Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Jon
O ne last mission and I could start my new life. I took a deep breath, forcing my tense shoulders to relax. A few more days wouldn't matter to me. I had waited so long. I shifted in my seat; the harness chafing against my groin where it held me securely in place.
Just one last mission to an abandoned planet with an incompetent fool as a commander. I glanced sideways at the young male piloting the shuttle, who made up the other half of the two-person crew, gritting my teeth as he fumbled with the shuttle’s controls.
Again.
I ground my teeth together, frustrated that I—the more experienced pilot—was once again relegated to passenger because of my low birth. The only thing I had in common with my colleague was our family name, Luk. He was ranked 8 th in line to lead the family, with the name designator Luk 8 th , whereas I was 456 th in line to lead the family. I was a nobody. I could hardly forget the fact when I was reminded every day of how low I ranked.
Those who were within spitting distance of the power that came with being the head of the family were called the Elite. Luk 8 th was an Elite, but I was nothing. So low in rank that I barely warranted notice. I was barely a step above the unranked that were treated barely better than slaves.
I scowled at Luk 8 th as he struggled to keep the ship level, crossing my arms across my broad chest.
Just be patient.
In a few days, I would no longer be known as Luk 456 th . Instead, I would be known by my chosen name, Jon. No family name. No previous life. I could create a life I wanted, not one that was dictated by my birth.
I could not wait.
The shuttle shook as we broke through a layer of cloud. Luk 8 th swiped a hand over his brow, mopping sweat away quickly before grabbing the controls once more, his knuckles white. At this rate, it would be a miracle if the young fool didn’t crash our shuttle on approach to the planet, let alone get us to where we needed to go. My fingers tightened on the armrest, and I released a slow breath.
It had taken months to organize my passage to the exile planet, and the parcel of land I had visited only once before purchasing. Land I intended to farm with my own hands. I had already paid, and if I missed the departure, I wouldn’t get my money back. I had one chance for freedom, and I wouldn’t let anything get in my way.
Especially not some twig of an Elite, such as Luk 8 th . I was going to escape the Gnaggarrian Empire and all that it stood for. I scoffed. Rights for the lowest ranked Gnaggarrians, like me, were restricted. I couldn’t vote. I couldn’t own property. I had limited education and health options.
But no more.
I could almost taste the clean water of the exile planet, could almost feel the loose soil of land I owned—soil I would grow vegetables in—beneath my bare feet. Breathing in the fresh air would be a luxury after years of recycled space station air.
I had enough money saved to build a modest home, something to call my own, and for the first time in my twenty-seven years, I was hopeful for a future where I had some control.
I scowled, shooting a look at Luk 8 th . We might share a family name, but that was it. Through the circumstances of our births, he had more worth than me. All because of the marks on my skin that I was born with. Or, more accurately, born without.
All Gnaggarrians had spots, roughly the size of a fingernail, on their skin. The more markings you have, the higher in rank you are in Gnaggarrian society. Luk 8 th was practically covered in these spots. They started on his scalp, spilling from underneath his purple-streaked brown hair that he wore in a warrior’s braid, and trailed down his temples and neck to wrap around his torso. He even had the markings on his arms and legs, which was uncommon even for an Elite.
Unlike Luk 8 th , I had only a scattered handful of the darker spots on my body, barely a shade darker than my pale purple skin, concentrated on one side of my neck and across my back. It was clear who was the Elite. There weren’t many Gnaggarrians with more Elite markings than Luk 8 th .
Children of Elites born without markings were a shame upon their parents. These children were conferred low rank and discarded by their ashamed parents to be raised in orphanages. Many of Elite ranking had attempted to manipulate their genetic code to produce more marks on their children’s skin, but the secrets of the markings had eluded even the most advanced scientific analysis.
And so the archaic practice of discarding unmarked children born of Elites continued.
Just like my parents had discarded me.
I pushed the thought aside. I had been discarded, yes. But my life would soon be my own, and I almost felt pity for the Elites who were bound by their strict customs. I shot a look at Luk 8 th .
For Luk 8 th to become the head of his family, seven others would need to die. But for me to reach that lofty height? All you had to do was hear my name to know how many came before me. Luk 456 th .
A nobody.
The only people lower than me were those without a ranked family name. Those who were known only by their chosen name, which, to even the lowest of the ranked Gnaggarrians, was akin to airing your deepest, darkest secrets in public.
