Chapter 21
Ranek
Ranek looked around the cramped shuttle.
He didn’t recognize it. Except every so often, he’d see something and a memory of it would flash in his head, but then it’d be gone.
There wasn’t room in here for Maya and the pup; he had packed this place full.
It added to the narrative forming in his head that he and Maya had only just met.
And this was the crappy-ass shuttle he brought her into?
No wonder she was hesitant about the mate bond.
This thing was a beat-up piece of junk. And he could see where he tried his best to patch it up.
But it wasn’t going to run for long. He really needed an upgrade.
The first thing he did was move several of the crates out of the shuttle to make room for Maya and Commander Chaos.
He knew she’d been in the shuttle before because her scent was here, and so was Commander Chaos’s. But they were faint, like they’d only been in the shuttle for a few minutes. The station scented more strongly of them than his shuttle did.
He went to his ship’s log and scanned through the history to try to glean as much about his past and recent life as possible.
To his surprise, the ship was listed as his. If he’d stolen the vehicle, the log no longer showed it. The change had been made recently. The ship showed no history before several months ago when he’d acquired it.
Since then, he’d taken it through several Dominion checkpoints before making his way to the outer planets. He’d stayed on Vosthea for a while. According to the logs and the up-to-date map, he’d stayed at Kean’s compound.
It was there on Vosthea that the ship had its history cleaned, removing anything before Ranek had acquired it.
He had also docked with several ships he did not remember.
One of them was the New Horizon. The shuttle had also been logging transmissions from his comm unit, including calls and messages between him and the crew.
Ranek did not remember any of this. Ulrek’s contact also showed up on his ship, but it was listed as “Uzzar/Ulrek.” He searched for Vasek’s name, but could not find his brother in the records on his ship.
That was strange. Despite having lived in his brother’s shadow, Ranek had always been close with Vasek.
Vasek was the intelligent one who had been accepted into the Dominion’s biomedical training; he was their father’s pride.
Ranek himself had failed almost everything, and the only reason the Dominion had given him work fixing up old equipment was because he was his father’s son, and his father was highly decorated.
What did it mean that Vasek was not part of his contacts? Was his brother not in the outer planets after all?
Didn’t Maya say Ulrek had switched sides? Had Ranek followed him and Kean out to this sector? Had he left his brother behind? Did they, even now, fight for different sides? The thought made his gut twist.
He was even more confused now that he looked into the ship’s log and decided to give Kean a call.
Kean looked very different than Ranek remembered him, older and with more lines of stress on his face, but still in his prime. But the other male greeted him like an old friend.
“Ranek, did you find what you needed at Fortuna II?”
“Kean. There are new developments, and I hope I am correct in calling you.”
“What’s the matter, my friend?” Kean's face turned from jovial to serious.
“I suffer from a head injury. I do not know if I have found what I’m looking for because I do not remember why I came to Fortuna II. The only thing I do know for certain is that I have found my mate.”
Kean did not congratulate him as a friend would on his mating; instead, he turned from serious to worried. But that was probably because his friend knew of his family’s curse.
“She is a human, so I don’t need to worry about the family curse. She wouldn’t be able to fully bond with me, but it’s okay; I accept it.” His words did not lessen his friend’s worry.
“Which part of your life do you remember?” Kean asked.
“I do not remember anything after the Dominion’s aptitude testing. I have tried to glean what I could from my ship's logs. But they do not tell much, and what they do tell only confuses me more. I need someone I can trust.”
“You can trust me, Ranek. I helped you make it out to Vosthea. Come to my compound and see my medic, Ulkin. Memory loss is not uncommon after impact, and often our memories return as we heal. I’ve been through it myself.
You can heal in the safety of my compound.
And there are protocols to help retrieve memories. ”
“I will, but after I bring my mate to Reka 5.”
“Are you sure this female is your mate?”
“Yes, more than life itself.”
“I see.”
“You do not believe me.”
“My friend, she cannot be your mate. I do not know what she has told you, but…”
Did his friend believe that Maya had lied and was using him?
“She has told me nothing, and denies it herself. But I know what she is. Maya is mine. I asked her to give me a chance to win her, and she has.”
Kean’s face softened. “Stranger things have happened, but this is a conversation we should have face-to-face. Bring her. And know that you will always have safety within my walls. In the meantime, try not to get into too much trouble, will you?”
“I will try. There are pirates after my mate and her dragus.”
Kean raised a brow. “Sounds like your mission to loot the abandoned mining planet to make enough credits to upgrade your ship has turned into quite an adventure. “
“Was that why I was here? Makes sense. This thing’s a piece of shit. Before I go, can I ask if Vasek is in the outer planets?”
Kean laughed, deep and genuine. “That was the first thing you asked the last time you surprised me with a call asking for help. And yes, he is, but it’s best if you recall the memories yourself. So get your ass to the compound. Unless you need help making it to Vosthea.”
“No. I can make it. I will see you soon.”
Somehow the call had given him more information, but he was even more confused. Why couldn’t Maya be his mate? And if she was, why was it strange?
Wanting to know more about his immediate situation, he braced for the worst and searched the boards for broadcasts about his bounty.