Home (Haven #7)

Chapter 27

Bart walked into the fourth bar of the day. The sixteenth in three days. He was tired, frustrated, and pissed off. Despite the fact that he clearly identified himself, no one would even admit to having seen Mirilla. Mir’ Ahn, on the other hand he’d found was a fifty/fifty shot. Fifty percent of those he’d questioned admitted to having seen Mir’ Ahn. They couldn’t tell him where he’d gone, just that they’d seen him, and he’d flashed a dagger when pressed that was clearly one of those gifted to Cruestaci warriors upon joining their military. As if that wasn’t enough to convince him that it was indeed Mir’ Ahn he was tracking, the fact that the male kept his entire body cloaked, even his head and face with a heavy hood drove the fact home. Mir’ Ahn was obviously aware that he was being hunted and was trying to keep a low profile.

“I’m looking for a Cruestaci warrior. His name is Mir’ Ahn,” he repeated.

The barkeep shook his head and did his best to look completely disinterested.

“He’s on the run. Most likely trying to hide his identity. His skin is a soft peach color.”

The barkeep’s head jerked back and he scowled at Bart, looking at him like there was something seriously wrong with him.

Only then did Bart realize what he’d said. He’d described Mir’ Ahn’s skin as a soft peach color, rather than a muted pale orange. Because soft peach in color is what he thought of when he thought of Mirilla. “This! He looks like this!” Bart insisted, shoving his communications device right into the face of the barkeep.

“Haven’t seen him,” the barkeep said .

“Have you seen a female. Also Cruestaci, same skin color and her hair is the same color as well?”

“Have you lost your male, or your female?” the barkeep laughed.

“If either shows up, contact me.”

“Not likely,” the barkeep scoffed.

Bart reached across the bar top and grabbed the male’s collar, pulling the male’s face so close to his that their noses touched. “If I’m told he arrives here and you have not contacted me, I’ll come back with an entire fucking retrieval team and we’ll burn this fucking place to the ground. Am I clear?” Bart barked out.

“You can’t…”

Bart reached into his pocket and pulled out his identification, slapping it against the male’s forehead. “It better be fucking likely. Or I might just decide to come back regardless. Been a while since I burned a piece of shit building to the goddamn ground!”

“If he comes, I’ll call.”

“If either comes you’d better fucking call!”

Bart, even angrier than before, turned and left the bar before the fucker working behind it made him any angrier than he already was. He was too near doing something stupid already.

The barkeep watched him go, grinding his teeth as he seethed at the disrespect the human had showed him. Once he was sure the man was gone, he called out to a very large, very dangerous looking female leaning on the opposite end of the bar. “Keep an eye on things.”

“Don’t I always?” she asked, enunciating a particular lisp on the end of ‘always’.

The barkeep disappeared behind a door leading to a small, filthy kitchen, then another door on the other side of the kitchen to emerge in a crowded, dirty alley. He quickly made his way to the far outer corner of the building, then squeezed into the small space between the bar and the building next to it, seeming to melt into the ground as he hurried down a staircase not even marked by a railing of any type. The steps had been built into the ground to give no indication that they were there at all until one all but stumbled down them. When he reached the bottom of the steps, he knocked three times quickly, twice more with a pause between them, then four more times quickly.

He waited patiently while the sound of the locks on the door being unlocked one after the other added to his nervousness. An old man eased the door open. “What?”

“They’re looking for her.”

“There are people looking for the lot of them. They won’t find them.”

“Not them, the new one. She said the Consortium Defense would come looking for her, and the Chairman just left here.”

“Good. You did your job and sent him away.”

“He said if he finds out that she’s been here and we didn’t advise him, he’d be back to burn the place to the ground. I can’t afford to start all over again!”

“Since you don’t own this fine establishment, you won’t be starting all over again. I will.”

“I invested everything I’ve earned for the last four years in this place. It’s as much mine as anyone’s.”

“Then you’d best get back up there and run it!”

“We need to kill her and throw her out into the street. He won’t be able to link her to us.”

“Why would you think he’d link her to us anyway? No one knows we are involved in anything other than providing a place to forget how fucking miserable everybody on this fucking spaceport is.”

“That’s not all. He’s looking for a male, too. Same description as her.”

The old man sighed. “There is no male. She was dressed as a male. That’s why he’s asking for a male or a female.”

“What if there is a male that looks like her? What if one shows up?”

“Well, if you were up there where you’re supposed to be, doing the job you’re supposed to do, we’d know if one shows up and we could take precautions to be sure that he won’t find her, either. But you’re not. You’re down here, not doing anything you’re paid to do at all!”

“But…”

The old man slammed the door, relocked all the locks on it, then turned around to the female lying drunkenly on the dirty mattress across the room. She been nothing but trouble since she’d arrived. So much so that he’d considered on more than more occasion simply slitting her throat and tossing her body into the street.

