Chapter 7 #3
Just when Rone thought being cooped in his quarters would cause him to explode, Kuren commanded his attendance, told him to pack up his belongings as he wouldn’t be returning this time to the same station.
Having decided when his mission started that he could obtain anything he might need on any station he visited, Rone carried little with him.
It all fit in one small hand-held container.
Preen had nothing at all. As for Rone’s other pet, there was only the pathetic remnants of his old clothing in a shrink-wrapped package.
He held it up to the human who’d quietly been sitting on the sleeping platform watching Rone.
“You wish to keep this still?”
The boy dropped his gaze to stare at where his fingers plucked at the bedding. “Yes, please, master.”
Rone tossed the thing in, even though he couldn’t imagine ever letting the boy wear such worn, ugly clothes.
He paused briefly at the thought. When had he lost sight of the fact that his ownership of the human was only part of the role he played on his mission?
Once he brought down Kuren’s operations, he would be able to send the boy to that damn ball of nothing that their people still fought over—politically, if not physically.
Frey could go back to being free, even if he’d be living within an occupation.
Unlike the other human pets within Travian ownership, Frey had never done anything wrong to merit pet status.
If anything, Arpell had violated the law when he’d attacked the human ship.
It was one thing for High Command to order such a thing and another for a privateer to do it.
He snapped the container shut, ignoring the sudden tightness in his chest when he thought of letting Frey go.
What did it matter to him? Yes, the human had provided unexpected pleasure and a welcome diversion from the alternating stress and boredom of his mission, but that was hardly a reason to fret over his loss.
Any fuck boy would have accomplished the same, and once he returned to Travia Prime, he could find himself a nice, eager cadet to play with until he took his next assignment.
So, yeah. No need to think twice about cutting the human loose.
“Come,” he said in a voice sharp enough to cut glass.
Frey jumped up to stand beside him. Rone reached for the leash, but ended up pulling the boy into his arms and kissing him.
That was the word his pet used for this fusing of their mouths, and Rone found he liked it.
He let go only when he felt his pet struggle for breath.
The boy looked up at him with wide eyes, his lips swollen and shiny from their combined spit.
Rone bent down and swiped his tongue across them.
“Come,” he said again and attached both leashes. “Kuren is not someone to keep waiting.”
For the first time, he didn’t go to the male’s office.
His instructions led him to a docking bay.
Kuren and his ever-present guards stood talking quietly with the bay crew.
He didn’t stop whatever conversation he was having when he spotted Rone.
Instead, he gestured for him to board the craft.
It was smaller than the one Rone had used for his runs.
This one was designed to shuttle crew quickly to nearby larger ships that idled outside the station.
It was a good sign that Rone was truly being included in more important endeavors.
He waited patiently by one of the four seats in the tiny bridge. He didn’t have long.
Kuren strode in and gestured to one chair. “Sit, and keep those things out of our way.”
Rone did as told, maneuvering his pets into the far corner and having them sit with his container perched on Frey’s lap.
One of the guards took the pilot seat, while Kuren sat beside him.
That left the other guard next to Rone. No one said a word more than was necessary to get them disengaged from the station.
The shuttle hurtled away, and the speed added to the excitement coursing through Rone’s blood.
He knew now that his long efforts to make some meaning out of his life after his mate’s death would come to fruition.
He didn’t let his feelings show, of course.
He let his mask of indifference fall into place for the short journey.
A larger ship loomed into view, the kind of ship a wealthy female might use for the pleasure of cruising around the universe.
It held no obvious outward armaments, but Rone knew better.
It was likely laden with all manner of weaponry, suitable for the ugly business the male conducted.
He tried to estimate the number of crew, always on the lookout for trouble.
He figured the ship would require at least twenty and probably had more, given Kuren’s business.
It would require muscle as well as weapons.
They docked smoothly into an internal shuttle bay.
Rone stood up, along with the others, as soon as the pilot powered down.
