Chapter Seven #2
Arven blushed. “They are aliens and need to be protected.”
“Oh, yeah. He did a fucking great job of that.”
Chloe looked at Arven. “You have been talking to him.”
Arven nodded. “Of course.”
Geri put her hands behind her back and looked at the ceiling, whistling softly.
Chloe laughed. “I think we know how.”
Geri lowered her head. “But I didn’t make contact with what’s-his-face.”
Margo sighed. “Aken-Var did. He’s sharing that way.”
Arven grinned. “He’s an excellent leader. He’s only had one lapse in judgment in his entire career.”
Margo looked at him, and he inclined his head. “He trusted that you were safe without him entering the quarters to check on you. The curators swore that you were safe and well.”
She smiled. “And then I wandered out all bloody and carved up. Made a liar out of all of them. And that moron had the nerve to scream at me in court for two hours while I dripped blood all over the floor.”
Arven nodded. “It was his first time seeing her since she left his quarters... he was shocked.”
Margo checked her nails. “And when he is shocked, he gets screamy.”
Chloe paused. “So, you were messed up—”
“In the same outfit that I had been sent to him in five days earlier.”
Arven stared. “They didn’t even give you a change of clothing?”
“Nope, so I was coated in the scent of our coupling, and my mate never came for me. Not even a shower in that cell.”
Arven suddenly looked like a five-year-old with playground gossip.
Geri said, “You can go. Make it quick. We will be at Sanctuary Base in ninety minutes.”
Arven nodded and walked out of the gym, but they heard his footfalls speeding up the minute he was out of the room.
Margo sighed. “They are all tattlers.”
Chloe said, “Men speak in bursts and women communicate constantly, but the reason is the same: information transfer.”
Skylor smiled. “My spies say that Aken-Var is very highly spoken of. His people love and respect him.”
“By spies, you mean Delia has been peeping.” Margo smiled.
“She’s very good at hiding in walls.”
Chloe laughed, and they made plans.
The others all agreed that showers were necessary for those who had worked out, and then everyone would settle in the rec room while Margo brought them to the orbital station that had just been revived. From there, they would take the original small shuttle and drop to the base.
* * * *
It was time for Cori and Isolde to be with their sister, and Chloe and Skylar were going to plan with the new colonists.
Geri and Margo would have time to relax, or Margo would return to the orbital vessel, or Geri would pilot the small shuttle down, and Margo would stay at the new station.
It was empty, but it was open space. She loved open space.
They would figure it out at the station.
Margo stayed on the station, and the others headed down to the planet. They had things to plan that she had no part in.
Soven said, “You don’t need to go to protect them?”
“There is one base, and a weather-controlling Hmrain. Birun will protect them.”
She picked up a tablet and brought up a book.
“Soven, run the maintenance logs, and do any pre-maintenance possible without disabling the ship. If you don’t know what it is, ask.”
He nodded and left the command deck.
“Arven, take inventory on all manufacturing units; the ladies and I were using them a lot.”
He nodded and took off.
Baket waited.
“Baket, keep an eye on the raider ship that is skulking at the far edge of sensor range.”
He went to the sensor station and said, “How did you know?”
“They have been around this station for weeks, since Trin arrived.”
“You won’t miss meeting one of your own kind? There are not that many of you.”
She grinned. “I have been in communication with her now and then. She and I do not have much in common. I am two to three decades older than the ladies down below. If our world hadn’t ended, I might be a grandmother by now. That is not in the same life point that the ladies are at.”
He frowned.
“My daughter was their age.”
Understanding snapped into his gaze. “So, your species is really short-lived.”
“Yes. Twenty years takes a child from pregnancy to adulthood.” She sighed. “It isn’t recommended, but occasionally, pregnancy occurs earlier. In case you are worried, we basically do it the same way you do.”
Baket grinned. “Are there any Terrans out there who aren’t terrifying?”
“Yes. Colonists. Admins. The stolen. The stolen are unpredictable. They have to fight for survival, and it makes them different.”
“You were stolen.”
“Yes. As was Geri. The others who were with us died.”
He looked sombre.
She looked at him with a small smile. “There isn’t enough time in the day to mourn all the friends and acquaintances I have lost. An entire world takes a lot of time.”