Sighing, he walked over to the mattress and kicked at her hand where it flopped onto the floor right beside the mattress. “You better be worth all this trouble. Cruestaci is not a breed I like to trade in. They’re too damn much trouble.”

Mirilla tried to force her eyelids open, but was unsuccessful. She lips parted enough to try to speak, but she ended up drooling on herself again.

“Look at that! No control at all. Why they want a Cruestaci female, I’ll never know. The other breeds are so much easier to control.”

~~~

Quin, working in the official office of the Sovereign of Cruestace, received an urgent, private communication. He watched the attempt to raise an answer as it scrolled across the top of the screen once more. Normally, he wouldn’t answer a communication hailing from an unidentified craft, but since so many of his males were assigned across Cruestace, aboard Command Warship 1, and even outside of Cruestaci airspace as they searched for Mir’ Ahn, he reached up and swiped his fingertip across the signal begging to be answered.

Surprised when Bart’s face popped up on his screen, he couldn’t help but notice the changes in Bart. “You look like shit.”

“Thank you. Feel like shit. Where is Mirilla? ”

“How would I know, Bart? I’ve been working to calm things here.”

“I’ve been in and out of so many seedy, criminal infested bars and places of ill repute that I’m not sure I even remember them all. No one has seen her. Half admit to having seen Mir’ Ahn when I threaten to burn their fucking buildings down, but none admit to having seen Mirilla. It’s like she’s just disappeared into thin air.”

“Maybe she’s hiding away from you as well as all the rest.”

“If she’s harmed because of your actions…”

“My actions?!” Quin shouted defensively. “What about your actions? You’re the one who professed to be devoted to her. I accused her of sabotaging my home and family, just as I did anyone who might have behaved questionably during that time.”

“You gave her no chance to explain away her actions!” Bart shouted back.

“And you made no move to defend her.”

“I did.”

“No you didn’t, not really.”

Bart huffed out a miserable breath and rested his forehead in his hands, before he used the heels of his hands to rub against the closed lids of his eyes. “I fucked up so fucking bad,” he mumbled. “If she’s hiding, fine. Once I find her safe, I’ll walk away if that’s what she wants. But what if someone noticed she’s a female out there alone? What if she’s suffering and I’m the one that ultimately drove her away? How do I find her to make sure she’s safe, Quin?” Bart asked desperately.

“You’re the damned Chairman of the Consortium! Use your people.”

“I have. The moment someone learns our people are from the Consortium they go silent, denying any and everything.”

“The downside of being on the side of the righteous,” Quin said.

“Fuuuuccccckk!” Bart bellowed angrily.

“Hold on… I might have an idea,” Quin said .

“Anything, I’ll try anything,” Bart said, stepping so close to the communication device he was using that a distorted image of his face filled Quin’s vid-screen.

“There is one individual that regularly moved in the circles you are searching in. Perhaps if he did the asking for you, he’d make more headway.”

“Who?” Bart asked.

Quin started smiling slowly.

Bart watched him with a confused expression, until slowly realization dawned on him. “Rokai!”

“You haven’t been very nice, but you can try. He might help. He does hate it when females are threatened.”

Bart didn’t even say another word, he simply ended the call.

Quin sat there at the huge official desk he grew up watching his father work at, that had now become his, and tapped on his vid-screen a couple of times. “You’re welcome!” he finally shouted at the sudden quietness filling his office. “Everything here is calming down, we’ve just about got it all figured out. Thanks for asking,” he snapped, as though the connection with Bart was still active.

~~~

Rokai was sitting across from Rosalita in the cafeteria aboard Command Warship 1. His communicator continued pinging and he continued ignoring it. He leaned across the table and lifted her hand to his lips. “What do you think of my idea?”

“I think it would be lovely. But I don’t think you should ignore that communicator anymore.”

“I’m off duty. They all know it.”

“Maybe someone needs you,” Rosie said.

“Maybe someone needs to leave me alone so I can plan some time away from this ship with my Ehlealah! So, do you want beaches, or do you want mountains, or perhaps we can just fly away until we find a place with no inhabitants so there will be no interruptions.”

“If there are no inhabitants, wouldn’t that mean that the wildlife will have grown out of control and we could become their dinner?”

“I wouldn’t let that happen,” he said, wrinkling his nose as he scoffed at her comments.

“They might be stronger than you are,” Rosie said.

“No one is stronger than I am. No one can take me down.”

“I took you down.”

“I let you, because I thought you were cute.”

“Cute?” Rosie said, her dark eyebrows rising almost to her hairline. “Puppies are cute. Children are cute! I am neither!”

Rokai grinned at her. “No, you’re not. You’re my sexy, dangerous, fiery mate, and I love to push you to the point that the fire inside you spills over and you start thinking you’re the boss.”

