Alien Mercenary’s Destiny by Mina Carter
5
“Isn’t this place amazing?” Nat asked as she flopped down onto the bottom bunk of the small room. “You got your own room and everything.”
Zad nodded as she followed the human woman into what could only be described as a closet.
“Beats the T2 cells for sure,” she said as she stood in the middle of the small space. Compact had obviously been a guiding principle when the Sprite had been designed. At least the bunks had been designed for Latharian frames. Even if she stretched out, it was more than large enough for her.
She and Eric would both fit on there.
She ignored the wayward thought. Eric had been a little odd during her medical exam. He’d been reading something when she’d arrived. Given she’d interrupted a conversation between him and the medic, she assumed it was a medical file, which patients didn’t normally get to see. However, given what his sister had said, she wasn’t surprised. He probably understood all the big words the healers used as well. And didn’t that make her feel dumber than she already did? How would he react when he found out she’d had no higher-level education like him? Shards, she’d barely had any education at all. Her entire education had revolved around staying alive and not reminding her mother of her existence.
“Are all the rooms this small?” she asked, reaching out to hit the door closure button.
“Yeah. You might wanna leave the door latched back unless you’re really not claustrophobic,” Nat commented as the door slid into place with a soft hiss.
Instantly the small space seemed half the size and Zad shuddered. It reminded her uncomfortably of an escape pod—the coffin her mother had been fond of shoving her into when she was a child, threatening to jettison her.
Snapping a hand out, she hit the button again to open the panel. “Yeah, way too small.”
She breathed deeply as the door slid open to reveal the corridor and the blank wall opposite. The doors were all offset so no one could look into someone else’s room from their own. That didn’t bother her too much. Her time in the pits meant she had no issues with lack of privacy.
She cast about for something to take her mind off the size of the room and her gaze landed on the door to the tiny shower and toilet cubicle. “Do half of this lot even fit in those things?”
Nat chuckled. “Well, Beauty does. Just. It’s a bit snug when both of us are in there, though.”
She frowned. “Why would you both try and get in ther—” She cut her words off sharply, closing her mouth with a click as Nat grinned.
“Okay, stupid question. Forget I asked that,” she said quickly. “Please tell me you two aren’t next door? I’ll never get any damn sleep.”
Nat shook her head. “Nope. We’re on the other side, at the far end of the corridor. You’ve got prime real estate here. T’Raal is one side and Red the other so things should be fairly quiet.”
“I do?” Zad blinked in surprise. She hadn’t thought to be put so close to the Warborne leader. If anything, as a new hire and one of the last aboard, she’d expected a hammock somewhere, if she was lucky.
“Yeah. It’s all you singletons up here. Most of the couples are down on the other end of the corridor.” Nat grinned again, amusement dancing in her dark eyes. “I don’t think T’Raal wants reminding that he’s single.”
Zad rattled in amusement, the small sound coming from the back of her throat. “That’s understandable. There are no Latharian females anymore, so it’s not like he has much of a choice.”
“Yeah, but they’re compatible with other species. Aren’t they? I mean, look at Red. She’s half Lathar, right?” Nat asked curiously.
The human woman was much more relaxed now than she had been. No surprise there. Everyone was on edge and watched their backs in the pits. From what Zad had heard about her background, that had been normal for Nat for a very long time.
She wrinkled her nose. “She is, but that’s not a good example. Half-blooded Krynassis are nearly always the result of violence.”
Nat winced. “Oh shit, that sucks.”
Zad nodded. There was really no answer to that one. “Other than us, there are only a few species genetically compatible with the Lathar, and because of all the shit they’ve done to themselves with genetic modification, any young are usually Lathar anyway. Not many other species will accept that. A few individuals here and there, but that’s it.”
Nat nodded thoughtfully. “That would be why they want us then.”
“Humans look like mini Lathar anyway.” Zad shrugged as she looked toward the door. She couldn’t come out and ask where Eric was without revealing her interest, and Nat was far too perceptive for her to give away that kind of interest.
“Names are on the doors if you feel like borrowing a cup of sugar from a certain scientist, you know?” said Nat, following her gaze.
