Bane: A SciFi Alien Romance (The Ladyships Book 2)

by Bex McLynn

  But that was a problem for the future. Right now, she needed to find Kora.

  Her cousin gestured to her own head. “Can you at least tell if Kora’s in the cargo hold? Kimis isn’t giving me crap.”

  Prykimis was refusing to tell Seph where Kora had gone, which unsettled everyone. Seph couldn’t determine if compliance stemmed from ‘couldn’t’ versus ‘wouldn’t.’ The thane had been giving Maude hard, accusatory stares because Kora ran rogue on his ship. Well, Seph’s ship, but Maude suspected that the thane considered Prykimis his.

  Seph swept a hand out. “Is the hum stronger here than it was elsewhere?”

  “Stronger? No.” And wouldn’t that have been helpful. Using her sixth sense like finding water. “But she feels content. Happy, even.”

  Maude had already mentioned that the emotions Kora shared with her didn’t indicate malicious intent. The best that Maude could explain it was that Kora wanted some alone time. Maude could understand. She and Kora had been attached, literally, to one another for weeks.

  “Right,” Seph said as she cast her stink-eye gaze to the surrounding area. “Wies!”

  Wies’s voice carried from a few rows over. “Aye, m’lady.”

  “I’m calling it. Kora’s not here.” Seph shivered and then lowered her voice. “Hate this damn cargo hold. Come on. We’ll try the upper levels.”

  As Seph started leading them out, Maude kept flicking her eyes into the shadows, hoping to catch movement or a flash of a metal body.

  “I’m sure she’ll turn up,” Maude said assuringly.

  Seph shrugged. “I’m not worried. Honestly, with how trigger-happy Prykimis is, if Kora was a problem, Prykimis would be blasting holes in her own bulkhead trying to snipe Kora. Either that, or they’re both in cahoots. And if they’re teaming up for an Athelasan tech takeover, well, we’re all freaking screwed.”

  Maude’s brain stumbled through all of that. “Well, that’s—”

  “That’s a big fat ‘whaddya gonna do about it.’”

  “But you are doing something,” Maude said, perplexed. “I mean, you’re telling Prykimis when to stand down.”

  “That’s because if she confuses friend with foe, that’s on me.” Seph sighed and her shoulders dropped. “But if Kimis decides to declare all of us foes, well, there’s not much I can do about that. According to Vedma, the ships have done it before. Turned against technopaths. So,” she shrugged again, “whaddya gonna do about it?”

  “Oh.” A chill moved through Maude at that notion. She could communicate with Kora, but that didn’t mean that she understood her.

  A metal clatter had her and Seph looking to their left.

  “That noise had better have been her, or Therion’s gonna accuse me of screaming like a girl again.”

  Maude heard a soft grunt, like someone trying to remain concealed.

  “[I go,]” Kora said as she touched Maude with concern.

  Maude perked up. “I heard her!”

  When she glanced at Seph for confirmation, she saw that her cousin was holding her breath.

  When Seph exhaled, she whispered, “Told Wies.”

  Ah. Backup. But not necessary. The delighted humming from Kora hadn’t changed. She only sent a ripple of concern through Maude’s technopathy when Maude had that shiver of foreboding—that the Athelasan tech could turn entirely rogue.

  “Kora?” Maude called out, hoping to soothe things over before Wies came with his soldiers and their weapons.

  Frantic whispers traveled from a shadowy aisle between the containers. “No. No. Wait.”

  Then Maude heard a grunt followed by the tell-tale clicks of Kora’s spindly legs on the deck. She scurried down the aisle, and a person—a Teras—staggered after her.

  The Teras hissed. “Wait. Just—Oh. Um. Hi, Seph.”

  Kora exited the aisle. She’d wrapped one of her vines around the wrist of a Teras. Based on the look of him, he was young. Probably the equivalent of a teenager.

  A week ago, seeing Kora wrapped around a kid would have terrified her. Would have had her trying to pull Kora off like she’d done with Therion. However, the Teras kid didn’t look frightened. He wasn’t thrashing or crying for help, but rather he appeared embarrassed that Kora had dragged him from the shadows.

  “Rannik?” Seph drew the name out, obviously knowing the boy who wore a crisp black uniform with the House Borac crest on his shoulder.

