s emergency pay plus holiday pay which I believe at the current rate of KC to Dollar conversion equals about…” He squinted his eyes as though doing math in his head. “About two thousand dollars an hour,” he finished at last and looked at Lisa. “Will that be acceptable?”
“Two…two…” She couldn’t make her mouth say the words. Forget California—two thousand dollars an hour would get her a plane ticket to Hawaii or Europe and the start of a whole new life!
“Is that not enough?” Commander Sylvan asked, frowning. “I understand from my mate that working on or near Christmas is especially onerous, especially when one would rather be with family. What about two thousand, five hundred an hour?”
“That…” Lisa licked her lips. “That would be fine. Just fine,” she finally managed to get out. “Thank you so much.”
“Very well.” Commander Sylvan clapped his hands in a gesture of finality. “Then the two of you need to get up here quickly and get ready to go. We have no time to lose.”
“Very well, Commander.” Asher nodded formally and, as the viewscreen went dark, he began pressing buttons that made the little car-ship rise into the air.
They were on their way.
Twelve
The trip through space from the Earth to the Mother Ship, which was orbiting the moon, was amazing for Lisa, though Asher seemed to take it as a matter of course. She was all eyes, as her mom always said, as the sleek Kindred shuttle flew through the transparent atmosphere bubble and landed in the vast Docking Bay on the huge white ship.
There was a welcome committee waiting for them—Commander Sylvan and three human women. To Lisa’s surprise, one of them was familiar.
“Oh, hi again!” Liv exclaimed, coming forward to give her a hug as she climbed out of Asher’s ship. “This is Lisa. She’s the girl I told you about,” she explained to the other two women. “This is my twin sister, Sophie,” she said, pointing to a woman with dark brown hair and green eyes who looked very much like Liv herself. “And this is Kat.” She pointed to the other woman, who was plus sized like Lisa and had long auburn hair.
“Hi,” Lisa said, smiling. “Nice to meet you.” She looked around at the immense Docking Bay, filled with hundreds of Kindred ships and gave a shaky laugh. “Wow, this is all happening so fast. I can’t believe I’m up here.”
“We felt the same way when we first came to the Mother Ship,” Sophie said, smiling. “It is a little overwhelming, isn’t it?”
“It certainly is.” Lisa made an effort to stop gawking and looked at the welcome committee again. “Um, thank you for coming to meet me—but why are you here?”
“To get you ready to go, doll!” Kat exclaimed. “Now look, I haven’t had much time—”
“Try twenty minutes, since I called her right after you guys hung up with Sylvan,” Sophie put in, grinning.
“Yes, thank you for the heads up,” Kat continued. “But anyway, I looked up some formal dress designs for the Chorkay people and I just need your measurements to get started.”
Lisa looked at her, amazed.
“You’re going to make me some dresses to wear to the coronation now? But…how will you have enough time?”
“I have a special machine that can do it like that.” Kat snapped her fingers and grinned. “We’ll have you outfitted in no time flat!”
“And I’m afraid I have a less-fun part to play in getting you ready,” Liv said apologetically. “I’m going to need to give you a shot of translation bacteria.”
“They have it in pill form too, but the pill is huge,” Sophie confided to Lisa. “So it’s kind of up to you which one you prefer.”
“Um…translation bacteria?” Lisa asked. She remembered that Commander Sylvan had said something about that as well, but it hadn’t really sunk into her brain which had still been busy thinking about making twenty-five hundred dollars an hour at the time.
“Sure—so you can understand the Chorkay language and speak it back to them,” Kat said. “Look girls, can we walk and talk at the same time? Sylvan said we have less than an hour to get Lisa ready so we really need to move.”
“All right but I need to say something to Asher,” Lisa exclaimed. She looked around and saw the tall Kindred standing to one side and talking earnestly with Commander Sylvan. He saw her looking for him and gave her a nod.
“Go get ready, Lisa—I’ll meet you back here in an hour,” he said, breaking off his conversation with Commander Sylvan for a moment.
“Okay—see you soon,” Lisa said and then she was hustled off by her three new friends to get what Kat called, “a Chorkay makeover.”
“She’s very lovely,” Commander Sylvan said quietly, watching his mate and the other two women take Lisa away to get ready.
“She is,” Asher admitted uncomfortably. “But I swear that is not the reason I recommended her for this mission. I watched her work tonight and she has an excellent work ethic and a very good character. I feel she will be an asset.”
“You don’t have to justify yourself to me,” Sylvan said mildly. “I trust your judgment, Commander Asher. You wouldn’t have been entrusted with this mission otherwise.” He leaned closer. “The Council really wants the Chorkay method of communication. It would be a great asset to us so it’s very important that we don’t offend them in any way.”
