Chapter 12
Haven
“Here. Change into this.”
Haven looked up as Vytln pushed something in through the hole of the trap.
A bundle fell down the slide to land at her thigh.
She blinked at it before removing the mini-medscanner she had been tinkering with off her lap.
It was a piece of technology too small for Vytln’s large hands to easily manipulate, but if she could get it to work, it would make Goldie’s life easier.
So, he’d let her take it into her nest to try to learn and repair it.
That, along with his combot and the schematics for the device and how it should work.
For a prisoner, she really had a lot of freedom.
“What is this being?” She asked, unfolding the fabric, then oo’ing over the softness.
“New clothes.” Vytln peeked in through the hole. “We’re stopping to pick up the delivery for this next run, and we’re getting a day of station time.”
“I can going too?” She asked, perking up. Then immediately slinking back. “Waiting. No. I don’t wanting to go. Thanking you.”
Vytln growled, knocking his knuckles against the side. “Don’t get excited. I’m not letting you out of my sight while we’re there. You’re not getting away. This is temporary leave only, so we can get some tools and supplies. You’re not leaving that easily.”
It was grumpy, and he had an annoyed tone when he said it, but Haven beamed, excited again. She heard what he was telling her without saying directly.
They weren’t going to leave her there. They weren’t going to force her off the ship. They’d be coming back – she’d be coming back.
“Okay! I’ll getting changing right now!” She laughed, setting the mini-medscanner over onto a small shelf along the wall adjacent to the opening. Right beside her old duffel bag. Vytln had retrieved it for her after going into her old home to fix that broken pipe.
He returned her old bedding as well, cleaned and dried, so she could add it to her nest. Along with all her other clothes and the rare few trinkets she had gathered.
The trap was really well planned out. It had everything she needed.
Not only was it impossible to get out once inside, but it was incredibly comfortable for her.
She had her own little privy built into the back to clean up and do her business.
Vytln acted as her own personal concierge and brought her food multiple times a day.
And it was good food too. Most prisoners got nutrition powder mixed with water, but she actually got meals.
Yes, she was very well taken care of for a prisoner.
As she was grabbing her clothes, ready to pull them off, she peeked up, but to her disappointment, Vytln had already walked away. He wasn’t sticking around for the show.
Shame. She was eager to give him one.
The clothes he provided were simple, but they were comfortable.
The black pants were basically leggings and tucked into her old Earth shoes rather easily.
The shirt was tunic style, low on either side, and was a bright, almost glowing yellow, with a dark orange belt that, when tightened around her waist, made her think of the embers that burned in Vytln’s eyes.
Had he intended to make her match him, or was it a coincidence? She couldn’t see him doing it on purpose though, so maybe he just naturally gravitated to those colors, wanting to see them on her indirectly if it couldn’t be his actual body.
Giggling to herself, she ran her fingers through her locs, getting them back in order.
The micro dreads were harder to keep up in space, but she loved the way they fell around her shoulders, and how easy they were to deal with compared to her natural curls.
The tools she had created for herself, and the product she used to maintain her locs, were also on her shelves.
Brought over from her old room and put away like she was unpacking after a long trip home.
All in all, she looked pretty good by the time she finished dressing. She grabbed her letter jacket and tugged it on before climbing up to the opening and poking her face into the hole.
“Readying!” she called out.
Vytln, who was stuffing his belt full of something from one of his storage drawers along the wall, immediately turned and came back.
He undid the trap and reached for her in the same fluid motion, lifting her out and setting her on her feet like it was the most natural thing.
Considering he was the only one to help her in or out, maybe it was.
Maybe this was just part of the mating process of his people.
A species, she realized, she didn’t even know the name of yet.
“Vytln,” she called to him as he walked her forward, keeping a possessive hand there at her lower back. “What are you being?”
“Annoyed, mostly,” he grumbled.
“Not that,” she laughed. “Though, you are being grumpier than usually. I meaning, what are you being? Like, your type of people.”
“Oh, my species. I’m a southern lvtl.”
“Hm? Southern lvtl?”
