Alien Skin Market by Lizzy Bequin

CHAPTER 22: TRISTN

Jrayk really is a no-good bastard.

That was the first thought that crossed Tristn’s mind as soon as the human female stepped into the small dining area.

In preparation for their mission, Tristn had packed an entire assortment of clothing that would be appropriate for a human, male or female. There were several pairs of silk breeches, tunics, robes, and other coverings of every shape and size. There were plenty of outfits that would have fit the human perfectly.

Yet Jrayk had chosen…this?

The skimpy dress did almost nothing to hide the human’s body. If anything, it only served to accentuate her feminine characteristics.

First of all, the garment had been designed for a flat-chested Raksha female, so the upper part fit too snugly, causing the human’s large chest mounds to squeeze together tightly. The lower part was less tight, but instead of being a solid piece of fabric, it was composed of many narrow strips, and every step the human took exposed her smooth thighs all the way up to the crease of her hips and beyond. And worst of all, the Raldrurian silk from which the dress was fashioned was gossamer thin. The human’s pink chest nubs were visible through the sheer fabric, and Tristn even glimpsed the faintest hint of the dark fur at the place where her legs came together.

Somehow, the barely-there outfit was even more tempting than if she had been fully nude.

Tristn’s cock thickened inside his breeches. It was all he could do not to stare and drool like a hungry beast. How in the Goddess’s name was he going to enjoy his dinner with such a distraction?

But it was too late to do anything about it now. If he made the female change her clothing, it would only bring her further embarrassment. And she was already in a fragile position, considering everything she had been through in the past few days.

Tristn shot Jrayk an angry look, but the smuggler didn’t notice. His attention was firmly fixed on the human female.

“Wow,” Jrayk said, leaning back seductively in his seat. “Human…you look like an expensive dessert.”

The human’s face and chest flushed to a deep rosy hue.

Tristn groaned.

“What our captain means to say is: Welcome. Please join us for dinner.”

“Thank you,” she answered, still blushing. Thanks to the translator earpiece he was wearing, Tristn could understand her words now.

The little human looked around the dining room. Like all the rooms aboard The Longshot, the dining room was small and cramped. There was an oval-shaped table surrounded on one side by a long upholstered bench built into the wall. It would be a tight fit for four diners.

Tristn moved quickly to make sure the human would not be seated next to that scoundrel Jrayk. He jumped up from his seat and guided her toward his side of the booth.

“Here, please join us. Dinner has just been served.”

He steered the human into the booth between himself and Vaul. He was less concerned about the giant’s self restraint. But no sooner had the human been seated than Tristn heard the sound of scrambling feet beneath the table, followed by a low growl.

“Rrr—Rrrr—Rrrawnnn!”

Something scrambled into the space between the human and Vaul, and a moment later, a shaggy, formless head popped up. The human smiled and petted the creature’s head, eliciting a fanged grin and a purr of satisfaction. “Rrr—Rrrr—Rrrrrrr…”

“Um, is it okay if Rawn joins us?” the human asked. “I didn’t want to leave him alone in my room.”

Jrayk shook his head and started to say no, but Tristn cut him off.

“Of course it is okay.”

In truth, Tristn was not particularly keen on the idea of having an animal at the table. But he knew Jrayk was more put off by the shaggy creature’s presence than he was, which was why he said yes.

Now it was Jrayk’s turn to shoot Tristn a dirty look, but Tristn ignored it.

Thankfully, the human female seemed mostly oblivious to the competition that was going on between Jrayk and Tristn. Her attention was now entirely focused on the food heaped up on the table in front of them. She must have been very hungry, and Vaul had prepared quite a spread for them.

Thus far on their journey, dinner aboard The Longshot had been a low-key affair consisting mostly of warmed over ration packets and a bit of cheap Q’rellian wine to wash it down. Nutritious, but boring.

This time, however, Vaul had gone out of his way to make the preparations special for their guest. The ship’s larder was not incredibly well stocked compared to the other more expensive vessels Tristn had traveled in, but Vaul had done an admirable job with what was available. There were platters of seared meat and fish, baskets of piping hot bread rolls, steamed vegetables, and a small cauldron of bubbling stew.

