Chapter Four
“ H ello, Nessa. I’m Layla. This is Wendy. You’re safe, okay?”
Nessa’s eye muscles weren’t coordinated enough to manage an eye roll under her heavy lids but that didn’t stop her from trying. She was sick, not stupid. The condescending, soothing tones... Well, she was cranky. Maybe once she was feeling better, the voices of everyone around her would quit sounding so patronizing or worse, so like she was dead and they were just talking over her.
Her eyes worked themselves open, ratcheting up fractions at a time, confusion settling into her features when she saw two women hovering over her, sweet expressions of concern on their faces. “Hi?”
“Hi!” The one with long blonde hair and a black uniform beamed. “You’re going to be okay.”
“That’s good.” Nessa tried the same trick with her shoulders as she had with her eyes. Little by little, she hoped she could wriggle herself up into a sitting position.
Nope.
“You were in a shuttle—more like a capsule—that went through a hyperjump. You weren’t in hypersleep. Were you?”
Panic flashed in Nessa’s eyes.
The men! Hot lasers. Dead bodies!
No, sleeping women, last-ditch efforts, the coordinates that she used.
“Am I in Felix Orbus?” she whispered.
The smaller of the two women nodded, lustrous dark hair bouncing around her petite face. “Yes! This is the Comet Stalker , a ship with a registry in the Leonid System. It’s a long-haul freighter currently heading toward Leonid-One. Do you know how you got here?”
“Yes. Hey, there were two other women on that shuttle.”
“They’re waking up slowly, too. They’re healthy—you’re a miracle. You must have been a week without food or water.”
“I had water in my canteen and part of my breakfast bar in my pocket. I know I was thirsty...” Nessa shook her head in its pillowy rest, but that didn’t clear it. “And I knew we would be making a hyperjump to enter the Felix Orbus Galaxy from the MWIP. Wait, you two are... Sorry, I’m groggy. I feel like my brain was put in a compactor. You said you two aren’t the women in the chambers, right?”
“No, no. How we got here is a long story for when you’re feeling better. Can you tell us how you got here?”
Nessa looked around as best she could. “There was a big furry guy.”
“Dr. Marcus? Graying, Leonid, glasses?”
“No... Spots. Gold?”
“Kamau!” Both women did that too-perky nodding that made Nessa want to hit something.
“Yeah. Can we get everyone in at once who needs to know stuff? I don’t know how much energy I have to tell the story multiple times.”
“You’re very practical,” a deep voice chuckled.
Nessa’s breath caught against her aching chest. Holy non-human .
In her career, she saw more non-humans than most people on Sapien-Three, but they were passing through, often seated in shuttles or ships already.
This was a Leonid, up close and personal, coming up to her bedside and dwarfing her completely. And she was a tall, solidly built woman—a real St. Albany girl, her dad used to say.
Next to this Felid in medical garb, she looked like a scrawny little shrimp. He smiled and put his gigantic paw out for her to shake, reaching down to scoop up her hand in case she was too weak to lift it (which she was). Nessa noticed that his head, haloed by a magnificent, soft-looking gray-gold mane, was the size of three or four human heads.
Big.
We’re back to little kid levels, huh? You’re a grown ass woman who outran two thugs with lasers and lived through a hyperjump and God knows what else. Act like it! This is far from the first time you’ve had to give a report—and this guy is just a big, furry Leonid doctor. He’s not scarier than the union reps.
“You must be the doctor. I’m Nessa Kinney, a shuttle tech and inspector from the Milky Way Intergalactic Port. In the routine completion of my duties, I was inspecting shuttles in berths thirty through forty. Earlier in the day, two men tried to bribe me with three hundred credits, which I instead put into the MWIP Safe and Sound charity collection. I—”
“Whoa, whoa, my dear. You are safe and not on trial. And, as your practical self mentioned, we all want to hear your story. How about if I help you up, Skyla helps you change into something more glamorous than our med bay special, and we let you have guests in the dining area?”
“How long have I been knocked out? Why haven’t I been in quarantine?”
“You’ve been in isolation in the med bay for three days because you were hovering on the brink of life and death for a bit,” the Leonid said gravely. “You’ve had every blood panel and test we can administer, and you’re not only disease-free, you have superior strength and an enviable recovery speed. Your companions on the shuttle? Not so much, but they’ll be out of quarantine soon. Ah, here’s Skyla.”
Nessa managed to slide her head slightly, looking for another human. Or Felid. “What are you?” she blurted, instantly wishing she hadn’t.
At least the laughter that greeted her was friendly—and that was a good thing because the stacked alien lady in a painted-on gray flight suit had a long muzzle full of sharp teeth that gleamed when she tossed her head back to laugh.
“I’m a Canid! Dholian, to be exact. I’ve been your unofficial nurse since you arrived, and it’s a pleasure to finally hear your voice!”
“Oh! Thank you.” Nessa watched the long plume of a tail—reddish brown like a fox’s, sway and sashay on long legs.
Her tired brain stored new information. Canid. Okay. Pretty. Friendly. Nurse.
Huge teeth, though.