“What is sugar and why would I want to borrow it?” she asked, sliding the human a sideways look as she dropped down to sit on the edge of the bed.
The soft surface gave under her weight and she almost moaned aloud. It might have been a cheap, extruded foam mattress on a steel bunk, but after five years of sleeping on a packed-sand floor leaning up against a wall, it was utter heaven.
“Sugar, you know…” Nat nudged at Zad’s elbow with her own and then winked twice in quick succession, watching her face for a reaction.
When Zad didn’t move or blink, she sighed. “Aliens are so dense at times. You know, sugar? A little lovin’? Surely your parents… what with so many kids?”
It was Zad’s turn to chuckle as she finally worked out what the human was saying. “Oh scales no, my mother tried to kill my father when she found out she was carrying me.”
Nat blanched. “Oh shit… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories or anything.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Zad waved off her comment with a smile. Just because her parents didn’t have a loving relationship didn’t mean she didn’t know what Nat meant. “He was more than capable of staying out of her clutches. But I don’t think Er—”
She paused as her sensitive hearing picked up something in the corridor outside, just as the male in question walked past the door. Dressed in some kind of white coat, he was totally engrossed in reading from a flexi-pad in his hand—the single sheet computer interface common across the galaxy—so much so he didn’t even look up as he walked by. He must have just come from the bridge, but where was he going?
She cleared her throat and hopped off the bed. “Excuse me. I just need to check on something.”
“Yeah, sure. Check as much as you like.” Nat winked and stood, shooing her out the door.
“I need to go check on my mate anyway. He promised me ice cream. For some reason, though, he had to go train with Zero first.” She grinned. “Hot and sweaty men… can’t beat it. Catch you on the flipside!”
“Humans are strange,” Zad grumbled, shaking her head as she stepped out into the corridor and followed Eric. How was losing water attractive? On the planet where her species had evolved, water was at a premium, so the Krynassis had developed to hold onto as much of it as possible as long as possible. Humans were the opposite and seemed to leak at every opportunity.
“Hey, Eric… do you have a minute?” she raised her voice to call after him.
Pausing, he looked over his shoulder and smiled as soon as he spotted her. “Hey, Zad. Of course, what can I do for you?”
The expression and the way the skin crinkled around the corners of his eyes almost floored her, and the scales down the sides of her neck colored. She ignored it, holding his gaze as she walked toward him. He was human, she reassured herself as his gaze dropped to the sides of her neck. He wouldn’t know what the color change meant. She was safe.
“I… errr…” She trailed off, realizing she had no idea what to say to him. “I was… at a loose end. You work on board. Don’t you? Is there anything I can help with?”
He blinked, surprise flowing over his face, and then paused for a second before frowning. Inwardly, she kicked herself. Why the vaark had she offered that? She didn’t know anything about his work or what he did.
“I’m good with making… tea?” she offered. “And I can move stuff around, keep you company?”
He smiled again, a soft sound of amusement in the back of his throat she instantly wanted to hear again. “Do you even know what tea is?”
“Nope,” she admitted. “Nat mentioned she’d kill for a cup of it once. It is a drink. Right?”
“Yeah, it’s a drink,” he replied, stepping aside and sweeping an arm out to indicate she should join him.
“I prefer coffee,” he said as they walked down the corridor together. “But I’ll make you a cup. I’m… a little particular how I take it,” he admitted with a sideways look at her as they stopped at the ladder to the lower decks. “Ladies first.”
She paused for a moment but then remembered she didn’t need to watch her back on the Sprite. She was a member of the team now, and besides, Eric wasn’t a threat. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he’d noticed her momentary pause, to find him watching her with a smile.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said in a low voice when she blushed. “Half the Warborne argue over who gets to sit with their backs to the wall in the galley. Sparky still jumps at shadows, yet none of them consider me a threat. I’m over it.”
She caught the edge in his voice, the hint of bitter resignation. They might be from different species but males were males the galaxy over—competitive and often aggressive. She’d yet to meet one who didn’t view himself as the alpha male and hero of his own story, so for Eric to be thrown in among the highly combative and aggressive Warborne crew when he was… not must be very difficult for him. About the same as an unwanted female on a hive ship, a constant reminder to her mother that her time was shorter than she’d thought.
