Page 2 of Kameer's Mate
Tasha and Dad appear at the salon’s entrance, and I give Mom a gentle nudge as I announce their arrival. She turns, wipes her face, and bolts toward my sister. My heart swells as I watch them embrace.
Dad walks over and places a hand on my shoulder, and it’s all I can do not to cringe at his touch. “I’m so glad you’re safe from the Darrvasons. Tasha, too. I would be devastated if either of my girls had to marry one of those dreadful beasts.” Considering that a Darrvason doctor helped heal his youngest daughter, I’m a bit surprised by the derision that drips from his tone, though I don’t say anything. My father takes even the slightest contradiction personally.
To my surprise, Ned appears in the entryway, hobbling in while clutching his cane. Dad backs away from me and gives the older man a huge smile, though I know it’s forced.
“Hello, Ned, good to see you,” my father says. “I was just about to take Tasha and Adrianna to the mess hall for an early lunch, but Mandy already ate and I’m sure she’ll be happy to visit with you.”
It’s a lie. I haven’t eaten lunch yet and Dad knows it. But he also knows we must continue to kiss Ned’s ass. The elderly Founder is friends with Captain Warren and several members of the command team.
As Ned comes closer, his eyes rake over me in a strange way. Like he’s hungry or as though he expects something from me. Not for the first time in his presence, I feel uneasy and long to escape. But I can’t leave the salon. Not when he trekked all the way here from his posh quarters on Deck Twenty-Two. Though the salon is only two decks down, the corridors are long. At his slow pace, he likely spent twenty minutes walking to and from the elevators on each level. If I left now, it would be considered the height of rudeness.
Mom, Dad, and Tasha exchange pleasantries with Ned before they head for the corridor, and I swallow hard when my fiancé sits down beside me with a heavy groan. He angles his body toward mine and takes my hands in his.
“Just as I promised you, sweetie pie, you weren’t on the list.” His gaze travels over me again, his manner oddly unsettling, and I don’t understand why he pauses as he looks at my breasts.
Surely he can’t harbor a corporeal attraction to me. Fornication has been outlawed on theJansonnafor decades, and all adults aboard the worldship are given hormone suppression shots to help combat any unlawful urges.
Well, up until recentlyalladults were given the shots.
Women between the ages of nineteen and twenty-five stopped receiving the shots not long after the Darrvasons’ appearance, though as far as I know, everyone else aboard theJansonnastill receives the shots as regularly scheduled.
I suppose the women like me who weren’t selected to become Darrvason brides will soon resume the shots, though I don’t know for certain. All I know is that when I went to the medical bay to receive my annual shot three months ago, the doctorturned me away due to my age and the possibility that I would be selected to become an alien’s mate in the near future.
So, yes, Nedshouldstill be receiving hormone suppression shots as regularly scheduled, though as he continues ogling my bosom in a salacious manner, I start to wonder if there’s an age cut off that I don’t know about.
“Thank you for keeping me off the list,” I eventually force out, though my voice wavers. I don’t like that Ned’s still gripping my hands so firmly, nor do I like the calculated gleam in his gaze when he finally meets my eyes.
He smiles, though it’s the sort of smile my father usually displays. An entirely fake one. The kind of smile that makes me nervous, one that’s meant to conceal ulterior motives. I resist the impulse to wrench my hands from Ned’s and scoot away.
“I think I’m going to enjoy having you as my wife.” He leans closer. “I also think we’ll have a good many years together. My father and grandfather both lived past one hundred, and I expect I’ll live even longer.” He releases my hands and gives me a pointed look. “Our wedding date has been set for next week. The captain himself will officiate.”
“Next week? But I thought we would be married on planet 58-Z? That’s what my father said. He said we would wait until?—”
“The plans have changed, sweetie pie,” he says, cutting me off, “and your father has already agreed. We aren’t doing anything fancy. Just a quick exchange of vows. I’m eager to make you my wife. Eager for us to live together.” He waggles his white, bushy eyebrows at me and slowly licks his chapped lips.
I quickly glance away, and my gaze comes to rest on the info screen where names are still scrolling by. Two thousand women who will be forced to mate with a Darrvason male and live under the oppressive authority of their husbands.
I remind myself that marriage to a Darrvason would be a far worse fate than marriage to Ned, even if the elderly man sometimes makes me uneasy.
When I return my gaze to my husband-to-be, I’m surprised to find he appears agitated, but I eventually realize he expects a response from me. Some sort of ass kissery about how I’m eager to become his wife.
“All right. I look forward to it,” I force out. That’s all I can manage.
“There’s something else I’ve been meaning to discuss with you, Mandy.”
A knot forms in my stomach. “What is it?”
“I don’t want you working at the salon anymore. Consider today your last day.” He glances around the salon with a look of disdain. “I won’t have my wife providing beauty services for Founders anymore. I can’t imagine anything more embarrassing.”
My heart plummets to the floor. “But I run this salon with my mother. She needs me, and we’ve always planned to open our own business on whatever planet humankind settled upon. Furthermore, we don’t just provide beauty services to Founders. Non-Founders visit the salon sometimes too, when they have the extra credits for it.”
Ned’s visage hardens. He draws in a long breath, but before he can utter a word, shouts and blaster fire erupt in the corridor. I gasp and jump out of my seat. Ned reaches for his cane and slowly stands with my help.
I’m not surprised by the violence. It’s Selection Day, and a lot of people are undoubtedly angry that their daughters and sisters are being chosen as Darrvason brides. Extra security officers were stationed on every deck, but apparently not enough to stem the unrest, at least not here on Deck Twenty.
We relocate behind the wide welcome counter, and I assist Ned in sitting on the floor. He groans and retrieves a bottle from his pocket. I watch as he swallows a handful of pills, presumably for his aches and pains, then I peek over the counter just as a group of security officers rush by with blasters held high.
“Idiots,” Ned says with a snort. “I’ve been around long enough to know even the most organized rebellion can’t thwart Captain Warren’s plans. In one month, on the very day we land on planet 58-Zallnanis, those two thousand young ladies will be handed over to the Darrvasons for breeding purposes. Killing a few security officers or members of the command team won’t change a thing.”