“The others don’t mourn as you do.”
“They are closer to life. They have every possibility ahead of them. I was shifting toward my end, and it makes for a different outlook.”
Baket frowned and then looked at her. “Wait. You were shifting?”
“Chloe did some tinkering. She’s using me as a test case.”
“You look the same. Well, you have more marks.”
“Yup, and if she did what she wanted to, my children will wear them.”
“Children? You said you were at the end of fertility.”
“She tinkered with that, too.”
He was humming with agitation.
“Geez. You are a gossip.”
He sighed and checked the contact logs.
They sat in silence for half an hour, and she called down to the planet, “Hello, Sanctuary Base. I just have one question.”
The white Hmrain said, “What do you wish to know?”
“Is it armed?”
“No. Not yet.”
“If any of my people need to chat with us, distract them, please.”
“What is happening?”
“Three raider ships are converging on the station. We are getting ready to deal with them.”
Birun asked, “You are trained to do that?”
“Oh, yeah. Freedom Break out. I will contact you when things are stable.”
She cut the call and opened ship-wide coms. “Guys, we are getting visitors. Not friendly visitors. I never thought I would say this, but battle stations.”
Baket looked at her and grinned. “Where do you want me.”
“Rear gun.”
Soven skidded in. “Port gun.”
He nodded and turned to sprint back to the station.
Arven came in. “Starboard gun.”
He nodded.
“Full coms open. Sealing hatches and pushing out.” She felt a ping and sighed. “Really, Baket? Calling for reinforcements?”
Geri’s voice said softly. “That was me. There are three ships incoming, Margo. You can’t get them all.”
Margo moved the ship away from the station. “Watch me.”
The next two hours went by in a blur of impacts, energy blasts, and threats being screamed through the coms.
When the battle was over, the slip ship was damaged but was repairing itself. That was an interesting feature. The raiders had been after the ship.
She contacted the surface. “Fight is over. Raiders are driven off. Zowoth are looming like creeps. Status is good. I am going to pass out if one of the guys can take the com after I park again.”
She moved the vessel back into the station cradle. Her head was throbbing, and she pulled the gun contacts away from her temples. She wiped her nose and saw the blood. Yeah, she wasn’t suited to the signal, but she still made the guns work.
She got out of the pilot’s seat, stood, took a few steps, and hit the floor. She lay with her face against the flooring and muttered, “Medic!”
Hands pulled her up, and Baket carried her with eyes that were blazing blue.
“Aw, this is embarrassing.”
Aken-Var said through Baket, “What is? I have had hands on you before.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t wearing as much.”
“The suit is appropriate on you. Was that you shooting?”
“Just the forward guns and the ones on the belly of the ship.”
He carried her to the med unit. “That was your first time linking to the guns?”
“Yeah.”
“There is probably some internal bleeding. However, the next time you use them, it will be easier. You will have scar tissue in your mind.”
“Delightful.”
The unit opened, and he settled her in. “I am going to keep apologizing in a thousand different ways.”
She paused and looked at him as the door came down. “Words usually work for me.”
There was a click, and the unit started to work. He cursed, and she grinned as she let the machine do its job. It was at this point that he probably realized he hadn’t actually apologized to her.
He had probably figured it out by now.
* * * *
Baket looked at the Hmrain on the screen. “Pilot Margo had an issue with an imprecise connection to the targeting systems. This ship wasn’t properly tailored to her. We have an appointment at Orexi station to get that corrected. She will be fine in battle but needs a little repair after each time.”
Birun looked at him. “Good. The ladies were worried. Geri felt her fall but nothing else. Now, why do you have blue eyes? Only one Zowoth has blue eyes. He who summons multitudes.”
“I am in Baket. He is close to my bloodline and easy to occupy. He and Margo also have a warrior-to-warrior friendship. She doesn’t flinch when he picks her up.”
Birun smiled. “So, you care about her.”
“Yes. I... yes.” Aken-Var sighed. “She glows to my vision.”
Birun paused. “That is high praise from you.”
“It was unexpected. She was just sitting in a cell with her eyes dull and waiting for her next fight. She bloomed when light touched her, and that is when I had her unmarked.”
Birun blinked. “But from what the ladies tell me, she is marked now.”