by S. E. Smith
Chapter 7
Cara hummed to herself as she added the last touch to the modifications to the environmental systems. She was trying to duplicate rain in one of the sections. She had already changed the one simulation room’s programming. Why they thought getting chased was the only way to get good cardiovascular exercise was beyond her. A good aerobic dance step could work the heart, legs, and mind just as well. She was lucky she had her iPhone with her. She had over two thousand songs in her playlist including songs from the 1980s. The Electric Slide was a great disco song. She had even programmed the disco ball effect and included some fog. She was trying to stick with small stuff until she understood things a little better. The translator the doctor had implanted with a big help. It was weird at first but no weirder than everything being translated through the symbiosis. She had learned all kinds of cool things since she had figured out their computer language codes weren’t much different from what she had learned in school. Symba, Cara’s nickname for the symbiosis, had become her constant companion and her partner-in-crime. Cara had finally figured out the symbiosis was actually a creation of trillions of living nanobots forming together into a type of hive. Each symbiosis seemed to encode on a warrior and his dragon when the infants were taken to the joining grounds, a sacred place only known to the leader of the Valdire.
“Accept code.” Cara said just as the door to the living quarters she had been staying in opened. Cara jumped in surprise as she hadn’t been expecting anyone.
Trelon stood in the doorway to his living quarters staring in disbelief at the mess that had once been called his private domain. Wires ran across the floor from the wall unit… where was his wall unit? Trelon wondered staring at the empty hole where it had been… to his dining table. Parts, wires, and circuit boards were scattered on just about every available surface.
“What have you done to my living quarters?” Trelon asked in horror. He started to enter the room when his foot hit something. Looking down his eyes narrowed. Was that his clothing sanitizer? His gaze jumped to another part he thought he recognized. His vidcom system was in a million pieces. When he saw the parts cloner he had practically had to fight a Sarafin warrior to the death for at his last visit to their galaxy, he almost started to cry. It was totally dismantled.
“You…” Trelon began looking helplessly around his living space. “You…”
“Yes?” Cara asked innocently looking around at all the treasures she had found. “You guys have some of the coolest stuff here. Look at this! I found it in the back of a panel in the other room. It plays some type of videos or something I think. I figured if it was in the back behind the clothes it wasn’t being used so I took it apart so I could use some of the components to….”
Trelon didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she held up what was left of his PVC, better known as a Personal Virtual Companion. All warriors had one, especially for long voyages with no females. Yes, it played video. It played thousands of virtual videos that made long, lonely voyages possible and she had taken his apart. He had spent years, hundreds of years, programming the videos so they would be just right for him. There had been one for any mood, any desire and any craving, and now…gone, all gone. A good PVC was prized above just about anything but a true mate since it was as close to one as many warriors got. A great one could get a man killed in his sleep. Trelon’s PVC had been two steps, maybe even three beyond phenomenal, which is why he had kept it hidden in a secret panel in the back of his clothing storage.
The missing sleep cycles, combined with the stress of rebuilding the transporter room, dealing with his dragon’s pouting, and his brother’s demands were nothing compared to finding his one safe haven destroyed and his prized possessions in pieces. Trelon briefly closed his eyes so he could focus on not strangling the female who was staring at him so innocently.
Opening his eyes, Trelon muttered darkly, “I am going to use the cleansing unit, if it is still in one piece, then going to bed. DO. NOT. DESTROY. ANY. THING. ELSE!” He finished through gritted teeth as he picked his way across the room towards the sleeping area.
“Ah.” Cara began raising a finger. Trelon froze, standing stiffly with his back to her.
“Never mind.” Cara said quickly after watching the huge man in front of her clench his fists so tight his knuckles were white. “It can wait.” Trelon gave a brief nod before continuing onto the cleansing room.
Trelon woke to the sounds of alarms going off and heated voices in the other room. His symbiosis, which had been taking up most of the bed until he had shoved it away from him was off the bed and gone in a flash. Trelon closed his eyes trying to get his fuzzy brain to work. Even his dragon refused to respond to the alarms and voices this time. It was the third, or was it the fourth… He wondered tiredly …time the alarms and voices had woken him up. The first time, he had dragged his tired ass out of the bed only to discover Jarak, the ship’s head of security, arguing with his mate. It appears the new training program he had designed for the warriors had been replaced with something else. He had shaken his head tiredly and just turned around and gone back to bed. The second time, he figured he must have misunderstood what Jarak was saying because there was no such thing as rain in space. The third time he had heard Jarak’s voice he didn’t even bother to get up…it seemed that with the right kind of music, the crystals powering the engines could produce almost a third more power. The problem it appeared was the symbiosis that helped with the flow of energy became almost drunk on it and was creating havoc in engineering. Yes, it was the fourth time, he thought in dismay. It seemed the warship was receiving communications from a number of galaxies requesting copies of some of the videos his mate had been broadcasting. He was just thinking about pulling a pillow over his head when the words his mate was saying finally penetrated.