The only people who knew your chosen name, the single name that was yours and yours alone, were your parents, siblings, and your mate. A Gnaggarrian chose their private name when they came of age at sixteen. In the eleven years since then, I had told no-one my private name.
I had nobody to tell.
I had attended school, excelling until I had to leave. Gnaggarrians of my lowly rank were prevented from obtaining all but the most basic education. Why waste precious resources of the Empire on those who weren’t Elite ?
My entire life I had plotted while I served, not showing my true desires. But now that freedom was within my grasp, I was becoming impatient.
The shuttle shook as we breeched the planet’s atmosphere. I looked through the wide glass panels of the shuttle’s cockpit at the stunning vista. This planet was nothing like the Gnaggarrian home world.
I snorted. Not that I had ever been there, it being a place only for the Elite, of course, but I had seen many holo projections.
The Gnaggarrian home planet was ice and snow, where this one was tropical and warm through the equator. It looked like there were some patches of more temperate land, and it was toward one of these that Luk 8 th steered the shuttle.
I glanced at the young Elite. He gritted his teeth, sweat pouring from his forehead as he focused. His hair was cut short on the sides, in the military fashion, and was longer on top, caught back in a warrior’s braid. The pale brown was streaked with dark purple that twisted throughout the strands. My hair was fashioned in the same style, but where 8 th ’s hair was darker, mine was almost white, and the purple was so faint it could almost be missed if you didn’t look closely enough.
Another sign of my inferior status.
But, as I watched Luk 8 th, I realized I was no longer angry at the fates that had decided we should be so different. I felt sorry for him. He was just as much a prisoner as I was. The difference between us was that, unlike me, he held all the power.
The shuttle stopped shaking, and Luk 8 th slumped in his seat, sighing, the auto-landing sequence taking over. I looked away, and back at the continent that appeared below us as the shuttle rapidly descended, directing us to the landing pad.
The planet had once been a thriving mining colony on a major trading route, but had long since been abandoned. When the precious ore was no longer needed, the old workings were closed and the trade route that had relied so heavily on shipping the ore had moved much further away.
Typical of the Empire to just toss things away when they’re of no monetary value.
I pushed the thought away. It wouldn’t do to dwell on things I couldn’t change.
But the very nature of this planet made it a suitable spot for black market activity. And that was where Luk 8 th and I came in.
He was ostensibly in charge of our mission. I was just the lackey, carting equipment and following orders. But we both knew that wasn’t the case. We’d been working together for almost a year now, and had become, if not close, then at least as friendly as an Elite could with someone like me.
The remote location of this planet made it a prime candidate for smugglers and mercenaries, and our task was to survey the old transportal technology that had been used to move workers and small shipments of goods to and from the site and render it inert. It had been so long since the transportals had been used that so far none we had come across had been operational, but still we had to check.
The irony that the same mercenaries who were helping me escape my life under the thumb of the Gnaggarrian Empire were the ones we were attempting to stymie was not lost on me.
I wasn’t able to get more than a passing glance at snow-topped mountains and green meadows before the shuttle approached our landing spot, hovering over the grass-filled field near some ruins, before settling down on the legs that emerged from the underside of the vessel.
As it powered down, I unstrapped my harness, easing from the seat and moving to exit the tiny shuttle. There was enough room for the two seats, two cramped bunks, and a multi-function hygiene room. Any equipment we needed was stowed in the overhead lockers, and it was one of these that I opened, pulling down the bags of equipment.
“Sir?” I asked Luk 8 th , who was still fumbling with his harness, his hands shaking. His hair had slid over his face and, with his head bowed, it hit me just how young he was. He had turned nineteen on the previous solar and this was the first mission he had commanded alone. All the others we had done with another team. He would be nervous.
I pressed my lips together in annoyance. I didn’t want to feel sorry for him.
The young Elite finally broke free of his harness and stood, wiping a hand over his brow and pushing a sweaty strand of purple hair behind his ear. He looked up at me and gave a shaky smile. “We’ve done this before, right? It’s just like the other times.”
I nodded, a little stunned. Normally he followed the dictates to not make eye contact or acknowledge me except where absolutely necessary. Maybe he had only been doing that because of the presence of other Elites? Maybe I had misjudged him?
Don’t get distracted. All that matters is getting to the exile planet. Nothing else.
I turned and punched the button to release the ramp. A rush of air pushed past me as the pressure in the cabin equalized with that of the outside. I blinked to clear my vision as the cool air spilled into the shuttle.