Tristn had been nervous about the human’s ability to enjoy their food, but the undisguised hunger in her eyes indicated that would not be a problem.

“It smells delicious,” she said earnestly.

Tristn smiled at the sound of the human’s voice. The translator in his right ear provided the words in a standard Raksha accent, cold, emotionless, and uninflected. But his left ear heard the human’s real voice, warm and soft as a spring rain falling upon a Rakese meadow. Even though Tristn could not understand her human language, he liked the sound of it very much.

But he must not allow himself to become infatuated with her. She was a mission objective, not a mate. His goal was to get her safely back to Rak, nothing more.

“You can thank Vaul for the food,” Tristn said, gesturing toward the big Raksha crammed into the booth beside her. “But before we dine, there is one thing we must take care of first. I believe some introductions are in order. After all, we cannot continue referring to you as ‘human,’ now can we?”

The human flashed her white, flat teeth, and Tristn’s hearts beat a little faster at that beautiful sight.

A mission, he reminded himself. Just a mission, nothing more.

He was going to need to remind himself of that point frequently on this trip, as everything the human did seemed to ignite his lust. For example, now she was gesturing toward herself, touching her delicate fingertips to the smooth skin just above the cleavage of her pushed-together chest mounds. Tristn couldn’t help imagining his own fingers touching her there, and his cock throbbed so hard he nearly spilled his seed inside his breeches.

The human spoke.

“My name is……”

The translator device blanked at the sound of her name. Well, that was to be expected. The device had been trained by the previous human female, Beh’thani. But the device only knew the words for objects, actions, descriptive words and the like. Names were tricky.

However, Tristn heard the human’s real voice with his left ear, and he picked up her name that way. He attempted to pronounce it himself.

“M’reen. That is a lovely name.”

Tristn felt that his fanged mouth mangled the delicate human language, and the look that flickered across the human’s face confirmed this, but she was too polite to correct him. He would just have to practice more. That would not be difficult. He could easily imagine repeating her name like a mantra to himself as he fell asleep.

A mission, Tristn. A mission.

He started to introduce himself, but M’reen interrupted.

“I already know who you are,” she said, smiling. “Your name is Tristn.” She pointed to the others. “And his name is Vaul, and his is Jrayk.”

The other Raksha males grinned in turn at the mention of their names.

“I owe all three of you my gratitude,” M’reen went on. “If it weren’t for you, I would probably be dead now. I just hope there is some way I can repay you.”

Blood filled her cheeks as she said the last part. As for Tristn, blood filled a different part of his body as he unconsciously thought of possible forms of repayment. But a second later, a wave of guilt swept over him, and he waved his hand dismissively.

“Think nothing of it, M’reen. We were only doing our jobs.”

At the other end of the table, Jrayk groaned and flicked his ears, jangling his earrings. “As you will soon learn, M’reen, Tristn has a number of personal flaws, and foremost among them is his false modesty.”

Tristn growled.

“Meanwhile,” Tristn rejoined, “Jrayk is unburdened by modesty of any kind, be it false or genuine.”

Jrayk kept his eyes on the human and shrugged. “I’m merely saying that I accept your gratitude, M’reen. And I know exactly how you can repay me.”

The human’s blush deepened, and Tristn felt an angry heat filling his own face. Surely, Jrayk could not be so brazen as to say what Tristn was thinking.

“You do?” M’reen gasped.

Jrayk, that arrogant bastard, smirked and nodded.

“I do.” The captain stood up from the table, went to a cabinet built into the far wall, and pulled out a bottle of t’lon and four glasses which he filled and distributed around the table. “You can repay me by joining us in a toast.”

M’reen sniffed her glass of blue fluid apprehensively.

“Alcohol?”

Tristn nodded. “T’lon is a spirit that is quite popular with spacers all throughout Covenant space. As I understand it, the human Beh’thani is quite fond of it, and she drank it before her transformation with no ill effects. Therefore, it is safe for human consumption. But of course, you do not have to imbibe if you do not wish to.”

Jrayk scowled at that last part and started to speak, but M’reen spoke first.