“I mean, my species has two races. The north lvtl, and the south. I’m from the hotter side.”
“Ah, I’m seeing. I am being human.”
“Yes, I’m aware,” he mumbled, guiding her through the familiar halls, down towards main storage where, she knew, the door they used to exit the ship was located. “My life has become nothing but nattering human females lately.”
Haven giggled. He might sound bothered, but he still kept that hand on her back, and the way he pulled her in towards him, like he wanted to take her against his side, spoke far louder about his true feelings and how close he wanted her to him.
The main storage had two doors leading out – three if you counted the one that connected to the landing ship which could also take them out of the ship.
The side door to one side was smaller and was the one they used the most. However, there was also a large loading bay door at the back that rarely opened.
It had been used when they were repairing the ship and needed the extra space to get all the equipment and supplies in and out, but not since.
However, it was being used now, the entire back end of the ship opened as Captain Tanin watched while the four armed Rok, the blue, scaley twins with white hair, Sorbet and Tebros, and Trove, the domini male with long hair back in a neat ponytail, all worked together to guide and lower the hovers that were carrying the large boxes they were transporting.
“Start with upper storage,” Tanin was saying as Haven took the ladder steps down from said upper storage, right into Vytln’s waiting arms – he had gone down first to help her. “Put whatever can fit in the small storage rooms. We’re going to need all the space we have.”
“Must being a big delivery,” Haven said, impressed. Usually, their crew would only deliver small things. They were a delivery company, but they were expensive because they specialized in dangerous jobs. As such, it wasn’t typical for them to load up like this.
“We’re bringing relief supplies for a city,” Vytln said, putting a hand to her lower back again. “We’re getting a lot of credz for it.”
“Nice,” Haven smiled. It wasn’t anything she could break down and learn from, but the jobs they did were still interesting in their own way.
Tanin turned as they approached, inclining his head at them both. “I sent you the list of everything I need you to get,” he said by way of greeting. “Any questions?”
“None,” Vytln grunted.
“As soon as the others are done, they’ll get station leave for the rest of the day. Everyone is due back on the ship by midday tomorrow. We’ll be taking off then.”
“Aye, captain.”
“And you.” Tanin looked at her. She cocked her head curiously. “Don’t get into trouble while you’re out there.”
That wasn’t really what she was expecting him to say, and it made her laugh and smile. “Aye, captain!”
He didn’t question her referring to him that way.
She didn’t know what Alred said to him, how he had advocated for her, but whatever it was, Tanin and Vytln didn’t even question letting her out.
And she was definitely coming back, but the ‘prisoner’ thing, which already felt pretty loose, was like a funny joke now.
“What are we getting?” Haven asked, smiling up at Vytln as he led her out of the ship, down the ramp into the wide, open loading docks. “And where are we being?”
The large loading docks were wide, industrial, full of people, packed with large crates of supplies, with lots of noise bouncing off every far wall and ceiling.
The docks had multiple gates, many of which were filled with more supply ships, all getting filled with similar crates.
All of them marked with symbols that she couldn’t read.
“This is Cort-Valla,” Vytln said, answering her as he guided her down the marked paths through the docks, towards the entrance to the station itself.
“It’s a supply station. It’s specialized in gathering food and supplies on large scales like this.
Ships don’t really come here unless they’re picking up large amounts of supplies.
Or if they themselves need large amounts of supplies – like the peacekeeper ships.
Mega ships can only get resupplied through stations like this. ”
“Where are we going then?”
“There’s still a place for workers and ship crew to eat and rest while here. It’s not as big or varied as other stations, but it’s better than being on a ship constantly.”
“What was Tanin sending us to buying?”
“We need some supplies for ourselves. We weren’t accounting for you when we got our last resupply, so we need more nutrition powder.
We also need to refill our cleaning mist fluid tanks since we lost so much through that broken pipe.
We also need some replacement parts. And I need to get you a new envirosuit. ”
“Aw. I was liking mine.”
“It’s not good enough.”
She really liked it though. It might not have been top of the line or super fancy, but Vytln had made it just for her, and that made it special.