“It was just some stupid videos that were on this video device I found in a clothing panel! What is the big deal?!” Cara said angrily. There was a pause before she continued. “No, I don’t know what was on it. I was just trying to see if the modifications I made to the communications programming could handle the bandwidth of such a large file, then determine how far I could send it before the signal deteriorated.”
Trelon was beginning to have a very, very bad feeling about what his mate had been sending out. He couldn’t hear what Jarak was saying but the man was beginning to sound extremely desperate. Trelon drew in a deep breath and released it trying to relieve the tension building in his shoulders. Sitting up slowly, he reluctantly pushed the covers back and stood up. Grabbing the towel he had discarded after his cleansing, he wrapped it around his waist and walked slowly towards what had been his living area.
“I told you I don’t know what was on the videos. You would have to ask Trelon. That’s his name, isn’t it? You’ll have to ask him when he wakes up which should be any time now as he’s been asleep, for like, ever!” Cara said again.
Why does the guy think every time an alarm goes off it is her fault?! Cara thought with resentment. It wasn’t like her setting the training simulator to music would make the alarms go off. Okay, well maybe she had programmed a little too much fog but how was she to know the computer would see it as smoke and start the fire evacuation program. And, yes, she did accidently start a mini-flood in the docking bay but she had only meant to create a light shower and it was supposed to have been programmed for the cleansing rooms off the training center which was exactly one floor above where it actually developed. And, how was she supposed to know certain frequencies when combined with the crystals acted like a stiff drink for a symbiosis? Now, he was blaming her for their communications being overloaded with requests for the videos she had uploaded.
“Jarak.” Trelon said running a hand through his hair and pushing it back out of his face. “What seems to be the problem now?”
“My lord, I am sorry to disturb you again but…” Jarak began in a voice that sounded dangerously like a whine.
Trelon waved his hand to dismiss the ap
ology. “Just tell me what it is this time.”
“My lord, our communications' systems have shut down. It appears the female has sent out a…” Jarak’s face turned a dark red before he continued glancing nervously at Cara, “It appears the female has sent out a copy of your PVC. The signal was enhanced and has been received by a rather large number of recipients who have requested copies. It appears the female did prevent unauthorized copying…” Jarak trailed off as Cara spoke up.
“Of course I did!” Cara stated hotly. “I do abide by copyright laws, for your information.”
“Unfortunately, they were so well received our systems could not handle the number of incoming messages and our system shut down.” Jarak finished.
“What the heck is a PVC?” Cara asked suddenly. Maybe she should have watched some of the videos before she sent them. She had glanced at the writing on it but didn’t really understand what it was saying. The computer system had translated it to PVC in a language she could understand and she figured it was a ‘how to’ video on plumbing.
Trelon threw Jarak a dark look when he gave a strangled chuckle. “That is all, Jarak. I am awake now and will handle this. See what you can do about the communication’s system until I can join you on the bridge.”
Jarak took one last look around Trelon’s living quarters and threw him a sympathetic look before he nodded and left. Trelon raised his hand to silence Cara before he turned on his heel and disappeared back into the sleeping area. He had decided he was going to get clean, get dressed, and go kill his brother Zoran for finding the enticing bit of trouble. Trelon’s dragon, which had woken during the conversation with Jarak had a different idea. He wanted to grab the female, toss her over his shoulder, and have his wicked way with her in the shower. Trelon looked down at the towel hanging low around his hips only to see it tented. It seemed his man half had the same idea.
Trelon growled in frustration. To hell with it, he thought to himself. He wanted the female, his dragon wanted the female, his symbiosis was inseparable from the female; he would just take her and sate the clawing hunger that was ripping through him. Decision made, Trelon turned on his heel again and strode back into the destruction zone known as his living room and found it…empty. Trelon threw back his head and roared out in frustration.
Cara watched as the man named Trelon turned on his heel and left the room. Damn, but he looked good from both sides. It was a good thing that other guy had been in the room when Trelon had come waltzing in wearing just a towel. It took everything inside Cara to remember her pledge to not get involved with men ever again. It hadn’t been a problem up until now because none of the men she had met up until a few days ago could hold a blow torch to Trelon. From the top of his six foot four plus frame to the tips of his huge feet, she wanted to lick, nip, and sip every delicious inch. He had a dark wave of silky black hair with just a tint of blue in it that reminded her of his dragon’s coloring. He had the most delicious gold eyes the color of honey straight from the hive, and his muscles! He had muscles on top of muscles. She liked that he had just a smattering of dark hair across his chest that narrowed down as it ran under the cover of the towel. And she had not missed the evidence of his arousal. How could she when he didn’t even try to hide it? Cara had to bite her tongue to keep from saying anything when he had turned his back to her because the back view was just as good as the front. She could tell he had a tight ass under the towel. Groaning, Cara resisted the urge to follow him into the cleansing unit so she could join him. Bad, Cara. She berated herself. Bad, bad, Cara. Remember what happened the last time you thought to give your heart and body to someone. Remembering helped her get control of her wayward pheromones. Calling out to Symba, Cara decided she was hungry and was going to go find some food.