“I understand.” Asher nodded. “I’ve been trying to find out more about their culture but there is regrettably little information other than the fact that they share emotions with their mate or mates and expect others to do the same.”
“And do you think that you and Lisa can work as a team and pretend to be sharing emotions?” Sylvan asked, raising an eyebrow.
Asher nodded.
“She’s very good at conveying her emotions to me already. We worked together tonight and I thought we made an excellent team.”
“Yes, Olivia told me about the misunderstanding which left you playing ‘Santa Claus’ this evening in my brother Baird’s place,�
� Sylvan said dryly. “That must have been an interesting experience.”
“One I never hope to repeat,” Asher agreed with a shiver. “The human children were worse to deal with than a delegation of Barthonian diplomats and a cadre of Galux assassin droids put together.”
Sylvan laughed.
“Just wait until you’ve had some young ones of your own,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s different when the children are your own.”
“I, er…do not believe that will ever happen since I cannot have children,” Asher said awkwardly. “As a Tangala Kindred, I can only bond with a female who also has Tangala DNA. And since almost all the females of my species have died off…” He left the sentence hanging expressively and Sylvan nodded in sympathy.
“Forgive me—I didn’t realize,” he said, frowning. “It has been a while since I studied the Tangala predicament, back when I was doing my medical training.” His brow furrowed. “But are you certain that no other kind of DNA is compatible with your own?”
“None the Tangala Kindred have found so far,” Asher said seriously. “Although…” He stopped, not sure if he should go on. But the experiences he’d had with Lisa that night, the manifestation of two of the Three Signs, were…unnerving to say the least. And he would have been glad of a medical opinion about them.
“Go on,” Sylvan said, making a motion with one hand. “Whatever it is, you can tell me, Commander Asher.”
“Well, it’s just…” Asher cleared his throat. “In studying my people did you ever come across any mention of The Three Signs?”
“Oh yes.” Sylvan nodded. “I remember—the three signs a Tangala Kindred receives to let him know he has met his fated mate. The Strike, the Sight, and the…” He shook his head. “Forgive me—I forget the last one.”
“The Sound,” Asher told him.
“Yes, of course—the Sound!” Sylvan snapped his fingers. “So why do you ask about the Three Signs?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at Asher. “Did you experience some of them tonight, while working with Lisa?”
“I did.” Asher wondered at the other male’s perception. It must be one of the reasons the Goddess herself had elevated him to the Head of the High Council. “Or, at least I think I did,” he added, frowning.
“Tell me.” Sylvan crossed his arms over his chest, looking ready to listen. “Which signs did you receive?”
“The Strike and the Sight,” Asher said. “I would not receive the Sound unless I decided to try and bond Lisa to me.”
Which was a ridiculous thought, since he had only just met her that night. And yet somehow, he couldn’t help wishing it might be possible.
“And what would happen if you attempted to bond her to you and you didn’t get the third sign?” Sylvan asked.
Asher frowned. “A failed bonding—very painful for both parties. And it would probably inhibit Lisa’s ability to bond with any other male in the future.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why I’m even thinking of such a thing. After all, she’s only going on the one mission with me and only out of necessity. It’s foolish to even consider such an eventuality.”
“Not if you’ve already gotten the first two signs,” Sylvan said seriously. “It may be that the Goddess has put your fated mate into your path. You would be foolish indeed to ignore such an opportunity.”
“But it can’t be,” Asher protested. “Lisa is human—she doesn’t have any Tangala DNA to make a bonding between us possible. I must have imagined the first two signs because I find her so incredibly attractive.”
“Hmm…I suppose only time will tell,” Sylvan said neutrally. “But be cautious, Brother—don’t throw away a gift from the Goddess because you doubt her ability to make the impossible possible. She’s very good at putting unexpected miracles in our paths, you know.”
“I will consider your words carefully,” Asher said, nodding. “But in the meantime, I had better prepare for the mission.”
“Of course.” Sylvan nodded. “Go with the Goddess. And bring back those communication devices if you possibly can—we could really use them.”
“Yes, of course.” Asher nodded. But his mind was only half on his mission—the other part of his brain was thinking of Lisa and wondering what she was doing and if there really was any way she could be his fated mate.
Thirteen
“So, we’re going to fold space and go from our space here to the space where the Chorkay home planet is located instantaneously?” Lisa asked, trying to get it right.
“Mmm-hmm.” Kat was working busily at the console of what looked a little like a 3-D printer. She had taken Lisa’s measurements and fed them all into the interface of the strange machine and now it was rapidly spitting out garments-most of which seemed to be deep blue, Lisa noticed.
“Unless you’re pregnant,” Sophie said anxiously. “It’s not safe for pregnant women to fold space.”
Lisa snorted. “Zero chance of that. “It’s been a while since I…well, you know.”
