Chapter 5
Shewas not permitted to speak to her companions. It might have been forher safety. It might not.
Xerastood on the balcony level and watched as the other humans went abouttheir business under guard. The bottom level had been turned into aprison, and the top tier was the command center and Scorpio livingquarters. She saw several Scorpio males with laptops conversing overheadsets. It wasn’t hard to tell they weren’t talking with eachother.
Aship was coming. A Scorpio ship. Xera closed her eyes and tried toignore the rush of fear. She hadn’t been harmed since coming uphere, but she still didn’t know what the future held.
“Youdid a good job of defending yourself last night.” Ryven Ataruspaused nearby at the railing of the balcony and looked down.
“Iwish I hadn’t had to. This will make my life difficult if I everget back home.” She slid a look sideways. “I don’t suppose youhave plans to return me there.”
Helooked at her almost curiously. “I have no such plans.”
Thefull force of those eyes left her breathless. She looked back at thelower level. “What are your plans, then? What will happen to them?”
“Doyou care?”
Startled,she said, “Why wouldn’t I? I spent a long time on board withthem. They are my crew.”
“Wholeft you to your captain’s mercy.”
“Wedon’t know how that might have played out.”
“Youare overly optimistic.”
“Itbeats being negative.”
TheScorpio commander’s answer was silence. He gave her a slight nod ofhis head in farewell and went about his business.
Itwas a long day. Xera hobbled to the ray shower, listened to her musicand occasionally walked around the balcony, holding the rail. TheScorpio seemed to hum with anticipation.
Finallyshe went to bed. The fliers were out, but they seemed a lot lessthreatening with a thick sheet of glass between her and them. She hadno desire to venture outside to play, though. Once had been enough.
Sheslept.
Someoneshook her arm almost as soon as she fell asleep, it seemed. “What?”she asked groggily.
“Theship is here.”
Thatgot her up. Still fuzzy, she let Delfane hand her boots. Scorpio werealready moving past her bed, armed and carrying packs. Brirax andDelfane hustled her along with them down the stairs. She could seeher crewmates being escorted down the long tunnel. There were a fewprotests at going outside unarmed.
“Whatabout the fliers?” she asked, feeling anxious herself.
“Wewon’t let you get eaten,” Delfane assured her. “The ship ishere, and there are more men outside providing cover. The fliersdon’t have a chance tonight.”
Theystepped outside into a chill night wind. As promised, there were nofliers in the sky. Maybe they’d been frightened away by the floodof light bathing the nearby rocks and surrounding plain.
Thestairs would have been difficult if Delfane and Brirax hadn’thelped. Xera let them steady her and hopped as best she could,determined to walk on her own.
Theyreached the flat top of the rock outcropping and moved to one edge.Her first view of the ship stole her breath. Sinister black andmonstrously big, it glowed with blue lights through the manyportholes and the bridge. The ramp was down and also lit. ManyScorpio were on the plain, and the air hummed with sound of theship’s massive engines.
Xerashivered in the cold wind as fear of the unknown hit her. What wouldhappen now?
RyvenAtarus showed up at her side. “Follow me.”
Thefour of them walked up the ramp and into the ship, down a busy halland took a lift to the bridge.
“Atarus!”a male Scorpio greeted them as they stepped out of the lift. “Trustyou to survive a crash on the most hostile planet in the galaxy!”He clapped his friend on the shoulder and then looked at Xera.“What’s this? You managed to come out of it with a beautifulwoman as well? Am I the only one who crashes with flatulent, snoringmen?”
Thisnew Scorpio was tall and broad-shouldered, with brown hair cut veryshort. One of his ears was pierced with a golden starburst, and therewas a hands-free communication set around his ear. He was obviouslythis ship’s counterpart to Ryven.
Ryvensmiled. “Shiza. You deserve to crash with only men. This is thetranslator to the alien ship, Lieutenant Xera Harrisdaughter. She isinjured and would like to rest.”
“Ofcourse,” Shiza said, instantly solicitous. “Is a doctor needed?”
