“Yes.” But he couldn’t look her in the eye and turned back to the view before him.
She glared at him, the heat of it burning the back of his neck. But a moment later, she dropped into the seat next to him, the glare gone. She leaned on her hand, leaning toward him. “Tell me about your world, your people.”
His mind blanked. What should he say? Where could he possibly start? “It’s very different from this one.” He looked out the view screen, his eyes aching from the bright light. “Darker.”
“Is it colder?”
He shook his head. “Not terribly.” His tail lashed back and forth as he thought. He struggled to come up with descriptors that would help her understand his world. It wasn’t cold on his planet, but then they were different species. Maybe it would be cold to her.
And while they had a sun that provided warmth and energy to their world, a collection of moons provided repeated bouts of darkness throughout the day. Certain areas, like their capital city, Ateel, saw almost constant night. It was why the city had been built there. Between high mountains that blocked angular light and protected the denizens from enemies and adverse weather, and the consistent paths of the moons that shaded them further, the Ateles had always flocked there.
Ellie leaned forward, touching his knee, jerking him out of his musings. She smiled at him uncertainly.
“Sorry.” He shook himself. “As I said, there is far more darkness and shade there.”
“How so?”
“While we have a good star that provides life for our planet, we also have a lot of features which block its light. Many of our plants would die off in the strong light of planets like this.”
“Really? Do you use alternate sources of energy?” She leaned farther still, her eyes big with curiosity.
He laughed, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t know. I know that some of our colonies have failed because the crops they brought with them couldn’t tolerate the ecosystems. It’s not easy to find those perfect conditions. Most planets are either too cold but have the correct quantity of light or are the right temperature but are too bright. Our colonists have learned to adapt, though I can’t say I know what that involves.”
She nodded, leaning back in her seat. “Earth is a lot like this planet. Humans require sunlight to be healthy. It’s why I take breaks planetside from time to time. Recharges the batteries, so to speak.”
“But you’re not human.” That pale-skinned appearance with red hair, that had been what humans looked like from what he’d gathered, but that wasn’t who she was. It was just a façade.
Her face fell. “No, I’m not.” Her voice barely reached above a whisper.
Hacht. He wished he’d kept his mouth shut. “Ateel, our capital, is quite beautiful, though.”
She looked up at him, a crooked smile on her face that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Oh?”
Zee nodded. He’d lived in Ateel since joining the military, but now, he couldn’t remember much of the details. He lived a very unsatisfying life, just existing between missions. Scratching his neck, he struggled with what more to say. “It is surrounded on three sides by enormous, snowcapped mountains. Even the fourth side is elevated, though more like foothills, while the city proper sits in a deep valley. Our first attempts at plumbing were just to keep the valley from flooding. We actually developed plumbing long before any form of written language, which I’ve heard is rare.
“Now, most of the buildings have…” He scratched his neck harder. What was the word for it? “Entry points into our water management system. On the roofs and exterior. It allows most of the water to never reach ground level. The exterior walls of buildings are also built on angles to allow water to be caught and slow its progress to ground level.”
“I imagine that means you never have issues with droughts there.”
Not that he could recall. But then, living in one of the larger buildings, he often didn’t notice the weather conditions at all. He shrugged.
She shook her head at him with a smirk.
Zee paused, not sure what else to say. As a soldier, he often felt detached from society, alone. He settled into his small apartment between missions, rarely leaving other than to gather supplies. He never visited family, and he shied away from the fact that they hardly ever reached out to him anymore. Zee imagined other soldiers might have an unwieldy surplus of messages waiting for them when they got home, but not him. When had that happened?
He remembered his parents being proud of him at first, but it had bothered him, like they were applauding his ability to kill. He’d avoided them, feeling uncomfortable around them. Now he couldn’t remember the last time they tried to get in touch.
“The Ateles are known for their military.”
Her eyes lit up, a small smile stretching her abused lip. “Oh really?”
He nodded. “It is rare for any species to engage in hostilities with us, though it still happens.” He frowned, thinking of the Thunnus. Why had they chosen an Ateles colony to strike? It made no sense. There were plenty of cultures with far fewer defenses, easier targets. Hacht, even the Usans would be a better target. Though attacking them would bring down the wrath of a great many cultures who relied on the species for peaceful interactions with others, the Ateles included.
She leaned forward. “So, you’re a member of an elite military.”
Zee halted, surprised by her comment. He’d never thought of himself as elite. He’d never managed to climb up the ranks, never achieved a level of command, but the Ateles were known and feared for their military. And he supposed some might consider Special Forces as elite, though he’d always seen it as a specialization, not actually something special. It just required more training. “I guess,” he said uncertainly.
Ellie laughed. “You sound really confident there.”
“I’ve never considered the Ateles military as an elite force, though I suppose we are more capable than most.”
She shook her head. “I can’t tell if you’re being modest or not.”
He shrugged. “I’m just a soldier.”
Chapter Eighteen
Zee lay in Ellie’s comfortable bed the next morning, her naked form pressed against him and tucked into his arms. She still slept, her chest lifting his arm with each breath. He enjoyed the moment, feeling completely relaxed for the first time in a long time, maybe since reaching adulthood, since being conscripted into the military.