Chapter 8
Trelon strode into the dining galley growling under his breath. “I need a drink.” He had been looking for Cara for the past hour. With the communication’s system down, he had been unable to use it to find her and he couldn’t use his symbiosis because they were all with Cara. Still! He had finally asked one of the warriors he met in the corridor where his brothers were at.
Before Zoran or Kelan could say a word, Trelon took the bottle of potent wine and started drinking straight from it not even bothering with a glass. Wiping a hand across his mouth, he growled, “I’m going to kill me a tiny human female with red and purple hair. I’m going to rip her apart, burn her to ash, and then put her back together again so I can do it over and over until she begs for mercy.”
Zoran looked at both his brothers. He had never seen them like this. “What is wrong?”
“Wrong? Wrong, he asks.” Trelon growled pointing the bottle at Zoran in frustration. “I’ll tell you what is wrong. You landed on a damn planet of females who would drive any male to distraction then act like it is the male’s fault! No, you couldn’t land on a planet where our symbiosis would want to kill the female and our dragon would find them repulsive. No, you had to land on a planet where my symbiosis is so infatuated with the female it does every damn thing she asks regardless of what I say and my dragon is so horny it is about ready to disembowel me if I don’t claim her before another male does, only I can’t catch her long enough to do so.”
“You too?” Kelan looked burry-eyed at Trelon. “My female refuses to even acknowledge me as a male. All she does is quote her name, rank, and some awful number I can’t remember. She insists I take her home. My symbiosis is sleeping with her like it is her new pet sending me images of her stroking and scratching it and talking nonsense while me and my dragon get to suffer.” Kelan grunted as his head fell forward. “She even said if I wanted to stay in my dragon form she would scratch my belly but she wouldn’t touch me with a ten foot pole.”
“What of the other females?” Zoran asked confused. What was happening to his brothers? He had been so tied up with what was happening between Abby and him that he had ignored everything else. She was the only thing that mattered at this point.
“The one named Ariel stays with her sister, Carmen. She is the female who was almost killed. She is a vicious one. One of the males from medical wanted her to mate with him. She knocked him out. They have been moved to their own cabin under guard.” Trelon said taking another deep drink. He had to find Cara. His dragon was clawing at him so badly he could almost feel the gouges in his organs.
“Why are your females not under guard?” Zoran asked as he finished off his drink and reached for another bottle of wine. He had to admit it was nice to know he wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
“The one named Trisha is under guard, in my cabin.” Kelan slurred. “Unfortunately, I can’t get in because she has my symbiosis attack me and drag me out every time I try to enter. Wait until I get her home. I am going to send my symbiosis to play and as soon as it is gone, bam, she is mine!” Kelan giggled at the thought of finally having the female defenseless.
Trelon sighed heavily, “Cara has already hacked into the computer systems, engineering, communications, the environmental system, and our training programs. She had the men doing something called the ‘Electric Slide” in the training simulator yesterday. The woman drives me nuts. I swear she never sleeps, never shuts up, and gets into everything!” He had learned about even more of her antics while he had been stuck repairing the transporter room. He had thought it had been bad when he was trying to sleep. He had no idea how the warship was even functioning after learning about some of the things she had done while he had been awake.
Trelon let out a groan when he heard Zoran mention having a dinner to introduce the females to other males on their planet. Unless he claimed her, that would be an impossibility. He needed her too much as a man and if his dragon had its way she would have to survive going through the dragon fire. Trelon was terrified of going through the ritual but he knew if he ever captured Cara long enough to mate with her it was not just a possibility but a probability that it would happen. He was too out of control to prevent his dragon from claiming
his mate. His only hope was Cara would be strong enough for the transformation to take hold.
Finishing off his drink, Trelon made the decision to return to his living quarters and wait for Cara. When she returned, he would seduce her. Feeling more confident now that he had made a decision, he couldn’t quite suppress the chuckle that escaped as his dragon bounded inside him with joy that soon they would have their mates.
Cara had gotten a quick snack in the dining galley and had barely made it around the corner when she saw the huge man responsible for her being there walking towards the opening. She had seen the other man inside but he had had his back to her and didn’t even turn around when she had asked the food replicator for a sandwich and chips. To tell the truth, from the number of empty bottles on the table around him, she wasn’t sure if he would have heard a bomb going off behind him. Symba had decided to go off with some other gold creature when she had gone by the training room on her way back up so she decided to take the long way back. It gave her plenty of time to think. She knew she had a few irrational fears. One: of enclosed spaces…justified after being locked in a closet while at boarding school for almost two days. Two: of not being loved…that was sort of a wash. She knew her mom had loved her or she wouldn’t have made Uncle Wilfred promise to look out for her. She knew Uncle Wilfred loved her. He had always been there for her even during her difficult years. She knew her dad had loved her. He had told her often enough, he just didn’t know how to show her. And Ariel and Trish. They had been there for her for the past five years no matter how crazy things got. They had even been there after Darryl.