“Aftera rest. My men will escort her to her room to finish her sleepcycle.” Ryven paused and looked at her, as if giving her anopportunity to speak. But what did he expect her to say; thanks forthe ride?
Henodded to her and her escort, and then turned to Shiza. “Howproceeds the recovery team? Our ship was not too badly damaged....”Xera missed the rest as she was led off.
Shewas happy to see her room had a real padded bunk, not a steel slab orsomething equally obnoxious. Rock had been bad enough.
Sufficientlytired that the lack of a porthole didn’t distress her, she listenedas Brirax gave her a brief rundown on the lavatory and waterdispenser. She was surprised that there were even a few supplies leftinside for her: a new hairbrush, for one. A glance in the mirror toldher she needed it desperately. He left her with a pouch of rationsand wishes for a good slumber.
Sleepbe hanged, she dove into the ration pack before the door was closed.There were various food bars, a pouch of dried fruit and some kind ofsweet dried vegetable that she instantly loved. It sure beat thepants off slug soup.
Maybeit was the endorphins of actually having real food choices again, butshe was able to lie down after that and nap.
Shewoke to the sound of an electronic tone. Wondering what it was, shesat up and looked around, then remembered. Ah, yes. She was hitchinga ride on an enemy starship. Lovely.
Thetone ceased as soon as she got out of bed and stowed the blanket andpillow. She used the lavatory and the ray shower, wondering idly ifit were possible to do both at once. It didn’t take long to brushher pageboy, and she smiled, amused to think some women spent hoursin the bathroom. They wouldn’t last long around here.
Anew tone sounded at her door. It was Delfane, and he was there toescort her to breakfast.
Theyentered a galley full of males, and Xera had to take a breath tosteel herself against their curious stares. It helped that the roomsmelled wonderful enough to make her salivate. Delfane handed her atray and then helped himself. She didn’t ask what anything was,unwilling to ruin it. Instead, she just dished up a tiny bit ofeverything.
Hegrinned at her overflowing plate as he juggled his own. “I don’tlike slug soup, either.” He then found them a quiet table off tothe side, and she saw that most of the men were filing out of theroom. They must have arrived at a shift change, and she wondered ifthat was deliberate. She quelled the natural urge to ask what time itwas: it hardly mattered on a ship that operated on an artificialclock.
Thefood was good, for the most part. There was one odd-tasting purplevegetable, but she quickly removed it from her mouth. It was metallicand bitter, and she couldn’t imagine anyone willingly eating it.
“Very like my daughter,” Delfane said dryly.
Shemade a face at him. “Will you be seeing her soon? I bet she’ll beexcited to see you.” Her mouth started to tingle and go numb, andshe frowned, wondering if it was something she’d eaten, and if so,was it a normal reaction?
“Italked with her and her mother last night,” Delfane said with arelaxed, satisfied smile. “We will reach our home planet in twodays. I hope I will not have to leave again for a long while.”
Shenodded politely, not really listening. The numbness had spread to herthroat, and she was having trouble breathing.
Delfanelooked at her sharply. “Are you well?” It took only a moment ofobservation to answer his question. He stood up with a spate ofrapid-fire speech into his headset and hauled her up by one arm. Bythat time she was seriously fighting for air.
Shewas a little fuzzy on what happened next. Maybe he carried her to themed lab. She did notice when she was laid down on a padded table, butspots danced before her eyes, distracting her. There was a sharppoke, and slowly faces above her started to resolve into individuals.Delfane she knew, hovering in the background, but the others aboveher were strangers. Glad she could breathe, she decided she didn’tcare and closed her eyes, the better to suck in sweet gulps ofoxygen.
“Severepulmonary distress,” she heard someone explaining.
“Yes,we can see she’s not breathing; what I want to know is why.” Thatwas Ryven Atarus’s curt voice.
“Letthem do their job, my friend. See? She is breathing better now,”came Shiza’s voice.
Insteadof answering, Ryven began to grill Delfane.