He motioned for Frey and Preen to stand, then he followed Kuren out.
More guards, armed to the teeth, met them in the bay.
They didn’t seem particularly menacing, yet Rone kept an eye on them—not that there was anything he could do about it if this all turned out to be some kind of trap.
Although for the first time Kuren’s guards hadn’t stripped him of what they thought were all of his weapons, he knew he stood no hope of taking out so many males, should it come to that.
And his pets would be right in the line of fire, too.
He knew that Preen was probably the most resourceful of the three of them if it came down to a fight, but he worried about Frey.
The human seemed to have no combat training.
He worried for nothing. Kuren gave a subtle signal, and the guards relaxed. He waved Rone forward. “Tell me what you see when you look at this ship.”
Clasping his hands behind his back, Rone made a show of thinking about it.
“A pleasure craft. I expect a high-born female uses it to flit about, maybe to visit with her children who serve on stations. I expect she has more than one mate, as females of her station usually do—males to dance attendance on her.”
Kuren looked pleased. He clapped one hand on Rone’s shoulder. “Exactly, except that female allows her equally high-born mate to use it when she’s ensconced on her estate. He’s so full of himself, he travels with two pets—one to fuck and one because it amuses him.”
Rone huffed out a laugh. “Of course.” Kuren’s words echoed Rone’s earlier ones from their first meeting, yet he didn’t dare look at either of his pets. Frey was used to being described as a fuck toy, but Rone could only imagine how Preen felt about that last comment in particular being repeated.
“Come. Let me show you the rest of the ship. You need to familiarize yourself with it before you leave for your first major run. The hold already contains the cargo.”
“Where am I taking it?”
“Not so very far from here, to a planet located at one corner of the Empire that many talk about, yet have no real interest in.”
Rone stopped in his tracks. “You mean the planet the humans invaded?”
Kuren smiled. “Exactly. A planet we care so little about that it doesn’t even have a proper name, nor any civilization, save for the garrison left there to oversee the human vermin. Plenty of space to hide a large cache of arms.”
“For what purpose?”
Kuren’s eyes narrowed and he leaned into Rone’s face. “Our clients pay us to move things from one part of space to another. We don’t ask why, nor do we care.”
Rone dropped his gaze. “Of course. Forgive me. I will deliver my cargo as ordered and have no concern on that front.”
“Good. Let us continue.”
The tour of the ship was long and thorough, giving Rone an eye-opening lesson on just how sophisticated Kuren’s operation was.
A vessel such as this would not be easy to obtain and trick out with the kind of technology and even luxury that this one contained.
The cargo hold itself surprised him with both how cleverly hidden it was within the ship and how much it contained.
A revolution could be fought with such a storehouse.
And Kuren spoke of this as Rone’s first run, which meant that even more would become available.
Despite having rounded up or killed many traitorous males, it was clear that the conspiracy remained active with a large group of males unaccounted for.
He was glad when the tour brought them to the captain’s quarters.
They were his quarters now, and it was as sumptuous as his rooms had been back in his mother’s house.
There, she’d decorated for him, not really caring what his tastes were.
Orianna had been more accommodating. The lavish excess didn’t suit him at all, yet certainly helped with his intended persona of a dissolute male.
It also allowed him to direct Frey to drop the container with their combined personal items somewhere.
Although it wasn’t very large or heavy for Rone, he’d seen his human pet struggling to carry it all over.
Naturally, he couldn’t take it from the boy without looking weak.
But once he told the boy to put it down, he pulled his pet to his side and kneaded his rump, as if that had been the point of his order all along.
He didn’t like the interested look Kuren gave him, though, and stopped groping the boy.
The last thing he wanted was for his boss to ‘request’ use of the pet before leaving the ship.
The one time he’d done so had infuriated Rone, and he didn’t think he’d could hide his true emotions about it a second time—not convincingly.
He was too close to completing his mission to take any risks.
Fortunately, the moment passed, and Kuren led him to the bridge as the final destination.