Chapter Six
C overed in cookie crumbs , Sage sat up and frowned. Did you feel that?
Sorry. Chocolate chip makes me gassy.
Sage laughed. Not that. I felt a tingle on the back of my neck.
Bailey sat up. Did Zell bite you?
Sage snorted. No. He didn t want any fluid exchange.
Hm. Well, that proves the match, then. Sorry about that.
What do you mean?
I mean, he s chasing us. That was a sounding contact. Symo s with him because I got the same ping.
Sage felt panic. What do we do?
We make tea, continue our route home, and get permission for a direct landing. The only way they can beat us there is if they use a warship.
They wouldn t.
They might. Symo running into Zell might be good for you. He s really in touch with his feelings and motivations. He also doesn t like emotional abuse. His colonists are all really tactile species who engage in a lot of affectionate displays.
Sage asked, So why did you run?
Because I felt that forever with him was tempting.
Because I wondered what Dennis would think if I gave in to Symo.
Because the Hmrain want consorts so they can have families, and my family died six months after the impact.
I was showing by then, and a band of assholes beat Dennis, assaulted me, and the miscarriage started after that.
I lost everything in four hours. Bailey ran her hands over her hair.
She looked at Sage. And then I took everything from them.
Sage felt the tears on her cheeks. Oh, God, Bailey. I had no idea.
Bailey shrugged. So, I am running from another good guy because I had a perfect husband, and we were going to have a baby, and then it was gone.
And our world was gone, and I know Symo wants to try making me that happy again, but I don t know if I can handle it.
She whispered, I don t know if I deserve it.
Sage hugged her new friend and said, Did they give you survivor s guilt therapy?
No. Is that what this hollow burn is?
Yeah. The more loved ones you had during the impact, the shittier you feel.
Bailey dragged in a breath.
You know what is good for that floating feeling?
What?
Mindless orgasms. I got really good at it, and that is why I am in this situation.
Bailey laughed. Oh, that s why you did it.
Well, all my normal hobbies blew up.
They giggled together, had some more tea, and settled in to sleep.
Sage woke up and went to find Bailey. Her friend was at the helm and wearing damp hair and a towel. The jacks and scars that covered her made Sage gasp.
Bailey was sipping a drink through a straw. Hey, Sage. Sorry. I have to take the suit off once a week and let my skin feel air, or I end up being wet tissue in a tin can.
You... those are claw marks.
Bailey nodded and sipped her drink again. Yup. Human claw marks. I have them all over.
I thought the Education Station took care of them.
Not if you are checked out to fly and for combat the day after you finish language training.
No dance? No etiquette?
Bailey grinned. I am naked in a towel in the front of a spaceship, flashing my junk to the stars while my suit recharges and cleans. I will be all covered up in a few hours.
It doesn t bother me. I just... I can imagine the pain.
Well, it didn t tickle. So, since we have time to kill, get some breakfast stuff, and we are going to make a list of demands for your contract.
What?
If they are coming for us, we can only run for so long. I have run for most of this year. I am tired, and I am ready to have it out with Symo.
Let me know if you need backup.
That might not be a bad idea. Compared to you, I look like a thug. That might turn him off. Most Hmrain consorts look very feminine, but I suppose that is only because they are standing next to very pretty trolls.
They are pretty. Why is that?
Most species accept and encourage symmetry.
It gave them an in to a lot of non-bipedal species that might not have been there.
Of course, Ra was the first, and he was really good at making friends around galaxies before he went to his own planet and took a nap.
Bailey grinned. He and Harwin look super cute and shiny together.
Shiny?
The older or more powerful Hmrain share themselves with their consorts and remake them to fit. A solid match shows a biological change in the consort. They change to match their overseer.
So, they are no longer human.
Nope. But none of the overseers let us breed with our own. Humanity as we know it will be wiped out in two generations. After that, we just become cautionary tales or myth and legend.
Sage frowned. Other species get to breed true.
There are more of them.
Norman and his new girlfriend get to be breeders.
Ah. They are living on one of the archive worlds. They are basically pets.
Sage blinked. What?
They do not get to travel. They are assigned work and assigned recreation. Their lives are monitored constantly. They are living in a wide-open jail.
