Chapter 8 #2
Anna smiled, slow and knowing. “Look, hang in there. Niir has a contact whom he is rendezvousing with here, hopefully with more information on your situation. In the meantime, have fun on Elos station. I hear it’s quite the place.
” She handed Cali a bundle of dark fabric that shimmered in dark rainbow hues.
“Here. Wear this. It will look incredible on you. And these shoes—can you wear heels?”
She had no idea. What were “heels?” Cali took the clothes without looking at them. They were at the bottom of her list of concerns. “Are you going?”
“No. It’s no place for little kids, and we do have two of those.” Anna got up, gathered the remaining clothes into a stack and walked to the door. “I’ll pack these for you and see you off in the hangar.”
When she was alone, Cali thought about her conversation with the human.
Anna was nice to her and protective of Niir.
It said something that he was cared about so deeply by these people.
The knowledge rocked through Cali that she just had her clothes picked out by a princess.
Thankfully, this one didn’t seem interested in pretenses.
A ship-wide message announced that anyone disembarking needed to be at their assigned exit.
Cali dressed quickly, pulling on the delicate garment.
The one-piece jumpsuit fit oddly, she thought.
It plunged between her breasts in the front, and covered her legs in voluminous, flowing long pants.
It was sleeveless and left much of her back bare.
The fabric was beautiful. Every color glimmered in the dark folds, making her blue hair look luminous against it.
The shoes were a bit of a puzzle. They fit well enough, but she teetered on thick platform soles that were the same translucent, glittery black as her dress.
Once she got them on, she’d be walking slowly until she got used to the extra height.
She let her hair fall free—there was nothing else she could do with it—and stepped out of her chambers.
A Virilian crew member stood there, apparently waiting for her.
He nodded, then gestured for her to follow him.
It was a good thing she had an escort. She would never have found her way through the winding corridors to the exit without one.
The Virilian stopped beside the wide ramp that led off the ship, and nodded for her to go.
Supplies were being brought onto the ship, and crates were being off-loaded while she stood there.
She couldn’t see anything beyond the ramp, but she could hear music and there appeared to be a great deal of light on the other side.
Her escort nodded to her again, this time with brows raised and a wave of his hand. Cali pulled in a deep breath and descended the ramp.
She promptly forgot to exhale. A crystalline palace rose up around her, illuminated by a rainbow of colors.
Even the floor was a veined wonder of pure natural crystal, lit with shifting colored light.
Gentle music filled the chamber, and the air smelled sweet.
And this was just the hangar! These were the ugliest parts of bases, usually packed with parts and fabrication units and the inescapable smell of burnt fuel cells.
When she managed to close her jaw, she saw the party of Virilians, some of whom she recognized.
Anna and Trak stood close together. She rested a hand on the shoulder of a young Virilian boy who stood beside her, tapping his foot on the shifting lights on the floor.
A small girl sat atop Trak’s shoulders, straddling his neck.
Her fingers knotted in his blond hair as he loosely held her shins.
She looked like a tiny queen up there as he gently bounced her.
The scene made Cali smile, as she caught the boy’s eye and gave him a little wave. He gazed back at her, then waved back.
A hand brushed her bare elbow, causing her to jump.
“Hello, Calinae.” Steel-gray eyes slid down her body before returning to her gaze. “You look absolutely beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she whispered back, fingering the thin material. “Anna picked it out.”
“I wasn’t talking about your clothes.” His gaze stayed on her face.
Cali’s mouth went dry. He could be devastating when he looked at her with that intense heat boiling in his eyes. “Oh.”
Niir crossed his arms and nodded to their surroundings. “Welcome to the Elos way station.”
Her arm still tingled from his brief touch. “This is…amazing.”
“It is.” He gazed out at the crystal splendor, but his expression was unimpressed. “It is a playground of luxury and the sort of place we usually avoid.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s absurdly overpriced. Virilians are practical. We prefer simpler pleasures and don’t care for all this…” He waved a hand at the surrounding opulence. “Silliness.”
“Are others coming, too?”
“Just you,” he replied in a rough voice, and something about that simple answer made her belly tighten and her breath catch. Just you. There was a strange weight to those two words that Cali could only begin to ponder.
She turned her gaze to him. His snug pants were the darkest of gray—almost black.
They fit him like a dream, hugging his strong thighs and heavy cock.
On top, he wore a sleeveless tunic that matched his trousers and stretched taut over his thickly muscled chest. Wide, black metal straps crisscrossed over this in a gleaming X shape.
Looking upwards, she took in his strong profile, lingering on his firm lips that rarely smiled and fierce brows that were nearly always drawn low. The gray at his temples eased into a full head of dark brown hair, swept back from his face.
He nodded in the direction of Anna and Trak. “Shall we?”
She nodded, and they walked to where Trak and Anna stood with their children.
Trak smiled, even as a small hand reached around his head and closed over his nose. “A pleasure to finally speak to you in a language you understand,” he said. “Up here is Lia, and down there is Reo. And you are well acquainted with the love of my life, Anna.”
Anna winked at her. “I knew that design would look good on you. I have a version of it.”
“We will be here for as long as it would take for a reverse propulsion system to be replaced,” said Niir. “Which isn’t long. I am meeting a contact who will hopefully have some information about your group.”
“Your contact is here?” Cali asked.
“Yes. Some of the best spies are absurdly wealthy, but incredibly bored.”
“We are staying aboard the ship and will be monitoring the station.” Trak reached up and scooped the little girl from his shoulders, making her giggle. Her blue tail swung out, tipped with the same sharp barb as every other Virilian, barely missing Anna’s arm.
Cali rubbed her arms. “Is this a dangerous place?”
“It’s a space station, so, yes. But don’t worry. You have this bloke around. And trust your instincts,” said Trak with a grin. “They have never once let me down.”
“Yes, they have,” Niir said dryly. “I can count the ways.”
“Let’s not,” declared Trak. “I think even you can admit that my instincts have ripened like finely aged taga.”
“I cannot argue that,” said Niir, tapping his earpiece. “We will not be able to be in touch with the ship. There are no secure channels here. They monitor too closely.”
“Very good. Now, off you go.” Trak made a showy bow. “I hope you take advantage of the pleasures this station offers.”
Cali watched the family return to the ship and shook her head. “Your prince is strange.”
Niir chuckled. It was the first time she’d heard such a sound come from him. “He is. But he is not one to underestimate. Many have, and that is how they lose against him.”
Again, Cali recognized the respect and fondness Niir had for Trak, who did not act in the slightest bit superior.
Alone, except for the workers bustling about loading and unloading things, Niir’s lips curved into a gentle smile. He stuck out an elbow. “Shall we? If you are this impressed with the hangar, I can’t imagine how you will react to the rest of it.”
“Yes.” She took his arm and let him lead her into the station.