Held by Luna Voss

27

Melyta

Jenyta and Korva seem to be on better terms than when they left, though only by slight. They stand next to each other bickering in the spaceport, having taken an ordinary commercial flight back from the space station to the planet. My friend’s face lights up as she sees me.

“Mel!” she yells, waving energetically. “Over here!”

I jog ahead of Barion and give her a hug. “How were things with Korva?” I whisper in her ear. “I hope you didn’t run out of that entire tube of cream I gave you?”

“Oh, shut up,” she scowls, pushing me away. “I just avoided him as much as possible. Problem solved.”

Barion strolls up behind me and he and Korva greet.

“How have you been?” Jenyta asks me as the two men converse. “Everything okay in Zog?”

I stifle my reaction as my freshly-spanked ass gives a tiny twinge. “Yeah, things are great. Barion and I have been so excited for you guys to get back. How did it go setting up the mine?”

“Melyta,”comes Barion’s voice, sudden and stern, and his hand closes around my upper arm in a way I’ve become quite familiar with. He pulls me close to him and rasps a firm warning in my ear: “That’s not something we talk about in public.”

“Sorry, Vostra,” I say, blushing.

“You’re getting pussy swats tonight,” he whispers so that only I can hear him. “And you’ll be wearing the plug.”

My face is very red as the four of us collect Korva and Jenyta’s bags and walk out to the car.

“So?” I ask the moment the car doors are closed. “What happened with the mine?”

Jenyta and Korva glance at each other.

“It went fucking awesome,” says Korva, grinning fiercely as though he’s been waiting for this moment.

“Yeah,” Jenyta agrees, sitting next to him in the backseat. “Those mine workers Korva found were pros. They got right to work.”

“We’re up and running,” says Korva. “The mine is producing ditrykium right now.”

“Right now?” I repeat, shocked. I had thought it would be months before the mine would be operational.

“Yeah,” Jenyta beams excitedly. “You wouldn’t believe how easy the Rangasta equipment goes in. They practically ship it pre-installed. It’s all prefab, and most of what the workers had to do was just put the puzzle pieces together and connect the power supply.”

“And where’s the power coming from?” Barion asks, turning all the way around in the drivers seat, unable to contain his eagerness.

“Can we get driving?” Korva grumbles. “I’m starving.”

Shaking his head in amusement, Barion puts the car into reverse. “We’ll hit that buffet on Haft Boulevard on our way home. Where’s the power coming from?”

“Solar panels,” says Jenyta, shrugging. “Just like you see here. We’ve got a whole farm of them set up next to the mine to keep everything running.”

“What if they break down?” I chime in. “How do we get solar panels serviced if the planet’s coordinates are a secret?”

“If you can believe it,” says Korva, “I actually am smart enough to think about these things. Two of the guys on the crew have solar tech credentials, and I’m going to make sure at least one of them is there at all times just in case. I shouldn’t be away from the mine for very long, by the way. It's pretty much autonomous, but I left a crew of 10 guys I trust to stay on top of the tech, put out any fires.”

Barion bites his lip as he drives. “Yeah. I don’t exactly like the thought of these random workers all by themselves at our ditrykium mine.”

“They have no idea where they are in the galaxy, and no way to leave the planet,” Korva reminds him. “I took all their communication technology when they boarded the transport ship, and believe me, I put the fear of death into them about what would happen if they ever considered doublecrossing the Vostra. But yeah, I agree. We need to stay on top of that. I’ll plan on staying there permanently until we’re able to expand this operation.”

Jenyta’s face falls a little bit. As our designated pilot, she knows that if Korva is staying there, she has no choice but to stay there, too.

“Do you think Arthur Gallo might be able to help?” she asks. “If he sent his men to the mine, they could watch over the workers.”

Barion and Korva both look at each other, then back at her.

“If Arthur Gallo sends his men to the mine, then it becomes his mine,” Korva explains. “Assuming we’re even able to make this partnership happen, it’s a relationship based on mutual benefit, not trust.”

She looks confused. “So how the hell does this even work? How are we supposed to prove to Arthur Gallo that this mine even exists?”

“We take him there,” says Barion, shrugging. “We show him.”

Jenyta raises her eyebrows. “You’re going to take Arthur Gallo to the ditrykium mine?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure that’s safe?”

“He’ll come with us, and he won’t have the coordinates.”

“And how are you going to get him to agree to that?”

Barion glances at me, giving me the opportunity to answer. This is a topic he and I have gone over a number of times, and come to a conclusion we both find satisfying.

“We send him a sample,” I tell her. “Of our first batch of ditrykium. A sample big enough to make it clear we have access to a lot of it.”

She scoffs, looking incredulous. “We’re going to give the leader of the human gang who tried to murder you free ditrykium?”

“Yeah,” I explain as Barion watches, looking proud of me. “A gesture of our good intentions. So that when we reach out and invite him to meet with us, he knows we’re not fucking him around.”

“And how does he know you don’t just want revenge for him trying to murder you?”

Barion laughs. “Because we’re giving him a big-ass chunk of ditrykium! When do you think you’ll have that first batch done, by the way?”

“Well,” says Korva, “I’d say we’re a little bit ahead of you on that.” He turns around in his seat and fumbles in the back of the car, then returns with his suitcase. I watch with bated breath as he unzips it, and next to me Barion struggles to keep his attention on the road.

“Here,” whispers Korva, his eyes shining with an almost boyish sense of wonder. From his suitcase, he pulls a smooth, fist-sized lump of something that glows in the dim lighting, emitting a vaguely bluish hue.

“Wow,” I breathe, stunned by the majesty of it, even though until this moment I’ve never thought of ditrykium as anything other than a stupidly expensive rock. It’s beautiful. Like very little else I’ve seen before. No one ever talks about that. All you hear about is that it has some sort of essential function in making hyperspace engines work.

“Fuck,” Barion whispers. “We have it with us in the car? Is it even safe to touch that thing with your hands?”

“Yes,” answers Korva, “perfectly safe. After the last month, I know more about ditrykium than I ever wanted to.”

Barion shakes his head as though in disbelief, then lets out a guttural growl, extending his fangs triumphantly. I shudder as the wave of his pheromones passes over me, instantly making me feel sensuous.

“We send this out to Arthur Gallo tonight,” my mate hisses.