His arms wrapped tighter around her, the thought alarming him. His heart pounded in his chest, tensing his muscles. He held his breath, uncertainty pouring through him. Why was he reacting this way? Even in the heat of battle, his heart didn’t pound like this, tensing his body in a way that made efficient movement impossible. He wanted to hold Ellie tight and never let go, keep her safe, citizens of Ezzaruh be damned.
Remorse immediately hit him, liquefying his body with a dark sensation that brooked no argument. How could he even think that? He thought of the millions of people who lived on the colony, millions of people going about their lives, not knowing a threat loomed in the distance. He couldn’t abandon them to their fate. Looking down at Ellie’s sleep-softened face, he knew she couldn’t either.
Zee resisted the urge to run his fingers along her smooth, purple face. The bright color hypnotized him, the smooth texture taunting him, wooing him. He never wanted to leave this bed. That thought in mind, he smiled, leaning down to kiss her.
She groaned in her sleep as his lips touched the gentle softness, her neck craning up to follow him as he pulled back. Her eyes opened, a mischievous glint warning him of her intentions. She wrapped both arms around him, dragging him down where she wanted him. He obliged, deepening their kiss as his body came alive, ready to please her in every way.
Her hands trailed down his shoulders, his arms, sending shivers down his spine as he pulled away, gasping at the pleasure just the barest of her touches gave him. Hacht, how could he have lived without this for all these years?
But the thought evap
orated as her hands changed direction, jumping to his sides where she continued her downward trek. His muscles jumped under the caress as he moved downward as well, his mouth trailing down to her neck, where she stretched, shifting to give him better access.
He groaned, the sound vibrating against her bare skin as she latched onto his ass, her claws digging in but not biting as she urged him on. He increased his attentions, his hands going to her chest as he nipped lightly at her neck and shoulder.
Then her fingers trailed between his ass cheeks, and he reached back, grabbing her wrists and pressing them down next to her shoulders. He glared at her. “Behave.”
She smirked at him, her smile growing bigger even though he did nothing to cause it.
He looked down her splayed form, liking the display, her body pinned and helpless beneath him. “Oh, the things I could do to you.”
She laughed. “I’d enjoy every moment of it, wouldn’t I?”
He dipped his head, nipping at the tip of one of her chest mounds. He gave her a sly look. “Oh, absolutely.”
She laughed, pressing up harder against him, begging without words.
He laughed himself, the sound a little breathless, and he returned to his ministrations. She gasped as he latched onto her tip, pulling it tight between his teeth.
“Zee, please.” She drawled the word, tilting her head backward.
“Please what?” he asked, releasing her flesh from his mouth.
She whimpered, urging him on with an undulation of her body that rubbed against his everted member. He sucked in a breath, holding it as the wave of pleasure passed.
“Please,” she begged, whimpering again, her voice higher pitched than ever.
He leaned up, pressing his torso to her, resting his lips against her ear. “What do you want, Ellie?”
She whimpered again. This time, the high-pitched noise was voiced directly next to his own ear. Then she latched onto it, causing Zee to pull back in surprise.
“Ellie?”
The pleasure-haze left her eyes, and she laughed at him. “You didn’t like that?” she asked in a soft voice.
He shook his head, loving her a little in that moment, and leaned over her, nose-to-nose. “I think I like everything about you, Ellie.”
Zee’s words rang through her head as Ellie made breakfast for them in the galley. Well, poked her finger at the robot’s display, but as close as she would get to making breakfast on this ship.
I think I like everything about you, Ellie.
She bit her lip, holding it there between her teeth as her finger hovered in front of a picture for one of the programmed meals. She didn’t want to move as that statement settled through her, reworking her. What did it mean?
Ellie felt like a teenage girl giddy over her first crush, which was plain stupid. She was a businesswoman, a captain with her own ship, and he was a soldier, hardly an awkward teenage boy. She shook her head and punched the screen, her fingertip mashing so hard she felt it all the way up her arm. The robot whizzed to life, and she stepped back, watching its progress and emptying her mind.
It doesn’t matter.
By the time the robot finished, ejecting the dishes out the side, her mind was clear and onto more important matters, like what to do about the Thunnus. She grabbed the two plates, balancing them on her right arm as she opened the door, letting it click closed behind her.
At her bedroom, she bumped the door open with her hip, sailing into the room. “Breakfast is served,” she said as she placed the plates on the table with a gentle click.
Zee turned from the wall display where he studied the maps they’d stolen. A smile crept onto his face. “It smells wonderful.” His legs ate the distance between them in a handful of steps. Coming up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her and breathed deep against her hair. “Wonderful.”
She laughed. “Me or the food?”
“Do I have to choose?”
“I’m afraid so.”
His stomach growled, and Ellie jumped away from him, looking down where the sound had come from with unease. It hadn’t sounded like the gurgling her own stomach sometimes made but the growling of an apex predator intent on prey. “Jesus, Zee. What the hell was that?”