“I am the boss, Rokai.”

“Maybe, but only because I let you be the boss.”

The hydraulic doors of the cafeteria swished open and Vennie squelched into the room, stopping just inside the doorway before stopping and looking around. “Lieutenant Commander Rokai ahl!” he cried, moving as quickly as he could — which wasn’t very quickly at all — toward Rokai.

Rokai didn’t look toward Vennie, but he sighed dramatically. “They never, ever leave me alone,” he complained to Rosalita.

“They need you. You’re important.”

“But am I important to you?” he asked, fluttering his eyelashes at her as he grinned comically at the same time.”

“You were, before that horrible thing you’re doing with your face, but now I’m not so sure,” Rosie said, laughing.

“You just can’t feed my ego at all, can you?” Rokai asked before turning to the short, green, odiferous creature approaching their table. “What?” he barked out.

“Forgive me, Lieutenant Commander…” Vennie said.

“I’m trying,” Rokai snapped .

“Stop it!” Rosie whispered harshly.

Rokai blinked slowly, then pressed his lips together as he focused on Vennie. “What is it I can assist you with, Communication Specialist Vennie?”

“Chairman Bartholomew has been unsuccessfully attempting to contact you. He has an emergency he needs your assistance with,” Vennie said.

“Tell him to call his friends. He hasn’t been very nice to me lately.”

“He says that,” Vennie hesitated and looked carefully around before leaning a little closer to Rokai, “if you will help him, he will ignore anything you have to do to help him, and the Unified Consortium Defense will bestow an unending immunity on you.”

Rokai let go of Rosie’s hand and sat up straighter as his head canted slightly, sending his many braids into a jingling cacophony as the metallic bands holding the braids together rattled against one another. “He said that?”

“Yes, sir. He did, and he made me give him my solemn vow that we were on a closed channel before he even spoke the words to me in confidence, to be respoken only to you.”

“No matter what I have done, or do, I’m immune from prosecution?” Rokai asked, his gaze wandering for a moment as he thought over some of his past activities.

“Exactly, Lieutenant Commander,” Vennie said, his voice low and conspiratorial.

“Hmm. I wonder what he wants in return,” Rokai said thoughtfully.

“Do you really need the immunity?” Rosie asked.

Rokai met his mate’s gaze, his mind still flipping through the memories he’d accumulated over his lifetime of pirating behavior through the multiverse before finally finding his way back home again. He began slowly nodding as he pursed his lips, holding her gaze unwaveringly. “Oh, yes. It would be a really convenient thing to possess if some of my more… imaginative adventures ever come to light. ”

The mobile communicator Vennie carried began to give off its repetitive tone. Vennie looked down at the mobile set attached to his hip and rested his gelatinous finger just above it. “That’s the Chairman, Lieutenant Commander. Should I put him through to your private communicator once more?”

Rokai was still looking into Rosie’s eyes, and she into his. She nodded.

“Yes,” he said.

Vennie answered the incoming communication. “Chairman Bartholomew. I’m standing with him now. I’ll put you through at once, and as I stated before this is a secure unrecordable channel.”

Vennie looked at Rokai as he performed the necessary transfer before squelching away, presumably on his way back to his work station on the command deck.

“Bart! How are you?” Rokai asked.

“I need you,” Bart growled out.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m mated now, and she’s female — more my tastes,” Rokai said jovially.

“Did Vennie have time to deliver any of my request before you finally answered your damn communicator?!” Bart snapped.

“Not really, no. What is that saying my Rosie uses so often… oh, yes, ‘Who has pissed in your cornflakes this fine day?’” Rokai said, thoroughly enjoying himself.

“My female is missing, Rokai. I’m not playing games. I’m not up for a power struggle. I simply want her back unharmed and safely. Now! I want her back now!”

Rokai’s entire countenance shifted from mischievous to focused and alert. “Bart, you’re the fucking Chairman of the Unified Consortium Defense. Go get her.”

“I can’t! She’s somewhere on a space port looking for her piece of shit brother and no one on these fucking space ports will give me any information.”

“Because you’re with the Consortium,” Rokai said.

“Yes. These are the kinds of places that you spent the last half of your life in before Rosie. I need you. ”

“I will try, Bart, but I haven’t been moving in those circles for the last few years. They may not trust me as they once did.”

“But they still fear you,” Bart said.

“Well, yeah, I suppose.”

“Remember what you did to the males that hurt Rosie?” Bart asked.

Rokai slowly stood, looking down at his communicator. “Why?”

“Because no one will ever know. And if they do, you’ll have full immunity. Maybe you were on a mission sanctioned by the Consortium.”

Rokai looked worried, a little distracted as he focused on Bart again. “You think someone’s hurting her like that?”

“It’s possible. But it’s also possible that she’s hiding from me. But she’s out there searching for her brother alone. She’s moving through the seediest, most criminal of the ports you traversed and operated in. I need you to find her, I need her safe.”