Whichwas all very interesting, but Xera’s back hurt from all thewheezing. She decided it must have been something she ate; maybe thatawful purple thing.
“Ithink it was breakfast,” she croaked out in her native tongue. Shestill wasn’t thinking clearly.
“What?”Ryven came to stand over her.
Shefrowned in concentration and repeated herself in his language. “Yuckypurple vegetable. My mouth started to go numb right after I triedit.”
“Yucky?”he repeated with a frown.
“Shecalled the slugs that,” Delfane put in helpfully.
“Whatdid she eat?” the medic wanted to know. “This could be anallergic reaction. We’re still downloading the medical informationrecovered from the alien ship’s wreckage, and it hasn’t all beentranslated. I don’t know what else this might be.”
Delfanerattled off a list of foreign objects. “The only purple thing wehad was yur root.”
Yurroot. She was never eating it again, she decided with a grimace.
Itturned out she was allergic to the alien root and one or twoother foodstuffs she’d have to take care with. The medics ran afull diagnostic on her, which took quite some time. They even had theaudacity to kick Ryven and their captain out at one point, as thepair was getting in the way. Delfane was allowed to guard the door.
Themedics also sent a team to test the other humans for allergies, justin case.
Onthe bright side, the medics had a healing accelerator for her foot,and they promised it would be as good as new in a day or two. Theyalso gave her a special wrist bracelet with a medic alert symbol andpatches that would deliver medicine to her bloodstream if her bodywent into allergic shock again.
Ironically,she was cleared to leave sickbay just in time for lunch.
“I’mnot sure I’m hungry,” she said warily to Delfane as she walkedout of the chamber. She was barely limping, thanks to the healingaccelerators, and not looking forward to facing the cafeteria line.
“Don’tworry. Lord Atarus has instructed us to join him and the captain fora private meal. Your food will be carefully selected to eliminatepotential...misfortune.”
“Whoknew my most dangerous enemy on this trip would be the food?” shemuttered in her native language.
IgnoringDelfane’s curious glance, she looked around. The hallways here werequieter than they had been when she first entered the ship. There wassome kind of non-slip surface like rough rubber underneath her.
“Whyis he so interested in me?” she asked after a moment. She didn’treally think Ryven’s underling would answer, but she wondered. Shehadn’t been interrogated or sexually importuned, for which she wasprofusely thankful, but she was also confused. Was she remainingbraced for something that would never materialize? “He treats melike a guest. Am I not your enemy? Does he have a family?” Shecouldn’t help adding after a moment. A wife, for instance?
“Askhim yourself. We’re here,” Delfane said without inflection.
Anautomatic door opened in front of him and Xera, revealing a privatecabin. Ryven Atarus was there, as well as Toosun and Captain Shiza.They were all seated at a table but rose when she entered.
Shizasmiled broadly at her. “Ah, the beauty awakens! Are you well again,Lieutenant?”
Sheinclined her head. “Thank you, I am well.”
“Wehave food here that will not sicken you,” Ryven put in. “Join usat the table and we will talk.”
Thenotion of talking made her a little wary, but she smiled pleasantlyand sat at the small table anyway. Delfane remained outside the room.
Shewas much daintier about eating this time. The question still turnedover in her mind why the Scorpio were being so nice to her. It beganto worry her. To distract herself she looked around the room, whichwas comfortable but not extravagant, with two couches and twooverstuffed chairs that looked like they doubled as storage. Theyfilled the tiny sitting room. The only other furniture was the tableat which the group currently sat. The walls were caramel withcoffee-colored trim, and red, black and gold accents. She glimpsed abed through an open door in a room she assumed was Shiza’s cabin.
Theylet her get halfway through her meal in silence before Ryven spoke.“Your room was comfortable?”
“Itwas, thank you.”
“Youseem comfortable with Brirax and Delfane.”
Thistime she answered slowly. “They are pleasant enough. I havewondered if they are bodyguards or guards. Perhaps you mean them tobe both?”
