Page 16 of Commander's Mate
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Harper
I fell into step beside Zared and the other women followed behind us. I wasn’t thrilled about being seen by the crew wearing a t-shirt and barefoot, but I wanted to see the more of the ship and meet some of the others.
Where the conference room looked like what you would expect in an office building, we went through some areas that reminded me of a battleship I’d toured when I was in school. They were not like Star Trek. They were strictly utilitarian painted metal with multiple conduits. The floors were metal and cool under bare feet, but mostly smooth. The worst ones were the textured deck plates that covered access to who-knows-what were not comfortable to walk on at all.
Zared showed us where the bridge was located as one of the places we were not welcome. We were introduced to so many people, I couldn’t possibly remember their names. I was impressed that Zared knew everyone by name. I have since learned all of their names, even those who are no longer with us. But I am getting ahead of the events. I was surprised to see that almost a quarter of the crew were female.
I could see that they weren’t quite sure what to make of us, but they were not unkind. Most of them were tall and athletic and beautiful. They all had brightly colored hair in a variety of fluorescent colors. No one had plain brown, blond black or any of the tame, ordinary colors I was accustomed to seeing back on Earth. Some had skin tones almost as light as Caucasians to dark gray, almost black with many variations in between.
Zared showed us the restricted areas first which included the propulsion modules that housed the engines, the AI center, as well as the bridge. The areas we were allowed to move about freely were the three places we were housed, the mess hall, and one other rec room. We could visit crew quarters, but I was the only one at that point who would. The biggest concession is that we were allowed access to each other.
There was no reason for us to expect to have access to the restricted areas. It was a matter of security. Zared expressed sympathy to the group for the accommodations. But they were so happy to be free from the slavers, they didn’t care. It was temporary. Most of them would be going home once they got to Halor.
After they had been introduced to the women rescued from the slavers, the crew began to socialize with them during their off-duty time. Mostly they would dine in the mess hall together or watch holovids in the rec room. Some shared sex and a few formed relationships. Some of the crew just wanted someone new to talk to.
I visited with my Earth friends and the new friends I made among the alien women almost daily while Zared was on duty. We had sex a lot, but we talked a lot, too. I guess I was a little surprised that Zared’s life on Farseek was not fundamentally that different than mine on Earth. He grew up in a big family with five siblings, three sisters and two brothers and his parents were fated mates like we are. My family wasn’t as big, I just had one sister and a brother.
Farseek was a relatively young colony. It was still under development and growing at a steady rate. It was rich in metal ores and in natural resources and had good soil for growing crops. It was a thriving young colony still growing when the Empire came along and lay it to ruins. It was clearly an emotional topic for Zared and understandably so. His whole family lived in the same neighborhood, and now they were all missing. Zared feared they were all dead, though he hadn’t entirely given up hope. It was heart breaking to hear the story, and he was clearly devastated.
At least I felt that my family was safely going about their lives as usual. They might not have missed me for a week or so, because we weren’t in constant contact. They probably missed me the following week when I didn’t show up for Sunday dinner with the family at Mom and Dad’s house, the house where we grew up. It was about four weeks since I was taken from my home when I had that conversation with Zared. I’m sure by then, my family thought I’d been murdered and my body dumped somewhere or I was kidnapped by human traffickers. They weren’t the type to think I might have been abducted by aliens. Come to think of it, I’m not even the type.
I mean I saw all the Star Wars movies and some of the Star Trek series and movies, but I was more into sex filled romances novels. Probably because I had no sex life. At least that was no longer a problem. Zared and I quickly became attuned to each other so we were usually in the mood at the same time. I didn’t know what was going to happen when my birth control implant wore off. I wasn’t worried about pregnancy because my mate had his own implant for the same purpose. The major perk of mine was that I had no menses.
I still had a few months to worry about that. When I got a chance, I might ask one of the Farseekan women how one would deal with menses in this culture. I thought of asking Zared, but I felt a little self-conscious when I thought about it. I don’t know why I should have. The man knew every square inch of my naked body, but I did.
After we talked about our families, we were both feeling a little low. We sat on the small sofa in Zared’s cabin, lost in our own regrets, I took his hand in mine and brought it to my lips. “We are family now, Zare … and I love you.”
I never would have dropped the L-word first in any other relationship before Zared. But he was hurting so much and I had already committed to be his mate for life…. And I had known for a while that I had fallen in love with Zared the man and not just my smoking hot sex partner.
When I said that, Zared went still, then looked at me for a long moment before he murmured, “yes, we are, and I love you too, solmatu.
Then he pulled me onto his lap and kissed me long and deep, hugging me tightly. Next thing I knew he scooped me up in his arms and carried me into the bed. Of course, I knew what was coming next. We made love hard and fast then slow and tenderly. I knew I had said the right thing at the right time.
ZARED
I woke early to take over duty for Admiral Degatu. I slid out of bed stealthily so as not to wake Harper. She said the one thing I needed to ease my pain. Our bond is complete, yet I still crave our joining as much as the day I claimed her. I tried to keep my heart out of it from the moment I recognized Harper as solmatu. It’s one failure I don’t regret. Every time we mate she gives me everything. She puts her heart and soul into it, and she is so responsive when I pleasure her.
Some days when I return from duty, I’ve barely greeted her before getting her naked and putting my cock into her. She seems to like the spontaneity, at least she said that. I think she likes the illusion of being dominated. Because it is an illusion. I would never hurt her or force her to have sex if she did not want it. No honorable man would.
However, there are times where she plays the aggressor as well, and I enjoy that just as much.
The timing for finding my solmatu is not ideal, but since I have been blessed I felt bound to claim her. It is the one good thing in my life after everything we’ve lost. Now I had Harper to love and to love me. It also meant something else I didn’t want to think about---that I had even more to lose.
I showered quickly and dressed, then stopped by the bed to watch Harper sleeping. We both put a lot of energy into our copulating. Although I wished for another hour of sleep, I didn’t regret the reason one bit.
I crept out of the bedroom and left our quarters to get a mug of tea and a protein bar in the mess hall before meeting with the night commander for duty. We were just hours from Halor orbit. From there we’d shuttle down to complete our deal with Evzen Guryon by returning his daughter and leave off the other abductees who were either staying on Halor or arranging for transport to their home worlds.
Lt. Advantu, has shown interest in Harper’s friend Scarlet. She had asked to join our company even before that. She has started testing, since that is the only way to determine if she is a suitable candidate. Although I spoke with Scarlet about her military experience, and I believe she will be a worthy addition to our company with some more training.
She will need to get a biochip implant that will impart our language directly into her brain as she must be able to read our language. Harper wants one as well. They are not expensive and it will help the Earth women adjust to our culture. Even if we learn the location of their world, it still may not be possible to return them.
Obviously, Sargus Empire slavers knew the location. It was likely that we would find more humans taken from Earth as we searched the Empire for our people. Degatu and I have debated on whether we should even in form the Earthers if we do find the location of their world and are unable to offer them transport there. I was no longer worried about losing Harper now that we were bonded, but I didn’t want to keep the knowledge from her if we learned the location of Earth.
I knew how it felt to face possibly never seeing my family again. Even worse, I didn’t know whether they were dead or alive and suffering. Harper at least believed her family was fine, but they would never know that she was safe and well, that I would protect her with my life. I knew how they would feel not knowing. They had my sympathy.