She nodded and then refused to move, indicating that he should precede her. At his curious look, she shrugged. “You’re male and larger than I am. If I fall, you’ll easily catch me.”
His head tilted back a little, something flaring in the backs of his eyes that made everything feminine in her body sit up and take notice. Then he nodded, sliding down the ladder with his hands and feet clamped to the outside. She arched her eyebrow at the showy move and then put her foot on the top rung of the ladder.
“Don’t look at my ass,” she warned as she climbed down.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied, but the sudden roughness in his voice made her smile to herself.
Yeah, the human male wasn’t as unaffected by her as he made out.
Eric’s lab turned out to be a small cargo hold toward the back of the ship. It was small, cramped and—given its proximity to the engine bay—hot as baked sand. Especially now that they were underway.
“I do apologize for the heat,” Eric murmured, already heading across the room toward a bank of air-cooling units. “This was the only space available on board.”
“Oh, don’t worry on my account,” she said, her body relaxing as the blessed heat seeped through her skin and into her bones. “We’re colder blooded than most species, so this is fantastic.”
“Really?” He turned with that fascinated look in his eyes again. “I’ll leave them off then, if it makes you more comfortable.”
“Thank you.” She smiled as he walked toward her. The space was small and crowded, dark like a harem chamber, and a shiver wound its way around her spine.
“So… cold blooded?” he asked, coming to a stop in front of her. She resisted the urge to reach out and see if his skin was as soft as it looked. He had no scales at all, or any other natural armoring or weaponry, but even so, his skin didn’t look as soft as Nat’s was.
“Uh-huh.” She nodded.
“I know this is a bit cheeky, but… would you mind if I took a look at your DNA?” he asked, his voice low, almost intimate. With his proximity, the heat of his body beating at hers, she could almost imagine he was asking for something else.
“Errr… yes, of course,” she replied automatically, unable to deny him anything he asked. She shook her head, dispelling the little urge to step closer and press herself up against him. To nestle against his larger body, absorbing his strength and his body heat.
She tilted her head. “Look at it? How do you do that?”
He glanced to the counter next to them. All sorts of equipment was strewn about that she didn’t recognize, but it all looked like it should be inside a historical archive. “I’m going to have to draw some of your blood. I’m afraid my methods aren’t as advanced as yours probably are.”
“You’d be surprised. There’s not even a word for scientist in my language, and Krynassis don’t have anything you could describe as medical care.”
“Seriously?” he asked in surprise, moving to the counter. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a pair of eye protectors, but not like any she’d ever seen. They were clear, and didn’t appear to be meant to shield for UV or other rays. He set up a small implement with a sharp point on one end. “What happens if any of you are injured?”
She gave a small shrug. “You get better or you die.”
With the sharp thing in a small bowl in front of them, he directed her to sit on a stool next to the counter. Reaching out, he moved her arm until it rested on the steel of the counter, the limb bent. She looked up at him, her breath catching as he ran a thumb over the inside of her elbow before lifting the little tool.
“There’s going to be a sharp scratch I’m afraid,” he said in a low voice and pressed it against her skin. She heard a click and her scales flared, snapping off the sharp end of the tool.
“What the fuck?” Lifting his hand, he looked at the snapped end. It had shattered against her armor.
“Amazing,” he breathed, reaching out to smooth his thumb over her skin again. Her scales had receded, leaving the skin smooth and pliable. “You can control it?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Mostly, yes. Some reactions, like that, are automatic.”
“Hmmm,” he frowned, looking at the little tool again. “That does present me with a problem. I’m not sure how to get your blood if your skin stops a needle.”
“I can stop it,” she said softly.
“Yeah?” He took the little tool apart, removing the broken needle and loading a new one. “That’s possible?”
“Yes.” She offered her arm again with a small motion. “I trust you. Try again.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Okay.”
Pressing the tool against her skin again, he triggered it. She hissed, pulling her lips back a little as the needle stabbed through her skin.
“I’m so sorry,” he murmured, moving closer. His lips pursed as though he felt her pain.
“It stings a little, that’sss all.” She watched as blood bubbled in the little window on the side of the tool.