“PerhapsI do.” He considered her. “You have a unique position here, andin your crew. You are the only one who speaks our language, and youare...polite. You seem to possess discretion.”
Sheblinked. Discretion demanded that she not reply.
“Theother members of your crew, including your captain, will be treatedas hostages. We will bargain with them.” He looked at her withutter gravity. “Another captain would simply treat you as spoils ofwar.”
Shestilled. She might have paled.
Shizasmiled pleasantly at her from his place beside Ryven. If he was thecaptain involved, she could see what he would do.
Ryvenclaimed her gaze and spoke again. “I am in a position to offer youmore.”
More?What did “more” entail? Marriage? A bed in his harem? Was shebrave enough to slit her own throat?
“Mypeople have a custom of selecting their own ambassadors from otherraces. We have need of one from your race. I will suggest to myfather that we give you that position.”
Okay,that was a lot to think about. Perhaps relief was premature at thispoint, but Xera felt it anyway. To be an ambassador sure beat beingan after-dinner snack.
“Whois your father?”
“Oneof the rulers of our people. He governs the second continent of ourhome planet, Rsik.”
Whichmade Ryven a very important person to have on her side. She thankedGod he thought she was sensible. “I see.” She debated blatheringon about being honored and decided against it, not sure what theetiquette here was. She didn’t ask what would happen if his fatherrefused; she didn’t want to know and suspected it would be bad. Shetook a discreet, steadying breath. “How soon until I meet him?”
Hisgaze moved over her. “We will have a few days to practice first.You have much to learn about our customs.”
Arebellious brow quirked up at that. “If I have made mistakes, itwas not deliberate.”
“Yes,”he agreed, which left her feeling uncomfortable. She picked at therest of her food, too wound up to enjoy it now.
“Shouldyou be accepted as an ambassador, you will be given much respect.Regardless of what happens, it is not our custom to mistreat women.”
Shedidn’t dare comment on that. She lacked information, and he hadbeen kind to her, an enemy of his people.
“Youwill not be allowed to return home.”
Thefood on her plate got a little misty as her eyes teared up, but shebit the inside of her cheek and mentally kicked her own butt. She’dbeen prepared for that. It was nothing she didn’t expect.
Andyet it hurt so much. To never see her family again…
“Delfanehas an electronic book for you to look at it. It has many things youwill want to read about our culture, and further language studies.You may go if you like.”
Sherose and nodded without meeting anyone’s eyes. Feeling oddly stiff,she left the room, hoping her face was as frozen as it felt. Shedidn’t want anyone to guess at her turmoil.
Delfanetook one look at her face and looked politely away, but not beforeshe saw a flash of sympathy. So it did show, then.
Xeramade it to her room before she broke down and cried.
“Ithink you nearly broke her by reminding her she’ll never go home,”Shiza commented. He took a sip of wine.
“Iwould do her no favors to let her keep illusions,” Ryven saidgrimly. “She will realize she is fortunate in the end.”
“Especiallysince she will not be your ‘spoils of war,’” Toosun pointedout. “She seemed particularly horrified by that idea.”
Ryvengave him a cold look.
Toosunlooked away and scratched the back of his neck. Casually, he asked,“What will you do with her if father refuses?”
“Youknow he won’t.”
“Verywell, he won’t. Will you keep first claim to her? Her rank wouldmake her nearly your equal, and she will be sought after.”
“Mm,”Shiza put in thoughtfully.
Ryven’seyes slid darkly to him. “I haven’t decided.”
“Giveit some thought,” Toosun urged. “I might be interested if you’renot.”
“Youdon’t need another woman,” Ryven scoffed. “They follow you likeiron filings to a lodestone already.”
“Asthey do you.”
“Youare too young for a wife.”
“I’mtwo years younger than you. You’re thirty-three,” Toosun pointedout, as if his brother had forgotten.
“Thisis a matter for another day,” Ryven said irritably. “We haveother things to discuss.” He steered the conversation to anotherpath, away from the exotic alien woman.