Whoa. How do you know all this stuff?
I put my money into buying information and ingredients. I was rated for travel. I have clearance on any Hmrain world, and I can go into any part of any space station and several cities I like.
Sage paused. Can I do that?
Bailey grinned and got a table. Write it down. Any freedom, fund, hobby you want. Write it down. Hmrain are ridiculously rule-following.
Okay. This is going to be interesting. Anything?
If you want to see it in your future. Yes.
Greenhouses everywhere. Sage chortled. She started writing.
You can also dictate physical stuff. Held after sex. Must spend the night with you a minimum of three times a week. Cuddling when you need to be held, no matter what he is doing.
Sage paused. You are serious.
Design Prince Charming. I already did mine.
May I see?
Bailey pulled out another tablet and brought up the file. She handed it over.
Sage looked at it and laughed at some points. No tickling without official notice?
Nope. They don t know what it is, but it is something that Dennis used to do when he wanted to get secrets out of me. I think my heart would die if someone else tried it.
Sage nodded. Right. I get that.
Sage took in the details of the contract, some of which brought a blush to her cheeks. She nodded and started copying the points she wanted to keep in her own contract.
They chatted about options, and Sage smiled at the enormous amount of working on the land that she had put into her wish list. What if he doesn t give in on all this?
He will, or he has to surrender something he wants. If he doesn t, you can take this list to another Hmrain. Knowing that you are compatible with Zell will narrow down the matches that are likely.
So, I am not getting out of this.
Nope. Once they know you are Hmrain compatible, you are stuck.
They keep coming until they have you. Mind you, as far as I know, I am the only one who has dodged one this long.
That is mainly because other Hmrain think it s funny to watch Symo chase me around the star systems, and I tend to keep to systems that I can make friends in.
Basically, ones where the Hmrain is already occupied. Bailey smiled.
Oh, so ones where they have consorts.
Yup. They aren t shopping or sniffing or scanning.
So, have you seen a lot?
Oh, yeah. Meteor waves, asteroids, nebulas, and a lot of things I can t even describe. Wastelands and cities everywhere.
You have seen humans.
Yes. Individuals, groups, singles, and the ones who were in the first wave taken by the station and experimented on to see what we were compatible with.
They are on Aten now, acting as security for the new human colonies.
They are all the colours of the rainbow and now adapted to earth, air, water, and fire.
She smiled. Ra is matchmaking with Hmrain descendants.
He knows all of the species they have been blended with.
Oh, and he also pointed out that the people of Terra don t owe the station.
He owns Terra, and therefore, we are all under his umbrella.
All of our bonds are refunded on request. We are free to live if you know who to ask.
Seriously?
Yup. That is a relatively new development. You still have to sell your services to be employed. The bond auctions are still a thing, but you don t start in debt anymore.
Oh. Wow. That would be so neat. I won a harvester race the night that I got abducted and sent to the Temple. Did I tell you that?
No. His consort had you deported?
His companion.
Bailey smiled. You don t say.
What are you planning?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. But give me her name, just in case.
Missal.
Cool. Cool. Bailey rubbed her hands together.
What are you planning?
Nothing unless Symo catches us, in which case, something.
So, what do you have against him specifically?
He can see into my soul. He s one of the flat-out psychics. He took one look at me, and his face moved with empathy, and that killed me. He saw way too much, and our one kiss burned the shadows inside me and terrified me. I have been with the shadows for a while. They are part of me.
Sage blinked. You can t let them go.
I can. But that is what this mad dash of courier jobs has been. Spending enough time in my own head to understand what I want. I am willing to let him earn my attention now. Bailey smiled.
What about the scarring?
When you really match one of them and a genetic exchange has been created, their ridiculous healing abilities become yours. This scar tissue will be gone in under a month. Unlike your stunning capabilities, he s gonna have to work to get inside me.
Sage laughed. I hadn t thought about that. The Temple tries to prepare you for probable assignments, and mine was always going to be an overseer, so I was trained accordingly. I can hook you up with the trainer if you like.
Sure. If they haven t beat us there. This baby is fast, but a warship is faster, and Zell is pulling out all the stops.
How do you know?