“No man in your life then?” Liv asked sympathetically. “Okay, this is going to pinch just for a minute,” she added as she gave Lisa the shot of translation bacteria. Lisa had opted for the shot since she didn’t mind needles and it was supposed to be the quicker method to get the bacteria into her bloodstream.
“Not anymore.” She winced a little as the needle bit into the flesh of her upper arm. “Let’s just say I got out of a very bad relationship six months ago and I’m not interested in going back.”
Not like Cameron could find her up here, she thought with some satisfaction. The asshole was probably still driving around Miami somewhere, wondering where she had run off to.
Bet he’d never guess I ran off to the Mother Ship—and from there to a planet sixty thousand light years away, Lisa thought, smiling grimly to herself. At least she didn’t have to worry about having the same kind of Christmas Eve this year as the horror show she’d had last year.
“So, you and Commander Asher must have really hit it off while he was playing Santa to your elf,” Liv remarked, finishing the shot and slapping a band-aid on Lisa’s arm with a grin.
“I don’t know if you could say we hit it off,” Lisa said cautiously. “It was pretty rough, to be honest. He doesn’t seem to know anything at all about Christmas or Santa or any of it.”
“Well, our holiday traditions seem pretty weird to our Kindred guys,” Sophie said. “But they put up with them because they love us.”
“Happy wife, happy life,” Kat agreed, grinning. “Okay, doll—I’ve got a few things ready for you here. If Liv is done poking you, how about you try some on to make sure I got the measurements right?”
Lisa was happy to oblige her. She went behind a screen Kat had set up in her “sewing room” and pulled off her jeans and sweater to try on one of the several outfits Kat had laid out.
The first one was a clingy blue wrap dress with a plunging V-neckline which clung to her curves like it was painted on.
“Uh…” Lisa stepped hesitantly out from behind the screen. “Is this how it’s supposed to fit? I kind of leaves nothing to the imagination.”
“Yup, that’s perfect!” Kat exclaimed with delight. “That’s the latest Chorkay fashion.”
“It looks really good on you,” Sophie assured her. “It really highlights your curves.”
“It matches her eyes too!” Liv exclaimed. “Look at that—the color of the dress is the exact same color of Lisa’s eyes!”
Kat and Sophie leaned in close for a look and marveled over the match too.
“That’s the color the Chorkay call ‘Sacred Blue’,” Kat explained. “They all have blue skin, you know, but this particular color is supposed to be the most desirable shade.” She winked at Lisa. “I bet you’re going to be very popular there, doll!”
“Thank you,” Lisa said sincerely. “I’ll certainly be thinking of you when I wear it to the coronation, tomorrow.”
“Oh, that’s not your coronation gown,” Kat protested. This is.”
“Um, I might need help,” Lisa said uncertainly. “This looks kind of complicated.”
“Here, let me.” Kat went behind the screen with her this time. She helped Lisa out of the blue wrap dress and frowned. “Hey, what happened to the back of your thighs?” she asked Lisa. “You’re all scratched up.”
“Am I?” Lisa tried to look over her own shoulder but it was nearly impossible to get a look at the backs of her own thighs.
“Here.” Kat whipped out a small, compact viewer and gave her a better look.
“Oh, my!” Lisa looked with concern at the red scratches that decorated the backs of her legs. She tried to think how such a thing could have happened and suddenly remembered falling into the fake holly plant outside Santa’s Workshop when she’d first run into Asher. She had only been wearing the thin red and white candy cane striped stockings, which had obviously been no protection at all.
“How did that happen?” Kat asked, wincing. “It looks painful—almost like somebody whipped you. You’re not into BDSM, are you?”
“Kat!” Liv and Sophie both exclaimed from the other side of the screen.
“Like she’d want to tell you if she was,” Liv added.
“No, I’m not,” Lisa said quickly. “I just fell into a holly bush at work tonight.” Quickly she told them about how she’d run directly into Asher and fallen on her ass in the fake holly.
“Oh my God, I can just see that happening!” Kat exclaimed, laughing. “Well, you’re not actually bleeding or anything so I guess you’ll probably be okay.”
“I’ll be fine,” Lisa said. “Just help me on with this coronation gown.”
“Of course. Here—it goes like this…”
Kat slipped the gown over Lisa’s head and showed her how to arrange the complicated layers.
The gauzy fabric was so light it kept trying to float up into the air and the finished effect reminded Lisa of a fancy, old fashioned peignoir. It was a pale, delicate blue up top and had an empire waistline that ended just below her breasts. Beneath the waistline, many floating layers like a flower’s petals fell in gradual waves of ever deepening blue to her ankles where the gown was such a dark blue it was almost black. A pair of strappy silver sandals went with the outfit, making her feel like a fairy princess.
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