There was snow on the ground in some places, but green was peeking through. It was quiet. I stood at the top of the ramp and close my eyes, taking a deep breath. A sense of peace filled me, almost as if the universe were telling me that things would get better today. That life was about to get better.
You know what happens to people who wish.
I opened my eyes, giving myself a mental shake, and strode down the ramp toward the crumbling building that held the transportal, Luk 8 th trailing behind me.
Some ancient architect, in all their wisdom, had decided that the technology should be housed in replicas of the ancient Gnaggarrian Empire structures. This building was stunning, with crumbling columns of stone and marble tiles that were laid out in intricate patterns. The columns themselves were depictions of the Gnaggarrian men with arms raised overhead holding up the roof. Their muscular forms straining under the weight of the roof of the building. The building itself was no more than a roof held up by those strong columns, with a wall no taller than hip height on three sides.
I quickly began setting up the equipment, placing a series of receivers around the edge of the transportal pad in the center of the structure and linking them with cables. I joined them to a control unit, which I handed to Luk 8 th .
“It should be ready to go,” I said.
I watched as Luk 8 th flipped the switch, but nothing happened. The control unit’s display was blank. He looked at me in confusion. “Why isn't it working? ”
“Let me check something,” I said, stepping over the wire and onto the transportal pad.
In hindsight, it was a stupid thing to do. Something that I'd always been warned against. But in the moment, I didn't even think. You never, ever stepped into the center of a transportal when you were testing it.
So the absolutely predictable thing happened.
I was transported through the portal.
I felt a surge of energy around me; the ground shifted, and my legs buckled. I fell forward onto my hands and knees, but the floor was no longer there and the hard-hit I'd expected did not come. Instead, I felt like I was falling through space, tumbling over and over and over, while being pulled inside out.
I squeezed my eyes shut, the lights that flashed around me moving too quickly, a throbbing building behind my eyes.
I let loose a shout and, to my shame, curled into a ball.
When the feeling of falling ended, it wasn't with a thump. It just stopped. It was the strangest feeling; as if everything was new, but the same.
And I was naked.
Then my stomach heaved, and I vomited.
A moan from behind me had me turning far too quickly, and I slowed as my vision swum. I bent forward, resting my hands on my knees and looked around, searching for the source of the noise.
A slight form, curled up in a ball, was lying a short distance away. I don't know how I knew, because she was wearing a coat that swallowed her entire body, but I knew this was a woman. And she was in pain.
I could not have ignored her for anything. I felt compelled to help her—to make her pain go away .
I staggered toward her, falling to my knees by her side. She moaned again, and I rolled her gently onto her back. She had pale skin, not as pale as mine, and hers was smattered with little brown dots across her nose and cheeks.
She must be of superior rank to have such delicate markings in such abundance.
Her eyebrows and lashes were dark slashes across her pale face. A hat of some description was on her glossy brown hair, which curled freely around her shoulders. I was thankful that she was wearing a warm coat, because the temperature in this place, wherever that was, was not warm.
And then I smelled the most delicious scent and froze. My heart pounded in my chest, blood rushing through my veins, my lungs expanding as I took in great lungfuls of the deliciously scented air. I slowly bent my head to get close to her, my face a mere breath from her own, and breathed in deeply.
I became acutely aware of how naked I was as my cocks stirred. My body felt like it was on fire, despite the chill air.
Mine.
This woman was my mate. My one mate.
No. That’s just a myth. Not even Elites find their one true mate. Not anymore.
A surge of protectiveness for this small woman—this stranger—flooded through me, and my cocks jerked. I reached down with one hand to ease the ache in my groin.
I froze. What was I doing?
I must have hit my head. There’s no such thing as having a one true mate, and this woman is not Gnaggarrian.
This planet, wherever I was, was not like any planet I had been on. I looked around and up to the sky, seeing the clouds shift to expose stars that were completely alien to me. Unless I was mistaken, this was not a planet in the Gnaggarrian Empire. And I knew my Gnaggarrian Empire planets very well.
The exile planet. I have to get back.
I felt a moment of panic that all my plans would come to nothing. But that was a problem for later. Right now, I needed to make sure that this woman was uninjured. I steeled myself to her scent, forcing myself to not breathe too deeply.
“Can you hear me?” I asked, gently squeezing the woman's shoulder. She moaned and her head rolled as she slowly lifted those dark lashes, looking up at me with bright green eyes.