“I’ll try it,” she said, then uttered a curse which the translator did not catch and added, “After everything I’ve been through, I could use a nice stiff drink.”

“Now that’s the spirit.” Jrayk grinned and raised his own glass. “To our human guest, M’reen. And to our journey. May you find it…pleasurable.”

They all tossed back their drinks. Tristn rarely indulged in spirits, but he enjoyed the sensation as the t’lon’s warmth settled in his stomach and radiated out through the rest of his body. He watched M’reen to see her reaction.

“Whoa,” she breathed. “That is strong stuff”—she grinned—“I like it.”

Jrayk reached across the table and refilled her glass. “There is plenty more where that came from.”

“Thank you. But I think I’d better eat something before I put any more booze in my belly.”

“Yes,” Tristn agreed. “We have delayed long enough, and I’m sure you must be starving, M’reen. Let’s dig in before it gets cold.”

And that’s exactly what they did. The three Raksha ate in the traditional fashion, using their extracted claws to spear their food. M’reen also had claws, but they were nonretractable and not nearly sharp enough for eating. Fortunately, Tristn had come prepared. He provided M’reen with a small dagger and a specialized stabbing implement called a “fork,” which he had learned about from reading Beh’thani’s book.

They soon settled into easy conversation around the table. Jrayk, that bastard, flirted unrepentantly. Tristn resisted the urge to follow suit, and instead explained to M’reen what the various dishes were. They were all pleased to see that she enjoyed the food. And none was more pleased than Vaul, who had prepared the small feast. The big Raksha smiled at M’reen’s compliments, but he remained taciturn as always. Surprisingly, the shaggy thing called Rawn seemed to have an affinity to Vaul, probably because the big Raksha fed him from the table. It was an amusing sight.

Tristn was curious about Rawn. The creature had visibly increased in size since Beh’thani had rescued it from the skin market. And when she explained about Rawn’s small size at their first encounter, Tristn was even more intrigued…and a little concerned. If the shaggy beast kept growing, it would soon be as big as M’reen.

Eventually, the conversation turned toward the subject of the woman Beh’thani.

“She mentioned something about a disease,” M’reen said. “She said you had some medicine for me to take?”

Tristn nodded. “Yes. The medicine should be taken with food, so I wanted to wait until dinner to give you the first dose.”

He drew a small, clear packet from the pocket of his breeches. The packet contained two small pills. He handed the packet to M’reen, who studied it briefly.

“Okay,” she said. “But…Beh’thani said I would have to continue to take the medicine for as long as I’m, you know…” she gestured around them vaguely “…here?”

“Yes, I’m afraid that’s true. But don’t worry, I have a plentiful supply of the medicine, and I will provide your doses daily.”

“If you give me a bottle of pills or something, I could just take them myself. That way I wouldn’t have to trouble you each time.”

Tristn shook his head.

“I’m sorry, M’reen, but I am under strict orders from the government of Rak. As the ship’s doctor, I am to keep the medicine with my supplies, and I must…” he paused, thinking of how best to word the next part. “…I am required to watch you take the medicine.”

“To make sure I really do take it?”

“The Rakese government is very concerned for your safety. Your survival is a matter of great importance.”

At the other end of the table, Jrayk growled.

“Oh come on, Tristn! Get your tail out of your ass, brother. M’reen isn’t some neonate. Just give her the damned pills and let her take them herself.”

Tristn’s ears flattened.

“It is not my decision to make,” he answered. “As I said, I am under strict orders from—”

“To the void with your orders!” Jrayk slammed his fist on the table.

Goddess, why was Jrayk being so adamant about this point? Suddenly, Tristn was intensely aware of the female presence in the room. Was that the cause of Jrayk’s temper? If M’reen had been a globulating Raksha female, all three of the males would already be battling tooth and claw.

Perhaps if Jrayk had not dressed her in that infuriatingly revealing outfit, they would not be so on edge right now.

For a moment, the tension in the room was taut as an overtuned harp string. Even Vaul and Rawn had stopped eating, and they were looking back and forth between the two arguing Raksha at either end of the table.

It was the human who finally broke the silence.

“No, please, don’t worry about it. It’s fine. I will let Tristn give me the medicine.”