“Um. And... humans and Felids and Canids are all pretty peaceful together?” Nessa asked softly.
More laughter, and some sideways glances. Wendy stepped forward, hand on her middle. As she stood closer to the bed, Nessa could see the bulge of a pregnant belly. “Very friendly in some cases. My husband is a Tigerite.”
“I’m married to a Leonid. We have two cubs. Kids.” The blonde in a black uniform waved with a smile.
“My boss—Jaxson, you’ll meet him, is a Canid, and he was married to a Felid. You’re in the Felix Orbus Galaxy now, and everyone here is pretty peaceful,” Skyla held up a deep blue dress and surveyed it with a critical eye. “As long as you don’t come between a Felid and his Queen, that is.”
Dimly, she remembered hearing a voice, a soft, smooth purring voice, something like speech caught in a melody.
Who called me his Queen? Who had that beautiful, rich, deep voice? And what exactly does “Queen” mean in this galaxy?
“MY QUEEN IS HEADING to the dining room? I mean—the Queen I’ve helped look after? I have broth ready!” Kamau hoped the pitiful excitement in his voice wasn’t too obvious as he skidded around the kitchen, throwing together something that would work for an impromptu reception for their new guest. “Who is coming? Why are we in the dining area? Should we not be gathered at her bedside? Is this going to overtax her?” Questions popped from his lips as his tail grabbed a bowl of citrines. He dumped goat’s milk and marsh duck eggs into a bowl with sugar and began to whisk for all he was worth. “She can only have soft things and liquids, yes? What about a warm glass of citrine custard?”
“You’re going to sprain something,” Ardol shook his head. “Be calm and collected.”
“Oh? Like you were?” Kamau glared at the Leopardine for a minute. He could throw a lot of unpleasant truths back at the bigger male, but he was too busy. “Go and check to see if the service droids have wiped down all the tables and mopped the floor.”
“Isn’t that—”
“If you disobey the chef, I will not make my grandmother’s Red Love curry for you and Jade. My grandmother was a midwife, and she never failed to help a Queen bring forth cubs. Red Love curry has ancient Servali herbs and spices known to create insatiable heats that last several extra days.”
Ardol’s eyes glowed with momentary lust, and then he streaked away. “Checking, chef!”
“That’s better,” Kamau muttered, his own insides twisting with a hunger he knew he wouldn’t be able to satisfy anytime soon.
Nessa was wearing some sort of uniform when they bought her in. She was likely some sort of official, and she had heroically rescued those two other humans—no one could persuade him otherwise. Even sickly and asleep, she had the bearing of one of the noble estates. On her planet, she was probably betrothed to a rich and powerful man. Or maybe she had several men vying for her love.
A Felid cook on a long-haul freighter who has nothing to call his own aside from his quarters—and even those truly belong to someone else? As Dax would say... Not a hope in hell.
“THE MEN HAD HOT-BEAM lasers, and they pulled them on me. I barely got the shuttle door closed in time. The shuttle began to move, and I had already seen that the siding wasn’t going to survive a planetary landing. If I did get off somehow, I knew I could get shot—and those women in hypersleep would have died upon landing because their coordinates were for a planetary landing. So... I had to think fast and hope for the best by piggybacking on the coordinates of the last shuttle—the one arriving here. I knew it was docking in space, on a craft, and it wouldn’t have to go through the reentry process.” Nessa finished her story with a sense of disbelief. Felids, Canids, and humans were all staring at her with utter silence and awe.
The one called Kamau was the one to speak first. “You are a hero. Your quick thinking saved three lives, and you realized all of those things in just a matter of moments while criminals fired upon you?” He clasped his paws together, his tail lashing around behind him like a pendulum gone wild. “A warrior Queen who saved the lives of strangers. Anbessa-Bastet !” he said with a deep bow.
“ Anbessa-Bastet !” said Dr. Marcus, doing the same thing.
The others looked confused, then echoed them, a polite but fervent chorus of “ Anbessa-Bastet !” running around the tables that were shoved together in one long line.
“Um. Thank you?”
“ Anbessa-Bastet is the Servali term for one of great valor. It means Bastet’s lion, or lioness. Bastet is the goddess most Felids worship, in addition to others.” Marcus explained.
“Oh! Oh, wow. Thank you. I’m not a lioness, believe me. I was scared to death. I cried... A lot.”
“Bravery is being scared and doing the right thing anyway,” Rupex, the tawny Leonid captain, declared. “We are honored to have you on board, and we suspect that your case is just another piece of the puzzle we’ve dealt with for over a year now. Human agents on Sapien-Three are kidnapping human women and sending them off-world. Sometimes they trick them with the promise of a better job, sometimes they’re drugged, or they’re simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. So far, kindly Felids have intercepted thirteen humans—but we may not know of every case, and we don’t know how this issue will accelerate once it becomes well-known that Felids and humans can have children together.”
“And that’s important to Felids?” Nessa tried to keep the disgust out of her voice. Love was love. Why did you need to be someone’s baby-making machine?