He laughed. “I guess that answers that question. Food, it is.”
Ellie laughed, shaking her head as she sat across from him at the table. She dug in, but didn’t really taste the food on her tongue as her mind returned to the problem at hand. Swallowing, she said, “Without Angus’s comms, we don’t have a lot of options.”
Zee looked up from his food slowly, chewing methodically until he could swallow the enormous mouthful he’d chosen. “True.” He didn’t make any suggestions.
Ellie moved the fluffy, yellow eggs around her plate, pushing them against her multigrain toast, which slid across the plate until it hovered precariously over the edge. She felt cornered, trapped. She tapped her fork against her plate, the metal ringing against the mystery substance the plate was made from.
“We have to go back.”
“Back?” She jerked in her seat, her fork clanging against her plate as she dropped it.
“Yeah. To the camp. It’s the only way we’re going to figure out what’s going on.” He shook his head. “If only they spoke Uso…”
Ellie nodded, finishing another mouthful. She didn’t really care anymore what was going on. She liked Zee, was enjoying their time together, but that didn’t mean she wanted to get in the middle of this.
And what if he’s right? What if no one will listen to us unless we get more information?
Her conscience gnawed at her, betraying her in the worst way. She couldn’t turn her back on this, and if Zee was right, just getting off-world and informing the authorities wouldn’t be enough. She sighed. “We need more information.”
He nodded as another helping disappeared into his mouth. “Yeah, we do.”
“Could we monitor their comms? You said Angus was being blocked, but the long-range comms work on a different system to short-range. Maybe we can listen in and gather intel that way?”
He shook his head, putting his utensil down. “No, they have their channels encrypted. We could listen, but Atala only knows how long it would take us to know what we’re hearing. And that’s assuming they’re speaking in Usan.”
“Oh.” She looked down, picking up her fork once again.
How was this going to work? If the enemy only spoke a language neither of them could translate, how were they going to get the information they needed? It seemed hopeless. Ellie tipped her head up, waiting and hoping Zee would have a solution. His jaw worked hard on a piece of meat as she waited him out.
He swallowed, looking resigned. “We need to find out their timeline. We just have to hope we can find something we can use.”
She nodded and looked down. Her eggs looked more mashed than scrambled now from playing with them. She forked another helping to her mouth even though they didn’t look appetizing anymore. “After breakfast?” She looked up without moving her head.
He nodded, the last of his food now in his mouth.
She nodded in return, focusing now on her food. She needed to catch up, but she’d lost her appetite.
Zee regretted having to leave the ship again. He’d enjoyed this interlude, didn’t want it to end, but duty came first. He couldn’t forget all the people on Balaena who, whether they knew it or not, needed him to continue on.
And he knew Ellie felt the same as he watched her gear up again in the empty cargo bay, her face a hard mask of determination. She jerked her pack on with decisive clicks of its fasteners, then turned back to him as if to say, “Waiting on you.” Her camo jacket waved in her grip next to her leg, ready to be donned at a moment’s notice.
Zee smiled, but didn’t really feel the emotion behind it. He felt resigned, disheartened. He’d always gone on missions with his men at his back, his friends. Competent and confident, they’d left him feeling secure in his place, in his role on the t
eam. But Ellie wasn’t military, wasn’t Ateles. She didn’t have the training or skill. She didn’t know his signals or any of their gear.
He felt crippled.
He was afraid he would fail. What if they couldn’t get the information they needed? What if it was already too late to save the colony? What if it was too late for his men?
Ellie pulled her jacket up her arms as she approached him. “Come on, big guy. Time to go,” she said softly, drawing him back to the present. Her small fingers wrapped around the armor on his arm, and he wished he could feel them as she pulled him toward the bay doors, the rapid clicking of a small bot’s movements following them.
He nodded, squinting as he passed from shadow to the harsh brightness of full daylight. He tracked Ellie’s movements, allowing her to be his eyes as his own adjusted painfully.
She climbed onto the enemy’s craft, which they’d pulled out of the cargo bay as they prepared. With a quick flick of her wrist, the thing roared to life under her, and Zee threw a leg over it, gripping her waist tightly. It felt different than it had the first trip out. That time, it had simply been a means to an end, a necessity to keep himself balanced on the vessel. Now, his fingers wanted to linger, wanted to trail under her camouflage jacket to find the soft, warm woman beneath.
“Behave,” she said, glaring back at him.
He smirked at her, rubbing his cheek against hers.
She sighed and shook her head, but turned forward again, sending them speeding ahead.
Chapter Nineteen
“Go,” she whispered to the little bot, sending it off to do constant surveillance of the camp as it ran around its edges. Her hearing and visual acuity were better than normal thanks to a minor shift, allowing her to pick up the various forest sounds. Animals moved through the underbrush. The wind rustled the leaves. The bot scratched over the hard earth.
Beside her, Zee rubbed his temples and forehead. She’d noticed he was squinting a lot, but didn’t want to say anything. She knew he didn’t like daylight, that his people were night creatures, and wondered if maybe they should spy on the camp in shifts.
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