Tristn sneered at Jrayk, but he immediately felt guilty. Why was he being so competitive about this? M’reen was not some victory to be won. All that mattered was getting her safely to Rak. And they would all need to work together to do that.

He turned his eyes back to M’reen and watched as she opened the packet, popped the two pills, and washed them down with a gulp of water.

An awkward silence settled over the room.

“So, um, what about Beh’thani?” M’reen said at last. “Like, do you guys know her?”

Tristn allowed himself to relax a little.

“No, unfortunately I have not had an opportunity to meet her yet. She is a very busy woman, you see. But I feel as if I know her very well. I have read her book many times. She is something of a celebrity back on Rak.”

“That makes sense,” M’reen said. “She’s an alien, after all. Like me.”

“Yes, but there is more to it than that. We Raksha have been interacting with other alien species for a long time now. But Beh’thani is special. Actually, she helped to save our species from extinction.”

M’reen’s eyes widened to circles and her mouth dropped open.

“Really? What do you mean?”

“Well, that’s a long story…”

Tristn explained about the dark times of Rak. He explained about the virus that had afflicted his planet, a virus that, for some reason, only killed the females of his species. Nearly all of the females died in the plague, and the few who survived had to be placed into cryogenic stasis in the hopes that a cure would be found.

Tristn’s own mother and sister had been among those who were frozen, and he had been overjoyed when they were revived last year. In fact, his gratitude was one of the driving reasons for coming on this mission. But he didn’t mention any of those details during his telling. The others had not been so lucky. He knew that Vaul, for example, had lost someone to the plague. A mate? A child? Tristn didn’t know exactly.

Tristn did explain about the cure, however, which came about thanks to Beh’thani and one of her mates, a doctor named Zaleros. When Beh’thani had been transformed into a Raksha female, she had retained some of her human DNA. Her unique cells produced antigens that fought the virus. In her offspring, these antigens were even stronger, and they formed the basis for the cure. She had brought the Raksha back from the brink of oblivion.

“God, that’s amazing,” M’reen sighed. “I’m…I’m so sorry that happened to your planet.”

It was Vaul who answered, his voice so deep it rattled the plates on the table.

“They were dark times, indeed, Maureen. But it is in the past. The Raksha will survive. It is in our nature.”

Tristn noted, with a twinge of jealousy, that Vaul had pronounced the human’s name correctly. The big brute rarely spoke, but when he did, he spoke well.

M’reen touched the giant’s arm sympathetically, and Tristn’s spark of jealousy exploded into a fire, but the doctor immediately quelled it.

There was no reason to be jealous, he reminded himself.

After a moment, M’reen turned back to Tristn.

“Actually, I have a question about Beh’thani’s transformation,” she said. “How exactly did that happen?”

Tristn’s pulse jumped.

He had hoped this question would not come up. He was fully aware of the means by which Beh’thani’s change had been effected. Most Raksha were, to some extent. The story had been related in Beh’thani’s book, though the most explicit details had been skimmed over. It was far too intimate to be shared in full. But Tristn had also read Dr. Zaleros’ official report. It was clinical, but it painted an even clearer picture of how things had gone down.

Tristn was reluctant to share that part of the story with M’reen. And his reluctance was heightened by the fact that he carried aboard The Longshot the means to transform M’reen if necessary. It was intended as a last resort, in case they found themselves in a situation where the transformation would be necessary for M’reen’s survival.

Protocol Two. It was top secret. Vaul and Jrayk didn’t even know about it, and Tristn had sworn an oath not to tell.

Now he had to make a choice. Would he tell M’reen the truth about Beh’thani, or would he lie? His impulse was to be honest with her, but his oath could not be taken lightly.

Tristn knew the choice he had to make, and he hated himself for it.

He lied.

“I’m afraid I don’t know the exact details of the process,” he said. “But don’t worry. As Beh’thani told you in her recording, the transformation is not something you will have to undergo. You will retain your human form.”

M’reen seemed to accept this, and she went back to eating. The conversation soon switched to other, lighter topics, but Tristn’s mood had darkened.

He tried to eat, but the food felt like stones in his gut.