“Most of our Queens of childbearing age died during Queen Fever. Younger and older females survived. The cubs who grew up without mothers are just now entering adulthood or are infertile thanks to life-saving surgery. With an entire generation missing, there are lonely people doing desperate things—or in our case,” Rupex put his arm around Layla’s shoulders, “a wonderful thing that had a happy outcome.”
The dislike that had flared in her cooled. “Oh. I guess that would change things.” There was a difference between just wanting to plant your flag and actually fearing your species would die out.
“Yes. A lot of young Knights—what you’d call unmarried or unmated male Felids—will never have a mate or a family.”
Wendy spoke up, her small figure nestled in her Tigerite husband’s lap, his tail curled loosely around her growing middle. “I came here of my own free will—but not with the intention of getting married. That was just a wonderful coincidence. I was working for Metro Labs as a permanent test subject. It was horrible.” Wendy shuddered. “Layla’s jobs weren’t much better.”
Jade cleared her throat. “Mine looked cushy—but it was soul-shattering despite the decent pay and luxuries that came with it.”
Wendy lightly touched Jade’s hand in a supportive gesture before letting it rest on Talos’ wide paw. “I think a lot of human women on Sapien-Three would like the chance to leave our planet with its corruption and pollution behind. They might enjoy the option of exploring life in the Felix Orbus Galaxy.”
Nessa snorted, then turned it into a cough. Kamau sprang six feet in the air to refill her water tumbler the second she made a noise. “Exactly! I know that’s true. I’m one of those women. I live on the Milky Way Intergalactic Port outpost. Sadly, it’s not much better than St. Albany on Sapien-Three. I take pride in my work, and I enjoy it most of the time, but I had to fight for twelve years to even get to where I am—which is pretty low and low paying.”
“Trafficking is a heinous crime in our galaxy,” Dr. Marcus interjected. “I’m sure it is the same in yours. Felids have a need for female companionship—and they don’t even know about the possibility of procreation yet. Humans seem willing to sacrifice each other to fulfill that need. There are criminals on both sides of the equation, a sickening law of supply and demand.”
Nessa felt relief flooding her as the figures in the room all nodded. The whole crew had turned out to welcome her, even two sleeping cubs who were nestled in Layla’s arms. All of them seemed like good, kind people, the kind who didn’t intend to eat her or sell her. “What do I do now? How do I get back?”
“In about two weeks, we’ll dock on Leonid-One. You’ll be able to get back to the Milky Way Intergalactic Port from there. In the meantime, you’ll need to speak to your relatives at home, Felid law enforcement, Sapien-Three law enforcement... You’ll be on screens and calls for a good deal of the next two weeks, but we can make the best of it,” Rupex reassured. “The run of the ship is yours. Kamau and Ardol just ordered an entire bay’s worth of human goods and food,” he gave the Leopardine and Servali crew members a playfully exasperated glare. “I imagine you could live down there for several years before needing to come out.”
“Hey! Do you want me to show you how much I saved on shipping by consolidating all the orders into one capsule, Ru?” Ardol demanded.
“You still need monitoring, but perhaps you’d like your own room to recuperate in, Nessa. May I call you Nessa?” Dr. Marcus asked.
“Yes. Everyone can call me Nessa. You saved my life. You are all Anbessa-Bastet. ”
Kamau made a strangled noise and began clearing the cups of the sweet but tangy cream he called a citrine custard.
“Hey! You know what? Kamau, isn’t the suite on B Deck empty? It’s right next to yours and near the B Deck entrance to the dining area and kitchen! That’d be ideal. Nessa could have someone close by if she needs something, and if she gets hungry, she won’t have far to go!” Wendy said brightly.
Nessa caught the Felid chef’s eye.
“It would be my pleasure to take care of such an honored Queen and guest,” he murmured, eyes locked with hers.
Nessa felt a zap run through her that had nothing to do with her muscles learning to function after almost dying. She hadn’t felt this sensation in a long time—years, even.
“I’d like that,” she tried to keep her voice steady, but her insides were wildly confused.
That’s the voice that called me “My Queen.”
He’s the one who talked to me like I was awake and in the conversation.
As he scurried back to the kitchen, Nessa watched him go, eyes clearly focusing for the first time since she’d woken.
He must be almost seven feet tall. And look at how his fur shines in the light—and hugs all those long, lean muscles.
No, no, no. We are not into Felids, Nessa Beatrice Kinney.
Her eyes drifted back to the other occupants of the room who were talking to her and to one another. In particular, her eyes found Layla and Rupex as they each held a cub, Ardol and Jade who were peeling out of the room like they had a detonator to defuse, and Talos and Wendy, who were engaged in an earnest conversation, lost in each other.
Are we sure we’re not into Felids? Because... apparently, there’s something worth being into.
Kamau walked past her on his second trip around the table, taking her dishes and adding them to the pile in his arms. He collected them with a nervous smile and hurried back to the doorway that led to the kitchen. His tail tapped the keypad that opened the sliding door and then caught a cup that slid from the stack as he turned.
Nessa blinked slowly, partly because she was easily exhausted and partly because she couldn’t help but notice how strong and graceful her new Felid neighbor was—and she couldn’t stop imagining what else Felids could do with their tails.