“Why is she hiding from you?”

“I hurt her. Quin accused her of being involved in the sabotage of his family. I didn't defend her.”

“You’re a fucker,” Rokai said.

“Rokai, I don’t have time for this!” Bart exclaimed.

“Wait, was she involved?” Rokai asked, realizing he might not want to help find someone that threatened his new nephew.

“No! Mirilla would never harm anyone, much less a newborn or anyone from the royal family,” Bart shouted.

“Mirilla?! They suspected Mirilla? Mirilla wouldn’t do anything like that!” Rokai insisted.

“Her brother did. He set it up to make it look like she’d been involved, then when his plan fell apart, he disappeared.”

Rokai shook his head. “Mirilla is searching for Mir’ Ahn. And Mir’ Ahn is hiding among those who are as unscrupulous as he.”

“Exactly. Please help me. If you can find her and she won’t see me, that’s fine. Help her get to safety, let her know that she is not under suspicion so that she can safely go about her life and I will not ever bother her if that’s what she wants. But I will forever protect her.”

“Or better yet, bring her to you so you can tell her,” Rokai said.

“If she’ll cooperate. But right now, I’m actually more concerned with her safety.”

“What are the limits?” Rokai asked.

“There are none. Do what you did to those who harmed Rosie if you want to. Destroy a fucking port or even the whole fucking station if you have to. I don’t care at this point. If you can help me find her, you’ll receive immunity — from everything past and future!”

“Oh, yeah, Vennie did say that.”

“Then why did you act like he didn’t?” Bart demanded.

“I got distracted! Besides I needed you to say the words.”

“Will you help me, Rokai? These people will talk to you. You’ll be able to get information I’m sure I’m being denied.”

Rokai looked at Rosie, she nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes. I need you to send me details on where you’ve been, where you think she’s been, everything.”

“I’ve been asking about her and about Mir’ Ahn. What’s strange is that about fifty percent of those I ask deny having seen her, but they admit to having seen Mir’ Ahn. What was weird is that Mir’ Ahn was asking about other Cruestaci warriors, with his own description.”

“Did he ever show his face?” Rokai asked.

“No.”

“It was Mirilla, not Mir’ Ahn,” Rokai said. “She’s searching for Mir’ Ahn dressed as a male. The little bits they could see indicated minor things about her appearance so they thought he was asking about another warrior that looked like him.”

Bart stopped speaking as realization hit him. “How could I not see that?” he asked.

“You’re too close. Too emotional. I’m going to advise Re’Vahl he’ll be on duty until I return, and to get my ship loaded. I’ll be leaving here in thirty minutes. Send me everything you have so far, everywhere you’ve been. I’ll find her, Bart. No female deserves to be treated as she has, especially by her own family. Hopefully she’s safe, but if not, I will need that promise of immunity.”

“You have immunity. Do whatever is necessary, Rokai. I’ll meet you and we’ll go together,” Bart said.

“Yes, because standing beside the Chairman of the Unified Consortium Defense will make those I’m trying to force information from into believing I’m still the same male they feared.”

“I can’t just sit back and wait!” Bart declared.

“Then go continue your search for Mir’ Ahn, but do not even imply that you’re with me,” Rokai said.

“Yeah, perhaps you’re right. I have received word of a few sightings of Mir’ Ahn. I’ll look into those. But you keep me informed!” Bart said before ending their connection.

Rokai turned back to Rosie and leaned over, kissing her passionately. “Our getaway will be delayed a little longer than I anticipated, my Rosalita.”

“It’s okay. We’d have had to wait until Kol and Kron and everyone returned anyway. It’s important that you find this woman. We’ll have plenty of time for our getaway later,” Rosie said.

Rokai nodded and smiled, though it wasn’t the carefree smile he usually, effortlessly flashed to anyone he saw now that he was so happy and content in his life and life choices.

“Do you know the girl that’s missing? The one Bart says is his?”

“I do. She worked at the palace with my mother for a very long time. She’s kind and honest, and hard working. And the brother she is searching for is just the opposite. He was never able to advance in our military the way he wanted and was almost as bitter as I was toward my family. He had only himself to blame, though. He is lazy and manipulative. I’m not surprised that he is behind all the unrest on Cruestace.”

“Find her, Rokai. It sounds like she’s at risk out there.”

“She is, but I will find her. My reputation is still a living thing out there with those I once thrived among. ”

“I’m so proud of you, even the old you,” Rosie said.

“I love you. I’m ever grateful that you accepted me.”

“How could I not. It’s not everyday that a male gifts you a bag of heads and hearts.”

Rokai laughed. “You loved me before then.”

“I did. Take care of you, Rokai. Do whatever you have to do to find her and still come home safe to me.”

“Always, my love.”