  “Aye.” Rannik nodded his head contritely.

  Seph spun back toward Maude. “Maude, this is my badass rescuer, Rannik. Rannik, this is my kickass cousin, Maude.”

  As she and Rannik waved shyly at one another, his name clicked with her. Therion had gone on endlessly, with such pride, about Rannik, his nephew and the thane’s son. It shocked Maude to see this boy, who was a hair taller than both she and her cousin and was probably raised privileged and entitled, cowering before Seph.

  Seph flung her hand out. “What the hel—heck, Ran! We’ve been looking all over for Kora.”

  Rannik stared at his boots as a blue blush colored his face. “Aye. I know.”

  “Wait.” Seph crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the boy. “You knew and didn’t tell anybody that you were with her?”

  Rannik flicked his eyes to Seph, then away. “Great-Gamma knows.”

  “Right,” Seph barked out a laugh. “Of course Vedma knows. This has her crap stamp all over it.”

  Rannik shot her a beseeching look and said in a rush, “If I’d said anything to anyone else, then they’d take her away. And for once I actually get to study original Athelasan logic gates. And Seph, they are so much more amazing than I thought. I mean, I thought you were amazing when I studied you, but it turned out you weren’t Athelasan at all.”

  “Hey now!” Seph gasped. “I had reasons for that, Ran.”

  Maude knew this story. She’d heard both Therion and Seph tell it—that Rannik was the one who had wanted to purchase Seph from the Gwyretti Lassie trader all because he thought she was an original Athelasan android.

  Rannik held up his hands. “I know. I know. It’s just, now that Kora’s here, I don’t have to dodge Prykimis’s crew to learn more.”

  Seph leveled her gaze and let silence settle.

  Rannik shifted uncomfortably on his feet, yet shot Seph adorably hopeful glances.

  Over the past ten years, her baby cousin had apparently turned into a fierce momma bear. Seph had obviously bonded with Ran, probably well before she became the thane’s girlfriend. If Maude were in Seph’s shoes, she would have treaded more carefully because of the complexities of those relationships—to Rannik, to the thane, to the both of them.

  “I can take a good look. That’s all.” Rannik flicked his eyes to Seph and then away. “Kora, she’s letting me take a look.”

  “Ran,” Seph said chidingly, “before, hiding me away in the cargo hold was a good thing. But this time, even with Vedma involved, you knew better.”

  Rannik’s shoulders dropped. “Aye. I did.”

  Seph slid her eyes toward Maude. “She’s not gonna dart him, is she? Zver would never let me hear the end of it. When he got darted, he didn’t speak to me for days.”

  Maude turned to her cousin. “You darted the thane?”

  “No,” Seph said.

  “Kinda wish you did,” Rannik added.

  “It wasn’t me,” Seph stressed the last word. “And Prykimis was aiming for someone else. Zver had a sudden attack of idiotic chivalry and threw himself in the way.”

  “Don’t know why he did that,” Rannik mumbled.

  Seph threw her arms up. “I don’t either. The Teras code of conduct makes no sense to me. One day you’re smiting someone. The next day you’re holding hands and signing planetary contracts.”

  Rannik’s brow furrowed. “That’s not quite how—”

  Seph waved him off. “Close enough.” She turned to Maude. “We good here? Is Kora gonna do anything to Ran? Because if so, I have a torque spanner stashed in the closet and w
on’t hesitate to bash a bitch.”

  “Kora’s good,” Maude said firmly. “She’s content and happy to cooperate.”

  Seph pursed her lips—always one to be suspicious—then rolled her eyes and groaned. “Fine. Fine. I’ll get your dad to back off. Maude says Kora is cool. So, it should all be good.”

  “Brilliant!” Rannik smiled, and his eyes—different than other Teras, having far more gold than green—sparked with joy.

  “Yeah, yeah. Freaking brilliant,” Seph grumbled. “But no more hiding, you understand? Let your father know where you are and what you’re doing.”

  “He always knows where I am,” Rannik grumbled sourly.

  “You still need to tell him. And do all that after I convince him it’s okay. Yes?”

  Rannik nodded, his expression torn between reluctant and excitement. “Aye, Seph. I’ll tell him.”

