Page 4 of Scars & Starlight
I close my eyes and curse myself. I had a female back on Avaren, cycles ago, never intending to look for my match elsewhere in the universe, believing one of my siblings would do their duty of providing offspring to the Veyrathi line. When she left me for my more politically minded brother, I was disappointed, but not surprised. Perhaps she thought the chances of producing an heir were higher with someone who goes to forums and not battlefronts. Either way, I never looked for a female meant for me as we liberated planets from the Ghorvek oppression. So I don’t know why I’m sointerested in this one. Is it because she fought against all odds to save her species’ children?
By the time the door to my quarters opens, I still don’t have an answer, so I forcefully put it out of my mind. Instead of dwelling on the human in the med bay, I face the wall-length aquarium I have installed in my anteroom. With a push of a button, food for the many colorful Vasari fish is released into the water. The tank has an automatic timer, or otherwise, I could have ordered my nanites to execute the command with a thought, but the ritual of doing it physically relaxes me. After watching the rainbow school nibble on their meal for a minute, I find my thoughts wandering back to the female.
With a sigh, I enter my cleaning chamber and recall my armor. I feel a light tingling over my skin when it retracts to the ports at the sides of my neck, leaving me completely naked. After stepping in front of the vent, I order a cleansing mist at the coldest possible temperature. When the icy droplets hit my skin, they raise goosebumps in their wake and make my nipples pebble. I wonder if the human girl has nipples. Groaning, I hit the side of my head with my palm. Nevertheless, I resolve to have Kael, my chief engineer, access any available human databases and compile a report with the most salient information. It would have been a necessary step once our work here was done, but with our guest here, it’s prudent to move up the timeline. Right now, we only know what we stumbled upon.
I move to the drying vents first, then to my closet. Deciding to wear the formal uniform, which denotes my rank, I skip past the more casual and utilitarian clothes. Come to think of it, in some ways, those are similar to what the human I saved is wearing… I shake my head as I close the last of the decorative clasps. I’m starting to think human females have a mind-altering weapon Avaren males are susceptible to. That would explain my seemingly boundless curiosity.
After exiting my quarters, I hurry to the engineering floor. I want to have as much knowledge as possible before she wakesup and realizes she’s orbiting her home planet on a vanguard ship from Avaris.
As soon as the doors open, Kael greets me with a broad smile. “Commander. I heard you brought an indigent aboard.”
I quirk an eyebrow at the fair-haired male. “Caden?”
Kael nods. “Naturally.”
I scoff, picturing my cousin doing the rounds while I was waiting at the girl’s bedside.
“Did you gather any information on the species from their databases?” I ask, not beating around the bush.
My head engineer shakes his head in a so-so motion. “Readily available, widespread data transfer has been disabled by the Ghorvek, as per their usual pattern of occupation.” He moves to his station, where he starts pulling up charts and diagrams. “With Caden’s permission, I sent down several teams to locations we had already determined to be useful.” He pulls up images of human buildings in disrepair. “Research facilities, medical centers, teaching institutions.” He flips through the pictures as he speaks.
I hum in approval. Caden’s a rascal, but he’s a good and trustworthy first officer. “Anything yet?”
“Well,” the engineer begins. “Lirael already confirmed compatibility with the blood samples you’ve gathered from their fallen soldiers.” He taps his finger against his lips. “The medics and biologists ran their genetic screening, so we’re now more interested in learning their history, including wars and diseases, as well as their languages, dietary preferences, and, of course, their mating habits.”
I can feel the tips of my ears turn hot at Kael’s last words, even though we gathered similar data on every planet we’ve come across with compatible species during our hunt for the Ghorvek… and for mates.
“The crew is excited,” Kael continues, oblivious to my perplexing discomfort. “As we arrived on Tyren too late to find many viable partners, seeing how strong the survivors here are gives them hope.”
I purse my lips at my old friend. “Them or you?”
It’s Kael’s time to get warm in the ears. He has been alone ever since the Ghorvek slew the mother of his son, Zane. Like many Avaren, he believes forming an attachment to someone who provides a negligible chance of reproduction is a waste of time and emotions. Others, most of whom live strictly on Avaris and nowhere else, defy our biological imperative, choosing to partner with incompatible Avaren, some even with those of the same gender.
“I admit that my hearts skip a beat each time when females are being tested,” he says, voice pitched low and confidential.
As I open my mouth to reply, the ship's lights blink from their typical blue hue to an alarming red. With a thought, I form my command cube in my palm. When I see that the alert was initiated in the med bay, it’s time for my hearts to skip a beat.
Something is amiss with the human girl.
3
TARA
Iwake up to three alien males hovering above me. They speak to each other with sounds I can’t decipher, and though I can’t understand their words, the looks in their eyes – swirling with galaxies and nebulas – and the smirks on their lips tell me all I need to know. I’m in danger.
When one of them reaches a hand to my chest, I push away the confusion and try to escape. Whatever sedative the aliens had me under is slower to leave my body, and I end up rolling off the medical bed I was lying on, almost taking one of the males down with me. Groaning, I scramble to put my hands and feet under me, but my limbs shake too much to obey my commands. Instead, an alien pulls me up, my back to his front, the other two males approaching with a leer and a curious gaze respectively. Judging by what I can feel through the uniform of the alien behind me, they’re shaped roughly the same as humans. A thought that isn’t comforting right now. Not with the intent I can see on their faces.
Under normal circumstances, I might feel a pleasant surprise at how handsome these new extraterrestrials’ features are. Faint neon lines glow on the side of their faces and branch out from a circularport at the sides of their necks. Their skin is smooth and ageless, their features perfect and androgynous. Are they even alive? Maybe they’re some kind of androids?
The one who tried to grab my boob pulls his lower lip into his mouth, biting into it with impeccable white teeth. How do they look so human? Down to the sleezy leers of the many, many human rapists now walking over our emptier planet.
One of the males, his hair the same color as quicksilver, takes a step back and says something to the male observing me from way too close. I hold my breath as they all but sandwich me between them. The redhead in front of me sneers something back before pressing his crotch against my lower stomach, pushing me onto the other alien’s hardness. When I whimper despite trying to be brave, the third male shouts something. A moment later, his hurried footsteps retreat.
One down, two to go. Two tall, strong, unpredictable aliens. I’ve dealt with human scum more times than I’d like to count, but this is different. How am I going to get out of this? I’m clearly on one of their ships, and God knows how many of them there are.
As the alien in front of me grabs my top and rips it down the middle, I feel the adrenaline pushing the last of the fuzziness away. I’m not going to just stand here and let this happen. Looking down, I see a medical tray with foreign instruments. When the lights go from a soft white to an angry red, I take the opportunity of the aliens’ momentary distraction to grab the longest, sharpest-looking one I can see. With as much strength as I can muster, I stab upwards, aiming for the alien’s neck.
The sound of pain he makes is universal; a scream and a gurgle that I don’t have time to feel guilty over as he releases me and I pitch forward into the other alien’s arms. This one throws me away with an angry growl, and I hit the side of the bed I just escaped from, the air knocked out of my lungs.