He blinked and then leaned in a little. “You have the tiniest little fork at the end of your tongue.”
“Yessss…”
“And you roll your S’s like a snake.”
She tilted her head to the side. “You have reptiloids on your planet? That’s unusual. Usually we are the apex predator on a world.”
He looked up at her quickly, and she found her gaze locked with his. “Err, no. We have snakes. They’re not bi-pedal or…err… intelligent.”
“Did you just liken me to an animal?”
“No! No, not at all!” he said quickly, removing the needle and smoothing a regen patch over the tiny wound before taking a step back.
His cheeks were red and he wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I… think they’re cute. Snakes. Eris never understood it,” he babbled. “I had a lichanura quadrigata when I was a kid. She was tiny, used to wrap around my wrist while I studied.”
“Eric?” She reached out to put her hand on his arm, stopping him in mid-movement. He looked at her hesitantly. “I was joking.”
She smiled and then flicked her tongue at him.
“That is…” He smiled back, his expression unguarded. “Yeah, really cute.”
He straightened up, clearing his throat. “So why did it work that time?”
“I was expecting it. And,” she admitted, the color mounting along her neck again, “I trust you. It wouldn’t work unless I trusted you.”
And the fact that queens were only vulnerable to their consorts, which was more evidence he was the one male in the universe she could be completely vulnerable with and to.
He inclined his head. “Then I am honored you trust me. Thank you.”
“You are welcome,” she replied, a soft rattle in her voice, almost like a purr. His eyes widened and he took a step forward. For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her, especially when he slid a finger under her chin to tilt her head up. Her breathing quickened, her lips parting.
The machine behind him, the one he’d loaded her blood sample into, chirped and he turned, leaving her sitting there as he peered through two lenses into it.
“Fascinating, absolutely fascinating,” he murmured, grabbing a pad and stylus next to him and starting to scribble notes. She watched as strange symbols, like chicken scratches, flowed across the paper.
“What are you doing?” she asked, sliding off her stool to stand next to him. The symbols were unfamiliar.
“Your blood is unique. I’ve never seen a structure like it,” he said, reaching for a flexi-pad and flicking it on. Words flowed over the screen along with an auto-bed readout. Running a strong finger down the page, he pursed his lips, making another note on the page. Those symbols she recognized as Latharian at least, not that they made any sense to her.
She blinked. “You read and write Latharian?”
He nodded, sliding her another sideways glance. She’d noticed he did that a lot when he thought she wasn’t looking.
“It’s not difficult. Once you figure out the cognates, you’re halfway there.”
She bit her lip, feeling stupid. “What’s a cognate?”
Surprise flared in his eyes for a moment and then he smiled. “It’s a word that means the same in another language. Like a Rosetta stone to bridge the gap from one to another.”
She snorted. “Your species still uses stones? How… quaint.”
He ignored the sarcasm.
“Uh-huh. Show me some words in your language,” he said, sliding the pad toward her while holding the stylus out.
“You wouldn’t understand Krynassis,” she huffed, determined not to show off her ignorance. It was bad enough that she had no education to speak of, but if he found out she couldn’t read or write either… what would he think of her? Probably that she was even more of an animal than he’d first thought.
“I’m sure I wouldn’t,” he murmured, making a few more notes on the page. Then he tucked the stylus away in the pocket of his white coat before looking down at her through the lenses attached to his face.
She reached up, brushing the edge of one with her forefinger. “What are these for? Some kind of scientist equipment?”
“My glasses?” He reached up and snatched them off his face. “Errr no. They’re to correct my vision. I had surgery a while back, but it didn’t take, unfortunately.”
“Your vision? You can’t see properly?”
He shook his head slightly. “I’m long-sighted. I can see things far away, but things close by are a little fuzzy.”
Emboldened, she reached up and slid them off. “This way I look more like a human female then.”
“Woman,” he said, his voice husky.
“What’s that?” She leaned in, tilting her chin up.
“Woman. A human female. We call her a woman…”
He bent down and her lips parted. He had to kiss her, he just had to. Just as their lips were about to meet, the inter-ship comm squawked.
“Dr. Archer? Boss wants you on the command deck.”