  “Good.” Then Seph pivoted around. “And you! Where the hell have you been?”

  Wies stood two aisles away, his shoulder resting on a storage container. “Been right here, m’lady.”

  “What? Is that even within striking distance? What if Kora had attacked suddenly?”

  Wies leveled his stare at Seph, which had Maude feeling like they’d been caught egging a house.

  Seph waved him off. “Whatever, Wies. I handled it. It’s all good.”

  “All good, then,” echoed Wies. Then, he dipped his chin, speaking into his C-Cune. “Stand down.”

  Maude and Seph exchanged confused looks before glancing about.

  Seph turned back to her guard. “Who are you talking to Wies? It’s just us.”

  Wies jutted his chin, a sharp jerk upward.

  Maude directed her gaze up and gasped. Along the tops of the crates were several shadowy figures holding the distinctive shapes of firearms.

  “Dammit, Wies,” Seph snapped. “When did Zver add snipers to the entourage?”

  Wies cocked a brow at her cousin. “Don’t know what that is, m’lady.”

  “Crap. I said ‘sniper’ in English.” Seph shook her head. “Gimme a second here, Wies…”

  Maude disengaged from the conversation as she continued to gaze up at the shadow unit of Teras men with rifles. They must have been following her and her cousin through the cargo hold the whole time, and she hadn’t known. Had no clue that armed men essentially stalked her. And these were the friendlies. Her new allies.

  “[I go,]” Kora called to her.

  Needing a moment, Maude retreated down the aisle, following Kora and Rannik back into the shadows. Ducking between two containers, she found Rannik’s little hidey-hole. Back on Earth, this would have been like stumbling into a kid’s clubhouse. Rannik had claimed this pocket of space. Tools, consoles, a bedroll, and ration bar wrappers littered the place.

  Maude ran her eyes over the area, her heart swelling. “This is where you hid Seph?”

  Rannik jolted and then did a double-take. “Oh. Aye. I hid her here. It’s not much, though.”

  Maude blinked, not surprised that her vision blurred and her throat ached.

  “Rannik?” Her voice scratched out. “I’m Seph’s cousin.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the deck. “Aye, I know who you are. My da told me.”

  “Well, I just wanted you to know, so that this makes sense.” She strode over to the boy and threw her arms around him. He stiffened, but she couldn’t let go. Not yet. Not until she told him. “Oh, thank you. Thank you for keeping her safe. Therion is right. You’re amazing. Absolutely amazing.”

  “Maude—m’lady,” he whined like a typical beleaguered teenager.

  His whining had Maude sobbing harder. Armed fleet men crawled atop the containers overhead, but then she encountered something so universally normal—a teenager hating to be hugged—that it made her heart ache.

  “[I wake,]” Kora soothed through her technopathy and then gave Maude a mental nudge.

  Yes. She was getting snot all over Rannik, wasn’t she?

  She stepped back, wiping at her nose, and saw that poor Rannik sported the bluest blush that she’d ever seen on a Teras.

  “So, um, thanks for letting Kora hang with me,” Rannik mumbled to fill the silence.

  Oh, she could see how Seph melted for him. He really was a good kid.

  “Kora is her own, you know. She’s here because she wants to be.” Sometime this morning, Kora’s steady, contented hum had turned to one of happiness. That must have happened when Kora found Rannik or Rannik found Kora. “You two seem to be getting along.”

  Rannik perked up. “We are. Kora’s being super accommodating and sending me images through my WristCune. It’s all fascinating stuff! Did you know she’s over a thousand years old? But she spent about half that time in stasis. Oh, and she has an unbelievable amount of data stores…”

  Maude took a staggering step back.

  No. Rannik must have misspoke. Or Maude misheard him. Or Kora gave false data. Or—

  Seph nudged her. “Hey, Maudie?”

  It took her several blinks to refocus. “Yeah, Seph?”

  “I see that you found The Rebel Base.”

  Maude echoed her. “Rebel Base. Yeah, I found it.”

  “Hey Seph!” Rannik gestured to Maude. “I was just telling Maude that she should join our clade.”

  He had? Good lord, she’d completely zoned out. “Clade?”

  Seph whapped her on the back. “Oh, you are totally in our clade. It’s badass, too. We’ve got clade exclusive discounts and clade cookouts and clade T-shirts—”

  “Actually, we don’t have any of that.” Rannik interjected. “Wait. What’s a T-shirt?”

  “We’ve definitely got a clade clubhouse.” Seph gazed around. “Seriously, Ran? You told me you’d keep this place neat. I told your father you wouldn’t trash it.”

  Rannik started scurrying around the place. “Right. Right. On it. Don’t tell him.”

  Seph nudged her again. “Huh, look at that, Maude.”

  Maude followed Seph’s chin-point to see Kora scurrying around as well, collecting wrappers and scraps by pinching a few of her spindly legs.

  “Don’t do this for him all the time, Kora,” Seph called out. “Ran needs to clean up his own disaster.”

  Disaster?

  Maude ran her eyes over the area seeing nothing but clutter. This was a child’s play area. This could be fixed.

  What Rannik told her, if it was true, there was no fix.

  Home was lost.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Therion groaned when the alert pinged from the audio-only comm unit installed inside the lav. Unholde take him. Apparently, being the commander of a battleship made him accessible at all times and in all places. Even in the sani-stall, he couldn’t avoid the whimsy of the battleship.

  With a bemused sigh and cleanser in his eyes, he asked aloud, “Now?”

  Another ping over the comms confirmed it. Prykimis was a persistent behemoth when the mood struck her.

  Good thing he hadn’t been giving his cock and anthers a good tuck and tickle in the sani-stall, because that would have made this interruption a tad awkward. Rather, he was dead on his feet after having spent days reacclimating to his command. In addition to those harried shifts, he wasted most of his bunk shift doing exactly what Zver cautioned him against. He’d been poring over navigation and exploration records, trying to find a planet that eluded everyone.

  Earth. A descriptive name of its surface composition it may be, but not distinctive enough to earn an entry in the Dominion’s records or the records handed down from the Athelasans. Humans might as well have called their planet ‘Homeworld.’

  Gods, he was failing Maude.

  Fuck that. He was lying to Maude.

  He should have been an eager bastard, excited to inform her that home was lost to the past, and therefore, she should stay. He still wouldn’t have her, but he needn’t lose her entirely to another universe. But he couldn’t break her like that. He couldn’t destr
oy her hopes of seeing her sister hold the baby that she’d carried.

  Unholde take him. He wanted to shatter the pretense that Earth was an option for Maude because her hope kept him from what he truly wanted. He couldn’t help but huff a self-loathing laugh. Here he was, Therion Borac, the arse who loved pretenses as much as awkward silences, wanting nothing more than honest words with Maude.

  Prykimis pinged him again. He’d been wallowing, hadn’t he?

  The ship wanted her song. Aye, he could do what she wanted. Not like he hadn’t done it a hundred times before. Each time he’d stepped into the dank, smelly closet in general berthing where the old crew had kept the Lassie, he spent his quarter-hour in that dismal place singing.

  He took a deep breath and sang, “Say farewell to the ne’er-do-well. A drifter, no roots in the loam.”

  Prykimis used her comm pings to chime along with him.

  “Over field and dale. Across the sea he’ll sail. A drifter, forever to roam.”

  Back when Prykimis had been under the stewardship of House Jahat, Therion must have softly sung that old Bulanii shanty a thousand times over as he stood in that tiny closet with the sexbot, taking shallow breaths and doing his best to not touch a damn thing. He spent his time listening as well, diagnosing Prykimis based on her wheezes and rattles. The whole time, he’d never thought that the ship had been listening to him.

  Therion wasn’t sure how he felt about that—now knowing that Prykimis had enough awareness to hear him singing. Though, having confirmation of her past awareness explained her current, bloodthirsty tendencies. For decades, House Jahat had used her as a dump—a place to toss their refuse.

  As Therion’s last note echoed off the sani-stall’s contoured walls, the silence that greeted him forced him to reflect on his selfishness. If Zver and his grandparents had compiled the evidence correctly—that Maude and Seph were in stasis for centuries—then Maude would never witness her sister holding the baby. Seph would never see her son again.

  He found himself running his hand over his neck, stroking the spot where he’d plucked Kora’s dart from his skin. That dart had struck the very core of him, tethering him to Maude in a way that he never wanted to be severed.